The Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) launched the campaign “Life hangs by a thread”, together with the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development of the Vatican and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL), with the aim of promoting solidarity, protection and recognition of the work of human rights defenders, social leaders and civic actors in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Specifically, the campaign seeks to make visible emblematic cases of human and environmental rights defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean, which must be nominated according to five thematic axes: extractivist model (which includes activities such as logging, mineral extraction, hydrocarbons, agriculture on a large scale, among others); drug trafficking and transnational crime; limitation on freedom of expression and citizen participation; internal armed conflicts; and stopping women human rights defenders and their role in politics,” explains CELAM in its official website.
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In addition to “promoting concrete actions against social indifference, institutional dismantling, the fragility of protection systems, and impunity for crimes committed” against journalists and actors committed to social and ecclesiastical organizations defending human rights, indigenous peoples and the environment.
The main one of these emblematic cases is that of Juan Antonio López, environmental defender and delegate of the Word of God, who was murdered in Honduras on September 13. The CELAM initiative emerged from López’s case.
The organizers explained that “situations such as the murder of Juan Antonio López are not isolated events, but are part of a systematic pattern in Latin America, one of the most lethal regions for environmental and human rights defenders.”
The campaign was presented this December 9 in the Vatican Press Room. The event was attended by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development; Dr. Emilce Cuda, secretary of the PCAL; Cardinal Jaime Spengler, president of CELAM and Archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil); Cardinal Carlos Castillo, Archbishop of Lima (Peru) and Cardinal Fernando Chomali, Archbishop of Santiago (Chile).
The official launch of the initiative took place today, December 10, in an online event broadcast on the CELAM channel in YouTube and his official account in Facebook.
“Life is sacred, we cannot be indifferent to the threatened lives of those who defend human and environmental rights, social leaders and civic actors who are at risk,” said Cardinal Spengler in the presentation of the campaign.
Likewise, the president of CELAM stressed that “the blood of hundreds of leaders murdered in Latin America and the Caribbean cries out for justice and we cannot remain indifferent, we have the duty to accompany them in their efforts and denounce the culture of death,” according to Vatican News.
For his part, Cardinal Czerny assured that the initiative “will have the evangelical audacity to develop various solidarity actions with leaders who are being threatened for their work in defense of human rights and the ‘common home’, many of them inspired by the Magisterium of Pope Francis in Laudato si’, Laudate Deum y Fratelli tutti”.
“Life is a sacred gift from God. “We cannot be indifferent to the threatened lives of those who defend human and environmental rights. We cannot leave them alone!” he concluded.
Andres Henriquez
I have been a writer for ACI Prensa and a correspondent for EWTN since 2023. Since then, I have covered events in the Catholic Church in Venezuela and Latin America. I have more than 5 years of experience in bilingual media. Additionally, in Venezuela I have worked with non-governmental organizations in favor of freedom and respect for human rights in the country. I have been a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.