Vatican City, 7 April 2014 (VIS) –
“The Church in Africa, from Vatican Council II to the Third
Millennium. Africa's Homage to Popes John XXIII and John Paul II”
is the title of the Congress that will take place at the Pontifical
Urbaniana University of Rome from 24 to 25 April and which will be
attended by bishops, priests, theologians, scholars and eminent
figures in African culture to appraise the implementation of Vatican
Council II in the continent.
This initiative was presented in the
Holy See Press Office this morning by Bishop Barthelemy Adoukonou,
secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Archbishop Emergy
Kabongo Kanundowi, emeritus of Luebo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo; Msgr. Melchor Sanchez de Toca y Alameda, under secretary of
the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Professor Martin Nkafu,
lecturer at the Pontifical Lateran University.
“Vatican Council II, an event of
grace for the entire Universal Church, allowed the People of God in
Africa to undertake an important turning point in their historical
journey. In effect, the Church in Africa wants to become a
protagonist in the construction of a cultural identity for the
Continent, in a particular way through the Forum of the Symposium of
Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), 'Faith,
Culture and Development'. Fifty years on from the Council, she takes
advantage of the canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II to
take stock of the implementation of the Council in the African
Continent, reading the signs of the times and taking the necessary
initiatives to build her future in line with the Magisterium of the
Popes Paul VI, John Paul I, Benedict XVI and Francis”.
The congress will open on 24 with the
screening of a video on Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II
and the first session will take place, presided by Cardinal Robert
Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, on “Africa
and Vatican Council II: an historic perspective”. The introductory
presentation will be “Vatican Council II and its implementation in
the African Church”. This session will conclude with “Echoes of
the work of the Association of African Theologians on Vatican Council
II”.
The theme of the second session, to be
held in the afternoon and to be presided by Cardinal John Onaiyekan,
metropolitan archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, will be “John XXIII,
John Paul II and the Church in Africa”. The issues under
consideration will be: “John XXIII, the Council and the evolution
of post-conciliar Africa”, “What have we made of the legacy of
Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II?”, and “The legacy of
John Paul II”.
On 25 April, the third session will
focus on “The Church in Africa 50 years after Vatican Council II:
challenges”. Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, metropolitan
archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, will preside,
and the following issues will be discussed: “The dynamic structure
of the two Synods for Africa”, “Prominent Christian figures in
the African intelligentsia (Julius Nyerere, etc.) and the political
commitment of the lay faithful”, “The place and role of the woman
in the Church and in society”, and “Consecrated life in the
mission of the Church in Africa today”.
In the afternoon, and presided by
Bishop Louis Portella Mbuyu of Kinkala (Republic of Congo) the fourth
and final session will take place, dedicated to “History and
activity of the forum 'Faith, Culture and Development'”, “The
ecclesial subject and historic initiative in Africa today”, and
“The Forum 'Faith, Culture and Development': reflection and
debate”. The Congress will conclude with a solemn Mass celebrated
by Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
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