{"id":15313,"date":"2022-10-07T16:45:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T16:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=15313"},"modified":"2022-10-08T05:51:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T05:51:33","slug":"jcam-amecea-paradigm-of-walking-together-should-steer-synodal-process-in-africa-says-cardinal-czerny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2022\/10\/07\/jcam-amecea-paradigm-of-walking-together-should-steer-synodal-process-in-africa-says-cardinal-czerny\/","title":{"rendered":"JCAM\/AMECEA: Paradigm of Walking Together Should Steer Synodal Process in Africa, Says Cardinal Czerny"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

At a webinar to launch a publication highlighting synodal experiences in Africa, the Vatican-based His Eminence Michael Cardinal Czerny has urged the people of Africa to reflect on the need of walking together for the successful realization of the ongoing synod on synodality to be marked in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for Synodal contributions from Africa to be aware of the real roots of the meaning of Synod and to hang onto the paradigm of walking together,\u201d Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (PIHD) Cardinal Czerny shared with participants on Wednesday, September 28, acknowledging that, \u201cIn Africa, most people are used to walking, and walking together,\u201d an approach that would be appropriate for the synod.<\/p>\n

In his sharing during the virtual session convened by the African Synodality Initiative (ASI), a partnership between the\u00a0Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar\u00a0(JCAM), the\u00a0Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar\u00a0(SECAM), and the\u00a0Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa\u00a0(AMECEA), the Cardinal who is member of the Society of Jesus emphasized that \u201cIt is in walking together that relationships are built and strengthened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through walking together the Cardinal said, \u201cThose who get tired along the way are encouraged, supported, and guided to continue the journey,\u201d hence through this walk, \u201cwe learn and discern together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinal Czerny once worked in Africa for eight-years where he initiated the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN) to assist Jesuits in responding to the HIV\/AIDS pandemic.<\/p>\n

As a missionary who had served in the continent for years and understands the aspect of walking together, Cardinal Czerny notes that even Jesus walked with humanity and posed a question to Africans saying, \u201cWhat lessons can we draw from Jesus walking with us in order to enrich our journey as we walk together as a synodal Church in Africa, in other parts of the world and eventually together as a world-wide Church?<\/p>\n

He appreciates that the e-book<\/a> that was launched September 28, titled \u201ca Pocket Companion to Synodality: Voices from Africa,\u201d presents how to walk like the 12 disciples who journeyed with Jesus hence much of their preparations during their mission took place while walking.<\/p>\n

Based on this observation, Cardinal Czerny notes that as the \u201cChurch wants to keep going far, while entering into the pedagogy of walking,\u201d there is need to implement the African proverb which says, \u201cIf you want to go fast, walk alone, but if you want to go far, walk together.\u201d<\/p>\n

While addressing nearly 100 online participants during the webinar, the Cardinal who was sharing his reflections on \u201cwhy theological insight and voices from local and global church contexts matter\u201d highlighted on the need to learn from Jesus the significance of walking together.<\/p>\n

During the three years of Jesus ministry, \u201cthe disciples never walked alone; usually, they were together all of them or in small groups,\u201d the Canadian Cardinal shared and continued, \u201cThe Master never sent them out on their own but in pairs so they could learn how to walk together in the same direction, with the same rhythm, and supporting each<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cover of the published book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

other when they were tired or find their way together when they were lost or draw out together the fruit of where they have been, what they had done, what they had experienced, what they had failed to do, how they felt blessed and how they felt cast and chased away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about the goals of the Synod on Synodality which has the theme: \u201cCommunion, Participation, Mission\u201d Cardinal Czerny notes that the Pope \u201cis making the process of synodality the thematic content to become the Church of the Third Millennium that God wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the Synod is to strengthen the salvific mission of the Church in the contemporary world through an integrated participation of all the faithful,\u201d the Vatican\u2019s Prefect for the Dicastery of PIHD disclosed and added, \u201cthe habit of walking, travelling, or journeying together side by side as friends is the spirit of community living. So the purpose of the synodal process is to prepare ourselves, our communities, and our Church structures for the communion and participation and mission that God is calling us to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinal further linked the paradigm of walking to the current situation on ecology that the future of the planet depends on rediscovering the significance of walking and \u201callowing other forms of transport which are fueled by carbon-based products to become secondary and not primary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA At a webinar to launch a publication highlighting synodal experiences…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea","category-amecea-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15313"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15334,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15313\/revisions\/15334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}