Card. Filoni highlights dedication of missionaries in Africa

December 15, 2012: ‘The growth and achievements of the Church are due to largely to the heroic and selfless dedication of the many generations of missionaries, who came here to bear witness to Christ. The tireless work of these dedicated men and women is well known, and the soil of this region, and of Africa in general, is truly hallowed by the blood of these courageous heralds of the Gospel’, said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, on Saturday while addressing the episcopal conference of Uganda. His meeting was of the closing celebrations of the centenary of the evangelization of northern Uganda.

Citing the homily of Pope Paul VI in 1969, the Cardinal said ‘we must remember those who before you, and even today with you, have preached the Gospel; for Sacred Scripture admonishes us to ‘remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God; consider their outcome of their life; and imitate their faith’.

Appreciating the leadership and works of the bishops in the region, Cardinal Filoni said that ‘the Church in Uganda continues, both now and in the future, to respond to the call to be “salt and light” to the African continent.’
‘As successors to the Apostles, a primary task entrusted to you is the courageous pursuit of unity, justice, peace and reconciliation, in light of your fatherly responsibility for the local Church’, the Cardinal reminded the bishops.
Citing Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Filoni said that ‘there is no question that “reconciliation is a pre-political concept and a pre-political reality, and for this very reason, it is of the greatest importance for the task of politics itself. Unless the power of reconciliation is created in people’s hearts, political commitment to peace lacks its inner premise”.
‘Our Holy Father has asked us to focus our attention this year on the New Evangelization, and on the rediscovery of our Catholic Faith. Considering the challenges which the Church faces, and especially those that confront those in ordained ministry, it is essential for you to show genuine, fatherly concern and encouragement for our seminarians, urging them by your own example “to know nothing... except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified”. Thus, united with Jesus Christ, they may become powerful signs and instruments of the New Evangelization to the people of this country, both now and for the future, the Cardinal exhorted them.