Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – The verse from St. Matthew's Gospel, “You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world,” which was chosen as the theme of the II Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, scheduled to take place in Rome this coming October 4-25, was at the heart of the National Formation Seminar for laity, held in Nairobi this past August 18-22. The event was organized by the International Forum of Catholic Action and the Commission for Pastoral Ministry, and the Apostolate of Laity and Family Life of the Kenyan Bishops' Conference (KEC).
The reflection on the specific contribution that the laity are expected to make in the life of the Church in Africa was attended by over 70 participants from 15 dioceses of the 4 largest cities of Kenya (Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nyeri), along with representatives from several lay movements and associations on the country and from other African nations – Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan – and even from Europe – Italy and Romania.
In opening the seminar, Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya, Archbishop Alain Lebeaupin, encouraged participants to reflect on the formation of the laity, “to guide the future of the Church and society on this earth, on paths of justice, peace, and reconciliation.”
The workshops were opened by Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitega (Burundi), President of the Association of Central African Bishops' Conferences (ACEAC), who spoke on the vocation of the laity, as reflected in Christifideles laici.
This vocation implies the special mandate “to work in the Lord's vineyard, which is the world.” Philomena Mwaura, professor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, reflected on the relationship between faith lived in an authentically lay manner and the way in which that influences the transformation of the African culture in a Christian sense.
What is fundamental in this area are the lay movements and associations and Catholic Action, which assist in the pastoral ministry of the dioceses in Kenya, with various initiatives. At the encounter, they also celebrated the 50th anniversary of CA in the city of Nyeri and presented future initiatives for the participation of many youth in the life of the Church.
One of the workshops was on the II Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, with Fr. Pius Rutechura, General Secretary of the Association of Eastern African Bishops' Conferences (AMECEA), who presented the Instrumentum Laboris and the work of the AMECEA for the Synod. There were also talks from representatives from Burundi, Sudan, and Kenya on the preparations being made in those three countries, presented by Fr. Salvator Niciteretse, Fr. Santino Maurino, and Fr. Danile Muriithi, respectively.
In his address, Bishop Peter Kihara of the Diocese of Marsabit spoke on the priority of formation on the path of the laity. He called for “a common assumption of responsibility for the needs of formation in relationship to the various ages and realities in which the laity is called to be the presence of the Church: youth, adults, families, catechists, the working world, schools, politics, culture, information.” Always “making reading of the Bible, the life of the first apostolic community, and prayer at the heart of formation.”
At the end of the workshops, guidelines were drawn up for a program of common action for 2010-2011, with the main objective of basic formation of the laity that belong to various associations, parishes, and other groups, as well as with the definition of several instruments for formation (manuals, new catechism, the Church's social doctrine, synodal documents). (LM) (Agenzia Fides 7/9/2009)
