SYNOD ON SYNODALITY: Synodality Encourages Inspiration and Guidance of the Holy Spirit: African Cardinals
Cardinal Ameyu
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As the month-long 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is nearing its end, some African Cardinals attending the assembly in Rome have appreciated the essence of the Holy Spirit not only in the Church but also in society, emphasizing that when the people of God acknowledge and listen to the Spirit, society will journey together in synodality.
“The Spirit which is present in a person can help him or her connect to the next person and the inter-relationship begins,” the Metropolitan Archbishop of Juba in South Sudan, Stephen Cardinal Ameyu Martin Mulla, shared with the Vatican News in a video clip, stressing that, people have weak relationships no wonder, “Many of our problems in families or societies come about.”
He added in the clip published Friday, October 18, that if people listen to one another in the Spirit, “everything can be resolved peacefully in society.”
The XVI Synodal assembly themed ‘For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,’ applied the concept termed “Spiritual conversation,” as the guiding tool for the synod which the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops described as an approach that takes seriously what happens in the hearts of those who are conversing, paying attention to the spiritual movements in oneself and the other person during the conversation.
On his part, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu the President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) echoed the same that the Holy Spirit who initiated the synodal process, “Will be the guide until the real implementation of what the Church is trying to achieve is realized.”
The Congolese Cardinal who is the Local Ordinary of Kinshasa Archdiocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlighted in a video clip published Tuesday, October 22, that people cannot talk of synodality in a context where they are tearing each other apart.
In his concern, the Cardinal posed, “How can we talk of synodality in a context where there is a group of people who are playing the games of the great exploiters in the mining sector to the detriment of a large part of the population?
Concerning the exploitation of minerals, the Cardinal had earlier shared with the Vatican News that “Many people suffer and die because of the exploitation of mineral resources in Africa. The extraction and transportation of these minerals dispossess and displace families from their lands.”
According to the President of SECAM, “There is often violent demolition of homes, water contamination, air pollution with heavy metals, cyanide released into nature, and serious damage to agricultural, livestock or fishing yields.”
Cardinal Ambongo a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) pointed out that the people of God cannot talk about synodality where there is the proliferation of new Churches and Evangelical trends as well as “Where fundamental Islamist tendencies are emerging.”
