From 25 January to 1 February 2026, the diocese of N'Djaména, in Chad, is hosting the 13th Plenary Assembly of the members of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of the Central African Region (ACERAC).
The theme of the meeting is ‘The Challenges of the Church, the Family of God in Central Africa: Thirty Years after the Publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa,’ and it brings together the episcopal conferences of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo/Brazzaville.
The event was also attended by Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD), Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, President of SECAM (opening speech), Monsignor Hyacinthe Dione, delegate of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, and Monsignor Giuseppe Laterza, Apostolic Nuncio to Chad and the Central African Republic, as well as numerous priests, religious men and women, and lay experts.
The Prefect of the DPIHD recalled the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, stating: “The Church-Family of God in Africa must also bear witness to Christ through the promotion of justice and peace.”
In his speech, the Cardinal also focused on the concept of integral human development, which concerns every person and the person as a whole and “presupposes respect for human dignity, which can only be achieved through justice and peace”. He therefore invited those present to be “imitators of Christ's love! Become leaven of charity in the world and thus advance towards true peace”.
Find the full speech here.
The trip was also an opportunity for the Prefect of the DPIHD to visit some symbolic places of the missionary Church in N'Djamena, such as the hospital of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, the first female congregation to arrive in Chad in 1947, and the hospital Le Bon Samaritain of the Jesuits, together with the medical school. Here, the Prefect planted a tree and laid the foundation stone for one of the medical school buildings.
