Mariángel Marco Teja describes the leading role of women in the Amazonian Church

By Mariángel Marco Teja

Women play a leading role in Pan-Amazonia, cultivating and transmitting identity, knowledge and exercising leadership. Seventy percent of the social and missionary work in the territory is carried out by women.

Pan-Amazonia includes areas of nine countries and covers a third of South America. The Amazon rainforest is of vital importance for the planet.

Within the framework of preparing for the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, “New Paths for the Church and an Integral Ecology,” the first meeting of what would become Núcleo Mujer REPAM took place.

The Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, or REPAM, was born in 2014 as an initiative of the bishops to express and support the work of the Catholic Church in the Amazon to promote human rights. It is organized according to different areas of work and reflection groups. Núcleo Mujer is one of them.

Núcleo Mujer is made up of more than 50 women from six countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. They work in five commissions: theology and spirituality, formation, violence, post-COVID, and the diaconate.

The women of Núcleo Mujer have welcomed Pope Francis’ invitation to work creatively. Their objective: “Feeling ourselves heirs of our ancestors, we want to honor their lives and their words and embody the feminine side of our indigenous, ribereños, quilombolos, Afro-descendants, rural and urban peoples. Together as women, we work in order to create a collective wellbeing, genuinely connected to the sacredness of Creation, strengthening the mission of women in the Amazonian territory, both in society and in the Church, promoting advocacy for the prevention of violence and the guarantee of rights, and contributing to an integral well-being paradigm shift.”

Núcleo Mujer is delighted to build bridges with Discerning Deacons and to serve as a gateway to make known the various works of service that women perform in the Church in the Amazon region.

Mariángel Marco Teja is a member of Núcleo Mujer.

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Witness
“[W]e celebrated St. Phoebe Day with a mass to uplift the voices of women in the Church, invite the community to rethink women’s participation and raise awareness of the global synod…Many were deeply moved by our celebration together. A senior female parishioner shared that she had waited most of her adult life to hear the hope that was offered during mass. A man approached after the celebration to ask for a copy of the reflection shared. With tears in his eyes, he shared that he hoped to share it with his daughter who had left the Church.”
St. Francis Xavier College Church
St. Louis, MO
Witness
“As a parish, we know the blessing of the many ministries and gifts that women in our parish share with all of us. Celebrating mass this weekend to honor the witness of St. Phoebe focused attention on women’s gifts for leadership in our parish and the Church more broadly. We are proud to be a part of the conversation and discernment for women’s ordination to the diaconate.”
St. Bridget of Kildare Parish
Seattle, WA
Witness
“This is not only because Church teaching written by men sometimes misses the mark when it comes to women’s lived experience. It is not only because our Church’s management in many ways mirrors the patriarchal systems that have also harmed our secular society – mismanaging cases of abuse and failing to provide living wages or adequate parental leave policies to its employees. It is primarily because without women’s voices, we are missing out on entire elements of who God is.”
Kelly Sankowski
St. Phoebe Day Witness, St. Martin de Porres, Toledo, OH

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