DJIBOUTI: Church in Djibouti and Somali Set to Finalize Diocesan Phase of Synodal Journey
Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator Mogadishu, Somalia
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Following the ongoing two-year synodal journey that commenced on October 9, 2021, after the solemn opening by his Holiness Pope Francis, the Catholic Church in Djibouti and Somalia are set to soon finalize the first phase (Diocesan phase) of the process.
In a report shared with AMECEA online Wednesday, February 9, Bishop Giorgio Bertin of the Catholic Diocese of Djibouti highlighted that in the first phase where Christians are expected to listen to the Holy Spirit, to the Scriptures, consult, participate and respond to questions, the faithful have responded and their feedback is soon to be sent to the Conference.
“Our Presbyterian Council adapted the questionnaire given to us by the Secretariat of the Synod in Rome to our situation and the responses were already collected,” Bishop Bertin who is the Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, Somalia said in his report adding, “We already had a general assembly for the Church in Djibouti, all the answers were examined: corrections and suggestions given and the new version of the answers will be examined by the Presbyterian Council and then sent to the secretariat of our Bishops’ Conference (CELRA) by the end of this month of February.”
The Synod on Synodality themed “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission,” is expected to culminate in October 2023 and be marked by Universal phase “With the celebration of the General Assembly of Bishops in Rome, and presided over by the Bishop of Rome, before which the Pope is calling on all the baptized to journey together and “discover the face and form of a synodal Church, in which “everyone has something to learn.”
Pope Francis underscores in the preparatory document which emphasizes, “Greater involvement of lay people in decision-making process on issues that affect the whole Church and everyone in the Church” that “The faithful people, the college of bishops, the Bishop of Rome: all need to listen to each other, and to the Holy Spirit, the ‘Spirit of truth’ in order to know what He ‘says to the Churches.”
Speaking about the Diocese of Mogadishu, Somalia where he has been the Apostolic Administrator for over three decades, Bishop Bertin a member of the Order of Friars Minor discloses that even though there are “very few Somali Catholics and other Catholics working in humanitarian organizations,” the synodal process is ongoing with the few Christians involved in the process.
“We have distributed to the faithful a very short and more adopted questionnaire,” the Prelate said in his report and continued, “In this case (for Somalia) we cannot meet together like for the Diocese of Djibouti, but we have received some few responses which will be sent to CELRA (Conference of Latin Bishops of the Arab Region) by the beginning of March.”
According to Catholic Hierarchy website, Catholics are about 1.26% of the total population of Djibouti.
Somali and Djibouti are affiliate member of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa – AMECEA.
