“Africa, rise up, take up your pallet, and walk (Jn 5:8). ”

Introduction

"Africa is not helpless. Our destiny is still in our hands... Africa is already moving; and the Church is moving with her, offering her the light of the Gospel. The waters may be turbulent. But with our gaze on Christ the Lord, we shall make it safely to the port..."

With these closing words from the final message of the second Synod of Africa the Bishops invite us to listen to God, to one another and to the world around us, in an atmosphere of prayer and reflection. We, your Bishops of SACBC, invite the whole Church at this moment of transition and kairos to engage in a struggle for the soul of Southern Africa in an inter-diocesan consultation.

The Previous Consultation

In the l980’s the Catholic Church engaged in an inter-diocesan consultation involving all Catholics to respond to the struggle for justice and transformation. From our rich sharing there resulted the Pastoral Plan, Community Serving Hu­manity, which has borne much fruit.

Our conditions of life in Southern Africa and in the world have changed radically since then. It is time to meet again, to share our concerns and hopes and to do so in the light of our faith. The Church needs to evaluate its Pastoral Plan in the light of our new world of 2010.

Present day pastoral challenges

We face new challenges in Southern Africa today. We thank God for the peaceful transition to independence and for our new democracy and freedom. We are a people of many talents in a country of great potential. We are part of that Africa of which Pope Benedict said was ‘the spiritual lung’ of humanity today.

However, as Christians we find elements which unsettle us. There is a loss of Christian vision. The Bible as a source of morality and ethics is often replaced by worldly values. Traditional values are abandoned and corruption and misman­agement are rampant in administration. Some constitutional decisions are at odds with Gospel values and agnostic lobby groups are influential.

Urbanisation creates problems of housing, poverty and crime. The divide between the rich and the poor is increasing and many feel betrayed. With the scourge of HIV Aids our society is ravaged and education is for many a failure. Chris­tian values are rarely emphasised in parliament and public debate. The family and family values are under severe as­sault often in the name of the constitution.

Urgent need for faith formation

We feel the voice of the Catholic Church has weakened. Though the Church played a leading part in education and health care in the past this role is now sidelined and ignored. While we put emphasize on Welfare, Aids Ministry and Justice and Peace over the past 30 years there would seem to have been a mediocre Formation of Catholic people in the areas of Evangelisation, Liturgy and Faith and Morals which are at the core of Catholic identity.

Many of our youth are drifting from the faith. The world of our youth is a new sub-culture, a mall culture, dominated by music, fashion, cars, alcohol, sex, cosmetics, sport, soapies, facebook and mixit. This urbanized youth is being de-Africanized and de-christianised. Rural youth aspire to the city, their schools are places of despair, their hope of em­ployment minimal and their access to the comforts they see everywhere a mirage. Secure and loving families, where children encounter and experience God through the love and faith of their parents, are becoming rare.

Everyone is called into the vineyard.

The primary apostolate of lay people, since the early Church, has always been to spread and defend the faith among the families and neighbours and to bring the teachings of Christ to bear on the issues facing their communities. Lay be­lievers are a priestly people with a primary mission beyond the sanctuary of the church.

We cannot help but to proclaim and testify to the great difference that Jesus Christ has made in our lives. We cannot be silent about what we have seen and heard and felt. We are, as Paul tells us, ambassadors for Christ. Invitation to a consultation.

We your bishops wish to engage with you in a faith-filled and real conversation. Community serving Humanity must be revisited. Over the past ten years the Church in Africa has held two Synods which emphasise ‘The Church as the Family of God’ and the ‘Church in the service of reconciliation, justice and peace’. Through these events God is calling us to discern together how to realise his kingdom now. This inter-diocesan consultation will bring the whole community to­gether, bishops, priests, religious and laity.

Conclusion

The final message from the second Synod of Africa is insistent: "All members of the Church... must be mobilized to work together in the unity that brings strength. We are challenged and encouraged by the African proverb which says that “an army of well organized ants can bring down an elephant”. We should not be afraid of, less still be discour­aged, by the enormity of the problems of our continent". I encourage all of you to join in this consultation with hope, energy and confidence, chartering the way forward for the local church into the millennium.

l would like to end as John Paul always did when he wrote his encyclicals by invoking the assistance and intercession of Mary, Queen assumed into heaven, as patron of Southern Africa to be with us all in this endeavour.

+ Bishop William Slattery, OFM

(i.c. of Evangelisation, on behalf of all the Bishops)