AFRICA/TOGO - Extraordinary Missionary Month: the Gospel, a precious gift of Europe to Africa

Monday, 1 October 2018 extraordinary missionary month   evangelization  

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Kara (Agenzia Fides) - "Today, with the rise of Pan-African movements, Europe is continuously sent from Africa to the court of history for its role, sometimes troubled and discussed, in the political and economic life of the African continent. Currently, the European continent is denigrated and sometimes rejected by many African countries, which are starting to turn to China. But, if it is true that European politics in Africa has sometimes been obscure, it must be recognized that Europe has offered Africa, in history, an invaluable asset which is the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The evangelization of Africa on behalf of Europe was an action of great charity. Is there a greater good than giving Jesus Christ and his Gospel to those who do not know him?". This is what Fr. Donald Zagore, theologian of the Society of African Missions (SMA), told Agenzia Fides, speaking of the Extraordinary Missionary Month, announced by the Pope for October 2019.
"The evangelization of Africa, through Europe, has been an instrument of salvation for our Continent, which has brought invaluable, spiritual, material, political and economic repercussions to our evangelization", says the theologian.
"We cannot ignore - he continues - all the good that has been done to us by religious congregations and European lay movements for over a century in the name of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, in the field of education, in the social sector, in the commitment to the weakest, the sick, the suffering, the poor and the abandoned people".
Fr. Zagore tells Fides: "The light of the Gospel brought by Europe has saved many Africans from the culture of death. The light of the Gospel has allowed to overcome and banish certain tribal practices that condemned innocent victims to death for various reasons. The light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, brought from Europe to Africa, opened and saved Africa. It is a historical fact of great importance that we must not cancel from our memories to close ourselves in an atheistic and unbalanced panafricanism that necessarily wants to see evil without, however, appreciating all the priceless good that Africa has benefited from the evangelizing action of Europe".
The theologian concludes: "The great challenge for today's Africa is to work to gather the precious gift of evangelization.
Africa must correct what has not been perfect to make the noble task of evangelization launched by Europe more effective so that it can respond adequately to the problems that the continent is facing today. The evangelizing mission is an infinite action. As long as there are new generations, new questions will arise, to which new answers will have to be brought. Yesterday it was Europe, today it's up to Africa to take responsibility for itself". (DZ/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 1/10/2018)


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