Bujumbura, Burundi, Nov 8, 2013 / 16:24 pm
African Catholic leaders in justice and peace have released a message encouraging spiritual renewal and condemning the exploitation of "the poorest and weakest."
"Like St. Paul, we invite you to let yourselves be reconciled with Christ, by spiritually renewing your minds and hearts in the promotion of the integral development of the person, to be able to say 'no' to the misery that surrounds us caused by our behavior as sinners," the justice and peace coordination of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar said Oct. 31.
The message was released during a meeting of bishops and other leaders of regional justice and peace commissions in Africa and Madagascar. It convened in Bujumbura, Burundi Oct. 28-Nov. 2. The meeting discussed good governance, the common good, and transitions to democratic societies across the continent.
The coordination message, provided by Catholic News Agency for Africa, was addressed to all African Catholics and men and women of good will. It expressed the "total rejection" of the exploitation of the poor and weak, including enslavement of children, child trafficking, and organ trafficking. It also denounced "growing insecurity" and violence and criminality in the Central African Republic and the recurring conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.