Prayers for the Amazon

There is a report in today's Church Times about the recent murder of two environmental activists in the Amazon, and some comments about the murder from Ruth de Barros, who is our USPG mission partner in the Amazon. Many of you will have met Ruth, her husband Saulo, the Bishop of the Amazon, and their son last year at a barbeque here. Ruth asks for our prayers. I have pasted an extract of the report below, but you can find the whole story here. http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=113367

"The bodies of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, were found last week on a nature reserve. They had worked in the area for 24 years, and had received death threats because of their campaign against illegal loggers and ranchers.


Ruth de Barros, the USPG repres­ent­ative in the region, who is married to the Bishop of the Amazon, the Rt Revd Saulo de Barros, says that 800 people seeking to defend the rain­forests have been murdered in the past 30 years. A farmer, Eremilton Pereira dos Santos, was later found shot dead in the same area as the couple, and a rural leader, Adelino Ramos, was killed in Porto Velho, in north-west Brazil.

"The bodies of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, were found last week on a nature reserve. They had worked in the area for 24 years, and had received death threats because of their campaign against illegal loggers and ranchers.



Ruth de Barros, the USPG repres­ent­ative in the region, who is married to the Bishop of the Amazon, the Rt Revd Saulo de Barros, says that 800 people seeking to defend the rain­forests have been murdered in the past 30 years. A farmer, Eremilton Pereira dos Santos, was later found shot dead in the same area as the couple, and a rural leader, Adelino Ramos, was killed in Porto Velho, in north-west Brazil.


Mrs de Barros says that the Angli­can Church in the region is involved in environmental action. “We take part in demonstrations against those who illegally exploit the Amazon and who kill those who get in their way. Last Saturday, members of the Church joined a march organised by the OAB [the Brazilian Bar Association] against corruption and impunity in the state of Pará — known as the Land of No Law.”


The demonstration was “also against the corruption in the administration in the state”, she said. “All we can do is join the voices of those who suffer the consequences, and let the world know what is going on, so that something may be done about it. . . So we ask for your prayers so that the churches and institutions here in Pará can fight for justice.”