Ethiopia: Bishop Musié says Church in Africa needs radical conversion.

The Church in Africa needs radical conversion to be open to dialogue, to build together a society that is marked by justice, reconciliation, and peace, said the Bishop of Emdeber Diocese, Ethiopia.

Sheila Pires, Vatican News English Africa Collaborator - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Addressing participants at the divine liturgy held at the Nativity Cathedral on Saturday morning, Bishop Musié Ghebreghiorghis O.F.M. Cap focused on the continental stage of the Synod on Synodality Assembly underway in Addis Ababa.

Some of the participants at the Synod in Addis.

A moment of grace

Bishop Musié described the continental stage of the Synod on Synodality as a moment of “grace” and as a fruitful experience for the Church in Africa.

“The whole of Africa is represented in this assembly. We speak different languages. We have different cultural backgrounds. We have different liturgies, and yet we are members (of the same Catholic Church),” said the Ethiopian prelate.

Cherish our rich cultural values

According to Bishop Musié, the assembly was an opportunity “freely share our joys and concerns” of the African continent. “African society”, he said, “is a vibrant society, with rich cultural values that need full attention… These values should not be diluted by the dictatorship of democracy or globalization because these values have much to teach the whole world.”

Bishop Musié went on to say that because most of the conflicts in Africa are among Christians, the Synod on Synodality invites the Church to be “open to dialogue, to build together a society that is marked by justice, reconciliation, and peace.”

Listen to Sheila Pires’ report here.

Sheila Pires in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.