Querida Amazonia

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Querida Amazonia (Spanish for “beloved Amazonia”) is the post-synodal apostolic letter of Pope Francis for the extraordinary special meeting of the bishops on the topic of Amazonia - new ways for the church and a holistic ecology . It is the synod of the Synod of Bishops of the countries of the Amazon region , which took place in Rome from October 6 to 27, 2019. The letter, which consists of four chapters and is written in Spanish , takes the form of an exhortation (Latin for "encouragement") and is addressed "to the people of God and to all people of good will". It bears the date of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2) and was published on February 12, 2020.

Content

At the beginning, the Pope emphasized that this was a personal response to this path of “dialogue and discernment”, which the Synod's final document should introduce, but neither replace nor repeat. The introduction clarifies the content of the Exhortatio , in which the Pope describes his vision of the social, cultural, ecological and ecclesiastical organization of the Amazon in several chapters with more than 100 sub-points.

In the chapter The Social Vision , against the background of injustice and crimes, including those of the past, the Pope explains that a truly ecological approach is always transformed into a social approach that must also include justice in environmental discussions, “about the complaint of To hear the poor as well as the lament of the earth ”.

In the chapter A Church Vision , the Pope mentions under the heading “inculturation” those of the liturgy , the ministries and offices and the local communities. The Eucharist as the source and culmination of church life requires "that this multifarious richness is developed."

Priests are needed, but this does not exclude “that usually the permanent deacons - who should be much more in the Amazon -, the women religious and the laity themselves take important responsibility for the growth of the communities and that they in the exercise of these tasks mature thanks to appropriate accompaniment ”. Under the heading The Power and Gift of Women , he goes on to say that the understanding of the Church should not be reduced to functional structures. This “would lead us to believe that women would only be granted church status and participation if they were admitted to holy orders. But such a view would in reality be a limitation of perspectives: it would lead us to a clericalization of women and diminish the great value of what they have already given, as well as subtly impoverish their indispensable contribution. "

In the final part, which the Pope headlines with “The Mother of the Amazon”, he once again expresses the desire to find a way to “transform the reality of the Amazon region and free it from the evils that afflict it”. In conclusion, he presents the addressee of the letter with a prayer to the Blessed Mother Mary : “Although she is the one mother of all, she shows herself in different ways in Amazonia. We know that the indigenous peoples are in a living relationship with Jesus Christ in many ways; but above all the Marian way led to this encounter. "

Reactions

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In the press conference of the German Bishops' Conference on the appearance of Querida Amazonia , Reinhard Cardinal Marx emphasized, among other things, that anyone who expected concrete decisions and instructions for action with this letter would not find them in this exhortation. The document, however, is "a reception of the synod and its final document that is relevant to the world church and supported by the papal magisterium". The synod also did not have celibacy as an issue. Francis also addressed this aspect when he lamented the focus of many media on the topics of celibacy and women's consecration. Something else was at stake at the Synod.

The General Secretary of the Synod, Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri , described the meeting as “a long process”, in which much was still going on and had to be discussed further. The Pope neither rejected nor expressly approved the Synod's proposals. The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference , Cardinal Reinhard Marx , pointed out that "the final document of the Amazon Synod and the now published papal letter represent a unit and must be viewed together"; It is noteworthy that Francis emphasizes the relevance of both letters and expressly does not override one for the other. The director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni, on the other hand, devoted himself to the legal aspect: Querida Amazonia is "magisterial", whereas the final document of the Amazon Synod of October 2019 is not - it has a certain moral, but no magisterial authority.

Curia Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller praised Querida Amazonia as a document of reconciliation. The Pope did not draw any dramatic and disruptive consequences after the Synod, but offered his answers to the Church and all people of good will, as an aid for a "harmonious, creative and fruitful reception of the entire synodal process". The successor of St. Peter wanted to win all Catholics and Christians of other denominations, as well as all people of good will, for a positive development in the Amazon region, so that our fellow men and fellow Christians who live there may experience the uplifting and unifying power of the Gospel. The appointed Bishop of Augsburg, Bertram Meier, also described Querida Amazonia as "groundbreaking". With the document, Pope Francis once again expressed his closeness to the poor.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Querida Amazonia , No. 8
  2. ↑ Querida Amazonia , No. 92, 100
  3. ↑ Querida Amazonia , No. 111
  4. ↑ Presentation of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Letter Querida Amazonia by Pope Francis by the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx . dbk.de. February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  5. ↑ https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/24550-papst-dankt-kardinal-mueller-fuer-kommentar-zu-querida-amazonia
  6. ↑ https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/24520-wegweisend-bis-riesenenttaeuschung-reaktionen-zum-papstschreiben
  7. ↑ domradio.de: Voices on the papal letter on the Amazon Synod , February 14, 2020.
  8. ↑ https://de.catholicnewsagency.com/story/vatikan-querida-amazonia-ist-lehramt-schlussdokument-der-synode-nicht-5763
  9. ↑ https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/24550-papst-dankt-kardinal-mueller-fuer-kommentar-zu-querida-amazonia
  10. ↑ https://www.vaticannews.va/de/vatikan/news/2020-02/corriere-papst-synode-amazonien-mueller-kardinal-exhortation.html
  11. ↑ https://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-mueller-querida-amazonia-is-a-document-of-reconciliation
  12. ↑ https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/24520-wegweisend-bis-riesenenttaeuschung-reaktionen-zum-papstschreiben