Open letter to the Synod Fathers
The Catholic Church has been present in the Amazon since the 16th century. Overcoming enormous difficulties to win over the barriers that impeded penetration into that immense region, hundreds and hundreds of men consecrated their entire lives to evangelize the human groups that inhabited and inhabit it. From the second half of the nineteenth century, an impressive group of women also consecrated themselves in the same mission. It is absolutely impossible to doubt the good faith that motivated them, nor the immense value of their sacrifice, but we must acknowledge that there was also something questionable at the center of their activities. Obviously it would be unfair to want to judge the past with the criteria of the present, but it can also be said that the Gospel has been unable to inspire a more prophetic vision. Missionary activity was generous but paternalistic. It tried hard to teach a lot, but did not have the patience to learn. More than dialogue there was indoctrination. The indigenous people were always considered as minors, underaged. The various States, not having personnel prepared and willing to live permanently in remote and enormously inconvenient areas, delegated the Church, through the Apostolic Vicariates and Prelatures, with the task of integrating the Amazon peoples to their own nationality. This commitment was taken up with enthusiasm, but not always respecting the cultural values of the recipients. To convince oneself of this, it is sufficient to take a look at the language used by missionary magazines until a few decades ago. Since many indigenous people have studied and can access these readings, it is a bit embarrassing to see the impression that it causes them.
Of all this, it would be convenient that the Amazon Church acknowledge and humbly apologize
But there is another theme that does not refer to the past, but is totally current.
The indigenous population of all of the Amazon reaches perhaps two million individuals, but it is a constellation of peoples with enormously different languages, histories and cultures. Some have only a few hundred or just thousands of members. They are besieged by the surrounding society, deprived of their territories, threatened by the multinationals, disoriented by a globalization that levels everything uniformally. These poor groups, already enormously fragile in themselves, have been further weakened by Christians of all tendencies (Catholics, Protestants of various denominations), who exported between them the divisions born in their distant countries of origin. Jesus Christ, who wanted to be a bond of unity and communion, is preached in a way that divides.
This Synod should constitute an opportunity to address a solemn invitation to all Christian groups to stop dividing the Amazon peoples.
Let us preach Jesus as the only Savior; let us transmit His message that speaks of fraternity, solidarity, forgiveness and let us not place our theological differences at the center, although they are respectable. Let us combine all our strength to combat together the great battles that these brothers have to face, and their survival depends on this outcome: the defense of the environment, the conservation of their territory, the enhancement and appreciation of their culture. In this way they will notice not only that the followers of Jesus Christ are on their side, but that they themselves are part of a Church that wants nothing but their good.
