The Bishops of Chad: Advocating inclusive dialogue and peaceful co-existence in the country

Edouard Takadji - N’Djamena

In the opening ceremonies, the Bishops acknowledged the importance of the gathering because it gives them an opportunity for communion and collegiality.

In their first sessions this week, Archbishop Edmond Djitangar, the Archbishop of N’Djamena, led his brother Bishops in reflecting on various aspects of the Church’s pastoral life.

 “As usual, we will exercise our collegiality for two weeks in examining different aspects of the life of our Church, the Family of God, which is gradually taking root in Chad. We will evaluate the progress of evangelization in the social and economic context of our country,” said the prelate.

Restoring stability and democratic institutions

The President of the Chadian Bishops’ Conference described the socio-political context in which the assembly is being held, referring to the multifaceted crises their country is going through: floods, terrorist attacks and all the humanitarian and economic consequences that these crises have wrought.

Archbishop Djitangar also mentioned the upcoming elections in Chad, regretting the lack of dialogue and the selfish interests that seem to animate the campaigns.

After the 6 May 2024 Presidential elections, Parliamentary elections and elections for regional and local offices are scheduled for 29 December 2024.

“From a political point of view, our assembly is situated in the context of legislative, regional and municipal elections that are supposed to restore stable democratic institutions in our country. But we still do not understand why Chadians cannot accept each other, dialogue without a spirit of domination and seek only the common national interest,” the prelate said.

Some fo the Bishops during the Plenary

The Prophetic Voice of Chadian Bishops

Archbishop Djitangar stated, “In the absence of a real dialogue between political leaders, we are destined to moving forward by trial and error or by running away from the failures of the process and of normalising public life. The failures accumulate and lead to a dead end,” he said.

The prelate then spoke about the prophetic role entrusted by the Bishops.

“We pastors cannot remain mere spectators of what is happening. We have the duty to continually enlighten the conscience of those citizens who believe like us that all is not lost and that as part of our courageous commitment, we should continue to work to save what can be saved,” said Archbishop Djitangar.

Openness and availability to the Holy Spirit

Archbishop Djitangar said the Bishops would take time to carefully study the files and reports submitted by their collaborators, various commissions and secretariats established within the episcopal conference. The whole programme, said the Archbishop, requires a particular disposition of prayerful listening guided by the Holy Spirit.

“We ... do [everything] in a spirit of availability to listen to what the Spirit of God says to our Church Family of God, which is in Chad. This is why we began this assembly with a time of prayer and now the invocation to the Holy Spirit: ‘Veni Creator Spritus’,” stressed the Archbishop of N’Djamena.