VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI receives Bishops of Cameroon: may the ecclesiological and spiritual intuitions of Ecclesia in Africa give “new impulse to the salvific mission which the Church received from Christ”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - The tenth anniversary of the post-synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa which Pope John Paul II signed and consigned to Africa’s Catholics in Yaounde in September 1995 was the main focus of the life of the Church in Cameroon during the whole of last year. On receiving Bishops of Cameroon on their ad limina visit on March 18 the Pope said he hoped the Exhortation’s “ecclesiological and spiritual intuitions, perfect antidotes for discouragement and resignation” would give “new impulse to the salvific mission which the Church received from Christ...It is a question of letting the Gospel penetrate deeply into the cultures and traditions of your people characterised by richness of human, spiritual and moral values, while purifying these cultures incessantly through necessary conversion of anything opposed to the fullness of truth and life revealed in Jesus Christ. This also means proclaiming and living the Good News and undertaking without fear critical dialogue with the new cultures related to growing globalisation so the Church can offer a message ever more pertinent and credible while remaining faithful to the commandment received from her Lord.”
The Pope said he noted from the Bishops’ five yearly reports an “unfavourable economic and social context which increases the number of people in conditions of serious precariousness, weakening social unity and leading to the loss of a number of traditional values…”. Among the concerns and challenges of the Church in Cameroon the Pope pinpointed aggressive sects, traditional popular religious practices to be constantly purified, and the devastation caused by AIDS. “In this viewpoint - the Pope said - it is opportune help every member of the Church without exception to strive for ever deeper union with Christ nourished by the Word of God, a life of constant prayer and regular sacramental life”.
“With word and life witness” Bishops should “help the faithful discover Christ in the power of the Spirit and confirm them in their faith”. Rich homilies, structured catechesis, initial and ongoing formation for catechists, encouragement for theological research will “give impulse to holiness in communities, so Christians can take their place and act with competence in ambits of social and political life and the economy”. Pope Benedict XVI urged the Bishops to continue on the path of pastoral collaboration and unity to “further evangelisation among your people marked by ethnic division”, and he encouraged them to show with their words and with their writings that “The Catholic Church has at heart the promotion of the wellbeing and the dignity of every citizen of Cameroon without exception and the realisation of their deepest aspirations for unity, peace, justice and brotherhood”.
Expressing his joy for increasing numbers of local priests and seminarians and gratitude “for the patient work of missionaries who went before them and toiled with generous apostolic spirit to build communities capable of bearing the fruit of priestly vocations”, the Holy Father stressed the importance of “bonds of fraternal communion” between Bishops and priests and for the latter to meditate always “on the total gift of self they have made to God and to the Church in the image of Christ’s own gift of self, on the demands of pastoral charity in particular the necessity of the life of chastity in celibacy in conformity with Church law, on correct exercising of authority and healthy relationship with material goods”. “It is our self-giving and witness of life rather than our pastoral activity which reveals Christ’s love for his flock- the Pope said”.
In the final part of his address the Pope stressed the importance of adequate family pastoral and he voiced appreciation for the many initiatives through which “the Church in Cameroon strives to reveal specifically and effectively Christ’s charity for all men and women”. Last of all Pope Benedict XVI asked the Bishops of Cameroon “to carry on with the work of evangelisation... consolidate fraternal relations with other Christian confessions and believers of other religions in order to reveal the love of Christ the Saviour who fills the human heart with longing to live in peace and to form a people of brothers and sisters”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 20/3/2006, righe 52, parole 746)