News in Central and South America | New Outlook

Facing opposition from both the Brazilian bishops and the National Association of Catholic Education, conservative Christian groups are pressuring President Jair Bolsonaro and lawmakers to legalize homeschooling.

Watching the news and looking outside while sheltering at his parents’ home in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Father Enrique Camacho can’t fathom how almost five years to the day of Hurricane Maria the island is once again devastated, this time courtesy of Hurricane Fiona.

The Brazilian delegation to the Sept. 22-24 Economy of Francesco international meeting in Assisi will include a group of Black activists whose goal is to emphasize the importance of debating racial issues associated with potential economic transformations.

A statement released by The Haitian Conference of Religious (CHR) expresses dismay and offers solidarity to the priests and religious of the country who have been affected by violence, acts of vandalism and looting in recent days, and issues an urgent appeal for action.

Saying he wanted to promote even "stronger links" between the dioceses of Latin America and the Caribbean and the poorest people in their territories, Pope Francis ordered changes to the structure of a foundation established by St. John Paul II 30 years ago.

About a year ago Jesuit Refugee Services USA staff at the U.S.-Mexico border realized something about many migrants’ journeys: They needed as much help settling into their final destinations as they did when they first entered the country.

After the death in the Brazilian forest of an Indigenous man who was thought to be the last of his tribe and who shunned all contact with outsiders, Amazonian church leaders said it is more important than ever to protect the region's remaining semi-nomadic, isolated peoples.

With Brazil’s presidential election less than a month away, campaigning in South America’s largest country is heating up with President Jair Bolsonaro hoping to fend off a challenge by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Pope Francis sends a telegram expressing his solidarity to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the Vice President of Argentina, after she narrowly survived an attempt on her life.

As Chile prepares for an historic constitutional referendum on Sunday to replace Pinochet's Constitution, Bishops call for a responsible and peaceful vote amid growing polarization in the country

A group of Discalced Carmelite sisters issued a statement with their reflections on the new constitution being put to a plebiscite, provoking reactions within the church, including other nuns.

Violence against Indigenous peoples in Brazil grew in 2021, reaching its highest level since 2013, according to an agency of the bishops’ conference.

As the people of El Salvador continue to live under a ‘state of emergency’, in place because of a spike in gang violence, Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez says the situation in his country is ‘very delicate’ since dialogue is non-existent.

Father Valdir Cândido de Morais describes the energy efficiency project promoted by 115 parishes in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte region as a dream come true. The parish priest of Natal, the capital and largest city of the north-eastern state, says solar panels are part of the initiative that benefits both the people and the land.

An exiled Nicaraguan bishop appeared to challenge Pope Francis Sunday, after the pontiff appealed for an “open and sincere dialogue” with the government of President Daniel Ortega about the recent imprisonment of another Catholic prelate.

Regional correspondent James Blears reports that the move to calm or intensify the crisis of Bishop Rolando Alvarez lies in the hands of Nicaragua's government, after federal police have placed the prelate under house arrest.

Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has called attention to the serious obstacles facing democracy in Nicaragua and expressed grave concerns over the attacks against the Church and civil society organizations. Meanwhile, messages of solidarity from around the world are reaching the Bishop of Matagalpa and the Nicaraguan Church.

According to local reports, after two weeks of virtual house arrest in the curia house, Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, was taken away by police in a convoy of at least eight patrol cars at approximately 3 a.m.