Eduardo Campos Lima

The damage from mining projects in Brazil goes beyond deforestation, the country's bishops say. The effects include death from disease and higher rates of murder and sexual assault.

For the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced by five years of fighting between the Mozambique government and Islamic insurgents, effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are only making things worse.

A new study shows that the Amazon rainforest has been losing its capacity to recover from ecological harm over the past two decades — but researchers say it's still possible to avoid irreparable damage.

As the southern African nation of Angola looks toward elections later this year, civic leaders, including Catholic officials, have expressed concern that the vote could be manipulated to keep the ruling party in power.

Catholics are among those speaking out about gold mining's impacts on the Amazon and Indigenous people, but complex causes and great financial interests transform their effort into a David-and-Goliath kind of struggle.

Millions in Brazil have switched from gas to wood and other solid fuel for cooking. A chemistry professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro spoke to EarthBeat about the consequences for air quality and families' health.

Wildfires are devastating biomes across Brazil. Catholic groups and leaders have been denouncing the environmental destruction and its underlying causes, like mining and the expansion of industrial-scale agriculture.

More than 130,000 children in Brazil have been made orphans during the pandemic. Catholic agencies are working with the government to try and meet their needs, and to prevent as many children as possible from being put in temporary shelters.

Pope Francis appointed Argentine theologian Emilce Cuda as the new head of office of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, a position she assumes Sept. 1. 

The July 7 assassination of Haiti's president is just the latest crisis in the turbulent country. Catholic leaders and agencies working there are unable "to give any structured response to the people's problems," said Holy Cross Fr. Firto Régis. "Each new situation is urgent and needs to be immediately addressed." 

The Gran Chaco and Guarani Aquifer Ecclesial Network — encompassing Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay — has been organizing to address social and environmental challenges in the region.

Catholic church leaders in Argentina are speaking out against several high-impact projects involving mining, fossil fuels and industrial use of water in the South American country.

As demonstrators continue protests in Colombia's major cities, Catholic leaders have been showing support for some of the protesters' demands, while also trying to help them dialogue with the government.

For the second round of Peru's presidential elections, which will be held June 6, the candidates — socialist Pedro Castillo and right-winger Keiko Fujimori — don't seem to be the ideal choices for many.

A second wave of COVID-19 infections has swept Brazil, and as the crisis grows, Catholic Church leaders face great challenges in helping those in need and in fighting pandemic denialism.

Some 1.7 million Venezuelans have come to neighboring Colombia to flee their country's economic and political turmoil, despite the border closure. The pandemic is making it difficult for them to earn a living or avoid exploitation.

Argentina's legalization of abortion has been seen as a significant defeat for the influence of the Catholic Church. Worsening that feeling was the role Catholic women played in the campaign for the new abortion law.

As El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's administration faces more and more international criticism for alleged authoritarianism, a movement is seeking inspiration from St. Óscar Romero in denouncing injustice.

Amid severe economic consequences of COVID-19, Catholics in Latin America — often inspired by Pope Francis' teachings against unregulated capitalism — have raised their voices against neoliberal policies.

Now that Luis Arce's landslide victory in Bolivia's election has been confirmed, the socialist economist — and the Catholic Church — has the mission of reuniting an incredibly polarized society.