Pope cites obstacles to African development
March 23, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI offered a Christian perspective on development in a series of talks delivered in Angola on March 20-22. While acknowledging the material poverty that afflicts millions in sub-Saharan Africa, the Pope said that the people must take the lead in their own economic advancement. He added that the path to development can be blocked by corrupt governments, by unjust discrimination against women, by a lack of structure in family life, and by the persistence of superstitious beliefs.
The Pope told government leaders that the country's people should not be merely recipients of foreign aid, but must take an active role in their own advancement. To enable them to do so, he added, the government must protect the people "from the scourges of greed, violence and unrest and leading them along the path marked with the principles indispensable to every modern civic democracy: respect and promotion of human rights, transparent governance, an independent judiciary, a free press, a civil service of integrity, a properly functioning network of schools and hospitals, and - most pressing - a determination born from the conversion of hearts to excise corruption once and for all." He said that discrimination against women is a particularly destructive force, and added that proper treatment of women should not be measured by liberal feminist norms. "How bitter the irony of those who promote abortion as a form of 'maternal' healthcare!" the Pope said.
In a meeting with the country's bishops the Pope returned to the question of women's roles, urging the hierarchy to protect and promote healthy family life. He cited "the fragility and lack of inner stability of so many conjugal unions." The Pope also mentioned witchcraft and superstitious traditional beliefs as a hurdle that must be overcome if Africa is to advance.
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Further information:
- Primary agents, not just recipients, of development (VIS)
- Pope meets bishops of Angola and Sao Tome (VIS)
- Baptism enables all believers to be one in Christ (VIS)
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