Due to his unrelenting defense of the indigenous population and peasants struggling for land ownership, Bishop Casaldaliga was seen as an enemy by land barons, miners and loggers.
Latin America
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Franciscan, volunteers help homeless in Bogota survive pandemic
Members of the Franciscan order in Columbia are assembling people and resources to help the homeless of Bogota during the pandemic.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Indigenous men in Honduras are being abducted. Are the police to blame?
Garifuna villages along the north coast of Honduras have set up roadblocks to demand answers about the enforced disappearances. “You took them alive, we want them alive!” protesters shouted.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Nicaraguan bishops denounce Managua cathedral arson attack as ‘terrorism’
A still-unidentified assailant entered the cathedral’s Blood of Christ chapel and threw an explosive device. Flames engulfed the chapel, severely charring a 382-year old image of the crucified Christ.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Nearly one-third of Brazilian bishops sign letter critical of government
In a draft of a letter to be presented to the executive committee of the bishops’ conference, more than 150 bishops accuse the federal government of “inaction and omission” in combating the coronavirus pandemic and of “inability and incapacity” to face the crisis.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Latin American church finances devastated by Covid-19
National churches that face the most difficulties are in those countries that already had serious economic problems before the pandemic started.
Posted inGoodNews, Politics & Society
Guatemala teacher pedals classroom to students during coronavirus pandemic
A teacher in Guatemala relies on his bicycle to be his transportation and his classroom. Each day he pedals among the cornfields of Santa Cruz del Quiché to give individual instruction to his sixth-grade students.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope sends respirator to Brazilian hospital treating indigenous patients
The diocese said the respirator, delivered to the Campanha de Maraba Hospital July 12 by the apostolic nunciature in Brazil, was one of four sent by the pope to Brazil, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Ex-Salvadoran officer: ‘High command’ gave order to kill Jesuits in ’89
The testimony was offered at the trial of Inocente Orlando Montano, a former colonel in the army of El Salvador, on trial in Spain for the murders of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter on the campus of a Catholic university in 1989.
Posted inGoodNews, Politics & Society
Focolare member in Colombia pays it forward by helping fellow migrants
Pandemic or not, the work of providing care and assistance for others continues with members of the Focolare movement helping Venezuelan migrants in Columbia.