Pope winds up Benin visit calling Africa ‘a land of hope’

(November 21, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI wrapped up a three-day pastoral visit to Benin Sunday evening after having given the Church in Africa a roadmap for a great Christian witness and true development of the people. Bidding farewell to Benin at Cotounou’s Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport he expressed firm belief that Africa can give a great Christian witness to the rest of the world. “I wanted to visit Africa once more; it is a continent for which I have a special regard and affection, for I am deeply convinced that it is a land of hope,” he said in his parting speech. “Here are found authentic values which have much to teach our world; they need only to spread and blossom with God’s help and the determination of Africans themselves.” Pope Benedict explained his hope that his post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Africae Munus”, the Latin for ‘Africa’s Commitment, that he released at a Mass Sunday morning can “greatly assist” Africa’s flourishing. He said he had entrusted it to the faithful of Africa as a whole, to study carefully and to translate into concrete actions in daily life. The Pontiff said that the multi-religious Benin is a good example of the possibility of “harmonious coexistence within the nation, and between Church and State” and is proof that mutual respect “not only aids dialogue, but is essential for building unity between individuals, ethnic groups and peoples.” Recalling that “fraternity” is the first of three words on Benin’s national emblem, the Pontiff said it shows that “living in unity as brethren, while respecting legitimate differences, is not something utopian.” “Why should an African country not show the rest of the world the path to be taken towards living an authentic fraternity in justice, based on the greatness of the family and of labour?” he asked. Before boarding his flight back to Rome, Pope Benedict encouraged the entire continent to be “the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”