The annual assembly of the Episcopal Conference of North African Bishops, CERNA, was recently held at the French Seminary in Rome, between the 15th and 18th of June. The Assembly, which gathered together the Bishops of North Africa and their Vicars General, was animated by Mgr. Vincent Landel, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco. Also present was the Apostolic Prefect of Laayoune, Sahara and the Apostolic Nuncio to Algiers and Tunisia.
The highlight of this year’s Assembly was a concelebrated Mass with Pope Francis. The Holy father took a deep interest in the situation of the different Churches of North Africa.
Much of the discussions during the Assembly were dedicated to the preparation of a common document, “SERVANTS OF HOPE”. The document will make known better the reality of the Church’s presence in North Africa and further motivate the same Churches to be ministers of hope in an ever-changing situation, where parishes are being rejuvenated by new presences and where the Churches face the great challenge of ministering to migrants. This document will be presented to Pope Francis in March of next year when the North African Bishops will participate in their ‘Ad Limina’ visit to the Holy Father.
During the Assembly Martina Liebsch, CARITAS director for Migration, encouraged the Churches to continue offering their pastoral sevice to Migrants. Bishop Domenico Mogavero, from Sicily, shared the experience of his Church in ministering to migrants who arrive on the Italian island. Cardinal Tauran encouraged the Bishops to nurture inter-religious dialogue, notwithstanding the great challenges face. Cardinal peter Turkson, President of the Pontifial Council for Justice and Peace, also encouraged CERNA to strengthen their pastoral practives vis-à-vis Islamo-Christian dialogue in the Churches south of the Sahara.
The Assembly also devoted time to prepare Mgr. Landel’s intervention during the Synod of the Family this coming October.
Next year’s meeting will be organized between the 1 – 8th March, during which the North African Bishops will meet Pope Francis during their ‘Ad Limina’ visit.

ZENIT reported this meeting:
AFRICA – “Immigrants are transforming our Church”, say the Catholic Bishops of North Africa

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The issue of immigrants and migration was the focus of the work of the Conférence des Evêques de la Région Nord de l’Afrique (CERNA) which was held in Rome, from June 15 to 18. In the final statement sent to Fides Agency, the Bishops of North Africa stated that “the courage, hope and faith of immigrants often arouse our admiration. They contribute always more to the vitality of our Christian communities and we have the joy of frequently celebrating baptisms and confirmations”.
“However, we are touched by the tragic situations that a large number of them suffer – continues the statement – the frequent violation of their rights but also the trafficking of whom they are the victims”. “We denounce the fact that they are treated as criminals, even by public opinion”, the Bishops said, announcing that “they want to be even more careful to the terrible exploitation of women and children”.
According to the statement, the Countries of North Africa are now not only a transit country for migrants but also their host countries. The Church in North Africa intends to work together with the Church in the Countries of origin of immigrants and the Countries of destination, to better coordinate the pastoral action.
The Bishops finally recall the precarious security situation in Libya and this is why unfortunatey His Exc. Mgr. Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, His Exc. Mgr. Sylvester Magro, Apostolic Vicar of Benghazi, and their respective Vicar Generals were unable to attend the Assembly. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 23/06/2014)