The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) was the featured guest on a new episode of the program “Iglesia Sinodal”, hosted by Marcus Tulius—a forum for reflection and formation that explores the ecclesial experiences that foster synodality in the Church.
Participants in the program included Marcelo Lemos, executive secretary of CEAMA, and Sister Marbelis Monroy, a Laurita Missionary and general coordinator of the Amazonian Network for Intercultural Bilingual Education (REIBA), an ecclesial organization affiliated with the Conference.
The conversation provided an opportunity to explore the origins, mission, and challenges of CEAMA as a result of the Synod for the Amazon convened by Pope Francis in 2019, as well as the prospects for a Church with an Amazonian face that moves forward through listening, participation, and shared responsibility.
An Unprecedented Experience of Ecclesial Synodality
In presenting CEAMA’s identity, Marcelo Lemos explained that it represents a new experience in the life of the Church, created to give continuity to the synodal process launched by the Synod for the Amazon.
“We are not a bishops’ conference; we are an ecclesial conference composed of bishops, priests, religious men and women, laymen and laywomen, and representatives of indigenous peoples to express the diverse face of the Church in the Amazon”.
Lemos emphasized that the Conference represents a new form of ecclesial organization based on horizontality, participation, and shared discernment, seeking to ensure that the life of the local Churches illuminates the paths of the universal Church.
He also noted that one of CEAMA’s greatest contributions is helping to transcend national borders in order to respond jointly to the common challenges of the Amazon region.
“The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon calls on the Church, in all its vocational diversity, to be a powerful voice for the beauty and challenges of this region.”
REIBA: Educating to Strengthen the Lives of Amazonian Peoples
For her part, Sister Marbelis Monroy shared the experience of the Amazonian Network for Intercultural Bilingual Education (REIBA), an initiative that emerged in response to one of the proposals in the Final Document of the Synod for the Amazon.
The sister explained that the network seeks to ensure a contextualized education that values ancestral knowledge and contributes to the preservation of the cultures, languages, and ways of life of the Amazonian indigenous peoples.
“Our main objective is to defend education as a right—but an education adapted to indigenous peoples, one that values ancestral knowledge and strengthens their cultures.”
Monroy emphasized that education and synodality converge in the need to build inclusive processes where all people can participate based on their own cultural identities.
“The wealth of our Church lies in its people and their cultural riches. All this diversity gives our Church a truly Amazonian face.”
Synodal Horizons for the Coming Years
During the interview, Marcelo Lemos also outlined the main priorities for CEAMA’s path over the next five years, as defined during the Sixth General Assembly held in Bogotá in March 2026.
Among these, he highlighted:
- Proclaiming the Gospel with an Amazonian face.
- Growing as a synodal Church.
- Promoting an integral ecology through our own pedagogies and spiritualities.
- Strengthening co-responsibility and ecclesial sustainability in the Amazonian territories.
He also emphasized the collegial nature of CEAMA’s new presidency, composed of representatives from the various states of life and vocations present in the Church.
“This is a more horizontal, more ecclesial, and more synodal face, which brings together the vocations and ministries of the Church’s life.”
A Church Learning to Walk Together
In the final part of the dialogue, Sister Marbelis emphasized that CEAMA’s experience represents a constant invitation to build the Church from the communities and territories.
“In CEAMA, everyone has a place; everyone can participate and contribute from their own cultures and territories.”
She added that one of the main lessons of this process is to value cultural diversity as a treasure for evangelization and for ecclesial life.
For his part, Marcelo Lemos recalled that CEAMA is not an end in itself, but rather the continuation of a journey that begins in the local Amazonian Churches and extends to the entire Church.
“The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon is not an end in itself; it is the continuation of a journey from the Church in the Amazon region toward the universal Church.”
The program concluded by reaffirming hope in an increasingly synodal Church, capable of listening, discerning, and responding to the challenges of reality through the Gospel and in solidarity with the peoples.
CEAMA’s participation in “Synodal Church” allowed it to share with a wider audience the richness of an unprecedented ecclesial experience that continues to inspire new paths for mission, communion, and synodality in the Amazon and throughout the Church.