REPAM (the Pan-Amazon Church Network) collaborated with SIGNIS ALC (Latin America & the Caribbean) to produce this powerful series of videos about martyrs of the Amazon, those who died serving the peoples of the region, whom they loved to the end.

 

A little research reveals the shocking number of priests, religious and laity who have given their lives defending indigenous peoples and others oppressed by extractive industries plundering the region. At present, the ongoing series has five episodes. Each 20-25-minute piece brings to life a particular church worker, largely through the eyewitness accounts of those who knew them.

 

The testimonies of community leaders, fellow religious, and ordinary villagers, workers, and farmers are combined with archival footage and photographs, as well as dramatic visual storytelling to produce a genuine emotional impact on the viewer. One is led to recognize the life and death issues posed by the devastation of the Amazon and its indigenous population—and to ask what is to be done; and, what can I do to save our common home?

 

The five programs available through REPAM (www.redamazonica.org) are:

 

Labaka: A bishop defends indigenous threatened by petroleum interests.

Kiwxi: Father Vicente Cañas, who inculturated among Brazilian tribes.

Hna. Cleusa Rody Coelho: A valiant sister tries to mediate a conflict.

P. Alcides Jimenez: A Colombian priest defends the rights of a local community.

P. Ezequiel Ramin: Sought to “…liberate persons from hunger, from sickness, making them free.”

 

Another episode is planned for release in the coming months.

 

The is article was published in SIGNIS Media: Save the Amazon! Save the world! .