AMAZON: the cradle of life

      A superficial glance can fail to notice countless important details of life. With a more attentive look, we see beauties that until then did not seem to exist. After spending a good part of my priestly ministry immersed in the Amazonian forests and rivers, I learned to stop and participate in that wonder that is our beloved Amazon. There, I was able to contemplate what the Bible calls the Garden of Eden, the cradle of life. God planted there, with his own hands, all the requirements for life to be born and flourish with all its vigor and majesty.
      Each Amazonian species has its own richness and beauty. Greed threatens the Amazon in a deadly way, fighting in a desperate way, with political and economic forces, to destroy the beautiful in the name of profits. Indigenous peoples have long been threatened. They resist with untiring bravery, and seek the strength to survive and remain happy in their paradise, but the “serpent” continues to lurk, offering “poisoned apples” to those who only want to live in their Garden, in the garden of their home. They try to destroy their culture, beliefs and, not infrequently, life itself only to justify the greed of having.
      To take away the land from the indigenous people is the same as taking away their house, their mother, their life…. It is the same as killing them, slowly and painfully. For centuries, the Church has been present in this battle. In spite of its sins committed during history, it was and still is a protective shield of this reality. Now, with a more comprehensive look and prophetic courage, it puts this situation before the eyes of the world. The approaching Synod calls the attention of all groups, for or against life, and opens a necessary discussion so that life can overcome death, the beautiful can overcome profit and man can be valued more than gold or silver.
      In a speech that I heard in a village, an Indian said: “We have two mothers: the earth and the Catholic Church; one supports us, the other protects us”. Screaming, praying, fighting for Amazonia is an obligation on all those who believe in life as the work of God. To defend Amazonia is to fight for everything that is most beautiful and harmonious that God has given us as a gift so that we can learn to recognize Him in the wonders He has done and continues to do for us.

Jorge de Oliveira, MSC (São Paulo´s Province)