"We raise the voice for the Amazon"

The Latin American Episcopal Council (Celam) issued a statement on Thursday, August 22, 2019 in which it sounded the alarm

The Amazon is plagued by fierce fires. The Latin American Episcopal Council (Celam) issued a statement on Thursday, August 22, 2019;  it was written and signed by: Monsignor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, Archbishop of Trujillo (Peru),  Cardinal    Odilo Pedro Scherer,  Archbishop of Sao Paulo (Brazil),  Cardinal  Leopoldo José Brenes Solorzano,    Archbishop of Managua (Nicaragua), Monsignor Rogelio Cabrera Lopez,  Archbishop of Monterrey (Mexico) and Monsignor Juan Carlos Cardenas Toro, Auxiliary Bishop of Calli, Colombia. They are sounding the alarm.

Below is the text of this document:

"Faced with the gigantic fires that ravage the fauna and flora in Alaska, Greenland, Siberia, the Canary Islands and especially in the Amazon, we, Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, want to express our concern about the seriousness of this tragedy which has not only a local and regional impact but also a global impact.

The hope given by the next Amazonian Synod, summoned by Pope Francis, is now tainted by the pain of this environmental tragedy. To the indigenous brothers and sisters who live in this territory that we love so much, we want to express our closeness to them and join  our voices to their voices to cry out to the world solidarity and urgent help to put an end to this devastation.

The Synod Preparatory Document prophetically warns: "In the Amazon rainforest, of vital importance to the planet, a profound crisis has been triggered by a prolonged human intervention dominated by a" culture of waste " (LS  16) and an extraction mentality. The Amazon is a region with a rich biodiversity; it is multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-religious, a mirror of all humanity that, in defense of life, requires structural and personal changes of all human beings, states and the Church. The reflections of the Special Synod go far beyond the strictly  Amazonian ecclesial  framework, for they extend to the universal Church and even to the future of the entire planet. (Instrumentumlaboris  for the Synod for the Amazon).

We call on the governments of the Amazonian countries, particularly Brazil and Bolivia, the United Nations and the international community to take serious urgent measures to save the world's lungs. What is happening in the Amazon has not only a local dimension but also and above all, a global dimension. If the Amazon suffers, the world suffers.

We recall the words of Pope Francis to "ask, please, all those who occupy roles of responsibility in the economic, political or social, to all men and women of good will: (that ) we are "guardians" of the creation, of God's design inscribed in nature, guardians of the other, of the environment; do not allow signs of destruction and death to accompany the march of our world "(Homily of Pope Francis, March 19, 2013). "

To download the original document (in spanish), click on the icon