Criminals “are not dangerous people. They are only people who are not sufficiently loved.”

In a region of vast distances, weak infrastructure and a relatively small number of priests, religious and laywomen like Sister Laura are the mainstay of Catholic spirituality.

Besides taking up the challenge of exploring new frontiers of evangelization in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Brazilian women religious have also become evangelizers of the “old continent,” Europe, where female vocations have radically declined in recent decades.

The invasion of public land by big landowners and illegal miners at the expense of Indigenous groups and small growers has led to record numbers of violent conflicts in Brazil’s rural and forest areas.

“In every large city in Brazil, you can now see a greater number of kids begging for money or selling candy on the streets than before the pandemic.”

Covid-19 immunization campaigns must overcome enormous difficulties in reaching remote indigenous groups, isolated riverside communities and the villages of quilombola people, the descendants of African slaves.