GULF-GOANS e-NEWSLETTER (since 1994)
Pope Set to Make First Trip to Africa Francis X. Rocca March 16, 2009/VATICAN CITY (RNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI visits Africa for the first time as pope later this month, he will be visiting the region that has produced the greatest growth for the Catholic Church -- and some of its greatest challenges. Benedict's March 17-23 visit to Cameroon and Angola will celebrate what has become the church's most fertile mission field, and ground zero for ongoing tension with the continent's other fast-growing faith, Islam. Over the course of the 20th century, the Catholic population of sub-Saharan Africa grew from less than 2 million to nearly 140 million. Last month, the Vatican reported that the continent was producing priests at a higher rate than any other part of the world, with ordinations rising by 27.6 percent in 2007. The pope has praised African Catholicism as a model from which the religion's traditional heartland should draw inspiration. "To see that there isn't only a tired church, as we often find in Europe, but also a youthful church, full of joy of the Holy Spirit, is certainly a spiritual refreshment," Benedict told a gathering of priests in Rome last month. Benedict will start his week-long visit in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, where he will meet with African bishops and preview an upcoming Vatican synod on "reconciliation, justice and peace." The pope will presumably address the armed conflicts that have plagued so much of the continent, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a decade-long civil war has left an estimated 5.4 million people dead. Benedict is likely to join other church leaders in stressing the need to transcend longstanding tribal animosities, a continuing source of civil tensions and violence. "I am also hoping that the Holy Father will talk about issues of governance, the democratic process, and corruption," said the Rev. Patrick Lafon, a former Secretary General of the Cameroonian bishops' conference, who noted that his country's ruler, President Paul Biya, has been in power since 1982. "One cannot underestimate the moral authority of the Holy Father," Lafon said. "Our leaders will not necessarily follow what he says, but it will be on the record." While in Cameroon, Benedict will meet with representatives of the country's Muslim minority, which at 22 percent of the population is a little more than half as large as its Christian counterpart. (Adherents of traditional African religions account for the rest.) Interfaith relations in Cameroon are generally stable, Lafon said, but in neighboring Nigeria, hundreds have died in recent fighting between Muslims and Christians. Because of its proximity to some of the areas hardest hit by desertification, including Sudan, Cameroon will offer the pope a natural occasion to discuss the humanitarian impact of climate change, said Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo, an American priest who works with the Catholic aid network Caritas Internationalis. "I also hope that the Holy Father talks about the even deeper levels of poverty that we can expect in Africa as a result of the global economic crisis," Vitillo said. In Angola, Benedict will mark 500 years of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa in the country that received the first Catholic missionaries. Benedict's presence in southern Africa could also highlight the church's fight against HIV/AIDS. Although Angola's own rate of HIV prevalence is relatively low at 2.5 percent of the adult population, in some part of the region that figure tops 30 percent, Vitillo said. Catholic agencies around the world provide more than 25 percent of care of those with HIV/AIDS, according to the Vatican. Yet the church's activities have drawn criticism from those who say that its prohibition of condoms undercuts prevention efforts. Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. Goa World Goa Mog Goa SuRaj Super Goa (em Português) TGF Writers' Sketchpad www.colaco.net www.goa-world. .com/goa/ music/ - The Online Music Station for KONKANI Mahableshwar http://www.mahables hwar.com St. Mary's School - Mt Abu, Rajasthan India http://www.abusms. com http://www.goa-dc.com/flvvid/ikonkani.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTduCJkQNiQ GOA MAG ONLINE http://www.goamag.net http://mumbaihangout.org/radio/ Better one living word than a hundred dead ones. ~Proverb, (German)~
