In a press conference held Wednesday afternoon, March 11, the president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), dom Geraldo Lyrio Rocha and the vice president, dom Luis Vieira presented the new document approved by the meeting of the Permanent Council of the CNBB, entitled “For a reform of the State with democratic participation”.

 

In the interview the bishops stated, among other points, that it is necessary to review the existing economic model that privileges the concentration of income. “The current system is concentrative and exclusionary. It is necessary that we find a model of social inclusion”, declared Dom Geraldo.

 

According to the president of the CNBB, new agents need to be considered in the current context of society so that a true change of structures occurs. “Among the new agents we have the woman, the indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, who before had no voice and now, with great struggles, are increasingly winning their place”, stated the bishop.

 

Afro-descendants and indigenous peoples

In recalling the struggles of Afreo-descendants and indigenous peoples as new agents in the democratic state, the bishops assert that, with respect to quotas, the CNBB does not think in terms of technical order – in percentages of persons who should enter universities with that system – but on the merits of the question. “The blacks bear the mark of slavery in the country and all cicatrix of the enslavement system, the system of quotas then being the minimum that can be done in relation to this history”.

 

Dom Luis Vieira, who is also Bishop of Manaus, was questioned regarding how the CNBB evaluates the action of the state in the demarcation of indigenous lands and responded: “The pace of the demarcations of the lands is not as we hoped. We know that land is a vital question for these traditional peoples and there are various areas for being demarcated throughout the country. We also know that the government faces difficulties, opposition in Congress, economic groups… but unfortunately it is not the pace that we would like”.

 

Crises

The bishops were asked about the corruption cases discovered in the Federal District and Dom Geraldo was emphatic. “The fact exposes in a somewhat emblematic manner the fragility of the current system”, he said. According to him, were there already political reform, a situation like this would not have occurred. “The reform of the State is urgent so that situations like this are not repeated”, he reflected.

 

But, according to the bishops, the crisis summarizes not only economic questions or even corruption: “It is more complex, it is something greater. It is necessary that everyone rethink the crisis more deeply for a new civilization to emerge”, noted Dom Luis Vieira, citing also the environmental crisis observed throughout the world.

 

The bishops emphasized the necessity of a more meaningful democratic practice. “It is not possible to favor groups that seek in the State the satisfaction of their private interests”, they said. The CNBB defends in its document that “a change of structures is made necessary, seeking to redemocratize the State, amplifying popular participation, constructing a participatory Democracy”. They cite “hopeful practices” that are already happening such as: the parity councils, legislative tracking, tracking of budgetary execution, the activity of the social parishes, of the Ecclesial Baase Communities and of the Social Weeks that the church develops.

 

The document is published in its entirety by the CNBB (www.conbb.org.br).