{"id":1716,"date":"2020-03-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2020-02-26T15:00:47","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T14:00:47","slug":"173-querida-amazonia-a-reinforcement-of-pope-francis-missiology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/it\/2020\/03\/173-querida-amazonia-a-reinforcement-of-pope-francis-missiology\/","title":{"rendered":"173. Querida Amazonia: A Reinforcement of Pope Francis\u2019 Missiology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Progressives were disappointed. Traditionalists were perplexed. In the end, Querida Amazonia<\/em><\/a> (\u201cBeloved Amazon\u201d), the 2020 Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis following the Synod on the Pan-Amazon region, was neither the revolutionary push that many were fearful of nor the reaffirmation of the well-established Roman Catholic discourse on mission that others could have desired. Querida Amazonia <\/em>was rather a reinforcement of Pope Francis\u2019 own missiology. Its tenets had been already enshrined in Evangelii Gaudium<\/em><\/a> (2013), with its call to his Church to be \u201coutgoing\u201d, and further affirmed in Laudato Si<\/em>\u2019<\/a> (2015), with its ecological concerns elevated to missiological primary focus. In the latest papal document, these threads are interwoven and more strongly knitted together as they are applied to the Amazon region. Initial reactions to it show the fact that the Pope did not go left or right, but followed his<\/em> path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different Expectations <\/strong>
As already mentioned, the Pope did not back up progressive voices expecting his approval for the consecration to the priesthood of the viri probati <\/em>(married \u201cmen of proven virtue\u201d) and for women to join the diaconate. These measures had been foreshadowed in the Final Document of the Synod (The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology<\/em><\/a>) but the Pope kept silent on them. Perhaps the silence was due to awareness of the fact that, if approved, they would have caused further disruption to a Roman Catholic Church already in turmoil. Both the celibacy of priests and the exclusion of women from the diaconate belong to the Latin tradition to which Rome is committed. Progressive sectors of the Roman Church (i.e. some Latin American bishops and the majority of the German bishops) supported the relaxation of the vetoes and the eventual admission of married men to the priesthood and of women to the diaconate. Pope Francis did not mention these points, although the Final Document of the Synod makes reference to them. In this respect, Francis wrote that he did not want his Exhortation to replace or duplicate the Final Document (n. 2) \u2013 indeed, he called the \u201centire Church\u201d to apply it (n. 4). So, even though he does not treat the two critical points explicitly, the Final document does and his Exhortation somehow validates it. Francis\u2019 silence is, at best, an ambiguous silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While breathing a sigh of relief for not seeing the intentional\nundoing of well-established traditions, Catholic conservatives were disturbed\nto find in the papal document a powerful reaffirmation of some idiosyncratic\nelements of the \u201coutgoing\u201d missiology of the reigning Pope. Apparently weak in doctrinal\nemphases and overflowing with a \u201cmerciful\u201d tone, the Exhortation insists on\nglobalist and nativist themes and focusses on the practice of theological and\nliturgical inculturation: twenty-five paragraphs are dedicated to\ninculturation, one fourth of the whole document. The kind of inculturation that\nis envisaged is basically open to syncretism with indigenous cultures. Querida Amazonia<\/em> tends to have a very\npositive view of indigenous cultures \u2013 at times somewhat na\u00efve \u2013 and in so\ndoing it lacks biblical realism. According to the Bible, cultures are not to be\nidealized nor demonized: they are mixed bags of idolatry and common grace in\nneed of redemption. Pope Francis tends to idealize native cultures, seeing them\nas already infused by the grace of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pope\u2019s \u201cDreams\u201d<\/strong>
Querida Amazonia<\/em> presents four dreams that the Pope has for the region. Talking about dreams is very evocative and emotionally engaging. First, Francis has a \u201csocial dream\u201d in which he deals with themes such as injustice and crime, a sense of community, broken institutions, and social dialogue. Second, there is a reference to a \u201ccultural dream\u201d whereby the Pope talks about caring for roots, intercultural encounters, endangered cultures, and peoples at risk. Third, reference is made to an \u201cecological dream\u201d in which the preservation of water reservoirs and the contemplation of the environment are treated together with the need for ecological education and habits. More than half of the document is dedicated to the first three dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the Pope also has an \u201cecclesial dream\u201d. In\nthis section he talks about the \u201cmessage\u201d that the Amazon region needs to hear.\nThe gospel is summarized in this sentence: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod\nwho infinitely loves every man and woman and has revealed this love fully in\nJesus Christ, crucified for us and risen in our lives\u201d<\/em> (n. 64). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the papal kerygma<\/em>. It is a message of love manifested in Jesus Christ who\ndied and rose and lives in us. This is all biblically right, though selective\nat best, flawed at worst. There is no reference to sin, the need for repentance\nand faith, salvation in Christ alone, God\u2019s holiness and righteousness in\nsalvation and judgement, and the biblical framework of the Christian faith.\nFrancis\u2019 gospel is a proclamation of a divine love that falls on all and is\nalready in all. While it contains elements of the gospel, it is not the\nbiblical gospel. Jesus\u2019s kerygma<\/em> was\n\u201cThe kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the gospel\u201d (e.g. Mark\n1:15). Here God\u2019s action (i.e. his Kingdom) and man\u2019s lostness (i.e. our need\nto repent) are explicitly stated and interwoven. The need to believe in the\ngospel is also essential and that implies a transition, a conversion on our\npart. Without it we are lost and continue to be lost. Unlike the Pope\u2019s truncated\nmessage, this is the biblical kerygma<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true that the Pope encourages readers of Querida Amazonia<\/em> to refer to \u201cthe brief summary of this great message found in Chapter Four of the Exhortation Christus Vivit<\/em><\/a>“, i.e. the 2019 document issued after the Vatican Synod on the young people. Even there, the gospel is summarized under three headings: \u201cGod is love; Christ saves you; the Spirit gives life\u201d. The outlook is Trinitarian, but the content misses the reference to our sinful condition and our responsibility to respond in repentance and faith to God\u2019s love. Again, the papal gospel looks like an objective and historical message, although void of covenantal premises and consequences, i.e. God\u2019s righteous judgement on sinners. It seems that all have already received God\u2019s love and are saved by Christ and live in the Spirit. Is this universalist message what the biblical gospel teaches? Given the fact that Querida Amazonia<\/em> is addressed to \u201call persons of good will\u201d, therefore Christians and non Christians alike, the ambiguity of the account of the gospel contained in the Exhortation is even more striking. The non-Christian reader of the document is not challenged to repent and believe, but is assured that God is love inspite of what she\/he believes and stands for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Word to Evangelicals: \u201cAll this unites us\u201d?<\/strong>
In the final paragraphs, Querida Amazonia <\/em>makes reference to \u201cecumenical co-existence\u201d, i.e. a word to Evangelicals and Pentecostals who have become a strong presence in the Amazon region, subtracting people and influence from the Roman Catholic Church. After having summarized his account of the kerygma, Francis writes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll this unites us. <\/em>How\ncan we not struggle together? How can we not pray and work together, side by\nside, to defend the poor of the Amazon region, to show the sacred countenance\nof the Lord, and to care for his work of creation?<\/em>\u201d<\/em> (n. 109)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does all this unite us? If \u201call this\u201d refers to the\npapal gospel as it is presented earlier, the answer is no. Many words and\nthemes are the same, but they are understood and lived out differently, and\nwhat is missing is as important as what is said. Then, the Pope invites\nEvangelicals and Catholics to \u201cpray and work\u201d together. These two activities do\nnot overlap and need to be distinguished. Certainly there is room for \u201cco-belligerence\u201d<\/a>, i.e. common action in advocating for the poor and\ncaring for creation. This is both possible and necessary, open to all peoples\nsharing these concerns. However, common prayer is a spiritual activity\nrequiring unity in the biblical gospel and involvement from born-again Christians.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does all this unite us? What comes after adds further\nreasons to answer in the negative. The following paragraph is a heartfelt\ninvocation to Mary (n. 110) by Pope Francis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mother whose heart is pierced,
\nwho yourself suffer in your mistreated sons and daughters,
\nand in the wounds inflicted on nature,
\nreign in the Amazon,
\ntogether with your Son.
\nReign so that no one else can claim lordship
\nover the handiwork of God. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We trust in you, Mother of life.
\nDo not abandon us
\nin this dark hour. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is the Pope so selective and ambiguous in\nthe presentation of the biblical gospel and why does he spend so many words in\nthe invocation to Mary? Does all this unite Evangelicals and Roman Catholics? No.\nIs a truncated kerygma<\/em> and an\ninvocation to Mary (who is said to reign and in whom we are called to trust) the\nfoundation for being united in the gospel? No. After all, Querida Amazonia <\/em>consolidates the\nblurred and confusing missiology of Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

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