AFRICA - CERNA Bishops conclude Ad Limina visit

Rome (Agenzia Fides)- The Bishops and Vicars General of the Regional Bishops Conference of Northern Africa CERNA send Fides a report on their ad limina visit to Rome which concluded on 9 June. Last week Fides interviewed CERNA president Archbishop Vincent Landel of Rabat in Morocco, (see Fides 6 June 2007).
While in Rome besides having individual and community meetings with Pope Benedict XVI to tell him about the situation in their respective dioceses, the Bishops visited various offices of the Roman Curia.
At the Congregation for the Clergy the Bishops spoke of the situation of the Catholic clergy in their own region. “A few of our priests are diocesan but most are religious or fide donum. Some come from Churches in Sub-Saharan countries” they said in the report. “We underlined the importance of adequate formation for living and ministering in a mainly Muslim society. We recalled the necessity of on-going formation which also promotes unity among a clergy ever more international”.
At the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life the Bishops underlined the “necessity of religious life as an important sign of Christ's charity in our countries and also the difficulties to renew communities”. The role and importance of Catholic schools in Morocco and Tunisia and Catholic study centres and libraries was underlined by the CERNA Bishops during their visit to the Congregation for Catholic Education. The Catholic community in North Africa intends to make its own contribution to “form a new generation of North Africans open to dialogue and diversity ”.
The issues of interreligious dialogue and mixed marriages and baptisms of desire were the main subjects discussed at a meeting with Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Welcoming the CERNA Bishops to the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states, underlined the Holy Father's desire to promote and intensify Christian-Muslim dialogue.
At the Pontifical Council for Social Communications the Northern African Bishops expressed the desire that Catholic radio and television in the Arab language, very popular in the Maghreb, should produce programmes for an ever wider public.
The tragedy of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa who set sail from Maghreb countries for Europe was the main issued discussed at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and at the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples. The beatification of Charles de Foucauld and causes of beatification underway for other North African Catholics including 19 victims of violence in Algeria, were at the centre of the visit to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
At the visit to the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples the report recalls that the Cardinal Prefect Ivan Dias, encouraged the CERNA Bishops “to pray for our Muslim brothers” because “we are all on a pilgrimage to our heavenly home ”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 13/6/2007 righe 44 parole 510)