Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - “Africa is the place that presents the challenge for the future of Catholicism: or we manage to spread the Gospel in that continent or we will suffer many more difficulties.” This is what newly-appointed Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste, previously Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in the opening talk in the study day “For a green revolution in Africa,” organized by the Pontifical Ateneo Regina Apostolorum in Rome, September 24. “We should work and love this continent where agricultural problems, linked to the lives of people, present a series of ethical implications on a cultural and social level, in which the Church sees her duty to offer her principles, and her valuable indications for promoting the common good and the development of every man.”
The Prelate, reaffirming that the “Church does not have competence on problems strictly related to the technical workings of the agricultural world,” he highlighted the fact that Africa is “the continent with the highest percentage of the population dedicated to agriculture – in some countries up to 80% - and is now the place with the highest number of people suffering from malnutrition and underdevelopment.” The paradox of the reality, Archbishop Crepaldi said, can be explained “by the fact that Africa has not been able to benefit from a so-called green revolution, as has occurred in Asia, due to the lack of development in agricultural machinery, irrigation systems, the use of chemical products like pesticides and fertilizers and the use of special seeds.”
Recalling Benedict XVI's encyclical, Caritas in veritate, the Speaker highlighted the fundamental importance of the fact that “the problem of food insecurity needs to be addressed within a long-term perspective, eliminating the structural causes that give rise to it” (no. 27). This does not mean there is “one solution...but infrastructures, transportation, and schools are needed.” The Archbishop also recalled another serious problem in Africa, especially in the sub-Sahara: “Peace and political and social stability are indispensable,” for Africa's agricultural, human, and economic development...in order to contribute to a peaceful, reconciled, and stable environment, as the title of the upcoming Synod of Bishops expresses.
In terms of the desired “green revolution” for Africa, Archbishop Crepaldi mentioned that “the Church has always favored work, scientific knowledge and technical applications that engender development.” In fact, technology “in and of itself is neither good nor evil,” it depends how it is used and with what principles. In terms of vegetable biotechnologies, the Archbishop clarified the Church's position, in reference to the fact that there are two different levels: that of the nature of vegetables and that of man. “There are groups of people who, seeing environmental disasters and predicting others even more disastrous, oppose development and application of biotechnologies; oftentimes they are moved by a certain anti-humanistic ideology, while they favor the manipulation of the human person in embryos, in the name of medicine, as well as a more permissive practice of abortion, etc.” and the Church cannot accept this. It is fundamental that we recognize that “biotechnology has led to a great progress in many sectors and if it is correctly used, it may be able to resolve many of society's issues throughout the world.” (MT) (Agenzia Fides 25/9/2009)
