Franco Pisano

"We approach Amazonian communities on tiptoe, respecting their history, their cultures, their lifestyle," he explained, far from the "ideological colonisations that destroy or reduce" the traits of peoples and which today are so commonplace.”

The work of the Special Assembly opens. The goal, indicated by Francis, is "to find new ways to evangelize that portion of the People of God, especially the indigenous, often forgotten and without the prospect of a peaceful future, also due to the crisis of the Amazon forest, lung of capital importance for our planet ”.

Francis opened the Synod on the Amazon, where many of our brothers and sisters “are bearing heavy crosses and awaiting the liberating consolation of the Gospel, the Church’s caress of love”. For “how many times has there been colonization rather than evangelization! May God preserve us from the greed of new forms of colonialism. The fire set by interests that destroy, like the fire that recently devastated Amazonia, is not the fire of the Gospel.”

Francis ordained four new bishops: Mgr Michael Czerny, Mgr Paolo Borgia, Mgr Antoine Camilleri, and Mgr Paolo Rudelli. For him, bishops must seek a threefold closeness: “closeness to God through prayer, closeness to presbyters in the presbyterial college, and closeness to the people.”

Ceremony in the Vatican gardens. "Many say that consecrated life is going through a winter. It may be so ”. "In this situation, the great challenge is to cross the winter to flourish and bear fruit."

Card. Hummes presents the Assembly, opening on October 6, saying that "there are not two crises, one ecological and one social, but only one socio-environmental crisis", "the solutions require an integral approach, to fight poverty, restore dignity to the excluded and take care of creation, because everything is inter-connected ".

The program of the visit is published. After John Paul II, Francis will be the second pontiff to visit the two countries.

"It it’s not enough to read the Scripture, one must understand the meaning, find the “juice” by going beyond the “rind,” draw the Spirit that animates the letter". "What is the sign that you, Christian, are an evangelizer? — Joy, even in martyrdom. May the Holy Spirit make you men and women lovers of Christ, and joyful in announcing His message of hope ".

Francis celebrated Vespers and the missionary vigil. “But how does one set about being a missionary? By living as witnesses: bearing witness by our lives that we have come to know Jesus. Witness is the key word: a word with the same root as the word “martyr”. The martyrs are the primary witnesses of faith: not by their words but by their lives. They know that faith is not propaganda or proselytism: it is a respectful gift of one’s life.”

Francis issues a video message to launch the extraordinary missionary month October 2019. "Reaching the peripheries – the human, cultural, and religious settings still foreign to the Gospel: this is what we call the “missio ad gentes".

In his meeting with the delegations of missionary institutes of Italian foundation, Francis, said: “Do not be afraid to bear witness to Jesus even where it is uncomfortable or inconvenient. Witness Him with your whole life.”

Francis established the "Sunday of the Word of God". It will be celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, "at that time of the year, when we are encouraged to strengthen our bonds with the Jewish people and to pray for Christian unity. ". "The day dedicated to the Bible should not be seen as a yearly event but rather a year-long event, for we urgently need to grow in our knowledge and love of the Scriptures and of the risen Lord, who continues to speak his word and to break bread in the community of believers".