Pope's visit to Chile and Peru
confirms commitment to indigenous peoples
 |
| Chilean Mapuche woman posing outside her home in Temulemu, Temuco.- AFP |
The Director of the Holy See Press Office held a briefing on
Thursday in the Vatican to illustrate Pope Francis' upcoming pastoral journey
to Chile and Peru.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis’s upcoming apostolic visit to
Chile and Peru will take him to regions which are not only their
country’s poorest and most peripheral, but where environmental issues and
demands for indigenous land rights have even led to unrest and violence.
22nd Apostolic Visit Abroad
During a briefing for journalists in the Vatican, Holy See
Press Office Director Greg Burke illustrated the journey that
takes place from 15
to 22 January, pointing out it will be Francis’ 22nd apostolic
visit abroad and at the end of it, he will have visited 33 nations.
He said Francis knows the two countries well, having spent
one and a half years in Chile during his novitiate and having travelled to Peru
on various occasions. He also said he knows all of the bishops whom have
recently undertaken their “ad limina” visits to Rome.
The Pope’s weeklong journey is of course a pastoral one. As
Francis highlighted in his video-message of
greeting just ahead of his departure, he emphasized how he is coming to share
the peace and the hope of the Lord in the spirit and joy of the Gospel.
Environment and rights of Indigenous Peoples
But, Burke confirmed the environmental aspect of the journey
and issues pertaining to the rights of indigenous peoples are clearly one of
the main themes of the journey.
In Chile the Pope will travel to the southern Araucania
region where Mapuche communities have been stripped of their land repeatedly -
first by Spanish colonists, then by settlers who moved to the region to farm,
and more recently by timber plantations. It is here, in the city of Temuco that
the Pope will celebrate Mass together with groups of indigenous peoples and
then share lunch with their representatives and with the Bishop of Temuco.
On the second leg of his journey, Francis is scheduled to
meet with Amazonian indigenous people in the city of Puerto Maldonado in Peru’s
southeastern Madre de Dios region. It’s a particularly symbolic venue as the
city is seen as the gateway to the Peruvian Amazon that covers almost 60% of
the nation’s territory and is increasingly being exploited by the extractive
and timber industries that, in turn, are forcing more and more indigenous
tribes from their ancestral lands and livelihoods.
It is also where gold mining has left large expanses
of barren land and pit mines, an activity which has led to forced labor,
trafficking of women and girls for prostitution, and one of the highest murder
rates in the country.
Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region
This event in particular is seen as a window on the Synod of
Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region which will take place in the Vatican in
October 2019. That’s why Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the
Synod of Bishops is scheduled to host the event together with members of REPAM:
the Pan-Amazonian Church Network.
Intense Schedule
In both countries, as per protocol, Pope Francis will engage
in meetings with political authorities. He will also meet with bishops,
priests, religious and lay people, he will celebrate 5 Holy Masses, dedicate
time and prayer to Marian celebrations, to honoring local Saints, and to
meeting with his Jesuit brothers.
He will dedicated much time, as he always does, to meeting
with the people, especially the young, the poor and those in vulnerable
situations like prison inmates and the urban poor living in slums as well as
those affected by the El Nino in Peru who have lost lands and homes in flooding
and mudslides.
To the question: ‘will the Pope be meeting with victims of
clerical sex abuse in Chile?’, Burke answered there is nothing on the programme
to that regard, but - he said - everything is possible, and what’s more:
“unscheduled meetings are often the best!”
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét