Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lima (Agenzia Fides) – The President of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos of Trujillo, has welcomed the attempt proposed by the Peruvian government to resolve the problems that exist in the Amazon community to prevent social conflicts, and has also called for a rapid promulgation of the law on prior consultation. A few days ago, Congress passed the law on preliminary consultation, which recognizes the right of the indigenous peoples to be consulted in advance on the legislative or administrative measures which directly affect them or collective rights. "Faced with this reality, the Catholic Church welcomes the changed path of the authorities and calls on the Executive Branch to enforce this law in order to avoid further conflicts and to build trust," said the President of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference.
On the first anniversary of the violent acts of Bagua, where 30 people died in the conflict (see Fides 06/08/2009), Archbishop Cabrejos stressed that this situation should not happen again in the country. "The sad death of members of the police force and indigenous people should remind us today and always that human life is a supreme value, and it must always be protected and privileged," said the President of the Bishops' Conference. He also recalled that the Church, which has accompanied these people for so many years, continues to remain committed to them and is willing to continue working for their integral development. In this sense, he considered to be an inescapable duty to not only view the Amazon as a concept or as an inexhaustible resource, but as a geographical area inhabited by human beings, by Peruvians, with their own culture from time immemorial. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 06/05/2010)
