"Colombian society is, in its majority, a Catholic society in the sense that it complies with external rites (baptism, confession, Communion, marriage, burial Mass, extreme unction, processions, novenae, scapulars, first Fridays). Within Colombian society, there are many who love their fellow man, with the love manifest in self-surrender, although they deny that they are Catholics or, at least, deny they belong to the church—the church being understood as the ecclesiastical structure. If the pastoral program is concentrated on maintaining the above stated situation, it may not be possible to build or extend the Kingdom of God. If the priority of love above all is accepted, if preaching is preferred over the celebration of rites, the hierarchy will have to undertake a missionary pastoral program. Pastoral mission requires that quality rather than quantity of Catholics be emphasized. More insistence must be placed on personal conviction than on the usual pressures of family and society. The exclusive teaching of Catholicism in the schools must be abandoned, and pluralism must be accepted. Freedom of speech must be permitted in the classroom. Both children and adults must be led in Bible study. Emphasis must be placed more on the love that is surrender of self than on professed faith and religious observances. Preaching of the Gospel must be stressed above the celebration of rites. Steps must be taken to eliminate social and psychological factors which stand in the way of a conscientious and personal involvement in the church on the part of those who want to love and surrender themselves to others. Within these factors are the economic power of the church and the political power of the church. This power resides formally in laws and in the Concordat. It lies informally in clericalism (intromission, the desire to dominate in the temporal plane)."
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RevolutionariesCatholic socialistsCatholics from ColombiaSociologists from ColombiaTheologians from Colombia
Original Language: English
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Sources
Revolutionary Priest, The Complete Writings and Messages of Camilo Torres by John Gerassi (1971)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Camilo_Torres_Restrepo
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Camilo Torres Restrepo
Camilo Torres Restrepo (3 February 1929 – 15 February 1966), also known by his Nom de guerre Argemiro, was a Colombian Catholic political leader, revolutionary, guerilla, priest, author and a leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN).
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