0. Introduction
Our theme is grounded on and enlighted by the following words of Mattheus’ Gospel: “you are salt for the earth…you are light for the world…” (Mt 5,13-14).
You will be my witnesses in Africa. How the baptized and confirmed people living in Africa may be witnesses to Christ? By living in all human realities and making the Gospel’s flavour penetrate into them, like the salt in the food, to transform mentalities and structures of society1 so that men and women may live in good harmony and may enjoy the happiness to walk together.
As light which dispels darkness, the baptized and confirmed people living in Africa will be witnesses by being living and visible signs of Christ’s presence through their deeds and words that enthrall, motivate and engage their brothers and sisters to assume all their civil respinsibilities and to lead a life where evangelic and social values are harmonized2 in such a way that their Christian life and their professional and political life are no longer separated.
Being witnesses to Christ in Africa means therefore to lead, to irradiate an individual and community life imbued with the Gospel in all contexts and situations which cross our continent.
We will try to see whether the faithful living in Africa are witnesses in the sense I have just recalled.
We will examine the challenges which we are to accept in order to form Christian individuals and communities which are actually witnesses. We will recall the necessary contribution of CA to promote attitudes and actions which are able to transform mentalities and to stir commitments at all life-levels. To reach sound motivations, proper and suitable actions, individuals and communities need a formation both in the fields of faith and of the techniques in order to pass on the faith’s knowledge and the pedagogic methods of this same faith. 
For this reason the last part of my intervention contains some proposals concerning the laypeople’s necessary formation.

I. What was done today in the field of the laity’s formation in Africa
1.1. – In evangelizing Africa laypeople were associated since the beginning. Announcing directly the Gospel and teaching the Doctrine, accompanying the Christians communities were, and still are, entrusted to lay catechists. This mission was so delicate and important that the Church’s authorities were urged to set up schools and centers of formation for the catechists. 
The programmes of many catechistic schools and centers foresee – besides theological, biblical, liturgical and catechistic matters – courses of sociological and anthropologic approach as well. 
Too few catechistic schools and centers have included in their programmes courses upon the Church’s social doctrine, upon the laity’s commitment in society’s problems, upon develoment and organization of CA movements.

1.2. – In evangelizing Africa at the beginning the Church did not keep into account the laity seen in its specific vocation, that is to build God’s Kingdom and to bear witness to Christ’s presence through directing social activities according to the Gospel3 . After the Second Vatican Council, a Panafrican-Madagascar Lay Meeeting held in Accra August 11th-18th 1971, was the first occasion, at the level of the whole Church in Africa, to reflect upon the laypeople’s specific mission and upon their formation to help them to engage themselves “in the growth of the Church and in the integral develoment of Africa”.
During this meeting, delays were pointed out concerning the catholic laypeople’s commitment in bearing witness to Christ and in acting as Christians in responsible posts at economic and political level. In the Meeting in Accra “Chief” G.P. KUNAMBI, President of “BARAZA LA Waumini KATOLIKI” of Tanzania, introducing the workshop A (Economic, social, political evolution), said, among other things: “The last point is the Christian’s commitment in political life, in public administration, in business, in professions. Traditionally most catholics in Africa have considered these things as a “tabou”. We were told that it is dangerous to rise higher, because we risked to lose our soul”4. 
The participants in this meeting presented many proposals concerning formation and commitments, but they had but little consequence in Africa. The meeeting in Accra aimed essentially to promote a laity who could respond in a proper way to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. By the light of these teachings and spurred by them, they had wished – among other things – for a formation which mainly consists of the following points:
1. initiating and integrating the Christians into the socioeconomic, political activities, into trade-unions and into the phenomena of development.
2. Helping priests and religious to become aware of their role in the CA movements.
3. Giving laypeople a doctrinal formation on all matters and at all levels.
4. Establishing centers of formation for laypeople.
5. Organizing groups of catechists for all people, included those who hold posts of responsibility.

Looking at Africa as a whole I see very few explicit answers to these decisions. No doubt that something was done concerning information and sessions upon laypeople’s commitment, but a systematic and structured formation is still a wish.

II. The effect of the Synod for Africa and of the exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, what is done to promote and form a laity who is responsible and bear witness to Christ
The Synod for Africa aimed to use at the utmost and in a proper way the teachings of Vatican Cauncil II, of the Synods of the universal Church, of the pontifical encyclicals, of the decisions and directions coming from the symposium of the episcopal conferences of Africa and Madagascar, from the episcopal conferences both at regional and national level. After the Synod for Africa and the exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, a stage of information took place, followed by sessions of formation. 
But, in my opinion, the catholic Church’s hierarchy attention in Africa was caught especially by inculturation and ecclesial communities in Africa. Through the last ones laypeople exert their responsibilities in imbuing their life-enviroments with evangelic attitudes and behaviours. It is in the ecclesial communities that the faithful practise in community prayer, in listening to and meditating the Word of God, which enlightens them in their effort to transform mentalities in order to better the relations with neighbours through dialogue and to achieve reconciliation by means of the evangelic spirit. In these same communities Justitia et Pax-commissions found evangelic reasons and also support by the whole community. This helps Justitia et Pax to achieve their goal which is to stir up in Christ’s disciples the commitment to defend justice for all and to promote societies where citizens may live in peace as a work of the whole community. The cohesion of the members of an ecclesial community which is sound and animated by the same evangelic spirit discouraged, in many places, the rising sects.
In several local Churches, the ecclesial communities’ leaders hold formative sessions upon the methodology for praying together, for listening to the Word of God, for analysing local situations, for taking decisions about acting, and for evaluating the possibility to undertake concerted actions. What is lacking in ecclesial communities is an ecclesiology and a spirituality which are structured in such a way as to be a basis for a systematic formation for laypeople, seminarists, priests and religious.

III. The challenges to accept
The delay in promoting a laity which is aware of its own specific vocation to transform society by the evangelic values, and the complexity of the ethical problems in socioeconomic and political fields, set before us the following challenges: I highlight some of them with no claim to put them in order of importance.

1. The first and greatest challenge is laypeople’s tendency to separate their Christian life from their work, their profession, and from all their social or political commitments. The reasons for this behaviour are manifold: there are some priests who look with suspicion to political and commercial activities; spiritualities that have preached to escape from the wicked world and to take refuge in the so called “religious practices”. A good Christian is judged only by his fidelity to his prayers and to the other activities inside the Church. Many priests lack also a clear vision about laypeople’s specific vocation.
2. Owing to this we lack political leaders, economic operators and professionals in mass-media with an evangelic and ecclesial inspiration. It is necessary that all the Church’s components, God’s family in Africa, join their efforts to accept this challenge.
3. This last challenge is made worse by another gap: lay people and most of the priests and of other agents of evangelization lack formation in the Church’s social doctrine. In addition to this a culture of cooperation laypeople-priests in reflecting upon and in studying economic, social and political questions by the light of the Gospel is still lacking. 
4. The lack of collaboration between laypeople and priests in reflecting upon the above problems raises from the fact that laypeople were excluded from and deprived of a deserved attention in the fields of spirituality, lay faithful’s commitment, ecclesiology and the Church’s social doctrine.
5. The exclusion and the consequent lack of a specific contribution from laypeople raise from the fact that the lay leaders both of CA movements and of ecclesial communities, are not well formed to exercise their own specific mission in its full meaning.
6. After having ascertained the meagre outcomes of the post-conciliar meetings and decisions concerning laypeople’s formation at the level of local episcopates as well as of roman synods and continental or regional meetings of the episcopal conferences, I conclude that a real coordination lacks so that decisions and actions can be actually carried out. This is a challenge to accept at diocesan, national, regional and intercontinental level.

IV. What is to be done in face of the above challenges
The challenges just identified, that is:
– tendency to separate religious life from social life;
– lack of Christian leaders in the political, economic and media fields;
– lack of a culture of collaboration between laypeople and priests in reflecting upon and in studying socioeconomic and political questions according to the Gospel;
– laypeople’s exclusion and consequently their specific scant contribution are all caused by the lack of a vast and deep formation.

• Formation first of all
  The exhortation Ecclesia in Africa shows clearly how formation is fundamental to know the truths of the faith and to carry out deeds which express and make this faith concrete in life5. 
  Therefore let us aim first of all to formation.
• The whole community need to be formed
  Whom this formation is directed to?
  The target would be the whole community “The whole community needs to be trained, motivated and empowered for evangelization, each according to his or her specific role within the Church”, writes the Pope John Paul II in the exhortation Ecclesia in Africa.
  The ecclesial communities persue their mission to bear witness to Christ if their members are formed to know the different situations of their socioeconomic and political environment by the light of the Word of God. This will be their lamp in the mazes of their daily life if they learned to read, meditate, interiorize it and to confront it with the concrete situations of their existence.
• The leaders of the ecclesial communities
  Those who animate the community, guide meetings and direct actions, need a deeper and a more varied formation according to the different subjects dealt with in the community meetings. For this reason suitable places and longer and more frequent periods of formation are to be arranged.
• CA members
  It is not enough to belong to a CA movement to be able “to assume all the civil, socioeconomic and political responsibilities in the light of the Gospel and of the faith in God”. It is necessary first to be formed in a sound spiritual, ecclesial and individual life, to have deepened the knowledge of the faith. All CA members, especially the leaders, need absolutely such a formation.
• The priests, the future priests, the religious
  We have seen how the collaboration between priests and laypoeple in reflecting upon and approaching socioeconomic and political questions is lacking. This challenge will be accepted if the future priests, the religious are formed like the laypeople. It is necessary that all of them accept to walk together because the diversity of ministries and fields of action may become complementary in the view of a same goal: to bear witness to Christ in Africa and in the world.
• Formation. In which fields?
  It is time that laypeople receive a theological formation like that given in the great seminaries and in the theological faculties. It is also time that the Church’s social doctrine may become a vademecum both for laypeople and for priests. In that way the laypeople which are formed together with the priests, the religious and the future priests, get accustomed to reflect together.
• The places of formation
  It would be necessary to foresee different places of formation:
  – at the level of the équipes and the ecclesial comunities. At this level, it is necessary to inculcate in all a full awareness of their specific vocation and their apostolic responsibilities and to initiate them to an individual spiritual and ecclesial life.
  – At parish level it will be necessary to organize longer meetings of the annimators of the community or of the leaders of CA movements, with a richer and a more varied programme.
  – At diocesan or national level, it is necessary by now to organize two types of formation:
  – a periodical formation of both the community and of CA leaders;
  – a systematic and academic formation in the institutional centers where laypeople may meet priests or future priests.
  In this way the servants of the same people of God will be prepared in the same dynamics. 

V. CA contribution
The contribution of CA is essential in accepting the challenges I have detected and in getting good results in forming laypeople. We already ascertained that the ecclesial communities have strengthened and increased just where CA was already acting. In the same way, we think that CA will be the pivot of the laypeople’s formation to enable them to respond to their specific vocation.

1. CA is the priviledged place for educating to the apostolic responsibility in the Church.
2. CA, with its own method of approaching the local situation in the light of the Gospel, can help the Christian communities to bear witness to Christ in their concrete life and will offer the appeals to formation its effective methods of analyse and action.

Conclusion
Christ sends his faithful to penetrate the social fabric of humanity like the salt penetrates and transforms the taste of the foods with which it is mixed. For this reason instead of living the Gospel’s life out of the world, Christ send us to mix with the world, in order to give it another flavour, the taste of the Gospel. It is therefore against Christ’s will to stir people to escape from the world and to despise the world. But in order to face the contradictions of the world, we need, all of us, to help one another to adhere always and in every circumstance to Christ, light and life.
How may we help one another?
We have ascertained delays, slownesses and sometimes also forgetfulnesses in putting into practice the conciliar teachings, the decisions and the wishes of the Bishops’ synods or of the Laypeople’s assemblies. This is most certainly due to manifold reasons. Let us search together appeals and at the same time mechanisms which can enable us not to drop our action but to coordinate and carry it out .
Perhaps IFCA’s secretariat can suggest methods and actions to this regard to be coordinated and carried out?
Finally, considering how formation is important and necessary, I would suggest to try, in the next future, to set up an Institute where laypeople, priests and religious may follow a formation-programme like that one I have just proposed to you.

Notes
1 Ecclesia in Africa n. 54
2 Ecclesia in Africa n. 54
3 Lumen Gentium n. 31
4 Panafrican- Madagascar Lay meeting August 11-18th 1971
5 Ecclesia in Africa n. 75

1st SEMINAR IN AFRICA – Nairobi, April 26th/29th 2000
Reality and prospects for the laypeople’s formation. The contribution of Catholic Action
YOU WILL BE MY WITNESS IN AFRICA