CNS STORY: At synod closing Mass, pope urges stronger evangelization in Africa

SYNOD-CLOSE Oct-26-2009 (700 words) With photos. xxxi

At synod closing Mass, pope urges stronger evangelization in Africa

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At a Mass to close the Synod of Bishops for Africa, Pope Benedict XVI urged the church to be a model of unity and a force of reconciliation throughout the African continent.

To accomplish this goal, Catholics must preach Christ as the one savior and, like him, walk the "path of service" toward the suffering populations in Africa, the pope said during the liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica Oct. 25.

"The church is the family of God in which there can be no divisions based on ethnic, language or cultural groups," he said.

"The reconciled church is the potent leaven of reconciliation in each country and in the whole African continent," the pope said. With the Holy Spirit, Catholics can help transform the hearts of "victims and persecutors" wherever social injustice occurs, he said.

The Mass closing the three-week-long synod was concelebrated by more than 200 African bishops, and the liturgy combined Roman and African elements. A Nigerian choir, backed by a restrained drum and percussion section, sang a processional hymn in the Igbo language as the pope, dressed in gold vestments, entered the basilica.

The prayer of the faithful -- for the intentions of peace, the ministry of the pope and church leaders, and the enlightenment of African political and civil authorities -- was recited in French and the African languages of Swahili, Kigongo, Malagasy and Igbo.

The day before, after accepting the synod's 57 "propositions" or final proposals, the pope lunched with the African bishops and gave them a gift: the green and gold chasubles they wore at the closing Mass, which bore the pope's coat of arms.

In his homily, Pope Benedict said the church is called upon to deliver, in word and deed, Christianity's perennial message of hope, which "the Lord of history never tires of renewing for the oppressed and overwhelmed humanity of every era and every land."

"Get up, church in Africa, family of God," he said. "Set out on the path of a new evangelization with the courage that comes from the Holy Spirit."

God's plan does not change, he said, and it is always aimed at the kingdom of liberty and peace for all. This implies his preference for those deprived of peace and freedom, and those violated in their dignity, he said.

"We think in particular of our brothers and sisters who in Africa suffer poverty, diseases, injustice, wars and violence, and forced migration," he said.

The pope said the church must operate by combining evangelization and the promotion of social justice. Its method of "living the Gospel in the first person" seems to be the only one capable of helping Africa emerge from "the slavery of hunger and sickness," he said.

He said globalization, in particular, needs to be steered by the church toward a more inclusive economic model that benefits all people and not only the wealthy. The church must work to "ensure that no African should be deprived of his or her daily bread," he said.

The pope asked the bishops to take his blessing to their communities throughout the continent, and transmit to all Africans the synod's appeal for justice, peace and reconciliation.

The liturgy ended with an "Ave Maria" sung in Igbo by the Nigerian choir, and a liturgical chant in Ge'ez, a liturgical language of Ethiopia, invoking the "path of truth."

Speaking at his noon blessing after the Mass, the pope said the synod had underlined the dynamism of the church in Africa, which "continues to grow in quantity and quality."

The pope, who presided over the synod's sessions, said the assembly had also highlighted new threats to the family coming from outside ideologies. Young Africans, he said, are especially exposed to this type of pressure, and are "influenced by models of thought and behavior that contrast with the human and Christian values" of African populations.

Addressing pilgrims in English, the pope asked them to pray for "our brothers and sisters in Africa."

"May the Lord, who granted sight to the blind man of the Gospel, renew their faith that they may always see and follow clearly the path of reconciliation, justice and peace which leads to salvation," he said.

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