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#TheTimeisNow: Jose Batista Afonso speaks at Closing Mass


Jose Batista Afonso

Jose Batista Afonso

CAFOD parter José Batista Afonso gave the following short address during Mass in Church House at the end of yesterday's Climate Rally.

My name is José Batista Afonso. I am a lawyer. I work for the Pastoral Land Commission of the Diocese of Marabá in the State of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon.

My work is to accompany and defend poor farming families throughout the diocese whose lands are under threat.

Pope Francis through his teachings says that when he looks at the Amazon with all its diversity of peoples, forests and vegetation he sees the entirety of Creation as described in Chapter One of Genesis.

But this Amazon is under serious threat, due to the massive expansion of cattle ranches, soya plantations, mining, deforestation and expulsion of the communities from their lands. In the last three decades 20% of the Amazon forest has been destroyed. In my diocese over the years 54 people have been assassinated and many more are living under threat, due to the expansion of agri-business.

The Church and our Pastoral Land Commission are really scared as we work in support of human rights defenders and local communities. But we and our people have so much to be grateful for because of the support we receive from you. For more than two decades CAFOD has been supporting our work: this link from Europe to Brazil is vitally important to us.

The Amazon is the region with the greatest bio-diversity on our planet, and because of that, it belongs to all of us. Pope Francis is so concerned about the Amazon that he has called a special Synod of Bishops for the Amazon later this year. And so, each and every one of us has a part to play in this struggle against climate change.

Thank you so much.


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