CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- The bishops of countries in southern Africa focused on assessing good governance in and outside of the church at their regional meeting in the Angolan capital Luanda.

"To be self-reliant," the church in Africa "needs a deep understanding of the philosophy of good governance and to have the necessary structures in place," said Cardinal Wilfrid F. Napier of Durban, South Africa, in a July 30 telephone interview with Catholic News Service from Durban.

The eighth Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa, which includes the bishops of Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, "was practical and focused on leadership," said the cardinal.

Cardinal Napier said that "accountability, transparency and being open to problems" were among the principles discussed during the July 20-26 meeting; its theme was "Good Governance in and out of the Church."

"We looked at how to govern ourselves, which is crucial," he added.

Representatives of bishops' conferences at the meeting "will bring home what we learned to our conferences, dioceses and parishes," the cardinal said.

In opening the meeting, Cardinal Ivan Dias, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, stressed the importance of church and state cooperation to eradicate poverty.

"Good collaboration between church and state with respect for each one's competence and mission in the interest of humanity is indispensable for promoting the integral common good and harmony in society," the Vatican's Fides news agency reported him as saying.

Meanwhile at the meeting, Coadjutor Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi of Lubango, Angola, was elected for a three-year term as president of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa, which has its headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe. He will be assisted by Bishop Franklyn Nubuasah, head of the Apostolic Vicariate of Francistown, Botswana. Bishop Angel Floro Martinez of Gokwe, Zimbabwe, was elected secretary-general.

END

07/31/2007 12:19 PM ET