The forthcoming Amazon Synod

Jun 21, 2019

By Junno Arocho Esteves
The Catholic Church must find ways to reach indigenous Catholics deprived of the sacraments in the most remote areas of the Amazon rainforest, and that may include ordaining married elders, said the working document for the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon.

This demands that there be a study on the possibility of priestly ordination of elders — preferably those who are indigenous, respected by their society and with a stable family background. Their ordination will ensure that the sacraments be celebrated in the most remote areas of the region, noted the Instrumentum Laboris or working document published by the Vatican June 17.

The Church should consider “an official ministry that can be conferred upon women, taking into account the central role they play in the Amazonian Church.” This document was drafted after much input from the bishops’ conferences and the local communities. It acknowledged that “the feminine presence in communities isn’t always valued,” in the Church.

Those responding to a synod questionnaire asked that women’s “gifts and talents” be recognised and that the Church “guarantee women leadership as well as increasingly broad and relevant space in the field of formation: theology, catechesis, liturgy and schools of faith and politics,” the 45-page document said.

The Synod of Bishops on the Amazon will take place in October 2019 with the theme Amazonia: New paths for the Church and for an integral ecology.

When Pope Francis announced the Amazon Synod in 2017, he said that it would seek to identify new paths of evangelisation, especially for indigenous people who are often forgotten and left without the prospect of a peaceful future. There is the threat to the Amazon forest which plays a vital role in the environmental health of the entire planet.

The Amazon rainforest includes territory spread across Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Suriname, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Guyana and French Guiana and is the largest rainforest in the world, covering more than 2.1 million square miles in South America.

While rich in biodiversity, natural resources and cultures, the Amazon rainforest has experienced significant deforestation, negatively impacting the indigenous populations in the area and leading to a loss of biodiversity.

“This synod revolves around life: the life of the Amazonian territory and its people, the life of the Church (and) the life of the planet,” the document said.

The Instrumentum Laboris is divided into three main parts. The First Part is on the importance of the Amazonian region as well as the environmental threats facing it and its indigenous populations. “This is the moment to listen to the voice of the Amazon and to respond as a prophetic and Samaritan Church,” the working document highlighted.

The Second Part placed emphasis on the dangers facing the region and its people who are threatened by those “guided by an economic model linked to production, commercialisation and consumption, where the maximising of profit is prioritised over human and environmental needs”.

The Third Part is concerned about the formation of the indigenous laity who can eventually take on a greater role, especially in remote areas where they lack the presence of priests, religious men and women.

However, those who are preparing for ordained ministry must receive adequate formation in the Church’s “philosophical-theological culture,” although in a way adapted to Amazonian cultures.

Liturgy also plays an important role in expressing the Church’s closeness to indigenous people in the Amazon area, the document pointed out.--CNS