International Feature
Justice and Indigenous Wisdom: The Work of the Pan-Amazonian Network by Pierre Bélanger, SJ
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ho is this tattooed character embracing an Indigenous family from the Amazon? He is a Jesuit! Fernando Lopez, SJ, is a member of an itinerant team and, as the name suggests, travels the rivers and forest roads of the Amazon to live with its people and to share with them not only his knowledge and skills, but also the person of Jesus, the one who gives him life. He also continues to learn from the peoples of the Amazon how to journey along the path toward integral ecology
Photo: Curia of the Jesuits, Rome
32 CANADIAN JESUITS
“To serve, accompany, and defend”—these three verbs are, in the Jesuit context, inextricably linked to the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). But they are not reserved solely to this internationally known and recognized apostolate. These verbs also describe many other organizations and works of the Society of Jesus that are close to the poor, the abandoned, and the marginalized of the world. And among them are the Indigenous people of the Amazon region, an immense part of South America that touches nine countries, first and foremost Brazil. The Jesuits are there, serving, accompanying, and defending the threatened population.
