Fr Rafael Simbini Júnior, SECAM Secretary General
By Vatican News
Dec 14 2022
The first phase of a three-day working session of Africa’s Synodal process under the auspices of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) has ended in Accra, Ghana pledging to hold similar meetings at the national level.
At the end of the meeting that brought together some of Africa’s Synod experts, the 25 participants drawn from across the continent and its Islands said they have come up with a pathway for continuing synod conversation in the various national conferences. These on-going meetings will eventually culminate in the drafting an ‘African Synodal Document.’
The national synod meetings
“The (Accra) working sessions were facilitated by Fr Giacomo Costa SJ, a consulter of the General Secretariat of the Synod at the Vatican and supported by Dr Philomena Mwaura. The team, which was made up of lay persons (adults and young people), the consecrated (men and women), priests and Bishops from English, French and Portuguese-speaking African countries engaged in spiritual conversation,” said SECAM Secretary General Fr. Rafael Simbine Junior.
According to the SECAM Secretary General, the participants would now hold similar meetings in their countries to replicate “what they have experienced and achieved in Accra,” Fr Simbine said. He described the sessions as a Synodal journey.
The next continental synod working sessions will be held next month in Nairobi, Kenya. – Vatican News
