Saturday, September 14
Click here to listen and view the presentation.
Fr. Joe Healey, an American Maryknoll Missionary who served in Eastern Africa for 54 years (1968 – 2022). Having researched and written on Small Christian Communities (SCCs) for many years, he facilitated this online session.
The program began with presentations from Mary Wahome and Alloys Nyakundi about their Young Adult Seekers online Small Christian Community. It is a global community sponsored by Catholic Church Reform Int’l (CCRI) offering young adults from all over the world a safe place to share their concerns for social and environmental justice issues and find support in one another in the life issues they face.
Young People in Africa
Mary Wahome is a fourth-year student at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Their Young People Small Christian Communities (YPSCCs) consists of about 80 to 100 students who meet once a week in a large classroom. There are 5 small Christian communities for the students, one for the alumni, and one for non- students. They attend Mass together, read the bible, and share in programs that give back to the community. They believe “no man is an island” and the SCC gives them a sense of unity and belonging. YPSCCs are divided into smaller groups called “families” of 15 students. The family SCCs meet once a week as they reflect on the gospel of the coming Sunday. The Family SCCs engage in more sharing of the students’ challenges and problems as young people. Family SCCs meet at different hostels where the students stay. Some face challenges with poor health, worldly distractions, living off campus, and some fear being attacked on their way home if the gathering ends late. Despite these struggles, the young people have been empowered more so spiritually and some even get a clear direction of their vocation with the chaplain’s help. Being a young person and getting to experience the joy and beauty of small Christian communities is the greatest gift the church can offer to any young person.
In Africa, growing up, a child is taught not to speak wherever the elders are present. So the SCCs are one place where young people can speak freely and openly with one another. In the Adult Seekers program offered by CCRI, Mary explained that they are on a spiritual journey together finding ways to become involved in programs to help their communities, and find support in their life struggles. Similarly, in Kenyatta University, it is through these SCCs that we can participate actively in church and learn more about liturgy and other life issues.
Because young people are not major donors to the Church financially, they often feel ignored and rarely listened to. Mary suggested that it would be good if bishops included young people in the decision-making process to ensure that our voices are heard. The authority of bishops and clergy should be one that accommodates everyone as they are and not discriminate showing preference for particular groups. The leadership style of clergy should be one that listens more than dictates, especially to young people. On matters concerning finances, it would be good if they were more transparent and accountable, especially on finances in the church to gain the trust of the members.
Alloys Nyakundi is the facilitator of the online Young Seekers Community, having received his degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in New Orleans. He is also the project coordinator for Emmah’s Garden dedicated to providing clean drinking water and empower sustainable agriculture.
He explained that the experience of Jesus Christ is to meet people where they are {fishermen in their boats, leaders in their synagogues, tax collectors at their booths, Roman officials in their huts, and prostitutes in the streets} and so it is for what Pope Francis calls “a listening church” meeting young people where they are in Small Christian Communities. Young people in Africa today can be found on social media. That is where they live. But the Church in Africa has not been following the example of Jesus Christ in meeting young people where they are. Many priests and bishops and Church leaders do not see the significance of social media for them. Consequently, young people feel ignored and left out of parish life.
Small Christian Communities are well established gathering places in Kenya where young people can come to share the Gospel and their challenges in life. These spaces, often online spaces, provide an opportunity for young people not to be alone in facing their challenges. Another concern of young people is that the Church in Africa (and the government in Africa as well) does not recognize or welcome our brothers and sisters who identify as LGBTQ. The Church is not even open to addressing this issue. He longs for a welcoming Church where the experiences of all people can be listened to. People have different struggles; young people have different challenges in life. If we can just meet all people where they are, it will open up an avenue for the young people to feel welcomed in the Church.
Based on his experience ministering to young people who are insecure because so many things are happening in their lives, Alloys made this plea: Let us recognize how special young people are; let us find ways to help them feel appreciated; let us compliment what they are doing as they focus on social issues and environmental issues. Young people are the future and desire for a better tomorrow. That is why they are searching and seeking. Let’s show them hope and ensure that we offer them a sacred space where young people can meet in their peer groups and share their needs, experiences, and life issues (romantic, social media, gambling, and unemployment).
African Synodality Initiative
Fr. Andrew Kaufa, SMM is currently the Coordinator of the Social Communications Department of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2022 he was appointed by Pope Francis for a five-year term as a consultor to the Dicastery for Communication at the Vatican.
Fr. Kaufa explained that the African Synodality Initiative is a partnership between JCAM, SECAM and AMECEA (Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa) and the Jesuits Conference of Africa and Madagascar. Their goal is to provide resources that will enable the local churches in Africa to engage fruitfully and constructively in the ongoing synodal process. ASI fulfils its goal by developing informative media productions, organizing webinars that support the formation of the faithful, and convening various groups to reflect critically on synodality from an African perspective. The voting delegates from Africa will emphasize the importance of the family in an African context and the Church as the Family of God at the synod in Rome. Each SCC is a communion of families.
Fr. Andrew commented that greater consultation with the baptized increases rather than diminishes the authority of the bishop, contrary to the initial thoughts of some bishops. He gave an example of a bishop who had to close several parishes and sell off properties. Because he fully engaged the people in this process, in the model of Christ, the community made a decision that everyone felt they were a part of. It is understood by the bishops that the current culture of authority needs to be changed to accommodate the practices of consultation that Synodality has been promoting.
African bishops place great emphasis upon the family (because of increasing divorce, increasing number of children put into childcare centers, and increasing number of young suicides). This same priority also applies to their concerns about the presence of young people in cyberspace as “digital missionaries.” However, in the period since the first session of the Synod in October 2023, the African bishops have come to realize that use of the internet for evangelization requires greater attention, in part because young people have become so engaged with social media but also because youth in rural areas do not have equal access, thereby creating a “digital divide.” The bishops are determined not to leave anyone out, which is what synodality is about.
Also, it is important to understand that the African emphasis on the family is communitarian rather than individual, in contrast to Western countries where LGBTQ people are more easily assimilated as individuals. Thus, it will be challenging to persist with walking together universally to change African culture to accept people as they are when they are not within the family communitarian model.
Léocadie Lushombo, is a consecrated, member of the Teresian Association. She earned her PhD in Theological Ethics from Boston College (USA), a Sacred Theology Licentiate Degree from the School of Theology and Ministry/Boston College and completed a master’s degree in Theological Ethics at the Catholic Theological Union/Chicago. Sister’s research area is Christian Ethics. She is a prolific author who recently published A Christian and African Ethic of Women’s Political Participation: Living As Risen Beings.
She said a Synodality Colloquium at Africana House in Nairobi Kenya was held from 19 -22 June 2024, where papers were presented on spirituality and synodality. The African theologians will meet in Nairobi in December 2024 to finalize their papers. The final papers will be edited by Emmanuel E. Orobator and published as a book on African Theology and Synodality in 2025 by Paulines Publications Africa and Orbis Books.
Léocadie stressed that theological training of lay leaders in the SCCs in Africa is very important. Women especially need training and formation. If the model or paradigm of the future in Africa is that of Small Christian Communities, then there is need for the SCCs to undertake consistent theological formation/training because the laity do not have the opportunity to access theological formation in many African countries.
The centrality of the family bond is also the foundation for the fifty-year-old Small Christian Community (SCC) movement which has enabled all members of the people of God to participate more fully in the Church. The African bishops also appreciate the need to improve upon the participatory potential of the SCC model in terms of leadership by women as well as men. In the years since the beginning of the Synodal journey, the bishops have come to realize the wisdom of Pope Francis in emphasizing “the gaze of Christ,” which shows in Christ’s treatment of women an example that the Church in Africa has not yet realized. As one bishop put it, “We cannot treat any members as tenants in the church.” The bishops are now asking how they can strengthen the role of women to overcome the lack of adequate recognition that women currently experience.
The Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network had a 14-week program that ended on Sept. 6, 2024. The sessions were designed to promote the Synod on Synodality in a pan-African context. All the key issues on the Synod agenda were discussed and shared during these weeks by African cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laity. Some of these issues included patriarchy, imperialism, clericalism, women, power issues in the Church, seminary candidates, polygamy, challenges to the family, theological formation. All participants are working together to build up the Family of God in Africa. Sr. Leocadia Lushombo, Fr. Andrew Kaufa, and Fr. Joe Healey, MM are all involved in Pactpan.
Action Steps Recommended to the Voting Delegates
In light of the four presentations, what should the voting delegates from Africa emphasize during their talks/interventions at the roundtable’s discernment at the October 2024 Synod in Rome?
Actions Steps from Breakout Room facilitated by Fr. Joe Healey
- More training for new SCC Leaders in Parishes and Universities
- Specific theological training for lay leaders in Small Christian Communities (SCCs)
Action Steps from Breakout Room facilitated by Margaret Mary Moore
Our young adults come from a background where there is great respect for the elders and for authority. Because of this, they often do not feel listened to or that they can add their opinions to the conversation. They find great consolation in their Small Christian Communities. They would like the Synod delegates to promote SCCs for young people and to have Church authorities offer more support for them financially and pastorally. They would like to have their voice included in the decision-making in their parishes and dioceses.
- Our young adults are already “digital missionaries” and are “dynamically connected” through social media! They know well how to evangelize their peers. However, many bishops, pastors, and Church leaders frown upon the use of social media etc. during liturgical services and events. The young adults want their pastors to learn how helpful digital media is and to encourage its use so that the young adults can invite their peers to join them through seeing a welcoming video etc.
- The Church is too hierarchical. Decisions are always from the bishop. Church is seen as being for old people. So young people want to take some photos during Mass so that their peers will see young people there. But pastors say: don’t use your phone in church and at Mass. Some are afraid to speak with their priests. So there is no dialogue about this situation. Delegates should support digital evangelization recognizing that it is a very useful tool for young people!
- There is a dress code in Africa against women wearing trousers. It is seen as disrespectful. This is a bad attitude and one that hurts single mothers. So some who are poor or single mothers don’t show up . . . once again leaving some out.
Action Steps from Breakout Room facilitated by Leocadie Lushombo:
- Having a quota for lay people to register in theological studies. There are so many living in poverty, in crises, and corruptions. Formation for laity must be very concrete for the good of the whole population. Revise the curriculum for the formation of clergy as to make it be connected with the reality/contexts in which they live.
- Study Canon Law and emphasize where it states something about the roles of the lay people in the Church, how pastoral councils can be made obligatory, and how they can be given a voting voice. Revise Canon Law accordingly. Have a woman at every commission and decision-making entity at different levels (local, diocesan, and regional commissions). Emphasize Co-Responsibility – Make women’s presence and voting roles obligatory in the pastoral council.
Action Steps from Breakout Room facilitated by Mary Wahome:
- Have the church leaders get training on how to acquire real skills for listening. It is one thing to hear and another to listen. The young people feel that they are not listened to, since church leaders just talk but nothing is ever done. Getting these real listening skills will help the leaders listen properly and the youths voice will be heard.
- Having resources for the laity formations and trainings open to all people who are interested in laity formation. They should not be directed to or set aside for a specific group of people while the other people have to go back and use their own resources even for theology classes.
Action steps from breakout room facilitated by Ged Ayotte:
- Small Christian Communities (SCCs) should be recognized as an official part of our Church with a lay member of the parish community chosen to coordinate all the SCCs.
- Diocesan and pastoral councils should be required and include a representative body of the community – young and elderly, those more progressive along with those more traditional. The laity must no longer just consult but have decision-making authority. It would be worked out how to select the members, term lengths, and the like.
Action steps from breakout room facilitated by Alloys Nyakundi:
From James Mhangwa (Tanzania)
- The Church should focus on leadership training, social skills, and economic skills for the lay people.
- Mentorship programs for young people.
From Alloys Nyakundi (Kenya)
- Each parish is required to have one young woman and a young man in the Parish Pastoral Council to represent the young people.
- Every parish should be required to have Small Christian Communities specifically for young people.
From Eric (Kenya)
- Leadership empowerment for the lay people.
- More space for the young people to take up leadership opportunities in the Church.
- Emphasis on the use of social media evangelization to reach out to young people who are very active on social media.
Action steps from breakout room facilitated by Philomena Mwaura (Kenya)
- In Kenya, there are no adequate and appropriate structures to promote the participation and contribution of people with hearing impairments and generally people with Disabilities. There is need to facilitate their participation by either organizing special Masses specifically for people with hearing impairments or providing sign language interpretation.
Many Catholics in Africa are ignorant about their faith and receive little or no formation after Catechism classes. There is therefore needed for continuous formation of the laity in relation to the social teachings of the Church.
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When you make a donation to support our cause, you join with others who are investing in restoring our Church to what Jesus intended. The dollars we receive are used to run our programs and to reach a broad spectrum of the People of God. We are focused on reaching out to the Faithful, reform activists, young adults as well as those who feel abandoned by the Church, to mention just a few. Your personal contributions in offering your suggestions and your donations are most appreciated.
We have begun to genuinely join our voices together behaving as a synodal Church. Let us now stay abreast of what is happening with each stage of the Synod from now through 2024 and beyond. The real work of becoming a synodal Church is still ahead of us. It is crucial that we stay involved in the process. We will keep you informed and continue to gather online as a community.
On behalf of the CCRI steering committee,
Rene Reid, CCRI director