The Synod for the Amazon: A fresco for our ‘common home’

An aspect of the just concluded Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region was to stress the need for cultural conversion for the mission and growth of the Church, according to a leading Catholic journalist.

Father Antonio Spadaro SJ, editor-in-chief of La Civilta Cattolica, in his latest article said that the thinking of indigenous peoples offers an integrated view of reality, capable of understanding the multiple connections that exist between all that is created.

This thinking contrasts “with the dominant current of Western thought that, in order to understand reality, tends toward fragmentation and compartmentalization,” he said.

The Church nurtures a desire for a “cultural conversion” capable of giving an authentically Catholic response … in a specific culture, valuing the original rites and symbols, traditions and “cosmovision,” said the article.

However, this cultural conversion should be done in such a way that the Gospel purifies and refines the cultures with which it is grafted, said the article.

“Only an inserted and inculturated missionary Church will lead to the birth of particular indigenous Churches, with an Amazonian face and heart, rooted in the cultures and traditions of peoples, united in the same faith in Christ and different in their way of living, expressing and celebrating it,” it said.

Here are the first few paragraphs of Father Spadaro’s article:

The Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Panamazon region has just ended.

Here we offer some immediate reflections on the value of this synodal assembly – the fourth of the pontificate of Francis, after the two synods on the family and the synod on young people. Already, we can discern some fundamental traits of this assembly that will affect the life of the Church.

When you contemplate the synodal workings you have the impression of being in front of a fresco that reminds us of the quote from Apocalypse at the beginning of the synod’s final document: “And the One who sat on the throne said: ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And he said, ‘Write this, because these words are certain and true'” (Rev 21:5).

Everything is before the eyes of Christ the Lord and everything needs to be renewed: the life of the Church, politics, the economy, the guardianship of our common home, the liturgy.

A large fresco, then, where tudo está interligado, everything is connected, as some members of the synod sometimes sang – and not just said – within the chamber. Sometimes, in order to express themselves, they also resorted to the poetry of their own people.

The assembly opened on October 6th with prayers, songs and dances in a procession that accompanied the Holy Father from the tomb of Peter to the Synod Hall.

The painting of the fresco began on January 19, 2018, when, during Francis’ apostolic journey to Peru, an extraordinary meeting between the pope and 22 indigenous peoples took place in Puerto Maldonado.

There, Francis urged everyone to “shape a Church with an Amazonian face and a Church with an indigenous face.” The Amazonian face of the Church was clearly reaffirmed in the final document (Nos. 42, 54, 55, 86, 92, 108, 115, 120).

Many have expressed the clear awareness that everything that happens in the Amazon region has an impact on the world. This region is a global sounding board, in biological, political-economic and socio-religious terms….

For the full article in La Civiltà Cattolica, click here.