Six-Nation Central Africa Bishops Conclude Plenary with Pledge to Invest in Catechists’ “quality doctrinal formation”

N'Djamena, 04 February, 2026 / 10:40 PM

Members of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACERAC) have concluded their weeklong 13th Plenary Assembly with a pledge to, among other commitments, to invest in the capacity building of Catechists in the six countries of their regional Conference. 

In a statement following their January 25 to February 1 Plenary Assembly that was held in Chad’s Catholic Archdiocese of N’Djamena, the Catholic Church leaders say that “together with our main collaborators, we will make the necessary efforts to provide ACERAC Catechists with both good initial training and quality doctrinal formation.”

The Local Ordinaries from Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo Brazzaville say their support would encompass “moral, spiritual, and material” assistance to ensure Catechists in the sub-region realize their mission.

On their part, Catechists are to embrace their mission, which ACERAC members say extends to being “witnesses to Christian formation, especially among the younger Christian generations of Central Africa.”

“Your role is crucial, and your commitment remains decisive in the establishment and expansion of the Church within our continent and, above all, in our sub-region,” they say in their 10-page statement. 

Realized under the theme “The challenges of the Church, Family of God in Central Africa: 30 years after Ecclesia in Africa,” ACERAC members used the Plenary Assembly to celebrate the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s 1995 Post-Synodal Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa.

In their collective message, the Catholic Church leaders highlight the fruits of the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation issued in Yaoundé, Cameroon, following the 1994 Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops which was held in Rome.

The Bishops also reflect on the challenges the Church in Africa is still experiencing in the light of the document that was also promulgated in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 17 September 1995, and in Nairobi, Kenya, on 19 September 1995.

In their final statement shared with ACI Africa on Monday, February 2, the Catholic Bishops in Central Africa also commit to spreading what they term as the “Social Doctrine of the Church.”

“We commit ourselves to working on the development of a coordinated pastoral action plan to resolve issues related to social justice, reconciliation, and peace,” ACERAC members say.

They add, “As pastors of particular churches, we resolve to promote initiatives aimed at fostering a commitment to more effective action, with a view to a better experience of the Church as the Family of God in all its dimensions.”

In response to ecological issues affecting the sub-region, including climate change, the Catholic Bishops in Central Africa say, “We are committed to promoting the celebration of Mass for creation in our Christian communities.”

Turning to the Churches of the sub-region, they say, “We urge our particular Churches of ACERAC to cultivate greater communion, synodality and ecclesial solidarity, for an optimal expression of Christ's caritas as should be the case in a true family of God.”

They say that the collaboration between their local Churches can be achieved through the sharing of pastoral experiences and human resources.

ACERAC members further invite the people of God in Central Africa to “deepen the dynamic of inculturation in all areas of Church life and evangelization,” especially in the areas of theology, liturgy, Church life and structures, which they say is already underway in several Dioceses.

“In this sense, we encourage the institutionalization of commissions on inculturation at the local level and the celebration of a Week of Inculturation, for a faith that is professed, celebrated, prayed and lived according to the African vision of man, the world and God,” they say.

They continue, “May our particular Churches multiply vocation groups to better support the vocational journey.”

ACERAC members appeal to the Laity to take responsibility in the evangelizing mission in the sub-region and in the world, saying, “Take initiatives and find ever new ways to remain present and act effectively in the main places where the life of our States is organized and built.”

They also urge the Laity to be witnesses of goodness, truth, justice, peace, and God's love in their daily activities and to “always remain the deep leaven of the emergence and maturation of faith among our peoples. Your commitment to public life will have a real impact on evangelical values in the world.”

Addressing family members, the Catholic Bishops call for conversion, and add, “You must become places where the witness of faith and the expression of African values are lived out daily and deeply.”

For ACERAC members, families should be “true ‘domestic churches’ which know how to resist with firmness the ideological attacks against the institution of the family in Africa, through the light and strength of the Gospel.”