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.”

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.

Pope Francis strongly denounced “predatory models” that are posing a deadly threat to the lives of the 34 million inhabitants of the Amazonian region.

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.

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.

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.