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Voices
Luke Hansen, a former associate editor of America, is a Catholic writer and speaker.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
What were the results of the Amazon synod?
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
Deacon Andrade de Lima, the son of farmers who grew up on the banks of the Amazon River in the Solimões region, said he is involved in the formation of pastoral workers in the region and assists the bishops in the implementation of their decisions.
People attend the concluding Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon celebrated by Pope Francis at the Vatican Oct. 27, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
FaithDispatches
Gerard O’ConnellLuke Hansen
The most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with the Amazon’s 34 million inhabitants.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Gerard O’ConnellLuke Hansen
The most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church in the nine countries of the Amazon region to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with its 34 million inhabitants.
Bishop Evaristo Pascoal Spengler of Marajo, Brazil, speaks during a news conference after a session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 25, 2019. Also pictured is Bishop Joaquin Pinzon Guiza of PuertoLeguizamo, Colombia. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
On the eve of the highly anticipated voting on the final document of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, Bishop Evaristo Pascoal Spengler, O.F.M., of Marajó, Brazil, chose to focus his remarks at the daily Vatican press briefing on Oct. 25 on the synod’s discernment of an “official ministry” for women.
Leah Rose Casimero, an indigenous representative from Guyana, leaves the first session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican on Oct. 7, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
Ms. Casimero described the synod process as a place where Catholics with differences are “coming together” and “able to listen to one another” while also “trying to see and understand from the other person’s point of view.”
Francisco Chagas Chafre de Souza, a leader of the Apurina in Brazil's Amazon region, speaks at a meeting of indigenous people from North America and South America at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome Oct. 17, 2019. Also pictured are Dona Zenilda with the Xucuru people of northeast Brazil, and Ednamar de Oliveira Viana, a leader of the Satere-Mawe people in Brazil. The meeting was a side event to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
The synod is “not a discussion, not a parliament,” but there is “a spiritual dynamic,” said Giacomo Costa, S.J., the synod’s secretary for information, at a Vatican press briefing on Oct. 16. The biblical image, he said, is “the blind man who throws away his cloak to go to God,” and for the synod it means “to leave behind the safety of your arguments.”
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
As the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon reaches its halfway point, leaders of indigenous communities are speaking with passion about what is at stake for their communities and their hopes for this synod.
FaithVatican Dispatch
Luke Hansen
Participants expressed support for proposals to ordain women deacons and warned of the deadly consequences of climate change.
FaithDispatches
Luke Hansen
On day four of the synod, the small language groups have begun to meet, signaling the moment in the synod process when “in a synodal way, everyone gives their contribution.”