8. Pastoral priorities

The pastoral organization of the Parish of Saint Rita has modified its priorities, according to the social changes and the identification of the principal problems and difficulties. The definition of these priorities permits at the same time knowledge of the social surroundings, and things which the Church has considered most important to fight for.

Many of these priorities are similar to the rest of the Prelature, and are common for all the parishes. They are defined in assemblies, and this allows for materials to be designed, and common actions organized for a better use of resources.

Until the end of the 70’s, parishes defined their programmes in an individual way. Also the lack of religious impeded pastoral work, outside of what was implied in a parish day by day: liturgies, catechesis, sacraments, visits to rural communities, and in many cases educational and sanitary responsibilities…

In 1979, there were plans for a General Assembly, proceeding from parish assemblies. But, the idea did not materialize. Finally, in December 1983, they celebrated the first General Assembly. Since then, and together with the Prelature, the priorities of the parish in Tapaua were agreed upon. The grouping shows the distinct General Assemblies celebrated in the year, indicated in the first column:

 

A. Up to the last decade of the 20^th Century

Until 1991 we can see special attention given to Grass Root Communities, the Indigenous, the care of the Earth and Popular Movements. This came from:

• A significant rise in the rural zone of the presence of itinerary work teams that formed Grass Root communities in the most important population centres in the Purus. Only small isolated communities, or those which came from a Protestant culture, were left aside. There was also an increase in the number of Chapels and multifunctional buildings which served as schools, social centres and chapels for the towns.
• Most of the ethnic indigenous managed to start, and in time, complete the marking out of their lands. The complaints to the Council of Indigenous Missions (CIMI) and frequent visits provided an effective recognition of the rights of indigenous culture. Some of these relations, especially in those of the Rivers Tapaua and Cunhuã, despite being in the territory of Tapaua, were managed by the pastoral team for the Indigenous in Labrea. There were only significant tensions when it came to marking out the Apurinã village of São João with the municipal headquarters. The wider population feared a restriction in the possibilities for expansion in the city. Only one non-indigenous community, Enseada, had to disappear in order to not occupy lands dedicated to the Indians, in 2014.
• The confrontation, and even violence, between the indigenous and the non-indigenous in the rural zone stopped occurring. The Catholic Church allowed them to see that they had a lot in common. They were victims of land poaching by land owners and traders, from intensive fishing in lakes and tributaries, of the obliviousness of the authorities and the lack of health and education services. The Church helped them to combine forces and be protectors of the forest, with a rational and not an exploitive use of its resources. Where there are communities of indigenous or ribeirinhos, there is no deforestation or loss of biological treasures.
• Although the Prelature achieved important advances in terms of social movements, especially in Labrea and Pauiní, in Tapaua there was never an agreement with syndicates and cooperatives. An example is the continued attempt to organize a syndicate for the washerwomen, who didn’t want to come together for fear of losing clients as contracts might be given to those who were not associated.

B. The dawn of the 21^st Century

The assemblies in 1991 and 1995 continued to work on previous responsibilities. But with continuous planning and well-formed work teams the rural zone, other necessities pressed on the Church. In particular, the family, young people and children. For the 90’s were years of great efforts to establish a structure that saved the lives of thousands of mothers and babies, and to work with adolescents. This desire for a more concrete attention to the family was slowly worked on.

— Teenagers and young people

Shortly after arriving in Tapaua in 1964 the Augustinian Recollects created the movement of the Infant Crusaders, with children after their First Communion. Many of them lovingly kept the small ribbon which identified them, and It was the first project with children and young people undertaken criterias of growth.

In 1965, the religious encountered one of the greatest problems in the society of Tapaua which today continues: the difficult step from childhood to adolescence, in which many make decisions which will later have grave consequences for the rest of their lives. When the fervour of the First Communion has passed then with puberty the adolescents looking for role models “are victims of the disastrous consequences of their age and they isolate themselves from previous friends; (…) they find it necessary to create for themselves another environment that would take them from childish fears, in search of an environment which satisfies them”.

One of the first children’s parks in Tapaua was financed by the Local Government but built by the religious, in this case by Enéas Berilli. It was one of the few public spaces for playing and having fun, together with college Sports Centres built with public funds from 1970 onwards. In 1973, they obtained through the Brazilian Legion of Assistance, some sewing machines, ovens, a motor to grind mandioca, and sports materials. It was a first attempt to establish professional education for young people. But for more than thirty years, since the foundation of the city, young people were without their own spaces. In the 90’s the concerns of the Church become materialized in new groups and services for children and adolescents, which continue today.

The Infant Missionaries: although they attend to the smallest children, the helpers are adolescents and young people who take on an important responsibility and evangelize the children through activities, games and workshops. The helpers, in turn, receive an education and also fill their free time with the smallest children, mutually supporting one another.

Pastoral Youth Work: in the 90’s they developed a group of Pastoral Youth with specific activities; a mixture of leisure activities and education in values. This, together with a promotion of culture and personal skills in areas like music, and also recently special retreats during the Carnivals in the retreat house Casiciaco on Lake Jacinto… All of this allows for growth in a place of joy and participation.

The Hope Centre: in 1998, they started to use an idea that had been very successful in Labrea since 1994. The idea came about because adolescents and young people, from twelve to eighteen years old, have a school day of only five hours. For the other nineteen they are unsupervised, and left alone they are in some areas exposed to drug trafficking. The Purus is one of the least secure main routes between Bolivia, Peru and Brazil.

The result of this cocktail of ingredients is manifested in delinquency, drug dependence, teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual abuse and commercial exploitation, child and slave labour and school truancy. The Church faced with this could not be unconcerned.

The Hope Centre offers alternatives for semi-professional learning, snacks and games activities. It is a pastoral activity, but not proselytizing, open to any young person and adolescent from whatever religion. It was born in the catechesis halls of the main Church, but from 2005 relies on its own installations. They have managed to build up various buildings: halls, a kitchen, a green space and a sports centre, thanks to the funding attained by the Augustinian Recollect Family, (their colleges in Spain, the religious’ families, and the Augustinian Recollect NGO’s Haren Alde and La Esperanza [Hope]; from Lodosa, Navarra, Spain) and various social projects. They also aimed to decentralize the structures within the city of Tapaua, establishing themselves in the borough of Açaí. Which is one of the most populated, with the lowest duties per person in the municipality; it is based around the community of St. Augustine’s.

The students in the Hope Centre have to be registered in the school, in two groups of morning and afternoon, where the centre offers various workshops for nearly 150 young people of both sexes. Given the structure of the local society many of them are not Catholics. They learn dressmaking and sewing, embroidery, music (piano and guitar), I.T., help with school, and they organize sports and leisure activities.

The Centre gained the recognition and appreciation of the people; and on this premise and, seeing that their work was really necessary in Tapaua, they managed to negotiate with local authorities for their help. In terms of people (teachers, co-ordinators, and helpers), at various times some of them have received wages from local Government. For the necessary material in the workshops, and for some building work, they have relied on the Amazon State Government since 2001.

In 2009 they organized all the helpers, and teachers, as registered workers for Social Security. The economic cost was important, for in this way they stopped being “volunteers”, and the demands of a contract for work permitted stability in order to offer workshops and courses. If a volunteer is not there the problem is difficult to resolve, but an employed person has important obligations on work hours, professional standards and attention to details. Maybe part of the Centre’s initial philosophy was lost, but it has gained in organization, and in offering to the children and adolescents what is really important: education, enjoyment and healthy living.

— Pregnant women and early infancy

The pastoral attention to Infants came to the Prelature of Labrea in 1993. They attended to pregnant mothers and those who had recently given birth; children up to five years old. A religious attended a course in Manaus in order to introduce it in the Prelature. Two years later in 1995 there were already five pastoral groups in the city of Tapaua, as well as another two in some rural communities. They were organized with a shared methodology for the whole country. It is efficient, saves thousands of lives, and is simple and easy to start up.

The trained volunteers carry a personalized card of every boy or girl, in which they monitor their state of health and control their weight. With prevention as the main aim, they teach the mothers to manage the growth of their small ones and to prepare local foods which are not expensive, but rich in nutrients. In Tapaua their work has been broadened to cover the entire rural zone.

— The Family

The Assemblies of 1991, 1995, 1998 and 2000 referred expressly to one of the greatest social problems in Tapaua: the family. The vast majority of non-indigenous inhabitants came here for rubber exploitation; they were almost entirely men, many were illiterate, and lived in a very hostile and poor environment.

This built up a very chauvinistic society, in which women had no hope of progress. Human relationships were occasional and based on prime instincts, not on affectivity and with a hope of future projection. The family was an unstructured entity with lots of abandoned single women, and with a culture of female exploitation at home.

Alcoholism and drug dependency have been a traditional “escape” from a meaningless life without a future. The woman has been instrumentalized, and reduced to working at home and looking after the children. The percentage of abuse at home was, and still is, higher when the isolated community where they live is small. Abandoning the home, and an unwillingness to take on educational responsibilities and caring for children, have been common in men.

The role of women in the Western society and in the same Church has varied over time, as has the understanding of their specific needs. Only relatively recently has there been a consideration of the integral respect of women and of their possibilities as agents for social change, along with their specific rights and freedoms. In a place like Tapaua, given the conditions, they are still in a situation in which many changes need to be made.

For this reason, the pastoral attention to families has been a priority since the 90’s. There have been various attempts, but not always with the desired fruits, for this pastoral situation is far worse in places like Labrea or Canutuma who started the work.

Four events helped the family to be one of the focuses for pastoral action in Tapaua, from 1994. Firstly, the Fraternity Campaign with the slogan “How is the family?”, enabling for the first time reflection in an open way on this situation in all the pastoral groups.

The other three events were of great social impact: a young girl who was between life and death for weeks after an underground abortion; the free sterilization of women being as used as an attractive political campaign; and lastly this was the year in which the fewest Church weddings were celebrated, and there was a strong drop in the number of baptisms.

At the moment the movement Marriage Encounter with Christ (EEC) is collaborating in this task. In 2004 they formed the first EEC in Tapaua, with thirty couples taking part. It is a spiritual and social movement. It is spiritual because the families reflect together on the Word of God, pray and are formed about what a Christian marriage is and what is expected. It is social because solidarity is one of the main bases for the family as a social unit. For this reason, they have been given the responsibility of, for example, organizing the Christmas solidarity campaigns, or that of promoting a real and effective solidarity that gives testimony of how the Christian family acts.

In the last General Assembly of the Prelature in 2013, pastoral family issues have returned as a principal priority in the pastoral agenda. The family continues to be one of the most important concerns, for the work is hard and the results are not what one would expect. Especially given a context where the consciousness of its importance as a primary social structure is lacking.

— Other important aspects in the 90’s

The General Assembly in 1998 drew up some priorities which did not seem to follow the logic of previous assemblies. For it now focused on more general points of national character, as indicated by the General Directorates of Pastoral Action in the Brazilian Church.

Tithing has been one of the ways that the Brazilian Church has found in order to be self-financing. It is about families that collaborate economically with their Church, in order to be able to have celebrations and pastoral services. For this reason, they ask for about ten per cent of all their earnings to be dedicated to finance the Church, from liturgical celebrations to catechesis or charitable works.

The larger works of infrastructure undertaken by the Parish of Saint Rita’s have been financed in general from outside, thanks to the help of the Augustinian Recollect Family.

In terms of normal functions, the increased effort to the rural zone has also required a big budget, which in many cases has been financed through exterior cooperation projects. The other costs are financed 30% from outside, and 70% locally through tithing on one hand and on the other the annual Saint Rita feasts. In 1976 they were celebrated for the first time in the way they do now, under the direction of the Spanish Augustinian Recollect Miguel Ángel González. That is, with a large procession, an anterior novena and civil and religious events to honour the local saint. Almost all the inhabitants come to the feasts, be they Catholics or not. During the novena every night there is a show promoted by the parish and the pastoral groups, who work hard to offer meals, musical events, theatre or dance, and in this way obtain finance for the whole year.

Report from Amazon State television on the feasts of Saint Rita in Tapaua.

Communications work has been centred on the task of the Community Educational Radio in Tapaua. The radio is the preferred public medium, less expensive to produce than others, and is easily accessible to the rural communities. For a radio works with some simple batteries, and is a companion in the frequent loneliness of these communities. At the end of the 90’s they set up the community radio with transmission of music and notices to rural communities, where there is no telephone, postal service or any other communication apart from messages sent by boat.

It has suffered many difficulties, and has counted on the support of the Parish of Saint Monica’s in Zaragoza (Spain), who have been sensitive to this need. It has required costly legal procedures, special equipment that cannot be acquired in the Amazons, and the effects of weather like lightening which have forced lots of repairs.

In 2005 it moved to a new studio, in the same main square. What started with a few volunteers playing music, has opened itself to local education and to specific pastoral programmes. They continue today to look for a better quality service which is more professional, and more pastoral as a good for all society.

C. The 21st Century: the evangelization of politics and society

In the year 2007 the 10^th General Assembly treated a thorny issue which could no longer be ignored: the evangelization of politics and the commitment of the Church as the voice of the poor and denouncing prophetically the abuse of power. It was a methodical task, highly specialized, and a cause of tensions. The proposal centred itself on denouncing corruption, and promoting citizenship and sustainable development. None of these three areas were going to be a bed of roses.

If you use a search engine for news in order to know what they say about Tapaua, the interested reader will find a high percentage of news about corruption, political violence and the embezzlement of public funds. Moreover, in a search for images the first that appears is the Mayor’s house in Tapaua in flames, after the protesters set fire to it in November 2013.

The Mayor’s house in Tapaua, set alight by protestors.

This tension has accompanied Tapaua since the beginning, and the religious have not been exempt from violence. One of the characteristics of the Augustinian Recollects in Tapaua on arriving was in fact their political intervention. Something which obeyed more personal impulse that instructions from the Prelature, maybe a personal vocation of Victório Henrique Cestaro. He directly supported the candidates in elections, and on returning from his travels found out about the “secondary effects” of political action. That was: idle gossip, threats, tension with the “opposition” …

In the campaign of 1963 one of the anecdotes featured the religious Saturnino Fernandez, who during one of the rallies showed his disagreement with the candidate who was speaking by putting a shoe on his legs; imitating the gesture of Nikita Jrushchov in the UN.

From the first reports the religious talk of political corruption: “They also commentated, behind the scenes, that private wealth and personal economic interests prejudiced public funds”. Up until now, Tapaua has been one of the most punished municipals for problems of corruption. That is mixed attempts at containing political violence, elections with uncertain results… With the religious being frequently disparaging voices.

In 1964, after the candidate they supported had won, the two Augustinian Recollects in Tapaua received political roles in the Municipal Organ of Primary Education (OMEP). Nowacki was named director and Cesatro secretary; but after seven months both stepped down, deceived for not being able to achieve any of the plans they believed were necessary.

More curious was the situation of the elections in November 1968. In this one of the religious, Enéas Berilli, was a candidate for Mayor without making a campaign, and giving the victory to the other candidate since the beginning. The new government, opposed to the candidature of the religious’ , named Cestaro as responsible for the Municipal Service of Roadworks. He resigned in 1970, coinciding with his final and definitive departure from the community. He left the religious life and dedicated himself to politics and law; he was chosen as councillor in Manaus between 1977 and 1982.

During the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s the experience of daily pastoral action frequently led to complaints by the religious about the lack of action by political authorities in the rural zone. This included the state of health care or education. One religious made more concrete complaints about the treatment of the indigenous, but in general they were years of tense calm.

The 21^st Century has brought a significant worsening of the situation. In 2010, reports by the religious describe the political situation like this: “In October 2008 they celebrated the municipal elections. Before taking possession, the winning candidate was imprisoned because of various charges of injustice. The second candidate became mayor, but little after had to hide himself in the forest with the previous Mayor who had helped him in the campaign. An indictment had been given to detain them both. The third candidate was there for only a few hours. Then at the end of 2009 the President of the Councillors took over as Mayor. Later, it was the turn of the vice-Mayor of the one had fled to the forest; and soon after the one who hid in the forest took over again. At the moment the President of the Councillors is Mayor again. Tomorrow nobody knows… Who suffers is the people, because almost everything is at a standstill”.

In 2013 things had not improved very much: “Fury in Tapaua. This was the headline of the Amazon newspaper Em tempo on the 16^th of November. It reflected what had happened the day before. Families and municipal functionaries felt humiliated by the local administration: months of late wages, uncompleted promises, flippant comments. Some people went to raid the local Government destroying computers, documentation and part of the infrastructure. Then they went to the Mayor’s house, who is often not seen in the town and was in Manaus, and they set fire to his house completely destroying it. From now on, the people expect respect and improvements although there is division amongst the people, and about the consequences of the destructive means used. In these moments Tapaua is left without what it was waiting for”.

In 2015 the local civil servant had gone four months without pay, and there was a confrontation and enmity between the Mayor and the judge. The legislative power has not proceeded to ask for the Mayor to end his tenure. It is said this is because eight of the twelve Councillors capable of voting have received 50,000 reals to inhibit this obligatory destitution, (the minimum salary is 788 reals).

The Church has worked since that 10^th Assembly on awareness and education about rights and citizenship, helping to put pressure on the authorities. One of the most notable successes has been the protection of the native population of the Abufarí. A federal law preserved this biological gem against the foreign predators. But this also meant that the local population (2,000 people) were condemned to starvation by the prohibition to fish, plant or hunt. They managed to get a Republic Senator to visit Tapaua and change its condition to extra-activist reserve. This guaranteed the survival of the local population, and converted them into guardians of this ecological treasure against outside aggression.

In the municipal headquarters, the religious have tried to make peace insisting that violence is no way to practice politics. Tirelessly, and for decades, they have laboured so that the people would learn that to punish a bad governor in the ballot box; thus eradicating his bad behaviour. This often includes easily offering gifts or promises to candidates, in return for votes.

D. Other important pastoral actions

Fraternity Campaign. Since 1962, the Brazilian Church has every Lent a “Fraternity Campaign” on social issues, education, spirituality and concrete commitments. Some have had a special impact in Tapaua, for touching themes close to the real needs of the people. Those dedicated to the family (1977 and 1994); to minors and education (1982, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2013); to the defence of the Earth and ecology (1986, 2007); to groups like women (1990), the indigenous (2002), the elderly (2003); the victims of people trafficking (2014); to the promotion of peace and dignity (1996, 2000, 2005, 2009), or health and the defence of life (2001, 2008, 2012).

Missionary Week. In the last nine years Tapaua has come out of itself, creating solidarity with others. It recognizes that it is a poor Church, and for this reason it has wanted to share, during one weekend a year, its prayers and its goods. The local society is now more sensitive to those who are even poorer than they are, and remembering the missionaries, they have sent their goods in a very significant way to others. The now traditional Tapaua Missionary Fair has collaborated with Catholic social projects in places like Haiti, Morocco or Sierra Leone.

NEXT PAGE: 9. The indigenous issue

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