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| COLEA participants in session |
The participation of men in major Church movements and associations including Small Christian Communities is still minimal in many countries within the AMECEA Region. The revelation emerged during the deliberations on various reports at the Council for Laity in Eastern Africa (COLEA) conference held in Lusaka Zambia from 16th -20thMarch 2016.
Participants from various countries expressed the challenge of lack of commitments from men when it comes to associations and joining prayer groups or movements. From Kenya, the national chairman of Catholic Men Association said that because of the minimal participation and involvement of men in forums such as the Small Christian Communities, the impact of their activities as Catholic Men Association is very minimal. The same sentiments were shared from counterpart from Zambia who said that while the National Council for Catholic Women in Zambia (NCCW) and the National Council for Catholic Youth in Zambia are well established with huge impact across the country, men are not yet well established.
It also emerged that some dioceses have well established Catholic men associations and other movements for men and their participation in the Small Christian Communities is fairly well, however, the majorities of the dioceses do not have well established Catholic Men associations and movements while still acknowledging that their participations in the Small Christian communities is relatively low.
Fr. Febian Mulenga Pikiti, Coordinator of AMECEA Pastoral Department explained that the Church needs to find ways and means of integrating men and women in the parish life and the ecclesiastical structure so that they remain bonded to Christ the true vine.
He observed that among the Lay movements and associations, the Catholic Women is the most successful in almost all the AMECEA Countries.
By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News