South Africa’s Cardinal Napier sends strong message on ‘attacks on the family’

Participants in the virtual conversation that the Pan-African Network of Catholic Theology and Pastoral Care (PACTPAN) organized in collaboration with the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (COMSAM) explored the theme “The synodal missionary face of the Church Family of God in Africa”.

This was the second in a series of weekly conversations hosted by the two entities. Participants spoke of how the Church in Africa, as the family of God, is “coming of age” and pointed to African values which enrich synodal conversations.

In his remarks, Cardinal Napier said Africa has much to teach the rest of the world about what it means to be a family of God.

He challenged those represent the Church in Africa in the second session of the Synod on Synodality to show others what it means to be full members of the Family of God, “precisely because they originate from Africa”.

“If there is anything I would like to see African members and delegates to the Synod do, it is to take advantage of every opportunity to be radical images of God, who reflect God to others, reflecting what means being full members. of the Family of God, precisely because they originate from Africa,” said the 83-year-old cardinal.

He added: “Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were particularly keen to emphasize the fact that the two sessions of the Synod for Africa were occasions where the entire Church engaged in prayerful reflection on what the Church in Africa is able to provide. more effectively, namely how to be the Family of God at a time when the Family of men is in deep crisis!

He indicated that the series of weekly PACTPAN palavers, which is due to end on September 6, had already brought back good memories of the two extraordinary sessions of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, in 1994 and 2009.

“These synods left an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of most of the participants,” Cardinal Napier recounted, adding that the two popes involved, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, “often made affectionate references to the majority of the Church in Africa in itself and extending the torch of hope to the universal Church. »

“For me, these two Synods marked the coming of age of many African church leaders themselves, particularly in the courage they demonstrated in defining the Church they led in a way that showed how it would reflect their dreams and their aspirations, but also the realities from which this Church emerged in the different countries and peoples in which it was increasingly a force for good, not only for Africa but in the world”, did he declare.

He also clarified the meaning of the phrase “Church in Africa” saying: “Note that this is the Church in Africa, not the Church of Africa or the African Church, as if the Church that we are was limited to Africa! No!”