Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation also encourages links between faith communities. As is true elsewhere in the universal Church, not every community can address all the issues it may face. The essential gifts may be present, but sometimes people need help to develop them or be encouraged to stay a course or shift direction.
97. I encourage the growth of the collaborative efforts being made through the Pan Amazonian Ecclesial Network and other associations to implement the proposal of Aparecida to “establish a collaborative ministry among the local churches of the various South American countries in the Amazon basin, with differentiated priorities”.[Aparecida Document 475] This applies particularly to relations between Churches located on the borders between nations.
The final paragraph dealing with communities cautions us that we cannot plan for everything. People are facing new challenges, a few of which are novel to the human experience. Some, like migration, are happening on scales the species has never before known.
98. Finally, I would note that we cannot always plan projects with stable communities in mind, because the Amazonian region sees a great deal of internal mobility, constant and frequently pendular migration; “the region has effectively become a migration corridor”.[Instrumentum Laboris 65] “Transhumance in the Amazon has not been well understood or sufficiently examined from the pastoral standpoint”.[Ibid. 63] Consequently, thought should be given to itinerant missionary teams and “support provided for the presence and mobility of consecrated men and women closest to those who are most impoverished and excluded”.[Ibid. 129, d 2.]
Hospitality, one last virtue:
This is also a challenge for our urban communities, which ought to come up with creative and generous ways, especially on the outskirts, to be close and welcoming to families and young people who arrive from the interior.
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