USCCB Web Page Follows Special Assembly For Africa Of The Synod Of Bishops
WASHINGTON—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a Web page on the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which can be found at www.usccb.org/africasynod. The Synod, which began October 4 at the Vatican and will continue through October 25, will address issues facing the Church in Africa, including conflict and the promotion of peace and reconciliation, dialogue with Muslims, economic justice and the family.
The USCCB Web page includes links to news stories on the Synod as well as the Vatican’s working document on the assembly. The page also includes profiles of the two representatives of the U.S. Church attending the Synod, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta and Father Paulinus Ozodor, C.S.Sp., a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame. Archbishop Gregory will also blog from the Synod to this Web page.
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace said that, "Africa is a continent with both great promise and significant perils. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has made Africa a major priority for our international public policy work. We support the Church in Africa and its work to promote peace and reconciliation, most recently in countries like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. We look forward to the results of the Synod and pray for its success in strengthening the capacity of the Church to be an agent of justice, reconciliation and peace."
“The Synod offers the Church in Africa the opportunity to celebrate and learn from its successes in peace building and build up the Church’s position as a force for peace and reconciliation,” added Steve Hilbert, Foreign Policy Advisor for Africa and Global Development at the USCCB.
The Synod of Bishops is a group of bishops who have been chosen, in this case, from all the countries in Africa and from different regions of the world to assemble at a stated time to meet with the pope and assist him in addressing key issues facing the Church. The pope sets the agenda following consultations across the Church in Africa and, through days of speeches and meeting in groups, the bishops address the issues on the agenda and offer recommendations to the pope. The First Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops met in 1994.
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Keywords: Synod of Bishops, Africa Synod, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, Vatican, Islam, pope
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