Mining

Catholic bishops from four dioceses in the southern Philippines have called on the country's lawmakers to draft a law to impose a ban on mining across the entire Mindanao region.

Ahead of the final round of Brazil's presidential election, Catholic social pastoral ministries released a letter repudiating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro's reelection. They cited his "policy of environmental destruction."

Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, archbishop of Manaus, cited the murder of a British journalist and Indigenous expert in Brazil as a consequence of commercial activity encroaching on Indigenous lands.

In Ecuador, Archbishop Luis Cabrera is hopeful about negotiations between the government and protesters behind a recent strike. "That has been an important exercise of democracy," he said.

Recent events brought together Catholic organizations and leaders in an effort to shine a light on the dangers facing oceans and biodiversity around the globe and to outline church positions in defense of both.

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.

Communities affected by mining — and church people working with them — draw strength from spiritualties that center on protecting what Pope Francis calls "our common home," according to members of the Churches and Mining Network, who met in Latin Ameria April 24–28.