Carlos Alberto Libânio Christo (born 1944), better known as Frei Betto is a Brazilian writer, political activist,

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

liberation theologian Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

, and former Dominican friar.

Life

Frei Betto was born on 25 August 1944 in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

. At the age of 20, when he was a student of journalism, he entered the Dominican Order. He was later imprisoned for four years by the military dictatorship which ruled Brazil for smuggling people out of the country. His incarceration was part of an ongoing series of attacks by the government on activist members of the Roman Catholic Church. These events are depicted in the 2006 biographical drama film ''

Baptism of Blood In Christian theology, baptism of blood () or baptism by blood, also called martyred baptism, is a doctrine which holds that a Christian is able to attain through martyrdom the grace of justification normally attained through baptism by water, ...

'', based on the book of the same name by Frei Betto. Brazilian actor Daniel de Oliveira portrays Frei Betto in the film. In addition to work on eliminating hunger in Brazil, Frei Betto is involved in various aspects of Brazil's politics. He worked for the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for whom he was considered a spiritual advisor and mentor. As a liberation theologian, Frei Betto has been involved in various international efforts in order to support an understanding between Marxism and Christianity. During the 1980s, he visited Havana and held frequent and lengthy interviews with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

, the result of such talks being a book, ''Fidel and Religion'', where Castro exposed his views on Christianity, something that raised protest among conservatives but is also said to have improved relations between Castro's government and the Cuban Catholic Church. During

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

, Frei Betto was also involved in various efforts aimed at an understanding between leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

, such efforts being described in the form of a travelogue published by him in 1993 in Portuguese, ''Lost Paradise'', which the author dedicates to a certain Theophilus ("God's friend"), apparently the same as the mysterious addressee of the Gospel of Luke, which should be understood as a symbol of all Christians.

Honors

Frei Betto was selected by UNESCO as the 2013 recipient of its

International José Martí Prize The International José Martí Prize serves to "promote and reward an activity of outstanding merit in accordance with the ideals and spirit" of Cuban independence leader, thinker, and poet José Martí". The Prize is awarded by the United Nati ...

. The reason given by Irina Bokova, its Director General, was "his exceptional contribution to building a universal culture of peace, social justice and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean". The prize was awarded on 28 January in Havana, Cuba, at the Third International Conference on World Balance, being held to mark the 160th anniversary of José Martí's birth.

References

McGovern, Arthur F. 1989. Liberation Theology and Its Critics: Toward an Assessment. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Betto 1944 births Living people People from Belo Horizonte Brazilian Dominicans Liberation theologians Brazilian Christian socialists 20th-century Brazilian Roman Catholic priests Brazilian spiritual writers Brazilian torture victims 21st-century Brazilian Roman Catholic priests Catholic socialists Christian socialist theologians Catholicism and far-left politics