Pope consecrates Synod for the
Amazon to Saint Francis of Assisi
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| Pope Francis at tree-planting ceremony in Vatican Gardens (Vatican Media) |
During a highly symbolic tree-planting ceremony in the
Vatican Gardens on Friday, Pope Francis places the upcoming Synod for the
Amazon under the protection of Saint Francis of Assisi.
By Vatican News
The phrase “Everything is connected” recurs often in Pope
Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Sì.
During a unique ceremony in the Vatican Gardens on Friday,
signs, symbols and songs, ensured that everything really was “connected”.
Saint Francis and ecology
Starting with the timing: 4 October is the Feast of Saint
Francis of Assisi, which closes the “Season of Creation” that began on 1
September. This year also marks 40 years since Pope Saint John Paul II
proclaimed St Francis Patron Saint “of those who promote ecology”. And, in just
two days, the Synod for the Amazon will open, the first Synod ever to address
the issue of integral ecology.
Organizers and participants
Then there were the participants: the Pan-Amazonian
Ecclesial Network, the Order of Franciscan Friars Minor, and the Global
Catholic Climate Movement organized the event, while various religious
congregations and representatives of the indigenous people of the Amazon Region
played important roles in providing colour and creativity.
Signs and symbols
The ceremony culminated with the planting of a holm oak from
Assisi. The name of the tree is believed to come from the old Anglo-Saxon word
for “holly” – “holy”.
Even the soil in which the tree was planted came steeped in
significance. There was soil from the Amazon, celebrating the wealth of the
bioregion’s cultures and traditions; earth from India, representing countries
most vulnerable to the climate crisis, where droughts and floods leave millions
devastated; soil representing refugees and migrants, forced to leave their
homes because of war, poverty, and ecological devastation. There was earth from
places of human trafficking, and from sustainable development projects around
the world. And there was more soil from the Amazon, earth bathed in the blood
of those who have died fighting against its destruction.
The Canticle of the Creatures
But the tree also stands in soil coming from the places
where Saint Francis walked, in and around Assisi: a place of encounter with the
Creator, where the Saint composed the first part of his “Canticle of the
Creatures”. Written in the 13th Century, it is believed to be
one of the first works of literature in the Italian language. A musical
version of this prayer-poem accompanied the tree planting ceremony in the
Vatican Gardens.
Celebrating the Season of Creation
The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral
Human Development is Cardinal Peter Turkson. He too was present at the
ceremony, and described how the “Season of Creation” is “not only a time for
prophetic gestures…but a time for wisdom”, a season to respond to the
ecological crisis”. Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of Prayer for
Creation, said the Cardinal, suggests “a time of change: humanity’s turning a
new leaf to save the planet”.
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