SECAM Launches Africa’s Preparations for 2028 Vatican Ecclesial Assembly with First Continental Seminar

Highlighting the purpose of the Addis Ababa gathering, SECAM Secretary General says, “This seminar is an opportunity to listen deeply to one another, recognize the fruits already emerging, and discern together how God is calling the Church in Africa to serve both the continent and the universal Church.”

The General Secretariat of the Synod has published a new document to guide the “path of implementation of the Synod” through an Ecclesial Assembly scheduled for October 2028 at the Vatican.

Titled “The Path of Implementation of the Synod: Towards the Assemblies 2027–2028 — Stages, Criteria, and Tools for Preparation,” the 18-page document establishes a four-stage process and a common method for local Churches, episcopal conferences, and continental bodies.

The four successive stages in the implementation process include Recollecting during the first half of 2027; Interpreting in the second half of 2027, Orienting in the first four months of 2028, and Celebrating with the Ecclesial Assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.

In the July 23 SECAM statement, participants in the August 3-5 preparatory seminar will evaluate the Synodal Process across Africa, reflect on the gifts the Church in Africa offers to the universal Church, identify emerging expressions of missionary synodality, and share regional experiences and best practices.

The program of the two days is to include prayer, Conversation in the Spirit, plenary discussions, and working groups aimed at fostering communal discernment and consensus-building.

Participants are to receive presentations on the global and continental roadmap toward the Ecclesial Assemblies of 2027 and 2028, alongside testimonies from regional Episcopal Conferences and ecclesial initiatives.

In the statement, SECAM Secretary General says the seminar is to produce key recommendations and a draft continental working document that will guide Africa’s next stages of synodal preparation and contribute to the October 2028 Ecclesial Assembly at the Vatican.

As part of the process, continental assemblies are to prepare a “perspective report” to help shape the Instrumentum Laboris (Working Document) the working document for the 2028 Vatican gathering. 

The General Secretariat of the Synod has set 30 June 2027, as the deadline for submissions from local Churches, 31 December 2027, for national and regional syntheses, and 30 April 2028, for continental reports.