Prayer vigils for Synod on Amazonia

Two vigil Masses have been organised in Britain on the eve of the Amazonian Synod in Rome to pray for its success. The organisers are CAFOD, Jesuits in Britain and the Columban Missionaries. All are welcome.

7pm Saturday 5 October

St Ignatius, Stamford Hill, 27 High Road, London N15 6ND.

7pm Sunday 6 October

Holy Name, 339 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PG.

Columban Father Peter Hughes who works with REPAM, - the Pan-Amazonia Ecclesial Network - which has helped to prepare the Synod, said: "The Synod is an important moment for the voice of the Amazon and its peoples to be heard. Their cry, absent until now, arrives on the agenda of society at large and the Church. It provides a wonderful opportunity for genuine, open and respectful dialogue to answer the call of the title of the Synod - 'The Amazon: New paths for the Church and for integral ecology'. The expectation is for genuine dialogue, issues to be discussed and doors to be opened. The Church of the Amazon and the universal Church awaits new pathways, new presence, new ministries especially for laity and women that celebrates the message attentive and sensitive to changing cultural codes. The words of Dom Erwin Kreitler, bishop of Xingú, Brazil are clear, 'the people have the right to speak, to be listened to and the Church must act seriously'."

The Synod of Bishops' Special Assembly for Pan-Amazonia will be held in Rome from Sunday 6 October to Sunday 27 October 2019, to reflect on the theme: "Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for An Integral Ecology."