“An Adult Church”: Symposium of Africa’s Catholic Bishops Laud Growth of the Church in Africa

In the statement shared with ACI Africa on Thursday, July 17, Cardinal Ambongo says the number of Episcopal Sees in Africa is increasing, adding that each Diocese has created regular Diocesan structures including church buildings, educational establishments and health centres, religious institutes, seminaries and religious formation centres. 

“Today, the Catholic Church in Africa represents about 18 percent of the African population, with around 256 million believers and it is in Africa where the Catholic Church is experiencing record growth,” the SECAM President says. 

Established on 29 July 1969 during the first-ever Papal visit to Africa in Uganda, SECAM is continental body of liaison, study and consultation that promotes communion and collaboration between all the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.

This year’s SECAM Day celebration also falls on the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Martyrs of Uganda. The concurrence, Cardinal Ambongo says, makes the SECAM Day special. 

“In fact, it was after the solemn celebration of Mission Sunday on 18 October 1964, when the 22 Martyrs were canonized in Rome in the presence of all the participants at the Second Vatican Council, that Pope Paul VI decided to visit Uganda,” he recalls in his six-page shared on July 17.

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He says the “historic” visit by the first Pope ever to Africa had been preceded by the inaugural SECAM meeting at the Pastoral Institute in Gaba, Uganda from 29-31 July 1969.

In his message, Cardinal Ambongo says SECAM Day is an opportunity to celebrate the Catholic Church in Africa which, he says, has been a champion of human development.

He says that in many places in Africa, it is the Church that makes up for State deficiencies, “without which there would be no life, no hope and no future.”

“In the absence of State provision, the Church is concerned with the education and health of its people, providing training centres, hospitals and health centres,” the Congolese member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap), who was elevated to Cardinal during the October 2019 Consistory and reappointed to Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals (C9) after the expiry of the initial October 2020 mandate says.

He continues, “The Church has been involved in the work of being the voice of the voiceless and advocating for the reduction or cancellation of the unjust debt burden of the African people.”

“The Church in Africa is vibrantly building herself up as the Family of God and enriching herself with the experience of Small Christian Communities, which are the hallmark of the Church of Jesus Christ in Africa and its islands,” the President of SECAM since February 2023 further says.

He says that the annual celebration of SECAM Day, “moved to the nearest Sunday, when 29 July falls on a weekday”, is an occasion to talk about SECAM, to enable Catholics across Africa and its islands to be better informed about the existence and mission of the Symposium.

The celebration, Cardinal Ambongo says, will be an invitation to the people of God on the continent “to identify with, and support SECAM,” adding that there be “a special collection” to be used to support the activities of the Symposium.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.