Bishop José Luís Azcona Hermoso, Bishop Emeritus of Marajó in the Brazilian jungle and one of the main critics of the Amazon Synod, died on Wednesday, November 20, at the age of 84, at the Porto Dias Hospital, after a cancer that was detected in him. in June of this year.
“At this moment, our afflicted Prelature of Marajó praises God for the life and ministry of our bishop emeritus and asks the Lord Good Shepherd to welcome him into his mercy and grant him eternal rest,” states a note published by the Prelature of Marajó. Marajó, signed by Bishop José Ionilton Lisboa de Oliveira, current bishop of that Amazonian jurisdiction.
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José Luís Azcona was born in Pamplona, Spain, on March 28, 1940. He was a member of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. He arrived in Brazil in 1985. He was bishop of the prelature of Marajó from 1987 to 2016, a total of 29 years. Even after his resignation, he continued to live on the island in the Brazilian state of Pará.
In 2009, he reported cases of pedophilia and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in Marajó by local politicians and businessmen. The complaint gave rise to the Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) of pedophilia in the Legislative Assembly of Pará and in the National Congress.
In 2019 he was one of the main critics of the Amazon Synod, although he did not participate in the event held that year in October at the Vatican.
Bishop Azcona published several articles criticizing the Instrument of Labor or working document, the synod itself and the final document, in which the proposals to ordain married priests, deaconesses and have an Amazonian rite were approved by the vast majority of participants.
The bishop criticized the “absence of Christ Crucified” in the Instrumentum Laboris, drawing attention to the absence in the document of the central element of the evangelizing proclamation.
Bishop Azcona also warned against the lack of mention of sin among indigenous peoples in the working document and defended priestly celibacy. He also warned about the “idolatry” and “scandal” caused by the use of images of Pachamama in various events of the Amazon Synod.
On December 9, 2023, the Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil, Mons. Giambattista Diquattro, requested that the bishop emeritus no longer live in the territory of the Prelature of Marajó.
The news generated a great mobilization. The people of Marajó demonstrated in different places in the prelature and on social networks, where they adopted the hashtag #FICADOMAZCONA, asking for the permanence of the emeritus bishop. Marajó institutions also published notes “in support of Azcona’s permanence” in the prelature.
On December 26, the prelature published a statement reporting that Bishop José Luis Azcona had been informed by the nunciature that he would no longer need to “move from the residence in which he currently lives.”
On June 16 of this year, Bishop Azcona was hospitalized in Belém. On the 27th of the same month, the prelature of Marajó announced that the bishop emeritus had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had begun treatment. He was discharged but later had to return to the hospital.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in ACI Digital
Natalia Zimbrão
Natalia Zimbrão has a degree in Journalism from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. He has been a journalist for ACI Digital since 2015. He has previous experience in magazines, radio and online journalism.