Africa's problems should be solved from within: Cardinal Filoni
March 16, 2015
Africa needs encouragement and faith, not emigration, the prefect of the Congregation for Evangelization said in his homily during a March 15 Mass concluding a conference in Rome on the future of the Church in Africa.
Cardinal Fernando Filoni reminded his congregation that two special Synod meetings devoted to Africa, held in 1994 and 2009, called for the revival of the continent through the spread of an active faith. The cardinal remarked on the rapid growth of the Church in Africa today, and said: “Christ is the source of its spiritual and moral regeneration.”
Cardinal Filoni said that the 2009 Synod called for reconciliation, peace, and justice in Africa. Those aims are crucial, he continued, for a continent “plagued by numerous wars, violence, and hatred.” Africa is also engaged in a war against disease, he added, citing Ebola, malaria, AIDS, and other maladies. To that, he continued, one must add problems that include “tribal divisions, the looting of natural and mineral resources, the poverty of many which contrasts with the wealth of a few and corruption at various levels.”
In the face of these troubles, the cardinal said, the challenge is to regenerate Africa from within. “Africa should not be a ‘problem,’” he said, “but a land that can grow and develop.”
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