Pope Francis to meet online with young Catholics from Africa

Plans are in top gear for the Holy Father, Pope Francis to hold an online meeting with students across selected Catholic educational institutions; universities and seminaries, across sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. The virtual meeting (via Zoom) which will be hosted by the Pope on November 1, 2022, All Saints Day as well as African Youth Day, is part of the efforts to promote the synodal commitment to listen directly to the voices across the Catholic Church, especially young people’s. The synodal dialogue vision is “Building Bridges Across Africa: A Synodal Encounter between Pope Francis and University Students,” with the theme, “Ubuntu: A Culture of Encounter; We All Belong.” Out of the 27 institutions across nine African countries participating in this pilot dialogue, eight are from Nigeria, namely; Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu; Madonna University, Elele; Augustine University, Lagos; Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna; Veritas University, Abuja; Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt; All Saints Major Seminary, Ekpoma and Ss. Peter & Paul Seminary, Bodija. Young people across these institutions have been meeting and sharing faith experiences based on Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation CHRISTUS VIVIT (2019) over the past months. They have also had a very enriching meeting with some selected Nigerian Bishops, including Bishops Lucius IwejuruUgorji, Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, Matthew Hassan Kukah, and John Akinkunmi Oyejola) few weeks ago. Rev. Fr. (Prof.) Stan Chu Ilo is the Pan-African project coordinator for the synodal dialogue, while the Nigeria Steering Committee is headed by Sr. Titilayo Aduloju, SSMA, a professor of social communications at the Catholic Institute of West Africa.