FROM THE VATICAN: OCTOBER 13, 2009
By Vatican Information Service

The Catholic Spirit
Tuesday, 13 October 2009

VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2009 (VIS) – In the Synod Hall at
4.30. p.m. today, the Twelfth General Congregation of the Second
Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops began in the
presence of the Pope. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal
Theodore-Adrien Sarr, archbishop of Dakar, Senegal, and 210 Synod
Fathers were present.

Extracts from some of the Synod Father’s speeches are given below:

BISHOP TESFASELASSIE MEDHIN OF ADIGRAT, ETHIOPIA. "I have not noticed
enough attention accorded to formation, which is a fundamental
subject for the Church in Africa. … We must therefore ensure
that the formation we give to our future priests and agents of
evangelisation makes them aware of the challenges, self confident,
balanced and mature ministers who could stand against and through
the serious turbulence of the times. … The formation programmes
of the major seminaries and houses of religious formation should be
given serious attention and evaluation, to determine their quality
and effectiveness in producing members of the Church who can be
true witness to reconciliation, justice and peace. We should use our
higher learning institutes by establishing a faculty which develops
and integrates into its modules the best practices and most effective
African cultural ways of reconciliation".

ARCHBISHOP LAURENT MONSENGWO PASINYA OF KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO. "Peace goes hand in hand with justice, justice with right,
right with truth. … Thus it is necessary, at all costs, to promote a
rule of law in which primacy is truly given to law and especially to
constitutional law; a rule of law in which arbitrary and subjective
judgments do not create the law of the jungle; a rule of law in which
national sovereignty is recognised and respected; a rule of law in
which each individual is fairly given his due. … In solutions,
all paths, especially the diplomatic and political paths, must aim at
re-establishing truth, justice and peace. … It is in by eliminating
all barriers, exclusion, discriminatory laws in worship and society,
and especially by suppressing hatred, that men are reconciled and
peace is made".

BISHOP KRIKOR-OKOSDINOS COUSSA OF ALEXANDRIA OF THE ARMENIANS,
EGYPT. "In 1915, the Ottomans … killed the Armenian people in
Greater Armenia and Lesser Armenia (Turkey). One and a half million
people perished during this genocide. The Armenians left and were
dispersed, first in the Middle East then throughout the world. … As
this Synod takes place ninety-four years after the killings, following
Christ’s call to forgive one’s enemies, the leaders of the Armenian
State and the heads of the Armenian Churches (Catholic, Orthodox
and Evangelical) are performing an act of public pardon towards
the Turks. We do so while appealing to the Turks to recognise the
genocide, to pay homage to the martyrs and to grant Armenians their
civil, political and religious rights. The path of reconciliation
between the two States has begun. For this, I appeal to political
leaders that they may support our progress alongside the Turks,
with the Universal Church and the African Church in distress".

BARBARA PANDOLFI, PRESIDENT OF THE SECULAR INSTITUTE OF THE MISSIONARY
SISTERS OF THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST, ITALY. "Members of Secular
Institutes are a hidden presence, accepting the precariousness
of daily life alongside others without protection or privileges,
searching for ways and solutions that sometimes exist only in the
realm of possibility, and living with the longing for universal
brotherhood. The vocation of secular institutes highlights the need
for the promotion of a mature laity, one capable of contributing
to the edification of a civil society based on the human values of
Christianity. … Since most secular institutes in Africa are female
institutes, there is an urgent need to favour and promote the worth
of women, not just as wives and mothers, but as people capable of
responsibility and autonomy in different areas of social life, just
as there is an urgent need for them to play a specific and not just
a subordinate role in the Church. If the first fracture of mankind,
caused by sin, was that between man and woman, one sign of peace and
reconciliation would be the promotion of authentic joint responsibility
and effective acknowledgment of equal dignity between men and women,
over and above all domination and discrimination".

Today’s General Congregation concluded with an address by
Jacques Diouf, director general of the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one of the three special guests
who are participating in the Synod at the invitation of the Holy
Father. Excerpts from his remarks are given below.

"First and foremost, Africa means shared values of civilisation
based on the historical awareness of belonging to the same
people. … Africa, martyred, exploited, despoiled by slavery and
colonisation but now politically sovereign, must not fall back
into rejection and negation, even if she has a duty to remember the
past. She must have the greatness to forgive and continue to develop a
cultural conscience based on her own identity which rejects alienating
assimilation. She must study the operational concepts of Blackness and
‘African-ness’, including the diaspora. … Africa has always been
presented in the light of the difficulties she faces, but she is the
land of the future which in the next forty years will experience
strong demographic growth. … With [her] resources, … Africa
cannot be ignored in the economic development of the planet. … Food
security is essential for the reduction of poverty, the education of
children and the health of the people, but also for lasting economic
growth. … From this point of view, one essential factor is the
contribution of African women to agricultural production and commerce,
and their role in nourishing the entire family. In fact, any initiative
aimed at facing the problem of food insecurity in Africa cannot hope
to be successful without taking this economic and social fact into
account. … Of all the suffering the African continent experiences,
hunger remains the most tragic and the most intolerable. Any commitment
to justice and peace in Africa cannot be separated from the need for
progress in achieving the right to food for all. … The Church has
always given herself the task of comforting the misery of the poorest
and the motto of the FAO is ‘Fiat Panis’: ‘Bread for all’. Most Holy
Father, in your last Encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate’ you highlight
how all economic decisions have moral consequences. … The vision
of a world free of hunger is possible if there is political will at
the highest level. … The great spiritual and moral forces are an
inestimable support for us in our activities. … I would also like to
praise the Church’s action in the field, with the poorest of the poor.

Missionaries and religious … often undertake difficult tasks
alongside inter-governmental organizations, NGOs and civil society,
tasks that are at times ungrateful but always useful. … I would
like to underline the convergence of religious teachings, especially
those of the Catholic Church and Islam, towards the need to oversee the
rational use of resources on the basis of a strategy respectful of the
persons and things of this world, without excess or waste. All these
teachings underline the fundamental role of social responsibil¬ity,
recommending solicitude towards the poorest. From this point of view,
the Church’s social doctrine plays an essential role".

THIRTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2009 (VIS) – The Thirteenth General Congregation
of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops was
held this morning in the Vatican’s Synod Hall in the presence of 220
Synod Fathers. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Francis
Arinze, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and
the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Extracts from some of the Synod Father’s speeches are given below:

BISHOP ERNESTO MAGUENGUE OF PEMBA, MOZAMBIQUE. "The principle source
of wealth of the continent is its people, especially the young,
adolescents and children. … Many young people are drawn into
violence, prostitution, the trafficking and consumption of drugs,
organised crime, ethnic and tribal conflicts, religious fundamentalism
and satanic sects, among other things. … In such a context, I
suggest that the synodal assembly: (1) Sends out a message of trust
and encouragement to the young. … (2) Denounces the marginalisation,
manipulation and violation of children’s rights as one of the most
terrible forms of injustice. (3) Highlight f African youth, … and
for the integral education and formation of the young. … (4) Revises
the content and method of catechesis and of the various catechisms".

BISHOP SERVILIEN NZAKAMWITA OF BYUMBA, RWANDA. "The Church in Rwanda,
in her pastoral care of reconciliation, justice and peace following
the terrible events of the genocide of the Tutsi and others – and
in the wake of the challenges she has encountered and has partly
overcome – is convinced that the work of reconciliation is God’s
initiative. … The Justice and Peace Commission, in collaboration
with other commissions and pastoral care agencies, has accompanied the
process of reconciliation with various programmes aimed at educating
people in values and at forming agents of reconciliation. … In this
pastoral care of reconciliation, the Catholic Church … collaborates
closely with other religious confessions and with public and
private institutions that operate in the field of post-genocide
reconciliation".

ARCHBISHOP EDWARD TAMBA CHARLES OF FREETOWN AND BO, SIERRA LEONE. "The
multinational extractives are causing so much injustice in Africa
that the Church can no longer remain silent about them. In their
desire to exploit the continent’s rich natural and mineral resources,
these companies can do anything, including the fomenting of inter
ethnic conflicts, sale of arms and ammunition, and the overthrow
of legitimate governments. The oil rich Delta States in Nigeria and
the eastern and southern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo
are clear examples of this. Confronted by such hostile forces, many
local Churches cannot do much to ensure that the companies accept
their corporate responsibility. Therefore I am appealing that local
Churches and episcopal conferences of the affected regions intervene
to ensure that just mining policies are established to ensure that
African States and their populations benefit from their own natural
and mineral resources.

I am also appealing to local Churches of countries from which
those multinationals come to intervene on behalf of Africa and its
people. Those companies may be bringing home cheap oil and cheap
tropical hard wood, but they are causing untold sufferings for our
people in Africa. In the name of God and of our ecclesial communion, we
appeal to you to help us to stop their injustices against our people".

FR. JAN GEERITS S.D.S., APOSTOLIC ADMINISTRATOR OF THE COMORES. "There
are barriers and limitations in the work of evangelization in the
Comores. … As we are a minority, there is a real danger that our
small Catholic communities become tired and discouraged. Nevertheless,
the smallness of our Catholic communities spurs us to invest in the
mission of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Not
being allowed to evangelise with the mouth and the word, nothing stops
us from speaking with our hands, that is: serving the population in
all humility through works of charity. Each man is unique and has
the ability to choose freely to be (or not to be) the image of his
Creator. God constantly invites us to say yes with a patience that is
beyond us, without ever obligating or forcing His creatures. … Thus,
it is an injustice to obligate one’s fellow man to become a Muslim
and to exclude salvation a priori to all those who do not follow Islam.

This injustice can never lead to reconciliation and profound peace
with Muslims and must be recognised one day as an … error, both by
their and by the simple faithful, so that this separating wall may
finally fall as others fell in the past".

ARCHBISHOP LIBORIUS NDUMBUKUTI NASHENDA O.M.I., OF WINDHOEK,
PRESIDENT OF THE NAMIBIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE. "Namibia is
basically enjoying political and economic stability, but the Church
is nevertheless called upon to be a vigilant and prophetic watchdog
with regard to the issues of reconciliation, justice and peace. … We
have tried to embark upon two projects which I would like share with
you: (1) We have called upon the clergy, religious and faithful to
encourage both the faithful and people of good will; to exercise
their democratic right to vote in order to elect as their future
leaders those who will be good servants and … will fight against
all forms of corruption. … We have been meeting with all political
parties to call upon them to uphold the principle of democracy in their
campaigning in a spirit of tolerance and mutual respect in order to
maintain our hard won peace, … while affirming the fact that, in
any race, there is always a winner and a loser, and that the latter
should accept the result with dignity and humility. African leaders
should therefore learn to relinquish power gracefully. (2) Special
ministry to sex workers prostitution for which we have a priest with
this charism. In many situations these sex workers, of whom 80 percent
are infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, are forced into this life style
by poverty and are sexually abused by well salaried people".

FR. ZEFERINO ZECA MARTINS S.V.D., PROVINCIAL FOR ANGOLA OF THE
SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD. "I wish to refer to the Chinese workers
who are to be found all over Africa. Certainly for the Chinese State
they are workers who are sent outside the borders to increase their
hegemony in the worldwide economic panorama. For our States, they
are no more than the manpower required for a speedy reconstruction
of the infrastructures destroyed by war. I therefore propose that the
episcopal conferences work with those dioceses in which the pastoral
care of immigrants is a necessity in order to create a pastoral
programme for bringing the Gospel of Christ to Chinese workers in
African countries".

PAPAL VISITS TO FAO AND TO SYNAGOGUE OF ROME

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2009 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office released
the following communiques this morning:

"On the morning of Monday 16 November, the Holy Father Benedict
XVI will visit the Rome headquarters of the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), for the occasion of the opening of
the World Summit on Food Security, due to take place as part of the
FAO’s thirty-sixth general conference (18 to 23 November)".

"On the afternoon of Sunday 17 January 2010, the Holy Father
Benedict XVI will visit the Synagogue of Rome to meet the local
Jewish community for the occasion of the twenty-first Day for the
study and development of dialogue between Catholics and Jews, and of
the Feast of the ‘Mo’ed di Piombo’ which falls on the same day". The
feast commemorates a miraculous event of 1793 when the Jews of Rome
escaped an atta thanks to a sudden storm which doused the fires that
had been ignited against the gates of the ghetto".
From: Baghdasarian