Dialogue on Life
and Mining
Open letter from
religious and lay stewards
of the goods of
creation in Latin America
We are
religious and lay men and women from Latin America moved by the critical
situation of our peoples vis-à-vis the extractive industry—they are impacted
day after day by the destruction of Creation, by the indiscriminate
exploitation of common goods, and by the repression and exclusion that causes
social conflicts, infringes human rights, and destroys vital ecosystems.
We seek
to develop joint strategies to respond to this complex reality, illuminated by
the Gospel.
In
November 2013 we met in Lima as an exploratory group. This initiative emerged
out of the concrete experiences of those who are working where there is
conflict over extractive projects.
In Peru,
which is the Latin American country with the best economic-development indicators,
the Ombudsman’s Office has reported that mining is the principle source of
social conflict. In all of our countries extractivism is source of constant and
serious conflicts.
A total
of thirty people attended the meeting, from El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and also religious and lay
representatives from international agencies including VIVAT International, Franciscans
International, Mercy International (NGOs of different religious congregations
at the UN) and the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation office of the OFM
Franciscans in Rome. The process was supported and accompanied by Misereor, the
development agency of the Catholic Church in Germany.
In
recent years, the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), several dioceses
and conferences of Catholic bishops, as well as the Latin American Council of
Churches (CLAI) have explored and discussed the conflicts caused by large-scale
mining and energy-related projects in our countries.
Christian
communities, in many cases, have played key roles in resisting these projects,
in the defense of rights and local traditions and in search of alternatives to
this developmentist and plundering model stemming from colonialism.
These grassroots Christian
organizations felt the need to revive the network among themselves and the
institutional Church in an ecumenical spirit.
The
context is extremely challenging: Christian
leaders pastors that defend communities, the environment, and workers from the
impact of mining are increasingly criminalized and persecuted, they find
themselves isolated and sometimes without the support of church institutions or
the congregations to which they belong. Several catechists, sisters, priests
and pastors have been murdered, threatened or removed from the communities with
whom they lived and struggled.
Indigenous or traditional
peoples are the most affected by large-scale extractive projects. They suffer negative
health impacts; their traditional territories are devastated, their cultures
and spiritualties are threatened.
We are concerned about the
attacks on the rights of indigenous people which have been so arduously earned
over the last decades, under pressure from mining companies. Native peoples are
not being respected in what concerns their right to veto the construction of
large-scale hydroelectric or mineral exploration on the territories that belong
to their ancestors.
Given
this concerning panorama, there is a deep need to strengthen the alliances among
those who have taken up the Christian mission to care for Creation, including
strengthening the dialogue with the hierarchies of our churches. We were very happy to have the Brazilian
bishop Monsignor Guilherme Werlang[1]
participating in the Lima meeting, as well as the support that Pope Francis expressed
for the struggle against large-scale mining[2]
in a recent meeting in Rome. These are
important signs for the future.
During
this first meeting in Lima, we identified some shared work and strategies for
the future:
- We
want to contribute to a biblical and theological re-reading of the fundamental
principles of the Christian commitment to justice, peace and the integrity
of creation (JPIC). We wish to
deepen the relationship between the sacred values of the traditions of our
peoples, the culture of ‘Buen Vivir’
(Good Living) and the Christian message, in a common commitment to
defend life. We will work to incorporate these themes in the popular
education of Christian communities.
- We
want to dialogue with the institutional Catholic Church, with networks of evangelical
churches, and with the leaders of our religious congregations. We will seek
to strengthen our dialogue with CLAI and to promote a gathering for
reflection and retreat in which representatives of the communities
affected by mining may call on the Vatican to protect and defend their
rights and ways of life.
- We
wish to build bridges among affected communities and international
institutions working to defend human rights, via the mission of religious congregations
working at the United Nations, the JPIC leadership at the national and
international level, and in international networks in the struggle against
the impacts of mining.
To
this end, we invite religious men and women and lay leaders of Latin America
who are conscious of this urgency and willing to commit to the defense of
communities affected by mining to join in the ongoing discussion of these
points.
We want to meet
again in Brazil toward the end of 2014 to reaffirm these
and new commitments, together with a larger and more connected group, so that
our peoples feel the churches by their side and so that everything, in them,
can have life in abundance.
Lima, November 4-5,
2013
Ofelia Vargas –
Peru – Grufides
Pablo Sanchez – Peru
– Grufides
Juan Goicochea – Peru
– Comboni Missionaries
René Flores –
Honduras – Franciscan Order of Friars Minor
César Espinoza –
Honduras – Claretian Missionaries
Donald Hernandes –
Honduras – CEPRODEH
Filomeno Ceja –
Guatemala – Comboni Missionaries
Juan de La Cruz - Ecuador - Salesians
Dário Bossi – Brazil
– Comboni Missionaries
Danilo Chammas –
Brazil – Justiça nos Trilhos
Rodrigo Peret – Brazil
– Franciscan Order of Friars Minor
Gilberto Pauwels –
Bolivia – Oblates of Immaculate Mary
Adriel Ruiz –
Colombia – Diocesan priest
Cesar Correa –
Chile – Columban’s Missionaries
César Padilla –
Chile – OCMAL
Ana Maria Siufi –
Argentina – Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Fábio Ferreira –
Rome – Franciscan Order of Friars Minor
Jean Paul Pezzi – USA
– Comboni Missionaries
Seamus Finn – USA –
Oblates of Immaculate Mary
Amanda Lyons – USA –
Franciscans International
Aine O'Connor – USA
– Sisters of Mercy, Mercy International Association at the UN
Zélia Cordeiro - USA
– Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit/VIVAT International
For contacts and
more information: iglesiaymineria@gmail.com
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