Members of the Department for Formation, Life and Apostolate of the Laity of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) gathered at Lumko Institute Retreat Conference Centre in Benoni for the biannual meeting.

The 17 to 19 October meeting held under the theme “The Role of the Laity in the Church in the Spirit of the Synod on Synodality,” brought together clergy and laity to reflect on how the Church in Southern Africa can continue to grow as a community of communion, participation, and mission.

The three-day meeting, led by the Chairperson and Coordinator — Bishop Vincent Mduduzi Zungu of Port Elizabeth and Rev. Fr Nhlanhla Mchunu, respectively — also saw presentations by Fr John Paul Mathebula and Fr Tjamela Mofokeng on “The Rights and Obligations of the Faithful” and “The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church”, as well as a presentation by Motankane Mahlako on youth affairs within the Church’s synodal journey.

The member of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), Bishop Zungu, in an interview with the SACBC Communication Office, said that the gathering was both formative and pastoral in nature. “We are gathered here in Benoni in order to inform and form ourselves as the department so that we can then continue to lead and plan and find a way forward basically in the area of synodality,” he said.

Reflecting on the theme, Bishop Zungu OFM noted that the meeting coincided with the feast of Saint Luke, whose life offers a vivid model for the lay vocation.

“It is very fortunate that today in this synodal church that we celebrate, we are also celebrating the feast day of Saint Luke, basically someone whose life was that of a professional as a doctor, but at the same time he was also a catechist and someone who accompanied the apostles Peter and Paul in their missionary journeys and from there used his skill to be able to put down to us in writing the life of Christ,” he said.

He added that this example mirrors the call of all the baptized in a synodal Church. “So, the laity and especially in the spirit of synodality, they too belong to the Church, and they are called to live in communion with the Church and with full participation as missionary disciples, and that’s really at the heart of our synodal journey as the Church. And for the laity, it is because basically they have been fully initiated into the life of the Church, and their mandate comes from their baptism.”

Speaking to the role of the laity, particularly members of sodalities, Bishop Zungu OFM emphasized that all the baptized share the same mission.

He said, “The Church belongs to all of us, and we are all members of the Church and Saint Paul speaks of the Church as the Body of Christ.”

“So my message to all the lay faithful, whether they belong to sodalities, but also those who don’t belong, by the way, to any particular sodality, they are equally called to evangelise, to share the Good News with others and to actually give life to this body called the Church so that basically we can grow as the Church in terms of membership, but also grow qualitatively by understanding really our faith to the full,” he added.

In the Saturday, October 18, interview, Bishop Zungu OFM also spoke about the formation of the laity as an essential part of the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality, highlighting initiatives in his Diocese of Port Elizabeth.

“We are very fortunate that we have our pastoral development that is fully fledged and that is at work, you know, helping and mobilising all the members of the faithful to be able to perform their roles in the Church,” said Bishop Zungu OFM.

He further said the Port Elisabeth diocese has established a “team that will be able to lead the implementation phase of Synodality.”

He went on to describe how the Jubilee Year of Hope has provided an opportunity for renewal and participation across the diocese. “Now, we have also been having a very busy liturgical year because we have been celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope with all the lay sodalities, with all the structures of the Church.”

“For instance, we started celebrating the Synodality as well as the Year of Hope with the clergy, then it was with the permanent deacons, then it was with all the members who belong to different sodalities and we have also had an opportunity to celebrate the Jubilee Year with catechists, people who literally hand on the faith to others using their skills, using their talents and we also have had an opportunity to celebrate this Jubilee Year with those who are educators, our religious educators, but also the teachers in general because they are very important in the life of the Church,” he explained.

Looking ahead, Bishop Zungu OFM said that the upcoming annual gathering of the clergy in Port Elizabeth will continue to focus on synodality and leadership.

 “The upcoming event that we will be having is actually the annual gathering of the clergy. It’s our plenary and the topic that we have there will be actually the one of synodality and how, as the people who are leaders in the Church, as the clergy, we must animate and encourage the participation of everybody in a synodal style … so that, as the clergy, we are not intimidated by having the full conscious and active participation of the lay faithful in all the structures of our Church, including on the level of making decisions to take the diocese forward,” he added.

The October 17 to 19 biannual meeting focused on deepening the understanding of lay participation and formation in a synodal Church.