Large-scale mining and extractive operations are failing to deliver economic benefits while causing environmental damage and human suffering throughout Latin America, according to a coalition of church organizations and environmental groups. The Churches and Mining Network, which includes Catholic bishops, priests and laypeople and leaders of Christian churches and environmentalists, said in a statement that governments, church leaders and civil society organizations need to find alternatives to so-called megamining operations. “We are aware that defending Creation, in a predatory system whose highest purpose is profit and money, is an action that involves danger and the risk of death. But we are encouraged by the Gospel of Jesus, the encyclical ‘Laudato Si’,’ and by the strength of the many communities affected by mining and other extractive industries,” the network said in the statement released on Sept. 4, following a meeting in Colombia.
Why mining operations are failing
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, by J.D. Long García
A Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, by Terrance Klein
In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.
As the film’s title promises, there is plenty of sin on display, even before the vampires arrive.