TANZANIA: The Tanzania Synod of Bishops Committee Reflects On Synthesis Report of the First Session of General Assembly
Sarah Pelaji
The Tanzania Synod of Bishops Committee has held a concluding meeting on the Synthesis Report of the First Session of the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in Rome from October 4 to 29 in 2023.The meeting was held on 16th April 2024 at The Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), headed by the Chairman of the Committee Rev. Florence Rutaihwa who is the Director of Pastoral Directorate at TEC.
The Committee has identified some priorities for the local Church for a deeper reflection on synodality, the first being ‘People in Poverty, Protagonists of the Church’s Journey’ as captured in Chapter 4 of the Synthesis Report.
According to the committee, focusing on the poor is real evangelization as the Church encounters the face and flesh of Christ, who Himself prioritized the poor and the marginalized.
The poor manifest the poverty of human beings and their need for God concretely. The Church, in some ways, has forgotten the poor in rendering social services like health and Education by placing quite unaffordable costs that forget and/or exclude the needy.
We recommend that those with special needs be involved in various forms of participation in the decision-making process in the life of the Church.
Identifying the needs of those with special needs in order to increase their participation in the Church, such as infrastructure for the disabled, places to sit in the church, sign language for the deaf, and reading materials for the blind (printing the Bible for the blind), etc.
Guided by the Social Doctrines of the Church, the committee note that there is a need to strengthen Church service departments like Caritas to refocus on their mission towards the poor, refugees, displaced population, prisoners, orphans, widows, and all the marginalized in society.
Other priority concerns identified by the Committee include ‘The Consecrated Life and Lay Associations and Movements: A Charismatic Sign’ (SR chapter 10) and ‘the involvement of All the Baptized’ (Ref. Chapter 16 of the Synthesis Report)
The Church of Tanzania continues to recommend the adoption of Small Christian
Communities as one of the better ways to involve all the baptized in the life and mission of the Church in a synodal way. This way of being a Church allows even those who are considered marginalized or forgotten to take an active part in it.
The only challenge that continues to exist so far is the low participation of men and the youth in meetings of small Christian communities compared to more active women. There is a felt need to encourage the participation of men and the youth so that they can become more active in playing their role in the synodal Church.
On use of cultural images, the Committee observes that the ecclesial model of small Christian communities enhances a sense of community, strong family ties, a sense of mystery, and sincere consideration for the poor. Small Christian communities bring closer Christian families who can know one another, share the Catholic Faith, and help one another materially and spiritually. This approach reflects the life of the Early Church as narrated in the book of Acts of Apostles (Acts 4:32-35).
Another important areas to be addressed is ‘Women in the life and Mission of the Church’ (SR chapter 2). The Committee observed that Church in Tanzania sees a need to motivate and encourage greater participation of women in various organs of participation in the Church and at different levels. However, care should be taken so that this does not appear to be a gender competition.
