AFRICA - The African Church will set up "Faith, Culture and Development" Organ

Dar-Es-Salaam (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic Church in Africa has decided to set up an organ that will deal with "Faith, Culture and Development." The participants agreed to a workshop meeting that was held on November 23 in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. According to a statement sent to Fides Agency, the meeting was organized by the Department of Evangelization of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for culture. The workshop saw the participation as co-chairmen, Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, Archbishop of Dar-Es-Salaam and President of SECAM, Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr, Archbishop of Dakar (Senegal) and First Vice-President of SECAM, and His Exc. Mgr. Barthelemy Adoukonou, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
The birth of the new organization will be ratified by the 16th Plenary Assembly of SECAM to be held in Kinshasa (DRC) in July 2013.
The workshop also discussed the following issues in the light of the Gospel: how to facilitate dialogue between different cultures and faith; opportunities, challenges and perspectives of African cultures and development; globalization; post-modernity; good governance; African policies for development. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 29/11/2012)