“This summons us to broaden our vision, lest we restrict our understanding of the Church to her functional structures,” he writes, going on to warn that the Church cannot risk “clericalizing women” by simply granting them Holy Orders.

Women, he writes, have a “central part to play in Amazonian communities,” including “access to positions, including ecclesial services, that do not entail Holy Orders and that can better signify the role that is theirs.”

“Here it should be noted that these services entail stability, public recognition and a commission from the bishop.  This would also allow women to have a real and effective impact on the organization, the most important decisions and the direction of communities, while continuing to do so in a way that reflects their womanhood,” he added.

Throughout the October synod and in the lead-up to the exhortation, both Francis and organizers of the synod voiced frustration that debates over married priests and women deacons had dominated the bulk of the discussion outside of the synod – possibly motivating the pope’s decision not to weigh in on those issues directly and front-load the document with a mix of firsthand testimonials and accounts of the region’s needs and aspirations.

The region, he writes is facing an “ecological disaster,” but the response to it cannot separate the land from its people, the pope warns, offering a criticism of environmentalists who are more concerned with the region than its peoples.

“A true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” he writes, quoting from his 2015 ecological encyclical Laudato si’.

Francis goes on to offer sweeping condemnations of the treatment of indigenous peoples, the imbalance of power that has left “the weak with no means of defending themselves,” the massive deforestation of the land, the long history of colonization and corruption, including the sins of the Church.

“We need to feel outrage as Moses did, as Jesus did, as God does in the face of injustice,” he writes. “The incidents of injustice and cruelty that took place in the Amazon region even in the last century ought to provoke profound abhorrence, but they should also make us more sensitive to the need to acknowledge current forms of human exploitation, abuse and killing.”

In casting his “dream” for the region, the pope issues a clarion call for both individuals and governments to work together to recognize what is at stake, writing that “the equilibrium of our planet also depends on the health of the Amazon region.”

Yet rather than ceding control of the region, the pope calls for collective, shared action on the part of national governments and international agencies, aided and supported by the Church.

In his meditation on “Amazonian holiness,” the pope says the distinctive features of the region serve as an invitation and challenge to the universal Church.

During the October synod, controversy ensued when some of the synod participants brought over small indigenous statuettes of a naked pregnant woman, which were included in several of the synod events.

The “Pachamama” statues, as they were called, were stolen from a Roman church and tossed into the Tiber by traditionalist activists who dubbed them pagan idols.

In his exhortation, the pope offers an extended reflection on inculturation, drawing heavily on Pope St. John Paul II in arguing that “the history of the Church shows that Christianity does not have simply one cultural expression.”

“It is possible to take up an indigenous symbol in some way, without necessarily considering it as idolatry,” he writes.

“A missionary of souls will try to discover the legitimate needs and concerns that seek an outlet in at times imperfect, partial or mistaken religious expressions, and will attempt to respond to them with an inculturated spirituality,” he continues.

“The greatest danger would be to prevent them from encountering Christ by presenting him as an enemy of joy or as someone indifferent to human questions and difficulties,” he warns. “Nowadays, it is essential to show that holiness takes nothing away from our ‘energy, vitality or joy.’”

Inculturation of the gospel, the pope adds, could help spur greater vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the region.

In concluding the document, the pope turns in prayer to Mary in hopes that his dream for the Amazon can be turned into a reality for the region and for the whole Church.

“From the original peoples, we can learn to contemplate the Amazon region and not simply analyze it, and thus appreciate this precious mystery that transcends us. We can love it, not simply use it, with the result that love can awaken a deep and sincere interest,” he writes. “Even more, we can feel intimately a part of it and not only defend it; then the Amazon region will once more become like a mother to us.”