Amazon Synod: the witness of Synod Mothers

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Before the final document of the Amazon Synod is published, I wanted to share one more gem from yesterday's Vatica press briefing, where Sister Inés Azucena Zambrano Jara, M.M.I. gave a very clear and compelling account of what the Synod has meant for her. It radiates joy and warmth and provides a glimpse into the inner life of this event that may well end up having far-reaching consequences for the life of the Catholic Church worldwide. I offer this translated transcript with the usual caveats and hope it will bring you as much joy as listening to Sr. Inés gave me:

“I would like to share with you, through the eyes of a woman, with the heart of a woman, this participation in the Synod, of what our, my experience as a woman, our experience as women has been in the this Synod. I feel that the Synod has been lived in the setting of a family. There was been a lot of closeness, a lot of trust, and a mutual getting to know one another among all. We lived an environment of synodality.

We were all - men and women - listened to. We all had the opportunity to share - us, women, based on our experience and, I believe, we all did it, because we all wanted to provide this topic in the Synod. There was attentive listening to God, with the strong moments of prayer that we had. A permanent listening to the voice of the Amazon was always present, a listening to the peoples, a listening to the pain, the suffering, to this pain of Mother Earth. It was a very active listening throughout the Synod.

I feel that this Syond has also been - and I don’t know whether this word can be said - set in an environment of witness. What most remains from an experience is what is seen, what enters through the eyes and what arrives at the heart. Because of this, the witness of Pope Francis has been very great. A witness of humility, of simplicity, and I feel that he is a man of God. He has God and gives Him. Such a humble attitude, to bow his head and to permit that two indigenous women bless him. For me this has been very evangelising. Jesica from Peru and Cecaliqui [?] from Ecuador blessed the Holy Father. The witness of the indigenous people - a prophetic and very bold witness.

The witness of the cardinals, of the bishops - I believe we all speak with the heart about the reality we are living, the reality that the Amazon is living. I very much liked the initiative they had of going to the catacombs to renew the choice of the poor, and this time to renew a choice of native people and of care for our common home. I believe this was very important.

Then, us as women - our participation. I fell that is was a very active participation. We felt very responsible throughout the Synod. Therefore, in certain moments we heard - and we felt it like that - being spoken of as Synod Mothers - I don’t know whether that can be said, but we lived it like that. We felt it. We owned it, we lived this Synod with passion, what the Amazon is living hurts us, what the peoples there are living hurts us. This is how we [women] lived this experience, and, sharing it, we sent a letter to the Holy Father, saying that consecrated life is here, that we, women are here - Holiness, we will continue going ahead.

What do I take away from the Synod? I take with me a great commitment to continue building this Church with an Amazonian face. Pope St. John Paul II, when he came to Ecuador he was very challenging in ’84. “We have to build an indigenous Church, with indigenous catechists, leaders, animators, bishops, priests and with its own liturgy” he told us already in ’84. And I believe this has been going ahead, this has been worked on during all this time and now we are already talking about this Amazonian rite. But for this to happen, for this Church with an Amazonian face to happen, we need to continue to deepen and live the inculturation of the Gospel, an Indian theology. We need to keep sharing this spiritual richness of the peoples, we need to do it. There is an immense spiritual richness in their rites, in all their spirituality, in their entire vision of the universe. Therefore there is an urgency, not only now, but for some time already, of learning their languages. Because only when the same language is spoken, the languages of the peoples, but above all the language of the heart, is it possible to enter into this experience of the peoples. I feel that when they are viewed from afar, the rites of these people are being criticised, demonized. Because they are not understood. Then one can only say: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are saying” because they haven’t lived this rich experience of faith together with these peoples.

We will also continue working on the defense of the rites of indigenous peoples and of our common home, but we will not be working alone. The indigenous in Ecuador tell us: Sister, let’s walk with two legs: the Church and the organization, together. They don’t want networking, “we want an alliance with you” - and this is what we will continue doing together with them, because this “suma causai” [i.e., a Quechua expression meaning harmony with neighbor and nature] is what we are all looking for, which is an expression of the Kingdom, which is the life of God that is there in all peoples. This is what we will continue doing together with them. And as far as religious life is concerned, we will continue building this face of consecrated life with an indigenous heart, with an Amazonian heart. A consecrated life that is close, that is together with the people, walking together with them, inserted, inculturated, itinerant, working in an intercongregational way. This is what we want to do, this is what is ready in the suitcase, to be taken with us from this Synod.”