With joy and gratitude, the bishops who are members of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) met from August 17 to 20, 2025, at the headquarters of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) in Bogotá. Convened by the CEAMA presidency, the pastors experienced days of fraternity, listening, and discernment, guided by the Holy Spirit, to recognize progress, resistance, challenges, and hopes in the journey of the Pan-Amazonian Church.
A message from the Pope and pastoral commitment
During the meeting, the bishops gratefully received the message sent by Pope Francis, who encouraged them to continue responding to the Church’s mission: to proclaim the Gospel to all, to promote fair treatment for the Amazonian peoples, and to care for our Common Home.
Testimony of faith and hope in the Amazon
The bishops recognized and thanked the generous dedication of religious men and women, lay people, deacons, and priests who, even in the midst of threats and difficulties, serve the Amazonian communities. They also recalled the martyrdom of so many sisters and brothers who have given witness to their faith to the extreme.
Likewise, they valued the progress made in pastoral coordination, the revitalization of councils, integral formation, and the growing awareness of integral ecology, the defense of the territory, and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Resistance and challenges
With humility, the bishops also pointed out certain resistances present in this process: fears of change towards a synodal Church, attitudes of clericalism, authoritarianism, or lack of missionary audacity. Faced with these challenges, they reaffirmed their desire to continue building a prophetic, close, and missionary Church.
A Church with an Amazonian heart
The meeting renewed CEAMA’s commitment to be a Church centered on baptism, walking alongside the peoples, listening to their ancestral wisdom, and decisively taking on the care of our common home in the face of the climate crisis.
“The Amazon is not an empty land to be exploited,” the bishops affirmed, “but a territory inhabited, loved, and cared for by generations, a place of God’s presence.”
Consolidating CEAMA as a space for communion
The pastors confirmed their membership in CEAMA, which they recognized as a privileged space for communion, discernment, and mission. Among their commitments, they highlighted the promotion of the formation of seminarians, clergy, religious life, and pastoral agents; the search for economic sustainability; and closer collaboration between neighboring jurisdictions.
Gratitude and missionary sending
CEAMA expressed its gratitude to CELAM for its welcome and hospitality during these days of meeting. Finally, the bishops entrusted their commitment to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Amazon, asking her to accompany her children in moments of light and cross.