When Catholics attack other members of the church, they are hurting Christ, Pope Francis said.

Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the people who portray him as an opponent of Pope Francis are being used by the devil to help divide the church.

The general relator of this special synod, emphasized several themes of Pope Francis’ pontificate: the church must “throw open her doors”; “true tradition” is “the church’s living history”; and “God always brings newness,” so “one must not fear what is new.”

Follow America's coverage of the 2019 Synod on the Amazon.

Pope Francis said the synod’s way is to “bring us close to consider the Amazon reality with this pastoral heart, with the eyes of disciples and missionaries.”

At an opening Mass for the synod on the Amazon, Pope Francis urged participants to exercise “daring prudence” and called for evangelism without “colonialism.” Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reports.