The itinerant mission—lived out through closeness to the peoples, respect for their territories, and listening to the cry of creation—constitutes one of the most significant experiences of the Church with an Amazonian face. This is the reflection developed by Sister Azucena Correa Plata, MIC, in her article “Itinerancy in the Amazon”, published in CLAR Magazine No. 2, 2026, dedicated to Ecotheology.
This issue of the journal addresses one of the most urgent challenges of our time: the relationship between faith, socio-environmental justice, the defense of territories, and the care of our Common Home. In this context, the author presents itinerancy not only as a way of traveling through the Amazon, but as a profound spiritual, ecclesial, and missionary experience inspired by the way of life of Jesus Christ.
Drawing on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4), Azucena Correa invites us to understand itinerancy as a constant attitude of openness, listening, and dialogue. Just as Jesus stopped by the well to encounter someone who was considered a foreigner and an outcast, the mission in the Amazon requires going out to meet others with respect, recognizing that every people, every culture, and every territory are also places where God continues to reveal himself.
A Spirituality That Becomes a Journey
Throughout the article, the author asserts that itinerancy is, above all, an inner experience that transforms those who live it. Before traveling through rivers, jungles, and communities, the missionary is called to embark on a journey of personal conversion that allows them to leave behind certainties, self-centeredness, and preconceived notions.
The reflection draws on numerous testimonies from religious sisters, laypeople, and missionaries who carry out their service in various Amazonian territories. Their experiences consistently point out that itinerancy involves constantly learning, allowing oneself to be evangelized by the peoples, sharing in daily life, and walking at the pace of the communities, without imposing external models.
In this regard, the author reminds us that the mission does not consist solely of bringing answers, but also of listening humbly to ancestral wisdom, valuing local cultures, and discovering God’s presence in biodiversity, in the rivers, in the forest, and in the spirituality of the Amazonian peoples.
Walking alongside those who care for life
The article gives special attention to the role of women in itinerant mission work. Drawing on her experience as a religious missionary, Azucena Correa describes how encounters with Indigenous, rural, and riverine women provide insight into the deep connection between caring for life, passing on culture, and defending the territory.
Women emerge as guardians of seeds, language, the memory of elders, and community processes. Their daily leadership is a source of hope for communities and a concrete expression of the integral care of our Common Home.
Likewise, the author highlights closeness to children, youth, and families as an essential part of evangelization that seeks to accompany life in all its dimensions, promoting processes of education, healing, and integral human development.
A Mission Amid Great Challenges
This reflection does not ignore the deep wounds afflicting the Amazon. Illegal mining, drug trafficking, the presence of armed groups, deforestation, violence against communities, and environmental degradation are among the realities that constantly challenge those carrying out their mission in these territories.
Faced with this scenario, the author argues that itinerancy becomes a prophetic sign of hope. Remaining alongside communities, accompanying their struggles, listening to their stories, and defending life are concrete expressions of following Jesus, who continues to walk along the peripheries of the world.
Itinerancy as a Style of the Church
More than a pastoral strategy, Azucena Correa proposes itinerancy as a profoundly synodal style of the Church. It is a shared mission, lived out in community, that strengthens local processes, respects the leading role of communities, and recognizes that evangelization is built by walking alongside the people.
The author emphasizes that itinerancy means arriving “barefoot,” willing to learn, to respect the culture, spirituality, and existing processes, without appropriating them or interrupting their development. It is an attitude of humble service that seeks to sow the seeds of the Kingdom without expecting the limelight or rewards.
In line with the path promoted by the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), the article invites us to rediscover itinerancy as a concrete expression of a Church that goes forth, committed to the defense of life, socio-environmental justice, and the care of our Common Home. From this perspective, walking alongside the Amazonian peoples is not merely a way of carrying out missionary work, but a way of living the Gospel and of building, together with them, new paths of hope for the Amazon and for the entire Church.