COMECE-SECAM: Bishops’ document on EU-Africa partnership. “Human dignity, solidarity, preferential option for the poor”

Human development, integral ecology, peace and security, migration, the role of faith-based communities - these are the five chapters of the 11-page document (available in English) prepared by COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union) and SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) as a joint contribution on the future EU-Africa partnership. The document was drawn up ahead of the Summit between the European Union and the African Union scheduled for next October aimed at establishing a long-term partnership between the two shores of the Mediterranean. The Summit that is being prepared is particularly delicate and will likely take place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which is affecting the whole world with devastating effects on both continents. “At a time when the world has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating consequences”, COMECE and SECAM Presidents, respectively Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich and Card. Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo, draw attention to the vulnerable and the needy, families, local communities, and migrants. The two cardinals released two video messages to accompany the document entitled “Justice shall flourish and fullness of peace for ever” (Psalm 72). According to a press release, the joint contribution, prepared by the respective Secretariats based in Brussels and Accra, invites “European and African policy-makers to orient their preparatory work on the principles of human dignity, responsibility and solidarity, with an emphasis on the preferential option for the poor, care for Creation, as well as the pursuit of the common good”.

Gianni Borsa