Let’s Support Families for Children’s “holistic development”: Catholic Archbishop in Kenya

He added, “We know children are gifts from God to humanity; they must be an object of particular concern on the part of families, the Church, society and the government for they are a source of hope and renewed life.”

“God is particularly close to children and He says they are precious in His eyes,” the Kenyan Catholic Archbishop further said at the beginning of the three-day convention of stakeholders of CCCI in the AMECEA region organized under the theme, “Reading the Signs of the Times together”.

Credit: Sr. Jecinter Okoth, FSSA/AMECEA

“The Church is called upon to ensure all children are well taken care of and are exploiting their full potential,” Archbishop Kivuva said during the CCCI event that has been realized by the collaboration of the Association of Religious Sisters in Kenya (AOSK), Gerald and Henrietta Rauenhorst (GHR)  Foundation, and AMECEA.

Stakeholders drawn from Eastern Africa countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and South Sudan are part of the CCCI, which is an initiative of the  International Union of Superiors General (UISG).

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On its website, UISG describes CCCI as “a growing global network of Catholic Sisters who are setting aside institutional approaches to caring for children in favor of family- and community-based care.”

Credit: Sr. Jecinter Okoth, FSSA/AMECEA

The network also provides a place of collaboration, where network partners share knowledge and support each other as they create and implement effective models of care, UISG further says.

In his May 16 address, Archbishop Kivuva underscored the need for unity in families, saying that besides a family being a sanctuary of life, it is a vital cell of the church and the society.

He lamented a decrease in vocations to Priesthood and Religious Life in some Dioceses of the AMECEA, and attributed the situation to a failure in the upholding of family values. 

Credit: Sr. Jecinter Okoth, FSSA/AMECEA

“We have to fight anyone who thinks that the family is a wrong model,” Archbishop Kivuva said at the beginning of the convention that has Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of Malawi’s Lilongwe Archdiocese, and Bishop Aduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Yambio Diocese in South Sudan among Local Ordinaries in attendance.

Credit: Sr. Jecinter Okoth, FSSA/AMECEA

He went on to highlight technological advancement as a possible threat to families, saying, “Technology is the driving force of our economy and all other sectors; but we must also take caution because it can also be abused to mess up our children, to manipulate the society.”

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.