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Synod Delegates Having “good moments of sharing”, African Archbishop Says, Lauds Diversity

Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Kenya’s Nyeri Archdiocese. Credit: KCCB

The ongoing Synod on Synodality conversations are providing “good moments of sharing” and mutual understanding, an African Catholic Archbishop participating in the October 4-29 Synod has said. 

In a video recording shared on WhatsApp on Tuesday, October 10, Archbishop Anthony Muheria, one of the two representatives of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) at the Bishops’ meeting in Rome, acknowledges with appreciation the mutual benefits from the diversity of the Synod delegates. 

“We are going through a good moment. The good thing is the diversity we have seen from the Bishops and people from all over, the good moments of sharing, understanding different contexts, hearing the challenges of various places, as well as gifts that we have mutually,” Archbishop Muheria says about the meeting of over 400 delegates of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

He describes the ongoing Synod as “a very good learning process” and adds, “At the same time, it is a good opportunity as we listen to one another, as we listen to the Holy Spirit, to see how we can bring this into our homes.”

“This has been a very good opportunity and is a challenge for all of us in our various jurisdictions and places of origin,” the Kenyan Catholic Archbishop says about the meeting that started on October 4, with October 5 as the first full day of work.

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The Local Ordinary of Kenya’s Nyeri Archdiocese of Nyeri, who doubles as the Chairman of the Commission for Social Communications of KCCB says that the discussions in groups are providing opportunities for delegates to reflect on various realities, including family settings. 

Deliberations at the Synod are providing opportunities to go beyond what delegates are saying, he goes on to observe, and gives the example of family settings, with members “thinking and valuing one another, listening to the heart of the father, the father listening to the heart of the child, the husband listening to the heart of the wife, the wife listening to the husband, an experience of expanding our hearts in listening and it’s not just talking but listening to what is deeply in us.”

Hinting to the Synodal delegates’ confidentiality and discretion requirements, Archbishop Muheria says, “Don’t get worried if you don’t hear too much of what we are discussing because there is more the idea of listening to one another and listening to the Holy Spirit.”

“The Holy Father has insisted a lot that this is also a moment of reflection, of silence, of listening to the Holy Spirit,” the Kenyan member of Opus Dei, who was recently appointed Apostolic Administrator of Embu Diocese in Kenya further says.

He appeals for prayers, saying, “We want to invite Catholics and all to continue praying for this wonderful meeting alongside the Holy Father so that the Holy Spirit may inspire us, the Bishops and other delegates, so that we can really have a deep sharing.”

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The Kenyan delegate is participating in the Synod that Pope Francis extended to 2024 alongside Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of Mombasa Archdiocese, the Chairman of KCCB.

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