Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation, has just seen the light. There is no other papal document in the recent past that has been so hyped because of the discussion that the synod undertook on viri probati (married clergy). To the chagrin of many who expected that the pope would declare the possibility of married clergy, the document came out without any declaration on the topic.
Two reasons for the omission of the matter that the pope mentioned outside the document make perfect sense. One, the synod was about Amazonia and not about viri probati. Any discussion focused on viri probati will take away the much needed international attention of the political and ecclesiastical leaders on the crisis of Amazonia. During the synod, the Amazon was literally burning; people trying to put fire to celibacy is prima facie, mala fide.
Secondly, the synod was a regional one. The problems of the Catholics there have typically regional characteristics. The shortage of clergy there has a very regional nature, based on which the Church cannot bypass centuries-old traditions. It needs wider consultation with other regional synods.
Querida Amazonia is structured around the dreams of Pope Francis for the Amazon. Reading his mind about the terminology he likes to use, “dreams” is not what he would have liked to use, rather visions. In Christus Vivit, he mentioned that the old have dreams and the young have visions. The old can only dream since their hands cannot reach where their minds reach while the young weave visions with energy and the courage to realise them.
He proposes the project of his dreams thus:
I dream of an Amazon region that fights for the rights of the poor, the original peoples and the least of our brothers and sisters, where their voices can be heard and their dignity advanced.
It is a Social Dream where the natives and the poor are considered justly as more than equal partners in the development of Amazonia and to end the exploitation of vulnerable natives.
I dream of an Amazon region that can preserve its distinctive cultural riches, where the beauty of our humanity shines forth in so many varied ways.
This is a Cultural Dream. Amazonia is home to over a hundred tribes. Pope reminds to keep their varied cultural practices preserved. We need to respect the richness in such variety rather than inviting and encouraging them to follow the cultural practices of the outsiders.
I dream of an Amazon region that can jealously preserve its overwhelming natural beauty and the super-abundant life teeming in its rivers and forests.
The third is an Ecological Dream where the natural riches are respected and the myriad of lives in different forms in its forests and rivers are not disturbed. Exploitation of these resources in the pretext of development is not tenable.
I dream of Christian communities capable of generous commitment, incarnate in the Amazon region, and giving the Church new faces with Amazonian features.
The fourth is an Ecclesial Dream where he envisages an Amazonian Church incorporating the specificities of Amazonia in the expression of their faith.
He thanks the courageous men and women who have kept the faith alive in these regions without clergy reaching to them for a long time. He exhorts to explore novel ways of evangelisation involving a lot of laity in this distinct region of the Church. This is, of course, his indirect reference on how to handle the care of the faithful without viri probati!
For the Church in China, there is a lot to learn from Querida Amazonia.
The first and foremost is the formation and expression of faith in Chinese communities with Chinese characteristics. Modelling everything after the European expression of faith in the Church is both thoughtless and deprives the Church of its richness and variety.
There is a second reminder after Laudato Si’ to preserve nature’s variety with the utmost care. China is invited to reevaluate the ideological ground for the use of their natural resources.
Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF
