Working document of Synod on the Pan-Amazon Region approved

The “Instrumentum Laboris”, or the working document of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region that Pope Francis has scheduled in the Vatican in October, has been approved. 

The decision was taken at the second Pre-Synodal Council of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region during its May 14-15 meeting in the Vatican.   

The theme of the October 6-27 Synod is: “Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology.”      

The idea of the Synod was born out of Pope Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical “Laudato Si – On Care for Our Common Home”, which calls for action on global warming and pinpoints the Pan-Amazon region as an area of concern.   

The Pope first announced the Synod on 15 October 2017.

All the members of the Pre-Synodal Council participated in this week’s meeting, including cardinals, bishops, religious and a lay person, representing the Churches in the Amazon. Experts, consultants from the General Secretariat and special guests were also present.

The Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, updated the participants on the progress made since the first meeting of the Pre-Synodal Council held in April 2018.

The main purpose of this week’s meeting was the preparation of the Synod’s Instrumentum Laboris which brings together in a single document the consultation material that began with the Preparatory Document, the outcome of a February seminar and ample documentation from various events organized by the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM), in view of the Synod on Amazonia.

The purpose of the working document is to present the pastoral situation of the Amazonia region and to initiate new paths for a more incisive evangelization in the area.  At the same time, it is a reflection on the ecological problem that concerns the Amazonia Region.  Members offered useful suggestions for its improvement.

At the end of its meeting, the Pre-Synodal Council approved the Instrumentum Laboris, which will be widely distributed at all levels to help involve the entire Church across the globe in the process of the Synod.  It will be particularly sent to the interested Episcopal Conferences and other organizations involved in the Synod.