Like so many others around the world, we grieve over the death of Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann. Dr. Neumann was a pioneer in public health and a moral force in her country. She was a “social entrepreneur” long before the term came into fashion. We have long known about her work, and had the privilege of meeting her at a conference we sponsored in Antigua, Guatemala in January 2009. At the conference, Dr. Neumann spoke about the transformation that the Pastoral de Criança (Child's Pastoral) had achieved in so many communities across Brazil.
We were inspired by her words: “Through the Pastoral da Criança, we celebrate life, and, as parents and the community are able to see their children survive and grow, they learn and come to appreciate and value more and more the knowledge that children can indeed grow and prosper, that malnutrition is not a problem just for their families, but for all Christians. The community can free the children from evil and suffering.”
Despite her vast accomplishments, Dr. Neumann was clearly not satisfied, even at the abrupt end of her life hungering to extend the basic dignity of nutrition and health care to more and more mothers, children, and communities.
She continued to travel widely to promote the ideals and ideas behind the Pastoral; for everyone she encountered, she strengthened the notion the notion that one truly committed person can change the world. We will miss her spirit and hope the work she began will continue.
Your friends at Berkley Center for Religion, Peace,
and World Affairs and the World Faiths Development Dialogue
Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow, Berkley Center and Executive
Director, World Faiths Development Dialogue
Thomas Bohnett, World Faiths Development Dialogue
Thomas Banchoff, Director, Berkley Center
Melody Fox, Berkley Center
A Discussion with Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann, Founder, Pastoral Criança, Brazil - January 24, 2009