by Laudato Si’ Movement | Oct 29, 2019 | Blog
Throughout this year, Catholic communities have eagerly anticipated The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region. During this meeting, bishops, men and women religious, and community representatives, including indigenous leaders across the Amazon came together for three weeks in Rome. Although the gathering in Rome has now ended, the work of the synod continues in communities around the world.
The synod explored how to better serve this region and its people while sharing the Good News of Jesus. At its conclusion, its voting members produced an outcomes document. You can read a summary of that document here. The voting members’ suggestions have been sent to Pope Francis for his review, and Pope Francis will issue a final statement within the next six months.
The outcomes document has expressed the long-standing values of our Church in new ways for this extraordinary time. Many critical issues were named under the common theme of conversion: integral, pastoral, cultural, ecological, and synodal.
This is a kairos moment for the Church and the world. Together, we have prayerfully reflected on how our relationships with the Creator, people, and all creation are affected by our actions.
What can we do?
The synod on the Amazon took place over one-and-a-half years and culminated in Rome, and its message reverberates throughout the world. Here’s how you can take part.
Throughout the year, GCCM has supported the synodal process by organizing events in the Amazon Casa Común event series, preparing a small-group discussion guide, and offering a wealth of ways for grassroots leaders to participate.
How has the synod been received in the Amazon?
The Amazon stretches across nine countries and millions of people. An extractivist mindset, driven by our lifestyles, has resulted in drilling, mining, and agroindustrial operations that destroy the forest. The synod is a very powerful testimony to the hope our Church offers to this vulnerable region.
Because of the very hope the synod offers, the presidential administration of Brazil, which has overseen the near doubling of illegal deforestation and a sharp rise in attacks on indigenous communities, has opposed the synod. The government of President Jair Bolsonaro has even gone so far as to monitor the communications of Brazil’s bishops.
These actions run contrary to what the vast majority of Catholics want. A recent survey in Brazil itself revealed that 85% of Brazilian Catholics believe that attacking the Amazon is sinful. Across the Amazon, the synod is welcomed as a light that offers a way out of the darkness.
The words of Patricia Gualinga, the International Relations Director for Ecuador’s Kichwa First People of Sarayaku, express the hope and courage of many Amazonian indigenous communities. Ms. Gualinga says:
We have just concluded a synod that strengthens indigenous communities’ fight to protect and defend the Amazon. A spirituality that leads to intercultural exchange and to the understanding of much more than our own perspectives. A synod that has brought us emotion and uncertainty, but that has just concluded with more than 70% voting rate from the Amazonian bishops and from all those that have been present here, with the visibility that has been given with our presence as indigenous communities and indigenous women. It has been a unique experience.
The synod on the Amazon is a testimony to the vision offered by our faith. The Church is committed to listening deeply and to meeting all of creation in dialogue, establishing new paths toward justice, peace, and the healing of our common home.
Stories and statements written by Laudato Si’ Movement represent the work of the organization and/or more than one staff member of the movement.