“It really does look like there was an atrocity and a massacre, but precisely the motivation and the details, I think we need to suspend judgment at the moment,” Laurie Nathan said.

Despite Brazil’s successes with vaccines, during the Covid-19 pandemic more Brazilians than ever have come to fear vaccination efforts because of disinformation campaigns.

Immigration advocates, including four bishops, sent a letter to President Biden on Jan. 28, urging his administration to restore asylum, offer protection over deterrence at the border and overhaul the current immigration policy.

As the government attempts reburial of victims of the genocide, family members and Catholic church officials charge that the government is attempting to prevent a thorough historical accounting.

Refugees “can’t obtain the Brazilian documents,” one local bishop said, “but they keep needing shelter, food and healthcare.”

A group of U.S. Catholic bishops, including a cardinal and an archbishop, have signed a statement of support for L.G.B.T. youth, telling them, “God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.”