VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis said yesterday that the Amazon forest is vital for our Earth and is urging prayers that fires there are quickly controlled.
Francis added his voice to the chorus of international concern that the blazes in Brazil will have grave repercussions on the world’s environmental health.
The pontiff, who is from the neighboring South American nation of Argentina, told the public in St. Peter’s Square that “we’re all worried” about the vast Amazon fires. He warned that that green “lung of forest is vital for our planet.”
Francis said “let us pray so that, with the efforts of all, they are controlled as quickly as possible.”
The blazes have sparked anti-government protests in Brazil and became a pressing issue for leaders at the Group of Seven summit in France.
Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday deployed in the Amazon to fight the fires.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro also tried to temper global concern, saying that previously deforested areas had burned and that intact rainforest was spared. Even so, the fires were likely to be urgently discussed at the G-7 summit.
About 44,000 troops will be available for “unprecedented” operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to six Brazilian states that asked for federal help, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo said. The states are Roraima, Rondonia, Tocantins, Para, Acre, and Mato Grosso.
