ABIDJAN, OCTOBER, 12 2018 (CISA)-Catholic Lay Academics and Professionals from over 20 African countries will be meeting at St. Theresa Bingerville, in Abidjan.
The meeting will run from October 15 to 18, under the theme: Catholic Professionals and the Call to good citizenship (Faithful citizenship) in Africa today.
In an October 12 statement to newsrooms, the organizing committee noted that this meeting, “… comes at the time when the African continent, despite strides made on the socioeconomic front, is faced with numerous challenges including corruption, poor governance, and weak institutional formation.”
The participants, will have a self-examinations session, which will be graced by Pastoral coordinators from regional episcopal conferences including Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops in Southern Africa (IMBISA) and Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA).
Among the key areas of reflections will be, What it means to be a Catholic professional and a good citizen in contemporary Africa, Opportunities and tensions of being a Catholic professional and a good citizen in contemporary Africa, How Christian organizations can foster citizenship in Africa today, How to engage more young Catholic professionals in public policy and spheres such as parliament, what needs to change and what opportunities exist for them.
The session has been organized by Pax Romana-International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (Pax Romana-ICMICA), a worldwide network of Catholic lay professionals whose objective is to promote participation of the Laity in the life of the Church, in the spirit of Vatican II.
Since 1949, Pax Romana-ICMICA has held a consultative status with the United Nations through the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In Africa, Pax Romana-ICMICA, regional office is in Nairobi, Kenya.
