Pere Casaldàliga i Pla CMF, known in Portuguese as Pedro Casaldáliga (16 February 1928 – 8 August 2020), was a Spanish-born Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church who led the Territorial Prelature of São Félix, Brazil, from 1970 to 2005.
His advocacy for indigenous peoples and peasants resulted in repeated death threats, and in 1976 a priest was killed standing alongside him at a march protesting the mistreatment of female prisoners.
"[4] Casaldàliga co-founded the Conselho Indigenista Missionário [pt] in 1972, an organ of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil that fights for the right to cultural diversity of indigenous peoples to strengthen its autonomy.
[8] It centers on the site where Jesuit João Bosco Bernier was killed at Casaldáliga's side on 11 October 1976, the Sanctuary of the Martyrs of the "Caminhada".
The statement decreed that he would not add political content to processions, would accept restrictions on his theological work, and only say Mass or preach outside of Brazil, especially in Nicaragua, with permission from the local bishop.
[8] When the CDF criticized the work of theologian Jon Sobrino of El Salvador in 2007, Casaldáliga responded with an open letter asking that the Church confirm its “real commitment to the service of God’s poor" and acknowledge "the link between faith and politics".
[17][18] In December 2012, Casaldàliga had to flee his home, and the Federal Police hid him for two months after he received death threats from landowners from the region when he helped the Xavante people regain their land.