Pope: In Africa, Dynamic Faith and Binding Challenges

(29 Mar 09 - RV)In his Sunday Angelus Pope Benedict XVI spoke of his “deeply moving” journey to Angola and Cameroon, saying it allowed him to see and under stand the “reality of the Church in Africa, the variety of its experiences and the many challenges that it faces”.


Fr Paul Chukwukebe from Awkwa Diocese Nigeria, accompanied pilgrims from his parish to hear the Pope’s words this Sunday and to welcome him home from Africa. He was just one of the thousands who crowded St Peter’s square, holding aloft a banner which read ‘Africa loves you’, he said the importance of the Pope’s message to his people and the October’s Second African Synod, cannot be underestimated.


Promising to speak at greater length of his trip in his audience this Wednesday, Pope Benedict limited himself to describing two elements of his first journey to Africa which struck him most: “the strong sense of the sacred which permeated the liturgical celebrations” and “the people’s visible joy in their faith”, a joy which Benedictine Father Paul Francisco from the US also permeated St Peter’s this Sunday.


It was a busy Sunday this week for Pope Benedict. Earlier in the day, in his role as Bishop of Rome he paid a pastoral visit to a local parish in the working class suburb of Magliana.


“Love is stronger than death”. Don’t be afraid to abandon yourselves to the will of the Heavenly Father. That was Pope Benedict XVI’s encouragement to parishioners from the Roman Parish of the Holy Face of Jesus today. Marking the fifth Sunday of Lent the Pope outlined the next steps of this intense liturgical period. In his homily the Pontiff said that “in order to bring to fruition the Divine plan of Universal Salvation, Jesus had to be killed and buried, because it is in his death and resurrection that the triumph of Life is manifest”. He said the path of Christ is a demanding one, but it is the only one for Christians. Pope Benedict exhorted the faithful to allow themselves be illuminated by the splendour of Christ’s Face, so that His infinite love shine through every gesture, becoming part of their daily life”.


Following mass Pope Benedict also found time to speak to children of the parish who are preparing for their first communion. He said “we all want to know Jesus”, and told them to remember on the day they celebrate their first communion, that He is with them.


Then thanking them for their welcome, the Holy Father joked about their having to get up an hour earlier this Sunday because of the switch to Summer time and urged them to enjoy their special day, remembering that the highlight isn’t the presents they will receive, but the gift of Christ himself.