Dom Helder Camara

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dom Helder Camara, archbishop of Recife, Brazil, one of the saints of the last century. He died in August 1999.

He was a thin small man, under 5 feet, but full of love and energy. He was a true man of God who got up at 2:00 am to pray, but worked and struggled for the poor during the day.

In the early 1980s I heard him speak in New York City and took this picture. His English was very accented and I don´t remember what he said, but I remember the energy that flowed out from him.

He put his life on the line for the poor and struggled for a nonviolent world. One of my favorite stories is when a hired assasin came to his door. He opend it and welcomed the man who then told Dom Helder that he was sent to kill him. But "I can´t kill you; you are a holy man of God."

His bishop´s cross was of wood and he lived very simply. But he was such a threat to the Brazilian dictatorship in the 1960 and 1970s that newspapers were not permitted to mention his name.

But he made a great impact on the world - and on me.

Today I pray one of the prayers he wrote:

Come, Lord,
do not smile and say you are already with us.
Millions do not know you,
and to us who do,
what is the difference?
What is the point of your presence
if our lives do not alter?
Change our lives,
shatter our complacency.
Make your word our life’s purpose.
Take away the quietness of a clear conscience.
Press us uncomfortably.
For only thus
that other peace is made,
your peace.