Brazilian bishop, critic of Pachamama, expelled from diocese, dead at 84
November 25, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: A Brazilian bishop who sharply criticized the Amazon Synod, and was ordered by the Vatican to leave his diocese after he retired, has died at the age of 84.
Bishop José Luis Azcona Hermoso had led the prelature of Marajo for almost 30 years: from 1987 until his retirement in 2016 at the age of 76. But after he stepped down, the apostolic nuncio in Brazil asked him to leave the Marajo region before his successor was installed.
During the Amazon Synod of 2019, Bishop Azcona sounded the alarm about the decline of Catholic practice. “The Amazon, at least the Brazilian Amazon, is no longer Catholic,” he reported. He charged that the Synod’s discussion were based on “a distorted vision of the so-called Amazonian face.”
Bishop Azcona was outraged by the ceremonial exaltation of the “Pachamama” figure at the Vatican during the Synod, calling it a “scandalous, demonic sacrilege.”
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Nov. 26, 2024 11:03 PM ET USA
This poor fellow was given the boot out of his diocese a month after Strickland was told to hit the road. Puerto Rico, Brazil, the U.S., how many more orthodox Catholic prelates have been removed in a similar manner, but without as much publicity? I presume his removal caused relief in high places. According to the cited article, his successor is known for his support of liberation theology.
