Addressing the bishops of central Africa, the president of the Symposium of Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) offered strong praise for Ecclesia in Africa (The Church in Africa), Pope St. John Paul II’s 1995 post-synodal apostolic exhortation.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa said that “we are called to recognize that this vision is by no means outdated, but on the contrary, more urgent than ever … Above all, it revives the urgency of the mission entrusted to us: to be artisans of reconciliation, justice, peace, and hope, in fidelity to the Gospel and in dialogue with the concrete realities of our peoples.”
The prelate then offered pastoral priorities: the formation of peacemakers, synodal pastoral governance, and prophetic social engagement.
“The Church must continue to strengthen commissions for justice and peace, promote civic education, support victims of violence, and create spaces for dialogue that contribute to reconciliation and social cohesion,” he said of the third priority.