Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), was the guest of honor at the G7 Jubilee Forum of the Peoples, held on June 13 in Calgary, Canada, organized by Development and Peace – Caritas Canada and KAIROS Canada.
In his inaugural address, Cardinal Barreto offered a powerful moral message to the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations, urging them to act with conscience and responsibility in the context of the grave global socio-environmental crisis.
The Cardinal recalled that we are living in a kairos, a time of transformation that demands a conversion of minds and hearts. In this year 2025, marked by the Jubilee of Hope convened by Pope Francis, Barreto emphasized the urgent need for developed countries to recognize their ecological debt to the peoples of the Global South, a debt that exacerbates the climate, social, and economic crises.
Drawing on his personal experience as Archbishop of Huancayo and advocate for communities affected by polluting mining in La Oroya, Peru, Barreto denounced the devastating impacts of extractivism, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change on the Amazon biome and the health of its people.
“Access to essential resources such as water, food, and housing is being affected by the burden of debt and the climate crisis, exacerbating poverty and forcing migration,” he warned. He also denounced the systematic exclusion of the voices of Indigenous and local communities in public policy decision-making.
Cardinal Barreto called on G7 leaders to implement concrete policies to:
- Reduce demand for products linked to Amazon deforestation.
- Finance projects for the restoration and conservation of Amazonian ecosystems.
- Respect and promote the rights and wisdom of indigenous peoples.
He also urged countries in the Global South to protect their ecosystems, respecting the balance between development and sustainability, with active community participation.
He cited Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation, “Querida Amazonía,” recalling the dream of an Amazon that defends the rights of the poor and indigenous peoples, preserves its natural and cultural beauty, and gives the Church new Amazonian faces.
Finally, the president of CEAMA concluded:“Restoring and caring for the Amazon and its peoples is a sign of hope for all humanity. We are all, absolutely all, participants in this essential commitment to work together—society, governments, businesses, churches, faith communities, and social organizations—for a more just and fraternal future in harmony with our Common Home.”