“Yanomami people are very religious, they pray with confidence to God the Father. We see this in the Eucharist. They pray at length, with no hurry, living what they say. The Yanomami Church is emerging with strength. It has strong human values of generosity, solidarity, sharing, hospitality”, writes in his blog Eduardo Marroquin, a Salesian missionary. But there is a truth. The Yanomami culture was evangelized by the missionaries who spent their lives for them and presented the message of Jesus for many years. Now it is the time for spiritual harvest.
On August 6th, on the occasion of the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and on the following day, Fr. Lazaro Santos, SDB, baptized 28 young Yanomani Xaponos, belonging to the indigenous communities (xaponos) of Pohoroa and Balaio, in the municipality of Santa Isabel de Rio Negro, Amazonas.
For the Yanomami community, the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism was a moment of great joy, but also an historical one, because these were the first baptisms in that indigenous zone inhabited by Yanomami.
At the end of the ceremony of the Mass and the Baptisms, the newly baptized were given a copy of the Gospel expressly sent by the Bishop of São Gabriel de Cachoeira, Msgr. Edson Taschetto Damian, and after the celebration they could share with a feast their joy of being part of the Catholic Church.
