Brazil’s Yanomami leader asks the Pope to support President Lula in reversing damage to the Amazon

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has met with a leader of Brazil’s Yanomami people. The shaman, Davi Kopenawa, says he asked for papal backing for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s efforts to reverse decades of exploitation of the Amazon and better protect its indigenous peoples. The Yanomami leader said he came to the Vatican at Francis’ invitation to brief him on the plight of the Yanomami and the Amazon. It comes as deforestation surged to a 15-year high during the previous administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Francis has made caring for the environment, especially the Amazon, a hallmark of his papacy. His 2015 encyclical “Praised Be” lashed out at the unbridled exploitation of the Amazon.