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SECAM-PENGO Feb-11-2008 (540 words) xxxi
Cardinal: Church must mend split between African, Arabic countries
By Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Church structures in North Africa need strengthening so that the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar can represent "all of Africa, as is intended," said the symposium's president, Tanzanian Cardinal Polycarp Pengo.
"We cannot come out with a continental voice until the split is mended" between what is considered "black Africa" and countries "that seem more Arabic than African," such as Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, Cardinal Pengo said in a Feb. 8 telephone interview from Johannesburg, where SECAM's standing committee met Feb. 4-7.
Cardinal Pengo, the archbishop of Dar es Salaam, said North African countries do not contribute to SECAM, and "we want them to realize that we consider them part of Africa."
Cardinal Pengo said members of the standing committee also sent messages of condolence to Catholics in Kenya and Chad, where political violence has claimed hundreds of lives.
"The situation in Kenya is very worrying," he said, noting that "people are dying while its leaders fight for political position."
Archbishop Gabriel Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana, said that besides trying to increase communication with Catholic organizations on other continents, SECAM "is trying to increase the effectiveness of its justice, peace and development work.
"As Africa moves toward democratization, the ordinary African's voice needs to be heard at a national political level" and the church's justice and peace structures are a way to achieve this, he said in a Feb. 7 telephone interview from Johannesburg.
"Every diocese has a justice and peace commission, but many are dormant, and they need to be more active and aware of issues in their areas," since these groups "are able to reach people at a parish level and to lobby locally" on issues of social justice, the bishop said.
"We need to bring the church into the mainstream of politics, so we can bring our salt to bear," he said, noting that the church should use its "energy to revitalize social, political and cultural affairs."
The standing committee meeting in Johannesburg was followed by a Feb. 8-10 international conference organized by the German Catholic relief agency Misereor.
Michael Hippler, who heads Misereor's Africa department, said church representatives from Morocco and Pakistan reminded conference delegates "that dialogue between Catholics and Muslims is very important."
"The Christian population in predominantly Muslim countries is very small and to have an impact one needs an entry point," Hippler said in a Feb. 8 telephone interview from Johannesburg.
For example, with HIV/AIDS, churches "aim to extend a hand to all society, in favor of the poor, so on a practical level, in order to get the work done, they need to find out which Muslim groups to talk to so that they get the entry point they need," Hippler said.
"We must open up, share our resources and learn from each other so that we can reach the poor and serve our mission," he said.
Bridging the divide between Christians and Muslims in Africa "is a huge challenge," Hippler said, noting the "need to be inclusive and to dialogue with people of other faiths."
Church and civil society representatives from around the world attended the conference, which celebrated Misereor's 50th anniversary, he said.
END
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