Pope Francis’ concern for indigenous peoples and the promotion of their dignity

February 10, 2023, speech to participants at the Indigenous Peoples Forum: “I call on governments to recognize indigenous peoples around the world, with their cultures, languages, traditions, spirituality, and to respect their dignity and rights, in the awareness that the richness of our great human family resides precisely in its diversity…”

July 27, 2022, speech during the meeting with the civil authorities, the representatives of the indigenous peoples and the Diplomatic Corps: “Even today, ideological colonizations stifle the natural attachment to the values ​​of the peoples…”

July 25, 2022, meeting with First Nations, Métis and Inuit indigenous peoples: “The place where we are now makes a cry of pain resound in me, a muffled cry that has accompanied me for the past few months. I think back to the tragedy suffered by so many of you, by your families, by your communities; to what you have told me about the suffering endured in residential schools…”

April 1, 2022, speech to the delegations of the indigenous peoples of Canada: “I begin with an expression which belongs to your wisdom and which is not just a saying, but a way of looking at life: “You have to think seven generations to advance when we make a decision today”. This sentence is wise, it is clairvoyant, and it is the opposite of what often happens nowadays, where we pursue useful and immediate objectives without worrying about the future of future generations…”

February 2, 2021, message to the participants of the 5th Indigenous Peoples Forum at IFAD: “It is about promoting a development that does not have consumption as a means and an end, but that really watches over the environment, that listens, who learns and who ennobles. This is what integral ecology consists of, in which social justice is combined with the safeguard of the planet…”

September 1, 2020, message for the celebration of the 6th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation: “Let us awaken the aesthetic and contemplative sense that God has placed in us. The ability to marvel and contemplate is something we can learn especially from Indigenous brothers and sisters who live in harmony with the land and its many life forms…”

February 12, 2020, post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia: “I dream of an Amazon that fights for the rights of the poorest, of the indigenous peoples, of the last, where their voice is heard and their dignity is promoted. I dream of an Amazon that preserves this cultural richness that distinguishes it, where human beauty shines in various ways. I dream of an Amazon that jealously preserves the irresistible natural beauty that adorns it, the overflowing life that fills its rivers and forests. I dream of Christian communities capable of giving and incarnating themselves in the Amazon, to the point of giving the Church new faces with Amazonian traits…”

October 26, 2019, speech at the end of the work of the Pan Amazonian Synod: “Pope Francis summarizes the 4 dimensions worked on: cultural, ecological, social and pastoral”

October 7, 2019, speech for the opening session of the Synod on the Amazon: “We can say that the Synod for the Amazon has four dimensions: pastoral, cultural, social and ecological. The first, the pastoral dimension, is the essential dimension that encompasses everything. We approach with a Christian heart and see the reality of the Amazon with the eyes of a disciple, to understand and interpret with the eyes of a disciple, because there is no neutral hermeneutics, no hermeneutics aseptic; the latter are always conditioned by a previous option, ours being that of disciples…”

June 17, 2019, Instrumentum laboris for the Synod on the Amazon, “New paths for the Church and for an integral ecology”

March 8, 2019, speech to participants at the international conference on “Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals”: “When we talk about sustainability, we cannot overlook the importance of inclusion and listening to all voices, especially those who are normally excluded from this type of discussion, such as those of the poor, migrants, indigenous people and young people…”

February 14, 2019, speeches at the opening ceremony of the 42nd session of IFAD and to the participants of the IV Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum: Advocacy for real development of rural areas, respectful of peoples

June 8, 2018, lineamenta for the Synod on the Amazon, “New paths for the Church and for an integral ecology”

January 19, 2018, meeting in the foyer “The Little Prince” (Peru): “Look for your roots and, at the same time, open your eyes to what is new, yes… and make your own synthesis. Give back to the world what you learn, because the world needs you in your originality, as you really are, not as imitations…”

January 19, 2018, meeting with the peoples of Amazonia: “Allow me, once again, to say: Praise you Lord for this marvelous work of your Amazonian peoples and for all the biodiversity that these lands contain. This hymn of praise is interrupted when we listen and see the deep wounds that Amazonia and its peoples carry within them. And I wanted to come and visit you and listen to you, so that we may be united in the heart of the Church, in order to share your challenges and to reaffirm with you a sincere option for the defense of life, for the defense of the land and for the defense of crops…”

January 17, 2018, homily during Mass with the indigenous peoples of Chile: “Many generations of men and women have loved and love this soil with jealous gratitude. And I want to stop and especially greet the members of the Mapuche people, as well as the other indigenous peoples who live in these southern lands: Rapanui (Easter Island), Aymara, Quechua and Atacamenos, and so many others…”

January 16, 2018, meeting with the authorities, civil society and the Diplomatic Corps (Chile): “The wisdom of indigenous peoples can be a great contribution. From these we can learn that there is no genuine development for a people who turn their backs on the land and all those around it. Chile has in its roots a wisdom capable of helping to transcend the purely consumerist conception of existence to adopt a wise attitude towards the future…”

February 15, 2016, Mass with the indigenous communities of Chiapas: “Often, in a systematic and structural way, your peoples have been misunderstood and excluded from society. Some have deemed your values, your culture and your traditions inferior…”

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