Amazon leaders demand illegal miners stay away to protect tribal lives
Bogota, Colombia Thomson Reuters Foundation Amazon tribal leaders called on governments in South America to ensure illegal miners stay away from their forest lands as they fear outsiders could spread the coronavirus among vulnerable Indigenous communities. At least 10 Indigenous people in Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia have died from the highly contagious COVID-19, according to […]
Reform of customary laws urged to protect India’s Indigenous land
Shillong, India, Thomson Reuters Foundation Customary laws in the north-eastern states of India are failing to protect Indigenous lands and must be reformed to safeguard the property of women and poorer tribal people, land rights analysts said on Tuesday. Customs related to Indigenous tradition, including those on land use, are protected by the Indian constitution […]
India drops plan to let forest officials use force after protests
Bangkok, Thailand Thomson Reuters Foundation India has dropped plans to give forest officials the right to use force against Indigenous people and open up more land for commercial plantations after nationwide protests. Proposed amendments to a century-old Indian Forest Act aimed to give officials the power to arrest and shoot at encroachers and earmark more […]
Australia’s Uluru opens to climbers for last time ahead of ban
Yulara, Australia Reuters Hundreds of tourists clambered up Australia’s Uluru on Friday, the day before a permanent ban on climbing the sacred rock takes effect following a decades-long fight by Indigenous people to close the trek. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed 348 metre monolith, formerly known as Ayers Rock, is a top tourist draw in Australia […]
Working groups at the Vatican’s Amazon synod push for married clergy
Vatican CityRNS As the 185 Catholic bishops who met to discuss the Amazon region broke into small working groups for the second week of the synod, the topics they would tackle included dwindling vocations, the role of women and married men in the church and the rights of Indigenous peoples. But if the small-group participants […]
Bishops worry divisions on “details” at synod distract from big picture
Vatican City RNS Halfway into a three-week gathering of bishops at the Vatican to discuss the Amazon region, participants warned that inside divisions over ordination or inculturation risk missing the forest, so to speak, for the trees. “In focusing only on certain themes, there is the risk of losing the broader outlook,” said the Vatican’s […]
Essay: Amazonian bishops condemn attacks on rainforest and Indigenous peoples
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, looks back at this week’s Amazon Synod…
Two-thirds of Amazon Catholic bishops support married priests, says Brazil bishop
Vatican City RNS According to one Brazil bishop attending the Vatican summit on the Amazon region, a majority of Brazilian bishops are in favor of allowing the ordination of married men to the priesthood. “Of the bishops who are in the Amazon region, I guess two-thirds are in favour of the viri probati,” said Emeritus Bishop […]
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: YOUNG TAIWANESE RECONNECT WITH ROOTS TO HEAL TRAUMA
BEH LIH YI and SHANSHAN CHEN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Taiwan…
INDIA: ENSLAVED FOR DECADES, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FREED BY LAND TITLES
ANURADHA NAGARAJ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…