SECAM: “Be Servants of Reconciliation,” Cardinal Turkson Urges Delegates at Bishop’s 20th Plenary
His Eminence Cardinal Turkson
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Vatican official His Eminence Peter Appiah Cardinal Turkson has called on Catholic Bishops and all the delegates gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, for the 20th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) to embrace their mission as “servants of reconciliation, justice, and peace.”
Addressing congregants in his homily at the opening Mass of the assembly at Regina Pacis Parish in Kigali on Thursday, July 31, the Ghanaian-born Prelate emphasized the need for the Church in Africa to recover and live out its identity as the Church family of God, while responding boldly to the call of the risen Christ to proclaim the message of salvation.
“In this Eucharistic celebration, we meet the risen Lord who sends us, like the early disciples, to proclaim the Good News,” Cardinal Turkson the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences said and emphasized, “But this mission is also deeply tied to our identity as family: God as our Father, the Church as our Mother, and each other as brothers and sisters.”
Reflecting on the enduring legacy of the first and second African Synods, which took place in 1994 and 2009, respectively, the Prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (PIHD) reminded the people of the Church’s continued mission in a continent marked by both hope and suffering. He referenced the twin realities of 1994: the collapse of apartheid in South Africa and the Rwandan genocide, contrasting signs of progress and profound tragedy.
With this experience in Africa, the Cardinal explained, “The Synod Fathers then proposed the image of the Church as the Family of God, an image rooted in communion, love, and mutual responsibility. And today, in this land once torn apart, we are called again to this vision, more urgently than ever.”
He highlighted how Pope Benedict XVI carried forward Pope John Paul II’s dream for a renewed African Church by convoking the Second African Synod under the theme: The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice, and Peace.
“SECAM now invites us to return to this vision,” he said and explained further, “The message is clear: to be family, we must also be agents of reconciliation. Because we hurt one another, we must seek healing. And because healing is not complete without justice, we must work for peace.”
Cardinal Turkson encouraged the delegates to allow the vision of SECAM 2025–2050, as outlined in the theme ‘Christ, source of hope, reconciliation and peace,’ to guide them as they chart the way forward during the four-day plenary assembly. This vision, he stressed, is not just strategic but pastoral, theological, and spiritual.
“As SECAM marks this milestone gathering, we are not simply commemorating a past, we are being sent anew to be servants of reconciliation in our Church, in our nations, and across Africa and its islands,” he said.
The 20th Plenary Assembly of SECAM brings together over 230 delegates, including bishops, clergy, religious, and laity from across the continent. The Kigali assembly builds on decades of collaborative efforts to shape a Church that is authentically African and fully Catholic, faithful to Christ’s mission of healing and hope.
