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| Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo AMECEA Secretary General |
AMECEA Secretary General Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo has expressed profound gratitude to the people of Malawi for their involvement in the preparations of its 18thPlenary Assembly which is taking place in Lilongwe.
Fr. Lugonzo said that the Plenary Assembly officially began on Wednesday 16thwith the Bishops prayers in the morning and their reflections on the AMECEA Mission, Vision and objectives in the afternoon.
Speaking to journalists during a press briefing at Bingu International Conference Center, which is the venue of the Assembly, Fr. Lugonzo said, “To the people of Malawi, we are announcing that the 18th AMECEA Plenary Assembly, to which they have been preparing for and have contributed generously, has finally started.”
“We want to say a big thank you to the Episcopal Conference of Malawi for the preparations they have made, for the reception they have accorded the plenary delegates who have already arrived and echoing the words of the bishop delegates who are already here, we are very much impressed with the preparations the Conference has done.” Fr. Lugonzo said.
Fr. Lugonzo observed that the whole nation of Malawi and not just the Catholics alone owned the Plenary event. And for that reason he expressed AMECEA’s gratitude to the nation.
“In a special way, we have also heard that since this was not just involving the Church alone, but rather the whole nation, there have been a lot of collaborations from the government; we therefore say thank you to the government of Malawi under the leadership of the president, His Excellency Peter Mutharika, his Deputy Mr. Saulos Chilima and all the government officials who have been involved in the preparations of the event.”
Fr. Lugonzo explained that the involvement of the government in the preparations for the AMECEA Plenary is in the spirit of ownership and collaboration that is very necessary between Church and State.
On 17thJuly, 2014; there will be a solemn opening with the Eucharistic celebrations at Civo stadium and afterwards speeches and messages of solidarity from AMECEA collaborators. This will be open for all.
The study sessions which are meant for delegates alone will take four days beginning on 18th July, 2014. These sessions are for reflections on the various themes affecting the lives of the people in AMECEA Region.
The business sessions which guides the bishops’ work for the next three years and involve thorough consultations will follow from 23rd– 25th July.
Finally the closing Mass, which again is open to all will be held on 26th July and on that day, the bishops will also communicate to the public the outcome/fruits of the plenary Assembly through its message to the Church in AMECEA Region.
Source: Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Social Communications