ZAMBIA: ‘Few Men participate in Church Movements and Associations in the AMECEA Region’ – Report

The participation of men in major Church movements
and associations including Small Christian Communities is still minimal in many
countries within the AMECEA Region. The revelation emerged during the
deliberations on various reports at the Council for Laity in Eastern Africa
(COLEA) conference held in Lusaka Zambia from 16th -20th
March 2016.

Participants from various countries expressed the
challenge of lack of commitments from men when it comes to associations and
joining prayer groups or movements. From Kenya, the national chairman of
Catholic Men Association said that because of the minimal participation and
involvement of men in forums such as the Small Christian Communities, the
impact of their activities as Catholic Men Association is very minimal. The
same sentiments were shared from counterpart from Zambia who said that while the
National Council for Catholic Women in Zambia (NCCW) and the National Council
for Catholic Youth in Zambia are well established with huge impact across the
country, men are not yet well established.

It also emerged that some dioceses have well
established Catholic men associations and other movements for men and their
participation in the Small Christian Communities is fairly well, however, the
majorities of the dioceses do not have well established Catholic Men
associations and movements while still acknowledging that their participations
in the Small Christian communities is relatively low.

Fr. Febian Mulenga Pikiti, Coordinator of AMECEA
Pastoral Department explained that the Church needs to find ways and means of
integrating men and women in the parish life and the ecclesiastical structure
so that they remain bonded to Christ the true vine.

He observed that among the Lay movements and
associations, the Catholic Women is the most successful in almost all the
AMECEA Countries.

By Pamela
Adinda, AMECEA Online News