Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Brasilia (Agenzia Fides) - The Amazon Rainforest and the Continental Mission were the two main themes for the Seventh Assembly of the Northeast Region of the CNBB (National Conference of Bishops of Brazil), which includes the Dioceses of Acre, Rondônia, and Amazonas Sud. The meeting was held in Porto Velho (RO), November 13-15, and was attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Special Committee on the Amazon, Archbishop Antonio Possamai (Bishop Emeritus of Ji-Parana, Rondonia), and the Director of the Episcopal Commission for Missionary Animation, Father Altevie Jose da Silva.
Bishop Possamai said that the Amazon is increasingly well-known and this is due to certain initiatives of the CNBB. "If Amazon is now the word on everyone's lips, it is thanks to the Brotherhood Campaign 2007, which influenced not only Church environments, but all of society." The bishop stressed that "the CNBB created the Bishops' Commission for the Amazon, in order to focus Brazilian society's attention on the Amazon, which has always been the victim of exploitation resulting from the execution of major projects."
According to Bishop, we must learn from the experiences of the communities of the Amazon and learn about the natural wealth of the region and the lives of its people. "The people of the Amazon have never been asked what interests them. Its cry has always been despised because of the interests of foreign capital. The situation of cities is increasingly precarious. There are many slums forming in the capital. The increase in population will decide how the evangelization of new migrants will go,” he pointed out.
The Chairman of the Commission for Missionary Animation of the CNBB, Father Altevie, stressed that the mission is for the Church: "The mission is like a process that radiates the Gospel of Jesus Christ in history, and this applies to all peoples and all cultures, because to know Jesus Christ through faith is our joy, following Him is a grace and passing this treasure on to others is the task we have as chosen people." According to Father Altevie the Continental Mission is a process that requires many years of work and that "starting from the personal and community with Jesus Christ, hopes to involve the whole Church, in a permanent state of mission." (CE) (Agenzia Fides 20/11/2009)
