The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Synod Delegates are expected to present an “elaborative report” during the annual January Plenary Session of the Catholic Bishops of Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa.
According to the SACBC spokesperson Cardinal Stephen Brislin, the decision was reached during the recently concluded Administrative Board meeting held annually “in May and November, to deal primarily with assessment of implementation of Plenary resolutions and administrative matters.”
“A report was given on the synod by Archbishop Dabula Mpako. He addressed the challenge that synodality makes in terms of how issues of importance in the Church are discussed and how decisions are made. A full day will be assigned during the January 2024 Plenary session to reflect on the synod and how we become a more synodal Church at every level,” said Cardinal Brislin.
The SACBC Synod Delegates, Archbishop Mpako of Pretoria Archdiocese together with Bishop Thulani Mbuyisa of Kokstad and the Communication Officer Sheila Pires are also expected to do a presentation on the Synthesis Document and to “offer the bishops an experience of the Conversation in the Spirit method.”
During the meeting, the SACBC administrative board members established a team “to prepare for the engagement with the bishops at the plenary,” which will be led by Archbishop Mpako with the assistance of the two Synod delegates as well as Archbishop Zolile Mpambani of Bloemfontein Archdiocese, Bishop Jan De Groef of Bethlehem Diocese, and two Religious Sisters from the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life (LCCL).
The SACBC spokesperson went on to say that the Board members were also given updates from other departments such as the Department of Finance headed by Bishop Duncan Tsoke of Kimberley Diocese who together with the finance team “presented the overall 2024 budgeted income and expenditures for the Conference and the seminaries, and the necessary increases of contributions to offset inflation.”
“The Dept of Social Development focused on plans to prepare for the 2024 national elections. These include a prayer for peaceful and successful elections, a voter education manual and voter education for “the South Africa God wants”, a pastoral letter, Lenten reflections, and monitoring of elections,” he added.
