SECAM seminar for new African bishops to strengthen responsibility and communion

“Knowing and Owing SECAM”, is the theme of a Seminar for the new African Catholic Bishops ordained across the continent and its islands in the past three years from 2022 to 2024. Organized from 13^th to 17^th February by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) in Accra (Ghana), this seminar aimed “to reflect on their collective responsibility as bishops” and “to strengthen the bonds of communion”.

The first seminar of SECAM for the new African Catholic Bishops is officially opened Friday 14^th February, 2025, in the capital town of Ghana. About fifty bishops of Africa are participating in this important meeting, among whom forty-two new bishops from the continent and its islands.

In his opening speech, His Eminence Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa and President of SECAM, urged all the bishops of the Continent to a “collective responsibility as bishops”. “This gathering, he said, is an opportunity for us to reflect on our collective responsibility as bishops, not only in leading our dioceses but also in strengthening the bonds of communion across the entire African continent through SECAM”.

As the new bishops have embarked on the “journey of leadership in the Church”, the Congolese cardinal encouraged them to consider themselves as part of something bigger than their dioceses, to engage actively in SECAM’s initiatives and take their rightful place in shaping its future. “Be the voice of the voiceless in your communities, promoting justice, peace, and reconciliation”, stressed Cardinal Ambongo who invites them to “live out the spirit of synodality, while walking together with priests, religious, and laity”.

He mentioned and condemned the cycle of violence, terrorism, insecurity and political instability in many countries of the continent such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan, Cameroon, Mozambique, etc. “In the face of these daunting challenges, the Church cannot remain a passive observer, said the cardinal. We are called to be prophetic voices—speaking out against injustice, promoting reconciliation, and advocating for peace”.

As gathering is taking place in the aftermath of the Synod on Synodality, Card. Ambongo called the bishops, “to encourage and strengthen the synodal model at all levels—diocesan, national, and continental”.  Mentioning the Jubilee Year theme, “Pilgrims of Hope”, he noticed: “hope is something that our continent desperately needs today” and “we cannot ignore these realities”.

The Apostolic Nuncio in Ghana, Archbishop Julien Kaboré, members of the SECAM Standing Committee and other distinguished guests took part in the opening session of this workshop organized to introduce the new bishops to the SECAM history, structure, mission, collaboration and the various commissions that support its work “for the good of the Church and the people in Africa and its islands”.

Charles Ayetan