Amazon Synod Puts Bolsonaro’s Environmental Policy to the Test

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On October 6th, bishops from nine countries that contain parts of the rain forest will bring to Pope Francis (and hundreds of colleagues) the desires of traditional people in the region, opening an important debate on the role of the Catholic Church in preparing a project for the future of the world’s most important ecosystem.

It is the Amazon Synod. Last week, more than 60 Pan-Amazonian bishops gathered in Belém, State capital of Pará, to discuss the topics that will lead the event’s discussions with the Pope. In an open letter written at the end of the meeting, they lamented being treated as “enemies of the homeland.”

They came out in defense of a Church “committed to the reality of people and the planet” and demanded that the government react urgently to “violent and irrational aggression against nature,” cited even the criminal fires, mentioning the infamous Fire Day played out in that state and pointed as the trigger of the wave of fires that moved the whole world – and brought charges of international attack on sovereignty by Bolsonaro.

There is an excerpt from the letter that clarifies the position of the episcopate in this controversy: “Brazilian sovereignty over this part of Amazonia is for us unquestionable. We understand, however, and support the concern of the whole world about this ecosystem.”

The Planalto’s concern with the event began to appear in February when it came to light that the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN), linked to the Office of Institutional Security of the Presidency (GSI), would be acting to contain the advances of the Catholic Church against the government’s agenda. At the time, the GSI denied espionage.

Last weekend, however, the president confirmed that ABIN monitors the Pan-Amazonian bishops, and said there was “much political influence” in the preparations for the meeting. General Eduardo Villas Bôas, an advisor to the GSI, came to corroborate this thesis. “We are concerned about what can come out of there, in the final report, with its deliberations. And then, how all of this will reach the international public opinion because it will certainly be exploited by environmentalists,” he told the military of the State of São Paulo. And he added that the bishops are not enemies of the homeland, but are guided by “distorted data” that do not correspond to the reality of the region.

There have been contacts between clergymen and government representatives, but the mutual climate of mistrust persists. During the Synod, personalities from outside the ecclesiastical walls will be invited to speak. Military personnel and politicians in office, however, must remain outside.

Interlocutors heard by CartaCapital magazine reject the label “leftist event” and reinforce that there is no intention on the part of the Church to interfere in Amazonian sovereignty. “The bishops want to make it clear that the Church does not create conflicts or question Brazilian sovereignty in the Amazon subject.” But it is adamant in defending the poor, the “common house”, the indigenous people.

“Instrumentum Laboris”, a document produced under the auspices of more than 80,000 faithful, defends the foundation of a Church with an indigenous and Amazonian face. Spanish priest Luis Miguel Modino, of the Pan-Amazonian ecclesiastic network, says that the threat to life in the region derives from “the economic and political interests of the dominant sectors of today’s society,” often under the guardianship of local, national and traditional authorities.

This time the meeting will put into perspective some important traditions. A more prominent role for women, who are responsible for the Catholic mission in the forest. The emblematic case is that of American nun Dorothy Stang, murdered in 2005 at the behest of a consortium of land grabbers in Amapu, Pará, for defending the rights of small farmers and traditional communities in the region.

The basic text of the Synod speaks of the need to “identify the type of official ministry that can be given to women,” without further detail. There will also be discussions on the occasional ordination of “viri probati”, (men with certified character, in Latin) in regions of difficult access. In the specific case of the Amazon, the document suggests discussing the ordination as priests of elderly people, preferably indigenous, respected and recognized by their community, even if they have already constituted a stable family.