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.