The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) is an episcopal conference consisting of all the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini, and their equivalents under canon law (apostolic vicars, apostolic administrators, etc.). Founded in March 1947, it is a collegial body approved by the Holy See and has as its particular aim:
In recent times, the Conference's application of the revision of the English translation of the Mass liturgy has been criticized as premature.[1]
The conference is led by a president and two vice presidents, each elected by an absolute majority of the members for three year terms. The members also elect chairmen and vice-chairmen for the departments of the conference. All office holders must be diocesan ordinaries; coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, and bishops emeriti may not be elected. The president, vice presidents, department chairmen, and any Cardinals who do not hold a conference office form an administrative board which coordinates the conference's activities between its plenary sessions.
The Conference mandates a Secretariat to Coordinate Conference activities. The Secretariat is made up of Departments (such as the Justice and Peace department), Offices (such as the AIDS Office) and Associate Bodies (such as the Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI). It has a 51% share in the Catholic weekly newspaper (since 2020 monthly magazine), "The Southern Cross".
| President | Period | |
|---|---|---|
| 1952–1961 | ||
| 1961–1974 | ||
| Archbishop Joseph Fitzgerald | 1974–1981 | |
| 1981–1987 | ||
| Bishop Reginald Orsmond | 1987–1988 | |
| 1988–1994 | ||
| Bishop Louis Ndlovu | 1994–2003 | |
| 2003–2006 | ||
| 2007–2013 | ||
| 2013–2019 | ||
| Bishop Sithembele Sipuka | 2019– |