Five years after the Synod of the Amazon, CEAMA is a sign of hope. We express our gratitude to God for the joy of having experienced the joy of the Meeting of the Bishops of the Amazon from August 17 to 20 at the CELAM headquarters in Bogotá, convened by the Presidency of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon – CEAMA, we renew our commitment to walk together with Pope Leo XIV who, “as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful” (Conc. Vat. II LG 23).
For this reason, we remember with gratitude the encouraging words addressed to the College of Cardinals by His Holiness Leo XIV on Saturday, May 10, two days after his election, expressing continuity with his predecessor, Pope Francis, of whom he was a close collaborator:
“I would like,” he said, “that we renew together today our full adherence to that path, to the way that the universal Church has been following for decades now in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Francis has masterfully recalled and updated its content in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, from which I would like to highlight some fundamental points: the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation (cf. n. 11); the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community (cf. n. 9); growth in collegiality and synodality (cf. n. 33); attention to the sensus fidei (cf. nn. 119-120), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety (cf. 123); loving care for the weak and marginalized (cf. n. 53); courageous and confident dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities (cf. n. 84, Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 1-2).
This is the newness of God in the continuity of the process of synodal spirituality. We can affirm that St. John XXIII and St. Paul VI, two Italian saints, marked the path of the Church with the Second Vatican Council; Francis, the first Bishop of Rome of Latin American origin, and his successor Leo XIV, the first Pan-American, strengthen the synodal process of the Church in the light of the Council documents.
Now it is up to us to continue this journey from our BELOVED AMAZON.
By: Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, S.J.