Vatican City, 17 July 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah
Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace”,
presented the dicastery's initiative “A day of Reflection: united
with God, we hear a cry”, to be attended by various representatives
of communities affected by mining activity in Africa, Asia and
America who will gather in the Salesianum Congress Centre in Rome
from 17 to 19 July.
Cardinal Turkson explained that the aim
of the meeting was to take stock of the situation of these
communities, recalling that in 2013 Justice and Peace organised a day
of reflection entitled “Mining for the common good”, upon request
of the directors of various mining companies, in order to evaluate
the human, economic and environmental implications of this activity.
A report of the event was distributed to the Episcopal Conferences of
the countries involved. A second day of reflection will be held in
September, entitled “Creating a new future, Reimaging the future of
mining” and so the current initiative, aimed at giving a voice to
the communities affected by the mining industry, is intended as
preparation for this second meeting.
“There is no lack of reasons and
motives for the decision of the Pontifical dicastery”, said the
Cardinal. “With the Encyclical 'Laudato si'' the Holy Father urges
us to 'hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor'. We
cannot remain indifferent to this cry, as the need to her it is 'born
of the liberating action of grace within each of us, and thus it is
not a mission reserved only to a few: the Church, guided by the
Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice
and intends to respond to it with all her might'”.
“Many of us are aware of this
harrowing cry from those areas where mineral extraction is carried
out”, he continued. “To give just a few examples: the 'Africa
Progress Report' by the former secretary general of the United
Nations, Kofi Annan, the OECD directives on the issue, the numerous
reports on the rights of indigenous populations, the 'Publish what
you pay' initiative, legislation on the traceability of minerals
currently being developed by the European Parliament, in cinema with
films such as 'Blood Diamonds' or 'Avatar', and so on”.
“The Church, on various occasions and
for many years, has closely followed mining activities. At national
level, the documents of the Episcopal Conferences which denounce
human rights violations, illegality, violence and the exploitation of
deposits causing pollution and problems for the safety of local
produce. … At regional level, it is considered by the Continental
Episcopal Conferences, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, and so
on, and at transnational level, by Franciscan networks, the CIDSE and
Caritas. All these voices follow the same direction: faced with these
situations, we cannot allow indifference, cynicism and impunity to
continue to prevail. A radical paradigm change is needed in the
interests of the common good, justice, sustainability and human
dignity”.
In these three days the representatives
of the communities affected by mining operations in different ways
will act as spokespeople for those who are unable to come to Rome and
whose voice frequently goes unheard by experts and commentators. “I
must emphasise that some people who are attending the meeting have
experienced pressure and intimidation in recent days, for example
after having requested a passport. The Pontifical Council has heard
testimonies of threats, violence and murder; of retaliation, of
compensation never received, and of unkept promises”.
“Therefore”, he continued, “there
are individuals who work without a truly human aim. There are denials
of the primacy of the human being, insensitivity to the welfare of
the social and natural environment and the full experience of
fragility, abandonment and rejection. Those responsible are
investors, businesspeople, politicians and governors of the countries
where the deposits are found, or rather the countries where the
headquarters of the mining multinationals reside”.
“On the other hand, exploited and
poor countries are above all in need of honest governments, educated
people and investors with an acute sense of justice and the common
good, as it is morally unacceptable, politically dangerous,
environmentally unsustainable and economically unjustifiable for
developing countries to 'continue to fuel the development of richer
countries at the cost of their own present and future'”, he
concluded.
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