Reflections on the Amazon Synod

George Pattery S.J.
Provincial of South Asia (POSA)

The Amazon Synod was primarily meant for ecological re-thinking on the Amazon river belt and burning of the forest. It is anoxygen producing region, but is now in danger. The Synod has proposed the idea of proclaiming certain human activities as ecological sins. It may be the first time that this kind of a proclamation came from the Pope. What is your take on it?
The Amazon Synod is a Synodal response to ‘Laudato si’ of Pope Francis. It is a very important move in the Church where an encyclical is followed up by a Synod. Synodal approach gives an indication the entire Church. Issuing an encyclical for stating a policy and then following it up with a Synod for putting it into practice is a notable move. The Synod is focused on a particular ecological crisis in a specific place. But then it expands into the notion of ecological sin that is affecting the entire world. So I think the whole movement is very interesting. And it is very important that it takes into its embrace the whole Church and the whole world.

As someone living in a highly polluted place like Delhi, how important doing think are ecological matters for India?
It’s very significant that Laudato Si has been studied by many Indians, including Amitabh Ghosh. In a famous book of his he has set apart seven to eight pages fora commentary on the positive dimension of Laudato Si. But its impact is not felt in India sufficiently, because we still follow a passive approach. Just take the example of use-and-throw plastics. They pollute and destroy the entire range of water bodies in India. More conscious efforts are needed for Laudato Si to have an impact on the Indian situation. Thankfully, awareness among the people and the NGOs is now slowly growing. But I think as a nation we are yet to come to grips with it.

The Amazon Synod, with just one vote against 169 vote in favour, passed a resolution recommending an Amazonian rite for the nine countries of the Amazon region. How do you perceive this initiative?
Convening the Amazon Synod was a very significant and decisive move by the Pope. The Synod is introducing reforms in the Church that have a far-reaching impact. There are twenty-three rites in the Church and so creating one more is not unusual. It is very significant, because it also gives ecclesial approval to a new notion in the Church, which is that we can create new rites if variety and diversity require them. It showcases the richness of the Church. The approaches of the Amazonian synod may only be fully accepted later, but it is a significant move and contribution to the evolution of the Church.

The Amazon synod is in a way incorporating the local culture, language, idioms and paradigms in the sacred liturgy. It is a way of the Church incarnating in the soil of a place. How do you see it?
Exactly! In fact, when I read the Amazon Synod document, I felt we are already twenty years younger in one sense, because an Indian theologian had advocated this perspective very strongly twenty-five years ago. We even talked about an Indian rite Mass and Indian rite theology.  Indian theological thinking had advanced much by then, but the Indian Church did not accept that officially. This is a good precedence for the Church in India to look at through the instrument of Synodality. Through the Amazon Synod, the Pope has brought certain reforms that have implications for the larger Church. I think the Amazonian rite and its implications are an impetus for India to have its own – an Indian rite. If you want an Indian perspective in theology, it needs to gets the official nod of the Indian Church.

In my younger days, Cardinal Parecattil and Amalodbhavdas were great proponents of Indian rite. They spoke about the Indian paradigm, Indian rituals and the Indian cultural heritage. Their ideas were all on a sudden abandoned and prohibited. Where are we heading, backward or forward?
You may also remember that some thirty, forty years ago the movement to have an Indian rite had gathered great momentum. For the Indian theology, we got a kind of acceptance in general, but, during the time of St John Paul II, all the reforms of Vatican II were in a way put into cold storage. It was a going back along the path of conservatism. That kind of an approach pervaded the entire Church in India. We complied with that. In fact, there was enough room for the Church in India and its leadership to take us forward. The leadership complied with the perspectives of St John Paul. I think it is time for us to revive the movement of Indian theological perspectives. The Amazon Synod document is indirectly approving the initiative that we had taken in India.

There was also a new move to give minor orders to woman. This is a way of accepting the role of woman in the Church. The nuns in the Church are not respected and seriously taken into consideration in the realms of administration and exercise of ecclesiastical power, both held by men as their exclusive preserve. How do you look at the suggestion that women should be given minor orders?
That is an interesting move by Pope Francis. He constituted the commission to study the proposal of ordination or diaconate for women. They could not come into an agreement. So he went through the Synodal route, and the Synod proposed minor orders for women. I think it is a right move. This has the sanction and approval of the early church. Women were active in the early Church, which we are trying to revive. Women once had very strong presence in worship or in community gatherings. During that period, women also had a share in the distribution of power. When I read the relevant document, I remembered the Ant Philosophy: the ants move forward when they go in line, and when they see a obstacle, instead of removing that obstacle, they go around it and move forward. Pope Francis seem to adapt the Ant Philosophy rather than directly confront obstacles.

The Synod has made another very interesting suggestion, which is to have a permanent diaconate. Choose the right people and entrust certain parishes to them. In Latin American countries, scarcity of priests makes administering of sacraments very difficult. They don’t even have access to Eucharistic Celebration. They have to find ways to tackle the scarcity of priests. Is that why they are suggesting some sort of permanent diaconate to men who have peoples approval?
I think this should have come immediately after the Second Vatican Council. The council document on laity has given so much importance to the people of God. But the council document fell short of practical application. In the light of paedophilia scandals, scarcity of priests and diminishing credibility of the Church, I think it is time that we asked lay people to take the Church forward. They are the ones working effectively in the parishes. These men and women are the ones who can take the Church forward. It is high time that we gave ordination to properly chosen laymen. I think this is a right move. How I wish we had done it fifty years earlier.

How do you see the strong reaction to the Pope’s move, like throwing the statue of Pancha Mama into the Tiber?
Well, such reactions from conservative groups were only to be expected. Some of them do not even approve Vatican II and the reforms it initiated. They argue Vatican II was not in consonance with the Scripture. They have the same difficulty in accepting Pope Francis. Despite them, he is moving in the right direction and getting the right kind of response and support from the larger Church. That makes them even more violent in their approach. This is to be expected, but Bergoglio is used to facing opposition. Therefore, Pope Francis is very well capable of taking the Church forward. It is important for us, Indians, to give him support and declare that he is moving in the right direction. If we look at the worshipping pattern, the music and the dance of the original adivasi people across the world, they have a lot of similarities. Even Pancha Mama, the name of the deity of the indigenous people of the Amazon, sounds as if it has of an Indian origin. Therefore, I think the original indigenous people across the world have some commonality.

The Indian Church, the Kerala Church in particular, is plagued by a lot of problems, scandals and unresolved issues. The authority of the Canon Law itself is questioned. Does it all appear as a gloomy picture to you?
It is really a pathetic situation. Some of our friends from other religious traditions ask us if, despite having such organizational structures, we do not have somebody who has the last word in deciding matters. We seem to be a kind of a leaderless Church in India. In such moments, either CBCI or Syro-Malabar or Syro Malankara, whichever be the Church, should be able to take a stand and tell the larger public what the issues involved are and what steps are being taken to set them right. The Canon Law seems to be ineffective. It has no tooth to deal with some of these contentious questions. Therefore, I think we need a larger reform in the Church, especially in the leadership. With no model of leadership worth talking of, the witness that we give to the larger world is pathetic to say the least. It’s a pity that our lay leadership also did not come up to the expectation. Therefore, with a view to correcting this image of a rudderless Church, we need to to build up a leadership that is capable of responding to challenges more effectively.

Do you think the Churches in India are becoming increasingly narcissistic and priesthood is getting confined to the sanctuary due to a concerted effort made in that direction by a section of the Church hierarchy?
The Syrian Church has got its own richness. In one sense, it has got its own tradition. But, it seems to be lacking the real strength of the spirit within. It is focused on the gifts of the consumerist culture, the gifts of the authoritarian rule, the gifts of a kind of power. It has lost the holistic dimension of Church’s missionary thrust. It is inward looking. It is trying to assert itself and propagate itself even at the cost of the gospels. The liturgy and the rubrics seem to be their top priority, not the mission of the gospel or the joy of the gospel. A thorough overhauling of priorities is required. But that involves tremendous work, which I think the present leadership is incapable of. I wish that they learn from the Amazonian (Synod) model. Synodality should become part and parcel of the Syrian Churches. Synodality precludes one man dictating everything. Synodality means taking the opinion of lay people into consideration and bringomg it up on a platform where it can be discerned. In my opinion, the Syrian Church is wanting in discernment. It’s more or less going by authority, power and tradition, based on the rule and liturgy. Therefore, they lack the teeth to make the gospel come alive and to be witness to the people around.

By the way, the preparatory document of the Amazonian Synod says Synodality is the people of God.

It’s very interesting to see how ‘Synodality’ has become an important term for Pope Francis. It is there in the Vatican II perspective. Synodality implies discernment, and I think that is what we are lacking today. Pope Francis repeatedly insists that a Church that is not discerning will be a self-destructing Church. If we do not have discernment in practice in the Synodality model, it will be destroying itself. It will just be a powerful organization with neocolonial tendencies to conquer the world. It will not go with the sense of the Church that is at the service of the people and the gospel.

Is Pope Francis is too revolutionary, too progressive or is he simply following the Vatican II documents?
I wouldn’t use the term revolutionary in his case. I think he is a discerning man. He discerns what is to be done, in the light of the perspectives given by Vatican II. He believes that God is labouring in this world. He wants to decide and discern how the Lord is deciding or discerning today about us, and with Him we discern and take the Church forward. Therefore, the Pope is what a discerning person should be. He is confident and courageous, because he is not doing his will, he is doing the will of the council. Above all, he is a discerning man.