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Pope John Paul's was, without doubt, one of the most illustrious careers in the history of the Catholic Church.
The Pope, who was doing his 27th year on the throne of St Peter, since October 16, 1978, earned himself the nickname "The Itinerant Pope".
Converting the entire world into his parish, the globetrotting pope logged over one million kilometres in travel to more than 200 countries.
John Paul made history in May 1980, when he became the first Roman pontiff to step on Kenyan soil. He visited again in August 1985 to preside over the closing worship of the 43rd International Eucharistic Congress, and again in 1995 during one of his whirlwind tours linked to the African Synod.
Between the time he took charge of some 800 million Catholics to the time he inaugurated the African Synod, the Pope had made 10 visits to Africa and Madagascar, covering 36 countries.
When he addressed the Council of the General Secretariat for the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, June 1989, the Pope was responding to the request of bishops, priests, theologians and responsible laity "to promote an organic pastoral solidarity throughout Africa and the adjacent islands."
The Pope�s sensitivity to Africa�s unique situation in the _expression_ of its faith is underlined by the fact that this was the first time ever for the Catholic Church to convene a synod at a continental level. In calling the synod, John Paul underlined the Church�s "obligation to manifest Christ to all people�s in all times, in their cultural and actual historical context".
That the synod was a carefully planned and premeditated affair is evident in the fact that prior to it, the Pope joined preparatory meetings in Yamoussoukro, Cote d�Ivoire, in 1990, Luanda, Angola, in 1992 and Kampala, Uganda, in 1993.
In affirming the African culture, the Pope was full of praise for the theologians, liturgists and experts in African chants and musical instruments, who, at his request, ensured that celebrations related to the synod had "a distinctly African character."
His close affinity with African culture was evident on his first Kenyan visit when, exuding warmth and savouring a sense of belonging, he said: "I shall remember your music and your songs." And as if to underline the synergy between song and worship, he added with a sentimental tinge: "In the prayers we shared, I have felt a deep communion with you that neither distance nor time can diminish."
Thus, his endeavour to make worship at the African Synod "distinctly African" in character through chants and musical instruments was like keeping a promise. And it was not only the songs and African music that the Pope identified with. On that occasion of his first visit to Kenya, he accepted the honour of being made an African elder, warrior and leader by occupying an elder�s stool as Cardinal Maurice Otunga adorned him with a monkey hat and cap.
While early missionaries reviled everything African as profane, the Pope�s declared position was opposite. "There is no question of adulterating the word of God, or of emptying the cross of its power, but rather of bringing Christ into the very centre of the African life and of lifting up all African life to Christ. Thus, not only is Christianity relevant to Africa, but Christ in the members of His body is himself African."
In calling the African Synod, John Paul was following the nyayo of Pope John XXIII, the man behind the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II). While Pope John, who occupied Peter�s throne for a mere five years (1958 to 1963) is credited with throwing open the windows of the Church to rid it of medieval trappings, it is true that for the Church in Africa, Vatican II reforms were mere teasers. It is this realisation that led to agitation for and convocation of the African Synod that bears the seal of John Paul.
True, Vatican II, at which Protestant and Orthodox clergy sat as observers, sought to decentralise church bureaucracy and replace Latin with native languages in the liturgy. The Council also championed openness to the modern world, freedom of theological research, serious encounter with other Christian churches and dialogue with other religions, even with Marxism. But while Vatican II reforms saw thousands of priests and nuns give up their vows in protest, they barely scratched the surface of what was needed to make the church "both Catholic and African".
The Pope�s deep respect and appreciation of African culture and his commitment to what is called inculturation, is best conveyed by his speech in Lilongwe, Malawi, on his sixth pastoral visit to Africa, May 1989. He challenged Malawians to "reject a way of living which does not correspond to the best of your traditions and your Christian faith."
Noting that many people in Africa looked beyond the continent for the so-called �freedom of the modern way of life�, he urged them to look inside themselves, instead. "Look to the riches of your own traditions," he told them, and "to the faith which we are celebrating in this assembly."
Inculturation is distinctly related to John Paul�s ministry, and constitutes a departure from early missionaries� attempts to �adapt� the Catholic faith to local culture or vice versa.
He explains: "The term "inculturation" is a better _expression_ to designate a double movement: "By inculturation, the Church makes the gospel incarnate in different cultures, and at the same time introduces peoples, together with their cultures, into her own community."
To appreciate the Pope�s special affinity to Africa, it is to his apostolic letter, The Church in Africa of 1995 that we must turn. Written in the wake of the African Synod, the letter richly manifests what it means for the Pope to be "Catholic and African." It conveys his view of Africa � his hopes and fears � from theological, historical, socio-economic, cultural and political perspectives.
African theologians like Origen, saints Athanasius and Cyril as well as Tertullian and saints Cyprian and Augustine are among Africa�s notables that he cites as role models.
Women are not left out of his citation that includes saints Perpetua and Felicity and more lately Blessed Clementine Anwarite, the virgin martyr of Zaire (now DR Congo), whom he beatified during his 1985 African pilgrimage. He also mentions Victoria Rasoamanarivo of Madagascar and Josephine Bakhita of Sudan, whom he also beatified in the penultimate move to sainthood.
On the church in Africa�s contribution to development, he notes for instance that although Catholics are only 14 percent of Africa�s population, Catholic health facilities make up 17 percent of the healthcare institutions on the entire continent. As much if not more could be said of education.
The Pope�s deep appreciation of the church in Africa possibly derives from his itinerant streak. He has a firm grasp of Africa�s political and socio-economic situation. He shares the Synod fathers� view that "Africa is full of problems. In almost all our nations," they noted, "there is abject poverty, tragic mismanagement of available scarce resources, political instability and social disorientation."
In his various visits to Africa, the Pope has boldly pointed out the roots of evil and condemned injustice. On one such occasion, he told African dictators to end corruption, dominion of the weak, denial of the people of their right to share in the political life, tyranny or the use of violence and terrorism.
In May 1980, long before Cote d�Ivoire disintegrated to the shambles that it is now, John Paul warned the church to guard against corruption, materialism and selfishness. Probably in a veiled reference to then President Houphet Boigny, who had built one of the most magnificent and opulent cathedrals in his home village of Yamoussoukro, the Pope had a special message.
He said: "The church must aid those in charge not to import certain Western ways of life, which tend to introduce materialism, individualism and practical atheism in individuals and families."
A strong advocate of debt cancellation, John Paul urged African heads of state and their governments "not to crush their peoples with internal and external debts." In the same vein, he appealed to the IMF and the World Bank and all foreign creditors to alleviate the crushing debts of the African nations.
Always with the poor and marginalised, he has been a strong advocate of women, youth and people affected and infected with HIV/Aids. He deplored and condemned some African customs and practices that deprived women of their rights and the respect due to them.
And yet his perception of Africa�s woes did not blur his view of positive values of African culture. He singled out the fundamental role of the family and its extension to the ancestral world. While early missionaries reviled veneration of ancestors as worship of evil spirits, the Pope viewed it as "a preparation for belief in the Communion of the Saints." This is the belief that on the Last Day, triumphant saints in heaven, suffering souls in purgatory and the militant church on earth will all be united.
The Pope�s great sensitivity to the African worldview is conveyed in the following: "The sons and daughters of Africa love life. It is precisely this love for life that leads them to give such great importance to the veneration of their ancestors. They believe intuitively that the dead continue to live and remain in communion in them."
A thorn in the flesh of Western feminists with their pro-choice, pro-abortion stance, John Paul has used the African worldview to bolster the church�s position. "The people of Africa respect the life, which is conceived and born. They rejoice in this life. They reject the idea that it can be destroyed, even when the so-called �progressive civilizations� would like to lead them in this direction," he said at the African synod.
He views anti-life practices as imposed on Africans by means of economic systems, which serve the selfishness of the rich. "Africans show their respect for human life until its natural end, and keep elderly parents and relatives within the family," he says.
In extolling Africans� value of community and the extended family, the Pope hoped and prayed that Africa would "always preserve this priceless cultural heritage and never succumb to the temptation to individualism, which is so alien to its best traditions."
John Paul�s vision of the church is that it should feel at home in every culture, "without exclusively making its own culture." It is probably because of this attribute of the Pope�s that saw value in every culture, which caused the renegade Zambian cleric, Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, to speak so well of the Pope in September 1996. "We never cease to ask God to prolong the life of John Paul as much as possible because he really is an apostle who has given all to the world," he said.
But with the writing on the wall, and a growing sense that the Pope may be dying, John Paul�s description by his predecessor, Pope Paul VI, endures. In his mission to infuse dynamism into the church and to make it a place for all to feel at home, John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla, was a "brave, magnificent man." May his legacy live on!
Ms Kweyu is a Revise Editor of Daily Nation. | 
