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21 - 12.10.2009
SUMMARY
-
TENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (SATURDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2009 - MORNING) -
CONTINUATION
-
TWELFTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY 12 OCTOBER 2009 -AFTERNOON)
- PRESS CONFERENCES
TENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (SATURDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2009
- MORNING) - CONTINUATION
-
AUDITIO AUDITORUM
(III) - CONTINUATION
AUDITIO
AUDITORUM (III) - CONTINUATION
We publish below, at the request of the Auditor, a new Summary of
the intervention pronounced in the Auditio auditorum (III), in
substitution of the text already delivered and then published in
Bulletin N. 16 of 10 October 2009.
- Prof. Edem KODJO, Secretary General Emeritus of the Organization
of African Unity (OAU), Prime Minister Emeritus, Professor of
Patrology at the Institute St. Paul of Lomé (TOGO)
Africa aspires deeply to reconciliation, justice and peace. The
Church in Africa and its Christians are called upon for this mission
more than others. How can Africans be reconciled between themselves?
The process is not easy. Reconciliation is, first of all, an
attitude, a disposition of heart, an expression of love for the
other, which presupposes the conversion of the whole being, a
genuine “metanoïa”, a complete transformation which grace, born of
prayer, may grant. Yes, we Africans, we must first of all reconcile
ourselves with God, through penitence and prayer.
Reconciliation with others assumes that one has the strength and
courage of forgiveness.
Human reconciliation makes a central place for confession which
leads to the truth, the indispensable truth and justice.
Reconciliation, justice, and truth are found in a sort of
trinitarian relationship.
Are Christians trained to play this role? It is not sure! Christian
politicians even less. The heart of man being obscure by nature and
politics being the muck “par excellence”, they are more exposed than
others to the treachery of their faith. It is not enough to denounce
it, to malign it. They must change their hearts. Moreover, they are
not all condemnable. Isn’t Julius Nyerere susceptible to being
beatified? It is necessary to pray for them. It is necessary to
educate them. Now, the post-catechetical formation of our Church
must be reinvented. What do those on the circles of power really
know about the social doctrine of the Church?
Concerning the Christian school , it must be re-Christianized, the
laity developed, better associated, playing a full role.
Everywhere in our dioceses chaplaincies for politicians men are
necessary.
In any case, the people of Africa expect from this Synod a strong
message to call a halt to political deviations and manipulations of
any sort, to the desire to stay in power by cheating, to the
monopolization of riches for the few, to the alienation of our
mining resources, to the sale of our land, to transnational
capitalist firms, to the destruction of our environment.
The people know that the voice of the Church is strong, that the
voice of the Holy Father rings out loudly. The people know the high
degree of moral and spiritual value of our Church. They are waiting;
let us not disappoint them!
[00242-02.02] [UP014] [Original text: French]
TWELFTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY 12 OCTOBER 2009
-AFTERNOON)
- INTERVENTIONS
IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
- AUDITIO AUDITORUM (V)
-
INTERVENTION OF THE SPECIALLY INVITED GUEST DR. JACQUES DIOUF,
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF FAO
At 16:30 today Monday, 12 October 2009, with the prayer Pro felici
Synodi, led by the Holy Father, the Twelfth General Congregation
began, for the continuation of the interventions by the Synod
Fathers in the Hall on the Synodal theme The Church in Africa at the
Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. “You are the salt of
the earth ... You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13,14).
President Delegate on duty was H.Em Card. Théodore-Adrien SARR,
Archbishop of Dakar (SENEGAL).
At 18:00 the President Delegate gave the floor to the Specially
Invited Guest Jacques DIOUF, Director-General of FAO.
At this General Congregation that ended at 19.00 with the Prayer
Angelus Domini, 210 Synod Fathers were present.
INTERVENTIONS IN
THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
The following Fathers intervened:
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H. Exc. Mons. Robert MUHIIRWA, Bishop of Fort Portal (UGANDA)
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H. Exc. Mons. Kyrillos WILLIAM, Bishop of Assiut of Copt Rite
(EGYPT)
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H. Exc. Mons. Philippe RANAIVOMANANA, Bishop of Ihosy (MADAGASCAR)
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H. Exc. Mons. Laurent MONSENGWO PASINYA, Archbishop of Kinshasa
(DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
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H. Exc. Mons. Raymond Leo BURKE, Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Louis,
Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature (VATICAN
CITY)
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H. Exc. Mons. Tesfaselassie MEDHIN, Bishop of Adigrat (ETHIOPIA)
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H. Exc. Mons. Norbert Wendelin MTEGA, Archbishop of Songea
(TANZANIA)
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H. Exc. Mons. Krikor-Okosdinos COUSSA, Bishop of Iskanderiya of the
Armenians (EGYPT)
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H. Exc. Mons. Denis WIEHE, C.S.Sp., Bishop of Port Victoria,
President of the Episcopal Conference (C.E.D.O.I.) (SEYCHELLES)
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H. Exc. Mons. Ludwig SCHICK, Archbishop of Bamberg, President of the
Commission "Weltkirche" of the German Episcopal Conference (GERMANY)
Below are the summaries of the interventions:
- H. Exc. Mons. Robert MUHIIRWA, Bishop of Fort Portal (UGANDA)
I speak of the great challenge of poverty that I see in my country,
Uganda and particularly of my diocese of Fort Portal, which has a
population of about one Million Catholics, we have about 2000
Catechists. My diocese like many others in Africa, I believe, have a
great potential. For example, a lot good land in rural areas, towns
and cities. But as we stand, financially, we are unable to develop
this land and sustain ourselves financially. This is the reason why
we are always asking for financial assistance from our sister
churches in Europe, America and other developed countries for the
construction of Churches, building rectories for our parishes,
convents, means of transport for our pastoral duties, etc. For all
the help we receive we are very grateful, indeed.
However, if we have to be a mature church, and vibrant church which
has to be self sufficient and self propagating, we need also to
become more self sufficient in depending on own resources which we
can be able to tap and be in a position to support the programs of
the Church and pay just wages to our catechists, religious and
including priests, for the latter this may help them not voluntarily
leave our dioceses for greener pastures elsewhere. Besides that we
need to put up programs for the youth so that they are not taken by
Moslems and Pentecostal Churches which are pouring millions of
dollars in our countries to lure them to their religions.
Can we have some more dialogue on the way that our sister Churches
or dioceses in the developed world assist us? For example, help
sister dioceses and conferences on the possibilities of investment
for self reliance, so that we are able to give just wages to our
pastoral agents, especially the catechists and others? Can we be
able to make some of the pastoral programs on own, overcoming the
dependency syndrome, that is causing some donors to be fatigued? Let
the wisdom in this expression, sum up my submission: "Give a man a
fish, and will be coming to you everyday, but give him a hook and
will fish for himself every day".
[00207-02.03] [IN155] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Mons. Kyrillos WILLIAM, Bishop of Assiut of Copt Rite
(EGYPT)
Out of a total population of 80 million, Christians in Egypt number
about 10 million, of which some 300 thousand are Catholics: divided
into the majority, Coptic Catholics, then Melkites, Maronites,
Syrians, Armenians, Chaldeans and some Latins.
The Catholic Church in Egypt is a small community which preserves
its style as universal Church, carrying with it the challenges of
all African Churches, each having its own specificity, living in an
Arab-Muslim context different from those of other African countries.
It is also a local Church rich in traditions, cultures, rites, and
its own liturgy.
The Church in Egypt is present in its social-pastoral activities
that are done by dioceses, religious congregations, and lay
organizations.
This presence manifests itself in various ways:
We give priority to education. In school, we educate the child to
tolerance, respect for the other who is different, and to human
values. This training creates bridges between the various religious
and social levels.
Socio-economic development: such as the promotion of women, rural
activities (literacy, health, microprojects, etc).
Some of the challenges facing the Catholic Church in Egypt:
religious fundamentalism, the emigration of cadres of Christians,
refugees, ecumenical work which leaves to be desired the appropriate
formation of priests, religious and the laity to face the changing
Egyptian society and its new pleas. Promoting communion between
different rites and new movements within the Church.
[00225-02.03] [IN156] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Mons. Philippe RANAIVOMANANA, Bishop of Ihosy (MADAGASCAR)
One can only thank the European organizations, Catholic or not, who
financially and materially helped the Churches in the southern
hemisphere and certain dioceses in equipping themselves with these
instruments. The Church in Africa is grateful to the North for these
various aids.
However, this aid is often conditioned by its donors. A large number
of programs of the Church in Africa still depend largely on the
conditions of the donors. This state effectively threatens the
autonomy and propriety on one hand, on the other there is the threat
of putting into place projects or structures that are not right for
the local Church and recipients. For this, mutual trust and
understanding by both parties is necessary in order to avoid tainted
gifts.
The investment in social communication means must reach these
villages which are isolated and cut off from the world, the farmers
who constitute 85% of the population who do not have access to
information and training, thus deprived of the minimum of rights and
duties of citizens and Christians, while they are called to be the
artisans of reconciliation, peace, and justice.
The formation of personnel to the mastery of these highly
technological means which never stop evolving, is costly! The
formation, often to be followed in Europe, is a necessity, but
remains outside the financial possibilities of the diocese. On the
other hand, to evangelize the media well, the animators must have a
solid Christian foundation. This is the condition for success.
Introducing diocesan radio aims, first of all, at communion between
each diocese. But the introduction of a Satellite-Network will
contribute a great deal to interdiocesan and national exchanges and
sharing, by means of a common program. It has as its mission in
encouraging communion in the evangelization effort, that the
dioceses appreciate themselves.
[00227-02.03] [IN158] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Mons. Laurent MONSENGWO PASINYA, Archbishop of Kinshasa
(DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
Peace goes hand in hand with justice, justice with right, right with
truth.
Without justice, social peace is badly placed. Thus, the promotion
of the State of Law is necessary, at any price, where the primacy of
the law reigns, notably constitutional law; the States of Law where
the arbitrary and subjectivity do not create the law of the jungle;
States of Law where national sovereignty is recognized and
respected; States of Law where to each one, its due is equitably
rendered.
Without truth, it is difficult to ensure justice and to speak of
rights. The consequence of this is that right and not right have
equal freedom of the city; which makes it impossible to have an
harmonious order of things or “tranquillitas ordinis”. “In truth
there is peace” (Benedict XVI).
This is why in seeking peaceful solutions, all notable diplomatic
and political approaches aim at reestablishing truth, justice and
peace.
Christ is our peace, He made peace, He proclaimed peace, so that all
Jews and pagans could be made one people. Not by leaving each other
with their privileges and their rights, but in abolishing exclusion,
in pulling down the wall of cultural and social separation, in
destroying the hatred which He crucified upon the cross with his
body. Jews and Gentiles are no longer foreigners, or strangers, but
close friends, fellow-citizens of the saints, and each one has the
same heritage (Eph 3:6) having belonged in the past to the one
Israel. In this way, He created a new man, to reconcile them both to
God and to give them access to the Father through the Spirit.
It is in doing away with all these barriers, exclusion,
discriminatory laws in faith and society, and especially in killing
hatred that one reconciles men and peace is made.
[00228-02.02] [IN159] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Mons. Raymond Leo BURKE, Archbishop Emeritus of Saint
Louis, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature
(VATICAN CITY)
The Church as the Bride of Christ is the mirror of justice. She is
to announce and safeguard the truth which, in the words of Pope
Benedict XVI, "alone is the guarantee of freedom (cf Jn 8:32) and of
the possibility of integral human development" (Caritas in veritate,
no. 9). Her teaching and discipline regarding Holy Matrimony, by
which the family, the first cell of Her life and of the life of
society is formed and nurtured, is fundamental to her fidelity as
the mirror of justice in the world.
The matrimonial tribunal, in which the Diocesan Bishop exercises his
office of judge on behalf of the faithful who accuse their marriage
of nullity, is an essential part of the Church's ministry of
justice. Each Bishop must take care, therefore, to establish and
rightly order the matrimonial tribunal, a responsibility which he
may jointly fulfill through an interdiocesan tribunal.
In contemporary culture, it is essential that the Church announce
the truth about the conjugal union between one man and one woman,
which is, by its very nature, exclusive, indissoluble, and ordered
to the procreation of offspring. The faithful observance of the
Church's discipline regarding marriage is one of the proven means
"to assist couples and guide families in the challenges they
encounter" and to purify the secular culture of practices like
"forced marriages" and polygamy.
The decisions of the matrimonial tribunal reflect to the faithful
and to society, in general, the truth about marriage and the family.
The officials of the tribunal must, therefore, be well prepared by
the study of canon law and by experience.
Through the celebration of this special assembly may the Church,
drawing upon the particular genius of the African culture, be ever
more perfectly the mirror of justice regarding marriage and the
family for the sake of the peoples of Africa and, indeed, of the
whole world.
[00229-02.02] [IN160] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Mons. Tesfaselassie MEDHIN, Bishop of Adigrat (ETHIOPIA)
I have not noticed enough attention accorded to formation which is a
fundamental subject to the Church in Africa as she renders her
service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace, as "... the salt of
the earth ...and the light of the world".
The Church carries out her mission through her structures and
institutions, and most basically through Bishops, priests, Religious
men and women, catechists and the lay faithful who, at their
respective levels, have to play the role of Guides and models in
Christian communities as "reconcilers", "just persons", "peace
makers".
Priestly Formation work is crucial for this objective to be
realized.
We must therefore ensure that the formation we give to our future
priests and agents of evangelization helps them be cognizant of the
challenges, self-confident, balanced and mature ministers who could
stand against and through the serious turbulences of the time.
Recommendations:
- There is a serious need to understand the destructive pressures
and challenges confronting our societies in Africa today, with
special attention to families and youths. This calls upon the Church
to design more specific formation programmes.
- 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 - 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 mechanisms to cater for the training
of resource personnel in service to reconciliation, justice and
peace, who could render their services at the national, regional and
continental levels as need be.
- Appreciation of diversities in our African societies is a reality
that cannot be underestimated.
[00226-02.02] [IN157] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Mons. Norbert Wendelin MTEGA, Archbishop of Songea
(TANZANIA)
Many of our people are tortured, harassed and assassinated simply
due to unfounded malicious suspicions fomented by sorcery and
witchdoctors. There are no laws to defend them, governments do
condone, some leaders do conspire with the witchdoctors, some
governments do legalize. Many leaders do believe in sorcery,
superstition and occultism. Required: Deeper evangelisation,
advocacy and prophetic voice to our governments.
The survival of our farmers is precarious. Often their plight does
not feature in the budgets of our governments and very often they
are cheated. The Church in Africa must fight for farmers and
pastoralists: That they must get their right share in the Budget,
that basic infrastructures and basic needs for their work and
products are guaranteed, that arrangements be made for stable and
good markets, that internal markets be protected, and that they be
initiated to saving and lending micro-finance cooperatives.
For our politicians peace means `a quiet atmosphere which allows
them to rob and enjoy the money of their countries'. For them, free
and fair elections means ` success to bring people to the polls in
total ignorance of their inherent rights' and of the malicious
maneuvers by the candidates. Politicians believe that being elected
means being given the ticket to rob the country.
We love Moslems. It is our history and culture to live with them.
But the danger which threatens Africa's freedom, sovereignty,
democracy and human rights is first the Islamic political factor ,
i.e., the intended plan and the clear process of `identifying Islam
with politics and vice versa' in each of our African countries.
Secondly it is the Islamic monetary factor whereby huge sums of
money from outside countries is being poured in our countries to
destabilize peace in our countries and to eradicate Christianity.
Ethnicity is a cancer which torments Africa.
We must immediately inculcate reconciliation as our spirituality and
life as well as our immediate action.
[00230-02.02] [IN161] [Original text: English]
- H. Exc. Mons. Krikor-Okosdinos COUSSA, Bishop of Iskanderiya of
the Armenians (EGYPT)
I would like to share with you the witness that my Armenian Church
brings, which after the 1915 genocide, is present in the entire
world because of its diaspora.
In 1915, the Ottomans, spurred by jealousy, killed off the Armenian
people present in the Armenia Major and in Armenia Minor (Turkey).
One and a half million persons perished during this genocide.
The Armenians left and were scattered, first in the Middle East and
then throughout the world. Wherever she found roots, the Armenian
Church was welcomed and brought with her, her language, her liturgy,
her faith, her traditions and her culture.
In 2001, we celebrated 1700 years of the Baptism of Armenia, and
Pope John Paul II beatified the Archbishop of Mardine, Ignace
Maloyan, who was the head of his people when he gave his life to not
deny his faith in Christ.
While this Synod is taking place, that is, 94 years after the
killings, following the call by Christ to forgive one’s enemies, the
leaders of the Armenian State as well as the Heads of the Armenian
Churches (Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical) committed an act of
public pardon towards the Turks. We did that while appealing to the
Turks to recognize the genocide, to give homage to the martyrs and
to grant Armenians their civil, political and religious rights.
The path of reconciliation between the two states has been
initiated.
For this, I appeal to the political leaders so that they may support
our progress alongside the Turks, with the Universal Church and the
African Church in distress.
[00240-02.03] [IN173] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Mons. Denis WIEHE, C.S.Sp., Bishop of Port Victoria,
President of the Episcopal Conference (C.E.D.O.I.) (SEYCHELLES)
The small islands of the Indian Ocean (Comores, Reunion, Mauritius,
Rodriguez and Seychelles) for their geographical situation, their
history, and especially their people, are very different from the
large countries on the African continent, because they are
tributaries not only of Africa but also of Asia and Europe. However,
on a pastoral level we have several questions in common. This is the
way it is for certain problems in the family.
The Christians who join on the Neo-Catechumenal Path are deeply
transformed. I was the witness during one of my pastoral visits on
one or another family, to the harmony in the relations between the
couple and in the parent/children relationship, and also in regular
and deep family prayer.
The CANA sessions organized by the Community of the New Path: about
twenty couples participate each time and live together for a week;
they are given this time to rediscover the true meaning of their
life as a couple and as a family. At the same time, in another
location, the children of these families take part in a similar
formation, with a pedagogue for their age group. The last day of the
session, parents and children find each other again for a family
celebration with all the participants. After the session, the
couples are invited to various activities among which is
participation in the “Fraternities-Cana”.
The “Couples for Christ”, a lay community coming from the
Philippines offers programs of formation not only for couples but
also for young persons preparing for marriage, for adolescents and
for children. The different programs they propose are animated by
songs that are very pleasing to youth... and the less young.
[00231-02.03] [IN163] [Original text: French]
- H. Exc. Mons. Ludwig SCHICK, Archbishop of Bamberg, President of
the Commission "Weltkirche" of the German Episcopal Conference
(GERMANY)
The partnerships among the churches of different continents are to
be fostered. These partnerships should not be considered as one-way
streets. They have to lead to an exchange of spiritual and also
material gifts of the particular churches worldwide.
These partnerships have to be partnerships in prayer, in exchanging
of experience and in solidarity. Partnership means mutual
participation in the joys and sorrows of each other. These
partnerships strengthen the local churches in faith, hope and
charity (cf. Rom 1:12). The partners can help each other with
priests, members of religious orders, especially sisters, and
experts in different areas.
Last but not least in our global world the partnerships among the
churches of different continents are necessary in order to continue
the dialogue with an unanimous voice with the governments and
international political organizations. Only together the churches
can be successful in resolving the big problems of fair trade,
climate change, non-proliferation of arms, exploitation of natural
resources, slave trade, migration problems, etc. The partnerships
among particular churches worldwide promote the local churches to
become better instruments for reconciliation, justice and peace in
the world.
[00232-02.02] [IN164] [Original text: English]
AUDITIO AUDITORUM (V)
Furthermore, the following Auditors intervened:
-
Dr. Alberto PIATTI, Secretary General of the Foundation AVSI, Milano
(ITALY)
-
Mr. Ermelindo Rosário MONTEIRO, Secretary General of the Episcopal
Commission Justice and Peace, Maputo (MOZAMBIQUE)
-
Mrs. Barbara PANDOLFI, President General of the Secular Institute of
the Missionaries of Christs' Regality (ITALY)
-
Rev. Sister Maria Ifechukwu UDORAH, D.D.L., Superior General of the
"Daughters of Divine Love", Enugu (NIGERIA)
The summaries of the Auditors are published below:
- Dr. Alberto PIATTI, Secretary General of the Foundation AVSI,
Milano (ITALY)
Africa’s greatest treasure is the thirst for Meaning, for the
spirituality of God - that in sated Europe has vanished. The
revelation that Christ is the answer to this desire of man made for
his fulfilment by his Creator, a fulfilment that is present here and
now in the Holy Church.
This is the fascination of faith that meets and approaches man’s
freedom. This attracts young people.
I say fascination because with my wife I am living the adventure of
bringing up 5 children (an African family, almost).
What moves them is the fascination of faith as a knowledge of
reality in its deepest truth and certainly not rules and ethical or
environmental consequences.
I ask you to reflect whether, often, this tension may seem to be a
premise but then, in the act, the tension is not maintained, a
dualism and a relativism are introduced in the operative
consequences, in our work. Thus too often our agenda appears to
coincide with the agenda of international organs and in particular
the United Nations: the glass building seems increasingly to be the
temple where the new humanist and relativist religion celebrates its
rites with the Secretary General of the day in the role of a secular
Pope.
For brevity I will refer to two fundamental aspects of our
expression of charity: education and health.
For this reason we believe that permanent education is a determining
factor in the conscience of the faithful that is aimed at the
relationship between Creator and created in action as well. Not just
formal education, then. But here the question arises: what are the
educational contents transmitted by Catholic schools? We cannot be
satisfied with the millennium objectives.
I also ask urgently that the value of the civil and social dignity
in the works of the Church be recognized as a contribution to the
common good in line with the principle of subsidiarity. The Church
offers primary education to 50% of the school population and 50% of
basic health services in many countries on the African continent and
this is not sufficiently recognized.
In the face of the quantity of service offered to the brothers by
the Church, the Global Fund to Fight the Three Great Illnesses only
give 3.6% of all the resources it manages to faith-based
organizations.
The Ugandan Episcopal Conference has, in this sense, operated
admirably but there is still much to do.
[00189-02.04] [UD021] [Original text: Italian]
- Mr. Ermelindo Rosário MONTEIRO, Secretary General of the Episcopal
Commission Justice and Peace, Maputo (MOZAMBIQUE)
The Church in Africa has many challenges to face. In Mozambique, for
example, during and after the civil war, the Catholic Church
collaborated, in many ways, to make persons conscious of national
pardon and reconciliation and thus recover the human and social
tissue of the people, with regards to peace. It organized the union
of all its living forces (laity, religious, priests) to mobilize
public opinion on pardon and reconciliation. It promoted teaching
the people about peace, through the public speeches of its Bishops
in Charters, Communications and Pastoral Exhortations. The local
Bishops created systematic encounters of dialogue with the
government officials and with the officers of the National
Resistance movement to emphasize that it was not weapons, but
dialogue that was the right path to achieve peace. The Church also
formed more than 2,000 Social Integrators (Leaders of
Reconciliation) who brought to all countries the message of
forgiveness and reconciliation for peace. Fridays were dedicated to
prayer for peace. On other occasions, ecumenical prayer and
inter-religious prayer for peace were held.
Facing today’s new realities and new challenges, she must also keep
in mind the internal aspects of the Church that could constitute a
counter-witness to reconciliation and justice, making the building
of peace difficult to achieve.
For all these reasons and many more, we would like to suggest to our
pastors who continue persistently in the proclamation of the truth
and in the denunciation of all that could harm reconciliation,
justice and peace in Africa, for your selfless commitment, dear
Bishops, is an example that is growing in each of the faithful that
were entrusted to you.
I would also like to suggest to our pastors to strengthen the
commissions of justice and peace that they may effectively
contribute more and better every time, as salt of the earth and
light of the world, in the service of reconciliation, justice and
peace.
[00190-02.04] [UD022] [Original text: Portuguese]
- Mrs. Barbara PANDOLFI, President General of the Secular Institute
of the Missionaries of Christs' Regality (ITALY)
The members of Secular Institutes are a hidden presence, accepting
the precariousness of daily life, side by side with others, without
protection and privileges, in search of ways and solutions sometimes
only possible, lived with the longing for a universal brotherhood.
Because of this, the vocation of Secular Institutes is evidence of
the need for the promotion of a mature laity, that may contribute to
the edification of a civil society based on the human values of
Christianity.
Particularly in the search for justice and for peace, the experience
of the consecrated lay persons, who are inserted into different
circles of social life, may favor micro-processes of reconciliation
to contribute to a critical consciousness, singling out in the light
of the Gospel, alternative ways of justice and sharing. Our life and
experiences bring us to look at the world and history, with
discernment and a critical sense, but also with a positive vision
that starts with the certainty that, everywhere, signs and seeds of
God’s presence may be found, that demand acknowledgment, promotion
and accompaniment, in the true style of dialogue and witness.
If woman is a pillar of the African society, this is often done in a
“hidden” manner, unofficial and unknown, amongst difficulty and
prejudice.
Feminine Institutes, making up the majority of secular Institutes in
Africa, have an urgent need of favoring and promoting woman’s worth,
not just because she is wife and mother, but in her capability for
responsibility and autonomy in different circles of social life and
the urgency for her distinguishing and not just subordinate
presence; in the Church.
If the first fracture in mankind, caused by sin, was that between
man and woman, one of the signs of peace and of reconciliation,
perhaps, could be given by the promotion of an authentic joint
responsibility and of an effective acknowledgment of equal dignity
between men and women, beyond all domination and discrimination.
Perhaps the moment has arrived that woman, often, traditionally
subjected by man, may truly stand, in all areas of social and
ecclesial life, facing man, in dialogue with him. In this sense the
Gospel may become an authentic force for change.
[00191-02.04] [UD023] [Original text: Italian]
- Rev. Sister Maria Ifechukwu UDORAH, D.D.L., Superior General of
the "Daughters of Divine Love", Enugu (NIGERIA)
I support what His Excellency Bishop Adewale Martins from Nigeria
suggested as a plan for the youth - but I wish also to add that
attention be given to children as well. The Holy Childhood
Association is doing a great work already in some of our countries
but a more focused direction can be given to their programmes so
that they learn more about Christian culture and Catholic values. A
syllabus can be drawn up by dioceses for use in Catholic Schools for
religious instruction. It then means that greater attention be paid
to the spiritual formation of children in primary and secondary
schools. A planned programme for youth activities in the
Universities will then be a continuation of work started at primary
and secondary levels. When therefore candidates for religious life
and the priesthood are drawn from the society in the next ten years,
formation will be a lot easier.
About consecrated persons as indicated in the Instrumentum. Laboris
Nos. 113 and 114, I want to agree with the submission of His
Eminence Francis Cardinal and to add that all agents of
evangelization see ourselves as team players for the Church Family
of God for effective positive witnessing and not as competitors. Sr.
Felicity Harry has made the point for consecrated persons but I wish
to suggest, in addition, that regular meetings for dialogue and
sharing of ideas be organized for diocesan priests and consecrated
persons working in the dioceses. Such occasions can also be used to
run workshops on team spirit and team work for all agents of
evangelization.
Many indigenous congregations of religious now engage in mission
works ad-intra and ad-extra and are faced with the challenge of lack
of adequate support from the Church - family of God for their work.
I propose that some attention be given to this matter by our Synod
Fathers.
[00192-02.02] [UD024] [Original text: English]
INTERVENTION OF THE SPECIALLY INVITED GUEST DR. JACQUES DIOUF,
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF FAO
First of all I would like to most respectfully and cordially greet
you all.
Allow me to express the honor and emotion I feel in having been
invited to intervene before this noble Assembly. I hope to express
my deep gratitude for your invitation, of which I recognize the
exceptional character. It is a singular distinction to be associated
with your reflections on some of the crucial problems of the world,
especially food/dietary insecurities that you have asked me to speak
to you about.
Our dialogue could not be conceived without the intermediation of
the word which is symbolic of what is human, but that is also the
carrier of the universal message of peace, of solidarity and of
fraternity.
Your solemn meeting is placed under the sign of the trilogy:
“Synod”, “Bishop”, “African”.
Having the great privilege of speaking before the Most Holy Father,
I must draw from the sources of wisdom of the ancients to avoid my
venturing on the intellectual labyrinth of two nouns: “Synod” and
“Bishop”. I would dare to venture only on the less arduous path of
the noun: “African”.
Africa, first of all these are common values of civilization based
on an historical consciousness of belonging to the same people.
During prehistory, in order to flea the desertification of the Great
Lakes region, this people founded the Sudanese-Nilotic and Egyptian
civilizations during the course of proto-history . Foreign
occupation of Egypt during the Sixth Century engendered migrations
to the South and to the West, from the Valley of the Nile. From the
beginning of the First Century until the ultra-marine invasions, the
great empires and kingdoms flourished here in succession: Ghana,
Nok, Ife, Mali then Songhai, Haoussa and Kanem-Bornou, Zimbabwe and
Monomotapa, Congo. These values are founded on a geographic
consciousness, a territory which is a triangle bordered by the
Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Africa, martyrized, exploited, despoiled by slavery and colonization
but now politically sovereign, must not regress into disinclination
and negation, even if she has a duty to remember it. She must have
the greatness to forgive and to continue to develop a cultural
conscience based on her own identity which refuses alienating
assimilation. She must study the operational concepts of Blackness
and Africanity, including the diaspora, which are founded on the
putting down of roots but also on openness.
These values are reflected in an artistic expression (painting,
sculpture) that accentuates the forms and the dimensions to above
all transmit a message of love or to manifest an emotion that
surpasses the dichotomies of oppositions. They also express
themselves through music and dances that are more rhythmic and with
more improvisation than lyricism and music theory. These values have
also produced a type of architecture made of asymmetrical
parallelism where points, triangles and cylinders dominate,
contrasting with rectangle angles, squares and cubes in a balance
with relationship to its central axes, so characteristic of
buildings in other continents.
It is this cultural terrain that is the solid foundation upon which
Africa must build its future in harmony with the other peoples of
planet Earth.
Africa has always been presented under the slants of the
difficulties she encounters. But it is a land of the future which in
the next forty years will know a strong demographic growth. In 2050,
she will number two billion inhabitants - double what it is today,
thus passing India (1.6 billion inhabitants) and China (1.4 billion
inhabitants) and will represent the largest market in the world.
With world resources amounting to 80% of platinum, 80% of manganese,
57% of diamonds, 34% of gold, 23% of bauxite, 18% of uranium, 9% of
petroleum, 8% of gas, Africa cannot be ignored in the economic
development of the planet. This mineral and energy potential will
not become reality, until, it puts itself at the service of the
economic emancipation of its peoples, if Africa frees itself from
the yoke of hunger and malnutrition. To do this, she must live in
peace and in unity. The administration of the cities in the States
must be carried out with democracy, transparency, the primacy of
right and the application of law by an independent justice, before
which all citizens are accountable for their actions. The economy
must create wealth and prosperity to benefit the people, especially
the most disinherited and the most vulnerable.
Food security is essential to the decrease of poverty, the education
of children, the health of the people, but also for a lasting
economic growth. It conditions the stability and the security of the
world. During the “riots for hunger” in 22 countries from all
continents in 2007 and in 2008, the stability of governments was
weakened. Each realized that food is also a social question of the
first order and an essential factor in global security.
In 1996, the World Summit of Food, organized by the FAO, took on the
solemn commitment to decrease by one half, hunger and
undernourishment in the world. Towards this goal, it adopted a
program to reach lasting food security. This commitment was
reaffirmed at the Summit of the Millennium in 2000, by the World
Summit on Food: five years later in 2002 and in the high-level FAO
Conference on world food security held in June 2008.
Unfortunately the most recent data gathered by the FAO on hunger and
malnutrition in the world revealed that today’s situation is even
more worrisome than in 1996. Insecurity has increased everywhere in
the world during the last three years because of the world crisis in
2007-2008, brought about by the explosion of prices of perishables
and exacerbated by the financial and economic crisis that struck the
world for over a year. All the areas of the planet are affected by
this. For the first time in the history of humanity, the number of
hungry persons has reached on billion, that is 15% of the global
population.
In Africa despite the important progress achieved by many countries,
the state of food insecurity is very worrisome. The continent today
counts 271 million undernourished persons, that is 24% of the
population, which represents an increase of 12 % in relation to the
year before. Also, among the thirty countries of the world in a
state of food crisis needing urgent help currently, twenty are in
Africa.
The performance of African agriculture during the last decades has
been insufficient. The growth of the agricultural product (2.6% per
year between 1970 and 2007) was compensated by that of the
population (2.7% for the same period) and the average food available
per person has not increased. However, agriculture represents 11% of
exports, 17% of the GNP on the continent, and above all 57% of
employment. It remains an essential economic sector and a factor of
social equilibrium without equivalent.
Africa needs to modernize its means and its infrastructure for
agricultural production. The use of modern input locations is
currently very insufficient. Thus, only 16 kg of fertilizer by
hectare of arable land are made use of, versus 194 kg in Asia and
152 kg in South America. This count is yet weaker in Sub-Saharan
Africa with only 5 kg per hectare. The use of selected seeds, which
were the success of the Green Revolution in Asia, is still very weak
in Africa. Only a third of the seeds is put through a system of
quality control and certification.
The infrastructures of transportation, the means of storage and
packaging are greatly lacking on this continent. The rural roads are
at the level of India at the beginning of the 70s. The losses of
harvests reached 40 to 60% for some agricultural products.
Only 7% of arable lands are irrigated in Africa as opposed to 38% in
Asia. This count falls down to 4% for Sub-Saharan Africa where on
93% of land, life, I should say survival of the people, depends on
rain, a factor that is more and more uncertain with the effects of
global warming. However, the continent only uses 4% of its reserves
of water versus 20% in Asia.
Also the intra-African commerce in agricultural products is still
relatively limited. Despite the existence of 14 regional economic
groups, only 14% of imports of the main agricultural products for
Africa come from the region. For cereals this number drops to 6%.
Intra-regional commerce of agricultural products in Africa, like for
other products, should be encouraged more so that it plays a greater
role in the food security of the continent.
African farmers should improve their living conditions. They must be
able to live in a dignified manner, working with the tools available
today. They need seeds with high yield, fertilizers, food for
animals and other modern utensils. They cannot continue, like in the
Middle Ages, to work the land with traditional tools, in
unpredictable conditions, at the mercy of the whims of weather.It
must be said and repeated over and over that it is impossible to
conquer hunger and poverty in Africa without increasing agricultural
productivity, because the extension of the acreage begins to find
its limitations due to the impact of deforestation and the forays on
the already fragile eco-systems.
The detailed program for the development of African agriculture
(PDDAA), prepared with the support of the FAO, and completed by the
documents on livestock farming, forests, fishing and aquaculture,
was adopted by the Heads of State and the governments of the African
Union in July 2003. Immediately after, 51 African countries asked
for the support of the FAO to transform this program to State level.
Thus, national programs of mid-term investments and projects for
investment were prepared for a total of approximately 10 billion
U.S. dollars.
The question of water is evidently essential. It will be all the
more so because of the consequences of global warming which will
have a particularly negative impact on the conditions of
agricultural products in Africa. According to the Group from the UN
inter-governmental experts on the evolution of the climate (GIEC)
the yield of pluvial crops in Africa could decrease by 50% between
now and 2020. A union of Ministers of Agriculture, water resources
and energy thus was created in December 2008 in Sirte by the FAO
with the support of the Libyan government. A portfolio of projects
amounting to a total of 65 billion U.S. dollars was approved for
short, medium and long term projects of irrigation and hydro-energy
established for each country by the African governments with the
support of the FAO.
However, we cannot achieve these goals without sufficient financial
resources. In fact the problem of food insecurity in this world is
primarily a question of mobilization at the highest political levels
so that the necessary financial resources are made available. It is
a question of priority when facing the most fundamental human needs.
We should recall that each year funds for agriculture in the OECD
countries reaches 365 billion U.S. dollars and arms expenses amount
to 1,340 billion U.S. dollars per year globally. On the other hand,
I would like to emphasize the fact that the necessary funding for
the fight against hunger will be increased by 83 billion U.S.
dollars per year, coming from the budget of the countries in
development themselves, from private investments, notably from
farmers themselves and, finally, public aid in development.
What we can see today is the result of choices effected on the basis
of materialistic reasons to the detriment of ethical referentials.
This results in conditions of unjust life and an unequal world where
a small number of persons becomes richer and richer, while the vast
majority of the population becomes poorer and poorer.
On the earth there is a sufficient number of financial means,
effective technologies, natural and human resources to eliminate the
hunger in the world once and for all. The plans, the programs, the
projects and the politics exist at national and regional levels to
reach this objective. In certain countries, from two to four percent
of the population is able to produce enough to nourish the whole
nation and even to export, while in the majority of others 60 to 80
% of the population is not always capable of satisfying even a small
part of the dietary needs of the country.
The world spent 17% of public funding for development in the 70s to
avoid the risks of famine in Asia and in Latin America. These
resources were necessary to build irrigation systems, rural roads,
means of storage, as well as systems for the production of seeds,
the fertilizer factories and food for animals which were the bases
of the Green Revolution.
The resources to develop African agriculture should, first of all,
come from national budgets. In Maputo in July 2003, the Heads of
State and of African governments committed themselves to increasing
the part of their national budget allotted to agriculture by up to
10% for the next five years at least. Only five countries have to
this day respected this commitment, even if some progress has been
seen in other sixteen countries.
Then, in conformity to the commitments of Monterrey of 2002 and of
Doha in 2008, public Aid for development should be increased. The
tendency to decrease aid for the development dedicated to
agriculture, which has gone down by 17% in 1980 to 3.8% in 2006,
must be turned around. Today, the level is 5 %, even if 70% of the
world’s poor have agriculture as their means of existence, offering
nourishment, revenues and employment. The same growth objectives
have been adopted for the financing of regional and under-regional
banks as well as agencies of bilateral aid.
Finally, the investments from the private sector in the agricultural
sector must be encouraged by stable juridical frames of reference.
Collaboration between the private and the public sectors must be
reinforced in the framework of a partnership that avoids the traps
of unequal exchange. Therefore to do this, we must adopt and apply a
universal code of good behavior on direct foreign investments in
agriculture.
However, in this difficult context of economic crisis, during the
last two years the FAO has mobilized all the technical and financial
means available to it to face the food crisis.
Apart from the assistance given in the framework of national and
regional programs for food security and in the urgent projects
launched to face the effects of hurricanes and other natural
catastrophes, on December 2007 the FAO launched its “Initiative of
the battle against the explosion of prices of perishables”. The
objective is to facilitate access for small farmers to seeds, to
fertilizers, to agricultural tools and equipment for fishing.
Today’s budget for the different relevant projects has been
increased to 52 million U.S. dollars in Africa. Also, the projects
in 16 African countries, which corresponds to a budget of 163.4
million U.S. dollars, have been put into the works by the FAO thanks
to the support of the European Union within the framework of its
“Facility of one billion euros”. These resources have been made
available to the countries in development to help them face the food
crisis. Now this consists in understanding, studying and making
these programs and projects flourish.
Today, the flux of the wave of clandestine immigrants fleeing hunger
and poverty brings to the shores of southern Europe the sad
spectacle of men’s broken dreams, of women and children looking for
a better life and who often find a tragic end far from the horizons
and persons dear to them.
Structural optimist that I am, I fervently believe that tomorrow,
thanks to investments and formation, the ebb of the tide of sons and
daughters of Africa towards the fertile lands and abundant waters of
the continent will create the conditions for a shining future of
work and prosperity for those who for too long were marginalized and
who, especially women, did their utmost to nurture the world.
A planet free from hunger, is what the miracle of an unshakeable
faith in the omniscience of God and the indefectible belief in
humanity can lead to. I have noted how with great satisfaction, the
initiative for food security of the G8 Summit in Aquila last July,
where I participated, and which placed the accent for the first
time, on mid and long term agricultural development, in favor of the
small producers of countries in development. In fact, this means not
only counting on short term help for food, some being indispensable
during the numerous crises, generated by the natural catastrophes
and different conflicts, but which cannot ensure daily food for a
billion persons suffering from hunger in the world.
The commitment taken up on this occasion to mobilize 21 billion U.S.
dollars, over three years, for food security is an encouraging sign,
if, this time, it is concretely and quickly put into work.
I have often pleaded, during the many years, without great results
in favor of investments in the small agricultures in the poor
countries to find a lasting solution to the problem of food
insecurity. I am therefore particularly happy that today the heads
of the G8 are following this approach.
Strong in this perspective of being able to mobilize in a greater
way the means for this stake, the Council of the FAO decided to
convoke a World Summit on food security at the level of Heads of
State and Governments, to the FAO See in Rome, from 16 to 18
November, 2009. In effect it would be positive to clear a large
consensus on the definitive eradication of hunger in the world, so
as to allow all the peoples of the Earth to benefit from “the right
to food” which is already the most fundamental of all of human
rights. On my part I am convinced, because I know that it is not
possible technically, that we must focus on the objective for 2025
as has already been done by many liberal American leaders for Latin
America and the Caribbean.
Of all the suffering that the African continent experiences, hunger
remains the most tragic and the most intolerable. All commitments
for Justice and Peace in Africa can but be tied to the need for
progress in the realization of the right to food for all. I would
like to recall on this, the message by His Holiness Pope Benedict
XVI, in June 2008, on the occasion of the High Level Conference of
the FAO on world food security, in which he declared: “hunger and
malnutrition are unacceptable in a world that, in reality, possesses
production levels, resources and sufficient knowledge to put an end
to these dramas and their consequences”.
These words testify, if there was any need, to the similarity in
views of the Catholic Church and the FAO on this fundamental
question. 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”.
You underline, Most Holy Father, in your last Encyclical “Caritas in
Veritate” that any economic decision has a moral consequence. And it
is to this level that we must raise ourselves, as you wrote: “The
economy needs ethics in order to function correctly — not any ethics
whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centered”. Leopold Sedar
Senghor said, allow me to quote him here: “we must light the lamp of
the spirit for wood not to rot, for flesh not to mold...”.
The FAO makes every effort with its own means and despite the
restrictions or obstacles it may encounter, to mobilize all the
actors and decision makers in the fight against hunger and in the
development of programs aiming to improve food security, as a
priority in more vulnerable countries.
What animates us is the face of this man, that woman, that child who
looks at us fixedly, an empty belly waiting for its daily bread and
whose sadness and despair haunt our agitated sleep. It is the
principle of the “centrality of the human being” that you
opportunely mentioned in your encyclical Most Holy Father.
The vision of a world free of hunger is possible, if there is a
political will at the highest level. In fact, several countries in
Africa have managed to decrease famine. These would be Cameroon,
Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda.
The great spiritual and moral forces are an inestimable support for
us in our activities. Because the task is colossal in effect and our
ability to act is not always up to the level of the will that
animates us. We will never have too many means to satisfy the “right
to food” for all.
I would also like to praise the Church’s action in the field of the
poorest. The missionaries, the religious and many communities often
do the difficult tasks, at times the ungrateful but always useful
alongside inter-governmental organizations of the NGOs and civil
society. I would like to greet these men and women who I saw act in
many countries with discretion and effectiveness.
Above all I would like to underline the convergence of religious
teachings, especially those of the Catholic Church and Islam,
towards the need to watch over the rational management of resources
on the basis of a strategy of action respectful of persons and
things of this world, far from excess and waste. All these teachings
underline the fundamental role of social responsibility,
recommending solicitude towards the poorest. The “social doctrine of
the Church” from this point of view is essential.
Allow me to finish this intervention by quoting a verse from the
Qur’an: “And when We decide to destroy a town, We send a definite
order to those among them who are given the good things of this
life. Then, they transgress therein, and thus the word is justified
against it. Then We destroy it with complete destruction” (Surah
Al-Isra, Verse 16).
May our world avoid this collapse!
[00224-02.05] [RE000] [Original text: French]
PRESS CONFERENCES
The second Press Conference on the Synod works (with simultaneous
translations in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese)
will be held in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See Press Office
on Wednesday 14 October 2009 (after the Relatio post disceptationem)
at approximately 12.45 pm. Speakers:
- H. Em. Card. Wilfrid Fox NAPIER, O.F.M., Archbishop of Durban
(SOUTH AFRICA), President Delegated
- H. Em. Card. Théodore-Adrien SARR, Archbishop of Dakar, First
Vice-President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa
and Madagascar (S.E.C.A.M.) (SENEGAL), President Delegated
- H. Em. Card. John NJUE, Archbishop of Nairobi, President of the
Episcopal Conference (KENYA), President of the Commission for
Information
- H. Exc. Mons. Manuel António MENDES DOS SANTOS, C.M.F., Bishop of
São Tomé e Príncipe (SÃO TOMÉ), Member of the Commission for
Information
- Rev. F. Federico LOMBARDI, S.I., Director of the Holy See Press
Office (VATICAN CITY)
The third Press Conference on the Synod works (with simultaneous
translations in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese)
will be held in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See Press Office
on Friday 23 October 2009 (after the Nuntius) at approximately 12.45
pm. Speakers:
- H. Exc. Mons. John Olorunfemi ONAIYEKAN, Archbishop of Abuja
(NIGERIA), President of the Commission for the Message
- H. Exc. Mons. Youssef Ibrahim SARRAF, Bishop of Cairo of Chaldean
Rite (EGYPT), Vice President of the Commission for the Message
- H. Exc. Mons. Francisco João SILOTA, M. Afr., Bishop of Chimoio,
Second Vice-President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of
Africa and Madagascar (S.E.C.A.M.) (MOZAMBIQUE), Member of the
Commission for the Message
- Rev. F. Federico LOMBARDI, S.I., Director of the Holy See Press
Office (VATICAN CITY)
The fourth Press Conference on the Synod works (with simultaneous
translations in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese)
will be held in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See Press Office
on Saturday 24 October 2009 (after the Elenchus finalis
propositionem) at approximately 12.45 pm. Speakers:
- H. Em. Card. Peter Kodwo Appiah TURKSON, Archbishop of Cape Cost,
President of the Association of the Episcopal Conferences of Western
Africa (A.E.C.W.A.) (GHANA), Relator General
- H. Exc. Mons. Damião António FRANKLIN, Archbishop of Luanda,
President of the Episcopal Conference (ANGOLA), Special Secretarie
- H. Exc. Mons. Edmond DJITANGAR, Bishop of Sarh (CHAD), Special
Secretarie
- Rev. F. Federico LOMBARDI, S.I., Director of the Holy See Press
Office (VATICAN CITY)
For an access permit, audio-visual operators (cameramen and
technicians) and photographers are requested to apply to the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
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