What can the Church do to better serve the indigenous peoples of Amazonia? And what can she learn from Amazonian spirituality? These questions have been much discussed in light of last year’s Amazon synod, but often with little understanding of the spiritual concerns of the people in question.
Enthusiasts for the synod see it as a turning point for the whole Church in matters of ecology, liturgy and ordained ministry – a great spiritual decolonisation. Its detractors see it as an existential threat to the Church’s doctrines and her preaching of the Gospel. One bishop recently expressed the desperate hope that the Pope would “destroy” the synod’s final document. But as someone who has spent many years studying Amazonian religions, I have been struck by the almost complete absence from the debate of any informed discussion of the spiritual practices and preoccupations of the people for whose benefit the synod was ostensibly convened.
