First Catholic Education Congress in Africa Ends with Call to “invest more in education”

He went on to highlight the significance of collaboration in education at the continental level, saying, “Despite the challenges the continent faces including corruption, conflict and poor governance, which are unfortunately mortgaging the future of its young people, an educational alliance to meet together the new challenges of our African societies is necessary.”

The member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) continued, “With our families, our Small Christian Communities, our groups, associations and Christian movements, we must learn to work in a spirit of synodality.”

Such a spirit of Synodality, Cardinal Ambongo said, requires committing “ourselves to raising all the valleys and lowering all the mountains and hills that we encounter on the demanding sites of education.”

“We must also iron out all the obstacles that threaten education, the future of our children,” the President of SECAM added.

He reiterated his recognition of the Catholic Church’s significant contribution to the education of the population, which he said is realized through “nursery, primary and secondary schools and its universities, which are attended regardless of origin or religion.” 

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“These Catholic educational institutions, which are the pride of the Church, have trained many professionals and skilled people in Africa since the time of the missionaries,” the Congolese Cardinal said.

He said he finds it regrettable that “many of our African leaders who have led us into situations of despair, who have ruined our countries and created misery, were trained in our schools.”

All these senior executives trained by these institutions “cannot meet the new challenges without an educational alliance with our families, our Small Christian Communities, our Catholic groups and associations,” Cardinal Ambongo said, reiterating his call for collaborative approaches to education in Africa. 

He urged Catholic executives not to “detach themselves from their Catholic faith on the grounds that it was something private.”

“It is as an educational community that we will be able to carve out a path for the future of our African youth in the desert of our time,” Cardinal Ambongo said on December 10.

Earlier, Pope Francis sent his message to participants in the four-day first African Congress of Catholic Education in which he faulted the culture of “selective and elitist” training that focuses on the intellect.

“Africa is not immune to the crisis that the education system is going through today, which, as in many places, has become too selective and elitist …  aiming to form the intellect alone and not the whole person,” the Holy Father said in his message that the Secretary of State, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, signed, referencing Pope Francis’ address to the participants at the World Congress on Education on 21 November 2015.

In his message, the Holy Father also welcomed “the African Education Pact”, which was presented to him in June.

Inspired by the Global Compact on Education, a pact meant to encourage positive change in education across the world, the African Education Pact seeks to educate young people based on both Christian values and traditional African culture. The aim is to recover and enhance interpersonal relationships with a communitarian dimension while strengthening the relationship with God.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.