The Course in Nemi: an open laboratory on the Bishops’ “missionary mandate”

Twenty-one bishops from English-speaking African countries are participating in a formation course in Nemi to discuss their missionary mandate. The program, promoted by the Dicastery for Evangelization with support from the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, focuses on how the call of Jesus serves as a guiding principle for the choices and reforms a bishop makes for his diocese.

The participants, who were ordained bishops between 1999 and 2022, are meeting at the Ad Gentes Centre, a residence for the priests of the Society of the Divine Word. The course functions as an interactive laboratory where the agenda is reshaped to address the specific questions and concerns raised by the attending bishops. At the start of the sessions, the group selected the theme of mission and identity to guide their work.