Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) - As part of the activities promoted for the "Laudato Sì Week", the National Commission for Justice and Peace is promoting for today, May 21, at 6 pm, a symbolic embrace to thousands of people in Argentina and Latin America, thus expressing solidarity and closeness to the population of the Argentine provinces of Chubut and Catamarca. "With this embrace - reads the note sent to Fides - we join the cry of people and nature, who see their systems of life and the care of creation threatened by mining projects in the open, with the removal of thousands of tons of rock and soil and the processing of the material sprayed with enormous quantities of water with cyanide". The Justice and Peace Commission recalls in this circumstance the resolution of the European Parliament (B7-0240/2010) for the ban in Europe of mines that use cyanide, due to its "catastrophic and irreversible impact on the environment and human health, since there are alternative technologies".
Therefore he stresses that mining is a valuable economic activity, "when it is done with care for the environment, nature and people, including an equitable distribution of risks and benefits".
The mining sector that extracts minerals in the open must be inspired by the ethical principles that emerge from the Laudato Sì and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, is reaffirmed by the Commission, asking for the application of new technologies compatible with the care of creation and people, to transform into sustainable mining. Therefore governments must present the new technologies to citizens through binding plebiscites, and entrust control of the activity to public bodies, scientists and community organizations living in the territory where the extraction will take place. The text of the Justice and Peace Commission concludes by asking God the Father "To send us the Holy Spirit, to enlighten hearts and guide us in the search for common paths towards fully sustainable mining". From 16 to 25 May 2021, the "Laudato Sì Week" takes place all over the world, on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the care of our common home. The 2021 edition of the Week also celebrates the closing of the Laudato Sì Special Anniversary Year. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 21/5/2021)
