One of the proposals that emerged from the Synod for the Amazon was the creation of an Amazonian Rite, a reality present in the history of the Catholic Church. In fact, there are currently 24 Catholic rites in existence.
For the creation of this Catholic rite, under the umbrella of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), a nucleus was created with 16 members, chosen according to different criteria of representativeness. The nucleus is divided into four sub-commissions: Anthropological-Sociological and Spiritual, Historical-Cultural, Theological-Ecclesiological and Ritual-Juridical.
What is sought through this nucleus is "to study the 'traditions, uses and customs' of the peoples of the Amazon region, as well as the possibilities, conditions and implications of an Amazonian Rite, in view of the elaboration of a proposal that will lead the Local Churches to live and celebrate their faith, according to their autochthonous expressions". An objective that is broken down into other more concrete specific objectives.
Inter-culturation in inter-culturality
Over the last few months, the nucleus has been holding study meetings on Rites in the Church and the socio-cultural-religious reality of the Amazon, seeking to identify common background matrices. During this time, some challenges have been identified, such as responding according to the parameters of an "inculturation in interculturality", the division of the tasks of each sub-commission and the constitution of a Synthesis and Drafting Group, composed of representatives of the sub-commissions and support experts, to gather the contributions of the sub-commissions and elaborate a first outline of the Amazonian rite.
At the same time, the Nucleus has some fears in relation to the work that is being carried out, which have to do with the difficulty of gathering together with the peoples, cultures and Churches of the Amazon region their cultural, mystical and popular expressions of the faith celebrated in the different circumstances of life. Also, in the midst of the great diversity of peoples, cultures and religious expressions, to identify the common matrixes of everything related to this rite. Finally, to ensure that the peoples, cultures and Church of the Amazon region recognise themselves in this Amazonian Rite.
A cordial meeting with a good atmosphere
All this was presented on 1 September at the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The meeting was attended by the Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal Arthur Roche, created in the Consistory of 27 August, the Secretary, Monsignor Vittorio Francesco Viola, O.F.M., and the Under-Secretary, Monsignor Aurelio García Macías. Present on behalf of CEAMA were its president, Cardinal Pedro Barreto, its Executive Secretary, Fr. Alfredo Ferro, SJ, and Mgr Eugenio Coter, representing the Nucleus for the Amazon Rite.
According to Father Ferro, the CEAMA representatives were warmly welcomed, highlighting the good atmosphere present throughout the meeting. During the meeting, the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon was presented, and Cardinal Barreto explained the process and the path taken by the CEAMA since its foundation in June 2020.
The debate focused on the numbers of the Final Document of the Synod for the Amazon that speak about the Amazon Rite, focusing on number 119, where the existing challenges in relation to the Amazon Rite are raised. Coter, Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Pando, in the Bolivian Amazon, presented to the members of the Dicastery the purpose of the different sub-commissions created, as well as the objectives pursued.
The following section of the Final Document is relevant.
d. A Rite for the indigenous peoples
116.
The Second Vatican Council created possibilities for liturgical pluralism "for legitimate variations and adaptations for different groups, regions, and peoples" (SC 38). In this sense, the liturgy should respond to culture so that it may be the source and summit of Christian life (cf. SC 10) and be really linked to the people’s sufferings and joys. We should give an authentically catholic response to the request of the Amazonian communities to adapt the liturgy by valuing the original worldview, traditions, symbols and rites that include transcendent, community and ecological dimensions.
117.
There are 23 different Rites in the Catholic Church, a clear sign of a tradition that from the first centuries has tried to inculturate the contents of the faith and its celebration through language that coheres as much as possible with the mystery it seeks to be express. All these traditions have their origin in function of the Church’s mission: "The Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate the mystery of Christ through particular expressions characterized by the culture: in the tradition of the ‘deposit of faith’ (2 Tim 1:14), in liturgical symbolism, in the organization of fraternal communion, in the theological understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of holiness" (CCC 1202; cf. also 1200-1206).
118.
It is necessary that the Church, in her tireless labour of evangelization, work so that the process of inculturation of the faith may be expressed with the utmost coherence, in order that it may also be celebrated and lived in the languages proper to the Amazon’s peoples. It is urgent to form committees for the translation of biblical and the preparation of liturgical texts in the different local languages, with the necessary resources, preserving the substance of the sacraments and adapting their form, without losing sight of what is essential. So too, it is necessary to encourage music and songs, all of which is included in and encouraged by the liturgy.
119.
The new organism of the Church in the Amazon should establish a competent commission to study and discuss, according to the habits and customs of the ancestral peoples, the elaboration of an Amazonian rite that expresses the liturgical, theological, disciplinary and spiritual patrimony of the Amazon, with special reference to what Lumen Gentium affirms for the Oriental Churches (cf. LG 23). This would add to the rites already present in the Church, enriching the work of evangelization, the capacity to express the faith in their own culture, and the sense of decentralization and collegiality that can express the catholicity of the Church. The commission could also study and propose how to enrich Church rites with the way in which these peoples care for their territory and relate to its waters.
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