Bolsonaro targets the Catholic church over its 'leftist agenda' on the Amazon

Gathering at the Vatican has triggered a political storm in Brazil as bishop denies undermining the government

Tom Phillips in Tabatinga
Mon 23 Sep 2019 07.30 BST
Last modified on Mon 23 Sep 2019 16.40 BST

-snip-

But when the 63-year-old bishop sets off from his Amazonian sanctuary this week and boards a plane for Rome, he will be travelling to the frontline of a smouldering political skirmish between a left-leaning, green-minded Argentinian pope and Brazil’s far-right, climate skeptic president, Jair Bolsonaro.

“We must use, but not abuse Amazonia,” said Zon, leaving little doubt on which side of the battle lines he stands.

Zon, the Spanish bishop of the Alto Solimões, a vast diocese along Brazil’s tri-border with Peru and Colombia, is one of more than 100 bishops from nine Amazon countries preparing to meet at the Vatican for the Synod for the Amazon.

Pope Francis’s three-week conclave, which starts on 6 October, is tasked with pondering the church’s future in a sprawling and complex region where it is rapidly shedding believers to Pentecostal congregations.

-snip-

But it is the gathering’s green focus that has triggered a political storm in Brazil, which controls about 60% of the Amazon region and has, since January, been governed by a far-right administration that has dismantled environmental protections and overseen a dramatic surge in deforestation.

Brazil’s answer to MI5 – Abin – has reportedly been mobilized in at least four Amazon cities to keep tabs on clergy involved in the synod.

-snip-