With hope and a synodal spirit, representatives from the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), the Amazonian Bilingual Intercultural Education Network (REIBA), the Association for the Promotion of Popular Education (APEP), and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development participated in the forum “Socio-educational Commitment in the Light of Laudato Si’,” held as part of Laudato Si’ Week.
The meeting brought together experiences, reflections, and proposals aimed at strengthening the Church’s commitment to integral ecology, transformative education, and peacebuilding, inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical.
A Church that listens and walks alongside the people
The forum featured the participation of Cecilia Barja, coordinator for Latin America of the Section for Listening and Dialogue of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, who emphasized that the Church’s mission today involves listening to communities and accompanying their processes from the concrete reality of the territories.
“Our mandate is to promote, protect, and achieve integral human development and a dignified life for all,” she stated.
Barja noted that the Dicastery addresses issues related to justice and peace, human rights, migration, the economy, work, and care for our Common Home, always in dialogue with local Churches.
She also emphasized that the integral ecology proposed by Laudato Si’ involves restoring relationships with oneself, with others, with nature, and with God.
“There will be no new relationship with nature if there is no new human being,” she recalled, quoting the encyclical.
Education and Ecological Citizenship to Transform Reality
Dr. María Elena Fébrez Cordero presented a profound reflection on the socio-environmental challenges in Latin America and Venezuela, underscoring the need to build an ecological citizenship grounded in ethics, social participation, and sustainability.
During her remarks, she insisted that the environmental crisis cannot be understood in isolation from its political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions.
“We cannot speak of sustainable development without international solidarity,” she affirmed.
She also highlighted the importance of raising new generations capable of embracing an “integral ecology” in their daily lives, promoting values such as responsibility, fraternity, justice, and mutual care.
REIBA: Intercultural Education from the Amazonian Peoples
One of the most significant moments of the forum was the participation of the Amazonian Bilingual Intercultural Education Network (REIBA), represented by Sr. Marbelis Monroy, general coordinator, and Ana Gabriela Jiménez, coordinator of Bilingual Intercultural Education.
The representatives shared how REIBA, linked to CEAMA and born out of the Synod for the Amazon, promotes educational processes developed in collaboration with indigenous peoples, respecting their languages, cultures, and ancestral knowledge.
“We don’t bring ready-made solutions; we build them together with the peoples, listening carefully to what each community proposes and needs,” explained Sr. Marbelis.
Among the experiences shared, the indigenous ecological calendars, the recovery of ancestral knowledge, school and community gardens, as well as training programs with Waorani youth to strengthen the use of Spanish as a second language and defend their territories against extractive threats stood out.
Ana Gabriela Jiménez emphasized that education must move “from text to context,” responding to the concrete realities of Amazonian territories.
“The Amazon is not just forests and rivers; it is also the peoples who inhabit and care for it,” she affirmed.
Popular Education and Green Technologies
The forum also presented concrete initiatives promoted by APEP in Venezuela, aimed at caring for our Common Home through sustainable educational projects.
José Luis Andrades, Venezuela’s lay delegate to CEAMA, emphasized that environmental care and human development are deeply linked to peacebuilding.
“Development is the new name for peace,” he recalled, drawing on the teachings of the Church’s Social Doctrine.
Initiatives such as school hydroponic systems, composting, community gardens, nurseries, and solar energy projects developed in educational centers—conceived as spaces for holistic formation and social transformation—were also shared.
Walking Together to Care for the Amazon
The closing discussions reaffirmed the importance of strengthening ecclesial and educational networks capable of translating Laudato Si’ into concrete actions.
The meeting made it clear that the defense of the Amazon and the care of our Common Home require a synodal Church, close to the people, capable of listening, learning, and building collective paths of hope.
Beyond isolated projects, the forum demonstrated how collaboration between the Church, communities, organizations, and Amazonian networks becomes a concrete response to current socio-environmental challenges, promoting a culture of peace, socio-environmental justice, and universal fraternity.