Africa-Europe: new evangelization, communion and pastoral collaboration
Over seventy bishops representing African and European Episcopal Conferences are attending
a Symposium in Rome that focuses on New Evangelization, communion and pastoral collaboration
between the two continents.
Participants were received on Thursday morning
by Pope Benedict XVI in an audience on Thursday after a Eucharistic celebration in
St. Peter’s Basilica, and on Friday they wrap up with a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary
of the Holy Face of Manoppello.
The Symposium, organized by the European Council
of Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa
and Madagascar (SECAM) is the second such event and stems from the need of the African
and European bishops to join forces and capabilities to better proclaim the Gospel
to the men and women of our day, in all countries and continents.
The Archbishop
of Johannesburg, Buti Thlagale, told Linda Bordoni that the symposium is an opportunity
to strengthen the communion between the Churches of Europe and Africa, to reinforce
friendly relations, and to jointly analyze a common pastoral and evangelizing mission.
Archbishop
Thlagale says “there was a time when we expected everything to come from Europe. But
now we are saying: Africa is an adult (…) we’ve reached a stage where we can develop
a very strong partnership”.
As regards new evangelization, he says, “Africa
should be in the position when called upon by Europe to come to Europe’s assistance,
in the sense that Europe no longer has as many vocations as it used to have, and if
you are going to achieve anything of this new evangelization, you need new missionaries,
those missionaries are going to come from Africa or from other parts of the world”.
One
of the other focuses on the Symposium, archbishop Thlagale reveals, is the issue of
cultural diversity of different nations. He says Africa must be “more in dialogue
with Rome on these issues, so we are not advocating uniformity all the time, but we
also recognise that catholicity means different spiritualities, different liturgical
forms, different devotions": that’s part of its richness…