The Pascua-Lama project, Diocese of Copiapó, Chile
Author: Cristián Borgoño Barros, Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics, School of Theology, Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago, Chile
Year: 2026
Location: Alto del Carmen District, Huasco Province, Atacama Desert
This study examines the role of the Catholic Church in Chile’s Atacama region in opposing the Pascua Lama mining project, a major transnational gold-silver open-pit initiative by Barrick Gold on the Chile-Argentina border. Despite Chile’s deep cultural and economic identification with mining, the diocese of Copiapó emerged as a significant voice defending the Huasco Valley’s water resources, particularly the glaciers Toro I, II, and Esperanza, which were threatened by the project. Through grassroots accompaniment, the diocese’s pastoral for the safeguarding of creation, led largely by religious sisters and lay catechists, mobilized local farming communities. Key actions included public education via homilies, radio broadcasts, murals, and marches; documentation of environmental damage; alliances with civil society and indigenous Diaguita groups; and active participation in legal challenges that ultimately led to the project’s definitive closure in 2020. The response evolved from local concerns into a coordinated diocesan effort, emphasizing the right to water, care for our Common Home, and rejection of mining donations to avoid conflicts of interest. This case stands out as an exceptional prophetic witness within Chile’s generally mining-friendly ecclesial context, demonstrating how a small, resource-limited diocese could challenge powerful economic and political interests through faith-inspired, non-violent resistance and ecological advocacy.
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