EIGHTH POST-SYNODAL MEETING FOR AFRICA

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, (VIS) - The eighth meeting of the Post-synodal Council of the General Secretariat for the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops met in Rome on September 29, according to a communique published by the secretariat this morning.

The secretary general, Cardinal Jan P. Schotte, C.I.C.M., presided over the meeting, which included prelates from Madagascar, Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Egypt and Zambia, as well as four officials of the Synod of Bishops.

On the agenda for this eighth meeting were: a discussion on the current situation in Africa; a report on the application of the post-synodal document "Ecclesia in Africa" and a discussion of future plans for circulating the document; the activity of the general secretariat since the previous post-synodal meeting in 1999; reports on work for the tenth general ordinary synod, scheduled for October 2001, and on previous synods.

Council members presented an account of the situation in their own nations. They pointed out, said the communique, "that in several regions of Africa, conflicts of various types persist, thus making it difficult for pastors to dedicate themselves with freedom and tranquillity to normal apostolic activity, given the extreme difficulty of meeting and communicating. In other situations, different types of unrest were observed in the political and social fields or in relations with other religions."

Positive developments regarding local celebrations for the Jubilee Year were also noted.

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