Pope opens synod on Amazon

(ANSA) - Vatican City, October 7 - Pope Francis on Monday opened the Catholic Church's Synod of Bishops on the Amazon urging the synod fathers "to approach Amazon peoples on tip-toes, respecting their history, their culture, and their style of good living".
    Francis urged the bishops to respect the "reality of people, which is sovereign".
    He remarked, among other things, that it was "sad" to hear remarks about the hair plumes of the indigenous people.
    The session will pay for the reforestation of 50 hectares of Amazon forest, he said.
    The rapporteur of the synod, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, said the Amazon was threatened by political interests.
    He also said local Catholics had responded to a shortage of priests by requesting the ordination of married men in their communities.
    A local nun said that it was nuns who carried out most of the baptisms in the region.