Ghanaian Cardinal urges Africa’s Bishops to live mission as “church-family of God”

Kigali, Rwanda: Alex Iradukunda – Ghanaian Cardinal, His Eminence Peter Appiah Turkson has urged Africa’s Catholic bishops to embrace a renewed sense of mission grounded in their shared identity as the Church-Family of God.

“SECAM also sends us forth on a mission, to renew our understanding and living of being the Family of God, and to serve our communities and continent with the Gospel of reconciliation, justice, and peace,” Cardinal Turkson said in his homily at the opening Mass of the 20th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) ongoing in Rwanda.

Cardinal Turkson reminded the Bishops of the deep roots of the Church’s identity as Family of God, an image first proposed by the First African Synod in 1994. “That synod was marked both by great joy and by profound tragedy,” he recalled, pointing to the fall of apartheid and the genocide in Rwanda.

He encouraged Africa’s bishops and faithful to see this identity not just as a theological concept but as a way of life rooted in communion, love, and mutual care. “To live as the Church-Family of God is to be in right relationship with God and with one another,” he said. “It means recognizing God as our Father, the Church as our Mother, and each other as brothers and sisters.”

The Cardinal further invited the Church in Africa to embrace reconciliation as a sacred task. “Because we are human, and we often hurt one another, we are constantly in need of healing and mending our relationships,” he said. “Reconciliation allows us to heal broken bonds, and through that healing, we are called to live justly and in peace.”

It is in this spirit, he added, that SECAM calls the Church to proclaim and embody the Gospel of reconciliation, justice, and peace in every corner of the continent.