Brazil: taking responsibility for creation along the Paranapanema River

A group of volunteers in the small municipality of Timburi in the Brazilian State of São Paulo, has been cleaning the Paranapanema River since 2009, even though it is one of the least polluted in the area. Applying the principles of “Laudato si’”, this local effort to safeguard our common home seeks to reawaken everyone’s responsibility for the care of creation. Almir Minozi believes in the global impact of this type of initiative. Even though the river is 2,000 km away from Timburi, he says it is fundamental “to be aware of the importance of conserving the Amazon in order to safeguard the environment in which we live”.

The Brazilians in this article are similar to the fishermen of San Benedetto del Tronto whom the Pope mentioned during the General Audience this past September 2. The Pontiff recalled the group of workers he had received a few months earlier, referring to how they had succeeded in removing “24 tonnes of waste out of the see, half of which was plastic”. “These people have the spirit to catch fish”, the Pope added, “but also the refuse”, taking it “out” of the water to “clean up the sea”. On that occasion, Pope Francis had once again begun to hold the Wednesday audiences in the presence of the faithful, after the public audiences had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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