From October 6-27, the Amazon Synod convened in Rome to discuss key issues about the South American region. The goals of the synod were to find new ways to evangelize Amazonian people, as well as address the ecological concerns of the world’s largest rainforest. The region faces a severe priest shortage, with baptisms growing rarer. The final document emphasizes that “many of the ecclesial communities of the Amazonian territory have enormous difficulties in accessing the Eucharist” and that the Sacrament must be present in order for the Church to grow. Additionally, communities in the Amazon region have been devastated by logging and other extraction businesses, and climate change.
With the approval of the final document (about 33 pages in length), the bishops have laid down a potential set of solutions for these problems.
The first, and most salient problem, is lack of Church presence. This problem mainly stems from the lack of priests, but many at the synod also expressed the need to develop an “inculturated” liturgy to best approach the Amazonian people with necessary cultural literacy.
To handle the priest shortage and lack of administration of the Eucharist, the final document officially opens the possibility of ordination of married men. This ordination would only be applicable for specific regional contexts and the candidates would need to be “esteemed men of the community, who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive an adequate formation for the priesthood, having a legitimately constituted and stable family.” Allowing married men into the priesthood was approved by the majority of the synod, but it has not been universally accepted. Some groups have asserted the need to preserve celibacy and instead restructure the method of sending priests into the region.
In addition to lowering the barrier of entry for the priesthood, the synod promoted expanding the role of women to further build faith communities. While the document does not explicitly state ordaining women to the diaconate, Pope Francis announced that he will reinstitute the commission debating the possibility of women deacons. Michael Cardinal Czerny, S.J., the Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, responded at a press conference that the topic was “not within scope of the Synod for the Amazon.”
The document also lays the foundation for an inculturated liturgy, arguing that “legitimate diversity does not harm the communion and unity of the Church, but expresses and serves it.” Therefore, the synod argues that the cultural practices of the Amazon should be considered. Though no specific rites or practices have been presented, the synod is asking that the Church not close its doors on the Amazonian culture, emphasizing dialogue over assimilation.
The second major issue of the synod is the environmental plight of the Amazonian people. The final document argues that there is a moral imperitive to protect the environment, reaffirming what Pope Francis said in Laudato Si,.
The document elaborates on “ecological sin.” This has been defined as “an action or omission against God, against others, the community and the environment.” The document elaborates that it is a “sin against future generations and manifests itself in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the environmental harmony, transgressions against the principles of interdependence and the breaking of solidarity networks among creatures and against the virtue of justice.” There will be a pastoral push for all Catholics to consider environmental issues as moral issues that can have sinful consequences.
More practically, the final document calls for the Church in the Amazon to divest from extraction industries that cause deforestation and threaten the Amazonian community. There is a proposal for a “socio-environmental observatory” to oversee the ecological issues of the region.
With the Amazon Synod’s conclusion, the Church begins the process of debating the proposals in the final document. It is unclear how many of the synod’s proposals will be brought to fruition. Regardless, this is a watershed moment for the Catholic Church as traditions could be altered to address the problems in the Amazon.
Featured image: © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk via Flickr
- Gossip in Bridgerton - March 25, 2021
- Attack on Titan and Its Lessons on Just War Theory - February 15, 2021
- Playing ‘Among Us’ as a Saint - November 26, 2020