Mining is no savior for El Salvador, says Catholic Church
El Salvador's clergy came out strongly against mining in 2007, condemning the environmental and social damage it can cause.
By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer
September 10, 2013
San Salvador
On a rainy Sunday night at the Santa Clara de Asis church, east of San Salvador, Friar Domingo Solis addresses 70 rapt parishioners, explaining why he believes mining is impossible here.
"It threatens our water, it threatens animals, and it threatens lives," he says. "But it's not just me. And it's not just all the bishops of the country."
The Franciscan priest asks those opposed to mining to raise their hand. Everyone responds. "And you, too, are against mining," he affirms.
In the mid-2000s, as the mining debate heated up here, the Catholic Conference of Bishops, the church's main authority here, threw its considerable weight behind the antimining movement.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/0910/Mining-is-no-savior-for-El-Salvador-says-Catholic-Church