Pastoral of Children. Labrea, Amazon, Brazil. June 2024.

In the first case, they have held an edition of the “Cooperative Itinerant Justice” program, while in the second case, they have brought together young missionaries from the rural and urban areas of Lábrea to promote social and spiritual action.

The Pastoral of Children, a social action of the Catholic Church in Brazil, cares for children under five years of age, their mothers and pregnant women. It carries out its task of accompaniment, which includes monitoring prevention, health, hygiene and nutrition, throughout the country, including the most remote areas and the populations most forgotten by public policies and investments.

In the Prelature of Lábrea, their work has been essential for decades, preventing malnutrition and serious health problems in their beneficiaries. Among their regular activities are home visits and group meetings in which personalized forms are filled out for each child (weight, growth, nutrition) and training workshops are held on hygiene, healthy eating, prevention actions, appropriate use of water and waste…

In the municipality of Lábrea, this Pastoral implemented at the end of June the first edition of the “Cooperative Amazonian Itinerant Justice Program”. This is a collaboration with the Judiciary System to ensure the civil rights of those who live furthest from the Administration of Justice.

Thus, the Pastoral of Children promotes citizenship and access to justice for all people, the assurance of their rights, offers real data and statistics to the Judiciary and promotes actions of environmental justice in places where there is little presence of the State and a high rate of litigation of great impact and complexity.

The program day in Lábrea included workshops on making toys with waste materials; the recovery of traditional games, stories and music; the discussion of topics; artistic expression; and the use of new technologies in favor of citizen awareness. Many of the families served are single-parent, with a woman in a vulnerable situation and with little income at the head of a large family.

On the other hand, a few weeks earlier the Missionary Youth (EJUM, in its Portuguese acronym) of the urban area of Lábrea promoted a meeting of young people in the rural community of Praia de Pirão, 10 kilometers down the Purús River.

The meeting lasted a weekend and included activities such as home visits, talks, group discussions, distribution of basic necessities and liturgical celebrations, under the motto “Invite everyone to the banquet.”

This year, the decrease in the flow of the Purús River due to the dry season has been more pronounced, leaving many of its inhabitants without fish and reducing agricultural production. For this reason, the Missionary Youth promoted the collection of food that was distributed to families.

Members of the Missionary Youth from the neighboring Diocese of Humaitá also participated in this meeting, including religious and clergy; the Augustinian Recollect Fr.Sergio Pérez, from the local community of Lábrea; and Sister Magdalena for the Propagation of the Faith in Brazil, Genilson Sousa, participated virtually with a training session on the history, identity and profile of the young missionary. There were also training sessions on anxiety, a problem faced by thousands of young people around the world, and another on supporting young mothers who find themselves alone at an important moments in their lives.