Vatican City, Oct 15, 2017 / 03:32 am
On Sunday, Pope Francis announced the decision to hold a special assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to take place in October 2019, on the state of evangelization in the Pan-Amazon region of South America.
"Accepting the desire of some Catholic bishops' conferences in Latin America, as well as the voice of various pastors and faithful from other parts of the world, I have decided to convene a Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops," Francis said Oct. 15.
The purpose of the assembly will be to "identify new paths for the evangelization" of people in the Pan-Amazon region of South America, meaning Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela and Surinam, "especially the indigenous people, often forgotten," he said.
The assembly will also address the "crisis of the Amazonian Forest, a lung of great importance to our planet."