Catholics seek ways to improve pastoral life in Africa
In a
Four-Point statement presented at the end of the Congress, leader of the Statement Panel,
Rev Fr Professor
Iheanyi Enwerem, Professor of
Theology, and made available to national light, the Congress
said that they gathered to
reflect on the future
of the Catholic Church in
Africa, their roles as Theologians and
Scholars in developing the prophetic
role of the Gospel in Africa .
Top on
the statement was the commitment of the
Pan-African Congress, renewal of African Theology and pastoral life,
and looking towards
the future
.
On the
commitment of the Pan-African Congress,,
he said that, the Congress shared
in the stories of people 's faith in Christ,
manifestation of love to one another,
the hopes and dreams of the
youth, the anxieties of the people and the groans of the earth in Africa for
many lives being lost through
avoidable deaths, preventable
wars, food insecurity, immigration,
endemic diseases and poverty
which still continue to take a
huge toll on Africa and Africans. They
also identified with
the cries of God's people in the
continent, the poor, the voiceless, the marginalised, the unloved and the forgotten'
According to
him, the Congress united and committed them to working with the Church leaders and people in the search for concrete and transformative
proposals for the renewal and
reform of the Church and her institutions, following
the teaching of Vatican 11 Council".
They
identified with the plan of the Church
in Africa to realise the goal of
missionary conversion set out by Pope Francis,
so that the Church in Africa will truly become " the spiritual
lung" of Catholicism on an integral mission to Africa and beyond.
The statement
further said that, "In line with the second Congress of Black Writers and Artists, sixty years
ago in Rome, together with the message of
SECAM in the 1974 Synod response,
the Congress accepted that the Church needs a diversity of theologies and pastoral
approaches to meet the changing and challenging contexts of faith and life in other parts of the world. "
They affirmed
the unfailing desire to accompany the
Church in Africa by seeking
together the ways and means through
which African theology, pastoral
plans and projects in the dioceses, parishes,
religious communities, Catholic social agencies and all channels of evangelization in the continent could lead the
people and society
in Africa to a new level of hope
.
The
Congress observed that things continue
to fall apart in the quality of life of
the people and that Africa has the
largest population of Catholics, warning
that, "unless our theologies, institutional
structures and pastoral practices
translate into tools of
liberation and the flourishing
of life for Africans, the growth of the Church will only be in number".
They agreed
that the Congress will be a biennial event. .
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