A Word from Africa No 17
Reflections on the Pope's Apostleship of Prayer Intentions
As always, the Pope’s intentions show his concern for the people of today’s world - for their spiritual needs, of course, but also for their social, cultural and bodily needs. Europe’s Christian roots must be recognised, not for historical prestige, but because they have bred - and still feed - the life of personal dignity and freedom for individuals everywhere. Old people are to be cherished because they can offer ‘what is most important: the active transmission of values and of the meaning of life’.
What most people long for today is peace, and Pope John Paul’s prescription for this is unchanging. There must be dialogue based on respect for one another, whether a dispute is personal, between nations, or between faiths - dialogue ‘which can favour the development of the person, and harmony of society’.
Then in November we take up again, with the Pope, Vatican II’s great document on the Church and its Call to Holiness, which he defines as ‘living the Gospel with consistency in daily life in the family, in work activity and in all relations and occupations’.
No great research is needed to perceive the relevance for Africa of all these aspirations. There is real progress in human relationships, but there are still unjustified wars, poverty, corruption and pandemics that sap the energy of the continent. For all its material development, it’s not the influence of the West that has helped the people of Africa to attain, for the most part, freedom and human dignity, but the Christian principles and ideals offered and exemplified by men and women of the Church who have played a great part and are still at work, fashioning and moulding that civilisation of love which is the constant hope of John Paul II.
James Fitzsimons SJ
As always, the Pope’s intentions show his concern for the people of today’s world - for their spiritual needs, of course, but also for their social, cultural and bodily needs. Europe’s Christian roots must be recognised, not for historical prestige, but because they have bred - and still feed - the life of personal dignity and freedom for individuals everywhere. Old people are to be cherished because they can offer ‘what is most important: the active transmission of values and of the meaning of life’.
What most people long for today is peace, and Pope John Paul’s prescription for this is unchanging. There must be dialogue based on respect for one another, whether a dispute is personal, between nations, or between faiths - dialogue ‘which can favour the development of the person, and harmony of society’.
Then in November we take up again, with the Pope, Vatican II’s great document on the Church and its Call to Holiness, which he defines as ‘living the Gospel with consistency in daily life in the family, in work activity and in all relations and occupations’.
No great research is needed to perceive the relevance for Africa of all these aspirations. There is real progress in human relationships, but there are still unjustified wars, poverty, corruption and pandemics that sap the energy of the continent. For all its material development, it’s not the influence of the West that has helped the people of Africa to attain, for the most part, freedom and human dignity, but the Christian principles and ideals offered and exemplified by men and women of the Church who have played a great part and are still at work, fashioning and moulding that civilisation of love which is the constant hope of John Paul II.
James Fitzsimons SJ