Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth
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| Fr. Anthony Makunde, AMECEA Secretary General |
“After thorough analysis of the current Covid-19 situation in the region, we saw the need to launch the 20thPlenary Assembly in November so that preparations can begin as we continue observing how the pandemic unfolds,” AMECEA Secretary General Fr. Anthony Makunde told AMECEA online in an interview Friday, October 22.
“Even though we are looking forward to a physical meeting come next year July, the board is still observing the pandemic situation till end of January 2022, to clearly state the possibility of having the plenary or not,” Fr. Makunde disclosed adding that the definitive decision will be made in the month of February.
The AMECEA Secretary General noted that if all goes well, the Plenary is set to take place the second week of July 2022, in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, with the opening Mass slated for Sunday July 10.
During the same online Executive Board meeting, members approved the AMECEA Best Practices for Livestreaming of Mass and Special Liturgies which will offer guidelines to the practice that has become phenomenal following the Covid-19 containment measures which saw most Christian faithful follow Masses online.
“These best practices will guide member conferences to abide by the universal Sacred Worship principles in the Catholic Church and the basic broadcasting ideas to give forth expected results in terms of prayer environment and quality of content as the faithful follow liturgies virtually,” Fr Makunde expounded on the need for guidelines for livestreaming of Masses adding that “AMECEA will share the document with member conferences for adaptation.”
Additionally, the revised Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy and guidelines for the AMECEA Secretariat has also been approved.
According to Fr. Makunde, the 2015 AMECEA Secretariat’s ICT policy has been revised following the “ever changing technological advancement, emerging information, security threats and challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic which has changed the operations and now staff can work from home and more official work is done online.”
“The review is meant to provide a proactive framework that is in tandem with current technological realities and dynamics, and one that will guide the orderly delivery of services in a most effective and efficient way towards implementation of AMECEA Secretariat mandates,” he said during the Friday interview.
The policy has introduced new guidelines including, child safeguarding and Cyber bullying, work-from-home and use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) at work premises, among others.