SAO PAULO — With the news that dozens of people were suffocating to death due to a lack of oxygen in hospitals in the Amazon city of Manaus, Catholic bishops made a plea for the supply of an essential element for survival. “We, bishops of Amazonas and Roraima, make an appeal: For the love of God, send us oxygen,” Archbishop Leonardo Steiner of Manaus said in a video released Jan. 15. “Provide oxygen. People cannot continue to die for lack of oxygen and for lack of beds in the ICUs,” said the visibly shaken archbishop. The archbishop said that during the first wave of COVID-19 in the Amazon region, people died due to a lack of information and lack of beds in Intensive Care Units. Now, during this second wave, people are dying not only because of overcrowded hospitals but from a shortage of oxygen. The situation in Manaus made headlines as family members of those in hospitals, with COVID-19 and other ailments, were shown trying desperately to purchase oxygen cylinders to save their loved ones. Bishop Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, president of the bishops’ conference, asked business leaders, entrepreneurs and politicians to offer their assistance. Retired Bishop Erwin Kräutler, president of the Brazilian branch of the Pan-Amazonian Church Network, also expressed his support for the bishops’ calls. “For the love of God and of Our Lady: Manaus, the Amazon, are (part of) Brazil. Please wake up, for the people who live here and want to survive this pandemic,” he said.
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