Coronavirus in Amazon raises fears of ‘potential genocide’

20 May 2020
An Indigenous woman hands Pope Francis a plant during the closing Mass of the Synod. Image: Vatican Media/Vatican News.

 

If the coronavirus pandemic worsens in the world’s major cities, its effects in more remote regions could be catastrophic. For example, in the Amazon, Church initiatives are vital in accompanying indigenous minorities.

MARUICIO LÓPEZ
Executive Secretary, REPAM
“This extreme and drastic situation helps understand the daily experience of these populations. Now that it’s happening also in Europe and North America, it invites us to look for new paths. The synod didn’t propose replacing existing paths, but searching for new ones, to give the Church a more concrete presence.”

Mauricio López is executive secretary of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network. He says the crisis caused by the coronavirus is more serious in Amazonian countries like Ecuador, which is the region most impacted by the pandemic. He also includes Venezuela and Brazil. In Brazil, images of mass graves for coronavirus victims in Manaus are truly heartrending.

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With thanks to Rome Reports where this article originally appeared.

 

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