ETHIOPIA: SECAM Governance Working Group discusses Religious Radicalization and Conflicts in the Continent
By AMECEA Online News Reporter
SECAM Governance Working Group met in Addis Ababa from the 29th September to 5th October 2016,
to discuss how to better collaborate with the regional bodies and African Union in the areas of violent conflict and tackling the problems of religious radicalization.
Group pose for a photo with the SG of
Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat Abba Hagos
Hayish (with the roman collar)
The group which includes the AMECEA Justice, Peace and Caritas Department met for a second time in the AMECEA region to deliberate on how the church in Africa can increase her engagement on the current challenges facing governance in the continent.
In their discussions on issues of violent conflict the Head AMECEA Justice Peace and Caritas Antony Mbandi presented the causes violent conflict, factors that lead to escalation of conflict and possible African led solutions to resolving the violent conflicts within Africa. From the discussions the working group adopted to continue deepening research work in the areas of conflict resolution while engaging those within our realm of influence to silence the cries of our people.
The issue on religious radicalization was presented by Fr. Rigobert Minani (Director of the Jesuits Africa Social Centres Network – JASCNET), who is a member of the group and the Secretary General of the Ethiopian Bishops Conference Fr. Hagos Hayish discussed the case of Ethiopia.
Reflections from the presentations led the team to propose some strategies, which include the development of regional and country level think-tanks to continuously provide research findings to the Bishops’ conferences and to establish mechanisms of moving from research, to knowledge and to action.
The group chaired by Fr. John Patrick Ngoyi from Nigeria, draws membership from across the continent with the SECAM/AU Liaison Officer as the secretariat.
