In the face of worsening global environmental and social issues, Laudato si' raised the concept of integral ecology which reminds us that everything is connected. "Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it" (LS 138), Pope Francis wrote. Everything we do in terms of the environment, our economic activity, our society and our culture is connected and impacts on each other.

Last week Pope Francis issued what might be considered as a case study of Laudato si'. Querida Amazonia is the fruit and gift to the Church of Pope Francis' reflection on the Amazonian Synod held in Rome last year.

The Holy Father defines the Amazon region as "a multinational and interconnected whole, a great biome shared by nine countries… Yet, he writes, I am addressing the present Exhortation to the whole world. I am doing so to help awaken their affection and concern for that land which is also "ours", and to invite them to value it and acknowledge it as a sacred mystery" (QA 5).

At the end of the Synod, the people representing the Amazon and their bishops described the Amazon as "a wounded and deformed beauty, a place of suffering and violence." They expressed their concerns of the destruction of the forests and pollution of the rivers, the consequences on the people including sexual exploitation, human trafficking and smuggling, organ traffic, sex tourism, the loss of original culture and identity of the peoples of the Amazon as their land and being is stolen and destroyed.

As it happened, the New Zealand bishops met Pope Francis the day after the Synod had concluded and he shared with us some of his reflections on the Synod. In our conversation with Pope Francis, we easily made the connection between the issues raised by the Synod and the arrival of Pakeha in Aotearoa New Zealand and the impact this had on Maori and on the whenua, the land. In Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis writes: "The original peoples often witnessed helplessly the destruction of the natural surroundings that enabled them to be nourished and kept healthy, to survive and to preserve a way of life in a culture which gave them identity and meaning. The imbalance of power is enormous; the weak have no means of defending themselves, while the winners take it all, and the needy nations grow more destitute, while the rich nations become even richer" (QA 13). What he wrote of the Amazon today might have been written of Aotearoa New Zealand from the mid-1800s to this day.

Querida Amazonia shares Pope Francis' dreams for the Amazon. He uses poetry and wisdom from the Amazon to paint a picture of what might be rather than impose western or first world solutions to one of the most fragile areas of the planet. He writes,

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• I dream of Christian communities capable of generous commitment, incarnate in the Amazon region, and giving the Church new faces with Amazonian features. (QA 7)

For us in Aotearoa New Zealand Querida Amazonia offers us an opportunity to reflect on what has happened in our own land and to consider new paths for the future, reflecting with Maori on the sacred taonga that are our land, our rivers and lakes, our mountains and sea, and most importantly, the tangata, our people. Pope Francis speaks of combining ancestral wisdom with contemporary technical knowledge, always working for a sustainable management of the land while also preserving the lifestyle and value systems of those who live there (cf QA 51) and that from the original peoples, we can learn to contemplate the precious mystery that transcends us. We can love it, not simply use it, with the result that love can awaken a deep and sincere interest. Even more, we can feel intimately a part of it and not only defend it; then the Amazon region will once more become like a mother to us (cf QA 55). What he says of the Amazon can be true for us in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Often today there can be criticism of how the Gospel was announced to indigenous peoples by colonial powers and the Holy Father apologises again for the Church's sins of the past in the Amazon. But as Jesus stepped into a culture, a people, so too the Church stepped into cultures; it takes flesh in all peoples, for the mission of the Church is inviting people to a friendship with the Lord that can elevate and dignify them (cf QA 61).

Pope Francis stresses an Amazonian face for the Church in the Amazon. A fruitful process takes place when the Gospel takes root in a given place, he writes, but at the same time the Church herself undergoes a process of reception that enriches her with the fruits of what the Spirit has already mysteriously sown in that culture. In this way, "the Holy Spirit adorns the Church, showing her new aspects of revelation and giving her a new face. The history of the Church shows that Christianity does not have simply one cultural expression" (cf. QA 68, 69). In our local Church Bishop Pompallier was a master at bridging the gap between Maori spirituality and Catholic theology and spirituality, and this enabled the tupuna of many of our Maori community to accept the Catholic faith. But Pope Francis reminds us this needs to be an ongoing process in the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Querida Amazonia can become for us, then, a real gift and an opportunity not only to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Amazon but also it can become an impetus for us to reflect on the face of the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand. We are invited to live out Pope Francis' dream of a Church that stands with the poor, that embraces the cultural riches of Maori as a taonga that can give a distinctively Kiwi face to the local Church in the wider universal Church and that contemplates the beauty of our land and sea as a sacred gift of God entrusted to our care for us and for our future tamariki and mokopuna.

• Steve Lowe - Bishop of Hamilton
• Querida Amazonia full document

It is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, that is, the Holy Father's summing up of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, which took place in October of last year.

The synod gathered Catholic bishops, clergy, theologians and lay people, including indigenous leaders from the region, to reflect on cultural, ecological and religious issues facing the Amazon.

Even though synods have been around for centuries and were given renewed emphasis by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the Amazon synod was the first meeting of its kind to be organized around a distinct ecological territory.

The region contains about 34 million inhabitants, including three million indigenous people from nearly 400 ethnic groups.

Pope Francis sees synods as opportunities for what Jesuits call "group discernment," during which the Holy Spirit works through discussions and deliberations.

This is one way that the pope tries to engage as many people as possible in important decisions.

Thus, in "Querida Amazonia, "the pope is reflecting on what happened in that large group discernment.

So, let's look at five takeaways from "Querida Amazonia."

To do that, I will follow the pope's four-part structure in the document and then add one final observation.

First

Francis dreams of a region that fights for the "rights of the poor," especially those of the "original peoples" of the area.

The pope takes aim at businesses, both national and international, that harm the Amazon and fail to respect the rights of the original peoples and bluntly labels such actions as "injustice and crime."

We should feel "outrage," he says, when we see a minority of people profiting from the "poverty of the majority and from the unscrupulous plundering of the region's natural riches."

The pope also apologizes for times when the church itself participated in these injustices and crimes.

Second

Pope Francis hopes for a world and a church that will recognize the distinctive cultural riches of the Amazon.

In many places in the region, the globalized economy endangers or threatens "human, social and cultural richness."

So these distinctive cultures must be nourished, protected and celebrated.

"Each distinct group in a vital synthesis with its surroundings," he says, "develops its own form of wisdom."

But to hear this wisdom we need to protect and reverence the cultures from which it came.

Third

"Querida Amazonia "reiterates some of the most important themes from the pope's magisterial encyclical on creation, "Laudato Si'." Grounding his appreciation for the environment in a reverence for God's creation, he reminds us that everything is connected: "The care of people and the care of ecosystems," he says, "are inseparable."

But many economic interests see the Amazon simply as a place of industry or a place where one can withdraw natural resources, even though the equilibrium of the planet "depends on the health of the Amazon region."

We should, says the pope about the Amazon, "love it, not simply use it."

Fourth

The pope turns his reflections to the church in the Amazon, and repeatedly stresses "inculturation."

This is an important theological concept, especially since Vatican II, but really since the beginning of the proclamation of the Gospel, because the Gospel message must always be announced in new ways to new cultures. Continue reading

But those new paths do not include the ordination of married men to the priesthood in the region.

The document, called "Querida Amazonia" (Beloved Amazon), is born from the discussions of over 180 bishops from all over the world who gathered at the Vatican last fall (Oct. 6-27) to address the social, environmental and spiritual needs of the indigenous people of the Amazon and their habitat.

During their meeting, bishops had suggested in their final document that the pope consider the ordination of tested married men to minister to the remote areas of the Amazon forest sprawled over nine Latin American countries.

Bishops had also voted to further discussions on female deacons, which would allow women to preach, distribute the Eucharist and officiate at weddings, baptisms and funerals.

Pope Francis' document doesn't make any mention of the ordination of married men nor of women, which is consistent with the efforts made by the Vatican to downplay expectations ahead of its publication.

In January, former Pope Benedict XVI published a book with Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican department for liturgy, making a case for the importance of celibacy in the priesthood.

"Querida Amazonia" is divided into four chapters, each corresponding to a "dream" of the pope on the social, cultural, ecological and ecclesial aspects of the Amazon. It includes numerous poems by indigenous people detailing the beauty — and destruction — of the Amazon.

The papal document encourages Catholics and all people of goodwill to protect the environment, accompany the diaspora of indigenous peoples and stand up against injustice and reckless exploitation.

During colonization, the people of the Amazon forest "were considered more an obstacle needing to be eliminated than as human beings with the same dignity as others and possessed of their own acquired rights," Francis wrote.

"The businesses, national or international, which harm the Amazon and fail to respect the right of the original peoples," he wrote, "should be called for what they are: injustice and crime."

"Colonization has left tremendous wounds in the Amazon, the pope said, but colonization continues today even though it is "changed, disguised."

"The interest of a few powerful industries should not be considered more important than the good of the Amazon region or humanity as a whole," he warned.

Francis admitted that while missionaries were among the few who stood up to defend the rights of the Amazon and its peoples, the Catholic Church also bears its responsibility and its members were "part of a network of corruption."

"I express my shame and once more I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offences of the Church herself, but for the crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America as well as for the terrible crimes that followed throughout the history of the Amazon region," he said.

In a section addressing forms of ministry, the pope called for "a specific and courageous response" to the shortage of priests in the Amazon.

Though ordaining married men is out of the question, at least in this document, the pope encouraged bishops to take matters into their own hands.

"This urgent need leads me to urge all bishops, especially those in Latin America, not only to promote prayer for priestly vocations, but also to be more generous in encouraging those who display a missionary vocation to opt for the Amazon region," he wrote, putting an emphasis on the need to overhaul priestly formation.

A large role is played and continues to be played by "mature and lay leaders," who must be promoted and encouraged by the Catholic clergy, Francis wrote. Women especially, he said, "have kept the Church alive in those places through their remarkable devotion and deep faith."

But ordaining women as deacons, he said, could be harmful.

"It would lead us to clericalize women, diminish the great value of what they have already accomplished, and subtly make their indispensable contribution less effective," he said.

Instead, he said that women should have positions of authority within the church "that do not entail Holy Orders and that can better signify the role that is theirs."

As a starting point, Francis referred to Mary as a source of inspiration for furthering the role of women.

"Perhaps it is time to review the lay ministries already existing in the Church, return to their foundations and update them by reading them in the light of current reality and the inspiration of the Spirit, and at the same time to create other new stable ministries with public recognition and a commission from the bishop," Cardinal Michael Czerny said in an interview published by the Vatican alongside the papal document. Czerny was a special secretary to the synod of bishops on the Amazon.

Francis called for a fruitful dialogue between the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the Catholic Church in order to give the church "new faces with Amazonian features."

The culture, traditions and history of the tribes living in the Amazon must be protected and respected, without "unfair generalizations, simplistic arguments and conclusions drawn only from the basis of our own mindset and experiences," he said.

Indigenous people should not be insulated from a respectful dialogue, Francis wrote, just as the Catholic Church should allow the gospel to be permeated by the customs and culture of the peoples living in the Amazon.

"The Pope asks that the voice of the elderly be heard and that the values present in the original communities be recognized," Czerny said. "Indigenous peoples teach us to be sober, content with little, and to sense the need to be immersed in a communal way of living our lives."

The bishops had asked the pope to consider the possibility of an Amazonian Rite, which in the Catholic tradition would have its own bishops and specific liturgies while still being in communion with the Catholic Church.

Francis encouraged "native forms of expression in song, rituals, gestures and symbols" but made no mention of a specific rite or a commission created to consider it.

Francis also seemed to passingly address the Pachamama debacle, when vandals broke into a church in Rome at the height of the synod, dumped a wooden carving of an Amazonian fertility goddess into the Tiber River and posted it on YouTube.

The vandals justified their actions at the time, stating that they were angered by a ceremony in the Vatican gardens where indigenous people knelt before the statues before the pontiff.

"It is possible to take up an indigenous symbol in some way, without necessarily considering it as idolatry," the pope wrote. "A myth charged with spiritual meaning can be used to advantage and not always considered a pagan error."

The pope's final words amid highly divisive times within and beyond the Catholic Church are to promote dialogue "at a higher level, where each group can join the other in a new reality, while remaining faithful to itself."

• Claire Giangrave is Vatican Correspondent for Religion News Service.
• First published in RNS. Republished with permission.
• Image YouTube