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| Catholic News Agency |
At the end of the Golden Jubilee celebrations,
the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) delegates
issued the "commitment and exhortations" text below
the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) delegates
issued the "commitment and exhortations" text below
* * * * *
Church Family of God in Africa, this Jubilee is a time of grace. It invites us to hold firm to our faith and undergo conversion. To this end we commit ourselves:
1. To invest more deeply in the biblical, theological, moral and spiritual formation of all the baptized; to nourish them with the word of God and the sacraments, so that they may make the gospel penetrate all aspects of life. Encouraged by the example of the African saints, may they resist the diverse attractions of the new religious movements and ideologies that are contrary to the Catholic faith.
2. To make the Jubilee a springboard for the new evangelization, through the participation of the Small Christian Communities, pious societies and new forms of religious associations.
3. To promote further the pastoral care of the family so that it can bear prophetic witness within the society.
4. To promote the human formation and the professional, moral and spiritual education of children and the youth and to help them to be more deeply rooted in the values of the gospel in order to prevent them from engaging in all forms of fundamentalism and violence.
5. To take into account in the evangelizing mission of the church the new forms of information technology and the traditional means of communication and to evangelize them.
6. To strengthen ecumenical communion among the different Christian denominations, and to promote interfaith relationship.
7. To deepen collaboration with our political leaders and call them to accountability so as to put our human and natural resources at the service of development, reconciliation, justice and peace; to address the problem of migrants, refugees and all who are still victims of slavery and human trafficking.
Furthermore;
8. We encourage the religious communities, under the umbrella of the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (COMSAM), to live true to their vocation and to bear witness to the Church’s mission of evangelization; we urge missionary exchange among the different dioceses of the continent, particularly with those of North Africa and to maintain contact with the universal Church.
9. We recommend that the formation of priests should aim at helping them to develop a deeper personal intimate relationship with Christ, human and spiritual maturity, a sense of service and accountability and passion for the mission of the church.
10. We urge the laity, men and women, to become more deeply involved in the mission of transforming the society, drawing inspiration from the Gospel, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Social Teachings of the Church.
11. We encourage the particular Churches to engage in the formation, accompaniment and guidance of civil servants and politicians in their respective locations so as to fight against corruption, promote good governance and better management of human and natural resources.
12. We urge Christian communities to be more attentive to interpersonal relationships, to sharing, to the struggle against misery; to be involved in the pastoral care of health, both spiritual and physical; and to be committed to responding to integral ecological challenges of our time.
13. We urge researchers to intensify studies of African Traditional Religions, Islam, new religious movements, secret societies and problems posed by the belief in witchcraft.
14. We urge our institutions of formation to make SECAM better known.
15. May the expected Kampala Document be widely circulated and become a reference text for our mission.
Given in Kampala by SECAM on the 28th July 2019
Signed by:
His Eminence Philippe Nakellentuba Cardinal Ouédraogo,
Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
SECAM President
1. To invest more deeply in the biblical, theological, moral and spiritual formation of all the baptized; to nourish them with the word of God and the sacraments, so that they may make the gospel penetrate all aspects of life. Encouraged by the example of the African saints, may they resist the diverse attractions of the new religious movements and ideologies that are contrary to the Catholic faith.
2. To make the Jubilee a springboard for the new evangelization, through the participation of the Small Christian Communities, pious societies and new forms of religious associations.
3. To promote further the pastoral care of the family so that it can bear prophetic witness within the society.
4. To promote the human formation and the professional, moral and spiritual education of children and the youth and to help them to be more deeply rooted in the values of the gospel in order to prevent them from engaging in all forms of fundamentalism and violence.
5. To take into account in the evangelizing mission of the church the new forms of information technology and the traditional means of communication and to evangelize them.
6. To strengthen ecumenical communion among the different Christian denominations, and to promote interfaith relationship.
7. To deepen collaboration with our political leaders and call them to accountability so as to put our human and natural resources at the service of development, reconciliation, justice and peace; to address the problem of migrants, refugees and all who are still victims of slavery and human trafficking.
Furthermore;
8. We encourage the religious communities, under the umbrella of the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (COMSAM), to live true to their vocation and to bear witness to the Church’s mission of evangelization; we urge missionary exchange among the different dioceses of the continent, particularly with those of North Africa and to maintain contact with the universal Church.
9. We recommend that the formation of priests should aim at helping them to develop a deeper personal intimate relationship with Christ, human and spiritual maturity, a sense of service and accountability and passion for the mission of the church.
10. We urge the laity, men and women, to become more deeply involved in the mission of transforming the society, drawing inspiration from the Gospel, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Social Teachings of the Church.
11. We encourage the particular Churches to engage in the formation, accompaniment and guidance of civil servants and politicians in their respective locations so as to fight against corruption, promote good governance and better management of human and natural resources.
12. We urge Christian communities to be more attentive to interpersonal relationships, to sharing, to the struggle against misery; to be involved in the pastoral care of health, both spiritual and physical; and to be committed to responding to integral ecological challenges of our time.
13. We urge researchers to intensify studies of African Traditional Religions, Islam, new religious movements, secret societies and problems posed by the belief in witchcraft.
14. We urge our institutions of formation to make SECAM better known.
15. May the expected Kampala Document be widely circulated and become a reference text for our mission.
Given in Kampala by SECAM on the 28th July 2019
Signed by:
His Eminence Philippe Nakellentuba Cardinal Ouédraogo,
Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
SECAM President
