Catholic Communicators in Central Africa Urged to Uphold Transparency, Impartiality as “frontline” Evangelizers

The Catholic Church leaders further urge communicators to “strive to ensure peace and communion in our families and in our society.”

They go on to express optimism, saying that they hope actions of Catholic communicators in the sub-region “will not contribute to exacerbating intra- and inter-ecclesial and socio-political tensions and contradictions, nor to excluding non-dominant opinions.”

Organized 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 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s 1995 Post-Synodal Exhortation, “Ecclesia in Africa” that was promulgated in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

In their statement, ACERAC members highlight the fruits of the Exhortation that followed the 1994 Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops which was held in Rome.

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

ACERAC members also call upon members of Catholic educational institutions and universities to act as “true instruments of evangelization, integral formation and social promotion.”

“We urge you to work with discernment and responsibility to renew the educational objectives of Catholic schools and to build new bonds with a view to the emergence of a school of wisdom and life,” they say.

The Catholic Bishops from the six Central African nations further encourage the institutions to pursue academic excellence while cultivating Christian values in the service of the Church, which they say is the Family of God.

“As guardians of ecclesial tradition and keepers of the faith in Central Africa, we urge you to give an account of the hope that is in you, drawing inspiration and support from the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church,” ACERAC members say.

They also encourage Catholic educators to ensure the dissemination of the Social Doctrine of the Church through “appropriate theoretical and practical instruments” and “to create laboratories of inculturation to reflect on neo-Pan-Africanist and Kemitist ideologies.”

“Given the urgency of self-reliance, we urge you to also emphasize the training of pastoral workers in the management of the Church's patrimony,” the Catholic Church leaders say.

In their statement, the Bishops also address the Clergy and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL), reminding them that “the vocation to holiness remains a spiritual and existential requirement.”

“We invite you to continually renew your identity, drawing inspiration from the vision of the Church as the Family of God put forward by Ecclesia in Africa,” they say.

ACERAC members further remind the Clergy and ICLSAL members that their “life must manifest the meaning of a Church-Family that transcends all divisions, excluding all ethnocentrism and excessive particularism, promoting reconciliation and true communion between different ethnic groups.”

“For each and every one of you, this means paying greater attention to others, developing the virtues of solidarity, hospitality, dialogue and mutual trust, and intensifying the warmth of fraternal relationships,” they say.

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They urge ICLSAL members to commit themselves to achieving "in-depth evangelisation” amid various social ills and numerous moral challenges that the people of God in the sub-region face.

“We call on your commitment to achieve with openness to missionary zeal and solidarity, directed not only towards Western countries, but also and above all, lived out within our local Churches,” ACERAC members say.

They add, “your evangelising action should also contribute more intensely to the integral human development of the people of God.”

"In a Church that is the Family of God, consecrated life has a special role, not only in pointing out to all the call to holiness, but also in witnessing to fraternal life in community, without forgetting to take interculturality into account,” ACERAC members say.

They explain, “This implies not considering ourselves as parallel or marginal entities, but rather as fully involved, through active and supportive participation in the ordinary life of the local Churches.”