October 27 marks the seventh anniversary of the closing of the Amazon Synod, held in Rome in 2019. Throughout this journey, its insights and proposals continue to drive a Church with an Amazonian, synodal, and missionary character, committed to defending the lives of the Amazonian peoples and caring for our Common Home. We present seven concrete fruits of this process.
By Julio Caldeira IMC/REPAM *
Seven years after the conclusion of the celebratory phase of the Synod for the Amazon on October 27, 2019, the Amazonian Church continues to follow the paths opened up by that important event. The creation of ecclesial bodies, the promotion of synodality, reflection on the Church with an “Amazonian face,” educational initiatives, and the strengthening of the mission in these territories are some of the expressions of this process.
Numerous initiatives have emerged or been strengthened as a result of the synodal proposals. Many of them are being carried out at the local, regional, national, and pan-Amazonian levels, with the participation of bishops, priests, men and women religious, laypeople, indigenous communities, and other stakeholders committed to the region.
The Synod, convened by Pope Francis in October 2017 and held from October 6 to 27, 2019, following a period of listening in 2018 and 2019, had as its theme “The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology.” Its Final Document put forward proposals for the pastoral, cultural, social, ecological, and synodal conversion of the Church.
The publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonía” by Pope Francis on February 12, 2020, helped to advance the implementation of this path. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, communities and organizations continued their processes through virtual meetings and new forms of collaboration.
Seven years later, we present seven outcomes that highlight some of the steps taken and the horizons that remain open.
1. CEAMA AND REPAM: Charting a Course with an Amazonian Identity
One of the most significant outcomes of the synodal journey is the creation of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), a regional body that seeks to promote synodality and new paths for the evangelizing mission throughout the Pan-Amazon region.
CEAMA was officially established on June 29, 2020, and was canonically erected by Pope Francis on October 9, 2021. Its creation responded to the proposal in the Synod’s Final Document to establish a body that would promote communion among the local Churches and contribute to shaping a Church with an Amazonian face.
Together with the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM), they continue to foster processes of listening, dialogue, discernment, and action. Both institutions have their own distinct yet complementary identities and missions, serving the peoples and the Church’s mission.
This collaboration expresses a way of walking together, recognizing the diversity of territories, cultures, and ecclesial experiences. The ongoing challenge is to continue strengthening collaboration between both institutions and the local Churches, so that the fruits of the synodal journey may translate into concrete responses to the needs of the Amazon.
2. Synodality: From the Amazonian Experience to the Journey of the Whole Church
The Amazonian synodal process helped strengthen a way of being Church based on listening, participation, communal discernment, and missionary co-responsibility.
This experience found continuity in various contexts, such as the First Ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in 2021, which opened a space for participation for the entire People of God. REPAM and CEAMA participated alongside the ecclesiastical jurisdictions in the process of listening and discernment, contributing the experience of the Amazonian communities.
Subsequently, the Synod on Synodality, held between 2021 and 2024, broadened the reflection on communion, participation, and mission throughout the Church. Among its points of reference was the experience of CEAMA as a fruit of the Amazon’s missionary synodal process.
In the local Churches, this path is evident in processes of community listening, ecclesial assemblies, the renewal of pastoral plans, and greater participation by laypeople and women in spaces of coordination and discernment.
The Amazonian experience shows that synodality is not limited to meetings or documents: it is built within communities, in the encounter between cultures, and in the ability to make decisions by listening to those who live in these territories.
3. Shaping a Church with an Amazonian Face: Mystagogy and Celebrations
Reflection on how to celebrate the faith from the perspective of the peoples’ cultures constitutes another path opened up by the Synod. Its purpose is to explore the possibilities of a liturgy that engages in dialogue with the cultures, languages, symbols, and spiritualities of the Amazonian peoples, in communion with the universal Church.
The Synod’s Final Document raised the need to study a rite specific to indigenous peoples. In response to this proposal, CEAMA launched a process of reflection and research involving bishops, priests, religious sisters, laypeople, pastoral workers, researchers, and community representatives.
The work encompasses anthropological, historical, cultural, theological, ecclesiological, and liturgical dimensions. It seeks to recognize the experiences of faith passed down from generation to generation and to delve deeper into the ways in which the Gospel has taken root in Amazonian cultures.
The development of this path remains a work in progress. Its scope extends beyond liturgical celebrations: it raises questions about catechesis, ministries, formation, and ecclesial structures.
The goal is to move toward a Church whose way of celebrating, proclaiming, and living the faith is increasingly rooted in the reality of the peoples, valuing their cultures and respecting diversity within ecclesial communion.
4. Education with an Amazonian Face: Valuing Knowledge and Opening New Paths
The Amazon Synod highlighted the importance of an intercultural education that recognizes the languages, cultures, and knowledge of the peoples, and that contributes to their active role in building their future. Among the pan-Amazonian initiatives that express this commitment are the Amazonian Intercultural Bilingual Education Network (REIBA) and the Amazonian University Program (PUAM), along with other educational and university initiatives.
REIBA, established in July 2020, works to strengthen the bilingual and intercultural education specific to indigenous peoples. Its work brings together religious congregations, ecclesiastical jurisdictions, teachers, indigenous leaders, pastoral workers, and educational communities. It seeks to support initiatives in bilingual intercultural education and promote an educational approach rooted in the cultural and linguistic identities of the territories.
For its part, the PUAM held its founding meeting in August 2022. This initiative seeks to expand access to dignified, high-quality higher education through intercultural dialogue, the appreciation of territorial knowledge, and a commitment to the defense of life. At the academic level, based on lessons learned from the 2026 pilot programs, the technical degree program in “Comprehensive Management of the Amazon Region” is expected to be officially implemented in the territory in 2027. Additionally, it promotes periodic sessions of the “Cardinal Claudio Hummes Chair” as an academic and reflective space with an intercultural, territorial, and pan-Amazonian perspective.
Both experiences express a fundamental conviction: the Amazonian peoples should not be considered merely recipients of education, but rather protagonists of their educational processes and agents of their own history. The challenge is to consolidate educational networks, strengthen teacher training, and facilitate access to educational opportunities that respond to the realities of indigenous peoples, rural communities, riverside communities, and those in urban peripheries.
5. Ecclesial Ministry: Recognizing the Leading Role of Women and Communities
The synodal journey has spurred a broader reflection on ministries, the participation of the laity, and the presence of women in the life and mission of the Church. Pope Francis has promoted the participation of the laity in the Church’s mission. In 2021, he instituted the Ministry of the Catechist and opened the instituted ministries of lector and acolyte to women. These reforms, which are being implemented in many Amazonian ecclesiastical jurisdictions, recognize the gifts and vocation of the laity, strengthen formation in the faith, liturgical life, and the accompaniment of communities, and promote a more co-responsible Church, where men and women actively participate in evangelization and pastoral service.
In the Amazon region, women play a fundamental role in transmitting the faith, animating communities, providing pastoral accompaniment, defending human rights, and caring for life. However, challenges persist regarding the recognition of their other contributions and their effective participation in decision-making forums. Among the initiatives promoted in this area is the collaborative work of women across the Pan-Amazon region, which includes opportunities for formation, dialogue, and reflection. Also noteworthy are the production of materials and reflections that help bring to light their experiences, their contributions, and the challenges they face in the Church and in society.
Reflection on ministry also invites us to renew existing services and discern new ministries that respond to the needs of communities. The goal is a Church that is more co-responsible, where participation is not merely consultative but translates into real opportunities for the laity, women, young people, and other members of the People of God to contribute to discernment and pastoral decisions.
6. Missionary Formation with an Amazonian Character: Learning from the Territory
The formation of priests, men and women religious, and pastoral workers is another area promoted by the Synod. The reality of the Amazon calls for formation processes that integrate the human, spiritual, pastoral, cultural, and socio-environmental dimensions of the mission.
In various ecclesiastical jurisdictions, initiatives have been promoted to strengthen the formation of seminarians in Amazonian contexts, as well as formation opportunities for laypeople, ecclesial ministries, and religious communities. Induction and inculturation courses have also been promoted for missionaries arriving from other regions, with the aim of facilitating their understanding of the region, its cultures, its challenges, and its ways of life.
Missionary formation requires learning to listen, engage in dialogue with cultures, and recognize the knowledge of indigenous peoples. It also involves preparing pastoral workers capable of accompanying dispersed communities, understanding socio-environmental challenges, and collaborating in efforts to defend life and human rights.
In this context, seminaries, formation centers, religious congregations, and universities feel called to strengthen their ties and develop initiatives that integrate local knowledge and the experience of the communities. The goal is a formation that is not limited to preparing people to work in the Amazon, but rather teaches them to be formed by the Amazon, through listening to its peoples and a commitment to their reality.
7. An itinerant, coordinated, and committed Church
This final outcome brings together several inseparable dimensions of the Amazonian mission: presence in the territories, coordination across borders, the defense of human rights, socio-environmental justice, “good living,” and communication in the service of the peoples.
The Final Document of the Synod proposed forming an itinerant network that would bring together the efforts of the teams that accompany and energize the communities. Pan-Amazonian networks seek to highlight and strengthen the experiences of missionary teams composed of men and women religious and laypeople. These teams travel along rivers, roads, and through territories to accompany communities, especially those living in hard-to-reach places. Their presence helps forge bonds between peoples, local Churches, and organizations, transcending geographical and administrative boundaries.
This missionary coordination is complemented by the Church’s work on the frontiers, where initiatives are promoted in the areas of formation, humanitarian aid, cultural exchange, and accompaniment of communities that share territories and challenges. Another essential component is the defense of human rights. Through training programs, regional reports, and advocacy efforts, REPAM helps shed light on situations where rights are violated and strengthens the capacities of indigenous leaders, people of African descent, rural farmers, and pastoral workers.
Likewise, the work for socio-environmental justice and “good living” promotes alternatives that value ancestral knowledge, food sovereignty, the solidarity economy, and care for our Common Home—as seen on platforms such as “Saber Repam.” Finally, coordinated communications efforts help connect experiences, share lessons learned, and bring international attention to the realities of the Amazon.
Networks of communicators, training opportunities, and content production help ensure that the voices of the peoples reach new audiences and strengthen the shared mission.
Thus, a missionary Church is one that does not wait for communities to come to it, but rather goes out to meet them, travels through the territories, and builds relationships of fraternity, listening, and commitment.
Seven years later: a journey that continues…
Seven years after the Amazon Synod, these fruits show that the process was not limited to the celebration of an assembly or the publication of documents. It has helped foster new forms of ecclesial organization, broaden participation, strengthen educational initiatives, deepen the inculturation of the faith, and coordinate the mission in the territories.
However, not all of these paths are at the same stage of development. While some initiatives have established structures and concrete experiences, others remain in stages of discernment, development, or implementation—many at the initiative of a local or regional Church.
The challenge is to ensure the continuity of the commitments made, strengthen collaboration between local Churches and Pan-Amazonian organizations, and guarantee that the synodal proposals translate into concrete changes in the lives of communities. The goal remains the same: to build a Church with an Amazonian face, capable of listening to the peoples, learning from their cultures, recognizing their ministries, defending their rights, and walking alongside them in caring for our Common Home.
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*Fr. Julio Caldeira is a Consolata missionary in the Colombian Amazon. He is vice president of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM), a member of the CELAM Communications Council, and the author of the books *Avancen para aguas más profundas* and *Iglesia con rostro amazónico*, published by Editorial CELAM in 2026.