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| Rev. Fr. Febian Mulenga Pikiti |
Need for Christian Formation of the laity, building of Families as the Foundation of Christian Life, promoting active participation of the Laity from the grassroots, encouraging the participation in public life and need to encourage the Laity to be agents of positive change are among the issues that AMECEA Countries need to put more emphasis on.
This was said by AMECEA Pastoral Coordinator Rev. Fr. Febian Mulenga Pikiti during opening of the three-day conference of the Council for the Laity in Eastern Africa COLEA held at Lusaka Zambia from Tuesday 16th- 19 February 2016.
The conference was organized by AMECEA Pastoral Department in collaboration with the ZEC Pastoral department and Laity Council of Zambia.
Fr. Pikiti explained that in order to help the laity answer to their vocation, they must be formed individually and collectively. In reference to the document Ecclesia in Africa no. 75, Fr. Pikiti said “… People who have never had the chance to learn cannot really know the truths of faith nor can they perform actions which they have never been taught. For this reason the whole community needs to be trained, motivated and empowered for evangelization, each according to his or her specific role within the church.”
He said that Clergies should also know the place and role of the laity and learn proper skills on how to guide them to achieve their desired goal. “Unfortunately, we have inherited from the old system where the clergy and religious had a big say in the Church, while the laity were mere just receivers and sometimes onlookers. We cannot change the laity and make them active unless we first change the system,” he said.
On the issue of building the Family as the Foundation of Christian life, Fr. Pikiti explained that the teaching and formation of Laity must start in the families. “The families themselves must be prepared for the noble task of forming a domestic church. This strong catechesis must accompany the faithful through the different stages of life, that is, at school and after school, in childhood, youth and adulthood,” he said.
Concerning the issue of promoting active participation of the Laity from the grassroots level especially in the Small Christian Communities, Fr. Pikiti said that the frontier of Evangelization in the AMECEA Region for the laity is in the Small Christian Communities (SCCs)
He said, “The small Christian Communities remind us of the small home Churches of the first Christians who celebrated the breaking of bread from house to house. In the same way, the SCCs members come know each other. They visit each other and share whatever they have in the best way possible. It is also in the SCCs that they can live together their faith in everyday life. Here they are pro-active on a daily basis their mandate to announce the Gospel to the neighbor by word, action and example.”
Concerning the participation in Public Life, Fr. Pikiti explained that the Laity are to be active agentd of holiness in the world. Referring to the Post synodal exhortation Africae Munus, he said that Lay men and women are called, above all, to holiness. A holiness which is to be lived in the world. “Through her lay members, the Church is present and active in the world. Lay people have an important role to play in the Church and in the society,” he said.
Fr. Pikiti also emphasized on the issue of the need for AMECEA Laity to be agents of positive change. “There are certain areas where it is the laity who can make a difference. These include political, economical and social areas,” he added that there are complaints that the good Catholics often shun politics and in this way politics remains dirty.
To the Participants of the conference Fr Pikiti said, “As representatives of the Laity from our various countries, we need to consolidate the structures that bind us together to Christ the true vine. Through the Laity Councils, we are to promote a systematic participatory governance and mission of the Church.”
“Let us all work together to build the kingdom of God,” he implored.
By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News