During the Ordinary In-Person Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), which takes place in Manaus, Brazil from August 8 to 11, Cáritas Latin America and the Caribbean, through its regional coordinator, Nicolás Meyer, reaffirms its commitment to walk with the CEAMA “as a single body and together with the networks

“Ceama is very important, because the preferential option for the poor and for the most suffering territories, in this case the Amazon, is in the DNA of our mission and our identity,” Meyer explained during an interview.

This commitment to the Conference is also joined by institutions that have provided permanent support such as the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), the Latin American and Caribbean Conference of Religious and Religious (CLAR) and the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM).

Walking together and listening to the Amazon

64 participants from the seven episcopal conferences that share the Amazon biome, representatives of Cáritas, CELAM, CLAR and REPAM, as well as other guests, are present.

At the beginning of the meeting, Bishop Card. Pedro Barreto, president of CEAMA, shared with the attendees the message in which he explained that "the Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has called us together in the Amazon and to formally constitute the CEAMA to listen to the cry of the Amazon and the cry of the territory of those who live in it, especially of the indigenous, mestizo and Afro-descendant peoples."

Subsequently, Bishop Barreto also shared three great bets of the Assembly. The first corresponds to living the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, collecting the effort of its application in Latin America through the conferences organized by CELAM. As a second point, he emphasized that “the option for those discarded and invisible to society is essential for the life and mission of the Church” and, finally, he stated that “the importance of the constitution of the CEAMA is the contribution of the Church of Latin America to the Synod of the Synodality of the Church. Universal."

People of God with open eyes

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, also participates in the meeting, who considers his participation "fundamental for our Dicastery today", as well as the fact of "finding us and accompanying us on the path that CEAMA is taking."

During his participation, he shared that this assembly of the CEAMA meets as “People of God with open eyes and openness to the horizons of the Spirit.” At the same time, he expressed that he sees CEAMA as “a seed of hope that springs from a process of listening and accompaniment to the people.”

With information from: ADN CELAM