AFRICA PREPARED FOR THE SECOND SESSION OF THE SYNOD

The delegates from Africa and its islands for the Second Session of the Synod on Synodality have gone through various stages of preparation and are ready to take part in the final session of this ongoing Synod, which will take place in Rome (30 September – 27 October 2024).

Workshops, conferences, reflections on Synodality, all around the Continent and its Islands, are part of the great number of steps that get prepared the delegates from Africa and the Islands. Cardinals, Bishops, priest, religious, lay Catholics, but also brothers and sisters from other religions, gathered in many places and many kinds of sessions to reflect on how the synodal process can renew the Church in its life and mission and, consequently, point the way to a better world, a world of peace and fraternity.

During the workshops, especially, the Seminar organized in April 2024 by SECAM Secretariat and its partners, in Nairobi, the Synod delegates shared their experiences from the launch of the synodal process in October 2021 until the first Assembly held in October 2023. And then, they reflected on the guiding questions proposed by the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in the document “Towards October 2024”, in preparation for the next Assembly of October 2024. During discussions and reflections on “How can we become a synodal Church in mission?”, there was consensus among the delegates that Africa should explore more the experience of Small Christian Communities (SCCs) and the rich teachings of the philosophical principle of Ubuntu, in order to better understand and live synodality.

At the same time, Africa must share with the world how the seeds of synodality present in these two experiences (SCCs & Ubuntu) have made the Church in Africa grow as a true family of God, where forms of mass and anonymity are overcome by bonds of fraternity, interconnection and mutual support; where mission is not only done with words, but above all with small gestures of attention, affection, visits, sharing and communion of feelings in different circumstances.

The conclusions of this workshop and further theological reflections on the question “How can we be a synodal Church in mission?” from the African point of view, are some of the inputs that were compiled and sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

Rev. Fr. Rafael Simbine Junior