BY DOUGLAS CULP

ope Francis timed the Feb. 2 release of his post-synodal , Querida Amazonia, The reaction of the U.S. bishops in advance of St. Valentine’s feast day very well because it is truly a love letter. Its opening, “The The president of the U.S. Con- beloved Amazon region,” sets the tone for what will be both a proclamation of the ’s love ference of Catholic Bishops, P Archbishop José Gomez of Los for the region and its people, and an invitation to the Church and world to share in this communion of Angeles, expressed, in part, the love. The pope’s reflection takes the form of four dreams for the benefit and good of this beloved place. following thoughts about ’ apostolic exhortation:

“Today our Holy Father Pope A social dream A cultural dream Francis offers us a hopeful and Love for the people of the Amazon basin is at the As true love dictates, the pope does not seek to challenging vision of the future heart of this first dream. In this section, Pope Fran- promote the region by “colonizing it culturally.” of the Amazon region, one of cis reiterates the theme from his Laudato Instead, he wants the world to help the region the earth’s most sensitive and Si that ecological crisis cannot be divorced from bring out the best of itself. He calls for caring for crucial ecosystems, and home social crisis. He will not separate the plight of the the cultural roots of the region and intercultural to a rich diversity of cultures earth from the plight of the poor and marginalized. encounters. The Church and the economically and peoples. The pope reminds He decries the exploitation and injustice suffered powerful can build up the region only through the us that the Church serves hu- by the poor and indigenous. He asks forgiveness for self-constraint so that the people have the space to manity by proclaiming Jesus the sins of the Church and the crimes committed grow and blossom culturally on their own terms. Christ and His Gospel of love, during the conquest of the Americas. and he calls for an evangeliza- He exhorts the Church to hear the plea of the An ecological dream tion that respects the identities people and to exercise her prophetic mission. He This dream begins with a description of the first and histories of the Amazonian calls for community and social dialogue with the ecology we need: to care for our brothers and sisters peoples and that is open to the people of the Amazon region. He wants to restore and the environment following the example of the ‘novelty of the Spirit, who is al- the voice of the poor, the marginalized, and the Lord who first cared for us. Again, the pope empha- ways able to create something excluded, and to give them a leading role in de- sizes any ecology of nature exists only alongside a new with the inexhaustible rich- termining the future of the region. human ecology. Thus, an ecology of nature demands es of Jesus Christ.’”

Source: usccb.org/news/2020/20-30.cfm On social dialogue with the poor and indigenous of the Amazon basin: DID YOU KNOW ... “And the great question is: ‘What is their idea of “good living” The Amazon basin is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, covering a size for themselves and for those who will come after them?’” (26) approximately equal to the lower 48 United States. Between 6 million and 8 million square kilometers of forest house approximately 10 percent of the world’s biodiversity and 15 percent of its freshwater. These “lungs of the world” An important distinction provide ecological services for the The special secretary of the Amazon synod and two other Vatican planet, but also a source of livelihood officials have explained that the difference between Pope Francis’ for hundreds of indigenous groups and apostolic exhortation and the Amazon synod’s final document forest-dependent peoples. concerns each document’s authority. Simply put, Pope Francis’ ex- hortation belongs to the Church’s ordinary magisterium, or teaching authority, and the synod’s final document does not. Matteo Bruni, director of the , put it like this, “Anything in the final document should be read in the lens of the apostolic BY THE NUMBERS: exhortation,” including any “application.” DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON REGION

Source: Hannah Brockhaus. “Vatican officials: Querida Amazonia is magisterium, Amazon synod’s final Share of Amazon forest loss in acres. doc is not.” Feb. 12, 2020. https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2020/02/12/vatican-officials-querida-am- azonia-is-magisterium-amazon-synods-final-doc-is-not/ from 2010-2018

Brazil | 43,947,104

a social ecology as everything is connected. Bolivia | 5,608,393 In the spirit of a love that seeks only to con- Peru | 4,088,265 template, rather than to analyze and possess, Pope Colombia | 2,134,195 Francis urges the Church and the world to listen Venezuela | 676,424 to beauty — beauty expressed through the poets, contemplatives, and prophets who “help free us Ecuador | 527,548 from the technocratic and consumerist paradigm Guyana | 271,507 that destroys nature and robs us of a truly dignified Suriname | 256,908 existence.” (46) In short, he calls for everyone to French Guiana | 88,933 enter into a communion of love, rather than simple use; a communion of intimate belonging, rather than of simple defense.

An ecclesial dream A final dream for the region is for the Church to grow in the Amazon region. This growth is not to be through violent or forceful imposition, but through the gentle, patient proposition of of Jesus Christ. The pope dreams for the Church to journey alongside the people of On interconnectedness: the Amazon region, listening and esteeming the “… the care of cultures she wishes to evangelize. He dreams of an inculturated Church — inculturated spirituality, people and the care inculturated social doctrine, inculturated sacra- ments, and inculturated ministry. In summary, of ecosystems are his dream is for a Church that truly witnesses to inseparable …” (42) the Joy of the Gospel, and an Amazon region that is able to truly experience this “Joy of the Gospel” in terms of its own cultural expressions.