Pope Francis opens the Synod on the Amazon: “Fire set off by interests that destroy”
Pope Francis with the mass in the Vatican Basilica opened the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region, which will take place in the Vatican from today to October 27, 2019. “The fire set off by interests that destroy, such as the one that recently devastated the Amazon, is not that of the Gospel ”, he said in the homily.
With the Mass presided over by Pope francesco in the Vatican Basilica, opened today the Synod for the Amazon, or the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will end on 27 October. Theme of the works: “Amazonia: New paths for the Church and for an integral ecology”. Why a Synod on the Amazon? The Pope himself explained it on the day he announced it, on October 15, 2017, before the devastation of recent months. The main objective – Francis explained at the time – is “to find new ways for the evangelization of that portion of the people of God, in particular the indigenous people, often forgotten and without the prospect of a peaceful future, also due to the crisis in the forest. Amazon, lung of fundamental importance for our planet “.
Pope Francis opens the Synod on the Amazon
Opening the Synod on the Amazon this morning Bergoglio said that the Church must avoid “new colonialisms”. “When peoples and cultures are devoured without love and without respect – underlined the Pope – it is not the fire of God but the fire of the world. Yet how many times God’s gift has not been offered but imposed, how many times has there been colonization rather than evangelization! God preserve us from the greed of the new colonialisms. “Pope Francis spoke of the “Fire started by interests that destroy”, just like the one that recently devastated the Amazon, “is not that of the Gospel”. And again: “The fire of God is heat that attracts and gathers in unity. It feeds on sharing, not on earnings. The devouring fire, on the other hand, flares up when you want to carry out only your ideas, create your own group, burn diversity to homologate everyone and everything “.
The Pope urged the bishops to “be faithful to the newness of the Spirit is a grace that we must ask for in prayer. May he, who makes all things new, grant us his audacious prudence; inspire our Synod to renew the paths for the Church. in Amazonia, so that the mission fire does not go out. Many brothers and sisters in the Amazon carry heavy crosses and await the liberating consolation of the Gospelthe caress of love of the Church “.
