Chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) Archbishop Tarcisius Ziyaye has called on the Catholic Church in the region to commit to the service of reconciliation, Justice and Peace in Africa.
Opening a conference in Kenya on the implementation of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation the conference on March 6, 2012, Archbishop Ziyaye said a close look at the Exhortation revealed a doctrinal richness with which Pope Benedict XVI outlined for the evangelization mission of the Church in Africa.
“There is a clear emphasis on the need for the Church in Africa to commit herself to the service of reconciliation, justice and peace to help build the new Africa. According to the Holy Father, this is called the “spiritual lung” of human kind,” he said.
He said the Pope was reminding leaders and the faithful of their mission “to become the light that seeks, amid tribulations, the path of peace and justice for all its citizens”.
“In doing this, the Holy Father points to Christ and reminds us once more that our light is Jesus, the Christ, “the light of the world”, he said.
The Archbishop said reconciliation, justice and peace will remain on the agenda of AMECEA for the next three years and beyond.
“While we thank Almighty God for the relatively peaceful atmosphere that many countries in our region are experiencing, we cannot close our eyes to the reality of conflict, the experience of injustices and the need to bring healing among our people,” said the Archbishop.
In his address, apostolic Nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin stressed the need for the Church in Africa to ensure that both the ordained and non-ordained members of the Church were incorporated in the implementation of the papal document.
He said there is hope in Africa in terms of the Christian growth, but added that, “All this will depend on how committed the local Church will be.”
Guest speaker ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat from Kenya pleaded with the clergy from the region to consider creating chaplaincies for all the key sectors in all AMECEA countries in order to reach out spiritually to both government and civic leaders.
“Here in Kenya for instance, we have a chaplaincy for the armed forces, it will do this country a great deal if other key sectors such as parliament and civil service have the same so as to reach out spiritually to these leaders in order to steer them back to the right way. In most cases African leaders err because they lack spiritual guidance,” he said.
The Chairman of AMECEA Justice and Peace Rt. Rev. Martin Mtumbuka, urged the participants in the workshop to be committed to their call through active participation and involvement.
“I would like us to go to our suffering brothers and sisters and show them solidarity. We may not be able to have answers to their problems, we may not be able to offer the solutions they so desperately need; but our presence among them is very vital. To relay messages to our suffering brothers and sisters telling them that we know they are suffering and we are praying for them is not enough; to hold meetings on behalf of our suffering brothers in comfortable hotels and discuss their agenda far away from them is not enough. We need to be there for them, be present amidst them, feel their pain and give whatever support we can; this is the true meaning of solidarity; this is what we must embrace” he said.
The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Africae Munus”, which means “The Commitment of Africa” was the outcome of the Second African Synod (Special Assembly for the Catholic Bishops in Africa), held in Rome in October 2009 under the theme: The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. The document was presented to the local Church in Africa in November 2011 during the meeting at (Cotonou, Benin).
The workshop sessions were facilitated by Fr Ferdinand Lugonzo, AMECEA General Secretary. The theme of the workshop was: Shaping the destiny of the people in the region.
About 70 delegates participated in the workshop. These included archbishops, bishops, priests, religious men and women as well as lay people from the nine countries of AMECEA.
AMECEA region comprises nine African countries, namely Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.