The planned Ad Limina Visit of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) is a “symbolic expression of the unity of bishops with the Pope,” the President of the SACBC has said.

In a message shared with the SACBC communications office, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha Diocese said the Ad Limina visit “is a symbolic expression of the unity of bishops with the Pope, who is the first among equals in the College of Bishops, as Peter was among the apostles for this apostolic symbolic reason. The bishops also use the ad limina visit to pray at the tombs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Rome.”

The President of the SACBC explained that during the visit, each Diocese will present a comprehensive report to the Pope, known as the Quinquennial Report.

“The report is called the Quinquennial Report from the Latin word for five, quinque, because the visit normally takes place every five years,” said Bishop Sipuka.

He added, “Such a report includes social, political, and economic updates and statistics. The liturgical and sacramental life of the church. Catholic education, evangelization. Communication. The social teaching of the Church. Ways of spreading the faith difficulties that we encounter in our work of evangelization. The financial state of the Diocese and more.”

The SACBC President further explained that due to the backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the planned meeting with Pope Francis will be as a group and not individually as it was done in the past.

He said, “Normally the Pope would meet with each Bishop and discuss his report and give advice. But because of the backlog caused by Covid-19, we will not be able to meet the Pope individually.”

“We will meet with him as a group of the bishops of the conference. And discuss matters related to the conference as a whole but will also have time to interject particular issues that come from our Dioceses,” he added.

As the Catholic Bishops of Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa head to Rome for the Ad Limina visit from June 12-17, Bishop Sipuka said the Bishops together with the Cardinal and the Secretariate are looking forward to the visit “as it is part of our faith, as one church united under the successor of Peter.”

“It’s a pity we are not able to relay all that we would like to relay to the Pope because it is a very tight schedule. But we have tried to write comprehensive reports from our dioceses and the conference and will be sharing these with the Pope starting Monday the 13th, up to Saturday, the 17^th,” he said.

In preparation for the Ad Limina visit, the SACBC has published videos explaining the significance of the visit and has asked that the people of God join the Bishops in prayer, “I invite all those who will be remaining behind to pray for us because this is not just about us, It’s about the church in southern Africa,” said Bishop Sipuka.

He concluded saying, “We will be reporting on behalf of every Catholic. We wish you well as you pray for us. We’ll keep you posted as we engage in meetings with the Pope and various other offices of the Pope. God bless.”