Pope Francis strongly denounced “predatory models” that are posing a deadly threat to the lives of the 34 million inhabitants of the Amazonian region.
Vatican Dispatch
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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.
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‘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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.
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Thieves steal wood carvings used at synod prayer and throw them in the river
Video of the pre-dawn theft from the Santa Maria in Traspontina church was shared and celebrated on conservative social media on Oct. 21. The Vatican’s communications czar, Paolo Ruffini, termed it a “stunt” that violated the idea of dialogue.
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Amazon Synod is a place of discernment that ‘must leave space for the Spirit’
The synod is “not a discussion, not a parliament,” but there is “a spiritual dynamic,” said Giacomo Costa, S.J., the synod’s secretary for information, at a Vatican press briefing on Oct. 16. The biblical image, he said, is “the blind man who throws away his cloak to go to God,” and for the synod it means “to leave behind the safety of your arguments.”