"What is the Amazonian face? Can a synod next October of this magnitude be built with a presentation so far from reality, from identity, from respect for what is different, when pre-established schemes of interpretation of reality deform what is real?" he questioned.

Bishop emeritus José Luis Azcona, says the Instrumentum fails to address the Church's most pressing challenges: a growing Pentacostal majority; child labour, abuse and trafficking; and a spiritual crisis.

The growing Pentecostal majority (in some parts eighty percent) is important because "the Amazon, at least the Brazilian Amazon, is no longer Catholic," Azcona says.

The Pentecostal church has moved into several indigenous ethnic groups, overrunning cultures, ethnic identities and indigenous peoples in the name of the Gospel. This is a serious phenomenon in today's Amazon, Azcona says.

Another serious issue is child abuse - also overlooked in the Instrumentum.

"Unfortunately, the synod doesn't know... the faces of anguished, re-victimized and denigrated children, [abused] by their own parents and relatives, subjected to a slavery that forms an essential part of the abandoned and destroyed face of Jesus ...

"Where is the pastoral sensitivity, so evident and so firmly expressed by the Holy Father Pope Francis, expressed by those responsible for the Instrumentum laboris?" he asked.

Azcona is critical of the Instrumentum's themes around the inculturation of the Gospel in the Amazon region.

These "are presented in a context of immanence, Neo-Pelagianism, leveling out the Gospel with Amazonian (indigenous) cultures, ecclesiologically devoid of theological and pastoral foundations, annulling the Gospel of salvation."

"Forgetting this fundamental principle renders the synod useless and nullifies the specific and unique power of God in the Gospel, as well as all missionary dynamism ...".

Azcona says "the need for repentance for the forgiveness of sins is the fundamental challenge the Church has to face in the Amazon.

Turning to the ordination of "viri probati" to serve in the Amazon, Azcona says it will be useless because the Church everywhere needs repentance, conversion, the faith that saves.

"Why ordain viri probati within a priesthood in crisis?" he asked.

"... Let's not entertain a discussion on the legitimacy of these questions. What is certain is an affirmative response would open up the risk of a division, of a real schism in the Church."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

It is the most direct mention ever by the Vatican of the possibility of married priests.

The proposal, released around 10 pm Monday, NZ time, comes in a working document prepared for the Synod of Bishops in the Pan-Amazon.

In trying to formulate a new pastoral vision for the Church in the Amazon, the document urges a "return to the early Church" in creating appropriate ministries.

Viri Probati

The recommendation mentions ordaining older married men, "viri probati", (Latin for 'men of proven character'), in remote areas of the Amazon.

These older men will preferably be "indigenous, respected and accepted by their communities, even if they have stable families", the document said.

The document also affirms celibacy as a gift for the Church and, according to The Tablet, the Synod will also look at whether the priesthood must always be linked to the exercise of power jurisdiction in the Church, raising the question as to whether priests can be ordained to administer the sacraments, rather than govern.

Some say it could pave the way for married priests in other areas.

Earlier in the year when asked about viri probati, Francis said they "could only be a possibility in these far, far away places—I think about the islands in the Pacific".

Pope Francis made the "Pacific" comment in February during an in-flight interview on the way back from World Youth Day.

Transplanting Europe

Relator General of the Amazon Synod, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, recently hinted at the possibility of married clergy.

"So often we worry about managing to transplant the European models of priesthood onto the indigenous priests.

"But someone rightly has noted that too much concern is given to the profile of the ordained ministry putting it before the community that receives it.

"It should be the other way around: the community is not there for its minister, but the minister is there for the community," Hummes told La Civilta Cattolica.

Opponents say relaxing the rule for the Amazon will certainly fuel calls for it to be relaxed elsewhere.

Already, married men who convert from Protestant churches can be ordained Catholic priests.

Married men in the Eastern Rite Catholic Church can also be ordained.

Women leaders

The document also calls for an "official ministry" including leadership roles for women.

It does not name nor identify the role.

The official title of the document is, ""Amazonia: New paths for the church and for an integral ecology."

The Synod is scheduled for October this year.

At the end of the Amazon Synod of Bishops, conference participants will vote on the final articles which will be sent to the pope, who will decide whether or not to make the recommendations official.

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Independent
• CathNews
• La Civilta Cattolica
• Image: Tampa Times

The synod will be called "Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology."

At a press conference about the synod's preparatory document, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri said:

"We don't want to preclude anything" although "the Church is currently in its classical position" concerning women's and married men's ordination.

Baldisseri is the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.

While the document makes no direct mention of the viri probati, meaning married priests, it focuses on the need for a "Church with an Amazonian face".

The Church must discover new ways to provide the Eucharist and pastoral support to the people of the Amazon, especially indigenous people threatened by forced displacement and exploitation, the document says.

It goes on to say a priority will be to propose "new ministries and services for the different pastoral agents, ones which correspond to activities and responsibilities within the community.

"Along these lines, it is necessary to identify the type of official ministry that can be conferred on women, taking into account the central role which women play today in the Amazonian Church".

Baldisseri explained: "The emphasis on women — that they should have a space in the church — doesn't come from" the preparatory document.

"We can listen to the pope who said that there must be space for women in the church at all levels".

In the context of married priests, Baldisseri said that the scope should not be limited to viri probati, which he said can be interpreted in many ways, and "there can also be other ministries" that could be created ad hoc.

"The Church is not static ... there is possibility of movement", he added.

But he urged patience and caution. "Let's leave the time necessary for reflection about everything that is in here".

The document ends with a 30-point questionnaire.

Members of the Church in the Amazon have been invited to give their opinion of the main challenges facing the area.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Philly
• Reuters
• Crux Now
• Image: National Catholic Register