New Year Pastoral Message: Catholic Bishop in Ivory Coast Highlights Synodality as Path to Strengthened Fraternity

Recalling the multi-year Synod on Synodality, which concluded with a 52-page Final Document that the members of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops approved on October 26 and whose publication Pope Francis approved, Bishop Aka highlights the aspects of “listening, dialogue, and discernment, rooted in a familial and fraternal context” as vitally important. 

He says, “In a fraternal spirit, we are called to respond generously to Christ’s mission to preach the Gospel to all nations.” 

Synodality, he goes on to say, fosters an environment where brothers and sisters in faith listen to one another and the Holy Spirit. 

“Without listening, there is no reception of faith,” the Ivorian Catholic Bishop emphasizes and continues, “Listening entails respecting each person’s convictions and perspectives as long as they do not harm faith, doctrine, or morals.”

He urges the people of God to embrace dialogue to manage conflicts, strengthen community, and enhance missionary participation. 

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“Fraternity rooted in Christ’s love fosters unity and encourages the participation of all in the missionary work, each according to their grace and talents. This ensures no one feels excluded, echoing the first Christian community,” the Local Ordinary of Yamoussoukro since his Episcopal Consecration in February 2023 says in his New Year Pastoral Message shared with ACI Africa.

He also underscores the importance of communal discernment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as vital for the progress of the people of God into the future.  

“Recognizing ourselves as mere servants entrusted with the mission through grace and mercy compels us to work towards greater communion,” Bishop Aka says, and adds, “Synodality offers hope for a new way of living and being Church.”

He calls for the rekindling of the spirit of Synodality among the people of God, and implores, “May it be renewed profoundly for greater vitality and dynamism through the Holy Spirit.”

“This is our wish and prayer for the New Year: to be more brothers and sisters within God’s one Church-Family, bearing authentic witness of faith in charity and truth,” the Ivorian Catholic Bishop further implores in his four-page New Year Pastoral Message.