New Commentary on Synod on Synodality’s Synthesis Report 2023 Seeks to Address Pastoral Issues Particular to Africa

The book also relates the SR with last year’s Continental Synodal Report from Addis Ababa as well as the two African synods (1994 and 2009), which Sr. Katunge says “were an effort by the Catholic church to engage with the continent and make her voice heard in the public space.”

Sr. Katunge notes that the SR has pointed out issues that are proper to the Church in Africa, like polygamy, and invited SECAM to engage in theological and pastoral discernment on polygamy and the accompaniment of people in polygamous unions “who are coming to faith.”

At the book launch, which coincided with the conclusion of African palavers on the Synod on Synodality, Sr. Katunge assured participants that African theologians were working on a manual for pastoral accompaniment of Catholics in polygamous marriages.

Theologians at the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN) also provided a commentary on the SR to allow for a deeper engagement with the report, especially at the local Church.

“Given the decisiveness and weightiness of some of the issues that are being discussed, dialogue should be more specific and contextual directed at specific local questions, concerns, and proposals from the Synthesis Report with a view to developing local pastoral reflections, plans, and accompaniment to meet the needs of local communities,” Sr. Katunge said.

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She added, “There are many local issues in many parts of the world that do not need to be brought to Rome at the Second Session, and there are many local problems that require urgent and practical pastoral response that can be implemented by local pastors themselves as the fruits that emerge from the synodal encounter.”

She underlined the need to develop the practice of synodality as “a way of life” for local churches and at all levels, noting that challenges of the Church today cannot be solved within the time assigned for the Synod on Synodality conversations.

Sr. Katunge called for active engagement with the book which she described as an easy read that had been based on African stories and realities of life.

“The text is a summary of the SR put in an African context that makes it even enjoyable to read and grasp,” the Kenyan SSJ member said.

She continued, “It is our hope that this book will be a real pastoral manual that will accompany the Church in Africa during this period of engaging in the final phase of the synod and beyond and respond to the question in the hearts of all Africans today: Where can we find hope for the future?”

“Faced with many challenges, but also surrounded with boundless opportunities and possibilities, many Africans are longing for a better future. No activity of the Church in Africa, no synodal process will make much sense to the men and women of our continent if it is not translated into hopeful praxis for a more abundant life,” she said.

The 20-chapter book, also edited by Fr. Stan Chu Ilo, addresses “The Face of the Synodal Church” in chapters 1 -7, “All Disciples, all Missionaries” in chapters 8-13, and “Weaving bonds, Building Communities: in chapters 14-20.

It is available in Catholic Bookshops under the auspices of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP), popularly known as Pauline Sisters; it can also be purchased online here at US$10.00.

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.