The Conference of Carmelite Superiors of Francophone Africa and Madagascar held a meeting in Dakar from 24th to 28th January. Eleven representatives from 5 of the 6 Circumscriptions of our Conference – Congo, Cameroon, Central Africa, West Africa and Senegal – were in attendance. The Madagascar Commissariate was excused.
In his message to the Assembly, Fr. General encouraged us to deepen our spirit of fraternity and collaboration. Our discussions concentrated on the following themes: co-operation in formation ( initial and that of formators and superiors); the intensification of interchanges with the Circumscriptions of Anglophone Africa; the second annual noviciate (which will be held this time around at Kinshasa in Congo-DRC; the Congresses of the Carmelite Family in Africa; the publication of literature adapted to the needs of our Circumscriptions.
A rest day provided the opportunity of visiting the Island of Goree, near Dakar, from where thousands of slaves departed for the Americas. The majority of our participants at the Assembly had either arrived early for our meeting or prolonged their stay. This allowed them to visit our Sisters in Sebikotane, the Benedictine Abbey of Keur Moussa or the Carmelite Community of Ndiaffate, 200 Kilometres from Dakar.
