Nairobi, 26 May, 2025 / 10:20 pm (ACI Africa).
On the occasion of the annual Africa Day marked on May 25, Africa’s Catholic Bishops are calling upon the people of God on the continent and its islands to participate in building up “Africa we want” as “architects”.
In a statement issued Sunday, May 25, members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) welcome the African Union’s (AU) 2025 theme, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”, and describe it as a timely appeal to address the longstanding injustice Africans face across the globe.
“We will never cease to reiterate our concern for the urgent challenges facing our continent and its lovely people, including injustice, terrorism, conflict, poverty, issues of education, healthcare, dialogue, inter-religious dialogue, ecology, refugees and displaced people, Human trafficking,” Africa’s Catholic Bishops say in the message that SECAM President, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo, signed.
Referring to a 2019 report that the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights issued, Catholic Bishops in Africa lament, “Contemporary conflict and crises (in Africa) have forced millions of people – men, women and children – to flee in order to escape suffering, human rights violations and starvation. And, unfortunately, vulnerable groups, especially women and children, suffer the most egregious human rights abuses in conflict.”
Against this backdrop, Africa’s Catholic Bishops invite citizens on the continent to be “architects of the Africa we want, a better Africa, made up with joy and hope.”
