Roman Catholic Church in Africa has Reason to Celebrate Golden Jubilee of Unity and Pastoral Action

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

Late Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka, the first South of the Sahara

Uganda, the birthplace of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar is to host its Golden Jubilee celebrations and the 18^th Plenary Assembly from 19^th to 29^th July 2019.

The establishment of this continental body, SECAM, was hatched by the African Bishops during the Second Vatican Council with the aim of uniting the Catholic Church in Africa as a Family of God for effective pastoral ministry, through collaboration and joint pastoral action. The Council was held from 1962 to 1965.

According to Bishop Joseph Antony Zziwa, the Chairman of the Uganda Episcopal Conference, the challenges the Church in Africa and the world over is facing are no reason for the Church not to celebrate.

“At its inauguration, Uganda had a few hundred indigenous priests. Today they are over two thousand. And the statistics from the Vatican and in our possession indicate that vocations are on the rise.

“In South Sudan, the Church is at the fore front of caring for those caught up in the hostilities raging in the country. The Church is feeding them, constructing shelters and temporary schools to enable children acquire some education. It is the same thing in the DR Congo and the world over.” Bishop Zziwa is also the Ordinary of Kiyinda-Mityana diocese

The celebration is to be held under the theme: Church-Family of God in Africa, Celebrate your Jubilee! Proclaim Jesus Christ your Saviour. 

 

 Uganda today is divided into four ecclesiastical provinces headed by archbishops. On top is Archbishop Kizito Lwanga of Kampala Archdiocese and above is Archbishop Emmanuel Obbo of Tororo Archdiocese.

SECAM was inaugurated on 29^th July 1996 at Lubaga Cathedral in Kampala during the first Plenary Assembly of the African Bishops. It was officially closed by Pope Paul VI, now Saint, on 31^st July 1969 during his visit to the country, the first ever of a Pontiff.

The Symposium is composed of eight Regional Conferences including the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC), Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACERAC), Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA/ CERAO) and the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy of Egypt (AHCE).

Others are Regional Episcopal Conferences of North Africa(CERNA), Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA), Inter- Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA)  and Madagascar and Episcopal Conferences of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI).

SECAM is headquartered in Accra, Ghana. The Plenary Assembly is the highest body of SECAM and meets once every three years. English, French and Portuguese are the official languages used.

Delegates are expected from all over the world and will include Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Religious men and women, representatives of various partners and selected institutions. By press time, the head of the delegation from the Vatican was yet to be named.