 |
| Fr. Febian Pikiti, AMECEA Pastoral Department Coordinator |
AMECEA Pastoral Department is organizing for a conference to revitalize the Council of the Laity in Eastern Africa (COLEA) to be held from 25th to 30thNovember 2014, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Speaking to AMECEA Online News the AMECEA Pastoral Department Coordinator Fr Febian Pikiti said that the Council of the Laity in Eastern Africa will bring together the following lay leaders from the AMECEA Countries: National Council for the Laity, National Catholic Youth Council, National Catholic Women/Men Organization, Catholic Professional and Coordinators of Marriage and Family Life Apostolate.
Fr Pikiti said that the conference which is organized in collaboration with the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) will focus on: First; to bring the leaders of the laity of AMECEA together for the revitalization of the Council for the Laity of Eastern Africa (COLEA); Second to strengthen the capacity of the Commissions for Marriage and Family life and all Lay Association/Movements to engage in Marriage and Family life Apostolate.
According to Fr Pikiti, the Conference will be held under the theme: “Marriage and Family Life, the Future of the Church and Society”. He said that indeed, the family is where God’s life, love, care and unity is experienced. “For this reason its value and true meaning has to be preserved and protected. The reflections on this theme will be approached within the context of the Extra-Ordinary Synod of the Universal Church on Marriage and Family Life that will be taking place in Rome next month,” he said.
In order to prepare for this meeting, where about seventy lay leaders are expected to represent all AMECEA countries, the AMECEA Pastoral Coordinator held a meeting at the Secretariat of Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) on 22 September, 2014. The meeting was attended by Frs. Gallus Marandu of TEC Pastoral Department; Ulbadus F. Kidavuri of TEC Department for the Laity and Novatus Mbaula of the Department of Marriage and Family Life, in the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam.
He expressed gratitude to Church in Need, a Germany Catholic Agency, for their financial support towards the Revitalization of the Council of the Laity in Eastern Africa. “It is hoped that during this Conference, an interim structure of coordination and a network of solidarity among the Laity of AMECEA will be created in order to enhance pastoral solidarity,” he said.
The Council of the Laity in Eastern Africa (COLEA) was formed in 1975 with the sole purpose of promoting an active role and involvement of the laity in this mission of the Church in the AMECEA region. In 1995, it was created as a desk under the AMECEA Pastoral Department. However, the desk has not been active since 2001.
SOURCE: Fr Chrisantus Ndaga, AMECEA Social Communications Office