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Delegates to represent the Church in Africa at the second session of the Synod on Synodality are meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to “deepen” their insights about Synodality ahead of the 2-29 October 2024 session in Rome.
Catholic Prelates cannot adequately fulfill their Episcopal Ministry if they ignore the virtue of listening, Archbishop Gabriel Justice Yaw Anokye of Ghana’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi has said.
A section of Church leaders have aligned themselves with modern day values in the name “contemporary culture” akin to paganism, Robert Cardinal Sarah has noted with concern.
Robert Cardinal Sarah has urged Catholic Bishops in Africa to be keen on defending the Catholic faith, voicing their opposition to defenders of “particular cultures” during the October 2024 session of the ongoing Synod on Synodality, which Pope Francis extended to 2024, with the first session, 4-29 October 2023, having concluded with a 42-page summary report.
Seminary Rectors and other formators in the nine member countries of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA), who have been participating in a formation workshop in South Africa have recommended that formators “use the method of conversation in spirit to develop a culture of listening”.
The leadership of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) has partnered with the African Synodality Initiative (ASI) to gather Rectors and other formators in Seminaries in the nine-nation region for a three-day formation workshop organized under the theme, “A Synodal approach to Priestly formation”.
The Church is inviting her members to promote, through practice, the spirit of Synodality, journeying and carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ through a collaborative approach, a Rome-based member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Spiritans/Holy Ghost Fathers) has said.
The Maltese cardinal stated in a recent interview that a female diaconate would not be a “revolution” but a “natural deepening of the Lord’s will.”
Initiatives towards training, engaging in dialogue, aiming for a common ground in decision-making processes, and the fostering of inclusive participation are some of the ways the spirit of Synodality can be fostered in families and among members the new way of being Church in Africa, the Small Christian communities (SCCs), the Chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) has said.
Church experts will meet in study groups to examine the question of women deacons and other key topics through June 2025.
The Eucharist is the centre of a synodal Church requiring the participation of all “by virtue of their common baptism”, the Archbishop of Sierra Leone’s Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown has said, and cautioned individuals and groups against monopolizing activities of Holy Mass.
Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have been briefed on what “should preoccupy” the people of God in the West African nation as the Church prepares for the second session of the Synod on Synodality, which has been scheduled to take place from 2-29 October 2024.
The Vatican announced Saturday that Pope Francis has launched synodal study groups to analyze key issues ahead of October’s Synod on Synodality assembly.
Ahead of a high-stakes gathering of the German bishops next Monday, a lay group warned the prelates of moving “further away from the people of God.”
Synod on Synodality organizers are inviting 300 parish priests to come to Rome for a meeting of “listening, prayer, and discernment” that will help shape the next Synod assembly discussions.
Fiducia Supplicans (FS), the declaration that the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) released permitting the blessing of “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, after the October 2023 Synod on Synodality conversations in Rome is “damaging” to the synodal process, an African Cardinal has said.
The possible ordination of women to the diaconate is among the “matters of great relevance” that synod delegates in October said require further consideration.
The October 4-29 XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops was a “special” moment for the Universal Church, Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Bamenda Archdiocese in Cameroon who participated in the Rome meeting has said.
The Synod of Bishops in Rome was “a good opportunity” to experience the Church at the global level, Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Kenya’s Nyeri Archdiocese who participated in the October 4-29 meeting has said.
Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa, the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) who participated in the October 4-29 XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome has underlined the need for the Church “to listen to the Spirit” and to foster “participation for all.”