With grateful hearts and full of hope, the bishops of the Amazon concluded the first Meeting of Bishops of the Amazon, held in Bogotá from August 17 to 20, with the Closing Eucharist in the Primatial Cathedral of Colombia.
The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Pedro Barreto, President of CEAMA, who in his homily summarized the experience in three verbs: listen, discern, and share. “We have listened to the cry of the earth and of the poor, we share what the Holy Spirit has communicated to us, and we feel encouraged to proclaim the Gospel with renewed vigor,” he said.
Cardinal Barreto pointed out two fundamental reasons for the celebration:
- To thank God and those who made this historic meeting possible, in particular the Church on pilgrimage in Bogotá, represented by Cardinal Luis José Rueda and his auxiliary bishops, for the fraternal welcome given to the more than 75 pastors from the ecclesiastical jurisdictions of the Amazon.
- To offer the Lord a renewed commitment to proclaim the Gospel and walk together with the peoples of the Amazon, in a synodal spirituality that seeks to discern decisions from the will of God.
Reflecting on the Word, the president of CEAMA recalled the parable of the trees in the book of Judges, as a warning about the need to choose honest and capable leaders according to the Spirit, and the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew’s Gospel, as a sign of God’s generosity and justice that calls everyone to his mission.
“The Church with an Amazonian face,” said the Cardinal, “proclaims Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon, which accompanies and serves the particular Churches in their evangelizing mission.” He also invited everyone not to let themselves be robbed of hope, to live this synodal Kairos with courage, and to transform new forms of communication into opportunities for encounter, fraternity, and solidarity.
Finally, he entrusted to Mary, Queen of the Amazon, the ecclesial journey of this organization, so that it may strengthen the mission of the Church in the Amazonian biome and bless Colombia with peace and justice.
The closing Eucharist was experienced as a gesture of communion and sending forth, confirming the commitment of the bishops of the Amazon to continue working together for life, justice, and the proclamation of the Gospel in this territory vital for humanity.