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\qc \li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\nowidctlpar\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0 \fs24\lang1040\langfe1040\cgrid\langnp1040\langfenp1040 {\b\fs36\ul\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 
Message from the Association of the Episcopal Conferences of West Africa at the end of its Constituent Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065  
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\sb100\sa100\nowidctlpar\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 1. }{\b\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 Greeting:}{
\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065  }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 \'93How beautiful it is when brothers live in unity with one another\'85\'94 }{
\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 (Ps. 133:1) We, t
he Catholic Bishops of West Africa meeting here in Abuja, Nigeria from December 05 to 09, 2007, give thanks to God the Father for enabling us to fulfill the purpose for which we came here. We send you, dear People of God in our Churches in the West Africa
n region, and you men and women of goodwill, greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in whom we live and move and have our very being as Church, as individual members of the Body of Christ and also as your Shepherds. 
\par Present at this mee
ting have been a representation of our laity made up of youth, men and women, of our Clergy and Religious, and of course, we your Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals from all the countries of West Africa. We have come from Senegal, The Gambia, Sierra Leone
, Liberia, La Cote d\rquote Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Benin, and representations from Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde Islands, not forgetting our host Nigeria. 
\par 2. }{\b\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 Preamble:}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065  The goal of this Assembly was to bring to b
irth a unified Association of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa from the two linguistic conferences that exist in the region, namely CERAO (Conference Episcopale Regionale d\rquote Afrique de l\rquote 
Ouest) and the AECAWA (Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa). 
\par This is a dream come true today. It started sometime after the 1994 Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Africa (popularly called the African Synod), during which the African Church Fathers adopted the image }{
\b\i\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 \'93Church as Family of God\'94}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid14171065 . }{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463 
This dream was given further impetus at a meeting at Yopougon in Cote d\rquote Ivoire in 1997. The dream was again moved a step forward at the first Joint Plenary Assembly of Bishops of West Africa which took place during the celebrations of the Year of 
the Great Jubilee at Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso from November 16 to 19, 2000. There, the decision was taken to come to a merger within five years and for that matter a joint committee was put in place. 
\par It has taken seven years of prayers, meetings, paper
s and drafts of statutes to come to this day, and we are very happy to inform you, our dear People of God in West Africa, Africa, and all over the world that with effect from this day, Sunday, December 09, 2007, we are one under the name }{
\b\i\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463 Association of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463 . 
\par We have also approved and adopted the statutes of this union whose aims and objectives are: 
\par 1) to maintain and foster relations between the constituent Episcopal conferences \lquote in order to promote and safeguard their higher welfare\'94 (Vat II, }{\i\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463 
Christus Dominus 38. 5; Can. 459.1}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463 ) 
\par 2) to establish fraternal and useful relations between the episcopal conferences through their respective secretariats; 
\par 3) to serve as the coordinating agency for studies of common interest and for forms of collaboration within the constituent Episcopal conferences and with other bodies (cf. }{\i\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463 Motu Proprio 
\'93Ecclesiae Sanctae\'94}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid6305463  1.41.5); 
\par 4) to serve as an organ of liaison so urgently needed for the Church of the sub-region to address urgent matters like the proclamation of the Catholic Faith, inter-religious dialogue, inculturation, justice, development and peace; 
\par }{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid7699478 5) and other relevant collaborative efforts\'85 
\par }{\fs36\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid7699478 At this meeting the following were elected as officers of our association:}{\lang2057\langfe1040\langnp2057\insrsid14171065\charrsid7699478  
\par \'b7 President: His Eminence Peter Cardinal TURKSON, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana\rquote  
\par \'b7 Vice President; his Eminence Theodore Adrien Cardinal SARR, Metropolitan Archbishop of Dakar, Senegal. 
\par }{\insrsid14171065 3. }{\b\insrsid14171065 Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria}{\insrsid14171065 : Looking back at the ver
y successful meeting we have had here in Abuja, Nigeria, and considering all who have helped to make it so historic, we take this opportunity to express our most profound gratitude first and foremost to the Church in Nigeria, her Episcopal Conference, to 
t
he Clergy and Religious, Seminarians and Novices, and most especially to our brother the Archbishop of Abuja and his wonderful flock of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, for their extraordinarily warm welcome accorded us in this beautiful futuristic capi
tal city of Nigeria. 
\par Next, we would also like to express a debt of deep gratitude, this time to His Excellency Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar\rquote adua, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for receiving us at the State House and encouraging our effort at unifi
cation. In his welcome to us, he requested our spiritual, religious and prayerful support for the work of regional integration in the ECOWAS countries. He further exhorted us to be for those in political leadership in West Africa the mirror of moral right
eousness and conscience so that God will lead this region into true peace, good governance and prosperity. 
\par The President of Nigeria also sent the Vice President, Dr. Jonathan Goodluck, to represent him at the Opening Ceremony of this Assembly and to addres
s our gathering. He likewise called on us not to forget to pray to God for the good of Africa and especially West Africa. 
\par We must also thank the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, and his staff at the ECOWAS Secretariat for welco
ming us, and offering the ECOWAS Conference Hall for the Opening Ceremony of our historic assembly. This offer is a very symbolic, auspicious and significant gesture, which encourages us to get ready to take our place in the ECOWAS Parliament in order to 
help build the region into that oasis of peace, security and prosperity desired by all the citizens of our countries within the region. 
\par 4. }{\b\insrsid14171065 On our theme:}{\insrsid14171065  During our four days here, we prayed, celebrated the Holy Eucharist and delved into detail the topic }{\b\i\insrsid14171065 \'93The Church, Family of God on mission in West Africa: \'93
Go, make disciples of all the nations\'94 (Mt. 28:19),}{\insrsid14171065  and its various sub-themes namely Clergy, Religious and Seminaries, Justice, Peace and Development, Laity and Inter-religious Dialogue. 
\par We have looked at the great benefits of the new image }{\b\i\insrsid14171065 Church-Family of God}{\insrsid14171065 
 and have taken upon ourselves a greater commitment for its realization in our local and particular Churches as well as in the West African region. Looking at the challenges of our current economi
c, socio-political and cultural developments in the region, we have therefore agreed to set up five new commissions for the sub-region; namely 
\par \'b7 Seminaries, Clergy and Religious; 
\par \'b7 Justice, Peace and Development; 
\par \'b7 Laity and Family Life; 
\par \'b7 Inter-religious Dialogue; 
\par \'b7 Catechetics and Social communications. 
\par As we examined our theme, }{\b\i\insrsid14171065 Church-Family of God}{\insrsid14171065  and we took cognizance of the abundant fruits of the early missionary evangelization in our region, we could not but express our gratitude 
to the various missionary societies who sowed the seeds of evangelization in our countries in the past. Some of these orders are still working here to date. May all those pioneer missionaries who died in the course of the evangelization of the peoples of 
West Africa rest in perfect peace! 
\par We have come to the conclusion that it is now our task to bring about the new Church as Family of God in our region. This calls for the better formation of pastoral agents of evangelization, namely our catechists and semi
narians, priests and religious, and particularly our lay women and men who are involved in the day to day socio-political and economic functions and leadership of our countries. 
\par This calls for a very good formation in the Catholic Social Teaching and the setting up of effective commissions of Justice, Peace and Development in our dioceses, countries and also in the region. 
\par 5. }{\b\insrsid14171065 Our hopes and aspirations:}{\insrsid14171065  We are very encouraged by the realization of the desire to form one unified Association of the Episcopal
 Conferences of West Africa. We look forward to greater ecclesial communion and pastoral collaboration within our Churches in the sub-region. We would like to see our Clergy and Religious happily integrated with each other. We encourage exchanges among ou
r
 local Churches and the various sectors of our Churches, no longer hindered by language or the artificial barriers of our colonial past. There is much more that unites us than indeed divides us here in West Africa. This is the time of a new Pentecost in o
ur region. 
\par We, however know that the present situation of political and economic development in West Africa, the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation, increasing illiteracy and poverty, youth unemployment, child and women trafficking, child-sold
iers and streetism, refugees and displaced persons caused by ethnic and civic conflicts, and the emergence of new forms of slavery in the sub-region, call imperatively for greater collaborative pastoral ministry and better regional integration now. 

\par It is 
very evident that no one bishop, nor local Church, can tackle these pastoral and social questions alone. Needless to say, no single national or linguistically based Episcopal conference can fully address them because these challenges transcend frontiers a
nd languages. There is the need therefore for a larger and stronger regional cooperation in finding lasting solutions to these matters. 
\par We call upon our Heads of State and Governments in the ECOWAS region to do all within their power to find solutions to t
he above catalogue of woes and to ensure good governance, security and integral development for all our brothers and sisters living in our countries, especially for the poor and needy. 
\par }{\fs36\insrsid14171065 6. }{\b\fs36\insrsid14171065 Collaborative partnership with ECOWAS:}{\fs36\insrsid14171065  We take this opportunity to 
commend our political leaders and the founders of ECOWAS for their good example of a united approach to the socio-cultural and economic problems and challenges of the region. We would like to take this opportunity to express our desire to establish a real
ly collaborative partnership between our Association and the ECOWAS institution so that we can offer our contribution of spiritual and religious leadership for the good governance of the region. }{\insrsid14171065 
\par 7. }{\b\insrsid14171065 Conclusion:}{\insrsid14171065  And now as we experience the Season of Advent, a time of great expectation, it is our firm hope that the Holy Spirit, the principal agent of evangelization and the architect of God\rquote 
s kingdom here on earth will lead our united Association of Bishops to fulfill our desire to be truly the Shepherds of hope for West Africa and all her people especially at the dawn of the third millennium. 
\par }{\fs36\insrsid14171065 Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, we prayed and celebrated Holy Masses in the various parishes of the Archdiocese of Abuja. We place our unio
n under the maternal protection of Mary the Immaculate, and we pray that the Mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ whose birth we all await with great expectation at Christmas, intercede for our Church and unified Episcopal Conference of West Africa
. }{\insrsid14171065 
\par }{\fs36\insrsid14171065 Signed by}{\insrsid14171065  
\par }{\fs36\insrsid14171065 His Eminence Peter Cardinal TURKSON,}{\insrsid14171065  
\par }{\fs36\insrsid14171065 Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana &}{\insrsid14171065 President of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa
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