Sheila Curran rsm, worked in Peru for many years. Her ministry and research have been shaped by her experience of living and working there, particularly her involvement with the Institute Bartolomé de Las Casas, a non-governmental social justice and human rights organisation, where she worked alongside the liberation theologian, Gustavo Gutiérrez
In 2014, inspired by Pope Francis, a transnational organisation called the Pan-Amazonia Ecclesial Network (REPAM)[i] was formed. This was the first time Catholic organisations working across the Amazon Region formed such a network. Their aim is to respond to the fragility of the Amazon, its indigenous peoples, their environment and culture. The network is also building bridges with other biomes/territories essential for the planetary future, such as the Ecclesial Network of the Congo Basin – REBAC.
This organisation has received invitations from the European and German parliaments to discuss issues in relation to the Amazon Region. They have met with representatives from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights and UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples. This organisation has been vital in assisting with the preparations for the Synod. It has organised numerous meeting with diverse groups throughout the region thus providing valuable information to the synodal process.
Laudato Si’
In May, 2015 Pope Francis marked the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of the Second Vatican Council, by publishing his encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’. Drawing on the insights of Vatican II and the documents from Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) conferences, Pope Francis took a radical step and dedicated an entire magisterial document as important as an encyclical to the topic of ecology. He combines the ‘cry of the poor and the cry of the earth’ as a unified cry, calling on all people of goodwill to a profound ecological conversation. He emphasises how everything in the world in ‘interconnected’ (LS, 16, 91, 240), ‘interrelated’ (LS, 91, 92, 120, 137, 141, 142), and ‘interdependent’ (LS, 164). He calls on human beings to come to ‘a new way of thinking’ (LS 215), which cannot be achieved ‘without an adequate anthropology’ (LS, 118). He recognised both the inadequacy and weakness of a Christian anthropology and theologies which led to a wrong understanding of the place of human beings in the world. He criticises the homogenisation of cultures and warns us that ‘the disappearance of a culture can be just as serious, as the disappearance of a species of plant or animal’ (LS, 145). Here Pope Francis recognises the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples.
In reference to our economic model which is ‘based on a lie that there is an infinite supply of the earth’s goods’ which ‘leads to the planet being squeezed dry beyond every limit’ (LS 106). This document is rich but there is not sufficient space in this article to go into it in depth. I have presented a brief outline to indicate that this document was a precursor to the Special Synod on the Amazon.
Popular Movements
Another important event also took place in 2015 when Pope Francis addressed the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Here he addressed the evils of colonisation:
Colonialism, both old and new, which reduces poor countries to mere providers of raw material and cheap labour, engenders violence, poverty, forced migrations and all the evils which go hand in hand with these, precisely because, by placing the periphery at the service of the centre, it denies those countries the right to an integral development. That is inequality, brothers and sisters, and inequality generates a violence which no police, military, or intelligence resources can control. Let us say NO, then, to forms of colonialism old and new. Let us say YES to the encounter between peoples and cultures.[ii]
More importantly, Pope Francis went on to say ‘when the Pope speaks of colonialism, he overlooks certain actions of the Church I say this to you with regret: many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God.[iii] So, in the presence of Bolivia’s first ever indigenous president, Evo Morales Pope Francis said ‘I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offences of the Church herself but also for the many grave sins that were committed against the native peoples of America.[iv] This was ground-breaking. It was the first time that a Pope openly acknowledged the cruelty and collusion of the church during the historical period of colonisation.
While Pope Francis acknowledged, that ‘St. John Paul II, during the Santo Domingo conference recognised the ‘pain and suffering’ caused to the continent’s indigenous people during the colonisation, it must be stated that he failed to apologise for the harm done. Pope Francis did make amends for this omission when he clarified the issue and apologised with ‘regret’ and more importantly stated ‘we had never apologised, so I now ask for forgiveness.’[v]
His apology was also significant in the light of Pope Benedict’s visit to the continent in 2007. Pope Benedict claimed that the indigenous people wanted to be Christianised and said ‘in effect, the proclamation of Jesus and of his Gospel did not at any point involve an alienation of the pre-Columbian cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture.’[vi] The indigenous people reacted negatively to this statement. Pope Benedict subsequently acknowledged that ‘shadows accompanied the work of evangelising’ in the continent. He also noted that European colonisers inflicted ‘sufferings and injustices’ on indigenous populations. Pope Benedict failed to apologise.
The significance of Pope Francis’ apology should not be underestimated but unfortunately, the decree Inter Caetera from Pope Alexander VI still has to be revoked. The apology was welcomed by the indigenous and other grassroots groups gathered at the world summit of popular movements and by many others. Like Laudato Si, it is another building block for the Synod on the Amazon. As I said at the beginning of this article the Amazon Synod is not a tabula rasa. All the events above have contributed to this crucial moment. The past informs the present.
Synod Of Bishops For The Pan Amazon-Region
They Synod for the Pan Amazon-Region was inaugurated in January 2018 when Pope Francis’ made a historic visit to the Amazon region in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Pope Francis did not begin his visit to Peru in Lima, the capital, but in Puerto Maldonado, with the Amazonian peoples. People came from all over the Amazonian Region to be present that day.[vii] In his address, Pope Francis said the following:
We have to break with the historical paradigm that views Amazonia as an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries without concern for its inhabitants. I consider it essential to begin creating institutional expressions of respect, recognition and dialogue with the native peoples, acknowledging and recovering their native cultures, languages, traditions, rights and spirituality. An intercultural dialogue in which you yourselves will be ‘the principal dialogue partners, especially then large projects affecting your land are proposed.’ [1] Recognition and dialogue will be the best way to transform relationships whose history is marked by exclusion and discrimination.[viii]
He concluded his address by convoking a Synod for the Amazon Region and held the first meeting of the Pre Synodal-Council that afternoon. The key to this Synod is that it is the people of the Region who are the ‘principal dialogue partners’. Since then, REPAM, held many territorial meetings which have been supported by the active participation from the 100 Apostolic Vicariates, and local Churches throughout the region all contributing to the working document.
In June 2019, the Synod’s Instrumentum Laboris (IL)[ix], the Preparatory Document was released. The Synod is an opportunity for a conversation. The people of the Amazon, as the principal contributors are being asked:
How do you imagine your ‘serene future’ and the ‘good life’ of future generations? How can we work together toward the construction of a world which breaks with structures that take life and with colonising mentalities, in order to build networks of solidarity and inter-culturality? And, above all, what is the Church’s particular mission today in the face of this reality?[x]
The document brings together requests and suggestions. It is a detailed document. The methodology used is familiar to the Latin American Church: ‘See, Judge, Act’. Therefore, the document is divided into three parts: Seeing: Identity and cries of the Pan-Amazonian Region, Judge (Discern) Towards a Pastoral and Ecological Conversion and Action: New Paths for a Church with an Amazonian Face.[xi] This document will help to frame the agenda for the Special Synod. Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Claudio Hummes, former prefect for clergy, to be the relator general for the Synod.
The Special Synod takes place in October 2019, which is Mission Month. However, Pope Francis, has announced October 2019 as the Extraordinary Month of Mission (EMM2019). It marks the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedicts XV’s Apostolic Letter Maxmimum illud on overseas mission. Our entire planet is affected by what is happening in the Pan Amazon Region, therefore, as the Preparatory Document states: ‘The Special Synod transcends the strictly ecclesial-Amazonian sphere, because it focuses on the universal Church, as well as on the future of the entire planet.’[xii] Therefore, the people of the Pan-Amazonian Region are calling on all of us who are part of the universal Church, to revaluate how we do mission and to hear the ‘cry of earth and cry of the poor’. We in the North hemisphere must own our culpability with historical honesty, ask forgiveness and change our behaviour. We cannot continue doing mission as we did before. This Synod and the Extraordinary Month of Mission offer an opportunity to be creative in our discussion on a ‘new evangelisation.’ We need to take into account the unprecedented aspects of our current situation. As Elizabeth Johnson states:
A flourishing humanity on a thriving planet rich in species in an evolving universe, all together filled with the glory of God: such is the vision that must guide us at this critical time of Earth’s distress, to practical and critical effect. Ignoring this view keeps people of faith and their churches locked into irrelevance while a terrible drama of life and death is being played out in the real world. By contract, living the ecological vocation in the power of the Spirit sets off on a great adventure of mind and heart, expanding the repertoire of our love.[xiii]
This is an opportune moment listen to that ‘larger community of all living species’ and with the people from the Pan Amazon Region live our ‘ecological vocation in the power of the Spirit’ so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past but ‘expand the repertoiure of our love’.
Conclusion
In this article I have given a brief outline of historical events, in order to recover the memory of all the complexity of what has occurred throughout the history of the Catholic Church in Latin America. Some of these events have contributed to the calling of a Special Synod of the Amazon by Pope Francis. We can see that it is greed and arrogance which have been the destructive forces in our world. It is always the poor and our fragile planet who suffer most. Our Church was complicit in the past and indeed in the present. We need to change our behaviour and be honest about our own history in order to let go of our prejudices and our narrow view of God.
The people of the Amazon Region gave impassioned witness to what is happening to the ‘lungs of our planet.’ The Synod on the Amazon offers a unique opportunity to the universal Church to reflect on her mission, recalling that the ‘Church herself is a missionary disciple (EG, 40)’. We all have to listen to the indigenous voices as the Church ‘has made an option of the poor (EG 198)’, while growing in greater awareness that ‘everything is interconnected (EG, 138).’ Each of us ‘by virtue of our baptism, are members of the People of God and have become missionary disciples (EG, 120).’ All of us are called to think anew. We cannot continue to put ‘old wine into new wine skins.’ The people of the Pan Amazon Region are leading the way and we can choose to follow.
This article was first published in Doctrine & Life, Vol. 39, No. 9
[i] This network is made up of members from Justice and Solidarity Department of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (Consejo Episcopal Latinoamerican CELAM), the Episcopal Commission for the Amazon of the Brazilian Conference of Bishops (Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil), the Latin American Confederation of Religious Orders (Confederación Caribeña y Latinoamerica de Religiosas or CLAR) and Caritas Regional Secretariat for Latin America and the Carribean (Cáritas América Latina y el Caribe). Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Archbishop Emeritus of Sao Paolo, is the President. For further information see https://redamazonica.org/en/.
[ii] Pope Francis, Participation at The Second World Meeting Of Popular Movements http://w2vatican.vz/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/july/documents/papa-grancesco_20150709_bikuvua-movimenti-popolari.html 3.2
[iii] Ibid., 3.2
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Pope Benedict XVI, Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, 13th May 2007 htttp://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2007/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20070513_conference-aparecida.html.
[vii] There were representatives from the Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Marsiguenkas, Yines, Shipibos, Asháninkas. Yaneshas, Kakintes, Nahuas, Yaminahuas, Juni Kuin, Madijá, Manchineris, Kukamas, Kandozi, Quichuas, Huitotos, Shawis, Achuar, Boras, Awajún, Wampís.
[viii] Pope Francis, Participation at The Second World Meeting Of Poplar Movements.
[ix] Preparatory Document for the Synod on the Amazon: Amazonia: New Pathways for the Church and for Inegral Ecology: http://www.synod.va/content/synod/it/attualita/synod-for-the-amazon–preparatory-document-amazonia–new-paths-.html.8
[x] Preparatory Document for the Synod on the Amazon: Amazonia: New Pathways for the Church and for Inegral Echology 1.
[xi] Ibid., 2
[xii] Ibid., 1
[xiii] Elizabeth A. Johnson, Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love, New York: Bloomsbury, 2014: 286
