The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Plenary starts

The Bishops of Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland are meeting in Mariannhill, South Africa, from 5th – 12th August for their Bi-annual Plenary.

The Plenary is a collegial moment for Bishops to meet and unite in prayer, reflection and deliberate on matters of the Church in the three countries. The Plenary was scheduled to begin with a day of silent prayer and reflection during which the Bishops were also to get an opportunity for the Sacrament of Confession.

The Bishops will then look at the issue of Church and State relations with special reference to South Africa after 20 years of liberation from the oppressive system of Apartheid. The Bishops had already identified in their Pastoral Letter of 2013 that while south Africa has a lot to be grateful for, the wisdom of the Gospel and the Church is necessary to assist the country, especially the Government, towards attaining the common good for all South Africans. The session on South Africa will be moderated by Fr Stuart Bate OMI who will begin by presenting a paper on “Faith and Secularism in Developing Countries”.

The Plenary will then look at the restructuring of the Bishops’ Conference especially in the area of Evangelisation. Under this discussion, the Bishops will deliberate on the Council of Evangelisation as the overarching body of the Church in the territory. They will also discuss the founding of the Council for the Laity and the Council for Deacons.

The Bishops will later deliberate on the celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life. Pope Francis announced this celebration in November 2013 at a meeting with the Union of Superiors General in Rome. This celebration is part of the golden anniversary of the Vatican II. It will begin in November 2014 to commemorate the promulgation of the Constitution on the Church “Lumen Gentium” which has a chapter on consecrated life and finish in November 2015 with the commemoration of the promulgation of the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life “Perfectae Caritatis”.

The highlight of the Plenary will be the presence of the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. The Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Burke will address the Bishops on issues of annulments, laicisation and other relevant canonical matters. He will then proceed to the conference of the Canon Law Society of Southern Africa which will take place in Bluff, Durban.

Other matters included on the agenda of the Plenary of Bishops are: Developments at the Theological Education by Extension College (TEEC), the Catholic Bible Foundation, Caritas South Africa and the Lenten Appeal. The Plenary will also launch two books, namely, the book of Sunday Services without a priest and the Rosary book written by Right Rev. Hubert Bucher, Bishop Emeritus of Bethlehem.