Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • November 1, 2019 19 “The future of the Amazon is in the hands of us all, but it depends mainly on our immediately abandoning the current model that is destroying the forest, not bringing well-being and endangering this immense natural treasure and its guardians,” the document said. The discussions that took place in the synod, the document said, also offered bishops an opportunity to reflect “on how to structure the local churches” in order to address the needs of a “church with an Amazonian face.” Among those ways are new ministries and roles for the laity, including “in consultation or decision-making in the life and mission of the church.” To increase the church’s presence in areas that lack priests, the document proposed that bishops entrust “the exercise of the pastoral care of the communities to a person not invested” with the priesthood for “a spe- cific period of time.” However, “the priest, with the power and faculty of the parish priest, is always responsible for the commu- nity,” the document said. Synod members asked for further discussion on the idea of women deacons, but approved several para- graphs in the document insisting that their role in lead- ing Catholic communities be recognized and that “the voice of women can be heard, they are consulted and participate in decision-making” in the church. The final document also emphasized the importance of the Eucharist as “the source and summit of all Christian life.” However, it acknowledged that a lack of priests means Catholics in the Amazon have only spo- radic access to the Eucharist, reconciliation and anoint- ing of the sick. While highlighting the gift of celibacy in the Catholic Church and the need for celibate priests in the region, the document proposed the ordination of “suit- able and esteemed men of the community, who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive an ade- quate formation for the priesthood, having a legiti- mately constituted and stable family.” Although the paragraph regarding the proposal for ordaining married was approved, it received the least amount of support among those who voted, with 128 in favor and 41 opposed. The final document also spoke of the “elaboration of an Amazonian rite,” as several synod members had proposed. The bishops voted to ask for a special post- synodal commission of bishops to be tasked with study- ing the idea. Citing the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church document, “Lumen Gentium,” the final document said that the proposed rite would express “the liturgical, theological, disciplin- ary and spiritual patrimony of the Amazon” in a way similar to the Eastern Catholic churches. However, in his address following the vote on the final document Oct. 26, the pope reminded synod mem- bers that the creation of an Amazonian rite “is within the competence of the Congregation for Divine Worship and can be done according to the appropriate criteria.” After the votes were cast, Pope Francis told synod participants that he hoped to publish a post-synodal exhortation “before the end of the year so that not too much time has passed.” “A word from the pope about what he has lived in the synod may do some good,” the pope said. “It all depends on how much time I have to think.” Contributing to this story were Barbara J. Fraser and Cindy Wooden at the Vatican. Synod Final Document From page 1 With new decree, pope makes Vatican Secret Archives no longer ‘secretʼ BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Citing the negative misinterpreta- tions that the word “secret” implies, Pope Francis has changed the name of the Vatican Secret Archives to the Vatican Apostolic Archives. In a decree, issued “motu pro- prio,” on the pope’s own initiative, and published by the Vatican Oct. 28, the pope said that semantic changes over the centuries have caused the meaning of the Latin word for “secret” to “be misunder- stood” and “to be colored with ambiguous, even negative nuanc- es.” “Having lost the true meaning of the term ‘secretum’ and instinc- tively associating its value to the concept expressed by the modern word ‘secret’ in some areas and environments, even those of a cer- tain cultural importance, this term has taken on the prejudicial meaning of (something) hidden, not to be revealed and reserved for a few,” the pope said. The “Archivum Secretum Vaticanum” was founded by Pope Paul V in 1612. The term “secret” was com- monly used in the 17th century as something that is “private, separate, reserved,” the pope explained. While the archives always have been the pope’s private collection, they have been open to scholars con- ducting research since 1881. The pope explained that since the archives’ founding, “the Roman pontiffs have always reserved solici- tude and care because of the huge and important documentary heritage that it preserves (and) that is so pre- cious for the Catholic Church as well as for universal culture.” Far from being something hid- den away, he added, the vast histori- cal archives and cultural patrimony were always meant to be shared. Pope Francis said that the change to the archives’ name will not change its “identity, structure and mission,” which always has served “as an indispensable instrument of the Petrine ministry.” “The church,” he said, “is not afraid of history, but rather loves it and wants to love it more and better, as God loves it!” Books are pictured in a cabinet in the Vatican Apostolic Archives. Pope Leo XIII founded the Vatican School of Paleography, Diplomatics and Archive Administration in 1884, just a few years after he opened the archives to the world’s scholars. CNS photo/Vatican Secret Archives