By evangelizing and helping the Ticuna indigenous people, the Capuchin friars, with the support of Aid to the Church that Suffers, contribute to preserving the Amazon rainforest.
“I have never left this place. I don’t know anything about the world, but I believe in God. He gives me eternal life. I have called the friars to baptize my children. I don’t want anyone to die without knowing God. Now, the names of all my children are written in Heaven.”
This is how Sônia Pinheiro, vice-chief of the Enepü village, of the Ticuna tribe, speaks. She speaks not only of her biological children, but also of her community.
To get to Enepü, the Capuchins of Belém do Solimões – located in a dangerous area of the Brazilian Amazon that borders Colombia and Peru – have to travel four hours by boat and more than six in an uncomfortable canoe, the only boat capable of navigating through the narrow waterways. Without material help, such as fuel supplied by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the friars’ mission would be almost impossible.
Sônia Pinheiro’s community is made up of about 30 people, although she cannot give the exact number, because the Ticuna vocabulary does not have words for numbers greater than 10. However, she knows each of its members. However, she knows each member by name and carries them in her heart, like a mother would.
He says that the friars are the only outsiders who come to visit them. Other groups that arrive in the area are usually armed and are only interested in destroying the forest. Their traditional culture already had the concept of a God, but he says they feel much more loved since they learned that Jesus also died for them and that they have a Mother who intercedes for them in Heaven.
Fray Paolo Braghini
Protect culture, protect the land
The Capuchins have been in this region since 1910. Long before environmentalism became fashionable, they were helping the natives remain on their lands by protecting their culture and introducing the Gospel into their lives.
In all this time, the Franciscan community has witnessed how indigenous populations are tricked into abandoning their lands, and how the region is destroyed in just six months with tree felling, predatory fishing, hunting, mining and drug trafficking. The Capuchins claim that the indigenous people are the natural guardians of the forests.
Just as they once helped save the Ticuna from slavery, today the friars are helping to save a new generation from modern forms of slavery, such as alcoholism and suicide, which have skyrocketed as modernity encroaches. rain forest. The friars’ helpful tool is always the same: living the Gospel among the people.
“When I arrived here, I immediately felt the deep joy of living with a humble people, people who evangelize us with their lives and who have helped me become a better Franciscan. I think Saint Francis would have loved to live here among them, because they have a natural simplicity, brotherhood and harmony with nature. Nature is their home, and they know how to let nature take care of them. If I got lost here, I could survive three or four days, but they know how to make shelters and find food, water and even medicine in nature,” says Brother Paolo Braghini, who currently directs the Belém do Solimões mission.
The Enepü community is an example of this unique relationship. It is the natives who support the Capuchin friars, sharing with them their fruit, fish and anything else they catch or gather. What the natives cannot provide is material for the friars’ evangelization work, such as boats, fuel and a house for new vocations. For all this, the friars are grateful for the support of ACN.
Instead of imposing their own customs, the friars do everything they can to learn from the Ticuna, including trying to master their difficult language, although, says Friar Paolo, “words are not very important to them. They listen with their hearts. They have a very acute, strong and well-tuned sensitivity. They understand with their hearts. If you give yourself fully to them, they will give their lives for you. But if you have a prejudice against them, they will understand it immediately.”
—Rodrigo Arantes
2024-01-19 01:53:25
#Sowing #Gospel #Amazon
