Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region

The Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region is scheduled to meet in Rome in October 2019. Pope Francis announced on 15 October 2017 that it would work "to identify new paths for the evangelization of God's people in that region", specifically the indigenous peoples who are experiencing the destruction and exploitation of their natural environment and live "often forgotten and without the prospect of a serene future".[1]

The obstacles to evangelization include the difficult terrain that makes native populations hard to reach,[2] the great variety of languages spoken, and the resistance of landowners and business interests. The Amazon, according to one Vatican report, covers six million sq.km. with a population of 2.8 million organized into 400 tribes that "speak some 240 languages belonging to 49 linguistic families".[3] The Synod defines the region to include all or part of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela, and Surinam, all countries where most of the population is Catholic.[4]

Pope John Paul II called similar synods for the Netherlands in 1980 and for Lebanon in 1995.[4]

Background

As early as 1912, in the encyclical Lacrimabili statu, Pope Pius X denounced the owners of the rubber plantations in Peru for mistreating the native population[5] and condemned Capuchin missionaries for failing to protect them.[6]

Visiting Brazil in July 2013, Pope Francis said: "The Church's presence in the Amazon Basin is not that of someone with bags packed and ready to leave after having exploited everything possible. The Church has been present in the Amazon Basin from the beginning, in her missionaries, religious congregations, priests, laity and bishops, and she is still present and critical to the area's future."[7] Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato si' (2015), focused on the need to defend of the poor and their natural environment.[8]

Since March 2015, the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM) has coordinated the work of the Catholic Church in the Amazon region, marshaling the work of priests and missionaries, national representatives of Caritas and lay advocates to protect the both indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the natural resources of the region from exploitation.[3] Archbishop Salvador Pineiro García-Calderón of Ayacucho, President of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference, reported that Pope Francis proposed a synod devoted to the Amazon region in a meeting with the bishops of Peru in May 2017.[2] He mentioned it to the bishops of Ecuador in September 2017.[9]

Francis visited Peru in January 2018 and was met by 4,000 members of the indigenous communities from the Amazon rainforest. He said that the people of the Amazon were threatened now more than ever, and questioned the conservationist policies that affect the Peruvian rainforest. In Puerto Maldonado, he asked for the indigenous communities to be recognized as partners instead of minorities. He said that "all the efforts we make in order to regain the life of the peoples of the Amazon will always be too few". He called on the Peruvian people to put an end to practices that degrade women and criticized the sterilization of indigenous women.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Galleazzi, Giacomo (15 October 2017). "A Synod for the indigenous peoples of South America". La Stampa. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 Arocho Esteves, Junno (16 May 2017). "Pope Francis wants synod dedicated to people in Amazon, archbishop says". America. Catholic News Service. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Vatican Presents Initiative to Protect Amazon". Zenit. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 San Martín, Inés (15 October 2017). "Pope announces Synod of Bishops for Pan-Amazon region". Crux. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Turvasi, Francesco (1988). Giovanni Genocchi and the Indians of South America, 1911–1913. Rome: Editrice Pontifica Università Gregoriana. p. 109. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Abel, Christopher (2006). "Latin America, c.1914-c.1950". In McLeod, Hugh. The Cambridge History of Christianity. 9: World Christianities c.1914-c.2000. Cambridge University Press. p. 183. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Pope Francis calls for 'respect and protection' of environment, end to exploitation of Amazon rainforest". National Post. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Guardian view on Laudato Si': Pope Francis calls for a cultural revolution". The Guardian. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ecuador: Pope Encourages Organizing Synod on the Church in Amazon". Zenit. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Serna Duque, Santiago (22 January 2018). "Pope Francis' visit to Chile and Peru comes to an end". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  11. ↑ O'Connell, Gerard (19 January 2018). "In Peru, Pope Francis says the church stands with the peoples of the Amazon and the earth". America. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
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