The 2019 Synod of Bishops for the pan-Amazon region is scheduled to meet from Oct. 6 through 27 in Rome. Commissioned by Pope Francis two years ago, the meeting will bring together Catholic bishops, indigenous leaders, and other subject matter experts to address the various cultural, ecological and religious issues facing the Amazon region.

The synod is the first meeting of its kind to be organized around a distinct ecological territory. The region contains about 34 million inhabitants, including three million indigenous people from nearly 400 ethnic groups.

The synod has already faced challenges from prominent church leaders in the wake of the preparatory document released by the synod’s planning committee in June; however, as noted in a recent report, this opposition has primarily emerged from church officials outside the Amazon region.

America will provide coverage leading up to and during the synod. Readers may return to this page for the latest on the synod, including reports from America’s Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, who will be covering the meeting from Rome.

Latest News  

• From Guyana to Rome, the Synod has proved to be a rich place of encounter
• ‘We are all responsible’: Bishops urge lifestyle change to protect the Amazon
• Pope Francis: Our mission is to make disciples for Christ, not for one’s group
• Amazon Synod is a place of discernment that ‘must leave space for the Spirit’
• Here’s what happened on day four of the Amazon Synod.
• Cardinal Ambongo: The Congo faces similar problems to the ones we see in the Amazon
• Synod members sign new pact in the Catacombs of Domitilla, pledge simplicity
• Possibility of women deacons proposed on day three of the Amazon Synod
• Cardinal Hollerich: Amazon synod should lead to ‘ecological conversion’
• Here’s what happened on the first day of the Amazon Synod.
• Pope Francis opens Amazon synod, says to ‘light the fire of the Gospel’ in the region
• As Amazon Synod begins, Pope Francis looks to proceed with a ‘pastoral heart’
• Synod members call for greater role of women and laity in ministry
• Here’s what happened on the first day of the Amazon Synod.
• Pope Francis: The Christian battle is against evil, not people
• Podcast: Francis and Benedict stress loyalty in messages to new cardinals
• Possibility of women deacons proposed on day three of the Amazon Synod
• Amazon Synod looks at indigenous ‘theology of creation’
• Here’s what happened on day four of the Amazon Synod.
• Podcast: Despite outside distractions, Amazon synod presses on
• Cardinal Gracias: ‘We must give answers to the issues that have emerged at the synod’
• Women religious should have vote at synod, theologian says
• Amazon Synod Weekly Roundup: Calls for ecological protection and new ministries for women
• Indigenous woman brings message from her elders to Pope Francis as church elder
• The unique challenges missionaries face in the Amazon
• Podcast: Inside the relaxed atmosphere of the Amazon synod
• U.S. bishops speak at synod for the Amazon
• The Amazon synod is halfway over. Here’s what we know so far.
• Thieves steal wood carvings used at synod prayer and throw them in the river
• Amazon synod must give hope to indigenous, not hollow words, participant says
• Development proposals at synod raise questions about indigenous rights
• Cardinal Barreto: The Amazon synod is the child of ‘Laudato Si”
• Synod groups propose an Amazonian rite and new ministries for women
• Podcast: Why all Catholics should care about the Amazon synod

Background

• What the Catholic Church is doing to protect the Amazon in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
• Podcast: Who is going to the Amazon synod?
• The working document for the Amazon Synod has been controversial—just not in Brazil
• In the Amazon, Pope Francis is setting the agenda for a new kind of synod
• The Editors: To protect the Amazon, we must first listen to its people
• How the Amazon synod is connected to North American corporations
• Catholic sisters and nuns call for voting rights for women at the Amazon synod
• Cardinals Hummes and Baldisseri respond to critics of the working document for the Amazon synod
• How Jesuits in South America are working to promote an ‘Amazon-like’ church

Videos

• Amazon Synod kicks off with concrete proposals | Developing Story
• The Amazon Synod: Indigenous Leaders Speak Out | Developing Story
• ‘The Latin American Church has something to offer the world’| Developing Story
• What it’s like to be a young woman at the Amazon Synod | Developing Story

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