Source: Agência Rio de Notícias - RJ - 05/10/2009

The Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Dom Orani João Tempesta, paid a visit to the community of Brás de Pina, in the North Zone of Rio, the first urbanized slum in Latin America, at the invitation of Father José Sans Artola. Community leaders pointed out the visit as "an enormous expectation that new social advances will be achieved in the area".

At the headquarters of Irsaned (Irmandade Santa Edviges de Brás de Pina), Dom Orani was welcomed by Ambassador Marcilio Marques Moreira, Grand Chancellor of Informália and president of the World Forum on Informality, who presented a brief history of urbanization in the slum areas, being Brás de Pina the pioneer, in addition to explaining the relevance of studying the phenomenon “Informality” and two cross-cutting issues. Several religious were present, giving support from other communities to Father Artola's initiative.

Community leaders, formal and informal community entrepreneurs present at the event highlighted the fact that the presence of the Church, represented by the Archbishop of Rio, makes it more viable to address issues such as the understanding of Informality as a valid option to fight unemployment . Former minister Marcílio Marques Moreira said that with the World Informality Forum, Irsaned seeks to bring important subsidies to the study of the theme and the formulation of concrete proposals for governments.

A walk by Dom Orani through the streets of the favela aroused the joy and curiosity of several residents. Father Artola stressed that the visit of the Archbishop of Rio was “an honor for all, as it clearly showed the Church's proximity to the city's poor population”.

Dom Orani stressed that he has visited several communities, some of them even by surprise, with the aim of showing that the Church is getting closer to the people. He said that the issue of informality needs to be analyzed in a way that does not hamper legitimate initiatives, but also taking into account labor issues, so that there is no misuse of the process, to the detriment of workers.

(MG)