The Catholic Church in the Southern African region is moving into a new phase of implementing synodality, with dioceses establishing dedicated teams and receiving support to translate the Synod on Synodality’s conclusions into local Church life.
Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa, CMM, Vice Chairperson of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) Commission for Synodality, said the region has already established a commission at the level of the bishops’ conference to oversee the implementation of synodality.
Speaking on the sidelines of the First Preparatory Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) towards the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Bishop Mbuyisa said almost all dioceses in the SACBC region now have diocesan synodality teams.
“Our dioceses, almost all of them have now diocesan teams as well. They are receiving workshops and support also from our commission,” he said.
Bishop Mbuyisa said the SACBC Commission for Synodality has also worked to make the final document of the 2024 Synod on Synodality more accessible for implementation at the local level.
“We have already worked as a commission to simplify the final document that was produced by the Synod on Synodality in 2024,” he said.
Some dioceses, he added, have gone further by developing their own resources to guide the implementation of synodality according to their local circumstances.
The developments, according to Bishop Mbuyisa, indicate that synodality has generally been welcomed across the region.
“So, so far Synodality has been embraced,” he said.
Despite the progress, Bishop Mbuyisa acknowledged that questions, misunderstandings and some reluctance remain in parts of the region.
He said such challenges should be understood within the broader nature of the synodal process, which requires time and a change in how the Church understands and lives its mission.
“Of course, there are still some questions. There are still sometimes reluctance here and there or misunderstandings,” he said.
“But again, let us remember that Synodality is a journey. It is a process and also an invitation to conversion.”
Bishop Mbuyisa was speaking in Addis Ababa, where representatives of Africa’s episcopal conferences gathered for SECAM’s first preparatory assembly towards the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly on Synodality in Rome.
He said the gathering also provided an opportunity to reconnect with bishops and other Church representatives from across Africa, including some with whom he had shared the synodal journey in Rome.
The SACBC experience, he suggested, reflects the wider challenge facing the African Church: moving from discussions about synodality to concrete structures and practices that enable greater participation, listening and co-responsibility in the life of the Church.
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