Environmentalist priest in Peru says little has changed since pope’s visit
February 08, 2019
RNS photo by Paula Dupraz-Dobias
PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (RNS) — Pope Francis’ trip to Peru a year ago included a visit to a biodiverse region, where a Swiss priest has for decades sought to bring global attention to environmental and social devastation caused by illegal gold mining.
Despite years of effort — and the pope’s visit — little has changed, said Xavier Arbex.
“It’s so frustrating, to the point that I almost do not want to receive journalists anymore,” the 75-year-old priest told Religion News Service recently.
The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.