Bishops to Meet Pope in June

by Admin · January 31, 2023

Pope Francis meets with bishops from South Africa at the Vatican. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano April 29, 2014)

In June the bishops of Southern Africa will finally make their ad limina visit to the Vatican, which involves meetings with the pope and curial departments. The previously scheduled ad limina had to be cancelled in May 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The visit “will provide us with the opportunity to share with the Holy Father the joys and challenges of our ministry in the Conference area. The topics of our sharing will include the process of the Synod on Synodality, the issues we are dealing with through our programmes and departments, and the social and political challenges facing us in our area.”

The previous ad limina visit by the bishops of Southern Africa was in 2014.

The SACBC’s January plenary session coincided with the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) in 1947 and the centenary anniversary of papal representation in Southern Africa.

“There is a causal link between these two celebrations because the creation of dioceses and the consequent establishment of the Conference depended on the representatives of the pope, first in the form of ‘apostolic delegates’ and later that of ‘apostolic nuncios’ (papal ambassadors),” the bishops noted.

The bishops also took the opportunity of the plenary to come together to say farewell to the current apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Peter Wells, whose term in Pretoria is due to come to an end before the next plenary session in winter. Archbishop Wells has served as nuncio to Southern Africa since 2016.

No details have been announced regarding his departure, future posting or replacement.

Read our interview with SACBC President Bishop Sithembele Sipika on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the SACBC