From September 22 to 25, in Manaus, the Presidency, the Executive Secretariat, advisors, and members of the Ecclesial Commissions of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) spent several days listening, discerning, and working to advance the Synodal Pastoral Horizons 2026–2030 and strengthen service to the particular Churches, peoples, and territories of the Amazon.
The Maromba Pastoral Center, part of the Archdiocese of Manaus, hosted a week of meetings of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), marked by prayer, fraternity, listening, and discernment regarding the next steps on its journey.
The meeting built upon the guidelines of CEAMA’s Sixth General Assembly, held in March of this year, and allowed for a deeper exploration of a conviction that ran through the various sessions: the particular Churches are fundamental agents of the mission, and CEAMA is called to walk alongside them, fostering communion, coordination, and service to the evangelizing mission in the Amazon.
Ecclesial Commissions: Bringing Together Paths and Experiences
One of the steps CEAMA is currently taking is the gradual establishment of its Ecclesial Commissions, understood as spaces where practices, initiatives, experiences, and processes already existing in the local Churches and throughout the Amazonian territories converge.
This is not about starting from scratch or creating parallel structures. The Commissions gather and give continuity to paths that, at different times, were supported by core groups, working groups, networks, and other spaces for reflection and coordination. These experiences are progressively incorporated into a more organic framework for CEAMA’s coordination, which will also contribute to the updating of its structure and organizational chart.
During the sessions, participants shared the paths that currently converge in the Ecclesial Commission on Mystagogy and Celebrations, the Ecclesial Commission on Women’s Ministry, and the Ecclesial Commission on Intercultural Education and Formative Processes, while continuing to discern the integration of Integral Ecology within this process.
These reflections helped participants recognize a richness that precedes structures: in the Amazon region, there already exist celebratory and inculturated experiences, ministries, educational and formative processes, initiatives for the care of our Common Home, and multiple forms of ecclesial presence that need to be heard, recognized, articulated, and shared.
In this sense, the Commissions seek to help experiences born in different territories come together, engage in dialogue, and enrich one another, always in communion with and at the service of the particular Churches.
A CEAMA at the Service of the Churches
The week also included opportunities for reflection on the sustainability of the mission, institutional organization, and communication, and culminated in a meeting of the CEAMA Presidency, led by its president, Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, OFM.
The Presidency took note of the feedback gathered over the previous days and explored in greater depth the paths for implementing the Synodal Pastoral Horizons 2026–2030, the coordination of the Ecclesial Commissions, and the strengthening of the capacities needed to accompany this process.
The reflection reaffirmed that the Pastoral Horizons are not intended to be a program imposed by a central structure, but rather common points of reference for the journey, called to take shape within the diversity of the Amazonian Churches, peoples, and territories.
From this perspective, CEAMA’s organization seeks to respond ever more effectively to its vocation of service: to listen to what is happening in the territories, to recognize the paths already being forged, to foster communion among the Churches, and to share experiences and lessons learned in the service of the mission.
The meetings in Manaus thus represent another step on a journey that continues. In the coming days, CEAMA will share additional insights, reflections, and directions that emerged during this week of listening and discernment.
From the heart of the Amazon, CEAMA renews its commitment to walk with Christ and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to serve the local Churches present in the Amazon biome, promoting a Church with an Amazonian face: synodal in listening, Samaritan in service, prophetic in proclamation, and committed to caring for our Common Home.
