Amazon Synod

From sidewalk to swamp, wonders of creation abound

Whether it's the forests and waterways of the Amazon or life in the world's far-flung cities, people have "boxed everything into neat categories" and succumbed to a "disconnected view of creation and of humanity," said an observer at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.

Proposed Amazonian rite centered on Christ, indigenous professor says

At a synod briefing Oct. 24, Delio Siticonatzi Camaiteri, a member of the Ashaninka people and a professor from Peru, said that fears about the proposal are unwarranted because indigenous people seek unity and not division.

Before new ministries, church must eradicate clericalism, bishop says

The way to rid the Catholic Church of clericalism is by giving laywomen a greater role in making decisions, a Bolivian bishop said.

‘We are all responsible’: Bishop urges lifestyle change to protect Amazon

Solutions to environmental problems discussed at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon must involve not just Amazonian nations, but countries in Europe and North America, bishops said.

Cardinal talks about listening at the synod, being loyal to the pope

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn said that as a European member of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, his first task is to listen and his second task is to examine ways his lifestyle and that of his community contribute to the suffering of the Amazonian people.

‘Loving neighbor as yourself implies caring for earth,’ theologian says

The Synod of Bishops for the Amazon is calling Catholics to an ecological conversion in their personal lives and in the church throughout the world, a theologian participating in the synod said.

Thieves steal statues used at synod prayer, throw them in the river

UPDATED - Two men entered a Catholic Church near the Vatican early Oct. 21 and stole copies of a statue of a pregnant woman that had been a centerpiece of several prayer services connected to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.

Synod groups: Ecology, violence, migration among challenges for church

The 12 small-group reports, published by the Vatican Oct. 18, were the result of reflections in groups organized by language; each group summarized its members' conclusions and offered proposals for the whole synod.

At catacombs, synod members pledge simplicity, closeness to the poor

More than a half century after a group of bishops at the Second Vatican Council made a solemn pledge to live a simple lifestyle close to their people, a group of participants from the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon signed a new pact in the Catacombs of Domitilla.

Women’s role in Amazon church does not depend on diaconate, sisters say

Whether or not the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon helps open the door to ordaining women deacons, women will continue to play a fundamental role in ministry in the church in the region, religious sisters said.