Lise Alves

Un polémico proyecto de ley pone en jaque los derechos territoriales de los pueblos indígenas en Brasil. De aprobarse el marco temporal, significaría la pérdida de tierras demarcadas luego de 1988. Las hermanas que trabajan con estas comunidades manifiestan su rechazo y lucharán junto a ellos para proteger sus territorios ancestrales. Si bien la tensión aumenta, las religiosas católicas se mantienen firmes en su misión, defendiendo el derecho a la tierra y la autodeterminación de estos pueblos originarios. “Somos pacifistas (…). Pero si es necesario, tenemos que luchar con ellos y moriremos juntos”, advirtió la Hna. Irma María Inés Vieira, de las Hermanas Mensajeras del Amor Divino, expresidenta del Congreso de Religiosos de Brasil. 

Amid rising violence in some Indigenous communities over land rights in Brazil, sisters there say that, if necessary, they'll fight alongside the original inhabitants to protect their land.

Catholic sisters — with a 50-year history of advocating for Brazilian Indigenous populations — continue to show up in solidarity, as tribes such as the Karipuna and Yanomami struggle to maintain their land and culture.

¿Qué ocurre cuando una comunidad indígena pierde su hogar? ¿Cómo afecta a su cultura, su identidad y su bienestar? ¿Qué pasa cuando su territorio ancestral es invadido por los hacendados y los barones de la madera? Conoce en este reportaje de GSR en español, el acompañamiento que religiosas católicas de diversas congregaciones brindan a los habitantes originales de estas tierras en la lucha por su supervivencia.

In Brazil, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro Oct. 30 by less than 1%. Catholic sisters expressed hope for da Silva and celebrated the end of Bolsonaro's presidency.

A new species of screech owl discovered in the Amazon was named Megascops stangiae, to honor the martyred Sr. Dorothy Stang. Her congregation, and the researchers who discovered the new species, say the name fits.

Religious women working in Brazil's Amazonas state have been a driving force of support, helping the population cope with the devastation of COVID-19 in the region. Yet they have faced their own anguishes.

A Brazilian nun who has moved into the finals of a TV cooking show said she received "divine help" and prayed the entire time she was cooking.

Feb. 12 was the 15th anniversary of Sr. Dorothy Stang's assassination in the Amazon region of Brazil. The U.S.-born nun is remembered as a crusader for the poor and the landless and for her love of the land and the Amazon forest.

The canonization of the first Brazilian-born female saint is making headlines across the country, putting news coverage of the country's current political and economic difficulties on the backburner.