Religion

25, November 2023

Diocese of Buea: There are reasons why Retired Bishop Bushu and his acolytes should be on a “permanent sabbatical” ⁰

Members of the Clergy of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea are supporting their Local Ordinary, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi, who is facing social media attacks, which the Clergy dismiss as an unfortunate “smear campaign”.

In a statement issued, Wednesday, November 22, members of the Clergy of Buea Diocese weigh in on social media posts, including those from Nchumbonga George Lekelefac such as an ongoing apostolic visitation, Seeking Transparency and Accountability: An Examination of Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi’s Leadership, Bishop Michael Bibi, The Father, The Bishop, The Rock On Which Buea Diocese Is Built, The Truth and nothing but the truth about Buea Diocese under Bishop Michael Bibi, and Ex-cardination of suspended priests of Buea Diocese: a solution?

“For the past few months, much has been said and written about the Diocese of Buea and her Chief Shepherd, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi,” the Catholic Priests say.

They express their support for Bishop Bibi, saying, “We, the Priests of the Presbyterium of Buea, have watched with dismay at the smear campaign orchestrated by some individuals and even some members of the presbyterium and groups on social media against the person of the Bishop and the work he is doing in the Diocese of Buea which is already yielding fruits in abundance.”

“Unfortunately, some of these publications have had a negative impact on the faith of many of our Christians,” the members of the Clergy of the Cameroonian Diocese lament.

They continue, “At this point, we want, as a Presbyterium, to affirm and declare our support for the Bishop, and in making this affirmation, dissociate ourselves from all those seeking to manipulate and mislead the people of God in the Church of Buea.”

“As Priests serving in the Diocese of Buea, we remain united with the Bishop as he continues to lead this Diocese with grace, compassion and integrity,” they further say.

The members of the Clergy express their awareness of the challenges involved in shepherding the people of God. They say, “The role of a Bishop is fundamental in the spiritual life of every Diocese and yet, pastoring a Diocese is a challenge and a huge responsibility before God and man.”

They call upon the people of God in Buea Diocese to “remain calm and united in the face of these attacks, because we are confident of the words of Jesus in Mt. 16:18, that the gates of the underworld shall never prevail over the Church.”

All Consecrated persons and the Laity need to “stand in support of our Bishop so that he may realize his vision for this Diocese, for the greater Glory of God, and for our Salvation,” they say.

The Clergy laud the 52-year-old Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Buea Diocese since December 2019, first as Apostolic Administrator, and since February 2021, as the Local Ordinary.

“My Lord Bishop, we admire your composure in the face of all these attacks and we encourage you to remain calm, confident that God is your strength,” the Catholic Priests implore.

As Apostolic Administrator of Buea, Bishop Bibi made administrative changes in the Diocese-owned Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB), leading to controversy among the members of the institution’s Council. The Vatican clarified his mandate as the Apostolic Administrator of the Cameroonian Diocese.

In September this year, Bishop Bibi was honored by the country’s NewsWatch Newspaper for his “exceptional skills” in leading the people of God and managing the property of his Episcopal See.

Earlier, in February 2022, Catholic Bishops in Cameroon’s Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province expressed their “solidarity and communion” with their colleague, Bishop Bibi following social media attacks.

In their collective statement dated 11 February 2022, members of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) said their “hearts were deeply saddened by the unfortunate turn of events in the Diocese of Buea, characterized by gross disrespect of the hierarchy of the Church, casting of aspersions on Bishop Michael Bibi.”

Source: aciAfrica

23, November 2023

China expands crackdown on mosques outside Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch says ⁰

The Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where for years it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday.

Authorities have closed mosques in the northern Ningxia region as well as Gansu province, which are home to large populations of Hui Muslims, as part of a process known officially as “consolidation,” according to the report, which draws on public documents, satellite images and witness testimonies.

Local authorities also have been removing architectural features of mosques to make them look more “Chinese,” part of a campaign by the ruling Communist Party to tighten control over religion and reduce the risk of possible challenges to its rule.

President Xi Jinping in 2016 called for the “Sinicization” of religions, initiating a crackdown that has largely concentrated on the western region of Xinjiang, home to more than 11 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

A United Nations report last year found China may have committed “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, including through its construction of a network of extrajudicial internment camps believed to have held at least 1 million Uyghurs, Huis, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished or converted mosques for secular use in regions outside Xinjiang as part of a campaign aimed at cracking down on religious expression, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately answer faxed questions seeking comment on the report and its official policies toward Muslim minorities.

One of the first known references to “mosque consolidation” appears in an internal party document from April 2018 that was leaked to U.S. media as part of a trove of documents known as the “Xinjiang Papers.” The file instructed state agencies throughout the country to “strengthen the standardized management of the construction, renovation and expansion of Islamic religious venues” and stressed that “there should not be newly built Islamic venues” in order to “compress the overall number (of mosques).”

“The Chinese government is not ‘consolidating’ mosques as it claims, but closing many down in violation of religious freedom,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government’s closure, destruction and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China.”

In Liaoqiao and Chuankou villages in Ningxia, authorities dismantled the domes and minarets of all seven mosques and razed the main buildings of three of them between 2019 and 2021, according to videos and pictures posted online and corroborated with satellite imagery by the group’s researchers.

Additionally, the ablution hall of one mosque was damaged inside, according to videos obtained by the group.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the changes described in the report.

The policy of “consolidating mosques” was also referenced in a March 2018 document issued by the government of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia. According to the paper, the government wanted to “strictly control the number and scale of religious venues” and called for mosques to adopt “Chinese architecture styles.”

The paper suggested the “integration and combination of mosques” could “solve the problem of too many religious venues.”

In Gansu province, several local governments have detailed efforts to “consolidate” mosques.

In Guanghe County, where the majority of the population is Hui, authorities in 2020 “canceled the registration of 12 mosques, closed down five mosques and improved and consolidated another five,” according to the government’s annual yearbook, referenced in the Human Rights Watch report.

News reports also suggest the Chinese government has closed or altered mosques in other places around the country, occasionally facing public backlash. In May, protesters in Nagu town in southern Yunnan province clashed with police over the planned demolition of a mosque’s dome.

Source: AP

21, November 2023

Rome: Archbishop Paul Martin ordains Cameroon deacon ⁰

Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin, SM, was principal celebrant at the ordination of Deacon Clinton Asunkwain Kube, SM, from Cameroon, at Santa Francesca Cabrini church in Rome on October 22.

Archbishop Martin was in Rome for the Synod of Bishops meeting on Synodality. This meeting finished on October 29, and it will be followed by another synod gathering on the same topic next year.

Deacon Kube made his perpetual profession in the Society of Mary at the order’s General House Chapel in Rome on September 30.

Source: NZ Catholic

18, November 2023

Pope Francis Meets Cameroonian Migrant Who Survived Tunisia-Libya Desert ⁰

Pope Francis has me with a Cameroonian mgriant who lost his wife and daughter in the desert between Libya and Tunisia last July.

On Friday, November 17, the Holy See Press Office reported that Pope Francis met with Mbengue Nyimbilo Crepin (known as Pato), accompanied by Fr. Mattia Ferrari, who serves as chaplain to Mediterranea Saving Humans, also assisting them in many rescue missions.

With them were a number of migrants and collaborators of associations and entities involved in the reception and integration of refugees, who in various ways helped facilitate Pato’s arrival in Italy, as well as Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Pato lost his wife, Matyla and six-year-old daughter, Marie in July this year after being stopped and returned to the desert between Libya and Tunisia by Tunisian authorities.

Amid emotion over his story, Pope Francis listened to words of gratitude for the meeting and painful accounts of the thousands of people who suffer as they attempt to reach Europe.

David, from South Sudan, working alongside prisoners in detention camps in North Africa, thanked the Pope for his encouragement and interventions on behalf of migrants.

He said, “You not only offer us a dream, you welcome us.”

In greeting them, after listening to their words, Pope Francis turned to Pato, with a thought for his wife and daughter, “I have prayed so much for them.”

He thanked them all for their commitment, while recalling that being born in places where one can study and work is a privilege.

“Privilege is a debt,” he said, and added, “what you do is not a plus, it is a duty.”

Finally, before saying goodbye, Pope Francis prayed for those present, asking the Lord to watch over those who “work for others,” the people who could not come, those in detention camps, and “the many, many who suffer.”

Source: aciafrica

16, November 2023

Archbishop Nkea on Why Synod on Synodality in Rome was Special ⁰

The October 4-29 XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops was a “special” moment for the Universal Church, Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Bamenda Archdiocese in Cameroon who participated in the Rome meeting has said.

Speaking at a Wednesday, November 15 webinar which the African Synodality Initiative (ASI), a partnership between the Jesuits Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM), the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), and the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) initiated to share experiences and lessons of African delegates, Archbishop Nkea said the synod “was indeed a moment of grace.”

“Everyone who was in that meeting experienced something very special. The way we conversed with one another, the light-hearted way in which we took things, the way we were able to interact with each other, the moments of the celebration of the Eucharist, and the moments of sharing with one another. That was a very special grace for the Church,” the Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop who was a member of the Ordinary Council of the synod said.

He said the Synod was also very special because of the participation of many countries including China.

The Archbishop of Bamenda who also serves as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) further said the Rome meeting was special because “it was a very deep moment of communion.”

“We experienced very deep communion with one another. We were able to share and all who participated in the synod were able to interact with Pope Francis like friends,” the Catholic Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in Cameroon’s Mamfe Diocese as Coadjutor Bishop in August 2013 said.

According to Archbishop Nkea, the Synod special because it was a “big and great moment of sharing.”

“We shared freely, we shared without reserve, we shared without being afraid of any subject and everyone was able to interact in this process,” he said, and continued, “We were able to talk to each other freely, bring up our own ideas and this aspect of sharing is a very strong element of synodality.”

He recounted, “It is the first synod to take place out of the synodal hall. There were 37 tables with each table having at least 12 delegates. Being out of the synodal hall and sitting on these round tables, we each had the feeling of being a family.”

“We all felt very close and intimate sitting round these tables and talking to one another,” Archbishop Nkea said during the November 15 webinar.

The introduction of the element of Spiritual conversations also made the Synod on Synodality very special.

“During this synodal assembly, after every four speakers, we bowed our heads, closed our eyes for four minutes reflecting on what has been said and reflecting on what we would say ourselves,” Archbishop Nkea recounted.

He continued, “This was a very special moment where the Spirit spoke to each one of us in our hearts. We understood from this conversation in the Spirit that it was not our arguments that we are advancing. We were not in the synod to defend ideologies. We were not in the synod to promote personal agendas.”

“When we put down our heads, there was only one focus: the Spirit of God is the only protagonist of the synod,” the Archbishop of Bamenda said.

The fact that lay people were invited to participate in the Synod also made it special.

“It was a very special moment for the Church that we could sit together with our lay brethren and together express how we felt,” Archbishop Nkea said.

Source: aciafrica

16, November 2023

Pope Francis laments slaughter in Egbekaw Village ⁰

Over 30 people were killed in a recent attack on a village in the Diocese of Mamfe. Separatist fighters are suspected of committing the attack; the Anglophone crisis, an ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon, began in 2017 and has displaced over 700,000 people.

“His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to be informed of the recent killings that took place in Egbekaw in the Diocese of Mamfe,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, wrote in a letter to the bishops’ conference. “He asks you to convey his spiritual closeness and assurance of his prayers to those affected by this tragedy.”

“We vehemently condemn the atrocious act that brought about the destruction of the lives of so many innocent men, women, and children,” said Bishop Aloysius Fondong Abangalo of Mamfe. “The massacre of human beings is an intrinsically evil act because it violates the fifth commandment of the Decalogue: You shall not kill.”

Source: Catholic Culture

12, November 2023

Pope Francis dismisses US bishop who was prominent critic ⁰

Pope Francis on Saturday dismissed US bishop Joseph Strickland, a prominent conservative who has repeatedly criticised his papacy, following concerns over his leadership and governance.

The Vatican did not explain the move, a rare sacking in the Catholic Church where troublesome senior clerics are normally encouraged — or told — to resign.

But a US cardinal said it was linked to an inquiry ordered by Francis into “all aspects of governance and leadership” of Strickland’s Tyler diocese in Texas.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, also of Texas, said the so-called apostolic visitation in June reported back that it was “not feasible” that the bishop stay in office.

He revealed that Strickland, 65, had been asked on Thursday to resign, but refused — prompting Francis to step in.

“The Holy Father has relieved from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Tyler (US) Joseph E. Strickland,” the Vatican said in a statement.

It said the bishop of Austin, Joe Vasquez, had been named as apostolic administrator of the diocese, but gave no further details.

‘Reactionary attitude’

Strickland was appointed by Benedict XVI in 2012, and became one of the most prominent critics of his successor, Pope Francis.

The Argentine pope, 86, has sought since taking office 10 years ago to forge a more compassionate Church, open to different views.

But he has faced intense opposition from critics — particularly in the United States — who accuse him of causing confusion and failing to uphold key Catholic beliefs.

In a message earlier this year on X, formerly Twitter, Strickland said that while he recognised Francis as the pope, “I reject his programme of undermining the deposit of faith”.

Many of Francis’ critics complain he is not outspoken enough on abortion and too compassionate towards homosexuals and divorcees.

He in turn lamented earlier this year the “strong reactionary attitude” of some Catholics in the US, who he said do not understand the “evolution in the understanding of matters of faith and morals”.

‘Speak His truth’

The Vatican has not commented on its inquiry into the Texas diocese, but Strickland previously said that two US bishops spent a week conducting interviews — including with him — about the situation there.

In a blog post in September, he addressed rumours that he would be asked to leave voluntarily.

“I cannot resign as bishop of Tyler because that would be me abandoning the flock” under his care, he wrote.

“I have also said that I will respect the authority of Pope Francis if he removes me from office as Bishop of Tyler.”

He added that he loved Jesus Christ and the Church, and “my only desire is to speak His truth and live God’s will to the best of my ability.”

Commentators say it is extremely rare for a bishop to be directly relieved of their position — but not unprecedented.

Francis dismissed a bishop in Puerto Rico, Daniel Fernandez Torres, in similar fashion in March 2022, with the Vatican again giving no reason.

Torres claimed he had been told he had not been “obedient” to the pope and did not have sufficiently good relationships with fellow bishops.

Media reports at the time noted he had supported those who refused compulsory coronavirus vaccinations.

In a statement published on Saturday, Cardinal DiNardo, who is also Archbishop of Galveston-Houston in Texas, explained the process with Strickland.

After the visit to the Tyler diocese, “the recommendation was made to the Holy Father that the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible”, he said.

The decision to ask Strickland to resign — and ultimately dismiss him — followed “months of careful consideration”, he added.

There are more than 120,000 Catholics in the diocese of Tyler, out of a total population of more than 1.4 million people, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Source: AFP

7, November 2023

Bishop Abangalo condemns killing of dozens in Egbekaw village attack ⁰

The Catholic Bishop of Mamfe Diocese in Cameroon has “vehemently condemned” the killing of innocent civilians following an attack at the new Layout Egbekaw, a locality within his Episcopal See.

On November 6, unidentified gunmen reportedly opened fire on people as they slept in Egbekaw leaving at least 20 dead, many others injured and houses burnt down.

In a statement shared with ACI Africa Monday, November 6, Bishop Aloysius Fondong Abangalo provided details about the attack in his Episcopal See.

“On the early hours of Monday 6th of November 2023, several persons were killed, others gravely injured and a good number of houses burned down by unidentified Gunmen at Egbekaw village in Mamfe Central Subdivision. Up till this moment, we cannot find any reasons to justify this heinous act,” Bishop Abangalo recounted.

He added, “We vehemently condemn the atrocious act that brought about the destruction of the lives of so many innocent men, women, and children.”

“The massacre of human beings is an intrinsically evil act because it violates the fifth commandment of the Decalogue: You shall not kill,” the Cameroonian Bishop said.

He noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly explains the reason why the killing of a human being is inadmissible: “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”

The 50-year-old Cameroonian Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in May 2022 further said, “We equally use this medium to extend our sincere condolences to the bereaved families and to assure them of our closeness and prayers during this moment of pain and sorrow.”

“We have decided that Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Saint Joseph’s Cathedral Church, Mamfe, on Tuesday 7th November, 2023, at 8.00 a.m., for the eternal repose of the souls of those murdered; for the quick recovery of those gravely injured; and, for the conversion of those who perpetrated the heinous act,” Bishop Abangalo said.

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

Source: aciAfrica

3, November 2023

Yaoundé: New Papal Nuncio to strengthen ties between Cameroon and the Vatican ⁰

The President of the National Episcopal Conference Archbishop Andrew Nkea has welcomed the new Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt at the Nsimalen International airport.

As Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt will represent the Holy Father in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The role is the equivalent to that of an ambassador.

His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea said best wishes and prayers to Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt and expressed his hope that his appointment will strengthen relations between Yaoundé and Rome.

Reacting to the news, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group the Right Honorable Soter Agbaw-Ebai said the coming to Yaoundé of an experienced Roman Catholic cleric who has spent most of his working life in the diplomatic service of the Holy See is a very significant appointment for the life of the Church in Cameroon.

Relations between Cameroon and the Holy See have greatly improved in recent years as there is now a much better understanding of the shared interests including the importance of peace and stability in Anglophone Cameroon.

The Portuguese-Canadian prelate was born in Velas, Azores, on 23 May 1962. He reportedly settled at a young age in Canada with his family and was ordained a priest in 1993 in the Archdiocese of Ottawa.

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1999 and obtained a doctorate in canon law at Pontifical Gregorian University. He worked at the apostolic nunciature to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then moved to the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.

On 14 November 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him head of the protocol of the Secretariat of State. He was also responsible for contacts with the embassies accredited to the Holy See and to the central Vatican authority.

On 26 February 2018, Pope Francis gave him the title apostolic nuncio and appointed him Titular Archbishop of Aemona. He was named nuncio to Armenia on 1 March and to Georgia as well on 8 March. He received his Episcopal ordination from Pope Francis on 19 March.

On 30 August 2023, Pope Francis appointed him as Papal Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

By Toto Roland Motuba with files

2, November 2023

“Marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Anything short of that is witchcraft” Archbishop Andrew Nkea ⁰

The first assembly of the Synod on Synodality enabled all to express their opinions and the views of African delegates on natural marriage and family were certainly heeded, but the event’s legitimacy continues to be questioned and the synod organizers should reveal a breakdown of voting, a Cameroon bishop has said.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bemenda, one of 16 prelates who make up the synod’s ordinary council that oversees the running of the process, said the assembly went “much better” than he expected and that the “conversation in the spirit,” an innovation to tone down polemics, was helpful as it “calmed down tempers.”

In this Oct. 28 interview with the Register in Rome, Archbishop Nkea also discussed what particular contribution African bishops gave to the synod, and how they were able to correct passages on human sexuality in the final report.

“In Africa, we understand marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and anything short of that is witchcraft,” he said. “This is something we said very strongly.”

Archbishop Nkea also explained why he is not bothered by attempts to change the Church’s doctrine through the process (he believes they will fail), and why he considers efforts to upend the Church’s structure of governance originate from a human rather than spiritual point of view, and would mark the end of the Church were they to succeed.

Your Excellency, what is your overall assessment of the synodal assembly? How did it go and what were the most interesting, important aspects to you?

I would sincerely say that it went very well, much better than I expected. The synod atmosphere was completely different. Coming to the round tables, changing tables all of the time, gave the impression we’re working as a group. We’re not just talking to one small section, but able to meet different people, share different ideas on different subjects. That was a complete innovation which really gave everyone the chance to express themselves. It’s not like you took the floor and spoke for three minutes and that was it. No, on all of the subjects you had the chance to say what you felt, what you thought.

So that was a very, very important aspect of the synod. Again, there was also the liberty with which we shared. We weren’t too sure how it would be, this atmosphere of bringing in the laity and non-bishops. That was another thing which made us a little anxious. But after the first week we enjoyed their presence and saw the wealth that came out of their presence. I think it was good. All the other canonical theological arguments notwithstanding, as a gathering of the Church, it was good.

Did you think there was enough variety of opinions, from all sides of the Church, because there was a great emphasis on it being a very inclusive event?

You find all kinds of opinions [in the final report]. I think for me it was a very interesting moment for our Church that we could put all these things on the table, yet have these heated arguments and go out and have coffee and come back and continue. This conversation in the spirit method really calmed down tempers and give us time to know that we’re not doing our work, we’re doing God’s work.

It gave you time to reflect, but did you think that the conversation in the Spirit also, in some way, constrained the ability to really get into subjects, because you’d have to stop speaking after three minutes?

No. Some actually described the conversation in the spirit as “a hijack of their arguments,” but I think that those moments gave us time to realize that it was not your argument. You can have your points, but in these arguments, you are talking about the Church [… ] That gave us time to always go back to the fact that it’s not about who wins or who loses. It’s all about the Church getting better.

I think it was a good synod. There are many canonical questions, which still remain hanging, which we have to continue researching and studying within this one year.

Do you mean canonical questions relating to the legitimacy of the synod?

Yes, the legitimacy of the synod, whether it’s still the Synod of Bishops if you bring in the laity and give them the power to vote. What percentage of laity can you allow into the synod of bishops? Those are some of the canonical questions that are still floating in the air.

The Vatican didn’t give a breakdown of who voted for what, so we couldn’t see how much bishops or laity voted for something. Do you think that’s a problem going forward as, at the moment, a cardinal’s or archbishop’s vote is no different to a layman’s who might hold views contrary to Church teaching?

That is something also that needs to be discussed, because some of the participants expressed the desire, especially the bishops, that we should know how the laity think, and how the bishops think.

As a member of the ordinary council, are you going to try to bring that up?

Oh, sure, I’ll try to propose it, because I think it’s for the good of the Church to be able to know this is a Synod of Bishops. It is not a general assembly or just a synod assembly.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the general relator of the synod, said there was an openness for change in the Church at the synod and that resistance to the “hot topics” such as support for homosexuality, women deacons etc. was “not so great” as people had thought. Does it perhaps concern you that there are certain issues which are being raised and that are contrary to the Catholic faith could get through the synod and become part of the Church’s magisterium?

As a synod council member, … I understood, listening to the arguments, that this synod is not about change of doctrine. This synod is about journeying together, whatever journeying together means. I think those of us who came in there as faithful, adherent to the doctrine of the Church, were more or less surprised that the arguments were not as strong as we had imagined.

We are open to many things. From Africa, we argued about polygamy not because we want polygamy legalized, but because we want accompaniment. Now, we in Africa are given the chance to set up theological commissions, to study polygamy and get pastoral directives that would adapt to that situation in Africa. This is a big opening.

The argument against that is that just by opening this to discussion, it gives the impression that the issue is up for debate, and that the Church will change its teaching down the line. What do you say to that?

Although there are some accidentals that will definitely change, the essence will not change. To start a conversation with polygamists, we had to insert the word “conversion.”

Conversion to what?

Conversion to the values of the Gospel. Whether we’re talking to ‘LGBT’ people or we’re talking to polygamists or we’re talking about ourselves, there must always be the call to conversion, conversion to the Gospel. What are the Gospel values? Entering into dialogue with all of these people is always in view of conversion. If we take that out, then we stop being evangelical. We are no longer backed by the Gospel.

Can it be a genuine call to conversion if the teaching of the Church is not restated or, as Cardinal Gerhard Müller said, divine Revelation and even Jesus Christ were set aside during the synod?

When you get 360 people together, not everybody will think the same thing from the same perspective. I think we kept going back to the point that in the center, the focus is Christ. We kept going back to that point. Some people will think we didn’t go back enough, some will think we’re Christ-ifying the document too much, but I think from my perspective, we never lost sight of the fact that we kept going back.

Some observers argued that this causes harm as it can scandalize the faithful, because they feel that if these issues are allowed to go on being discussed rather than the Church just saying No, it appears that there’s a general will to get them through.

Yes, one of the things I have to say to you is that you must realize that the Church today is under the particular papacy of Francis. Francis is not John Paul II. These are the adaptations that must be in our mind. John Paul said “Enough,” Francis says “Talk,” but the important thing is that we are teaching what the Church says and we’re moving on. The Church remains. For me, this is a consolation.

The Church cannot be led into error.

No, the Church cannot. The Church is guided by the Holy Spirit.

What do you think was the African bishops’ general and most important contribution to the synod?

One of the biggest contributions that Africa brought to this synod is the idea of Small Christian Communities. If we don’t go back to Small Christian Communities, all this about broad-based consultation, getting everybody involved, is a pipe dream […] When you are looking at those Small Christian Communities, you’re looking at families and no one is left behind. That’s why Africa opted for the image of Church as a family, not a tent. I think this is something you see. At the end of this meeting, nobody talked about a tent anymore. We’re all about family. This is one of the big things that Africa brought on board, that in Church is the family of God.

Another contribution that Africa brought up within this synod was our view on the teaching of the Church, on the human person, and human sexuality. In Africa, we understand marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and anything short of that is witchcraft. This is something we said very strongly. We cannot be talking about sensitivities and orientations within the Church setting when this is what the Gospel says. This is what the teaching of the Church has said all along and this is what various cultures believe.

Did you feel you were listened to and your views taken on board?

Oh, yes. We were taken on board very seriously — very, very seriously. I’m very, very happy, especially with this aspect of the Church’s teaching on the human person and sexuality. It was a big concern for Africa. The fact that we moderated it and took out certain words that were very political, I think we are happy with that.

Also the cry of the poor was very strong at this synod. Did you think that was adequately dealt with?

We spoke about material poverty and then we didn’t focus as much, although we spoke about it, [about] spiritual poverty, because spiritual poverty is what is leading us a lot into material poverty.

One other big issue that was mentioned before the synod was this change of Church governance into an inverted pyramid. The final document talks about a profound spiritual conversion being needed as the foundation for any effective structural change, as though there’s a dominant wish to upend the Church’s governance and invert the hierarchy. What is your view on this?

If you invert the hierarchy, the Church is no longer Catholic. There is no time the bishops will cease from being successors of the apostles. There’s no time that the Pope will cease from being the successor of St. Peter […] People are looking at it from the purely human point of view. I think most of those who are bringing these arguments are taking a more human than spiritual or even physiological [standpoint].

Are you concerned that that way of thinking could become predominant, especially as the synod is considering the views of the laity who also get a vote?

I’m not really worried because those who argue this way are a tiny minority, but they speak very loudly. When you get down to the nitty-gritty of the issue and you start talking with people, they are not interested. They just want to go to heaven. From the time of the apostle, you’ve always had heretics trying to infiltrate, so it’s normal. We have a saying in French: Les chiens aboient, la caravane passe — “The dogs are barking; the caravan is moving on.” Nobody is bothered about those things. Christians understand their doctrine, the teaching of the Church, and they’re going on.

And the noise is ignored.

It’s ignored. I think we should look at the broader picture. We will get worried if the caravan stops. As long as the caravan does not stop, then the dogs bark.

Culled from National Catholic Register