It was one year ago that the Synod for the Amazon opened at the Vatican. The synod closed three weeks later with a document that set out a series of pastoral, cultural and environmental challenges for the church in the Amazon. Pope Francis drew on that document to write his papal exhortation, Querida Amazonia, released in February.
Then the coronavirus pandemic swept through South America, battering the Amazon region with its scattered communities and poor health care facilities. As the wave of illness subsides, the dreams and goals set out at the synod remain, but the church also faces new challenges.
The pandemic has increased the urgency of some issues that were discussed extensively at the synod, especially the destruction of forests and threats against indigenous peoples. Deforestation and fires have accelerated this year, as law enforcement efforts have been hampered by the pandemic and communities have been less able to mobilize to defend their lands.
"The pandemic came out of the blue, surprised everybody and here we are," said Fr. Peter Hughes, a Columban priest based in Lima, Peru, who was involved in synod planning and participated as an expert. "Life hasn't been the same and won't be the same."
Although the pandemic caught most of the world by surprise, those involved in the synod and Amazonian ministries knew that "the impact was going to be proportionally greater in Amazonia than anywhere else," Hughes told EarthBeat. "And that's exactly what has happened."
| 
