The Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) notes the passing of Pope Francis
Photo: COPINH co-founder Berta Cáceres met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 28, 2014. The Indigenous Lenca land defender was killed less than two years later on March 2, 2016, for her opposition to the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River, a river considered sacred by the Lenca peoples.
The Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) has posted on social media:
“We deeply regret the passing of Pope Francis, a world figure who knew how to hear the voices of the peoples and raise his own in defense of justice, dignity and life.
In October 2014, our companion Berta Cáceres shared a dialogue with him during the World Meeting of Popular Movements in the Vatican. There, Berta conveyed the word of the Lenca people, denouncing the plundering of the common goods and the criminalization of those who defend them. Francis listened attentively and acknowledged the legitimacy of our struggles.
Today we remember Francis as a voice that accompanied the excluded sectors all over the world. The publication ‘Laudato Si’, published in 2015, was a clear message against the extractivist model and a call to rethink our relationship with nature, from a perspective that integrates social, environmental and ethical. Their call to take care of our ‘common house’ gave support to the resistance of indigenous peoples and farmworkers against environmental destruction.
We will continue to walk with the certainty that another world is possible, from the bottom, with the peoples and for life.”
Laudato Si’
On April 22, 2015, CatholicPhilly.com reported on the World Meeting of Popular Movements at the Vatican that Caceres attended as a delegate in October 2014 and highlighted: “Referring to the coming encyclical on ecology and climate, Pope Francis told Caceres and the others, ‘Rest assured that your concerns will have their place in it.’”
The Laudato Si’ Movement has explained: “Laudato Si’ is an encyclical [a public letter from the Pope developing Catholic teaching on a topic] of Pope Francis published in May 2015. It focuses on care for the natural environment and all people, as well as broader questions of the relationship between God, humans, and the Earth. The encyclical’s subtitle, ‘Care for Our Common Home,’ reinforces these key themes.”
The Sisters of Mercy posted this article “focusing on a few sections of Laudato Si’ that will help us move toward a new consciousness related to extractivism.”
Their overview includes this excerpt: “#182) An assessment of the environmental impact of business ventures and projects demands transparent political processes involving a free exchange of views. On the other hand, the forms of corruption which conceal the actual environmental impact of a given project, in exchange for favours, usually produce specious agreements which fail to inform adequately and to allow for full debate.”
Pope Francis advocated for Indigenous environmental defenders
Following the Pope’s death, Celia Deane-Drummond, the Director of Laudato Si’ Research Institute at the University of Oxford, commented: “For many people living in developing countries where extractive industries such as oil and gas or mining are rife, destruction of land coincides with direct threats to life. Pope Francis advocated for Indigenous environmental defenders, many of whom have been inspired to act by their strong faith.”
A complex situation
Mi’kmaw lawyer Pam Palmater has also commented: “Pope Francis has passed away. While I am not a member of the Catholic Church and am highly critical of the atrocities it has committed worldwide and the many horrific abuses against children and Indigenous peoples, I acknowledge that the situation is complex. There are many Indigenous peoples who are members of the Church and will be mourning his passing. It’s not for people on the outside looking in to judge Indigenous peoples, especially Indian residential school survivors some of whom will be critical of the Pope and some who will mourn today.”
The Doctrine of Discovery
In August 2022, Ellen Gabriel, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) artist and environmental rights activist, wrote about her disappointment that the Pope did not renounce the Doctrine of Discovery during his visit to Canada the previous month.
She highlighted: “The Catholic Church’s Doctrine of Discovery is at the root of centuries of conflict and genocide in the Americas. …Indigenous peoples wanted to hear Pope Francis acknowledge the genocide of Indigenous peoples. …Instead, the words he spoke, perhaps in genuine earnestness, missed the mark because he did not recognize the culpability of the Catholic Church.”
She then commented: “Until the Vatican admits to its role in this genocidal project, land dispossession and the assassinations of Indigenous land defenders in the Americas will continue unabated. The Pope’s apology and public repudiation of the Doctrine would have helped all Indigenous peoples, not solely those in so-called Canada.”
Notably, about eight months later on March 30, 2023, the Vatican released this statement: “The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery’.” That statement adds: “The Church’s solidarity with indigenous peoples has given rise to the Holy See’s strong support for the principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
In September 2023, Palmater commented: “While the repudiation itself is sorely lacking in full accountability and a commitment for reparations, the Pope does call on society to abandon ‘the colonizing mentality’ inherent in the doctrine and walk a path where Indigenous rights are respected. It is doubtful that repudiation alone will lead to immediate change, but if we put it into action, we may just forge a new path.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has accompanied the coordinators of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) since May 2016.
COPINH: “The Pope who opened the Vatican to social movements and listened to Berta Caceres denounce violence against indigenous peoples in 2014 dies.”
Further reading: “Heart of Compassion” for Palestine: Pope Francis Called for Gaza Ceasefire Until His Final Days (Democracy Now!, April 21, 2025).
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