The Church’s mission risks being reduced to ashes unless bishops become open to the “daring prudence” of the spirit and make changes to the status quo, Pope Francis said.

Opening the Synod of Bishops assembly on the Pan-Amazon region, he warned against a mentality where “everything continues as it was” and those groups who want to “make everyone and everything uniform”.

The Pope was speaking during a Mass in St Peter’s at the start of the 6-27 October gathering which was attended by the 185 synod fathers, the majority of them bishops serving in the Amazon. Some 260 participants will take part in the gathering including outside experts and representatives from indigenous groups. During the Mass the indigenous sat in the front row of the basilica, and brought up the offertory gifts to the Pope.

In his homily, the Pope told the congregation that Christian perseverance requires being able to rekindle the gift of faith, a gift which he said was “a fire, a burning love for God and for our brothers and sisters”. If the fire is not fed, he added, it “turns into ashes” and dies.

“If everything continues as it was, if we spend our days content that ‘this is the way things have always been done,’ then the gift vanishes, smothered by the ashes of fear and concern for defending the status quo,” he told cardinals of the Roman Curia and  bishops from across nine countries in Latin America. “Jesus did not come to bring a gentle evening breeze, but to light a fire on the earth.”

The Jesuit Pope argued that the virtue of prudence is not “timidity or fear” but requires a daring attitude and the willingness to take decisions.

“Prudence is not indecision, it is not a defensive attitude,” he said. “It is the virtue of the pastor who, in order to serve with wisdom, is able to discern, to be receptive to the newness of the Spirit. Rekindling our gift in the fire of the Spirit is the opposite of letting things take their course without doing anything.”

French billionaire Francois Pinault and son Francois-Henri Pinault have officially signed documents setting aside $109 million toward rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral, following months of delay that left officials largely reliant on small charity donations to fund the first phase of repairs.

Surrounded by portraits of former cardinals, the Pinaults signed the donation agreement at the Archdiocese of Paris on Tuesday. The money will give the Notre Dame Foundation a much-awaited financial boost as authorities draw up plans for the cathedral’s reconstruction, following the devastating fire on April 15. Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit says “everyone gives what he can according to his needs, but the big donors give us breathing room.”

Francois Pinault, whose international luxury group Kering owns Gucci and Saint Laurent, pledged the money directly after the fire.

Pope Francis is urging bishops taking part in the Amazon synod not to chase the Holy Spirit away from their discussions, as he launched the first full working day of a summit designed to bolster the Church’s evangelising presence in the region.

Speaking to the 268 participants in the Paul VI Hall this morning, the Pope warned against a “homogenising centralism” in the Church, driven by ideology and which fails to respect local cultures.

Francis told the 185 synod fathers he was “saddened” to hear a “sarcastic” remark about an indigenous man who had brought up the offertory gifts at the Mass in St Peter’s Basilica yesterday wearing a feathered headdress.

“What difference is having feathers on your head and the three cornered hat worn by some officials of our dicasteries?” the pope said to applause, referring to a priest’s biretta.

Before getting to work, the synod participants gathered in St Peter’s Basilica gathered in a circle around to sing prayers in Spanish and native languages.

The Pope then joined them, the choir sang the Veni Creator Spiritus–Come Holy Spirit–and Francis, bishops and barefooted indigenous representatives processed from the basilica to the synod hall. The crowd carried an indigenous image of Mary in a canoe, a multi-coloured fishing net and held up placards with images of missionaries killed in the Amazon and St Oscar Romero.

Just days before the Amazon synod of bishops is to convene in Rome, a symposium of students of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI published a statement of concern regarding the possibility of married priests, a controversial topic of discussion at the upcoming synod. “The vocation as well as the existence of the priest are solely dependent upon the will of Jesus Christ alone and are not derived from either human considerations or Church regulations. In Him and with Him the Priest becomes the ‘proclaimer of the Word and the servant of joy,’” the students said in a public statement September 28.

“As the priest only exists from his relationship with Christ, a participation in the lifestyle of Christ would seem to be appropriate for those who are to act his person,” the statements added.

To help the Church grow in love and faithful witness to God, Pope Francis has declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time to be dedicated to the word of God.

Salvation, faith, unity and mercy all depend on knowing Christ and sacred Scripture, he said in a new document.

Devoting a special day “to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God” will help the Church “experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world,” the pope said.

The declaration to have a “Sunday of the Word of God” was made in a new document, given motuproprio, on the pope’s own initiative. Its title, AperuitIllis, is based on a verse from the Gospel of St. Luke, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

“The relationship between the risen Lord, the community of believers and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians,” the pope said in the apostolic letter, released by the Vatican Sept. 30, the feast of St. Jerome, patron saint of biblical scholars.

“The Bible cannot be just the heritage of some, much less a collection of books for the benefit of a privileged few. It belongs above all to those called to hear its message and to recognize themselves in its words,” the pope wrote.

“The Bible is the book of the Lord’s people, who, in listening to it, move from dispersion and division toward unity” as well as come to understand God’s love and become inspired to share it with others, he added.

Without the Lord who opens people’s minds to his word, it is impossible to understand the Scriptures in depth, yet “without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his church in this world would remain incomprehensible,” he wrote.

Archbishop RinoFisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, told Vatican News Sept. 30 that added emphasis on the importance of the word of God is needed because “the overwhelming majority” of Catholics are not familiar with sacred Scripture. For many, the only time they hear the word of God is when they attend Mass, he added.

“The Bible is the most widely distributed book, but it also perhaps the one most covered in dust because it is not held in our hands,” the archbishop said.