Consecrated Life “laboratory of Synodality”: Cardinal Ambongo at Annual Symposium of Regional Superiors in Africa

Pretoria, 25 May, 2025 / 11:00 PM

Members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL) in Africa are called to play an important role in shaping the future of the Church by applying in their ministry and apostolate the recommendations of the Synod on Synodality, the President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) has said.

In his presentation during the ongoing Symposium and 6th Annual General Meeting of the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (COMSAM) in South Africa, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo said ICLSAL offer privileged spaces, where the theme that guided the multi-year initiative that the late Pope Francis extended to 2024 can be seamlessly realized.

On 7 March 2020, the late Pope Francis announced that an October 2022 Synod on Synodality would be the next ordinary Synod of Bishops. In 2021, the late Pontiff officially inaugurated the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops as a multi-year journey, stating that it would be realized under the theme, “For a synodal Church: Communion, participation and mission.”

The first session of the Synod on Synodality was from 4-29 October 2023, concluding with a 42-page summary report. The second session, from 2-27 October 2024, concluded with a Final Document, which the 355 Synod members in attendance had approved.

This Final Document outlines substantial proposals for Church renewal, including proposals to expand women’s leadership roles, greater lay participation in decision-making, and significant structural reforms such as a call to strengthen pastoral councils at Parish and Diocesan levels, and having regular ecclesiastical assemblies across all Church levels and heightening ecumenical dialogue.

While approving its publication, the late Pope Francis chose to directly implement it instead of the usual practice of issuing a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

In his May 24 presentation, Cardinal Ambongo said, “Consecrated Life is considered to be a laboratory of synodality.”

The Local Ordinary of Kinshasa Catholic Archdiocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and President of SECAM explained, “What the Synod on Synodality wants to do for the Church, Consecrated Life already lives it. It is not only homage to the Consecrated for their past contributions, but a call for us to serve as a model for the future of the Church.”

He emphasized that the Synod on Synodality “was not simply a church event but a pilgrimage of the People of God, an invitation to rediscover the Church as a communion grounded in participation and mission.”

“The Synod marked a decisive turn in the history of the Church. No longer are decisions made from the top alone, but rather through a process that begins with the people, is nurtured in community, and reflects the Holy Spirit’s movement in all corners of the Church,” Cardinal Ambongo said during his May 24 presentation titled, “To Walk Together: Synodal Call to Religious life, Consecrated Life in Africa.”

Echoing the core synodal themes of inclusivity and co-responsibility, the Congolese member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap.) said, “Everyone has a place. Everyone has something to say in this Synodal Church.”

Drawing inspiration from the Synod on Synodality’s Final Document, he emphasized that ICLSAL, through their communal discernment, intercultural living, shared leadership, and mission on the margins, already provide “practical models of what synodality looks like in daily life.”

“At a certain moment during the Synod, when the topic of Religious Life was discussed, we Religious were already proud of ourselves because we are already far ahead with many things the Synod proposes,” the OFM Cap. Cardinal said.

He went on to call for renewal, especially for Religious Life in Africa, saying, “To have a new Church, a new way of becoming a Church, to receive a new spiritual culture, we are to change. If we do not change, we will all perish.”

COMSAM is a Vatican-endorsed confederation that SECAM established in 2005. It brings together Conferences of Major Superiors from across Africa and its islands to support, strengthen, and empower the Consecrated on the continent. COMSAM works in close partnership with the Vatican Dicastery for ICLSAL, the department of the Roman Curia that is responsible for matters concerning women and men Religious.

COMSAM aims to foster collaboration, provide formation, and encourage mission engagement among ICLSAL across linguistic and cultural boundaries in Africa.

The ongoing May 23-30 event in the South Africa’s Catholic Archdioceses of Johannesburg and Pretoria has brought together women and men Religious leaders from across Africa to reflect on the theme, “Hope, Synodality and the Empowerment of Consecrated Life in Africa.”

According to the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) May 17 note about COMSAM, “This marks the first time the event will be hosted in South Africa, a milestone that reflects the growing unity and collaboration among religious communities in the region. The gathering also coincides with Africa Month, further highlighting its importance in affirming African identity and solidarity within the Church."

In his May 24 presentation, Cardinal Ambongo cautioned against mediocrity in ICLSAL and called for deeper commitment to the prophetic dimension of Consecrated Life.

“You are the flower of the Church. But this value the Church gives us is also a huge responsibility,” Cardinal Ambongo said.

 

Reflecting on the Franciscan and Capuchin traditions of community discernment, the Congolese OFM Cap. member observed, “Religious Life’s structures of shared leadership—local and provincial chapters, communal decisions—model the synodal call to collaborative ministry.”

In a continent of vast linguistic, cultural, and spiritual diversity, he emphasized the need for ICLSAL to serve as a “prophetic sign of unity amid difference.” Cardinal Ambongo added, “Synodality is not looking for uniformity. It seeks to embrace diversity as a gift of the Spirit. Synodality calls us to harmonize the diversity of gifts without suppressing it, to build communion from our differences.”

He went on to acknowledge the challenges of intercultural living in ICLSAL but insisted that the African context, marked by both fragility and vitality, has much to offer the global Church.

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“In Africa, this vision takes a very eloquent direction. Many of our communities live at the outskirts of cities, in conflict zones, under-equipped missions – and yet they become the incarnation of walking together,” the President of SECAM said.

For him, Charisms must not only be received; they need to be inculturated. He said, “The way of living the Capuchin charism in Belgium may be different in Congo or South Africa. But that’s not a threat; it’s an enrichment.”

The most urgent call of the Synod on Synodality, according to the Congolese Cardinal, is the renewed understanding of Baptismal dignity and shared mission. “The missionary vocation takes its source in Baptism. Every baptized person is a protagonist of the Church’s mission,” he said.

He went on to challenge ICLSAL to move beyond doing ministry for the Laity and instead work with the Laity, especially women and youth, forming them for co-responsibility in the Church.

“It pains me to hear of missions where, when the Religious Congregation leaves, everything dies. Our mission is not just to serve, but to form others to take over the mission when we move,” Cardinal Ambongo said.

He continued, “The vocation of the Church is to become a community that listens, that walks hand in hand. We, women and men Consecrated, must be the first to show what this means. We are that laboratory.”

Cardinal Ambongo expressed hope that Africa’s dynamic Religious Life, despite material challenges, can help reanimate the universal Church. “Our continent is rich in community values, spiritual resilience, and missionary zeal. We are not marginal players. We are protagonists of the Church’s future,” the Catholic Church leader said.

He called upon women and men Religious participating in the May 23-30 COMSAM to return to their respective communities and apostolates not with mere resolutions, but with a renewed sense of mission.

“Let us listen profoundly. Let us discern together. Let us act with audacity, in service of the Gospel,” Cardinal Ambongo said during his May 24 presentation.