Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides) - On Monday 20 February Pope Benedict XVI met with a group of African Catholic Bishops on ad limina visit and he said “Through you, the Bishops of the Church which is in Senegal, in Mauritania, in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, I am united in heart and prayer with the people who are your pastoral responsibility. May God bless those in your countries who build peace and brotherhood and relations of reciprocal trust and support among human and religious communities”.
He said the Churches of these countries “present a great variety of human and ecclesial situations which at times renders co-ordination of your Bishops’ duties difficult”, therefore, the Pope said, “bonds of effective communion are essential”… “Walking with his people the Bishop must encourage, guide and co-ordinate evangelising work so the faith may grow and spread. In this perspective the Gospel must be firmly rooted among your peoples”. The tendency of a few of the faithful to return to traditional religions “should prompt you to find appropriate ways to revive and strengthen the faith in the light of the Gospel and to consolidate the theological bases of the local Churches, while assuming the best of African identity”. The Pope reminded the Bishops that “Catholics must have sound formation in the faith to be faithful to baptismal promises and also in the face of the new phenomena of the present day”.
In the difficult work of evangelisation priests are generous co-workers for the Bishop and hence the need to make sure their initial and ongoing formation makes them “men who are balanced from the human and spiritual point of view, capable of meeting the challenges they encounter in personal and pastoral life”. The Holy Father also mentioned the generous and ongoing contribution of institutes of consecrated life in helping to build harmony in the Church and increase its missionary dynamism and he said he hoped members of these institutes “would maintain relations of trust and collaboration with the Bishops and live profound communion not only within their respective community but also with the diocesan and universal Church”.
One of the fields in which the Church is most active is the promotion social development. “However Christianity cannot be reduced to a purely human wisdom - the Pope said - or mistaken for a social service, since it is a spiritual service. Furthermore for the disciple of Christ, the exercise of charity cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism, because love is free. You serve humanity often in collaboration with men and women who do not share your Christian faith, with Muslims especially. Efforts to promote an encounter of believers of different religious traditions in the truth help to promote the concrete good of the individual and of society. It is imperative to deepen brotherly relations between communities in order to promote harmonious development in society recognising the dignity of every person and allowing everyone to freely practice his or her religion”.
In particular in Guinea-Bissau the Catholic Church “is in front line to promote dialogue and cooperation among all the components of the nation”, and the Pope said “ dear Bishops continue to be reliable points of reference and guidance for all your fellow countrymen and women”. Lastly among the pastoral priorities of the respective dioceses Pope Benedict XVI dwelt on the theme of the family: “Without the family there would be no basic unity of life and construction for that, «Family of God» as the Church on your continent recognised herself and proposed to be in the Synod for Africa in 1994. She cannot consider herself truly inserted or incarnated until the Christian ideal of family life has taken deep root in the peoples of Africa”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 21/2/2006, righe 46, parole 654)
