MESSAGE OF THE AMECEA BISHOPS
FROM THE 13TH PLENARY ASSEMBLY IN NAIROBI, KENYA
1. We, the Catholic Bishops of the Episcopal Conferences of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia (AMECEA) met at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. Our 13th Plenary Assembly, which took place from July 26th to August 8th 1999, sends you, the Catholic faithful and all people of good will, our warm greetings in Jesus Christ. The Grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you".
2. Having reflected together on the theme, "The Formation of Agents of Evangelization for the Church-as-Family", we, as leaders of God's people in Eastern Africa, listened to the reports from our various countries. As pastors, we express our commitment to build with you a vigorous Church, as the African Synod wished - a Church-as-family. We recognize that this requires effective programmes of formation at every level in the Church, from the faithful to ourselves, the bishops.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AFRICAN SYNOD
3. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II emphasized at Resurrection
Garden, Nairobi, after he handed over his Post-Synodal Exhortation, Ecclesia
in Africa:
"The document itself… is only an instrument and a beginning. What
counts is the effective renewal of the Church's members and their ever more
generous ministry and service."
"I encourage you to make the Synod's findings the goal
and direction of your ecclesia life towards the Great Jubilee of the Year
2000."
In Johannesburg, South Africa, the Holy Father also said:
"The fruits of the Synod set out in the Apostolic Exhortation constitute
a kind of pastoral plan of action for the Church in Africa as she seeks to
be faithful to here vocation and mission, and as she serves suffering humanity
in this fluid and turbulent period of history."
4. Recognizing that while much has been done to implement the teachings of the African Synod, much still remains to be done. In these days we concentrated our efforts on how the Church in each of our nations could become more like an African family, in some aspects, especially in the interior relationships between its members. We recall the words of the Synod: "this image emphasizes care for others, solidarity, warmth in human relationships, acceptance, dialogue and trust" (The Church in Africa 63). We recognize that many lay people and especially many of our youth do not always feel a strong sense of belonging to the Church. They do not feel it is theirs. We acknowledge that both we, the bishops, and the laity need to change our attitudes and approaches, if everyone is to grow in the sense that the Church is theirs - the place where they are at home, where they find God and the truth about their lives and a family spirit of acceptance and support to live their Christian lives.
5. The necessary renewal and change of attitudes will come about
through an appropriate formation, both initial and ongoing, for all members
of the Church - a formation that will help us all to be conscious that we
are partners in the mission of evangelization, to which we are all called,
and for which we have all been anointed in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation.
Even though the bishops have been appointed leaders through the sacrament
of orders, we belong together with you, members of the one family of God.
We recall the teaching of Scripture and the Second Vatican Council that the
Holy Spirit gives gifts (charisms) to all the faithful for the building up
of the body of Christ:
"From the reception of these charisms, even the most ordinary ones, there
arises for each of the faithful the right and duty of exercising them in the
Church and in the world for the good of men (and women) and the development
of the Church, of exercising them in the freedom of the Holy Spirit who 'breathers
where He wills' (n 3:8(, and at the same time in communion with his/(her)
brothers (and sisters) in Christ, and especially in communion with the pastors."
(Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People 3)
We want to embody this truth in the everyday life of the Church.
THIS FLUID AND TURBULENT PERIOD OF HISTORY
6. The designation of our time by Pope John as "this fluid and turbulent period of history" on the occasion of giving us his post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, The Church in Africa, as a pastoral plan of action for our churches, is very significant. We took account again and again of the rapidity of change that is engulfing our world, sometimes designated today by the term 'globalization' We recognize the depth of change that is taking place in all our countries and falling away of so many of our good traditions in face of the global secular and pervasive culture that is propagated everywhere by an ever more powerful communication technology. War, violence and the infringement of human rights are all obstacles to our mission of evangelization. In these circumstances, the importance of formation for all agents of evangelization is clearer than ever.
7. When we asked ourselves what resources the Church in Africa has to meet these new challenges, we answered, as the Synod had done, 'after the grace of Christ, the people'. We gratefully acknowledge the generous dedication of so many of our people and also the need for more and deeper formation for them at the present time. "The whole community needs to be trained, motivated and empowered for evangelization, each according to his or her specific role within the church" (The Church in Africa, 53). We examined the kind and quality of formation required to meet the special circumstances in which the Church is called to evangelize as we approach the third millennium.
FORMATION OF ALL AGENTS OF EVANGELIZATION
8. In successive sessions we examined the formation of all agents of evangelization with a view to meeting the challenges we face and transforming the Church more and more into a community that will be experienced by all its members as a family to which they truly belong, in which they feel at home and will commit themselves to exercise their responsibilities to the full. We considered the formation of the laity and particularly the youth, - asking ourselves honestly why we fail to retain the adherence of so many of them. We reaffirmed the formation of catechists, who are the front line evangelizers and to whom the Church in Africa owes so great a debt. We asked ourselves what kind of on-going formation we ourselves need as bishops and we tried to evaluate the initial and on-going formation of priests and women and men religious, who co-operate so closely with us in our ministry. It would be too long to share all our findings with you at this time, but we would like to say the following:
9. It is clear to us that we must challenge the laity more and more to recognize that to be Christian is a personal call from Jesus Christ to be an evangelizer, not only by witness of our lives by taking a more active role in various aspects of the life of the Church. We recognize that we have an ever more competent laity on whom we have not sufficiently called for various ministries which are needed in our communities. We heard again the question posed in the Synod and by the Holy Father: "has the Church in Africa sufficiently formed the lay faithful, enabling them to assume confidently their civic responsibilities and to considered socio-political problems in the light of the Gospel and of faith in God?" (The Church in Africa, 54). We think that the answer up to now has been, 'no'. We are determined to remedy that situation and have planned accordingly. Nor have we sufficiently conveyed to our youth our need, our love and our care for them, not only for themselves as beloved sons and daughters of God entrusted to our care, but as apostles to their fellow-youth. Now we want to say to our youth: "We love you and we need your help; indeed we cannot accomplish the task entrusted to us without you".
10. We acknowledge the role of women the role of women as mothers and sisters in the family and their special duties as the first teachers in life. We will do all we can to see that your dignity and your rightly place in the Church and society is recognized and respected as advocated by the African Synod (The Church in Africa, 121).
11. We acknowledge the crucial role of the priest at the heart of the Christian community as father and servant. We are deeply grateful to our priests for their loyal and dedicated service. Reflecting on seminary formation, we recognized that while it is basically sound, especially the intellectual and academic preparation, there are other areas that need more attention. We think especially of human, spiritual and pastoral formation - a formation that must be more experiential and spiritual and practical. We also are aware of the need for seminarians to be given and to take more personal responsibility for their own formation. We shall find ways of pursuing these objectives. When we speak of seminary formation, we necessarily think of our seminary staffs and their difficult and highly responsible task. We recognize that in addition to academic preparation, all should receive a special preparation as formators, to equip them to accompany students in some of the areas of formation we have mentioned. It was also noted that longer terms of service, providing a greater stability in the establishment of the traditions and spirit of a seminary are desirable, even imperative. We value our formation staffs and express our gratitude to them. We thank our missionaries, our first formators, and ask that they continue in their role as formators.
12. Religious men and women plan an essential role in the evangelizing mission of the Church through their radical following of Christ and their life of service. We commend the Religious in the AMECEA countries for their dedication and commitment in the various areas of evangelization. In our changing world Religious have to be enabled to read and respond effectively to the signs of the times, so as to be credible and authentic agents of change and promote Gospel values in today's society. Formation should therefore be integral and incultured, and formators be carefully chosen and prepared, so as to form men and women able to radiate God's love and compassion among our people.
13. As you can see, there are many things to be done in order to build our churches-as-family. None of them can be done without the cooperation of all of you, each in his or her own way and according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit you have received and your personal calling. As your bishops, fulfilling our responsibility entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit (cf. The Church in Africa, 99), we are asking you to cooperate with us and we rely on you.
14. As we leave Nairobi, we are full of gratitude to God for his presence and assistance to us during our meeting. We are grateful in a special way for the growth and flourishing condition of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, our gracious host during our stay. We ask God's continued blessing on its staff and students and on all the people of Kenya. We thank our host, the Kenya Episcopal Conference, the Government and all the people of Kenya for their gracious hospitality.
To all of you, the faithful in our AMECEA region, we impart our Apostolic Blessings!
Nairobi, August 8th, 1999