Abidjan – August 8, 2025
Calls for Spiritual Leadership, Self-Reliance, and Deeper Communion with Christ
At the ongoing PACTPAN Jubilee Congress, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Secretary for the Evangelisation of Peoples, delivered an exciting call for African Catholics to embrace their mission as a “Church of Sheaves”, a maturing, fruitful Church rooted in Christ and ready to give back to the global faith community.
In his inspiring homily, Archbishop Nwachukwu reminded the delegates that “the image we have about God influences our mentality, thinking and comportment.” He reflected on humanity’s loss of divine likeness after the fall in Eden and on Jesus’ mission to restore it. Using the scene of the Transfiguration, he noted that God does not change; rather, “the change only appeared in the eyes of the disciples because Jesus opened their eyes… to see God for whom He is.”
Warning against what he called “selfie Christianity”, he cautioned that, like Adam and Eve, Christians risk turning inward when they drift from Christ. “When we move away from Jesus, we concentrate on ourselves and no longer on God, and that is where our problem begins.”
Turning to his main address at the Congress hall, “The Church of the Sheaves: African Intervention in Leadership”, Archbishop Nwachukwu rooted his teaching in John 21:15–19. He recalled how Jesus, before ascending to heaven, entrusted Peter with the pastoral mission: “It was only when He wanted to return to heaven that He gave Peter this prerogative…. Peter began to lead when Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’” For the Archbishop, true leadership means first knowing how to follow Christ.
He cautioned on the “creep syndrome”—the danger that Africa’s rich ecclesial insights might remain unheard in the universal Church. He cited the African model of the Church as the “Family of God”, born from the first African Synodal Conference, as a gift the wider Church has yet to fully embrace. “Europe should not be afraid to welcome its child,” he said, “but we should not continue to behave like babies in the crib… We cannot call ourselves an adult church unless we are capable of supporting the missionaries we send out.”
Drawing on Psalm 126:6, the Archbishop likened Africa to the sheaves carried home after sowing. He paid tribute to missionaries who “left their comfort zones at the prime of their youth… sowing seeds” whose fruits Africa enjoys today. Now, he insisted that it is Africa’s turn to strengthen the Church in Europe and beyond, not as “invaders” but as family.
He called on African dioceses to establish endowment funds for overseas missions: “If you don’t support missionaries in other continents, you will be taken as a beggar. Let us set aside something to support our missionaries in Africa and the Caribbean.”
Archbishop Nwachukwu’s message was both a challenge and encouragement: the African Church must step confidently into maturity, bearing its sheaves — not to boast, but to bless. “Our life is a testimony of those who evangelised us,” he concluded. “Now it is our turn to strengthen the family of God.”
