Word: salesians
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...weren't for the gold, all would be well. We would have time to prepare the Indians for the maliciousness of the white man." So says Father Norberto Hohenscherer, one of the many Salesian missionaries who have governed, educated and protected 20,000 Indians of the Tukano and other tribes over the past seven decades in remote northwestern Brazil. Time, however, is rapidly running out for both missionaries and Indians. The discovery of potentially vast lodes of gold and other minerals is transforming life in a wide region around Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, a small town in the Amazon jungle...
Until the gold strike three years ago, the Salesians' placid principality resembled the 18th century Jesuit compounds in Paraguay that are celebrated in the film The Mission. The Indians' spiritual traditions provided a foundation for the Salesian priests and nuns who supplanted the tribal shamans. The Salesians stressed education and introduced infirmaries, orchards and craft workshops. The Indians became heavily dependent upon the mission, which bartered or bought handicrafts and art, resold them to outsiders and used most of the proceeds to maintain the church's services...
Rome has repeatedly placed its support behind Obando. But even without the Vatican's backing, it is doubtful that the Cardinal would turn to political activism. Born to Indian peasant parents in the south-central department of Chontales, he joined the Salesian order and became known as a priest to the poor, riding through rough country on horseback to visit impoverished backwoods villages. Though he has unquestionably gained stature in the course of his showdown with the Sandinistas, Obando remains a humble man, reluctant to venture far into the power game. "We, the bishops and the priests, shouldn...