Nairobi, 27 September, 2023 / 9:27 pm (ACI Africa).
Contemplative Nuns from some 35 Monasteries in eight Anglophone African countries have been beneficiaries of a training on safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults aimed at creating “a safe church for everybody”.
In an interview with ACI Africa, the President of the Conference of Contemplative Communities Kenya (CCCK) said the virtual training that Spec Training and Consultancy Research facilitated by between May and July was part of the initiatives to create “a culture of care and protection” among all the people of God.
“Nuns have been working and walking with the mind of the church and they want to create a safe church for everybody. We are not excluded by this invitation, especially from Pope Francis, in his motu Proprio, You are the Light of the World and As a Loving Mother,” Sr. Agatha Daniel said during the Tuesday, September 26 interview, referencing the May 2019 Vos Estis Lux Mundi and the June 2016 Apostolic Letters, respectively.
Sr. Agatha said that since the two Apostolic Letters were published, “there has been a problem with applying the teachings of the Magisterium on creating a safe Church today and we wanted to do it in ways that will be impactful in the monasteries.”
The official of the CCCK, which brings together Contemplative Nuns from Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe added that the training was important to help Nuns realize that they can be perpetrators or victims of any form of abuse in their respective Monasteries.