Abidjan, 15 January, 2021 / 8:58 pm (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Church in Ivory Coast has planned to spearhead initiatives that foster integral human development in view of mitigating the effects of COVID-19 among the people of God in the West African nation, the Secretary-General of the Bishops’ conference has said.
“We intend to pursue the objectives of our five-year strategic plan, namely, to reconcile man with God, with others and to contribute to making the Church an important actor in integral human development,” the Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Ivory Coast (CECCI), Fr. Emmanuel Wohi Nin has been quoted as saying in an interview.
In the Tuesday, January 12 interview, with Ivory Coast’s National Catholic Radio, Fr. Nin describes the year 2020 as “challenging” as a result of the coronavirus, adding, “The Church wants to help the Christians to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We expect to make the mid-term evaluation at the end of the pastoral year 2020-2021, but we will certainly focus on the citizen engagement of the Christian in connection with the Gospel and the Faith,” the Ivorian Cleric further says.
Reflecting on the climax of the 125 years of Evangelization in the country that began three years ago, Fr. Nin says, “A jubilee is the feast of God's presence, a moment of thanksgiving, commitment and fidelity to the Gospel.”