AFRICA/TUNISIA - BISHOPS OF NORTHERN AFRICA: “THE WITNESS OFFERED BY THE CHURCH IN MAGHREB IS NOT SEEN AS AGGRESSION BY THE LOCAL PEOPLE ”. ARCHBISHOP FOUAD TWAL ELECTED PRESIDENT OF CERNA.

Monday, 19 January 2004

Tunis (Fides Service) - “In Christian-Muslim relations in Maghreb we have good reason to think that the witness to the Gospel of Christ offered by the Church, through which the local society receives the Good News, is not seen as an aggression”. This is the opinion of Catholic Bishops of Northern Africa who met in Tunisia 11 to 14 January as CERNA, the Conference of Bishops of the Northern African Region. In a final statement, a copy of which was sent to Fides, the Bishops mention the questions discussed at the meeting: situation of the Church in North Africa; changes in the region since the war in Iraq; attacks in March 2003 in Morocco; earthquake in Algeria in May 2003; recent change in Libya’s international relations. At their first meeting of 2004 the CERNA Bishops elected as President Archbishop Fouad Twal of Tunis and Vice President Archbishop Vincent Landel of Rabat, Morocco. Bishop Alphonse Georger of Oran was elected third member of the CERNA standing committee.
During the Meeting the Bishops reflected on Pope John Paul II’s recent Apostolic Exhortation “The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World” dwelling in particular on the ministry of communion: the Bishops discussed how to deepen communion between the Churches of the Maghreb region which face the same challenges and are entrusted with the same mission.
The participants also discussed the tragic situation of migrants from Sub Saharan Africa who use the Maghreb region as a passage to Europe. In the Spring the Bishops of CERNA will meet representatives of the Churches in the northern Mediterranean area to discuss ways of providing humanitarian assistance for these people. (L.M.) (Fides Service 19/1/2004, lines 30 words 335)


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