GLT Accompaniment: UAF

The UAF celebrated a specially configured “Enlarged Union Conference” in the MSC Scholasticate in Yaoundé, Cameroun, from the 16th – 21st February 2026. This Conference, the first in the mandate of the new leadership team, comprised the UAF Superior (Fr Jean Manga MSC) and his Council, together with the three District Superiors from Congo, Cameroun and Senegal, together with a member of each District Council – a total of 15 members. The Conference was accompanied by Carl Tranter MSC from the General Council.

The purpose of the Conference was to review the life, mission and strategic plans of the Union and each of its Districts, and to discern and plan concrete actions for the coming three years. The members very successfully used the method of prototyping that had been introduced and followed in the General Conference of 2025 held in Brazil. This resulted in a series of very specific, measurable steps that can be carried out over the coming years to strengthen the common life, formation and mission of the Union and work seriously to increase its financial sustainability. Detailed prototypes were elaborated on the themes of JPIC, Initial and Ongoing Formation, Safeguarding of Minors and Vulnerable Adults, Finances, Mission and Internationality, and Structures in the Service of Mission.

There is a strong desire to move from being a Union to two or three Provinces over the coming years, and a serious commitment to rise to the challenges that such a journey will inevitably require.

The Conference was lived in a tangible spirit of brotherhood, commitment and hope as the Union also celebrated the 40th anniversary of its erection in 1986.

The use of daily communal wisdom groups and a synodal process of prototyping led to a much more discerning and reflective process of listening and searching together. May the spirit of the Conference continue to inspire the entire Union as it seeks to build new structures that genuinely serve its life and mission.

Carl Tranter, MSC. Irish Province