Amazon synod opens ‘a new chapter’
OTTAWA -- Respect for the Earth and different cultures and Indigenous communities go hand-in-hand as the Catholic Church moves forward after an historic synod that focused on the Amazon region.
‘Hear the cry of the Earth’
Canadian Josianne Gauthier is General Secretary of CIDSE, an international network of Catholic social justice organizations, and was one of the delegates to last month’s Synod on Pan-Amazon Region. Here is what she told the Synod in an address:
Synod gives hope to Canada’s north
The recent Amazon synod gave voice to Indigenous worldwide and that can only bode well for northern Canadian dioceses with parallel realities, agreed Archbishop Murray Chatlain and Bishop Gary Gordon.
VATICAN CITY -- Following a proposal made during the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, Pope Francis restructured several dioceses in the Brazilian Amazon to better address the needs of local Catholics.
Synod shows signs of growth for ‘a different Church’
From coverage that’s been splashed across both Catholic and secular media, you might suppose the Synod on the Amazon was all about long-standing bones of contention between liberal and conservative Catholics – married priests, authoritative roles for women, liturgies that don’t look like a pontifical high Mass. But it wasn’t really about any of that. It was actually about the Amazon.
Austrian man claims he threw 'Pachamama' statues into the Tiber
VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- In a video uploaded on YouTube Nov. 4, a young man from Austria claims that he was one of the two men who took five controversial statues from a church near the Vatican and threw them into the Tiber River.
Priestly ordination should be decided by entire Church, says bishop
Any decision on married priests should begin with a global synod of bishops, rather than a regional assembly like the synod on the Amazon, said the past president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Synod calls for more ministry roles for women, but not diaconate
VATICAN CITY -- Members of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon asked that women be given leadership roles in the Catholic Church, although they stopped short of calling for women deacons.
Pope Francis: Christians must shun self-worship
VATICAN CITY -- Poor people from the Amazon have shown that God's creation must be treated "not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God," Pope Francis said.
Amazon synod supports married priests for Amazon
VATICAN CITY -- While highlighting the gift of celibacy and the need for celibate priests in the Amazon region, the final document of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon has urged Pope Francis to allow the priestly ordination of married deacons to serve in remote areas.
Pope Francis says synod statues were recovered undamaged
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis apologized that two men entered a church near the Vatican, took controversial statues and tossed them into the Tiber River.
Brazilian bishop claims Pope Benedict opened path to women deacons
VATICAN CITY -- A change to the Code of Canon Law made by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 provides a canonical path to allow the ordination of women deacons, a Brazilian bishop said.
Proposed Amazonian rite centred on Christ, indigenous professor says
VATICAN CITY -- Addressing concerns about a proposed Amazonian rite in the Catholic Church, an indigenous participant at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon called on Catholics to soften their hearts and understand the needs of Catholics in the region.
Church is 'too hierarchal,' bishop claims
VATICAN CITY -- The way to rid the Catholic Church of clericalism is by giving laywomen a greater role in making decisions, a Bolivian bishop said.
VATICAN CITY -- Solutions to environmental problems discussed at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon must involve not just Amazonian nations, but countries in Europe and North America, bishops said.