SECAM: Bishops in Africa Call for Collective Fight Against Insecurity, Emphasize ownership of SECAM
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At the end of the 19th plenary assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) held in Accra, Ghana, the bishops have called on stakeholders and the Church to collectively join hands and fight against insecurity which is a threat on the continent, and at the same time they have urged bishops’ conferences to identify with SECAM.
In their statement issued Sunday, July 31, Church leaders in Africa and the Islands highlighted various challenges leading to insecurity on the continent hence the need to collectively strategize on solutions to the problem.
“Several regions of our continent are experiencing great insecurity due to socio-political instability, violence, economic poverty, weak health structures, insurgency, terrorism, exploitation of religion for political purposes and lack of respect for the environment and good governance,” reads part of the bishops’ communique issued at the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Accra.
Based on the insecurity factors, members of SECAM underscored that the “social and political stakeholders and decision-makers have a heavy responsibility in the management of the countries,” and have called on stakeholders to continue doing “their utmost to fight against insecurity for our peoples and our countries.”
“These situations are causes of anxiety for our people. This is why we are sending a message to all people of goodwill to help put an end to them” the bishops added, urging foreign forces to get involved in building peace and security on the African continent and all “peoples to be alert to the situations of insecurity and collectively seek solutions to the problem.”
The bishops further called on the Church to take a key role in fighting against insecurity and work in partnership with other actors to promote peace and justice.
“The Church must play her prophetic role, by firmly and clearly denouncing situations of insecurity and their causes. She must also continue to offer everyone reasons for hope and peace in collaboration with organizations working for reconciliation, justice and peace,” members of SECAM said in their message read out on Sunday by Bishop Gabriel Edoe Kumordji of Ghana’s Keta-Akatsi Diocese.
The one-week plenary held under the theme, “Ownership of SECAM: Security and Migration in Africa and the Islands,” brought together over 120 prelates from Africa and Madagascar together with other delegates across the globe including the Vatican.
Addressing the concern about ownership of SECAM which is the organ of pastoral solidarity for the Church in Africa and Madagascar, the bishops said, “Evangelization which is the principal task of the Church requires that each ecclesial entity should, as much as possible, be able to take care of its needs.”
“It is therefore urgent that SECAM which is our continental body for the exercise of evangelization should strive through the concrete engagement of all her members to be financially and materially self-sufficient,” reads the bishops’ statement as they cite the post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Africae Munus on the Church in Africa in service to reconciliation, justice and peace.
As the Church pastors on the continent, the bishops promise to support SECAM’s mission and urge all conferences to “identify with her in order to make her more dynamic and functional in the execution of her mission of evangelization.”
Additionally, they pledged to carry out the mission which Christ has entrusted to them calling on other faithful to join them as they commit “to living a life of holiness as a sign of our Christian testimony.”
SECAM comprises of eight regional conferences including the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC), the Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA/CERAO) and the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa Region (ACERAC),
It also includes the Regional Episcopal Conferences of North Africa (CERNA), the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy of Egypt (AHCE), Madagascar and Episcopal Conferences of Indian Ocean (CEDOI), and the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA).
