BURKINA FASO: Small Christian Community Planning Workshop Recommends Formation of SECAM-MISSIO Small Christian Community
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| AMECEA Delegates Fr. Febian Pikiti (Third Right), Mrs. Rose Musimba (Second right) and Fr. Joseph Healey, MM (Extreme Right) in a group photo with H.E. Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo, the Archbishop of Ouagadougou and SECAM Secretary General Fr. Joseph Koma Koma (Second Left) |
Small
Christian Community planning workshop organized by SECAM (Symposium of
Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) Commission of Evangelisation in
association with Missio Aachen, Germany has recommended the creation of a
SECAM-MISSIO Small Christian Communities (SCCs) Networking Team.
Christian Community planning workshop organized by SECAM (Symposium of
Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) Commission of Evangelisation in
association with Missio Aachen, Germany has recommended the creation of a
SECAM-MISSIO Small Christian Communities (SCCs) Networking Team.
The workshop
which was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 6th to 9th
August was attended by fourteen delegates from Germany, Bolivia and six African
countries (Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Togo
and Zambia). These were joined by 15 grassroots representatives of Base
Christian Communities (BCCs) in the host country.
which was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 6th to 9th
August was attended by fourteen delegates from Germany, Bolivia and six African
countries (Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Togo
and Zambia). These were joined by 15 grassroots representatives of Base
Christian Communities (BCCs) in the host country.
The three
member AMECEA delegation to the workshop included Father Febian Pikiti, Coordinator
of the Pastoral Department of AMECEA; Father Joseph Healey, MM and Mrs. Rose
Musimba, members of the Eastern African SCCs Training Team.
member AMECEA delegation to the workshop included Father Febian Pikiti, Coordinator
of the Pastoral Department of AMECEA; Father Joseph Healey, MM and Mrs. Rose
Musimba, members of the Eastern African SCCs Training Team.
The
SECAM-MISSIO Small Christian Community is supposed to be a small team whose
membership will be those pastoral agents who are actively involved in the
promotion of this ecclesial model.
SECAM-MISSIO Small Christian Community is supposed to be a small team whose
membership will be those pastoral agents who are actively involved in the
promotion of this ecclesial model.
The Networking
Team will promote information and sharing of experiences about the importance
of SCCs in the Local Churches of Africa, reciprocal theological reflection with
the Department of Theology of Missio in Germany and interaction with other
continental bodies where SCCs are seen as a new way of being church.
Team will promote information and sharing of experiences about the importance
of SCCs in the Local Churches of Africa, reciprocal theological reflection with
the Department of Theology of Missio in Germany and interaction with other
continental bodies where SCCs are seen as a new way of being church.
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| Group photo of the Workshop participants in Burkina Faso |
In his
“Opening Address” at the workshop, Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo, the Archbishop
of Ouagadougou, emphasized the significance of small Base Christian Communities
in Africa in relation to the 2015-2016 worldwide Year of Mercy in the Catholic
Church and the continent-wide 2015-2016 African Year of Reconciliation (ATR).
“Opening Address” at the workshop, Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo, the Archbishop
of Ouagadougou, emphasized the significance of small Base Christian Communities
in Africa in relation to the 2015-2016 worldwide Year of Mercy in the Catholic
Church and the continent-wide 2015-2016 African Year of Reconciliation (ATR).
He said that
African BCCs combine the pastoral experience of the apostolic church in the 1st
Century and the values of African culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. BCCs
play an important role in the growth of the African Church today and promote
the theology and practice of the Church as Family of God. He urged the
delegates to find concrete ways that SCCs/BCCs can help family and marriage in
Africa, adding that at the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October, 2015 “we
African Bishops will have something to say.”
African BCCs combine the pastoral experience of the apostolic church in the 1st
Century and the values of African culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. BCCs
play an important role in the growth of the African Church today and promote
the theology and practice of the Church as Family of God. He urged the
delegates to find concrete ways that SCCs/BCCs can help family and marriage in
Africa, adding that at the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October, 2015 “we
African Bishops will have something to say.”
All the
participants in the workshop felt support for their involvement in SCCs around
the world and expressed both enthusiasm and commitment to march ahead.
participants in the workshop felt support for their involvement in SCCs around
the world and expressed both enthusiasm and commitment to march ahead.
Source: Fr. Joseph Healey, MM
