In the Prelature of Lábrea or in the Diocese of Rio Branco, where the Augustinian-Recollect Family is present, activities have been carried out on the climate emergency and its consequences on the most vulnerable and support for indigenous peoples.
The Green June Campaign carried out by the Brazilian Church at the request of its Episcopal Conference (CNBB), seeks to mobilize Catholics in their commitment to integral ecology and the entire society and Administrations to implement the National Policy on Environmental Education.
The inspiration for this campaign is Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015) and has been carried out since 2021, when it was presented by the president of the CNBB to the Environment Commission of the Brazilian Senate.
In the Amazon region, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesiastical Network (REPAM) and the bishops of the region encouraged the realization of different activities in all the Prelatures and Dioceses, several of them with the presence of the Augustinian-Recollect Family.
Previously, in Brasilia, the Brazilian Church prepared its participation with some initiatives and ideology for COP 30 (United Nations Conference on Climate Change 2025), which will take place in Belém do Pará next year.
In Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, an ecological night was promoted during the Environment Day at the Loyola Space, with the theme “Indigenous peoples and Amazonian territoriality”. A seminar was also held on “Social friendship and socio-political commitment of faith in the construction of the well-being of the Peoples”.
In Rio Branco, the diocese where the bishop is the Augustinian Recollect Joaquín Pertíñez, a meeting of the Father Paulino Environmental Group was held focused on the climate crisis that the state of Acre is experiencing, with the importance of finding ways of prevention for the most vulnerable population, which is the one that suffers the most from the changes.
In Lábrea (Amazonas, Brazil), a Prelature that will celebrate its first centenary in 2025 and where the Augustinian Recollects have worked since its beginnings, a public hearing was held on June 18 organized by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) in which indigenous leaders participated together with Jônatas Andrade, judge of the National Council of Justice (CNJ).
The topic discussed at this public hearing was the rights and public policies aimed at supporting indigenous peoples in the Lábrea region, who have traditionally suffered persecution, social exclusion and the consequences of the voracious appetite for profit from the products found on their lands, such as rubber, wood or chestnuts.
The indigenous leaders presented the judge with crucial demands for the survival of their way of life and denounced the main problems currently occurring on their lands. The main local indigenous organizations (FOCIMP, OCAPIL, OJIL, OADAPIM, APIAABV) and several villages of the Apurinã, Paumari and Madiha-Deni ethnic groups were represented.
Issues such as intercultural dialogue, respect for diversity and the fundamental needs of these populations were also discussed, especially vulnerable to the lack of state presence in the region and to the difficult communications, which facilitate illegal activities and attacks on the environment.
In addition, on July 7, the XXI Pilgrimage of the Earth, the Jungle and the Waters was held, with the theme “Climate crisis: the peoples of the jungle and the waters cry out for the cure of the earth.” It began at 6:30 in the morning in the Cathedral square and carried its message of awareness and defense of the common home throughout the city, visiting each of the base communities.
The Pilgrimage ended with a Mass presided over by the Augustinian Recollect Luis Antonio Fernández in which all the banners with the slogans and awareness phrases that accompanied the demonstration were displayed.
