Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At the first synodality webinar by the African Synodality Initiative convened by Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) and the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) to assist and support people who hold roles of responsibilities within the Church in Africa, panelists emphasized on creating room for open sharing for the lay faithful so that the 2023 Synod may be successful.
“If we are to have fruitful conversions on the Synod at the grassroots level, it is necessary to change the culture of fear, to allow people speak about the challenges and joys they experience,” one of the presenters Fr. Dr. Marcel Uwineza a member of the Society of Jesus (SJ) shared with online participants Thursday, November 18.
“If the clergy and pastoral agents are afraid of what the lay people are to talk about, then the whole Synodal process will not bear fruit,” Fr Uwineza who teaches Systematic Theology at a Hekima University College narrated, adding that borrowing some African concepts like Ubuntu (I am because we are) and Ujamaa policy which focuses on brotherhood are key elements that can help in understanding the synodal process required for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops’ synod.
Fr. Dr. Marcel Uwineza a
member
of the Society of Jesus (SJ)
The webinar that brought together participants from different parts of Africa and other continents focused on practical suggestions for facilitating and conducting discussion, consultation and dialogue in the Local Churches in Africa through“journeying together,” listening to the Spirit and to one another.
According to Fr. Uwineza who doubles as formation assistant of the Jesuits in Rwanda-Burundi region, the challenge with Small Christian Communities (SCCs) which would serve as the best platform for collecting the view of the laity as required in the synodal process is that “participation is normally left to the less dedicated and women.”
He suggests that, “There is need to enhance the participation of all people in these Small Christian Communities and find ways to form them on the same purpose at the various levels in the church.”
The webinar moderated by Fr. Andrew Kaufa the AMECEA Social Communications Coordinator was organized weeks after the launch of diocesan phase of the synod which is characterized by consultation and feedback from the local churches and other ecclesial groups and will run till August 2022.
In his opening remarks about the forthcoming synod themed “for a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission,” Fr. Kaufa a member of the of the Society of Montfort Missionaries (SMM) noted that webinar is to help find practical and better ways on how the Africa Church can fully participate in the synod and ensure that this becomes the way of life in the Church even after the gathering of the Synodal bishops in 2023.
Sr. Dr. Josée Ngalula
Reiterating Fr. Uwineza’s message on the African cultural values that may hinder the success of the synodal process, another panelist Sr. Dr. Josée Ngalula noted that “Africans have a cultural mentality where people think it is only leaders who must speak on behalf of everyone and that is final.”
“Synodality requires that all people of God irrespective of position in the church talk and share their ideas, so that everyone is given the opportunity to speak and that people listen to each other,” Sr. Ngalula a member of the Sisters of Saint Andrew said during her online sharing and continued, “In this case, it is a circular approach where the bishops listen to the people and the people listen to the bishops.”
Suggesting other practical ways to carry out for a successful Synod, Sr. Ngalula a theologian who teaches in several theological institutes in Africa including the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Congo (DRC) and the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute in Rabat (Morocco) proposed having a structure that should help Africans even after the 2023 synod.
“The first structure is the need to train moderators who are going to facilitate mutual listening. We need people who are competent to be trained to lead the Church on how to listen to each other as we listen to the Spirit,” the Congolese nun and the first African woman to be appointed to the Vatican International Theological Commission disclosed adding, “Even though in most African cultures, only leaders are listened to because of their position and intellectual capacity, it is important to listen to everyone.”
She further emphasized that training should trickle down to the family and then to other levels where “children have the opportunity to speak and adults are encouraged to listen to them and vice-versa. In this case everyone will be careful to realize that listening is necessary.”
The two regional bodies JCAM and AMECEA intends to conduct other webinars to help the Church in Africa understand better their way of participation in this ongoing synodal process.