AMERICA/BRAZIL - A missionary: "The Church accompanies the peoples of the Amazon on their path of joy and authenticity"

Saturday, 27 March 2021 amazon   indigenous  

Santarém (Agenzia Fides) - "The wounds inflicted on the environment in the Amazon are not only a serious ecological, social and political problem, but they directly involve the Church because the defense of human life is involved". This is how Father João Messias Sousa, of the Order of Friars Minor, explains to Fides the difficult living conditions of the indigenous populations who live in the Amazon rainforest, increasingly threatened by the exploitation of the land, rivers, raw materials and nature.
"Many of these communities - explains Father João - are in the process of being sued against the State for the grabbing of their territories, which in many cases facilitates the authorization of economic activities on those lands". Fr. Sousa has been working for years in a mission in Brazil, in support of the Munduruku people, in the area of the Rio Tapajós basin, in the north of the country: "For 25 years this area has suffered a progressive impoverishment - points out the missionary - Garimeperos, the gold diggers, are polluting the river's waters with mercury, causing the fish to die and depriving the Munduruku of their main livelihood". Land grabbing, timber theft, precious metal extraction, and pollution actually threaten the very survival of many indigenous communities in Brazil.
According to a report drawn up by the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), in the Latin American country in 2020 there were 109 cases of "invasions for possession, illegal exploitation of natural resources and various damage to heritage", while in 2019 there were 96 cases. The number of reported murders also increases, which see indigenous people as victims, often social leaders who fight for their rights: there were 135 cases in 2020. In 2019, 110 cases of murder had been registered. "The Amazonian peoples - argues the Franciscan - have never been so threatened as at this time: there are still residual traces of a colonizing past that has generated representations of inferiority and demonization of indigenous cultures".
In addition, the coronavirus is seriously affecting indigenous peoples "who have no access to any treatment and do not know how to deal with a pandemic like this - says the priest - in Santarém, local authorities opened a field hospital but only a month ago", he says.
According to Father Sousa, "it is important to accompany these people, walking with them, helping them to build a peaceful future". "The specific reality of the Amazon - he concludes – today challenges the conscience of every believer and of every person of good will, with the commitment to follow a common path, so that their identity is preserved". (ES) (Agenzia Fides, 27/3/2021)


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