Weeks after Amazonian wildfires galvanized world attention and young climate strikers marched through cities around the globe, Catholic bishops from the Amazon will meet at the Vatican Oct. 6-27 to discuss problems in the vast rainforest region. Some debate at the conference, subtitled “New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology,” will focus on how the church can better serve local communities, especially indigenous people, when it lacks priests to minister to far-flung villages along the Amazon River and its tributaries. But the environment is also expected to loom large at the meeting, or synod, as such gatherings of bishops are known. Environmental and indigenous issues, especially, have concerned Pope Francis since his days as archbishop of Buenos Aires, before he was elected to lead the Catholic Church in 2013. The meeting will draw over 170 bishops from the Amazon and other parts of the world, along... [Log in to read more]