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| H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus D. Cardinal Souraphiel |
The Chairman of AMECEA and Archbishop of Addis Ababa Ethiopia H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus D. Cardinal Souraphiel, C.M., was among the 45 special appointees of the Holy Father Pope Francis to the 14th Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome in October this year.
The Holy Father also appointed as ex officio member, the Council member of Catholic University of Eastern Africa CUEA, president of the council of the Eritrean Church and the Archbishop of Asmara, Most Rev. Menghesteab Tesfamariam, M.C.C.J.
Cardinal Berhaneyesus and Archbishop Menghesteab are ex
officio member from the Oriental Churches.
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| Most Rev. Menghesteab Tesfamariam |
On Tuesday 15th September Vatican officially released the full definitive list of participants, auditors and collaborators in the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome from 4 to 25 October 2015.
Pope Francis appointed 45 members to the Synod on his own authority (PONTIFICAL APPOINTMENTS), consisting of a diverse group of prelates from Europe and Africa.
Notably some of the participants who have special ties to Eastern Africa include; Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa Sr. Carmen Sammut, MSOLA, the head of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG); Fr. Richard Kuuia Baawobr, MAfr, Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers); and Fr. Boniface Mungai, Kenya (Collaborators of the General Secretariat, Assistant)
There are 279 bishops, prelates and priests announced as voting participants coming from countries and regions all over the world. These include 12 Bishops participating in the synod from the AMECEA Region. (The full list in English can be found in the Zenit News Service.)
There will also be 34 auditors taking part in the discussions who are allowed to attend and participate in the discussions but not to vote on any final document or issues. Among those auditors are 17 individuals/single (including auditors from Egypt, Nigeria and Rwanda) and 17 married couples (including auditors from Cameroon and South Africa). Thirteen of the individual auditors are women including three religious sisters. The total of auditors from Africa is seven (four laywomen, two laymen and one priest).
According to the Canon Law Can. 346 §1 “The synod of Bishops meeting in Ordinarygeneral assembly is comprised, for the most part, of Bishops elected for each assembly by the Episcopal Conferences, in accordance with the norms of the special law of the synod. Other members are designated according to the same law; others are directly appointed by the Roman Pontiff. Added to these are some members of clerical religious institutes, elected in accordance with the same special law.” This October’s assembly is an Ordinary General Assembly.
As Pope Francis urges, let us pray daily for the fruits of the synod especially practical, concrete pastoral solutions to the challenges of family and marriage in Africa and the world today.
By Fr. Joseph Healey, MM and Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News