{"id":18718,"date":"2023-11-24T21:25:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T21:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=18718"},"modified":"2023-11-24T21:25:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T21:25:27","slug":"secam-the-spirit-of-the-synod-was-impressive-african-delegates-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2023\/11\/24\/secam-the-spirit-of-the-synod-was-impressive-african-delegates-reveal\/","title":{"rendered":"SECAM: \u201cThe Spirit of the Synod was Impressive,\u201d African Delegates Reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA<\/em><\/p>\n

The Secretary-General for the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) disclosed that phase one of the Synodal Assembly that took place in Rome from 4-29 October, had very impressive experiences including the Spirit of the Synod.<\/p>\n

Sharing his experiences and lessons at a post-synodal webinar convened by the African Synodality Initiative (ASI), Wednesday, November 15, Fr. Anthony Makunde who was a delegate for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops and one of the experts tasked with the responsibility to facilitate the synodal journey identified the aspects which to him made the Synod inspiring and extraordinary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spirit of the Synod was very impressive. I am happy that quite a number of delegates disclosed that what was done during this assembly, is the way to carry out various activities in our respective dioceses, conferences, and even in families,\u201d the AMECEA\u2019s Secretary General disclosed and highlighted, \u201cthe conversation in the spirit, praying while discussing issues of importance, issues of faith, issues of the Church and issues of life, that was very touching to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr. Makunde who was among the 400 synod delegates narrated that the synodal method outlined in the Instrumentum Laboris <\/em>and which focuses on <\/em>listening<\/em> to the Holy Spirit and \u201cdiscerning the signs of the times,\u201d was another key concept that enriched the monthlong gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the methodology that was used in the synod. That to me, was a very unique experience. It is a methodology that allows each participant to speak and to be listened to by the group regardless of one\u2019s status or role,\u201d the native of Tanzania shared with the online participants as he recalled that the working groups which comprised 12 delegates from various countries and nationalities were normally given four minutes for sharing their views and \u201cthey obliged to the regulations very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, Fr. Makunde continued, \u201cThe participation of the delegates was admirable. No one really felt deterred regardless of the four weeks of the assembly. The Holy Spirit inspired the synod until we came up with the final synod document that will be sent back to the local churches for further discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his part, another synod delegate synod Fr. Rafael Simbine Junior<\/strong> the Secretary General of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) shared his experiences and lessons during the Wednesday webinar themed\u00a0\u2018Walking the Synodal Path: Reflections on the Synod on Synodality \u2013 Voices from Africa.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

According to Fr. Simbine the monthlong experience for the synod that was held under the theme \u2018For a synodal Church: Communion, participation and mission,\u2019 it is a revelation of a new era for the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can say that the new way of being a Church has been launched. This new Pentecost, this synod on synodality, will surely renew the Church in the communion of her members and in the active participation of all in the life and mission of the Church, the Mozambican cleric said<\/strong> and explained, \u201cOur change is emerging on the new way of being and acting, rediscovering the value of silence, using the method of conversation in the spirit, listening to each other and listening to the Holy Spirit. These are all tools that are at the same time old and new.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further expressed that the synodality experience in Rome was an opportunity to realize that the Catholic Church is One but with many diversities hence if the Church in Africa does not want to be left behind, the people should journey together.<\/p>\n

Besides, the cleric said, \u201cThe final synthesis of this synodal session recommends that all those who have experienced synodality in the past month, should not only talk about synodality but above all be witnesses by their actions; to the beauty of this new way of being Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SECAMS\u2019s Secretary General asked if the synodal report could be translated into local languages for ease of understanding saying, \u201cLet us work hard to involve all the members of the Catholic Church, of the family of God in Africa and the islands in this synodal process, by giving back this synodal synthesis in simple ways and translate it into our local languages as we allow our experts in different fields to assist us on this synodal journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ASI team that organized this virtual session for delegates to share their experiences is a partnership between the Jesuits Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM), the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), and the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA).<\/p>\n

The keynote speaker during the webinar was Archbishop Andrew Nkea<\/em>\u00a0of Bamenda, the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) and a member of the Ordinary Council of the Synod, appointed by Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

Other panelists included\u00a0Sr. Marie Solange Randrianirina<\/em>\u00a0the Regional Provincial of the Daughters of Saint Paul (FSP) in Madagascar,\u00a0and\u00a0Ms. Sheila Pires<\/em>\u00a0the communications officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference (SACBC) who was the Secretary of the Synod Information Commission during the assembly.<\/p>\n

The virtual session was moderated by\u00a0Fr. Andrew Kaufa<\/em>,<\/strong>\u00a0the Coordinator of the Social Communications department of AMECEA, and a consultor to the Dicastery for Communication at the Vatican who was with the communication team in Rome for the monthlong\u00a0meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA The Secretary-General for the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-secam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18718","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=18718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18719,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18718\/revisions\/18719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}