Hélder Câmara

Also known as Hélder Pessoa Câmara, Dom Hélder Câmara, Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara, Helder Camara, Helder Pessoa Camara, Dom Helder Camara, Dom Helder Pessoa Camara

Brazilian Catholic priest, archbishop of Olinda and Recife (1909–1999)

Key facts

See: Olinda e Recife (Emeritus)
Installed: 12 March 1964
Term ended: 2 April 1985
Predecessor: Carlos Gouveia Coelho [ de ; fi ; it ; pt ]
Successor: José Cardoso Sobrinho
Consecration: 20 April 1952, by Jaime de Barros Câmara
Born: Hélder Pessoa Câmara , ( 1909-02-07 ) 7 February 1909, Fortaleza , Brazil
Died: 27 August 1999 (1999-08-27) (aged 90), Recife , Brazil
Buried: Holy Saviour of the World Cathedral, Olinda
Denomination: Catholic Church
Motto: In manus tuas ('Into your hands')

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: male
Citizenship: Brazil
Place of birth: Fortaleza
Place of death: Recife
Occupation: Catholic bishop
Languages spoken: Portuguese
Religion: Catholic Church
Participant in: Second Vatican Council
Image: Helder Camara 1974.jpg

Show 6 more facts

Commons category: Hélder Câmara
date of birth: 1909-02-07
date of death: 1999-08-27
cause of death: cardiac arrest
manner of death: natural causes
place of burial: Olinda Cathedral

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~9 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Hélder Pessoa Câmara OFS (7 February 1909 – 27 August 1999) was a Brazilian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Olinda and Recife from 1964 to 1985 during the military dictatorship in Brazil. He was declared a Servant of God in 2015.

A self-identified socialist, Câmara was an advocate of liberation theology. He did social and political work for the poor and for human rights and democracy during the military regime. Câmara preached for a church closer to the disfavoured people. He is quoted as having said, "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hélder Câmara” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.