Kigali — "Hope is the heart of our lives," under this motto, the Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) (see Fides, 1/8/2025) urges the continent's faithful not to give up hope despite the current difficulties. In their message at the end of the assembly, which concluded yesterday, August 4, in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, the SECAM bishops recall that in their message concluding their last assembly in 2022 in Accra, Ghana, they listed some of the ills afflicting Africa: a serious state of insecurity affecting several regions of the continent, geopolitical instability, widespread violence, economic poverty, the lack of adequate health facilities, the exploitation of religion for political purposes, the lack of good governance, and respect for the environment.

"These challenges persist and must be overcome even today," the SECAM members write in this year's message, "but they must not be a reason to despair. For Christ is the source of hope for Africa and its peoples," the message states.

But, the message warns, "Christian hope should not be confused with a simple mental projection detached from reality." Rather, it is "an active commitment, a presence in the name of the Lord Jesus alongside those who suffer, who endure injustice, and who are sidelined by the powerful of the world."

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This means committing ourselves for the next 25 years to "preserving the boldness of a word that shakes and rouses this world." And it means that "we must renew our understanding and practice of being a family of God, serving our communities and our continent with the Gospel of reconciliation, justice, and peace."

Finally, SECAM makes an urgent appeal to African leaders to care for their people and to make a concrete commitment to peace.