“But to listen, you have to give and elicit the word in a genuine way. We could copy the method of the circularity of the word in certain cultures, including my own, organized on the basis of age groups,” the native of Ivory Coast’s Catholic Diocese of Yopougon said during the June 21 virtual event.
He explained, “In this culture, whatever the subject on the agenda, the moderator launches the debate and the floor is circulated according to an order known in advance. The youngest members are listened to first, as they are supposed to carry out orders before the elders and decision-makers. The leader speaks only at the end of the debate when all members of the generational strata have expressed themselves freely.”
“When the leader finally speaks, he is wise enough to move towards a consensus,” the immediate former President of the Episcopal Conference of Ivory Coast (CECCI), who has been at the helm of Ivory Coast’s Korhogo Archdiocese since February 2021 said.
He continued, “My pastoral experience as a Bishop has been modelled on this cultural way of doing things. Indeed, before any pastoral directive, I gather the pastoral agents around the suggested theme. Several pastoral agents deal with the various aspects of the theme under the watchful eye of the moderator.”
“Discussions follow without censorship. A recommendation committee collects the outcomes of these debates and proposes them to the Bishop, who draws up the guidelines,” the Catholic Church leader, who is one of the three papal nominees from Africa for the Synod on Synodality further said.
“This experience enabled me to give pastoral and even economic directives without the pastoral agents having to say anything, recognizing together that the Spirit has spoken through everyone,” Archbishop Dogbo said.
Reflecting on the second approach, the involvement of women in unfolding of the processes, the 62-year-old Archbishop lamented, “The Church is feminine in Africa, particularly in my Diocese. Yet women are excluded from the exercise of power.”
The role of women, the Catholic Church leader said, “needs to be recognized and revalued in this providential process underway in our Church. It's not easy to renovate, but if man's will meets that of the Holy Spirit, then the impossible becomes possible.”
He recounted the experience of a Nun in the Catholic Archdiocese of Korhogo, who led a Diocesan commission where women were relegated to the background.
“She led the process with dexterity, despite cultural obstacles,” Archbishop Dogbo recalled, and added, “We hope we have thus helped men to accord equal dignity to women, and to overcome the prejudices that prevent us from moving forward with women's extraordinary intelligence.”
