THIRD GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 6 OCT 2009 (VIS) - The Third General Congregation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops began this morning in the presence of the Holy Father. The session was attended by 226 Synod Fathers, and the president delegate on duty was Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier O.F.M., archbishop of Durban, South Africa.

  At the beginning of today's session His Holiness Abuna Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, addressed participants, thanking the Pope for his invitation to participate in this Synod.

  "We have to exercise our peculiar responsibility as religious leaders and heads of Churches: to acknowledge and sustain, when we deem it necessary, the suggestions that come from the people, as, on the contrary, to reject them when they contradict the respect and love for Man", said the patriarch speaking English.

  "African religious leaders not only have to worry about social work but also answer the great spiritual needs of the women and men of Africa. Apostleship and social works cannot be treated separately. Social work is the meaning of apostleship. Apostleship is the root of a real and compassionate social work. Our land needs to be nourished by the teachings of its religious fathers and I feel obliged together with you to translate in practice our preaching. I feel the imperative to enhance the awareness of the people to honour life, peace and justice. Thus, leaders of the African Churches, with the power of the Almighty God and of the Holy Spirit, need to voice the language of the Church".

  The Pope responded briefly to the patriarch's words. "Your presence", he said, also in English, "bears eloquent witness to the antiquity and rich traditions of the Church in Africa. ... Your people's fidelity to the Gospel continues to be shown not only by their obedience to this law of love, but also, as you have reminded us, by perseverance amid persecution and the supreme sacrifice of martyrdom for the name of Christ.

  "Your Holiness has recalled", the Benedict XVI added, "that the proclamation of the Gospel cannot be separated from the commitment to build a society which conforms to God's will, respects the blessings of His creation and protects the dignity and innocence of all His children. In Christ we know that reconsolidation is possible, justice can prevail, peace can endure! This is the message of hope which we are called to proclaim. This is the promise which the people of Africa long to see fulfilled in our day".

CARDINAL ANGELO SODANO, DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS. "Today we can see more clearly the enormity of the disasters provoked by nationalism and the exaltation of the concept of race. ... How can we forget that also in Africa homicidal rage between different ethnic groups has devastated entire countries? ... I believe we should repeat to everyone, with greater insistence, that love of one's nation (concretely, of one's people, one's compatriots) is certainly a Christian duty, but we also have to add that the deviation of nationalism is wholly un-Christian. ... Christianity favoured the coming together of the peoples of a certain region, giving life to the concept of a people or a nation, with its own specific cultural identity. Christianity, though, has always condemned any deformation in this concept of nation, deformations that frequently descend into nationalism or even racism, the true negation of Christian universality. The truth is that the two basic principles of the Christian community have always been the dignity of each human person, on the one hand, and the unity of the human race, on the other. These are two inviolable frontiers, within which various concepts of nation can evolve, depending on time and place. ... The present 53 African nations will have a great future in the concert of the 192 nations that today make up the entire human family, if they are able to overcome their divisions and co-operate together for the material and spiritual progress of their peoples".

CARDINAL POLYCARP PENGO, ARCHBISHOP OF DAR-ES-SALAAM, TANZANIA, AND PRESIDENT OF THE "SYMPOSIUM DES CONFERENCES EPISCOPALES D'AFRIQUE ET DE MADAGASCAR" (SCEAM). "The theme of this Synod is of great urgency today for the Church in Africa. In order to develop and deepen the theme as required, questions like selfishness, greed for material wealth, ethnicity resulting in ethnic conflicts and others which are the root causes of lack of peace in many Africans societies must be confronted without fear or favour, and be followed up with specific pastoral directives. The wars and conflicts affecting our continent are dividing our people, sowing a culture of violence and destroying the spiritual, social and moral fabric of our societies. It is sad to have to state that there are allegations against some of us pastors being involved either through our omissions or even by direct commissions in these conflicts. In this Synod we must have the courage to denounce even against ourselves things like the misuse of the role and practice of authority, tribalism and ethnocentrism, political partisan of the religious leaders etc. The Church in Africa will not be able to speak with one voice about reconciliation, justice and peace if there is a clear lack of adequate unity and communion and appropriate responsibility for SECAM on the part of individual bishops and national as well as regional episcopal conferences".

ARCHBISHOP FIDELE AGBATCHI OF PARAKOU, BENIN. "The Synodal Fathers should consider the practical aspects - so abundantly underlined in the 'Instrumentum laboris' - of applying the exegetical and theological principles of reconciliation, justice and peace which stem from the One Triune God. ... Such a task carried out by the Synod Fathers would help Africa take up her historical responsibility before the Gospel, which she has received and has the duty to fulfil. ... This would help her rid herself of fear. In fact, Africa is afraid and lives in fear. Jealously protecting her discoveries about the world and nature, she naturally falls into mistrust, suspicion, a defensive attitude, aggressiveness, charlatanism ... and syncretism, facets that contribute to obstructing the search for the true God. How much this continent, mother of us all, hopes to see the even more radiant lustre of the light of the crucified and risen Christ! What I wish for this Synod is a Paschal future and, after so much suffering, the resurrection of Africa".

BISHOP MAROUN ELIAS LAHHAM OF TUNIS, TUNISIA. "The specificity of Islamic-Christian relations in the Churches of North Africa could enrich the experiences of dialogue elsewhere (in Europe or in sub-Saharan Africa) and defuse the reactions of fear and the rejection of Islam that we are beginning to see in certain countries. We all know that fear is a bad counsellor. ... Two propositions: (1) May the Synod for the Middle East, scheduled for October 2010, also include the dioceses of North Africa, especially as regards the Christian minorities and relations and dialogue with Islam. (2) A discussion about Islam in Africa that takes account of the variety of African experiences, from Tunis to Johannesburg".
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