From the Amazon to Rome: Pope Francis and Synodality

Pope Francis has expressed that in the synodal journey of recent years, and from the perspective of the Second Vatican Council, the periphery is the center. From this perspective, the Church of Latin America, inspired by the prophetic voice of the Amazon, has made a path for global Catholicism in the twenty-first century. The unfolding synodal journey from the Amazon to Rome and beyond, with lights and shadows, struggles and achievements, opens new pastoral processes, reforms, and structural changes for the missionary Church today.

This event is presented by the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism with cosponsorship by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

About the Speaker

Mauricio López is vice president of CEAMA (Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon) and director of networking and programs for pastoral action at CELAM (Episcopal Council for Latin America and the Caribbean). In 2021, he was appointed by Pope Francis as a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. López is executive director of PUAM (Programa Universitario Amazónico). He previously served as director of Cáritas Ecuador and, from 2013 to 2018, as president of CLC (Christian Life Community).

López was one of two non-bishop appointees to the pre-synodal council responsible for preparations for the 2019 Amazon Synod. He participated in the synod assembly as an auditor and is now actively working in the Synod on Synodality process.

López holds a master’s degree in social science with a focus on territorial development from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Ecuador). He has pursued postgraduate studies in human development at Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla; special studies in Latin American theology and theology for the laity at Universidad Iberoamericana León; and special studies in human rights at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and Ruiz de Montoya University (Peru). His research and writing deal with the Latin American church, synodality, and integral ecology.