In this Notebook we propose a reflection on what is happening in the Amazon.

“We are all concerned about the vast fires that have developed in the Amazon. We pray that, with everyone’s commitment, they will be tamed as soon as possible. That forest lung is vital for our planet.” Thus Pope Francis turned to the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square to attend the recital of the Angelus on Sunday 25 August. Theme considered so important that the Pope convened a Special Synod on the Amazon for the month of October. A call to realize also in this region what proposed in the encyclical “Laudato sì” for the entire planet. The full text of this encyclical can be read here,

Humanity is urged to consider the good of people and not exploitation of existing resources on the planet as a priority: “Among the social components of global change include the employment effects of some technological innovations, social exclusion, the inequality in the availability and consumption of energy and other services, social fragmentation, increased violence and the rise of new forms of social aggression, drug trafficking and the growing consumption of drugs among the youngest, the loss of identity. They are signs, among others, that show how the growth of the last two centuries has not meant in all its aspects a true integral progress and an improvement in the quality of life. Some of these signs are at the same time symptoms of a real degradation social, of a silent rupture of the bonds of integration and social communion … “

This also concerns the indigenous and recently immigrated peoples, who live in the Amazon, marginalized and oppressed actors but also historically and politically relevant subjects.