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Social Justice News
October 29, 2008

Pax Christi honors Brazilian bishop for his efforts to save river
By Lise Alves, Catholic News Service

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- Brazilian Bishop Luiz Cappio of Barra, who has led hunger strikes to protest a project to divert the Sao Francisco River, was this year's winner of the Pax Christi International Peace Award.

After the October 18 award ceremony in Sobradinho, Brazil, Bishop Cappio said he would share the award with those who have worked to "defend the river." Then Bishop Cappio led a procession to the riverbank.

The award ceremony took place during the "Waters for Peace" rally, organized by the Brazilian bishops' Pastoral Land Commission. Nearly 2,500 people attended the ceremony.

Pax Christi is the Catholic Church's international peace movement.

Bishop Cappio has been working for more than 30 years with the villages located along the Sao Francisco River. In 1993-94 he walked from the river's source to its mouth, bringing to light its precarious state and rallying communities that use the river to fight for the body of water.

In 2005 and again in 2007, Bishop Cappio held hunger strikes to demand that the government halt its river project. Bishop Cappio's 2007 hunger strike lasted 23 days. During that time family members, government officials and Vatican officials asked the bishop to stop the fast.

The Brazilian government said the project, which includes building a hydroelectric plant, would provide water to 12 million people, but Bishop Cappio said that the planned rerouting of the river mostly will benefit agribusiness exporters.

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