Carlos Duarte Costa: The Life, Times and Testament of a Socialist Bishop - Revised Edition

Who was Carlos Duarte Costa? Some called him "courageous and democratic," "the antifascist bishop," and the "Rebel in Rio." Others called him "completely misguided," "disturbed," and a "psychical anomaly." He was an outspoken critic of capitalism, imperialism, fascism, and the Vatican, and he sought to expose the links between them. Duarte Costa preached the compatibility of socialism and Christianity, decades before his old friend Hélder Câmara described himself as a socialist bishop.

Duarte Costa was both prophetic and pioneering, anticipating Catholic debate (and dissent) over celibacy, divorce, religious freedom, and clericalism by several decades. His groundbreaking 1945 Manifesto is presented here with comprehensive commentary, analysis, context, and explanatory references. The Manifesto is both a handbook for dissenting Catholics and a forerunner of Liberation Theology, offering an impassioned Marxist-inspired critique of organized Christianity, capitalism, and the papacy.

Carlos Duarte Costa: The Life, Times and Testament of a Socialist Bishop details this renegade bishop's extraordinary contribution in multiple areas and discusses his lasting legacy. In an age when the relationship between faith and politics is more hotly debated than ever, the words and witness of this unique individual are as relevant, incisive and portentous as they were eighty years ago.

***** "With rigor and meticulousness, Edward Jarvis' book fills a gap in the knowledge of a key figure in world Catholicism. It represents, in fact, the first systematic study of an individual considered by many to be a precursor of the Christian Left, particularly of Latin American Liberation Theology, and of the reform movements that arose in the Roman Catholic Church in the second half of the twentieth century." - Mauro Castagnaro