KENYA: AMECEA Bishops Stock-take Young People’s Situation in Preparation Meet for Synod
Rt. Rev. Philip Anyolo (L) Chairman of KCCB Giving Opening remarks at the beginning of the Meeting, (R) Rev. Fr. Anthony Makunde, Secretary General of AMECEA
Accompaniment of young people, empowering them to be responsible in the society, formation of their conscience through catechism as well as giving them space to contribute to the growth of the Church are among the cross-cutting issues that emerged during the Second Preparatory Meeting for the Youth Synod to be held in Rome next month
The meeting which was organized by AMECEA Pastoral Department for the Archbishops and Bishops delegates from the AMECEA Region to the Synod of Bishops on Youth Faith and Vocational Discernment provided a forum for the delegates from the region to deliberate together so that they can represent AMECEA as one family of God.
Apart from coming together for the purpose of getting to know who is representing which Conference, Fr. Anthony Makunde, the Secretary General of AMECEA explained that the Delegates came together “to go through the Preparation Document, Instrumentum Laboris, and be able to prioritise the many elements that are highlighted in it, and come up with concrete proposals for our local AMECEA context.” He further said that the meeting was meant to enable the Synod Fathers to reorganize themselves as they plan their trip to Rome.
President of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Rt. Rev. Philip Anyolo, who was in attendance as member of the AMECEA Executive Board and also by virtue of his office at KCCB, urged his brother Bishop delegates to the Synod to have young people from their respective Conferences and the AMECEA Region at heart.
Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo and Rev. Fr. Peter Knox, SJ
“The young people today are being disturbed by the noise and confusion seemingly prevalent in the world; however, amidst all these challenges the youth must be guided to undertake a journey of vocation discernment to discover God’s plan in their live. That is what we are doing here today,” he said, adding that, “This is the reason for our going to the Synod next month, to help our young people find their position in life, which is the major call to holiness as the Holy Father has expressed.”
Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo, former Secretary General of AMECEA who was among the facilitation team, explained that the meeting was based on two presuppositions – firstly that for a Synod to be successful, there must be a lot of listening; and that a Synod is an opportunity to listen to that specific topic that the Holy Father has identified.
“The second presupposition is that the synod is also an opportunity for the Church to make decisions that will affects the mission and life of the Church in future. Based on these two presuppositions it is important for us as a region to get organized in some way; we cannot go to Rome without knowing what Ethiopia is thinking, what Zambia is thinking, what the rest of AMECEA Conferences are thinking because we need to contribute to the mission in an organized manner. So the purpose is that we bring together the Synod Fathers from the Region to get to know what has been happening, and out of what has been happening to try to ask ourselves as AMECEA Synod Fathers how to address the issues, who will address what, and what do we need to talk about,” he explained.
The meeting which was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 4th to 7th September, 2018 through financial support from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was facilitated by Rev. Fr. Peter Knox, SJ, dean of students at Hekima College, Rev. Fr. Joseph Healey, MM former coordinator of AMECEA Social Communications Department as well as Fr. Lugonzo.
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
