Synod on the Amazon

The Latest

Bishop Emeritus José Luis Azcona at the 56th general assembly of the CNBB in Aparecida, San Pablo, in 2018.

Nuncio asks Brazil bishop who criticized Amazon synod to leave prelature

Dec 13, 2023

By ACI Digital

The apostolic nuncio in Brazil has asked Bishop Emeritus José Luis Azcona Hermoso to no longer live in the territory... Read more

Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Cardinal Gerhard Müller.

‘A lack of courage’: Germans divided over Pope Francis’ Amazonian exhortation

Feb 12, 2020

German Church leaders have offered markedly distinct responses to Querida Amazonia, the apostolic exhortation on the Amazon region released by... Read more

Pope Francis leads the opening procession for the Amazon synod in St. Peter's Basilica Oct. 7, 2019.

Inculturation is a 'necessary process' in the Amazon, Pope Francis says

Feb 12, 2020

Pope Francis has highlighted the need for spiritual inculturation in the Amazon region, and praised indigenous expressions of religiosity, while... Read more

Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of Amazon synod October 27, 2019.

Pope Francis' Amazon exhortation calls for holiness, not married priests

Feb 12, 2020

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis published his response to the Vatican’s 2019 Amazon synod in an apostolic exhortation Wednesday. Despite widespread speculation following... Read more

Pope Francis received Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, in a private audience at the Vatican on May 27, 2019.

Analysis: Pope Francis and the Germans

Jan 31, 2020

By Ed Condon

Whether he turns his attention to the furthest corner of the Amazon, or to reforming his own curia in Rome,... Read more

Pope Francis greets Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Dec. 21, 2018.

Analysis: On celibacy, what Benedict cannot say and Francis mustn't hear

Jan 13, 2020

By Ed Condon

What the two reactions to a new book from Benedict point to is a fault-line, not for or against Pope... Read more

A wooden cross in the rainforest. Stock photo via Shutterstock.

Church must convert from cultural, ecological sins, Amazon synod concludes

Oct 26, 2019

By Hannah Brockhaus, Courtney Mares

The Amazon synod final document, published Saturday, laid out the need to define “ecological sins” while calling the Church to... Read more

The Amazon river.

Amazon missionary bishop: Synod plans miss the real problems

Aug 21, 2019

A long-time missionary bishop of the Amazon River delta has said that the working document for an upcoming synod of... Read more

Pope Francis speaks inside the synod hall of the Vatican.

Pope Francis: Ordination of married men 'absolutely not' main theme of Amazon synod

Aug 9, 2019

By Hannah Brockhaus

The ordination to the priesthood of mature, married men, sometimes called viri probati, is among the topics to be addressed... Read more

Pope Francis in the gateway to Peru's Madre de Dios region in the Amazon January 19, 2018.

Analysis: The Amazon synod and the English language

Jul 4, 2019

By JD Flynn

The recent history of Church synods suggests that the results of the Amazon meeting will likely not match the intensity... Read more

Pope Francis in the gateway to Peru's Madre de Dios region in the Amazon January 19, 2018.

Amazon Synod to consider possible ordination of married men

Jun 17, 2019

By Courtney Mares

The working document for the special assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-amazonian region, released Monday, recommends study... Read more

A wooden cross in the rainforest. Stock photo via Shutterstock

Eucharistic yuca not on the table at Amazon synod, Vatican says

Mar 8, 2019

Vatican officials have said there are no plans to discuss changing the matter of the Eucharist during an upcoming synod... Read more

Archbishop Giampietro Dal Toso.

Vatican official: There is a clear link between Amazon synod, missionary month

Nov 30, 2018

By Hannah Brockhaus

According to the president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, there is a clear link between next October’s focus on missionary... Read more