Father Giovanni Manco, a PIME missionary, tells from Santaremle the tragedies of a bled and plundered land. But also the challenges left by the Synod wanted by Pope Francis in 2019
Last year I worked for six months in Santarem, in the Brazilian Amazon, where I had already been as a young PIME missionary, to collaborate in the archdiocese in the theological, philosophical and anthropological formation of the clergy, laity and future local priests. What I have found is no longer the Amazon I had known almost 25 years ago, when I was ordained a deacon in Laranjal do Jari, a famous riverside favela of a thousand contradictions in the state of Amapá. I found myself in front of a forest bled dry by the continuous burned (arson), relentless deforestation and manipulation of the soil for the cultivation of soy which, according to the former populist president Bolsonaro, was supposed to enrich the local indigenous populations. From a social point of view, I met a people polarized in the conflict between those who support the extractivist ideology and those who justly want to defend the Amazonian environment, according to the indications also offered by the Synod held in the Vatican three years ago and by the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis dear amazon.
In 2022, 10.5 million square meters of forest were lost: the highest level in 15 years.
In one year, the Amazon has lost the equivalent of 3,000 football fields a day. This was revealed in a report by the Amazon Institute which since 2008 has been dedicated to monitoring the conservation of the rainforest, essentially based on satellite images. According to the organization, 2022 was a record year, the worst since 2007, in terms of destruction of square kilometers of forest, also marking an increase for the fifth consecutive year.
The analysis of the Synod and the relative recipe for the safeguard of the Amazon were correct: they highlighted the need for the local populations – made up of original peoples, caboclos and peasants – once again become the true guardians of this land. But the policies pursued – first with Lula and Rousseff, then with Bolsonaro – have set no limits to the devastation. On the contrary, in recent years there have been campaigns of actual occupation and extraction of minerals in huge territories inhabited by prospectors which have polluted the groundwater of many tributaries of the lush Amazon River.
Faced with this scenario, how to think of the Amazon with its enormous biodiversity in a project of sustainable development in all its dimensions? What riches are those that are transformed into unregulated economic greed? How should the State interact with the actors involved in an active or passive way and what are the tools that must be used to exercise this function?
We are at a critical turning point in the history of the planet, at a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future holds both great dangers and great opportunities. To move forward we must recognize that, amidst such a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms, we are one human family and one community with a common destiny. We must come together to build a sustainable global society, founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace. To this end it is imperative that we all declare our responsibility towards one another and towards future generations.
The Amazon has always been considered as a land of conquest, since the end of the 19th century, with the opportunities offered by the “black gold” of rubber and the incentive offered to the 300,000 inhabitants of North-East Brazil by the government to migrate to this area. The inauguration of the great Trans-Amazon highway took place in 1972, the same year in which the bishops of the region met for the first time in Santarem and in which the Indigenist Missionary Council (Cimi) was founded. Since then, the pharaonic projects of unsustainable development have never stopped, all characterized by a model that aims only to withdraw raw materials (latex, timber, gold, minerals, oil, gas, water), with cheap labor , sometimes literally sacrificed to “explore” the less accessible regions and then sell the lands to landowners or large multinational companies at ridiculously low prices.
As Jesuit Father Adelson Araujo dos Santos, professor of spirituality at the Gregorian University originally from Manaus, who participated in the work of the Synod said: «The Pope was inspired to look at this region of the world, just today. And the key word is conversion: a change of both personal and community lifestyle is requested, from cities to states, so that politics and economic development avert the destruction of the environment. The “good life” of indigenous peoples (il peaceful life how do they define it quechua e Aymara) is an example of a harmonious relationship and mutual respect with nature. Above all, he points it out to us, slaves of the need to possess, he points it out to us who live without thinking about tomorrow, as if resources were inexhaustible».
As missionaries at the service of the local Churches we try to be unequivocal signs of justice and peace for these populations, taking on the projects of the diocesan commissions and of REPAM (the ecclesial network of the dioceses of the Amazon) and walking humbly alongside pastoral workers and local activists who care about the future of the region. Personally I dedicate myself to the training project for young people in youth ministry, because I am convinced that the present and the future of the world depend on their willingness to become protagonists of change.
Among the pastoral challenges posed by the vast Amazon basin are the distances and the difficulty of reaching some areas of the forest. In the debate surrounding the Synod, public opinion focused a great deal on the proposal for the ordination of “viri probati”, married men, so as not to deprive the most distant communities of access to the sacraments. Pope Francis has not taken it up, instead inviting bishops to be more generous in sending missionaries (dear amazon no. 90) and to value lay ministries and permanent deacons. Focusing on this issue, however, risks failing to show us that today a very small part of our communities live in the most remote areas. The Amazonian population is now concentrated around the cities and their suburbs where many contradictions coagulate.
In the northern suburb of Santarem, where I carry out my ministry, there are thousands of farmers from the Tapajos river basin, forced to live in the famous invasions (slums built on occupied land) without essential sanitation and without quality schools. For this reason Pope Francis has coined the phrase “everything is held”: he reminds us that the ecological question is not a luxury for dreamers, but is intimately linked to human ecology and the destiny of millions of people.
Lula da Silva’s return to the presidency in Brasilia was accompanied by deep tensions in the country, with Bolsonaro’s supporters storming the institutions’ offices. It is a clash that takes place in a key territory for the future of the planet: in 2024 Brazil will assume the presidency of the G20 while in 2025 the Amazon will host the climate conference. This is not the time for resignation and cynicism, but for the dream shared with millions of people who want to build a world of justice and peace. War and violence cannot be the last word: «Let’s learn to do good, let’s seek justice» (Is 1,17) and with a sense of great responsibility we prepare a more humane and just world for future generations.