The Bishops' Reply

When Brazil's army overthrew Leftist Joao Goulart in 1964, the generals declared war on Communism, corruption and -- it would almost seem -- the Roman Catholic Church. Fearful that Brazil's liberal, reform-minded church was spreading agitation in the depressed Northeast, the generals hauled in priests and bishops alike for questioning, forced several into "voluntary" exile, and cracked down on such "subversive" church organizations as labor syndicates and classes to teach adults to read.

Led by Recife's spunky little (5 ft. 4 in., 120 Ibs.) Archbishop Helder. Pessoa Camara, 57, the church fought back. Four months ago, Camara refused to officiate at a special Mass celebrating the second anniversary of the coup because local army headquarters had demanded that he submit his sermon to censorship. In July, Dom Helder led 16 Northeastern bishops in a statement criticizing the regime for "injustices committed against the workers, whether they concern questions of salaries, pressure against class organization, or the innumerable transgressions of labor laws."

That was too much for Fourth Army Commander General Damasceno Portugal, the top officer in the Northeast. Portugal promptly prohibited Recife newspapers from publishing the statement, ordered up an editorial attack on Camara. Meantime, one of his trusted local commanders sent out secret circulars to Northeast churchmen branding Dom Helder an "agitator of men and ideas" and a "leftist"--and even accusing him of promoting the development of the rival Anglican Church. Camara's response was to demand television time so that he and his bishops could prove they were not Communists. Snapped Bishop Antonio Fragoso of Crateus: "To think that the bishops who defend the peasants and workers against injustice are subversive is to play the obvious game of the Communists."

As relations frayed to the breaking point, President Humberto Castello Branco flew to Recife fortnight ago for a 40-minute chat with Camara. The talk was secret, but its results were evident. Last week Castello Branco ordered the truculent General Portugal and his two top aides transferred out of the Northeast, named moderate officers to replace them.

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