They had come together, he said, to “celebrate God’s faithfulness in our 50-year journey and also to celebrate our faithfulness to his call,” as well as to celebrate Father Arrupe and the 57 Jesuits who “sacrificed their lives in the struggle for justice and equality.”
Vatican Dispatch
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Bishop McElroy on the Amazon’s ecological crisis and what’s next for the women’s diaconate
Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego spoke with America on Oct. 27, the day it ended, and shared his reflections on the main topics addressed by the synod and the proposals made in its final document.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
The cry of the poor is the hope of the church, Pope Francis says, closing Amazon Synod
Pope Francis strongly denounced “predatory models” that are posing a deadly threat to the lives of the 34 million inhabitants of the Amazonian region.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Synod votes to ordain married men, and to protect Amazon’s indigenous peoples and rainforests
The most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church in the nine countries of the Amazon region to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with its 34 million inhabitants.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
‘Our common home is at risk,’ says Mexico’s Cardinal Aquiar Retes at Amazon synod
The Mexican cardinal said “integral ecology” and the need for “ecological conversion” have been central points of the synod. “We all agreed that the church should be a factor for wakening consciences to care for the common home,” he said.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
As the Amazon Synod nears the end, a Brazilian bishop makes the case for women deacons
On the eve of the highly anticipated voting on the final document of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, Bishop Evaristo Pascoal Spengler, O.F.M., of Marajó, Brazil, chose to focus his remarks at the daily Vatican press briefing on Oct. 25 on the synod’s discernment of an “official ministry” for women.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal Ambongo: The Congo faces similar problems to the ones we see in the Amazon
The cardinal expects the synod’s final document to highlight the different levels of “responsibility towards Mother Earth, towards the natural environment, and on this we are all in agreement. What is said of Amazonia is also true of the Congo basin.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
From Guyana to Rome, the Synod has proved to be a rich place of encounter
Ms. Casimero described the synod process as a place where Catholics with differences are “coming together” and “able to listen to one another” while also “trying to see and understand from the other person’s point of view.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal Hollerich: Amazon synod should lead to ‘ecological conversion’
The polyglot Jesuit said he was struck most by “the violence the indigenous people have to experience”: “It’s violence against the rainforest and at the same time violence against the ethnic groups.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal Gracias: ‘We must give answers to the issues that have emerged at the synod’
The Indian cardinal described his experience during the synod so far as an “eye-opener,” allowing him to discover connections to what indigenous communities in his native land are experiencing.