Brazil’s Indigenous Missionary Council, an organization associated with the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, has issued a manifesto on its 50th anniversary.

“On behalf of our Church,” the missionaries asked “forgiveness of the indigenous peoples for the sins of the colonization in which we participated,” and warned that “violence against indigenous peoples has intensified … Territories are devastated, forests set on fire, animals exterminated, water sources contaminated, sacred spaces desecrated, the mother’s body is pierced in search of minerals.”

“Against this project of death,” the missionaries pledged to “courageously and prophetically [defend] the cause of indigenous peoples.”