As the Vatican’s meeting on the Amazon draws to a close this week, one group is using the occasion to seek new roles for women in leadership, hosting a prayer vigil on Oct. 23 in support of women’s ordination to the priesthood and the diaconate.
Amazon Synod
Amazon Group Denounces Theft and Destruction of Indigenous Statue in Rome
An indigenous organization has denounced the theft and destruction of wooden statue of a naked pregnant woman from a Church in Rome on October 21.
Controversial Amazon Statue Stolen From Church, Thrown in Rome’s Tiber River
A wood carving statue of a naked pregnant woman that has been at the heart of brewing controversies since before the Vatican’s major summit on the Amazon region began was stolen from a Roman Church on October 21 and tossed in the Tiber River.
Amazon Bishops Pledge Poverty, Spurning Plastics and Taking the Bus
Some 40 bishops participating in the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon gathered October 20 in the Catacombs of St. Domitilla in Rome to renew a pact signed in 1965 by 42 prelates at the Second Vatican Council calling for a poor church.
Amazon Prelate Floats Alternative to Married Clergy: Send Some Roman Priests Home
One Venezuelan prelate taking part in the current Synod of Bishops on the Amazon says people back home have a creative alternative for coping with chronic priest shortages, beyond the much-discussed idea of married clergy to serve isolated rural communities.
Synod Member, Weary of Married Priest Debate, Rues Getting Stuck in ’70s
Since Pope Francis announced a meeting of bishops on the Amazon two years ago, talk in the media and among some of the key organizers, such as Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, has been dominated by the possibility of ordaining married men as priests to serve isolated rural communities.
Amazon Bishops Say: ‘Show Me the Money’
Issues on the table at the upcoming Vatican summit on the Amazon region are not just political and ecclesiastical, but also down to earth and mundane, including the funding difficulties for Amazonian dioceses and parishes.
Pope, Bishops Urge Action to Save Burning Amazon Rainforest
Describing the Amazon rainforest as “vital for our planet,” Pope Francis joined the regions bishops in praying for action to extinguish the massive fires burning there.
Married Priests Officially on the Agenda During Amazon Synod
Whenever he’s been approached about the issue, Pope Francis is clear that priestly celibacy is not up for grabs, despite the fact that it is a discipline and not doctrine.