Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies Adds Insights to Conference on Mineral and Natural Resources
The University of Notre Dame was the only university participant in a pivotal international seminar held in Accra, Ghana, addressing the theme “Conflicts in Africa in the Context of the Exploitation of Natural and Mining Resources."
From March 8 to 10, the Symposium of the Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) convened a gathering of approximately 40 participants to deliberate the critical nexus between natural resource exploitation and conflicts within the African continent. Attendees included bishops, priests and lay Catholics, and representing Notre Dame were Caesar Montevecchio, assistant director of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network (CPN) at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and Douglass Cassel, Notre Dame Presidential Fellow and professor emeritus of law.
Over the course of three days, attendees engaged in myriad, substantive discussions covering a wide variety of topics. These ranged from the exploitation of mining and other natural resources in Africa to theological reflections, legal frameworks and regulations, the Church's commitment in this domain, advocacy initiatives, and strategies to address the multifaceted challenges associated with these situations. These discussions were spurred by Pope Francis’s visit to Mozambique in 2019, and his audience in 2020 with Most Rev. Luiz Fernando Lisboa, then-Bishop of Pemba in Mozambique. The pope expressed solidarity for those suffering the humanitarian crisis resulting from armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, home to Africa’s third-largest gas reserve, and urged the bishops of Africa to take up the issue of natural resource conflicts.
“It was exciting to see the bishops rallying around these issues,” Montevecchio said. “But it is also very challenging, because it is apparent just how difficult and complicated the problem is.”
His Eminence Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa and president of SECAM, underscored the paradoxical scenario wherein significant foreign investments in oil, gas, mining, and natural resources fail to adequately benefit the local populations of the continent. Cardinal Ambongo emphasized the urgent need for the Church in Africa to adopt a pastoral approach to integral ecology and ecological conversion informed by its social doctrine, particularly in relation to extractive industries.
“My role was to emphasize why these issues are church issues,” Montevecchio shared. “Commonly there is hesitancy among church leaders to engage in certain kinds of social issues that may fall outside their area of expertise. My talk was meant to emphasize why engaging with mining is, in fact, something that fits within the mission of the church in Africa.”
Noteworthy proposals included advocacy for the establishment of a continental day of prayer and solidarity in Africa to spotlight specific issues in individual countries. Others sought to amplify the voices of the marginalized, enhance education on integral ecology, and increase involvement of legal and media professionals to monitor natural resource exploitation and advocacy efforts.
SECAM’s overarching objective is to ensure that Africa's abundant resources contribute to economic development, benefit the majority of its populace, foster peace, and alleviate poverty. Most Rev. Matthew K. Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani and president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, echoed this sentiment in his welcoming address, affirming the significance of the seminar's focus in light of prevailing circumstances across the continent and within the Church.
The seminar was organized by SECAM in collaboration with and the support of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Misereor, Catholic Relief Services, Mosaiko Institute for Citizenship, Centre d’Etudes pour l’Action Sociale (CEPAS), Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DPHI), and CPN at the University of Notre Dame.
Originally published by kroc.nd.edu on April 04, 2024.
atLatest Research
- NDTL shares aerospace research with local high school studentsMark H. Ross, senior research scientist at NDTL Propulsion & Power, recently stepped out of the lab and into a local high school. Ross, who received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Notre Dame in 2014, visited the computer science and engineering magnet…
- Notre Dame senior wins Best Publication Image AwardNotre Dame senior Kevin Armknecht of the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health has been recognized by ND’s Integrated Imaging Facility (NDIIF) with the Best Publication Imaging Award, based on images he created in a recent Nanoscale Advances publication. Armknecht, a pre-professional studies…
- A&L and engineering faculty to create new curriculum for responsible computingFaculty from the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Engineering are working together to integrate responsible computing instruction across the undergraduate curriculum, to better equip students to think critically and thoughtfully about technology. The project, “Computing, Culture, and Society: A Community-based, Intersectional Approach to Responsible Computing Across the Curriculum,” is led by Katherine Walden and Karla Badillo-Urquiola.
- Keough School establishes two new doctoral programsNotre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs has established two new doctoral programs in sustainable development and peace studies. The peace studies and sustainable development programs will enable doctoral students in the Keough School to examine from different perspectives the intersection of poverty, the environment, violent conflict and peace. Both programs will enroll students beginning in fall 2025.
- Robert Norton earns A&L Research Achievement Award for his transformative impact on German intellectual history“My interest is in the invisible, or at least the hard-to-discern, currents of thought that inform large cultural phenomena," Robert Norton said. "My scholarly career is devoted to understanding the nature of the impact and what lies underneath and what was lost.”
- ISLA Funds Twelve Projects Examining “Technology and the Common Good” through 2023-24 Annual Research Theme Grant ProgramLast spring, the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts announced “Technology and the Common Good” as its annual research theme for AY 2023-2024. Taking to heart the notion that technology is a subject of inquiry not only for science and engineering but also the liberal arts, ISLA invited proposals…