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On October 2, 2019, the Reverend Emilie Teresa Smith, priest of St. Barnabas parish in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, travelled to Rome to participate as an observer at the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Entitled New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology, this ground-breaking gathering brings together bishops from the nine countries that hold parts of the Amazon basin, river and rain-forest.

This gathering and its parallel activities-- the creation of an Amazon Maloca, a Common House in Rome--offers great hope for the turning around of the tides of destruction that threaten the Amazon, and the world. This consequential gathering brings together leaders who are unafraid to challenge a worldview based on markets and profit-seeking.

Rev. Smith was asked to attend in her capacity as the co-President of the Oscar Romero Christian Network in Solidarity with the Peoples of Latin America (SICSAL).

Rev. Smith has agreed to share her eperience with the diocese through articles and images upon her return.

Please keep Reverend Emilie Smith and all who are attending the Special Synod on the Amazon in your prayers.

Please click this link to access the article and interview in the New Westminster Record

Photo of Rev. Smith: Sandra Vander Schaaf