From the book’s Preface
Practically since my first days in Brazil, on the advice of my colleagues, I became involved in the work of the social movements, both in the city and in the interior. Those in the city worked in favour of the workers, victims of precarious jobs and unemployment; those in the interior tried to bring about land reform. As these movements were cropping up when the military regime was approaching its end, within the Church, as a result of the Latin American Church’s Evangelical Option For The Poor’, the Pastoral Operaria (PO), and the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) were created. The Pastoral Operaria supported the small and various trade unions, while the CPT supported the social movements struggling for land reform. Both pastoral activities were supported by my Archbishop Mgr Jaime Luis Coelho.
As the years and the decades passed by, I admired more and more the work of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) in Brazil. Its branches could be found in the South, in São Paulo and Paraná, where I lived. Gradually, it spread to other parts of this continental country, including the North East in Alagoas, Pernambuco and Paraíba, where Fr John Mary Cauchi works.
Fr Cauchi’s involvement was backed by his bishop, Mgr José Maria Pires. As a Maltese priest, I admired Fr John Mary’s work because it was more aggressive and dangerous as this small contribution will demonstrate. The book has two parts: in the first part I tried to give a better idea on what the pastoral and social work of the Church consists of. The second part delves into the work of Fr John Mary Cauchi.
Fr John Caruana (Author of “The Pastoral Land Commission”)
Download and read: john-caruana-the-pastoral-land-commission-participation-of-fr-john-mary-cauchi.pdf
