In an atmosphere of fraternal listening and ecclesial communion, the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) held a meeting with the Dicastery for Bishops, presided over by Monsignor Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., Prefect, and Archbishop Ilson de Jesús Montanari, Secretary.
This meeting was part of CEAMA’s work itinerary in Rome, seeking to strengthen ties with the various dicasteries of the Holy See, within the framework of the synodal process.
A path of communion and pastoral discernment
During the dialogue, the CEAMA delegation presented the progress made since the creation of the organization, which arose as a direct result of the Synod for the Amazon.
They shared the process experienced in recent years, marked by the search for synodal apostolic horizons that express the identity of an ecclesial body at the service of the Amazonian peoples, in communion with the episcopal conferences of the nine countries that make up the region.
Cardinal Barreto emphasized that “CEAMA was born in the hearts of the bishops of the Amazon, as a sign of the Spirit to carry forward the pastoral, ecological, and synodal conversion that Pope Francis has asked of the whole Church.”
Likewise, Bishop Zenildo Lima explained that this process seeks not to impose pastoral plans, but to encourage common horizons that each particular Church can embody according to its reality, strengthening communion and shared discernment.
A Church that learns by walking with its people
During the conversation, CEAMA representatives reported on the recent Meeting of Bishops of the Amazon, held in August in Bogotá, where more than 90 bishops from the seven episcopal conferences of the Amazon countries participated.
This meeting reaffirmed the vitality of the Amazonian ecclesial process, which is nourished by listening to consecrated life, priests, laity, young people, and indigenous peoples, in a spirit of communion and hope.
Mauricio López pointed out that “CEAMA does not seek to teach, but to learn by walking alongside the People of God; its strength lies in dialogue, in mutual listening, and in the possibility of weaving together a Church that is born of life and territory.”
Looking at the Church from the Amazon
The dialogue with the Dicastery for Bishops also provided an opportunity to reflect on how the Amazonian experience is helping to rethink the episcopal mission in terms of synodality.
It was noted that many bishops in the region have been appointed after the Synod on the Amazon and find in CEAMA a space for formation, accompaniment, and pastoral fraternity.
Cardinal Iannone valued this process as a significant contribution to the renewal of the episcopal ministry, which seeks to live collegiality from the concrete reality of the Amazonian peoples and territories.
A sign of communion from the territory
At the end of the meeting, CEAMA offered the Dicastery a symbolic gift as an expression of gratitude and communion: a tray carved from bloodwood, made by artisans from the Inga community of the Sibundoy Valley (Putumayo, Colombian Amazon).
The gift represents the life that springs from the Amazonian territories, the fabric of cultures and spiritualities that flourishes in diversity, and the communion that the Church seeks to strengthen from the heart of the Amazon to the whole universal Church.