Maputo, 22 October, 2022 / 9:30 pm (ACI Africa).
The newly appointed Director of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) has told ACI Africa that one of his commitments will be to make the resolutions of the 13th IMBISA plenary assembly a reality.
In the Monday, October 17 interview, Fr. Rafael Baciano Sapato said, “My priority will be to enable what was established in the Plenary Assembly of IMBISA in Windhoek; to make this Plenary commitment a reality; basically, to contribute, to facilitate, to collaborate, to work with the Permanent Council, so that the purpose designed in the Plenary Assembly comes to fruition.”
Fr. Sapato further said that he sees his new appointment as “as an act of obedience,” adding, “I rely on the grace of the Lord and the support of colleagues, in particular the permanent council of IMBISA and the prayer from God's people.”
The 13th IMBISA Plenary Assembly that was held in September in Windhoek, Namibia, under the theme, “Building forward together-Reimagining the Church’s Engagement with young people in the IMBISA Region in light of Pope Francis’ Exhortation, Christus Vivit,” the regional body committed “to journey with the young people, to give them platforms to express their views and to assist them in making structures that give them a more active participatory role in the mission of the Church.”
The IMBISA youth delegates under the leadership of the region’s youth Coordinator, Kelly Muremi from Namibia, “are already working and I am in contact with them,” Fr. Sapato told ACI Africa.
