Abidjan 2025: The African Church charts a new path toward self-reliance

ABIDJAN, CÔTE D’IVOIRE – AUGUST 2025 – The PACTPAN Assembly has unanimously voted to implement the final statement from the Congress. At its assembly held on 19th September, the Assembly unanimously welcomed the plan for this implementation presented by a team of scholars led by Sr Agnes Sory and Fr Vitalis Anehobi.

 The Congress’s concluding statement, approved by participants, expresses a determined resolve not to let the fruits of the week “fade away like a fleeting dream.” Instead, it proposes a robust, two-pillar strategy of research and training to translate this vision into “concrete and transformative actions within the Church in Africa.”

 Confronting a “Mentality of eternal dependence”

​The Congress’s diagnosis, as detailed in its final report, identifies a “mentality of eternal dependence and economic dependency” as a critical weakness that has made the Church “accustomed to often resorting to foreign subsidies.” The statement proposes a definitive break from this model, asserting that “real economic autonomy… is only possible if African Catholic institutions and faithful resolutely set to work productively and manage the fruits of that work rationally and transparently.”

 ​This marks a pivotal transition, framed by the Congress as a move from being a Church that receives evangelization to a “Church of sheaves“, a missionary Church that shares its spiritual and material gifts with the world. The statement outlines immediate, concrete steps to achieve this, including webinars, research, and case studies to map pathways to economic autonomy, and crucially, tasking its national chapters with “initiating mini local economic development projects.”

 I. A structured blueprint: Research and training as twin engines

​The Congress’s statement structures its plan around ten key points, focused on two main areas: launching targeted research and investing decisively in a new generation of leaders through the PACTPAN Academy.

 ​Transformational Research Agenda for a Vital and Prophetic Church

The Congress has mandated specific research initiatives to address Africa’s most pressing challenges, directly applying theological reflection to social realities. Based on the final declaration, these include:

• ​Confronting governance failures: New political theology research will analyze how to combat “persistent poverty, corruption, and weak state structures,” applying Catholic social teaching to promote just governance. This work is assigned to the “The Church Today” and “Synodal Church” units.
• ​Healing national wounds: A dedicated study will explore a theology of reconciliation and reparation to heal the wounds of “violent conflicts, ethnic tensions, and unresolved historical wounds” by training peacemakers in every community, under the guidance of the “Vital Church” unit.
• ​Bridging theology and life: Acknowledging the critique that theology is often “too academic and disconnected,” the Congress calls for research into how theologians can embrace a “pastoral and social vocation,” a collaboration between the PACTPAN Academy and the Theological Commission (COMITHEOL).
• ​A theology of action and hope: The Congress mandated a focus on “Prophetic and Practical Theology,” charging the Religious Freedom and Human Dignity Unit and a specific Army Human Rights/Anti-Trafficking Unit with consolidating the fight against human trafficking and ensuring the rehabilitation of victims. Alongside this, a study on a “Theology of Hope and Solidarity” will seek to counter despair and migration crises by inspiring a renewed sense of responsibility for the future.

​II. The PACTPAN Academy: Forging a Transformative Leadership

To institutionalize this vision, the Congress is scaling up the PACTPAN Academy into a permanent online training structure designed to become an engine for renewal. The statement proposes that it will offer formal diplomas and Master’s degrees, including:

• ​A certificate in Transformation Servant Leadership for a Vital Church in Africa, open to all lay people, clerics, and consecrated persons to address a continent-wide “leadership crisis.”
• ​A degree for “digital missionaries” to evangelize the “digital continent,” a joint initiative of the Youth Unit and the PACTPAN Academy.
• ​A degree in Conflict Management and Peace Education under the “Vital Church” unit to provide communities with practical tools for reconciliation.

​To make this a reality, the Congress’s statement mandates the establishment of a “scientific and coordination committee” in October 2025 to officially set up, fund, and monitor these ambitious programs.

​The Abidjan Congress has concluded, but its published statement leaves no room for ambiguity. It is a detailed blueprint for a self-reliant, theologically grounded, and prophetically engaged African Church, declaring that the time to begin anew and get it right is now.