NAIROBI (KENYA)
ACIAFRICA [Nairobi, Kenya]
October 24, 2025
By Nicholas Waigwa
Delegates at the just-concluded conference on safeguarding in seminaries that was organized by the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) have committed to ensuring that Seminaries in the region uphold the highest standards of safeguarding.
In their statement at the conclusion of the October 21-23 event that was held in Kenya’s Archdiocese of Nairobi, the delegates acknowledged the existence of incidents of abuse in in the Church and called for concerted efforts to ensure the protection of the vulnerable.
“We will not relent in this responsibility,” the participants at the conference said in the statement that was read by the Local Ordinary of South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Yei, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo, and went on to state their commitment “to uphold the highest possible standards of safeguarding” in Seminaries in the AMECEA region.
They added, “We are committed to producing future Priests who have a foundational commitment to safeguarding and to safety and well-being for all, especially children.”
“By prioritizing the vulnerable, the church can heal society and foster conversion, ensuring that children and the vulnerable are protected and valued,” they stated in the statement that was issued at Roussel House of Donum Dei Missionary Sisters in Karen, Nairobi.
The delegates for the conference were drawn from AMECEA member countries, which include Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as affiliate members Djibouti and Somalia.
Expressing regret over the existence of cases of abuse within their respective ecclesial jurisdictions, they said, “In the course of our pastoral work, we have witnessed cases of abuse within our communities, regrettably, even within the Church. We acknowledge the existence of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as neglect and exploitation.”
The delegates, who included a representation of Local Ordinaries from the member conferences of AMECEA, Priests, formators, and safeguarding experts, noted that abuse “negatively impact the physical, social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of children at times with long-term consequences.”
They emphasized that the safeguarding is both “an individual and collective responsibility” that should not “be viewed as an administrative mandate for a few officers and persons.”
“Collectively, as families, communities, and particularly as churches, we are called to a prophetic mission to exemplify God’s love and care in an increasingly difficult world characterized by human suffering,” the delegates said.https://ffbcb4f99afc0b2d1e974af295705380.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html?n=0
In their October 23 statement, the delegates pointed out existing gaps in the Church’s efforts across the East African region to fully implement safeguarding commitments and underscored the need to harmonize policies aimed at protecting the vulnerable.
“Following our deliberations, we recognize and admit that although we have made such strides towards actualizing commitments to safeguarding, there are gaps that still exist,” they said, noting that some institutions, including seminaries, still “do not have policies of safeguarding, nor dedicated offices for safeguarding.”
They observed that the lack of clarity on where the “overall responsibility” for safeguarding lies remains a major gap that national conferences need to address, while also encouraging Seminaries to fully integrate safeguarding principles into their formation programs.
The delegates urged national Conferences and Dioceses in AMECEA, “especially at this critical time” when the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis is under review, “to integrate safeguarding into the formal, non-formal, and informal dimensions of the seminary curriculum.”
They added, “Seminarians who are well-grounded and committed to issues of safeguarding will play a key role in shaping how the church lives a prophetic missionary call of responding to the plight of children and vulnerable adults.”
“There is also a need for ongoing formation of formators on safeguarding, particularly for those entrusted with the responsibility of guiding others,” the delegates noted in their statement issued at the end of the three-day event that AMECEA organized under the theme, “To the Pulpit with Love and Care: Towards a Deeper Safeguarding Commitment through Seminary Formation.”