For the last two years, the bishops of the SACBC (Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference) have been working on restructuring the Conference. One of the fruits of this process is that we now dedicate less time to reports and more to reflect together.
This became clear this morning during Archbishop Brislin's report (SACBC president) when he quickly went through the different issues we will be working these days: racism, the beatification of Benedict Daswa, the coming synod on family, our process of restructuring the Conference, the role of SACOP (Southern African Council of Priests), our response to Laudato Si... just to mention the most important ones. "This will be a historical plenary" he said.
After the president's and secretary general's reports Bishop Siphuka (second vice president) presented the work of the new Council of Evangelization which coordinates the work of our departments. The Council helps the departments make sure they implement the priorities of the Conference through their activities. In our service of Evangelization, four documents become a particular point of reference to all: Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), Africae Munus (2011), the Joy of the Gospel (2013), Laudato Si (2015).
Bp Mpako reminded us of the "slogan" we chose to summarize our priorities ad intra and ad extra. We are a:
“Community in service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace”
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| Plates, cushions, mugs and key rings with the image of Blessed Daswa are already available |
The first part of the afternoon was dedicated to the coming beatification of Benedict Daswa, the first South African blessed!
"The beatification of Benedict Daswa will take place on Sunday 13 September 2015 at Benedict Daswa Shrine Site in Tshitanini near Thohoyandou (17 kms north -east of the Thohoyandou Stadium) in the Limpopo Province,South Africa.The representative of Pope Francis at the celebration will be His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Amato SDB,the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints."
Get all the details on the webpage especially created for this historical event:
http://www.daswabeatification.org.za/
