ACWECA: President Challenges Member Association to Contribute to Fulfill Membership Fee Obligation

Ginaba Lino

The president of the Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa (ACWECA) has on the second day of the ongoing plenary assembly challenged any association which is part of the grouping to fulfil their obligation to contribute towards the financial sustenance of the Association.

Mother Mary-Cecilia the ACWECA president regrets to note that there are Association in the region which do not contribute to the membership fee.

“I want to announce here that if any Association does not contribute to the membership, maybe, they should declare their position. Do they belong to ACWECA or not? We want to encourage you: if you really want to be a member of this active body in Africa, support its operations and development.”

Mother Mary appealed to all ACWECA members to encourage their Congregations to contribute generously and on time, to ensure that program continues successfully despite challenges.

“We urge you to encourage congregations to contribute generously… I know we have challenges especially with the national association in Ethiopia. In fact, we discussed with the chairperson and the deputy about the challenges.”

She further calls upon the members to be patient and to collaborate with each other as Pope Francis is calling for collaboration for the well-being of the Church.

“Let us be patient and listen to our brothers in the Confederation of African Madagascar on how we can collaborate as Pope Francis is saying calling us to put our energies together for the common good.”

In the timetable of Day 2 of the plenary assembly, there was mention about endorsement of ACWECA trustees and change of the office bearers but it was paused as there is a need to put some things in place.

“In our program, we had the endorsement of ACWECA trustees and changing of the office bearers. There still some things that need to be settled between ACWECA and COMSAM. When the president of COMSAM addresses, then we shall know the way forward for this collaboration and this directive is from Rome.”

“We work in the Church and therefore, we need to listen to our Mother Church. Be patient with the changes that are going to come,” Mother Mary said.

She adds that after the presentation from the president of COMSAM, they will hold a meeting as delegates which will start on Friday to Saturday on the way forward after the 18^th Plenary Assembly.