During the Acampamento Terra Livre in April, indigenous leaders invited religious leaders connected to IRI Brazil to participate in the first face-to-face event organized by the group since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Religious leaders and IRI Brazil shared a message of solidarity called “Our Land is Sacred” and also presented an open letter against the Environmental Destruction Package, reaffirming their position in favor of life and the defense of indigenous lands. Representatives from the National Confederation of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC), the Brazilian Evangelical Christian Alliance (ACEB), Religions for Peace Brazil, the Israelite Confederation of Brazil (CONIB), Santo Daime, Afro-Brazilian religions, and Buddhism were all present at the event. The event was closed with a symbolic planting of a Brazilian native tree sapling by those present, signifying the union of all for the ecological restoration of the country’s land and the defense of the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples, quilombo communities, river inhabitants and other communities that live in the forests and take care of nature and the environment. The event featured in several media outlets and shared on social networks by religious and indigenous leaders and organizations.
