The Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) and The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) will be having a Seminar on the theme The joy of the Family in Maputo, Mozambique from May 28- 31, 2015.
Following a process of growing pastoral collaboration, the two bodies have been organizing meetings for bishops from both continents to strength communion and collaboration and a reflection on major challenges facing the Church .
In the light of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation and in connection with the reflections which will be tackled in the course of the next Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2015 on the Family, the bishops will deliberate on issues relating to the family on the two continents.
The aim of the Seminar of European and African bishops will be to study the family in Africa and Europe as protagonist of evangelisation and at the same time in need of being evangelised. Topics to be treated include the following:
a Anthropological, social and ecclesial challenges for the Family.
b The Joy and sufferings of the Family: Pastoral challenges.
c The Mission of the Bishop in proclaiming the Gospel of the Family.
d The role of the Church and the Bishop in dialogue with Society and States in family matters.
The bishops at the end of the Seminar are expected to issue a Final message on their deliberations.
The programme of the meeting and the list of participants are available on the website of CCEE (www.ccee.eu) and SECAM (www.secam.org).
The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) comprises the 37 National Episcopal Conferences and the eight (8) Regional Episcopal Conferences. The Secretariat is based in Accra, Ghana.
The Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) encompasses the current 33 European Bishops’ Conferences, represented by their Presidents, the Archbishops of Luxembourg, of the Principality of Monaco, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus and the Bishop of Chişinău (Moldova Rep.), the Eparchial Bishop of Mukachevo and the Apostolic Administrator of Estonia. The Secretariat is based at St Gallen (Switzerland) www.ccee.eu.
