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| Group Photo of participants of the Meeting of Secretaries General of AMECEA Conferences and Vice Chancellors of Catholic Universities in AMECEA Region held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia |
The AMECEA Secretary General, Secretaries General of National Episcopal Conferences and Vice Chancellors of Catholic Universities in the AMECEA region held a meeting in Addis Ababa Ethiopia from 8th to 9th October, 2015 to evaluate the first phase of the Capacity Building Program initiated by AMECEA in collaboration with United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
The first phase of the program has been focusing on Leadership and Management training for senior management staff of the dioceses beginning with the Bishops from the region. So far all AMECEA Conferences, with the exception of Eritrea, have benefitted from the program which took effect in 2012.
The trainings are facilitated by AMECEA Secretariat, National Episcopal Conferences, and the local Catholic Universities in collaboration with the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). According to the report presented by Ms. Christine Mbugi, the Project Coordinator, during the meeting great commitments have been exhibited by the conferences through their active participations. “All the conferences have been keen in taking part in these trainings and also contributing in the success of the sessions, this shows us the value of the trainings to the local Churches,” said Ms. Mbugi.
It was suggested during the meeting that a more organized link between the Secretariats and the Catholic Universities could bring about even better results for the 2nd phase of the project. Communication gap between the organizers and the local Churches was identified as a major challenge to the implementation and success of the program and needs to be addressed.
The Secretaries General and Vice Chancellors also agreed on the importance of encouraging more Church structures to take part in the Capacity Building Trainings to achieve goal of strengthening the local Churches and serving the people better. They further agreed that the National Conferences in the region should plan on a way to maintain the sustainability of the project independently in order to ensure a significant number of pastoral agents to get the necessary training to move forward.
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| Participant of the AMECEA Capacity Building Evaluation Meeting during the meeting sessions in Addis Ababa |
During the same occasion Fr. Hagos Hayish, C.M., Secretary General of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat, said that after the training session in Ethiopia, the Secretariat was able to identify some of the challenges the local Church was facing and also build on the exiting merits. He said, “As a result the challenges were addressed and the Church in Ethiopia can say we have benefited from the training.”
Other Conferences that have taken initiatives after the trainings are Tanzania in strategic Pastoral Planning, Uganda in Peace Building Management and South Sudan by sending their priests for further studies to CUEA.
In conclusion Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo, AMECEA Secretary General, said that based on the comments of the participants the implementation of the 2nd phase of the project will address the challenges on the ground for maximum results. He also announced that the theme of the 2nd phase of the project, which is scheduled to take place between 2016 and 2018, will be “Family Apostolate, Youth Ministry and Chaplaincy”.
The AMECEA Secretaries General and Vice Chancellors of Catholic Universities during their stay in Ethiopia visited the Metals and Engineering Corporation in Bishoftu town. The Vice Chancellors of Catholic Universities planted trees at the Catholic University of St. Thomas Aquinas in memory of the occasion.
By Makeda Yohannes, CBCE Communications and Public Relation Office, Ethiopia