Regina Mundi Church In Soweto Hosts Women’s Seminar On Synod On Synodality

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · May 15, 2023

Top right: Guest speaker Dr Nontando Hadebe.

The Regina Mundi Church in Moroka, in Soweto hosted a women`s seminar on the Synod on Synodality on Saturday. The church celebrated its sixtieth-anniversary last year, profiled in The Southern Cross. It is a vibrant parish, a landmark of the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1980`s and a tourist attraction today.

The event was hosted as part of the ongoing World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUWCO) dialogues on the syndodal process and organised by the Catholic Women`s League at the parish. The process will culminate in the sixteenth ordinary Synod of Bishops, to be held under the theme Communion, Participation and Mission, in October 2024 as announced by Pope Francis

The day started off with Holy Mass hosted by Regina Mundi Church parish priest Fr Nqobile Mzolo OMI.

In his homily, Fr Mzolo stated that challenges were a part of life for every person and institution including the Church. He gave a rundown of the various challenges which had presented themselves to the Church over the centuries, and the current ones faced by the Church today.

He then posed the question to the gathered women and visitors, “What are the challenges faced by women in the Church today?” A number of attendants gave various responses to the question. The common thread in their responses was that the various women`s formations within the parishes of Soweto lacked cohesive inter-relations between them and a unified platform to address their challenges as women.

Group photo of participants

“It is for you as the various women`s groupings gathered here today to look into the issues you`re raising and find a way to address them. I hope that this seminar goes beyond the Synod on Synodality discussion and looks into these challenges, which are faced by you on a daily basis,” he concluded his sermon.

After the Mass, a short break was taken. After the break the seminar commenced. The invited guest speaker for the seminar was Dr Nontando Hadebe, a senior lecturer at St Augustine University in Johannesburg, and a laywoman theologian and current chair of the South African chapter of Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.

In her speech, Dr Hadebe stated that the Church, on a universal basis, faced a time where a dialogue on a plethora of issues needed to be put under the microscope and discussed. “Many of these issues pertain to us as women. Indeed, the Church has reached its Vatican II moment for our times,” she stated.

Participants hold a copy of The Southern Cross magazine

Pope Francis had taken note of this, and that is why he had initiated a Synod on Synodality. “The synod should not be just another event. It should be a moment of transformation for the Church, and especially for women in the Church. It should be a moment when the Church goes back to the basics, of being once again a sanctuary of love, of peace and of everything away from what`s going on in the world today. This is how Pope Francis views the synod,” she said.

She went on to explain that the impact of the synod was expected to reach beyond the Church and into the general society on a global scale.

“Much of this impact lies on our shoulders as women. We`re not ordained, but we play a very important role in our church. We are called, and we must play our role in the synodal process, for a reimagined Church and world,” she said. A brief Q&A session was held after the speech, and the seminar was closed with a prayer.