From August 17 to 20, the Meeting of Bishops of the Amazon, convened by the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA). This meeting—the first since the 2019 Synod for the Amazon—represents a new stage in the consolidation of a Church with an Amazonian face, synodal, prophetic, and outward-looking.
Miguel Ángel Cadenas, bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos (Peru), shared with CEAMA his expectations and the profound meaning of this space of Amazonian episcopal communion.
“I wasn’t a bishop yet at the Amazon Synod. So this will be the first opportunity to have a meeting of all the Amazonian bishops. It’s a great joy because the Church looks beyond the nation-state and sees the Amazon as a fundamental ecosystem in regulating the planet’s climate. It’s also a way of being Christian where Christian communities are ministerial.”
For Monsignor Cadenas, coming to this meeting in Bogotá means joy for the fraternal encounter, and above all, an opportunity to be challenged by the experience of other shepherds in equally challenging territories:
“I carry in my heart the joy of this meeting and the opportunity to meet other bishops with experiences that illuminate my own path.”
The journey of the Amazonian Church in recent years has deeply inspired him, especially in its closeness to the most vulnerable and to creation:
“I am inspired by Jesus himself. And, from the Amazon, I am inspired to accompany the Church of my Vicariate to listen to the voices of the poor and of the earth… or should we say, of the water?”
Looking to the future, Monsignor Cadenas expresses his hope that this meeting will contribute to further deepening the synodal horizon and the urgency of an inculturated and shared ministry:
“I hope we continue to work synodically and respond to the enormous challenges before us, especially those related to ministry.”
The Meeting of Bishops of the Amazon will be a privileged space to renew the commitment to a Church that listens, discerns and acts, in fidelity to the Gospel and the cry of the Amazonian peoples and the Common Home.