Bishops say church in Africa to prepare for second synod

Published: 2007-01-23

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- The church in Africa will focus on preparing for the second Synod of Bishops for Africa, with justice, reconciliation and peace as its theme, said a statement by a group that represents the continent's episcopal conferences. The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, known by its acronym SECAM, will intensify the formation of priests, religious and especially the laity, said a Jan. 21 statement signed by Tanzanian Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, who was elected SECAM president at the organization's Jan. 15-22 plenary meeting in his see city of Dar es Salaam. Cardinal Pengo succeeded Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria. Archbishop Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, and Bishop Francisco Silota of Chimoio, Mozambique, were elected first and second vice president, respectively.

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