The Synod of Bishops, second Special Assembly for Africa

The thirty-six episcopal conferences and the two oriental Catholic Churches present in the African continent will come together for the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican, from October 4th to 25th, 2009. They will be reflecting on the theme: The Church in Africa in service to reconciliation, justice and peace: You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world (Mt 5:13-14).Pope Benedict XVI convoked the Synod stressing the importance of this event for the life of the continent and of the Universal Church when he delivered the Instrumentum Laboris in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on March 19th, 2009.My heartfelt wish is that the work of the Synodal Assembly will contribute to an increase in hope for your peoples and for the entire continent; that it will help to inspire each of your local Churches with new evangelical and missionary zeal in service to reconciliation, justice and peace, according to the programme given us by the Lord himself: You are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world (Mt 5:13-14).The Holy Father underlined the connection between this African Synod and the previous one. The first Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops took place from April 10th to May 8th, 1994 in the Vatican, with the theme "The Church in Africa and her evangelizing mission towards the year 2000: 'You shall be my witnesses (Acts 1:8), after which John Paul II published the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia en Africa.

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• synod
• Africa
• reconciliation
• october
• 2009