The members of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) are holding their first assembly in Colombia, and Pope Leo has sent them a telegram to encourage them to preach the Gospel and caution against worshiping nature.
Vatican News reported that CEAMA was established in 2019 after the Synod of the Amazon, which was held in Rome the same year, called for an “ecclesial network” to provide pastoral care across the Amazon. CEAMA’s members, which include bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, laity, indigenous representatives, and others, began the four-day assembly Aug. 17.
As Catholic News Agency reported at the time, the Synod of the Amazon began with an indigenous ceremony in the Vatican gardens, where a tree was planted and two statues of pregnant women, one of which reportedly represented the Virgin Mary, were venerated. The event drew backlash. After the statues were thrown into the Tiber River, Pope Francis issued an apology and called one of the statues “Pachamama,” a pagan goddess representing Mother Earth.
Pope Leo’s Aug. 18 telegram addressed the error of making nature into a god. The Pontiff, through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, cautioned CEAMA against subjecting “oneself to them [natural goods] as a slave or worshiper of nature.”
Cardinal Parolin also extended Pope Leo’s thanks to the members for their “efforts to promote the greater good of the Church” in the Amazon. He invited them to consider three dimensions of pastoral work as they continue their assembly: “the Church’s mission to proclaim the Gospel to all people (cf. Decree Ad Gentes, 1), the just treatment of the peoples who live there, and the care of our common home.”
Pope Leo, through Cardinal Parolin, offered encouragement to preach the Gospel, saying that the name of Christ and the ability to receive others as brothers and sisters drives out injustice and exploitation. He additionally touched on stewardship of the environment, noting that there is a “right and duty” to care for creation so that “no one irresponsibly destroys the natural goods that speak of the goodness and beauty of the Creator” before cautioning against worshiping nature.
Pope Leo also reminded CEAMA that all things are “summed up” in Jesus and exhorted them to proclaim Him “with clarity and immense charity among the inhabitants of the Amazon.”
“We must strive to give them the fresh and clean bread of the Good News and the heavenly nourishment of the Eucharist, the only way to truly be the People of God and the Body of Christ,” he said.
The message concluded with an apostolic blessing to all the members of CEAMA and the faithful in their care.
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Author: Hannah Hiester
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