AMECEA: The Late Pope Emeritus “Invited Africa to Trust in Itself, Stand-Up with Dignity,” Bishops in Africa
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XIV which occurred on Saturday, December 31, 2022, the last day of the year, Bishops in the African continent acknowledged that the Pontiff treated the African Church in “a very special way.”
In the condolences message shared with AMECEA Online Monday, January 2, the first Vice-President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) His Eminence Fridolin Besungu Cardinal Ambongo said the Pope “carried Africa with fervor, conviction and generosity.”
“The people of Africa know that Benedict XVI treated them in a very special way during his pontificate. He (the late Pope) convened the Second Synodal Assembly for Africa in order to give the Church of God on the African continent a new impetus charged with evangelical hope and charity,” Cardinal Ambongo a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) noted in the statement
The Cardinal continued, “He (Pope Emeritus) invited Africa to trust in itself in order to stand up with dignity. He saw in her “the spiritual lung for a humanity that seems to be in crisis of faith and hope.”
In his message on behalf of the Bishops in Africa, the Cardinal highlighted that throughout the late Pope’s pontifical ministry which was from April 2005 until his resignation in February 2013,” Pope Benedict XIV showed “a great witness of the new evangelization as servant of love in truth (Caritas in Veritate).”
The Church leader emphasized that the Pope “served the whole Church with great self-sacrifice and has worked tirelessly for justice, peace, reconciliation and dialogue between cultures.”
On their side, bishops of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) echoed that the convocation of the Second Synod of Africa in 2009, and the late Pope Emeritus’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation Africae Munus in 2011 “shall remain graceful moments for the Church in Africa.”
Eulogizing Pope Benedict XIV on behalf of the Eastern Africa Bishops, clergy, consecrated men and women, the laity and the youth, AMECEA’s Chairman Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde narrated that the late Pope’s “emphasis on embracing a transformative theological approach to evangelization ushered in a new dimension of doing our mission in a manner that deepens Christian faith, underscoring that the Church be at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace (Africae Munus no.3) on the continent.”
“This second Synod of Africa was happening at a time when many Conferences in AMECEA region were celebrating 100 years of Christianity yet undergoing a lot of socio-economic and political crises,” Bishop Kasonde of Zambia’s Solwezi Diocese highlighted in his message addressed to the Holy Father Pope Francis, Tuesday, January 3.
He added in reference to the Gospel of St. Mathew “The Church in AMECEA region prays that God continues to give us humble, intellectually gifted and dedicated men and women who, in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI, shall use their talents to become the salt of the earth, the light of the world.”
On his part as he joins the other faithful from AMECEA region and the entire world to mourn the late Pope, Kenyan Bishop Rt. Rev. Willybard Kitogho Lagho of Malindi Catholic Diocese described Poe Emeritus Benedict XIV as a “wise and gentle universal pastor of pastor’s.”
“I eulogize him for promoting a threefold dimension of church responsibility in the world, namely proclamation of the word, celebration of Sacraments (liturgy) and loving service to humanity,” Bishop Lagho disclose in a message shared with AMECEA online Sunday, January 1.
The Prelate who is the Chairman of the Commission of Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue at the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), added that Pope Emeritus “was interested in interreligious dialogue to the extent of his interlocutors willing to probe into the doctrinal land scape of world religions.
According to Bishop Lagho the former consultant for the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue in Rome who was appointed by the late Pope in 2007, Pope Benedict XIV, “proposed a new path of inter religious dialogue (IRD) that goes beyond mere tolerance.”
“I join the faithful throughout the world in praying that our merciful father may grant to this wise and gentle universal pastor of pastor’s the reward of his labours and welcome him into the light and peace of heaven,” Bishop Lagho prayed for the soul of the Pontiff who become the first in 600 years to resign from office, adding that he may rest in peace.
