African Child: Promoting a Consistent Culture of Protection, Care, and Safeguarding in Church and Society

Jesuits Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) invites you to an online Webinar on: AFRICAN CHILD: PROMOTING A CONSISTENT CULTURE OF PROTECTION, CARE, AND SAFEGUARDING IN CHURCH AND SOCIETY.

Dates: 28-30th April 2021

Time:    Morning Session: 11:00AM -13:00PM EAST AFRICAN TIME; Afternoon session: 3:00PM-5:00PM EAST AFRICAN TIME.

|About the Colloquium

In his Motu Proprio, “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (7 May 2019), Pope Francis declares that abuses of whatever kind committed against minors and vulnerable people inflict “physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful.” To ensure that such phenomena “never happen again, a continuous and profound conversion of hearts is needed, attested by concrete and effective actions that involve everyone in the Church, so that personal sanctity and moral commitment can contribute to promoting the full credibility of the Gospel message and the effectiveness of the Church’s mission.” Francis’s call echoes his previous declaration that “no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated. The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.” (“Letter to the People of God,” 20 August 2018).

|The Aim

In light of the foregoing, this 3-day colloquium organised by Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) aims to:

• develop a concrete response to Pope Francis’s clarion call to “say ‘never again’ to every form of abuse”;
• contribute to the global “task regarding all of us as the People of God” to create a safe environment for all, especially children, in Church, family and society;
• present current research, thinking and best practice in the field of child protection and safeguarding from multiple perspectives in the context of the Church, family and society in Africa; and
• convene practitioners and experts, alongside theologians and other scholars, to explore together the challenges, tasks and commitments presented by sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults for the Church, family and society in Africa.

Participants will be drawn from within the Society of Jesus as well as church leaders from across Africa and representatives from other Religious Orders and Congregations.