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Bishops’ 10-year Strategic Plan to Build Synergy in Ethiopia Catholic Church Institutions

Members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE). Credit: CBCE

Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE) are working on a 10-year strategic plan that is aimed at addressing the opportunities and challenges that arose from the Bishops’ 53rd Plenary Assembly that was held between July 20 and July 22.

In a report shared with ACI Africa on Thursday, August 25, CBCE members say that the document is also aimed at creating more synergy in Church institutions in the Horn of Africa country.

“The strategic plan is aimed at enabling Church bodies to work together for a common vision that upholds the mission and values of the Catholic Church.  It is about pastoral and social development ministries working jointly. The strategic plan is aimed at streamlining operational communication,” Catholic Bishops in Ethiopia say.

According to the Bishops, it is expected that through the strategic plan, it will be possible to implement the contemporary operational systems in the Church in Ethiopia “and to realize the existence of the church in a sustainable way.”

CBCE members have formulated a national steering committee led by a Secretary General to prepare the 10-year strategic plan. The committee will also have 10 members consisting of Deputy Secretaries General, officers, and an internal consultant.

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For a start, the committee has embarked on an awareness campaign that entails visiting various Catholic Dioceses across the country and engaging them on implementation strategies.

The committee has come up with a six-month work plan, and starting August 10, has already conducted pastoral visits to eight Dioceses. 

These include the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa, Vicariate of Meki, Apostolic Prefecture of Robe, Vicariate of Hawasa, Vicariate of Sodo, Vicariate of Hossana, Eparchy of Emdibir and Vicariate of Jimma-Bonga.

In the report, Catholic Bishops in Ethiopia say that various discussions were held in the six Dioceses, and a virtual platform has also been developed to facilitate communication for tasks that the committee has lined up.

The CBCE members have announced that in the coming weeks, discussions will be held at the Eparchy of Bahirdar-Dessie, Vicariate of Nekemet, and Gambella dioceses. 

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Priests in the Eparchy of Adigrat are also slated to hold a meeting in Addis Ababa “in the coming days” to create more engagement with the strategic plan.

The Catholic Church leaders say that the 10-year plan involves evaluating the previous plans made by church institutions as well as those that have been established and are being implemented.

It also involves analysis of projects being implemented, and identifying obstacles such as short durations, difficulty in implementation and lack of timely evaluation as main factors for the lack of timely execution of the projects.

The CBCE steering committee has, this time, divided the 10-year strategic plan into four implementation phases and set a time limit for each.

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.