Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic in the two years since the synod, there have been many interviews, documents and meetings "to reflect and discern about 'what we should do,'" Hummes says.

Although these actions are important, they are not enough, he says.

"Instead of asking ourselves only what we should do, how to do it, when will we do it, let us see and promote what we are doing and what we did yesterday."

Hummes served as relator general at the 2019 synod, which reflected on "Amazonia: New paths for the church and for an integral ecology."

In February last year the Vatican released Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation "Querida Amazonia" (Beloved Amazonia).

In this, he highlights the issues affecting poor and indigenous communities in the Amazon region. These issues include deforestation, drug trafficking, pollution and contamination caused by mining industries.

In a letter to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Hummes reiterates those issues and their consequences, particularly for indigenous communities.

Concerns include "alcoholism, violence against women, sex trafficking and "the loss of culture and original identity — language, spiritual practices and customs — and all the poor conditions to which the people of the Amazon are condemned."

Hummes also acknowledges the pope's call for an increase in permanent deacons to address the lack of priests in the region and how that particularly impacts remote communities.

In Querida Amazonia, Francis says while priests are needed, "this does not mean that permanent deacons — of whom there should be many more in the Amazon region — religious women and lay persons cannot regularly assume important responsibilities for the growth of communities, and perform those functions ever more effectively with the aid of a suitable accompaniment."

Urgent needs include opening schools for permanent deacon candidates, "catechists and community leaders, both women and men," as well as a "synodal renewal of our current clergy and religious men and women," Hummes says.

"These schools, in turn, will have to innovate and inculturate, both in methodology and curriculum."

Hummes says there is still a lot to be done to fully implement the synod recommendations.

He is calling on organisations in the Amazon region, including the Pan-Amazonian Church Network to "take on with us this synodal process."

"As I have expressed, it would help us very much if we could make known to the entire ecclesial network what is already being done," the cardinal said.

"All this would help us greatly to visualize, recognize, learn, socialise and give thanks in a synodal spirit," he says.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Global Catholic Climate Movement

Doyle, whose father was a priest, is a member of Coping International, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of priests' children.

Although the guidelines are not new, they have been secret until now.

Last year the secrecy around them changed when the Congregation for the Clergy said it was happy to send them to any Bishop's conference that requested them.

This development followed a meeting between Mgr Andrea Ripa, Undersecretary for the Congregation, and Doyle.

Coping International and the Congregation for the Clergy then cooperated over their release.

Doyle says he is "delighted" with the release.

He says it represents represent an important step towards transparency on the part of the Vatican and adds weight to the prioritisation of the natural rights of the child to know his or her parents.

Previously, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, who was prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy between 2006 and 2010, emphasised the obligation to equal treatment on the part of the children of the ordained had to outweigh any other interests.

Hummes said this was also the opinion of Pope Benedict XVI during his time in office.

Ripa indicated during discussions with Doyle that it would be possible for a priest to remain in ministry, having fathered a child.

He said whether this would occur would be subject to two other considerations.

One is the priest's suitability for ministry and the other concentrates on the good of the child. This represents a significant change in the attitude of the Vatican regarding such situations.

Given Ripa's comments that it would not be "impossible" for priests to continue in their ministry after fathering a child, Doyle pointed to the recent suggestion of the ordination of "viri probati" as priests could provide a "remedy" for "procreative breaches in celibacy".

If this were the case, it would remove the clash of vocations that has previously led to children being raised without knowledge of their father, or in secret.

Source

• The Tablet UK
• Image: The Irish Times

It is is not official church teaching, he says.

It is a way for bishops to listen to the local church's concerns.

The working document ( also called the Instrumentum Laboris) "isn't a document of the synod, it is for the synod," Hummes told journalists.

"It is the voice of the local church, the voice of the church in the Amazon: of the church, of the people, of the history and of the very earth, the voice of the earth," he said.

Hummes and Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, responded to a journalist's questions about criticisms against the synod and its working document.

The Vatican-based synod, which began on Sunday and will continue for most of this month, will focus on "Amazonia: New paths for the church and for an integral ecology."

In June, German Cardinal Walter Brandmuller published an essay in which he accused the synod's working document of being heretical.

This is because it refers to the rainforest as a place of divine revelation, he wrote.

He also criticized the synod for its plans to get involved in social and environmental affairs.

Other critics, U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan, voiced similar accusations in a released on 12 September.

In this, they cited "serious theological errors and heresies" in the synod's working document.

In response, Baldisseri said, "if there is a cardinal or a bishop who does not agree, who sees that there is content that does not correspond (to church teaching), well then, in the meantime I would say that it is necessary to listen and not judge because it isn't a magisterial document."

Baldisseri explained while he believes everyone should be free to express their disagreement, he also thinks it is inappropriate "that a judgment should be made about a document that isn't a pontifical document.

"This is just a working document that will be given to the synod fathers," he said.

"And that will be the basis to begin the work and build the final document from zero. It's also known as a ‘martyred document.'"

Hummes said the synod's working document arose from the church's desire to listen to the local church in the Amazon.

"The church didn't do it for the sake of doing it to only ignore them," he daid.

"No! If it was done, it was so that (the church) could to listen to them. This is the synodal path: to seriously listen."

Source

• Catholic News Service
• Image: America Magazine

Its main objective is to "find new paths for the evangelization of that portion of the people of God, particularly the indigenous people who are often forgotten and often face a bleak future due to the crisis of the Amazon rainforest, a fundamental lung for our planet."

The preparatory document was published on June 8, 2018.

The Synod on Amazonia is a major ecclesial project that seeks to overcome limits and redefine pastoral strategies, adapting them to contemporary times.

The Pan-Amazonian Region consists of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and French Guyana.

It is an important source of oxygen for the entire world as it is home to more than a third of the primary forestry reserves of the Earth. It is one of the largest areas of biodiversity on the planet.

Bishops chosen from all over the world will come to the synod, including all the bishops of the Amazonian Region.

Pope Francis has appointed as relator general Cardinal Claudio Hummes, archbishop emeritus of Sao Paulo, Brazil and a Franciscan.

Another important figure is Jesuit Cardinal Pedro Barreto, the archbishop of Huancayo, Peru.

They are respectively the president and vice president of Red Eclesial Panamazónica (REPAM), the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network.

This transnational network seeks to create a harmonious collaboration between the various components of the Church: ecclesial districts, religious congregations, charitable organizations and various associations, Catholic foundations and lay groups.

Among its main objectives is the defense of the life of Amazonian communities threatened by pollution, by radical and rapid changes of the ecosystem on which they depend, and by the lack of protection for basic human rights.

On October 31, 2006, Cardinal Hummes was nominated by Pope Benedict XVI as prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.

In May 2007 he participated at the Fifth Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM) at Aparecida, Brazil, as a member appointed by the pope.

Today he is the president of the Amazonia Commission of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference. Given his experience and activities we decided to have a conversation with him to explore the significance of this synod and its themes.

Your Eminence, the synod on the Amazon is drawing near.

It will be a great ecclesial event concerning a specific and particular part of the world, which is an enormous and incredibly rich and complex area.

For this reason, some people fear the upcoming synod might have repercussions on the unity of the Church.

What is your opinion?

Today, much is said about the unity of the Church.

It is of fundamental and utmost importance.

However, it has to be understood as a unity that welcomes diversity, following the model of the Most Holy Trinity.

That is, it is equally necessary to highlight that unity can never destroy diversity.

Concretely, the synod accentuates the diversity within that great unity.

Diversity is the richness of unity, protecting it against becoming uniformity, against providing justifications to control.

Is diversity important for the Church?

The Church is open to diversity today more than ever.

The Latin American countries of the Pan-Amazonian region are an expression of Latin American diversity, which has to be welcomed by the Church in Europe and the whole world without fear and with a great openness.

I want to underline this because this synod is a recognition of our peculiarity.

I see it this way: the Church of Latin America can bring new lights to the European Church and to the world, while the Church in Europe has to give us ancient lights, which are very important.

Initially, Christianity found a place for inculturation in European culture, and this good process has remained valid up until today.

But that one act of inculturation does not suffice.

The pope says that one culture alone cannot exhaust the richness of the Gospel.

The Church does not wish to dominate other cultures, but respects that initial European inculturation.

We have to appreciate the diversity of cultures: the Church will be enriched by this, not undermined.

Diversity does not attack the unity of the Church; it strengthens it.

It is important not to be afraid of these things.

So, if we speak among ourselves and manage to find new paths for the Church in Amazonia, this will be for the benefit of the whole Church.

But always starting from a specific reflection on Amazonia.

The REPAM network of Pan-Amazonia ecclesial organizations met with Pope Francis.

Can you tell us something about that meeting and the new things, challenges and hopes that the Holy Father places in the synodal process?

Last February 25, Cardinal Pedro Barreto, Mauricio Lopez (REPAM's general secretary) and I met with the pope.

We told him about the process of preparation for the synod on completion of the phase of listening and consulting with the particular Churches of the Pan-Amazonian Region.

We told him about all the work done so far.

In this synodal process, our network has truly sought to "listen" and not only "see, judge, act."

Listening comes before everything else.

To prepare a synod you need to listen, not just organize and make plans.

So the mark of the synod is its ability to listen and overcome the mentality of plans and frameworks?

To truly "see" you need to listen.

It is not enough to analyze what Amazonia is, or who the Church in Amazonia is and what it does.

The synod is not an abstract coming together, a generic idea.

For us, we need to listen above all to the very people of Amazonia.

Their real situations need to be listened to; their cries need to be heard.

Methodologically, this effort has greatly enriched our seeing, judging and acting. Our "seeing" has not been the detached analysis of those who examine a situation without being involved. We truly listened.

And your conversation with the pope?

We asked the pope if he had any recommendations for us.

He replied that, first, the specific synod objective should not be watered down.

This must not become an occasion for discussing everything, following an ancient Latin saying that states with irony: de omni re scibili et de quibusdam aliis ("concerning every knowable thing, and even certain other things"). Continue reading

• Image: The Catholic Church in the European Union

The context of the discussion will focus on the Church in the Amazon basin.

His comments came in response to a question on the matter from Cardinal Claudio Hummes.

Hummes is the president of the Episcopal Commission for the Amazon, according to the newspaper Il Messaggero.

The newspaper says Hummes asked Francis to consider ordaining viri probati, married men of great faith.

These men would be considered capable of ministering spiritually to the many remote communities in the Amazon.

There is a shortage of priests in the Amazon, and evangelical Christians and pagan sects are displacing Catholicism.

This does not mean Francis is considering opening the door for all Catholic priests to marry.

Dr. Kurt Martens, a canon lawyer and professor at The Catholic University of America, says the Pope's comments don't mean the door will open to the married priesthood throughout the Church.

He says the pope's response was specifically about whether "viri probati" or "proven men" of virtue and prudence could be ordained to the priesthood.

Some people think ordaining these men may resolve the shortage of priestly vocations in Brazil.

"Even if the synod would recommend or ask for the ordination of viri probati in the Pan-Amazon area, it is important to note that the Pope still would have to accept the request and make it into law, and it would most likely be limited to that area," Martens says.

"So we are not talking about changing the law on celibacy for the whole Church: it would be the ordination of viri probati for only that region."

In the Amazon region the ratio of Catholics to priests is 10,000 to one.

This is about three times the worldwide ratio of Catholics to priests throughout the world.

Monsignor Erwin Krautler, the secretary of the Episcopal Commission supports Hummes's request.

He has also suggested the bishops attending next year's synod on the Amazon should consider ordaining women deacons as priests.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• The Telegraph
• Bella Naija
• Image: petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Avvenire — which is owned by the Italian Catholic bishops' conference — he said : "The topic of the Roman Curia has been much discussed by us cardinals during the General Congregations.

"Many are waiting for a reform of the Roman Curia and I'm pretty certain that Francis will do it, and will do in the light of the Word, of essentiality, of simplicity and of the humility required by the Gospel. In the wake of the Saint from whom he took the name."

Cardinal Hummes is a friend of the Pope and sat next to him during the conclave.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has referred to "the reform that everybody's speaking about" on a Catholic radio programme.

As part of this reform, he said, the Vatican needs a "well orchestrated, choreographed, professional approach to the press".

"We need to get the word out. We can't be reacting all the time," he said.

The method of dodging the media simply hasn't worked, Cardinal Dolan said. "We can't run from them, we can't be scared of them."

He proposed that Church leaders should instead "respond and engage the press" and make themselves available to talk about issues.

He said that officials of the Holy See should overcome their fear of publicity, recognising that information invariably seeps out.

"It's going to be out there anyway," he said. "If they don't hear from us they're going to find others who can tell it. It might not be true and it certainly is not going to be uplifting."

Sources:

Vatican Insider

SI Live

Image: Boston.com