On the Manhã Viva program on Radio Monte Roraima on Friday, April 10, Marcelo Lemos, Executive Secretary of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), shared the organization’s main achievements, challenges, and plans for the coming years.
During the interview, Lemos presented CEAMA’s mission, highlighting its role as a coordinating body serving the local Churches of the Amazon. He emphasized that the organization continues to consolidate itself as a synodal instrument that promotes dialogue, listening, and joint action in the Amazon region.
Four pastoral horizons for a Church with an Amazonian face
One of the central points was the presentation of the synodal pastoral horizons approved at the Sixth General Assembly, which will guide CEAMA’s journey during the 2026–2030 period. These are structured around four major processes:
- The proclamation of the Gospel, as the heart of the mission, promoting a Gospel with an Amazonian face, deeply inculturated in the realities of the region.
- The experience of synodality, as a call to a more communal, open, and participatory Church, overcoming individualism and strengthening co-responsibility.
- Integral ecology, reaffirming the Church’s prophetic commitment to the defense of life, the care of our common home, and the response to the climate crisis.
- Solidarity among the Churches, fostering cooperation, mutual support, and institutional and pastoral strengthening throughout the Amazon region.
In this context, Lemos also highlighted the Holy Father’s call for CEAMA to actively contribute to the preparatory process leading up to the Ecclesial Assembly scheduled for 2028, in continuity with the synodal process of the universal Church.
New leadership for a new ecclesial moment
The meeting also provided an opportunity to introduce CEAMA’s new leadership for the 2026–2030 term, elected during the Assembly in Bogotá. This team reflects the intercultural, ministerial, and territorial richness of the Amazon:
- President: Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, OFM (Bishops) – Archdiocese of Manaus – Brazil
- Vice President: Fr. Jesús Huamán (Priests) – Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado – Peru
- Vice President: Juan Urañavi (Indigenous Peoples) – Apostolic Vicariate of Ñuflo de Chávez – Bolivia
- Vice President: Marva Joy Hawksworth (Laity) – Diocese of Georgetown – Guyana
- Vice President: Sr. Sônia Maria Pinho de Matos (Religious Life) – Archdiocese of Manaus – Brazil
Lemos emphasized that this new presidency embodies a Church with multiple faces, experiences, and vocations, strengthening the synodal, multicultural, and territorial character of CEAMA.
He also reported on the first official meeting of this new presidency, held on April 7 in Manaus, where lines of work, organizational structures, and an initial agenda for 2026 were defined. This meeting allowed for progress in the implementation of pastoral horizons and in the revision of CEAMA’s mission statement, which will be published shortly.
A Church that makes its presence felt in the territory
Finally, Marcelo Lemos shared a special message addressed to the Church in Roraima, highlighting its role as a concrete sign of the Kingdom of God in frontier contexts. He invited the communities not to underestimate themselves, but to recognize themselves as a living presence that transforms, cares for, and accompanies the Amazonian people.
“The Church in the Amazon is called to be a real, incarnate sign that becomes life in the region, responding to its challenges and building hope from its own realities,” he said.
CEAMA’s participation in forums such as this reaffirms its commitment to communication, pastoral animation, and the strengthening of a synodal, missionary Church deeply rooted in the Amazon.