Robaird O’Cearbhaill
Hong Kong correspondent
In Mexico, with the second largest population in Latin America at 122 million, a high number of Covid cases was expected. Recently, cases reached 2.9 million, fourth in the world, following higher totals in India, Brazil, and the highest, the US. Brazil, with a population of 210 million, has 20 million cases. The per capita rate at 9.4% is much higher than Mexico at 2.4%. Surprisingly, comparing poverty among the populations – 43% in Mexico and much lower in Brazil – Mexico figures could be much higher.
The challenges in fighting poverty there are more demanding than in Brazil. Unregistered, casual work in Mexico is estimated at 56% compared to around 40% in Brazil. The Church has been greatly supported by the Jesuits, as National Catholic Reporter (NCR) reported: “In Mexico, the Church has launched an effort to coordinate the several assistance initiatives taking place in the country. With an economic informality rate of 56%, the country has poverty pockets in the cities and in the countryside, which present healthcare, nutrition and psychosocial needs.”
“We’ve been trying to coordinate our works in the nine Mexican regions where we’re present, in order to help poor people in urban and rural areas,” Fr Sergio Cobo, director of the Society of Jesus’ Loyola Foundation, told NCR. “We’ve been giving assistance to hundreds of thousands of people this way.”
NCR added that: “The Mexican Jesuits are giving support to the professionals of Catholic hospitals in the country and gathering donations to be distributed to parishes and communities. Some of their buildings have been converted to healthcare and social service operations.” According to Cobo, there’s also a relevant Jesuit presence among indigenous communities. “Through two radio stations we maintain with indigenous groups, we’ve been bringing information and raising awareness on the novel coronavirus both in Spanish and in indigenous languages,” he affirmed.
In Argentina, where Pope Francis comes from, with a population of 45 million, 5 million Covid cases have been reported. NCR described how the Church and social activism has dealt with increased poverty from the pandemic.
“The poor in big Argentinian cities such as Buenos Aires are benefiting from a decades-old activity of social movements and church organizations in the country, which have been reinforcing their operations since the pandemic started. According to Bishop Gustavo Carrara, community refectories have added new shifts to their regular schedules, in order to deal with the bigger demand and avoid overcrowding.”
“Social distancing measures have been applied in Argentina at an early phase, which contributed to prevent the further spread of the virus. But this caused an impairment in the informal economy, so there’s a growing demand for food,” Carrara told NCR, which added, “In slums, Hogar de Cristo (“Home of Christ,” in Spanish), a network of neighbourhood centers that give shelter to children and teenagers involved with drugs, is protecting hundreds of them during quarantine.”
“For the homeless, a number of refectories still provide hot meals. Catholic organizations such as Caritas Argentina are giving permanent shelter to people who used to only spend the night. “In Buenos Aires, two Caritas shelters are hosting 370 people. Sisterhoods are also offering a place to stay for the homeless,” added Carrara.
In the Dominican Republic the pandemic has hit the poor hard, too. While being a fast growing economy with a growing middle class, NCR reported, “In Santo Domingo, (the capital) the church has also been helping the government to organize assistance.” Hunger is a growing problem in the Caribbean country. “Recently, I met an elderly woman who told me she was at home with four grandchildren and that they hadn’t eaten for four days,” Domingo Legua, episcopal vicar of social pastoral care in the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, told NCR.
Moreover Legua explained that at least half of the Dominican population doesn’t have conditions to stock on food. “They work each day in order to buy each day’s food. Now that everybody is confined, those people are starving,” he said. NCR added that “Legua’s food bank has daily distributed staple foods — mainly rice and beans — since the pandemic. “Only in the first t 10 days of confinement, we donated 500,000 portions,” he affirmed. However, Legua said that with criminality rising during the crisis, his (food) warehouse has been robbed several times. “More difficulties are coming.”
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