African lay students in Rome study “The Joy of the Gospel"

The recent African session of Catholic lay university students was held recently in Rome, Italy, on the margins of the XI International Symposium of University Students.  The theme of the meeting was: "The Evangelization of University Education, Professional Life and the Family: An African study of “Evangelii Gadium."  Evangelii Gadium or The Joy of the Gospel is an apostolic exhortation written by Pope Francis in 2013.

At the end of the study, the meeting declared that the Gospel message does not change, what changes are the methods of evangelization.

The meeting held at the Maria Santissima Bambina in via Paolo VI was organised by a committee of African lay students and professors based in Rome under the auspices of African University Service led by Fr. Tobechi Emmanuel Anyadike. The African University Service seeks to provide pastoral care to African students studying in Rome’s state universities.

During the meeting, two presentations were made by Prof. Jean Pierre Sieme of the Pontifical Urban University, Rome and Prof. Ongolo Sylvestre Roger Peace a Professor of Economics at the Lateranense University in Rome. Other African academicians mostly from Catholic universities in West Africa, France and Kenya were also present.

In attendance also was Archbishop Emery Kabongo, a Canon at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. He is also the Archbishop Emeritus of Luebo in Congo DR. Participation was mostly by lay students from Rome’s secular universities as well as a few religious sisters. In all, about thirty persons were present.

The meeting reaffirmed that an appeal be made to Bishops in Africa to strengthen the presence the Catholic faith in universities. The meeting felt it was unfortunate that some Catholic universities in Africa did not have a faculty of Theology in spite of carrying the name, Catholic.

During the meeting, lay students in state universities were recognised as the tomorrow’s African politicians and as such leaders. It is important therefore that these students be accompanied and provided with an integral faith formation as envisaged in Evangelii Gaudium.

Among the concerns brought out by the African students in state universities were difficulties in finding places for internships resulting in some of them failing to graduate. The situation was said to be more difficult for students in the medical and engineering faculties.

The lay students also spoke of feeling isolated from Italian society due to racism and they appealed to the Diocese of Rome and SECAM (the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) for more pastoral care.

The Students further expressed concern that sometimes when they returned to their home countries they felt rejected and unwelcome by their own societies. They spoke of difficulties in finding jobs in spite of being well qualified. The students claimed that this was one of the reasons that led some of them to stay-on in Europe where sometimes their skills, especially in medicine were better appreciated. They said they were keen to return to Africa and serve their countries after graduation but sometimes they had nothing to go back to in their own countries.

Lastly, the students suggested that in future the African University Service in Rome be better resourced and allowed to become a more formidable pastoral care unit that would also encompass a research unit whose results should be focused on benefitting African society.

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