Card Hummers, Chairman of the Pan-Amazon Bishops Conference, issued a letter on the occasion of the closing of the Amazon World Conference of Bishops for nearly two years and on the occasion of the next World Conference of Bishops on the Spirit of the Conference, encouraging “listen to grassroots groups, walk together through the Internet, and open The school cultivates life-long deacons, catechism teachers and group leaders”.
(Vatican News.com) Nearly two years after the end of the Special Conference of the World Bishops’ Conference in the Amazon region and to welcome the next World Conference of Bishops, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Chairman of the Conference of Amazons The results of the Pan-Amazonian Conference of Bishops of the World, which was instructed to convene, did not fail, and there is still a lot of work to be done. In the letter, the cardinal also listed many ills and problems in the Amazon region and put forward suggestions to deal with them.
In the apostolic exhortation issued after the special meeting of the Amazon region of the World Conference of Bishops in 2019, Pope Francis asked shepherds, consecrated persons, and lay believers to work hard so that the rich results of this conference can be put into practice. Card Hummers said that he has taken action in the past two years, but much needs to be done. The actual action should be: to walk together through the “network and power of aggregation.” The power to gather should start from the grassroots, that is, the dioceses and specific groups. The cardinal pointed out that the first step is to introduce the results of the World Conference of Bishops to various groups, listen to their opinions, and build new paths with them. Then we must inform the entire network of what we are doing. “The Holy Spirit wants to lead us.”
The cardinal then talked about the threats and problems faced by the Amazon region, such as: destruction and over-exploitation of the environment; violations of the basic human rights of the local people, especially the deprivation of the land rights, autonomy and democracy of the indigenous people; and crime, Crimes such as murdering land-protectors, taking water and other resources into private ownership, illegally permitting indiscriminate logging of trees, permitting illegal companies to enter the country, predatory hunting and fishing, etc. In addition, large-scale construction of dams, deforestation, and mining… are causing pollution everywhere, bringing diseases to local residents, especially children and young people. As for drug trafficking, alcohol abuse, assault on women, prostitution, human trafficking, loss of indigenous culture and identity, and various forms of poverty, they are all local ills.
In the face of these threats and ills, Card Hummers called for responding to the Pope’s repeated invitations to increase the number of life-long deacons and lay believers in the Amazon region to hold church positions, especially the number of indigenous people in these two areas. The cardinal suggested that schools should be opened to cultivate life-long deacons, catechism teachers and group leaders, and missionaries who practice the spirit of public debate. When the cardinal concluded his letter, he prayed to the Holy Spirit to keep the flames of the pan-Amazon church ablaze.
Link URL: www.vaticannews.cn