(NCR, GSR logo/Toni-Ann Ortiz)
SAO PAULO, Brazil Religious presence in the Amazon region in the past year has been a challenge. But between distributing food and lending a friendly ear to those afflicted by unemployment, hunger and despair, the religious women working in Brazil s Amazonas state have been a driving force, helping the population cope with the dramatic situation of COVID-19 in the region. They have also, however, faced their own anguishes because of social distancing. I believe our greatest struggle is to know that these people, who live far from cities and [are] isolated, are in desperate need, and we are not being able to help them personally, said Sr. Roselei Bertoldo, missionary of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who lives in the capital city of Manaus in the middle of the Amazon jungle.
Brazilian bishops’ Lenten campaign draws fire from some conservatives
Indigenous people wait to receive the Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine in the village of Itacoatiara, Brazil, Feb. 13, 2021. The Brazilian bishops’ conference has come under fire from some of its more conservative members since it announced this year’s Fraternity Campaign, which defends Indigenous peoples, criticizes the high rates of femicide and speaks up against LGBTQ violence and homophobia. (CNS photo/Bruno Kelly, Reuters)
By Lise Alves, Catholic News Service
SAO PAULO The Brazilian bishops’ conference has come under fire from some of its more conservative members since it announced this year’s Fraternity Campaign, which defends Indigenous peoples, criticizes the high rates of femicide and speaks up against LGBTQ violence and homophobia.
The Tablet January 19, 2021
A man carries a cylinder as relatives of patients hospitalized or receiving health care at home gather to buy oxygen at a private company in Manaus, Brazil, Jan. 15, 2021. (Photo: CNS/Bruno Kelly, Reuters)
By Lise Alves
SAO PAULO (CNS) With the news that dozens of people were suffocating to death due to a lack of oxygen in hospitals in the Amazon city of Manaus, Catholic bishops made a plea for the supply of an essential element for survival.
“We, bishops of Amazonas and Roraima, make an appeal: For the love of God, send us oxygen,” Archbishop Leonardo Steiner of Manaus said in a video released Jan. 15.