RIO DE JANEIRO: Archbishop Leonardo Steiner is set to make history as the first cardinal from the Amazon rainforest, who will be elevated on August 27 at the Vatican. Leonardo Steiner is the Archbishop of the Brazilian city of Manaus.

“The communities feel that the distance between Rome and the Amazon is now smaller,” Steiner told The Associated Press in a written interview. “Perhaps this is the reason for the Amazonian people’s joy with Pope Francis’ move.”

Steiner attributed his selection to four priorities of the pope: the desire to do more missionary work in the Amazon and to be attentive to the poor; to care for the Amazon “as our common home” and to be a Church that "knows how to contribute to the autonomy of Indigenous people.”

The Amazon basin, according to a Vatican report, covers some 6,000,000 km2, with a population of 2.8 million divided among 400 tribes that "speak some 240 languages belonging to 49 linguistic families". The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region defines the region to include all or parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela and Suriname, most of which are countries where the population is largely Roman Catholic.

The evangelization of the Amazon began with the arrival of the first missionaries in 1617: they were the Franciscans of the Province of Santo Antonio. In 1626 the Carmelites arrived, in 1639 the Mercedarios who were Spanish, the Jesuits arrived in 1652, the Franciscans of the Province of Pieta in 1693 and the Franciscans of the Province of La Concepción in 1706.

In 1892 the diocese of Manaus was created, and Bethlehem was elevated to the Archdiocese (1906). The Capuchins arrived (1843), the Franciscans (1870), the Espiritains (1885), the Dominicans (1897), the Augustinian Recollects, the Barnabites, the Marists, the Benedictines, the Salesians, the Jesuits, the Servites, the Precious Blood, etc.

A significant fact in this stage of history is the presence in the region of the female religious Congregations that acted alongside the male Congregations in hospitals, leprosariums, schools, orphanages, schools, indigenous missions: Dorotheas, Daughters of Saint Ana, Capuchinas, Dominicans, Sisters of Santa Catarina, daughters of Mary Help of Christians.

The most outstanding example of this new phase is the AMAZON FOUNDATIONS, religious congregations created in the region to meet the needs and appeals coming from all over.

In 2003, the Episcopal Commission for the Amazon was created. In the Amazon Region, there are a total of 47 Salesian communities: 22 in urban areas and 25 in rural areas. There are 245 Salesians currently present in the Amazon: 107 in rural areas and 138 in urban areas.

Both urban and rural areas have a Catholic majority. In urban areas, the population is 7,660,577 inhabitants; of which 5,561,669 are Catholics (72%). In rural areas, the population is 612,231 inhabitants, of whom 408,382 are Catholics (66.7%).

In the Amazon Region, there are 1,219 Catholic communities and 2,123 Pastoral Agents.