Vigil Masses for success of the Amazon Synod

Oct 12, 2019

By Ellen Teague
The first of two Vigil Masses to pray for the success of the Amazon Synod, was held in London. Around 150 people gathered at St Ignatius Parish in Stamford Hill for a service organised by the Society of Jesus, Columban JPIC and CAFOD. A flavour of the Amazon was provided by parish musician Leila Persaud who sang a hymn in the language of the Wapishana indigenous people of southern Guyana and northern Brazil. Translated, the hymn title was Jesus is our friend. The celebrant was Fr David Stewart SJ and a talk was given by Dan Hale, Head of Campaigns at CAFOD.

Dan Hale’s talk follows:
Bishops, lay people and indigenous leaders will meet in Rome for the first of three weeks of discussion and prayer about the Amazon at a special meeting, a Synod, called by Pope Francis.

It seems a strange thing for the Church to talk about. After all, there are only 20 million people living in the Amazon. But Pope Francis knows what he is doing. Nearly five years ago he wrote a letter, Laudato Si, challenging Catholics to care for our common home. But we have not listened — we continue to destroy Creation, God’s precious gift to us. Now he sets before us this Synod, a worked example of his message.

I work at CAFOD and for decades we have supported the Church in this astonishing region spanning nine countries of South America — it is so big that the UK and Ireland would fit into it 17 times!

Whilst the Synod will be focussed on the particular pastoral challenges the Church faces in the Amazon, its deliberations have already awoken much interest in other parts of the world where similar threats face the environment, habitat and indigenous communities. Church leaders from the tropical forest regions of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as from Europe, have contributed to the preparatory process for the Synod and see it as a sign of hope for the Church.

There are four areas to look out for and pray about in the coming weeks.

First, climate change and the environment. As we saw with the devastating fires in the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazon last month, the Amazon is a key defence against climate change. We cannot win the fight against climate change without the Amazon. The repercussions of logging the Amazon will be felt by us all, and especially the poorest in our world who are hit worst by the impacts of climate change.

Second, the Synod will hear the voices of indigenous communities who have been living in harmony with nature for many years. Since the 1980s, many indigenous communities have been targeted as corporate businesses try to exploit the Amazon rainforest for profit, while indigenous peoples act as courageous defenders of their land — land on which we all rely.

Third, the role of big business — many of which are based right here in London. For decades across Latin America, marginalised communities (indigenous and non-indigenous) have been courageously defending their rights and protecting their lands, forests and rivers against powerful economic interests — many linked to UK businesses’ operations. The model of economic development we have is driving destruction in the Amazon - their fight is in part our fault.

And finally, the Synod is a chance for us to consider the crucial role that human rights defenders play in the Amazon region. Human rights and land defenders’ tireless pursuit of social and environmental justice to prevent agri-business and extractive industries destroying the Amazon entails great risks to their own lives, including threats of violence, murders and criminalisation with no recourse to justice.

As the working document on the Synod reminds us:

“The number of martyrs in the Amazon is alarming (in Brazil alone, 1,119 indigenous people were murdered between 2003 and 2017 for defending their territory). The Church cannot be indifferent; on the contrary, it must help to protect the men and women who defend human rights and remember their martyrs, among them leaders such as Sr Dorothy Stang, who was murdered in 2005.”

One of our partners, REPAM, which brings together the many bishops and dioceses, religious orders and other Church groups in the Amazon, is led by the fearless visionary Mauricio Lopez. He has been appointed one of the presidents of the Synod this month.

He spoke recently about the reasons behind the Synod. He said, “Approximately 20-25 per cent of the Amazon has been deforested. If we continue with the same economic approach, there will be no future for the Amazon and eventually no future for humankind. We are all connected and the economic decisions by those in power impact the lives of the people in the Amazon.

“If we want the Amazon and our planet to have a chance, we need to completely change the way our economy is organised. We need to look at the reality and the limits of our planet.

“We are standing alongside indigenous peoples to defend their territory, their identity and their culture. They are often threatened by extractive industries, large corporations and face persecution and criminalisation by companies and the state. Community leaders are being murdered. The planet is in a very serious situation. The indigenous communities in the Amazon can be part of the answer.

“One out of five glasses of water everyone drinks in this world, we need to thank the Amazon for that. One out of every five breaths you take, we must thank the Amazon for. We rely on the Amazon territory and its future for our own future.

“It is not about the Synod as an event but about the ‘Synodality’ which means ‘walking together’ and listening to one another. It goes beyond the event in the Vatican. Pope Francis calls for the periphery to become the centre. This periphery can enlighten us. How will we respond to this invitation to walk together?”

Please, pray for Mauricio, Pope Francis, all those gathered in Rome this month, and all those who have the privilege of calling the Amazon home. --ICN