CHURCH IN AMECEA CALLS FOR FAMILY BASED CARE FOR VULNERABLE CHILDREN
National Pastoral Coordinators and Safeguarding Officers from Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) held a three days annual safeguarding review and planning forum and sensitization meeting on Catholic Care reform.
The meeting was aimed at Reviewing the Implementation of Safeguarding initiatives and programs and to reflect on the state of Children particularly those in institutional care and to plan for the roll out of Catholic Care reforms in the AMECEA region.
Speaking during the meeting AMECEA Pastoral Coordinator Rev Fr. Emmanuel Chimombo said Catholic Care Reform is a new phenomenon the Church developed as Universal guidelines on safeguarding of Children and vulnerable adults which all Episcopal Conferences in the region have to adopt.
“We have children in the region kept in Orphan Care Centers but research has shown that everybody needs a home and to identify with parents or a single parent or at least relatives who give them a sense of connection and belonging. So children who grow up in Orphan Care centers lack such identity which leads to some psychological problems. For example a time comes when a child raised at an orphanage wants to get married but they don’t have any family member. They go back to the orphanage to ask Sisters or teachers at the orphanage to act as parents. So the reform agenda wants to ensure that every child must be connected to a home and family, this is what we want to communicate to our Bishops, priests and the Lay faithful in all conferences so that we move together.” Said Fr. Chimombo
He continued that this reform has come at the right time because the Church in the region has just launched the celebration of Small Christian Communities (SCCs) which are made up of families. Through these SCCs, the Church encourages all Catholics to connect the children to someone within them if they don’t have any direct relations provided all children should have someone or somewhere they call a home because safeguarding children is a responsibility for all.
Representing the Conferences, Brother Pascal Mtuwana, who is ECM’s safeguarding Officer, said the Catholic Care Reform will help conferences in the region to develop safeguarding policies aligned to the guidelines as provided by the Pontifical Commission of the Protection of Children and Minors.
“The meeting was important because it will help Conference like the ECM to review the current safeguarding policy and include the new guidelines from Rome and align it to modern trends in the world with Malawian context. This will help the lay faithful to understand that safeguarding children is a responsibility for all and is not being imposed on them by the Church as it is also a cultural value in Malawi.”
He continued that it is important to appreciate progress made on safeguarding work by the conferences like translation of policies into local languages although challenges like lack of finances and skilled personnel are slowing progress in raising awareness among the lay faithful in the region.
The meeting was held at the Catholic Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) in Lilongwe, Malawi from 28th to 1st September, 2023.