Querida Amazonia, post-synod exhortation, is out (and nothing happened)

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tis_Bearself

Patron
Seems to have been published a couple hours early by Infovaticana website.
I used Google Translate to read this page. Looks like the Pope has not called for married priests, and has dismissed the idea of female deacons.


Full text of Querida Amazonia here (in English).

 
Last edited:
Fr. Heilman had the whole US Grace Force saying that before Christmas, for the Synodal Exhortation - that was his original intention and then he added other stuff like reparation for Pachamama.
I reckon the prayers worked.
I have been praying that God would guide Pope Francis to write what God wanted and that the whole Church would follow whatever it was and not schism or freak out.
Thank you God. Fiat voluntas tua.
 
I’m trying not to read too much into that (for all I know he could just be ill with something that he hasn’t announced), but it is an interesting coincidence of timing
 
Last edited:
Pope Francis’s harshest critics largely seemed to predict that he would overturn traditional norms of celibacy for clergy in the Church but I guess he isn’t that “anti-Pope” that people allege.

Francis isn’t more liberal than many other popes and his consistent opposition to abortion and refusal to overturn celibate tradition should let people know that. He isn’t perfect, but still does a good job expressing Catholic social teaching like Benedict XVI.

And as expected, the anti-Catholics are out on full force on Twitter making baseless accusations against the Church.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I have to chuckle at this one…blogger confirms that there’s no discussion of married priests, yet still gets upset because Pablo Neruda is quoted in the document. The horror!
Click to expand...
I guess when you have already made up your mind to be upset about the document before it was released, you have to find something to complain about. 😝
 
Last edited:
There’s nothing wrong with giving glory to God and Mother Mary for hearing our rosary prayers, asking him to guide his Church in the way that he thinks best to move the Church forward, and to keep us from being further divided. Remember, God did what HE thought was best, not what you, me, or anyone else with an opinion thought was best.
 
Another missive that will accomplish nothing of substance and be instantly forgotten like almost all the post-synodal exhortations. It’s sad that is the best result we could have hoped for of the possible outcomes. It seems these synods are at best a waste of time, while too often leading to scandal, anxieties, and divided expectations as they are carried out.

At least this exhortation was shorter than recent ones, saving some paper!
 
Last edited:
Can’t wait to read the totally well-informed takes from secular media and Protestants who, in totally good faith, care deeply about the success of the Catholic Church and her future!
 
It kind of sounded to me like “respect indigenous peoples and save the rainforests”.

I don’t think anybody in the US or Western Europe or Canada can really argue with it, but it also isn’t any new or different way to think than we were already thinking. (At this point in time anyway - we failed plenty in past eras on both counts)
 
Last edited:
Interesting take. Thanks for posting. I had already been wondering what exactly it meant at the beginning to “officially present” the synod’s final document and was already anticipating people seizing upon that as evidence by itself that Pope Francis is opening the door to married priests in that region.

In other words, the debate will go on after this document more or less unchanged from the way it went before the release of the document.
 
Pretty much. I posted this in the other thread, but one thing Pope Francis does really well in his encyclicals and exhortations is lay out his “manifest mind and will” (cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 25) for a document right up front. Here’s where he does this in this exhortation:
During the Synod, I listened to the presentations and read with interest the reports of the discussion groups. In this Exhortation, I wish to offer my own response to this process of dialogue and discernment. I will not go into all of the issues treated at length in the final document. Nor do I claim to replace that text or to duplicate it. I wish merely to propose a brief framework for reflection that can apply concretely to the life of the Amazon region a synthesis of some of the larger concerns that I have expressed in earlier documents, and that can help guide us to a harmonious, creative and fruitful reception of the entire synodal process.

At the same time, I would like to officially present the Final Document, which sets forth the conclusions of the Synod, which profited from the participation of many people who know better than myself or the Roman Curia the problems and issues of the Amazon region, since they live there, they experience its suffering and they love it passionately. I have preferred not to cite the Final Document in this Exhortation, because I would encourage everyone to read it in full.

May God grant that the entire Church be enriched and challenged by the work of the synodal assembly. May the pastors, consecrated men and women and lay faithful of the Amazon region strive to apply it, and may it inspire in some way every person of good will.
Click to expand...
As you can see, this exhortation is intended by Pope Francis as a kind of supplement to the final synod document, rather than a judgment passed on it. He’s just proposing more to reflect on alongside it.

That being said, the Cardinals at the press conference did give the exhortation magisterial value (to be received according to his manifest mind and will, as all magisterial texts are to be), but not the synod’s final text:

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...isterium-amazon-synods-final-doc-is-not-54859
 
I saw that statement too about only the Exhortation having magisterial authority. The Cardinals at the press conference tried to dance around it but at one point they did explicitly state that the final synod document did not have magisterial authority. In the end though the point is that the debate is not over. We might get a temporary break from the topic being at the forefront of the news for a little while but it will only take one spark (e.g., another synod on a topic that can in any way be remotely related to these subjects) to ignite the barrel again. Plus there is the German synod going on which almost certainly will ask for married priests and female deacons in whatever document or proposals they produce.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top