Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “As I announced last Sunday in the Angelus, I will reflect today on my recent apostolic journey to Africa, the first of my pontificate to that continent. It was limited to Cameroon and Angola, but ideally, with my visit I wished to embrace all the African people and bless them in the name of the Lord.” These were the words of the Holy Father Benedict XVI in opening his address in the General Audience on Wednesday, April 1.
The Pope mentioned that he had experienced the “traditional warm African welcome,” beginning with his arrival in Cameroon, a country that “has many characteristics of that great continent, the first of them being its profound religious soul, which unites the very numerous ethnic groups that inhabit it.” John Paul II in 1995, chose precisely the capital city of Yaounde to promulgate the apostolic exhortation "Ecclesia in Africa," after the first synodal assembly dedicated precisely to the African continent. “This time, the Pope returned to hand over the "instrumentum laboris" of the second Synodal Assembly for Africa, planned in Rome for next October,” Pope Benedict XVI highlighted.
The meetings with the Bishops of Cameroon and later with those of Angola and Sao Tome and Principe allowed the Holy Father – especially in this Year of Saint Paul – “to speak about the urgency of evangelization, which is primarily the province of the bishops, underlining the collegial dimension, based on sacramental communion.” The Pope recalled how he had exhorted them to “be always an example for their priests and for all the faithful, and to follow closely the formation of seminarians that, thanks be to God, are numerous, and of catechists, who are increasingly necessary for the life of the Church in Africa.”
Benedict XVI then recalled the celebration of Vespers on the Vigil of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, in Yaounde, in the Church of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, Patroness of Cameroon, which rises in the place where the first evangelizers of Cameroon worked, the Spiritan Missionaries: “Contemplating the spiritual figure of St. Joseph, who consecrated his life to Christ and the Virgin Mary, I invited priests, consecrated persons and members of ecclesial movements to be always faithful to their vocation, living in the presence of God and in joyful obedience of his Word.” Later, in the Apostolic Nunciature, he held an encounter with representatives from the Muslim community, in which the Pope mentioned “the importance of interreligious dialogue and collaboration between Christians and Muslims to help the world to open to God.”
One of the culminating moments of the trip was the presentation of "instrumentum laboris" of the Second Synodal Assembly for Africa, which took place on March 19 -- the feastday of St. Joseph. “The Synodal Assembly will take place in Rome, but in a certain sense it has already started in the heart of the African continent, in the heart of the Christian family that lives, suffers and hopes there,” the Pope commented.
In the encounter with the Members of the Special Council for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, the Pope commented that they “reflected together on the history of Africa from a theological and pastoral perspective. It was almost as the first meeting of the synod itself, in a fraternal debate between the various episcopates and the Pope in view of the synod of reconciliation and peace in Africa... In the midst of conflicts, unfortunately numerous and tragic, that still afflict the different regions of this continent, the Church knows she is a sign and instrument of unity and reconciliation so that the whole of Africa can build, united, a future of justice, solidarity and peace, carrying out the teachings of the Gospel.”
The second stage of the trip to Africa was spent in Angola, which recently emerged from a civil war and is working on reconciliation and national reconstruction. The Pope commented: “with this visit of mine, whose first objective as obviously to confirm the faith of the Church, I also wished to encourage the social process in progress. In Angola one touches with one's hand what my venerated predecessors have repeated: Everything is lost with war, everything can be reborn with peace. But to reconstruct a nation, many moral energies are necessary.”
The Patron of Luanda, the capital of Angola, is Saint Paul. This is why the Pope wished to celebrate Mass in the church dedicated to the Apostle: “Once again St. Paul's personal experience spoke to us of his meeting with the Risen Christ, capable of transforming persons and society. The historical contexts change -- and it is necessary to take this into account -- but Christ remains as the true force of the radical renewal of man and of the human community.” In Luanda, the Pope held two special encounters: one with youth, the other with women. “With young people, in the stadium, it was a celebration of joy and hope, saddened unfortunately by the death of two girls, trampled by the crowd at the entrance...I paid homage to the women for the service that many of them offer to faith, human dignity, life and the family. I reaffirmed their full right to be involved in public life, without hurting, however, their role in the family, an essential mission to develop, always sharing responsibly with the other elements of the society and above all with husbands and fathers.”
In the great Mass celebrated on Sunday, March 22, with the Bishops of the Southern Africa, and with the participation of a million faithful, Benedict XVI told them: “If the African people do as ancient Israel did, and base their hope on the Word of God, rich in their religious and cultural heritage, they will really be able to build a future of reconciliation and stable peace for all.”
The Pontiff concluded his address in the General Audience with this invitation: “I ask you to thank the Lord for the wonders he has done and continues to do in Africa thanks to the generous action of missionaries, men and women religious, volunteers, priests, catechists, and young communities full of enthusiasm and faith. I also ask you to pray for the peoples of Africa, very dear to me, so that they will be able to address with courage the great social, economic and spiritual challenges of the present moment.”
As he greeted the people in various languages, he addressed the Polish pilgrims, recalling John Paul II and the fourth anniversary of his death: “May the spiritual heirloom of your Great Kinsman inspite in you in your personal, family, social, and national life. I join you in praying for the gift of his Beatification.”
At the end of the audience, the Pope met with Sister Maria Teresa Olivero and Sister Caterina Giraudo, two missionaries from the Contemplative Missionary Movement of Father Charles de Foucauld in Cuneo, who were held hostages in Somalia for 102 days and for whom the Holy Father had been constantly praying. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 2/4/2009)
