At 1:00pm today (7:00am EST) in the John Paul II Hall at the Holy See Press Centre, there was a Press Conference held to present the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father, Pope Francis entitled Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), which is the fruit of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-amazon Region which was held from 6-27 October 2019 focused on the theme of Amazonia: new paths for the Church and for an integrated ecology.
Contributions to this afternoon's Press Conference were made by His Eminence, Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General for the Synod of Bishops; His Eminence, Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-secretary of the Dicastery for Integrated Human Development (Section for Migrants and Refugees) who served as one of the Special Secretaries of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-amazon Region; Father Adelson Araújo dos Santos, SJ, Theologian and Professor of Spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University; Sister Augusta de Oliveira, S.M.R., Vicar General of the Servants of Mary Reparators; and Professor Carlos Nobre, Scientist and 2007 Nobel Prize Laureate, a member of the Environmental Sciences Commission, part of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development.
His Excellency, David Martínez de Aguirre Guinea, OP, Bishop of the Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado, who served as a Special Secretary for the Synod of Bishops on the Pan-amazonian Region submitted his contribution via video.
During the Angelus on 15 October 2017 Pope Francis called a Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazon Region on the theme Amazonia: new paths for the Church and for integral ecology. From that moment on a synodal process began, which continued for two years, during which there was a preparatory phase guided by this General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, along with the pre-synodal Council – specifically appointed by the Holy Father – with the valuable collaboration of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM).
Thus an extensive consultation took place with the entire People of God in the Amazon, starting with the Preparatory Document and the related Questionnaire, published on 8 June 2018. In this phase the activity carried out by REPAM was decisive, in the organization of about 260 events throughout the Amazon territory, including 70 territorial assemblies, 25 thematic forums and more than 170 other activities. It can therefore be said that, in total, more than 87,000 people took part in these initiatives. No less significant was the Study Seminar organized in Rome by the General Secretariat from 25 to 27 February 2019 on the theme: Toward the Special Synod for the Amazon: Regional and Universal Dimension. During the preparatory phase, an international conference was also held from 19 to 21 March 2019 at Georgetown University in Washington to address the theme of Integral ecology: a synodal response from the Amazon and other essential biomes/territories for the care of our common home.
All this material converged in the drafting of the Instrumentum laboris or Working Document, published on 17 June 2019, which then formed the base text for discussion during the Synod event itself.
The Synodal Assembly was characterized by choral and lively participation, rich in testimonies and proposals by the 185 Synod Fathers. Among the participants, there was a significant presence of 25 experts and 55 auditors, including 16 representatives of various indigenous ethnic groups and original peoples, 10 women religious presented by the International Union of Superiors General (U.I.S.G.), 6 fraternal delegates and 12 special guests selected on the basis of their high scientific competence and also for their membership of international bodies and organizations.
The Synod event was held over a period of three weeks (from 6 to 27 October 2019), during which an accurate methodology was followed to facilitate the work. Therefore moments of listening in plenary sessions alternated with other moments of active participation in working groups. All this great work then converged in the drafting of a Plan for the Final Document, which, once amended in the working groups, became the Final Document, voted for by a large majority of more than two thirds. Following the vote, in accordance with Synod praxis, the Document was submitted to the Holy Father and, at his behest, published immediately in the press.
During the Synod event there was no lack of interventions by Pope Francis, who offered significant reflections for synodal discussion.
For example, in his opening address, the Holy Father underlined four dimensions: the pastoral dimension, the cultural dimension, the social dimension and the ecological dimension, which are then in some way reflected in the final document. Indeed, this – after an initial chapter dedicated to integral conversion – the theme of the new paths is developed in four chapters, each one of which is dedicated to a type of conversion: pastoral conversion, cultural conversion, ecological conversion and synodal conversion.
Also in his address at the conclusion of the Synod, the Holy Father considered the content which had emerged in the Assembly, dividing it into four diagnoses: cultural, which includes inculturation and interculturality in Amazonian peoples; ecological, in accordance with an integral perspective that denounces the destruction of creation, of which the Amazon is one of the most important points; social, which implies not only the exploitation of creation but also of people along with the destruction of cultural identity; and finally pastoral, the principal, since the proclamation of the Gospel is urgent, but what is important is that it is heard, assimilated and understood by the diverse cultures in the Amazon region.
With the submission of the Final Document to the Holy Father, the Synod Assembly phase was concluded. The Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has since then awaited the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, presented today.
The Exhortation begins Querida Amazonia, beloved Amazon, like a letter, a love letter. At its heart is Pope Francis's love for the Amazon and its many different people, indeed his love for the world and all of its people. And running through it is the truth that Only what is loved can be saved. Only what is embraced can be transformed (Address at the Vigil with Young People, XXXIV World Youth Day in Panama, 26 January 2019).
Someone who loves cannot resist talking passionately about the beloved. In this case, the beloved Amazon has obviously struck the Pope in all its splendour, its drama and its mystery (§ 1) but, at the same time, the great region is marked by suffering and destruction to the very edge of despair. The effect on Pope Francis is like on an artist who discovers a terrible beauty and, stimulated to contemplate and to create, now communicates a new epiphany of beauty and suffering, of vast promise and of great peril (cf Saint John Paul II’s 1999 Letter to Artists, addressed to all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new epiphanies of beauty. So his warm and caring letter necessarily includes many a forceful denunciation of injustices and many warnings of dangers, as well as urgent invitations to share his dreams and to respond.
In the introduction to Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis explains that he does not want to replace or repeat the Synod’s Final Document. Rather, he presents it. He prays that the whole Church will allow itself to be enriched and challenged by the Synod’s work.
The Pope urges the Church to a renewed and innovative missionary effort to accompany the Amazon’s people in all the significant challenges they face. He asks the whole Church in the Amazon to strive to apply the synodal work, and he hopes that all people of good will be inspired by the Final Document and, certainly, by its diptych companion, the beautiful Querida Amazonia.
What is the status of these two documents? Where do they fit in the magisterium, the body of official Church teaching? Let me try to apply generally accepted norms in the interpretation of magisterial documents.
Querida Amazonia is a post-synodal exhortation. It is a magisterial document. It belongs to the authentic Magisterium of the Successor of Peter. It participates in his ordinary Magisterium.
The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology is the final document of a special assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region. Like every other such synodal document, it consists of proposals which the Synod Fathers have voted to approve and have entrusted to the Holy Father. He in turn authorized its publication with the votes cast. At the beginning of Querida Amazonia, he says, I would like to officially present the Final Document, which sets forth the conclusions of the Synod (QA § 3) and encourages everyone to read it in full.
So, apart from formal magisterial authority, this official presentation and encouragement confer on the Final Document a certain moral authority. To ignore it would be a lack of obedience to the Holy Father’s legitimate authority, while to find one or other point difficult could not be considered a lack of faith.
Being a special synod that focused on one region of the world, the synodal process, the Final Document and its companion Querida Amazonia will require creative and sympathetic understanding for their lessons to be applied beyond the Amazon. They touch the whole Church and the whole world, although not uniformly. Querida Amazonia can help guide us to a harmonious, creative and fruitful reception of the entire synodal process (§ 2).
So we have two documents of two different kinds. The Final Document is the fruit of the synodal process, while Querida Amazonia is made up of the Holy Father’s reflections on the synodal process and its final document. The first, consisting of proposals made and voted upon by the Synod Fathers, has the weight of a synodal final document. The second, reflecting on the whole process and its final document, has the authority of ordinary magisterium of the Successor of Peter.
The Pope prays that the entire Church be enriched and challenged by the work of the synodal assembly, that everyone in the Amazon strive to apply it; and that everyone of good will be inspired by it in some way (§ 4).
In conclusion, Pope Francis encourages everyone to advance along concrete paths that can allow the reality of the Amazon region to be transformed and set free from the evils that beset it (§ 111).
1. Introduction
As a scientist who has been working on ecological matters for more than 35 years, especially on the ecological challenges of the Amazonian region, I welcome Pope Francis’ Exhortation Querida Amazonia (QAm). It is clear that both the Exhortation and the Final Document of the Synod, to which the Exhortation refers (cf. QAm, 2, 3), are inspired by the encyclical Laudato Si: on the care for our common home (2015). Some bishops, such as Cardinal Pedro Barreto, from Peru, have called the Synod the son of Laudato Si’. The Apostolic Exhortation could well be the daughter of Laudato Si’.
2. Scientific coherence & endorsement
The encyclical and its children are ethical and spiritual messages informed by science, but not by any science. They are all compatible with the best scientific research available today. In the name of the scientific community, I would like to fully endorsed the socio-ecological propositions of the Querida Amazonia and of its sibling, the final document of the Amazon Synod: Amazonia: New Pathways for the Church and for Integral Ecology.
3. Comments on scientific related points
Let me briefly comment on some points of the Exhortation related to my scientific expertise.
Sustainable Agriculture
Pope Francis exhorts us all to seek sustainable agricultural production, because the current agro-businesses in the region are unsustainable (cf QAm, 17). He also exhorts us to look for non-polluting energies, because fossil-fuel based energies are polluting Amazonia, and the entire planet (cf QAm, 17). The Pope also wants us to provide decent jobs that do not compromise the dignity of the workers, nor the cultural life and ecosystems (cf QAm, 17). Francis urges us to build up a model of development in the Amazon - and in the world - in which no one is left behind (cf QAm, 17), and in which nature is preserved.
Indigenous participation & wisdom
This, of course, requires the participation of indigenous communities (cf QAm, 26), who are the best custodians of the forests, and who can teach us how to work with, care for, and love Amazonia (cf QAm, 55). For example, for thousands of years, indigenous people have been practicing a sustainable mosaic-type of agriculture which preserves biodiversity, caring for species currently under threat -such as the açaí berry, and that enables the restoration of the forest by, for example, the rotation of small croplands in deforested areas.
Integrating ancient indigenous wisdom with new technologies
One can argue that ancient indigenous wisdom is not enough to cultivate the richness of Amazonia without uprooting or weakening it (cf QAm, 28). For this reason, I agree with Pope Francis when he explains that in order to care for Amazonia, we need to combine ancient indigenous wisdom with new technologies (cf QAm, 51). In fact, as the Synodal Bishops wrote in the Final Document of the Synod, the combination of advanced science and technologies with traditional local knowledge can generate an innovative bioeconomy of standing forests and flowing rivers (cf Doc Final, 11) that can replace the current deforestation-driven model of production. This would be integral ecology in action that can foster the full development of humanity (LS, 62).
For many decades, the debate about Amazonia has been split between two opposing views: one of pure conservation, to the point of ignoring the needs of local communities; the other of resource intensive development, based on the extraction of minerals, oil & gas, deforestation, hydropower, and agricultural commodities. Ironically, all this exploitation is done to feed markets outside - and far away from - Amazonia. This prevailing extractive model has had calamitous results, wreaking havoc on Amazonia and its peoples. In order to move forward and reverse the extractive-destructive model, we urgently need to embrace a third way, one that can cultivate the Amazon without destroying it, one that can work with their population without colonizing them (cf QAm, 28), one that can integrate ancient indigenous cultures with new technologies.
4. Conclusion
To conclude, as a scientist, I am aware that the Amazon rainforest is like the biological heart of the Earth. As we humans cannot live without a heart, the planet (at least the planet that we know), cannot live without Amazonia. But Amazonia is struggling, crying out, to the point that we are close to reaching some tipping points and to mutating from being the largest rainforest of the world, to a savanna. This will have terrible consequences for the Amazonian territory, its people, and for the rest of the world.
To prevent that from happening, and to respond to the cry of the Amazon and to keep the Earth’s heart in good health, we need to immediately abandon the current model that destroys the forest, pollutes its river, and does not bring well-being to the people.
I am convinced that this important appeal of Pope Francis will encourage the entire Catholic Church to play its important prophetic role in the Amazon and beyond. The scientific community looks forward to seeing Pope Francis’ social, cultural, pastoral and ecological dreams come true. With the original people being the protagonists of the new pathways, with the richness of the cultural and biological diversity of the region, and Catholics being mobilized to promote inclusiveness and sustainability, then new models of production that care for Amazonia can take place, and Pope Francis’ dreams will become a reality. Thank you Pope Francis for this inspiring Exhortation.
From Puerto Maldonado, right in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, on the banks of the Madre de Dios River, we wish to join in this celebration for the publication of Pope Francis’ Post-Synodal Exhortation.
It was precisely here, in Puerto Maldonado, where this beautiful story of the Pan-Amazonian Synod began. On 19 January the Pope told us: today here, this afternoon, the work of the Synod begins. And from that date onward, a process of listening was initiated by more than 87,000 people, from our native communities, farmers, riverside communities, cities ... Together we were tracing the new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology.
In October of last year, the Pope called us to Rome. He wanted to place the Amazon in the heart of the Church, even at the risk of bringing disorder to the house. I am a witness of the hope with which many of our indigenous brothers arrived at the Vatican, at the Pope's house, they said – and there it was felt even more. Their desires and concerns were heard and, together, with all the bishops and missionaries, we shared the passion for proclaiming Christ.
And today, Pope Francis, gives us this exhortation, the fruit of the whole process: Querida Amazonia, Beloved Amazon. The title is already a reflection of the heart of the Pope who shows a deep love for this particular territory and its peoples. The exhortation is a poem of love proclaimed to the whole Universal Church and to all people of good will. It is a poem which weeps for the crimes and injustices, and which marvels at the beauty of these forests and their inhabitants.
The Pope once again does not offer us a goal. He wants to be a light on a continuing path. The exhortation, which is complemented by the post-synodal document, generates processes. It encourages us to transcend tensions and to continue searching for new paths of consensus in order to encounter Christ, Who makes us dream of His Kingdom present in society, in culture, in ecology and in the Church.
Thank you, Pope Francis, for the encouragement and impetus you give us. Your exhortation, Querida Amazonía, makes us feel more closely the love of Christ and of the Church, and impels us to assume the great challenge that we have of being close to the most vulnerable and with them to take care of our planet.
Contributions to this afternoon's Press Conference were made by His Eminence, Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General for the Synod of Bishops; His Eminence, Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-secretary of the Dicastery for Integrated Human Development (Section for Migrants and Refugees) who served as one of the Special Secretaries of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-amazon Region; Father Adelson Araújo dos Santos, SJ, Theologian and Professor of Spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University; Sister Augusta de Oliveira, S.M.R., Vicar General of the Servants of Mary Reparators; and Professor Carlos Nobre, Scientist and 2007 Nobel Prize Laureate, a member of the Environmental Sciences Commission, part of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development.
His Excellency, David Martínez de Aguirre Guinea, OP, Bishop of the Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado, who served as a Special Secretary for the Synod of Bishops on the Pan-amazonian Region submitted his contribution via video.
Intervention presented by His Eminence, Lorenzo Baldisseri
Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops
Thus an extensive consultation took place with the entire People of God in the Amazon, starting with the Preparatory Document and the related Questionnaire, published on 8 June 2018. In this phase the activity carried out by REPAM was decisive, in the organization of about 260 events throughout the Amazon territory, including 70 territorial assemblies, 25 thematic forums and more than 170 other activities. It can therefore be said that, in total, more than 87,000 people took part in these initiatives. No less significant was the Study Seminar organized in Rome by the General Secretariat from 25 to 27 February 2019 on the theme: Toward the Special Synod for the Amazon: Regional and Universal Dimension. During the preparatory phase, an international conference was also held from 19 to 21 March 2019 at Georgetown University in Washington to address the theme of Integral ecology: a synodal response from the Amazon and other essential biomes/territories for the care of our common home.
All this material converged in the drafting of the Instrumentum laboris or Working Document, published on 17 June 2019, which then formed the base text for discussion during the Synod event itself.
The Synodal Assembly was characterized by choral and lively participation, rich in testimonies and proposals by the 185 Synod Fathers. Among the participants, there was a significant presence of 25 experts and 55 auditors, including 16 representatives of various indigenous ethnic groups and original peoples, 10 women religious presented by the International Union of Superiors General (U.I.S.G.), 6 fraternal delegates and 12 special guests selected on the basis of their high scientific competence and also for their membership of international bodies and organizations.
The Synod event was held over a period of three weeks (from 6 to 27 October 2019), during which an accurate methodology was followed to facilitate the work. Therefore moments of listening in plenary sessions alternated with other moments of active participation in working groups. All this great work then converged in the drafting of a Plan for the Final Document, which, once amended in the working groups, became the Final Document, voted for by a large majority of more than two thirds. Following the vote, in accordance with Synod praxis, the Document was submitted to the Holy Father and, at his behest, published immediately in the press.
During the Synod event there was no lack of interventions by Pope Francis, who offered significant reflections for synodal discussion.
For example, in his opening address, the Holy Father underlined four dimensions: the pastoral dimension, the cultural dimension, the social dimension and the ecological dimension, which are then in some way reflected in the final document. Indeed, this – after an initial chapter dedicated to integral conversion – the theme of the new paths is developed in four chapters, each one of which is dedicated to a type of conversion: pastoral conversion, cultural conversion, ecological conversion and synodal conversion.
Also in his address at the conclusion of the Synod, the Holy Father considered the content which had emerged in the Assembly, dividing it into four diagnoses: cultural, which includes inculturation and interculturality in Amazonian peoples; ecological, in accordance with an integral perspective that denounces the destruction of creation, of which the Amazon is one of the most important points; social, which implies not only the exploitation of creation but also of people along with the destruction of cultural identity; and finally pastoral, the principal, since the proclamation of the Gospel is urgent, but what is important is that it is heard, assimilated and understood by the diverse cultures in the Amazon region.
With the submission of the Final Document to the Holy Father, the Synod Assembly phase was concluded. The Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has since then awaited the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, presented today.
Intervention presented by His Eminence, Michael Czerny, SJ
Under-secretary of the Dicastery for Integrated Human Development
(Section for Migrants and Refugees) and Special Secretary
for the Special Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region
The Exhortation begins Querida Amazonia, beloved Amazon, like a letter, a love letter. At its heart is Pope Francis's love for the Amazon and its many different people, indeed his love for the world and all of its people. And running through it is the truth that Only what is loved can be saved. Only what is embraced can be transformed (Address at the Vigil with Young People, XXXIV World Youth Day in Panama, 26 January 2019).
Someone who loves cannot resist talking passionately about the beloved. In this case, the beloved Amazon has obviously struck the Pope in all its splendour, its drama and its mystery (§ 1) but, at the same time, the great region is marked by suffering and destruction to the very edge of despair. The effect on Pope Francis is like on an artist who discovers a terrible beauty and, stimulated to contemplate and to create, now communicates a new epiphany of beauty and suffering, of vast promise and of great peril (cf Saint John Paul II’s 1999 Letter to Artists, addressed to all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new epiphanies of beauty. So his warm and caring letter necessarily includes many a forceful denunciation of injustices and many warnings of dangers, as well as urgent invitations to share his dreams and to respond.
In the introduction to Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis explains that he does not want to replace or repeat the Synod’s Final Document. Rather, he presents it. He prays that the whole Church will allow itself to be enriched and challenged by the Synod’s work.
The Pope urges the Church to a renewed and innovative missionary effort to accompany the Amazon’s people in all the significant challenges they face. He asks the whole Church in the Amazon to strive to apply the synodal work, and he hopes that all people of good will be inspired by the Final Document and, certainly, by its diptych companion, the beautiful Querida Amazonia.
What is the status of these two documents? Where do they fit in the magisterium, the body of official Church teaching? Let me try to apply generally accepted norms in the interpretation of magisterial documents.
Querida Amazonia is a post-synodal exhortation. It is a magisterial document. It belongs to the authentic Magisterium of the Successor of Peter. It participates in his ordinary Magisterium.
The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology is the final document of a special assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region. Like every other such synodal document, it consists of proposals which the Synod Fathers have voted to approve and have entrusted to the Holy Father. He in turn authorized its publication with the votes cast. At the beginning of Querida Amazonia, he says, I would like to officially present the Final Document, which sets forth the conclusions of the Synod (QA § 3) and encourages everyone to read it in full.
So, apart from formal magisterial authority, this official presentation and encouragement confer on the Final Document a certain moral authority. To ignore it would be a lack of obedience to the Holy Father’s legitimate authority, while to find one or other point difficult could not be considered a lack of faith.
Being a special synod that focused on one region of the world, the synodal process, the Final Document and its companion Querida Amazonia will require creative and sympathetic understanding for their lessons to be applied beyond the Amazon. They touch the whole Church and the whole world, although not uniformly. Querida Amazonia can help guide us to a harmonious, creative and fruitful reception of the entire synodal process (§ 2).
So we have two documents of two different kinds. The Final Document is the fruit of the synodal process, while Querida Amazonia is made up of the Holy Father’s reflections on the synodal process and its final document. The first, consisting of proposals made and voted upon by the Synod Fathers, has the weight of a synodal final document. The second, reflecting on the whole process and its final document, has the authority of ordinary magisterium of the Successor of Peter.
The Pope prays that the entire Church be enriched and challenged by the work of the synodal assembly, that everyone in the Amazon strive to apply it; and that everyone of good will be inspired by it in some way (§ 4).
In conclusion, Pope Francis encourages everyone to advance along concrete paths that can allow the reality of the Amazon region to be transformed and set free from the evils that beset it (§ 111).
Intervention presented by Professor Carlos Nobre
Scientist and 2007 Nobel Prize Laureate
1. Introduction
As a scientist who has been working on ecological matters for more than 35 years, especially on the ecological challenges of the Amazonian region, I welcome Pope Francis’ Exhortation Querida Amazonia (QAm). It is clear that both the Exhortation and the Final Document of the Synod, to which the Exhortation refers (cf. QAm, 2, 3), are inspired by the encyclical Laudato Si: on the care for our common home (2015). Some bishops, such as Cardinal Pedro Barreto, from Peru, have called the Synod the son of Laudato Si’. The Apostolic Exhortation could well be the daughter of Laudato Si’.
2. Scientific coherence & endorsement
The encyclical and its children are ethical and spiritual messages informed by science, but not by any science. They are all compatible with the best scientific research available today. In the name of the scientific community, I would like to fully endorsed the socio-ecological propositions of the Querida Amazonia and of its sibling, the final document of the Amazon Synod: Amazonia: New Pathways for the Church and for Integral Ecology.
3. Comments on scientific related points
Let me briefly comment on some points of the Exhortation related to my scientific expertise.
Sustainable Agriculture
Pope Francis exhorts us all to seek sustainable agricultural production, because the current agro-businesses in the region are unsustainable (cf QAm, 17). He also exhorts us to look for non-polluting energies, because fossil-fuel based energies are polluting Amazonia, and the entire planet (cf QAm, 17). The Pope also wants us to provide decent jobs that do not compromise the dignity of the workers, nor the cultural life and ecosystems (cf QAm, 17). Francis urges us to build up a model of development in the Amazon - and in the world - in which no one is left behind (cf QAm, 17), and in which nature is preserved.
Indigenous participation & wisdom
This, of course, requires the participation of indigenous communities (cf QAm, 26), who are the best custodians of the forests, and who can teach us how to work with, care for, and love Amazonia (cf QAm, 55). For example, for thousands of years, indigenous people have been practicing a sustainable mosaic-type of agriculture which preserves biodiversity, caring for species currently under threat -such as the açaí berry, and that enables the restoration of the forest by, for example, the rotation of small croplands in deforested areas.
Integrating ancient indigenous wisdom with new technologies
One can argue that ancient indigenous wisdom is not enough to cultivate the richness of Amazonia without uprooting or weakening it (cf QAm, 28). For this reason, I agree with Pope Francis when he explains that in order to care for Amazonia, we need to combine ancient indigenous wisdom with new technologies (cf QAm, 51). In fact, as the Synodal Bishops wrote in the Final Document of the Synod, the combination of advanced science and technologies with traditional local knowledge can generate an innovative bioeconomy of standing forests and flowing rivers (cf Doc Final, 11) that can replace the current deforestation-driven model of production. This would be integral ecology in action that can foster the full development of humanity (LS, 62).
For many decades, the debate about Amazonia has been split between two opposing views: one of pure conservation, to the point of ignoring the needs of local communities; the other of resource intensive development, based on the extraction of minerals, oil & gas, deforestation, hydropower, and agricultural commodities. Ironically, all this exploitation is done to feed markets outside - and far away from - Amazonia. This prevailing extractive model has had calamitous results, wreaking havoc on Amazonia and its peoples. In order to move forward and reverse the extractive-destructive model, we urgently need to embrace a third way, one that can cultivate the Amazon without destroying it, one that can work with their population without colonizing them (cf QAm, 28), one that can integrate ancient indigenous cultures with new technologies.
4. Conclusion
To conclude, as a scientist, I am aware that the Amazon rainforest is like the biological heart of the Earth. As we humans cannot live without a heart, the planet (at least the planet that we know), cannot live without Amazonia. But Amazonia is struggling, crying out, to the point that we are close to reaching some tipping points and to mutating from being the largest rainforest of the world, to a savanna. This will have terrible consequences for the Amazonian territory, its people, and for the rest of the world.
To prevent that from happening, and to respond to the cry of the Amazon and to keep the Earth’s heart in good health, we need to immediately abandon the current model that destroys the forest, pollutes its river, and does not bring well-being to the people.
I am convinced that this important appeal of Pope Francis will encourage the entire Catholic Church to play its important prophetic role in the Amazon and beyond. The scientific community looks forward to seeing Pope Francis’ social, cultural, pastoral and ecological dreams come true. With the original people being the protagonists of the new pathways, with the richness of the cultural and biological diversity of the region, and Catholics being mobilized to promote inclusiveness and sustainability, then new models of production that care for Amazonia can take place, and Pope Francis’ dreams will become a reality. Thank you Pope Francis for this inspiring Exhortation.
Intervention presented by His Excellency, David Martínez de Aguirre Guinea, OP
Bishop of the Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado (Peru)
From Puerto Maldonado, right in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, on the banks of the Madre de Dios River, we wish to join in this celebration for the publication of Pope Francis’ Post-Synodal Exhortation.
It was precisely here, in Puerto Maldonado, where this beautiful story of the Pan-Amazonian Synod began. On 19 January the Pope told us: today here, this afternoon, the work of the Synod begins. And from that date onward, a process of listening was initiated by more than 87,000 people, from our native communities, farmers, riverside communities, cities ... Together we were tracing the new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology.
In October of last year, the Pope called us to Rome. He wanted to place the Amazon in the heart of the Church, even at the risk of bringing disorder to the house. I am a witness of the hope with which many of our indigenous brothers arrived at the Vatican, at the Pope's house, they said – and there it was felt even more. Their desires and concerns were heard and, together, with all the bishops and missionaries, we shared the passion for proclaiming Christ.
And today, Pope Francis, gives us this exhortation, the fruit of the whole process: Querida Amazonia, Beloved Amazon. The title is already a reflection of the heart of the Pope who shows a deep love for this particular territory and its peoples. The exhortation is a poem of love proclaimed to the whole Universal Church and to all people of good will. It is a poem which weeps for the crimes and injustices, and which marvels at the beauty of these forests and their inhabitants.
The Pope once again does not offer us a goal. He wants to be a light on a continuing path. The exhortation, which is complemented by the post-synodal document, generates processes. It encourages us to transcend tensions and to continue searching for new paths of consensus in order to encounter Christ, Who makes us dream of His Kingdom present in society, in culture, in ecology and in the Church.
Thank you, Pope Francis, for the encouragement and impetus you give us. Your exhortation, Querida Amazonía, makes us feel more closely the love of Christ and of the Church, and impels us to assume the great challenge that we have of being close to the most vulnerable and with them to take care of our planet.
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