Synod for the Amazon:
‘Instrumentum Laboris’ released
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| Catholic pilgrim travel as they accompany the statue of Our Lady of Conception during an annual river procession and pilgrimage along the Coraparu River inSanta Izabel do Para |
The ‘Instrumentum Laboris’ (the Working Document) of the
upcoming Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region
is released in the Vatican. The Synod takes place from 6 to 27 October 2019 on
the theme “Amazonia: new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology
".
By Christiane Murray and Linda Bordoni
At the heart of the Synod’s Instrumentum Laboris is
the cry of the Amazon that asks the Church to be its ally in reaching out to
everyone, especially to the poor, as they seek true fulfillment and human
dignity in their lives.
The Working Document was presented to the press on Monday, June
17, by the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. It is the
result of a listening process that began with Pope Francis' visit to Puerto
Maldonado in Peru, in January 2018, and continued with consultations throughout
the Amazon Region and a Second Meeting of the Pre-Synodal Council last May.
Listen to God, that with him we may hear the cry of the
people;until breathing in the desire to which God calls us
Amazonia, at the heart of South America, encompasses a
region of 7.8 million square kilometers. It includes territory that
belongs to nine different nations: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia,
Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana. Its 5.3 million square
kilometer rainforest is the largest in the world and is an irreplaceable source
of fresh water, oxygen and biodiversity for the planet.
“The Voice of the Amazon” is the title of the first part of
the document and it presents the reality of the territory and of its peoples.
It focusses on the relationship between life and water highlighting how the
great rivers flowing through the region are crucial not only for the flora and
the fauna of the territory and of the earth, but for the livelihood, culture
and spirituality of thousands of indigenous communities, other minorities, and
farmers who live in the Amazon region.
Life is threatened
Life in the Amazon is threatened by environmental
destruction and exploitation, by the systematic violation of the fundamental
human rights of the Amazon population: in particular, by the violation of the
rights of the indigenous peoples, such as the right to land, to
self-determination, to the delimitation of land, to consultation and prior
consent.
According to the communities that took part in the synodal
listening process, their life is threatened by the economic and political
interests of the dominant sectors of today's society, in particular of the
mining companies. Also, climate change and increased human intervention
(deforestation, fires and the change of land use) have put the Amazon on a path
of no return, with high rates of deforestation, forced displacement of peoples
and pollution that puts its ecosystems at risk and exerts pressure on local
cultures.
The cry of the earth and of the poor
In the second part, the document analysis issues and offers
suggestions relating to integral ecology. As reports by the local
Churches received by the General Secretariat of the Synod express, Amazonia
today is a “wounded and deformed beauty, a place of pain and violence”.
Violence, chaos and corruption are rampant. The territory
has become a place of strife and of extermination of peoples, cultures and
generations
There are those who are forced to leave their land; often
they fall into criminal networks, drug trafficking and trafficking in human
beings (especially the women), child labour and prostitution. It is a tragic
and complex reality, beyond the boundaries of the law and of rights.
Territory of hope and "good living"
The original Amazonian peoples have much to teach us. For
thousands of years they have taken care of their land, water and forest, and
have managed to preserve them to this day so that humanity can benefit of the
free gifts of God's creation. New paths of evangelization must be built
in dialogue with ancestral wisdom in which the seeds of the Word are
manifested.
The Synod of the Amazon is a sign of hope for the people
of the Amazon and for humanity
Peoples in the peripheries
The Working Document also analyses the situation of
Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation. According to data from specialized
ecclesiastical institutions there are between 110 and 130 different voluntarily
isolated indigenous peoples, living on the margins of society or in sporadic
contact with it. They are vulnerable to threats from drug traffickers, mega
infrastructure projects and illegal activities linked to the extractive
industry.
Amazonian peoples going forth
The Amazon is one of the regions with the highest internal
and international mobility in Latin America. According to statistics, the
urban population of the Amazon has increased exponentially; currently between
70 and 80% of the population lives in cities, which permanently receive a large
number of people migrating to them and are unable to provide the essential
services that migrants need. Although the Church has accompanied this migratory
flow, it has left pastoral gaps that need to be filled.
A Prophetic Church in the Amazon: Challenges and Hopes
Finally, the last part of the Working Document invites the
Synod Fathers of the Amazon to discuss the second point of the theme proposed
by the Pope: new paths for the Church in the region.
Local communities need a Church that participates, that
is present in the social, political, economic, cultural and ecological life of
its inhabitants; a Church that is welcoming towards cultural,
social and ecological diversity in order to be able to serve individuals or
groups without discrimination; a creative Church that can
accompany its people in the implementation of new responses to urgent needs;
a harmonious Church that promotes the values of peace, mercy
and communion.
The Sacraments and popular piety
Communities frequently find it difficult to celebrate the
Eucharist because of the lack of priests. “The Church draws her life from the
Eucharist” and the Eucharist builds up the Church. For this reason, instead of
leaving communities without the Eucharist, the criteria for the selection and
preparation of ministers authorized to celebrate it should be changed. The
communities ask for greater appreciation, accompaniment and for the promotion
of popular piety with which many people express their faith through images,
symbols, traditions, rites and other sacraments. It is the manifestation of
wisdom and spirituality that constitutes an authentic theological place with a
great evangelizing potential.
It would be appropriate to reconsider the idea that the
exercise of jurisdiction (power of government) must be linked to all areas
(sacramental, judicial, administrative) and permanently, to the Sacrament of
Holy Orders.
New ministries
In addition to the plurality of cultures within the Amazon,
distances generate a serious pastoral problem that cannot be solved by
mechanical and technological means alone. It is necessary to promote indigenous
vocations of men and women in response to the needs of sacramental pastoral
care; their decisive contribution lies in the impulse to authentic
evangelization from an indigenous point of view, according to their customs and
habits. They are indigenous people who preach to indigenous people with a
profound knowledge of their culture and language, capable of communicating the
message of the Gospel with the strength and effectiveness of those who have
their own cultural background.
It is necessary to move from a “Church that visits” to a
“Church that remains”, accompanies and is present through local ministers.
Affirming that celibacy is a gift for the Church, the
Document states that, for the most remote areas of the region, the possibility
of priestly ordination be studied for married men with families. The clause,
that aims to ensure the Sacraments that accompany and support Christian life,
specifies that these men must preferably be indigenous elders who are respected
and accepted by their community.
Role of women
The kind of official ministry that can be conferred on women
is still to be identified, taking into account the central role women play
today in the Church in the Amazon.
It is demanded that the role of women be recognized,
starting from their charisms and talents. They ask to re-appropriate themselves
of the space given to women by Jesus, “where we can all find ourselves.” There
is also a proposal to guarantee them their leadership, as well as wider and
more relevant spaces in the field of formation: theology, catechesis, liturgy
and schools of faith and politics.
Consecrated life
It is proposed, therefore, to promote an alternative and
prophetic model for consecrated life, which is inter-congregational and
inter-institutional. Above all, it must have a sense of readiness “to be
where no one wants to be and with whom no one wants to be with”. It is
recommended that formation for religious life should include processes focused
on interculturality, inculturation and dialogue.
Ecumenism
The document also highlights an important phenomenon to be
taken into account, namely the rapid growth of recent evangelical churches of
Pentecostal origin, especially in the peripheries: “They show us another way of
being church, where the people feel protagonists and where the faithful can
express themselves freely without censorship, dogmatism or ritual discipline”.
Church and power: the path of the cross and martyrdom
Being Church in Amazonia means to prophetically put power
into question, because in this region people do not have the opportunity to
assert their rights against large economic enterprises and political
institutions. Today, to question power in the defense of land and human rights,
means to put one's life at risk, opening a “path of the cross and martyrdom”.
The number of martyrs in the Amazon is alarming (e.g. in Brazil alone, between
2003 and 2017, 1.119 indigenous people were killed for defending their land).
The Church cannot remain indifferent to this; on the contrary, it must support
the protection of human rights defenders and remember its martyrs, including
women leaders, such as Sister Dorothy Stang.
During the time it took to draw up the Instrumentum Laboris,
the voice of the Amazon was listened to in the light of faith; an attempt was
made to respond to the cry of the people and of the Amazon for new paths for
the Church and for an integral ecology in order to foster the capacity for
prophecy in Amazonia. These Amazonian voices call upon the Synod of Bishops to
give a new response to different situations and to seek new paths that make
a kairós possible for the Church and the world.
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