In an interview with the international Catholic charity Aid to
the Church in Need (ACN), the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine
Worship, Cardinal Robert Sarah, speaks about the contribution of the
Church in Africa to the Universal Church, about Islam in Africa and the
world, about relations between the Church and politics and the
challenges facing the Church in Africa. The cardinal insists that “the
Church needs unity of faith, unity of doctrine, unity of moral teaching.
It needs the primacy of the Pope.”
What is the relationship between the African Church and the Universal Church?
Your
question, as you put it to me, presents me with something of a
difficulty, because in reality the Church here in Africa is part of the
Universal Church and thus forms together with it a sole and single
Church. Hence, there is no such thing as an “African Church” and, as
distinct from it, a “Universal Church”. Your question makes it appear as
if ecclesiology depends on a communion between the Churches, and in
this you are correct. Nonetheless, we need to remember that the
Universal Church is not a sort of federation of local churches. The
Universal Church is symbolized and represented by the Church of Rome,
with the Pope at its head, the successor of Saint Peter and the head of
the apostolic college; hence it is she who has given birth to all the
local churches and she who sustains them in the unity of faith and love.
As Saint Ignatius of Antioch tells us (circa 110 AD) the Church of Rome
is the “All-pure Church which presides in charity.” Thus it is the
profession of our common faith and our fidelity to Christ and his
Gospel, in union with the Pope, that enables the Church to live in
communion.
Is this absolutely essential in order to avoid confusion? Can there not also exist national Churches ?
Without
a common faith, the Church is threatened by confusion and then,
progressively, she can slide into dispersion and schism. Today there is a
grave risk of the fragmentation of the Church, of breaking up the
Mystical Body of Christ by insisting on the national identities of the
Churches and thus on their capacity to decide for themselves, above all
in the so crucial domain of doctrine and morals. As Pope Benedict XVI
tells us: “It is clear that a Church does not grow by becoming
individualised, by separating on a national level, by closing herself
off within a specific cultural context, by giving herself an entirely
cultural or national scope; instead the Church needs to have unity of
faith, unity of doctrine, unity of moral teaching. She needs the primacy
of the Pope, and his mission to confirm the faith of his brethren.”
Besides, Africa has always considered and seen the Church as a family,
the family of God.
And what is the contribution of the Church in Africa to the Universal Church today?
In
this we are faithful to the ecclesiology of the Epistle to the
Ephesians: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”
(Eph 2:19). And even though the Church in Northern Africa is very
ancient, yet today the Church in sub-Saharan Africa, sees herself as the
missionary fruit and the daughter of the Churches of the West. She
still needs to be able to rely on the theological, liturgical, spiritual
and in particular the monastic experience, and also on the financial
support of the Churches of the ancient Christianity of the West. For her
part, the Church that is in Africa can humbly offer the West the
marvels that God has worked in her through the Holy Spirit, and the
tribulations that Jesus continues to endure in the sufferings and
material needs of his faithful there.
What are the needs of the Church in Africa?
They
are many: disease, wars, hunger, the critical lack of educational and
healthcare structures. And then there are the toxic temptations of
Western-born ideologies – communism, gender ideology… Africa has become
the dumping ground of contraceptive products, of weapons of mass
destruction. And she is also the scene of the organized theft of primary
mineral resources: it is to this end that they organize and plan the
wars and foster disorder on the African continent. So it is that they
exploit her natural resources in the absence of any rules or laws. The
world economic powers must stop pillaging the poor. They take advantage
of their poverty and lack of education, and use their own technology and
financial wealth, in order to foment wars and loot the natural riches
of the weaker nations without financial resources.
Does Islam represent a threat to the survival of the Catholic Church in Africa?
For
many centuries sub-Saharan Islam has coexisted peacably and
harmoniously with Christianity. On the other hand the Islam that takes
the form of a political organization, intent on imposing itself on the
whole world, is indeed a threat, and not just to Africa. In fact it is
above all a threat to the societies of the European continent which too
often no longer have a true identity or a religion. Those who deny the
values of their own tradition, culture and religion are condemned to
disappear, for they have lost all their motivation, all their energy and
even all the will to fight to defend their own identity.
In what way can ACN, as a pontifical foundation, still better help the Church in Africa?
Today,
all the charitable organizations, even the Catholic ones, are focused
unilaterally and exclusively on addressing situations of material
poverty, but “man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”,
as Jesus tells us (cf. Mt 4:4). I therefore encourage ACN to give aid
for the formation of priests, seminarians, male and female religious,
for catechists, for the construction of churches and seminaries and for
spiritual retreats for bishops and priests. I humbly beg all the friends
and benefactors of ACN to continue generously supporting the great
missionary work of ACN throughout the world and particularly in Africa.
For it is true that those bishops and priests who do not take the time –
at least for a few days – to place themselves in the presence of God in
solitude, silence and prayer, risk dying on the spiritual level, or at
the very least, drying out spiritually within. For they will no longer
be capable of providing solid spiritual nourishment to the faithful
entrusted to them if they themselves do not draw strength from the Lord
in a regular and constant manner.
Should we also speak of the political problems?
The
Church is gravely mistaken as to the nature of the real crisis if she
thinks that her essential mission is to offer solutions to all the
political problems relating to justice, peace, poverty, the reception of
migrants, etc. while neglecting evangelisation. Certainly, like Christ,
the Church cannot disassociate herself from the human problems.
Besides, she has always helped here through her schools, her
universities, her training centres, her hospitals and dispensaries…
Nonetheless, I would like to cite to you the words of an Italian who has
converted to Islam (and there are over a hundred thousand like him in
Italy). His name is Yahya Pallavicini, and today he is an imam, the
President of CO.RE.IS (the Islamic Religious Community) and a
professor at the Catholic University of Milan: “If the Church, with the
obsession she has today with the values of justice, social rights and
the struggle against poverty, ends up as a result by forgetting her
contemplative soul, she will fail in her mission and she will be
abandoned by a great many of her faithful, owing to the fact that they
will no longer recognise in her what constitutes her specific mission.”
Source: Catholic Culture
No comments:
Post a Comment