He described the family as the “domestic church”, where “faith is nurtured and lived out in daily life.”
“Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs parents to teach their children about God's commandments, underscoring the role of families in nurturing faith and spiritual growth,” he said during the March 14 conference that AMECEA organized in partnership with the Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa (ACWECA), the African Synodality Initiative (ASI), and the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), an entity of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).
The Chairman of AMECEA, who was re-elected during the July 2022 20th Plenary Assembly of the nine-nation eight-Conference Association that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, said.since his re-election also described the family as “the primary unit of identity and belonging.”
“African cultures emphasize the importance of familial bonds in shaping individual and collective identity,” said the Chairman of the association that brings together those at the helm of Catholic Dioceses in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, Somalia and Djibouti being affiliate member nations.
Alluding to the stance of the Catholic Bishops in Africa on Fiducia Supplicans (FS), the Declaration of Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) permitting members of the Clergy to bless “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations”, Bishop Kasonde emphasized the “sacredness” of the institution of marriage.
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman, reflecting the union of Christ and the Church (CCC 1601-1666),” he said, adding, “This understanding underscores the importance of family as the foundational unit of society. Thus, families serve as the cornerstone of African culture, echoing the biblical emphasis on the importance of family ties and lineage.”
He continued, “The family is a context where the dignity of each person is respected and upheld, mirroring the Church's teaching on the inviolable dignity of every human being.”
The respect of human dignity at the family level, Bishop Kasonde said, “is relevant in addressing issues such as gender equality, domestic violence, and the rights of children, and the elderly within the family unit.”
“In respect to this, honoring parents and respecting elders are recurring themes in African cultures, aligning with biblical injunctions such as Exodus 20:12 and Leviticus 19:32,” the Bishop said during the March 14 conference organized under the theme, “Church in Africa: Becoming Synodal in mission”.
He also advocated for the fostering of the values of “solidarity, support and social cohesion”, saying that “solidarity and mutual support within families” reflects “the biblical injunction to ‘bear one another's burdens’" that is captured in St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and CCC.
