Altar at the encounter (@SIPAZ)

From September 19th to 21st, the Encounter “Let’s Love, Care for and Defend our Common Home, Mother Earth” was held in the community of Candelaria, municipality of San Cristobal de Las Casas, in which around 300 people participated, from the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas, and guests of other dioceses, organizations and churches. This space was opened “as a follow-up to the agreements of the Mother Earth Pastoral Congress, held in January 2014 as part of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Indigenous Congress of 1974 … We gather, enlightened by the word of God, and today, with the encyclical Laudato Si of Pope Francis, who summons us to defend our Mother Earth before the destruction and the dispossession that the capitalist system exercises. That is why we meet different parishes and organizations to unite our struggles and find alternatives to care for and defend our Common Home.”

In this new Encounter, they explained, “we analyze the reality that we are living in our communities, we share experiences of struggle and resistance before the megaprojects that come from above, striving to destroy our life and our Mother Earth.” Progress was also made in the design of a plan of action at the parish and diocesan level, in order to prevent the destruction of nature.

In their final declaration, they reaffirmed “that we will stand in the struggle and intensify our actions for the defense of our territories, identity, culture and autonomy. (…) We call on civil society to organize and defend our Common Home.”

For more information in Spanish:

Pronunciamiento final del Encuentro (21 de septiembre de 2017)

Piden crear plan de acción para cuidar la naturaleza (Cuarto Poder, 22 de septiembre de 2017)

Comunidades se unen contra proyectos mineros en Chiapas (Reporte Ciudadano, 24 de septiembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Culmina el Congreso de la Madre Tierra (28 de enero de 2014)

ARTÍCULO: Congreso Pastoral de la Madre Tierra (Informe trimestral de SIPAZ, febrero de 2014)