The Church in the Amazon offers us powerful gifts

Bishops participating in a World or Regional Synod issue formal statements, called “Interventions.” San Diego Bishop McElroy is a participant in the Pan-Amazon Synod, held in Rome from Oct. 6 to 27. The following is the Intervention Bishop McElroy shared during the Synod’s opening week.

Intervention by San Diego Bishop Robert W. McElroy

Throughout these days, our focus has been on the core mission of this gathering: namely, identifying pathways through which the Church in the Amazon region can ever more effectively proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ in its fullness, so that all men and women of the region, especially indigenous peoples, might find in the Church a true sacrament of God’s love and the pursuit of justice for the poor and for the earth.

I would like to point for a moment to a secondary, but important, dimension of this synodal process: namely the contributions that the Church in the Amazon is making to the life and dialogue of the universal Church.

One critical contribution to the world Church lies in the gift of a lived synodal experience that places at its very center the dreams and the sufferings of the people of God. It is a synodal experience that has privileged the perceptions and experiences of those continually excluded from meaningful participation in Church and society. It places the pastoral imperative at the heart of the Church’s theology and mission. It prioritizes listening to the Spirit, bold and honest discussion, and an unswerving focus on the mercy of God. In all of these ways, the Church of the Amazon has illuminated a grace-filled pathway for the embrace of synodality that will enrich regional and local churches throughout the world.

A second contribution of this synod to the universal Church and the world lies in its witness to the nature and power of ecological conversion. There are two prerequisites to such a conversion. The first is the recognition of the empirical reality of the environmental destruction that threatens our planet. The second is the affective acceptance of creation as a sacred gift whose future is entrusted to our care. This Synod advances both. Sections 45 and 46 of the Instrumentum Laboris point to the monstrous destruction of the Amazon, which is God’s most vital and beautiful garden on our planet. Section 56 points to the traditional relationship of the indigenous peoples of the region to nature as one of intimacy, sacredness, giftedness and care, and discerns in this architecture of the soul the animating elements of ecological conversion that are common to every culture.

Finally, Instrumentum Laboris #24 speaks of good living. In my country of the United States, the good life means a life of luxury and ease. For the peoples of the Amazon, good living means connectedness to faith, to self, to others, to the land. It points to the unity of all of human existence: work, rest, celebration and relationships, and refuses to accept the fractionalization of human existence that modern life places upon us all. It rejects grave disparities of wealth and social inequality. It breathes with the spirit of God.

The specific form of good living that exists for the indigenous peoples of the Amazon will not be transferable to most other cultures in the world. But its underlying themes of connectedness, moderation, balance and sharing must become the norm for all peoples in reevaluating our lifestyles if we are to escape the lures of materialism and build a sustainable society for our world.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms depicts a red boat on a blue ocean, which is crisscrossed by diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is often referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, who was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic and cultural communities. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire allude to the blood of the martyrs.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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