Indigenous people of southern Brazil are seen in Brasilia, Brazil, May 16. Archbishop Salvador Pineiro Garcia-Calderon of Ayacucho, president of the Peruvian bishops' conference, said May 16 that Pope Francis is considering dedicating a meeting of the Synod of Bishops to the concerns of the indigenous people of the Amazon region. (CNS photo/Ueslei Marcelino, Reuters) Pope Francis has announced there will be a special assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October next year on the state of evangelisation in the Pan-Amazon region of South America, with special attention paid to indigenous people.
The purpose of the assembly will be to “identify new paths for the evangelisation” of people in the Pan-Amazon region of South America, meaning Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela and Surinam, “especially the indigenous people, often forgotten”.
The Pope said he was: “Accepting the desire of some Catholic bishops’ conferences in Latin America, as well as the voice of various pastors and faithful from other parts of the world.”
The assembly will also address the “crisis of the Amazonian Forest, a lung of great importance to our planet.”
Recently Catholic Church leaders in Bolivia have spoken against a new law that strips protection from the country’s national park and indigenous peoples’ territory allowing a highway to be cut through it. Bishop Eugenio Coter, Bolivian coordinator of the Pan-Amazonian Church Network, criticised the country’s government this summer saying it does not listen to the people, especially indigenous people.
The upcoming synod is also believed to be a reinforcement of the Church’s effort to promote economic development while protecting the Amazon rainforest in the region.
Advisory Board
Serving as an advisory body to the Pope, the Synod of Bishops was established by Pope Paul VI in 1965.
It consists of a group of bishops from around the world who meet every three years “to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel…and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world,” according to canon law. Extraordinary general assemblies can also be organised in the case of an urgent matter.
The last special assembly of the Synod of Bishops was held in 2010 on the situation in the Middle East.
The 50th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is set to take place in October 2018, and will discuss “Young People, the Faith and the Discernment of Vocation”.
The Pope’s announcement was made in St Peter’s Square before the recitation of the Angelus, and following the canonisation Mass of 35 new saints.
New saints Andre de Soveral, Ambrosio Francisco Ferro, and Mateo Moreira and 27 companions were all martyred in Brazil. Three teenage boys, Cristobal, Antonio and Juan, also martyred, were from Mexico.
The other new saints are Faustino Miguez of Spain and Angelo of Acri, Italy.