At a time of grateful remembrance of Pope Francis’ legacy, the ESSALUZ School of Theology for the Laity hosted the webinar “Walking with Francis in a Synodal Church: Memory and Horizons of Lay Formation”, a space for reflection and formation aimed at deepening the synodal journey promoted by the pontiff and the decisive role of the laity in the Church of the present and the future.
The gathering brought together pastoral workers, church leaders, students, and people committed to the mission of evangelization, convened to re-examine Francis’s pastoral legacy and envision new horizons for a Church that is increasingly participatory, co-responsible, and reaching out.
Among the guests was Marcelo Lemos, executive secretary of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), who offered a profound presentation on the Amazonian experience as a living laboratory of synodality and mission.
“Synodality is learned by walking together”
During his remarks, Marcelo Lemos emphasized that one of Pope Francis’s great insights was to remind us that the Church is not built on closed structures, but through encounters with people and territories.
“Synodality is learned by walking together, listening to one another, and allowing ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit.”
He emphasized that the Amazon has been a concrete sign of this ecclesial journey, where indigenous communities, missionaries, religious, laypeople, and pastors have shared processes of discernment and a common search.
The Amazon: a school for the universal Church
Lemos recalled that for Pope Francis, the Amazon was not a distant periphery, but a theological place from which the entire Church could learn new forms of pastoral presence.
“The Amazon taught the universal Church that listening to the peoples is also listening to God.”
He added that the process of the Synod for the Amazon opened unprecedented paths of participation and reaffirmed the need for a Church with a local face, close to cultures and a defender of our Common Home.
The laity is not an accessory; it is an ecclesial subject
One of the central themes of the webinar was the formation of the laity. In this regard, Marcelo Lemos insisted that the evangelizing mission must move beyond clerical models to fully recognize the vocation of the baptized.
“The laity is not an accessory to the Church; the laity is the Church on mission.”
He also emphasized that lay men and women sustain entire communities on a daily basis, especially in remote regions of the Amazon, where they are often the ones who foster the faith, organize community life, and keep hope alive.
A Living Memory of Pope Francis
The webinar organizers noted that remembering Francis does not mean merely looking to the past, but courageously embracing his calls for pastoral conversion, fraternity, and social justice.
His pontificate left a profound mark: a poor Church for the poor, an integral ecology expressed in *Laudato Si’*, the universal fraternity of *Fratelli Tutti*, and the decisive push toward a synodal Church.
An open horizon for Latin America and the Amazon
The webinar concluded by reaffirming that the best tribute to Pope Francis is to keep moving forward. Forming laypeople mature in the faith, strengthening co-responsible communities, and sustaining a Church capable of listening and serving remains an urgent task.
Speaking on behalf of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), Marcelo Lemos reminded the audience that the Amazonian experience continues to offer the world a living witness of communion, participation, and mission.
“Francis left us a compass: to listen, discern, and walk together. It is up to us to keep moving forward.”