AMERICA/BRAZIL - A hundred Brazilian indigenous, with their Bishops, present in Puerto Maldonado

Friday, 19 January 2018

Foto di @Agencia_Andina

Porto Velho (Agencia Fides) - Pope Francis’ visit to Puerto Maldonado, beyond national borders, is considered by the indigenous peoples and the Church of the region as "the presence of the Pope in the Amazon". In this sense, the arrival of indigenous peoples from various countries is expected, including a caravan of a hundred indigenous Brazilians, who according to Rose Padilha, coordinator of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) in Western Amazon, have been preparing themselves for a month.
The native Brazilian peoples will be accompanied by some Bishops, including Mgr. Roque Paloschi, Archbishop of Porto Velho, capital of the Amazonian state of Rondonia, and President of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI). The Brazilian prelate told Fides that "the Successor of Peter is coming only to meet the brothers and sisters of this region, and above all, because he wants to listen to the indigenous peoples", noting that the presence of Pope Francis can "help our particular Churches to enlarge our hearts towards this presence together with the first inhabitants of the Amerindian lands".
Also Mgr. Joaquín Pertiñez, Bishop of Rio Branco, told Fides: "we are very happy to welcome the Pope in our Amazonian reality and to listen to his great concern for our peoples, for our earth, for the Amazon, already expressed in the encyclical Laudato Sì, in the convocation of a Synod for the Amazon and in the choice of Puerto Maldonado as the center of the Amazon region for this meeting with the indigenous peoples of our region".
Together with the meeting of Puerto Maldonado, the President of CIMI emphasizes the importance of the Synod, which "will be a very special moment, as the Pope said, to find new ways of evangelization in this region, to have a qualified presence among the Amazonian peoples, so that the Church may increasingly be a Church that goes forth, a Samaritan Church, a welcoming and serving Church, a Church capable of respecting the seeds of the Word present in the cultures of this region".
Finally, the Archbishop of Porto Velho entrusts this moment and the future works of the Church of the Amazon to "Mary, the Mother of Jesus, venerated with so many titles in this great and enchanting Amazon region, to help us row in the rivers and streams in the hope of always being faithful to the One who is the Way, Truth and Life". (LMM) (Agenzia Fides, 19/01/2018)


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