ANALYSIS: Pope wants 2009 to be 'Year of Africa'

Pope Benedict XVI intends to make 2009 the “Year of Africa.”

The Vatican has three major events centered on Africa in the upcoming year: Benedict is to visit Cameroon and Angola in March; the episcopal conferences of Africa and Madagascar will meet in general assembly in Rome in September; and the world’s bishops will meet at the Vatican in October for a Synod for Africa.

Papal spokesperson Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi laid out the logic for this “preferential option for Africa” on Vatican Radio recently.

“The suffering of the African people is enormous,” he said. The question Benedict XVI intends to pose, Lombardi said, is this: “What must we do, not only to overcome these dramatic situations, but so that a continent of such great potential, of such enormous resources -- both material and, above all, human resources -- can make its contribution to humanity, and to the church of today and tomorrow?”

“The commitment of the pope offers us an example,” Lombardi said, “but all of us must look to this continent in the year that’s coming.”

Without any doubt, Africa is walking the Via Crucis:

Of course, the church’s interest in Africa is not exclusively humanitarian. Africa also represents the greatest “growth market,” so to speak, for Catholicism anywhere in the world. The Catholic population of sub-Saharan Africa exploded from 1.9 million in 1900 to 139 million in 2000. Promoting peace and development in Africa consolidates these missionary gains.

Catholics at all levels can promote thought, prayer and action on behalf of Africa.

American Catholics have a unique opportunity. Barack Obama is by far the most popular political figure in the world among Africans right now. That gives him unrivaled political capital on the continent, creating a window of opportunity to make things happen. American Catholics can help push the Obama White House to mobilize support.

There are, of course, serious obstacles to be overcome. The economic crisis creates a powerful temptation for Americans to turn inward, focusing on domestic problems.

For Catholics, there are also internal reasons why Benedict’s push on Africa may be a tough sell. “Peace and justice” Catholics tend to occupy the church’s left wing, which is sometimes crankily resistant to papal initiatives, even when they cut in a direction liberals otherwise support. For example, a predictable chorus is likely to arise on the Catholic left in 2009 to the effect of, “If the pope wants to do something for Africa, why doesn’t he come out in favor of condoms to fight AIDS?” Such stale polemics often get in the way of doing something constructive. Conservative Catholics, meanwhile, talk a good game about “thinking with the church,” but can be selective in their follow-through. If the pope criticizes abortion, they’re ready to mount the barricades; if he tackles poverty and war, many will quietly suggest he’s out of his depth, or that he’s wading into matters of prudential judgment that don’t oblige conscience.

All of that, however, makes turning 2009 into a “Year of Africa” complicated, not impossible. For reasons both pastoral and prophetic, Africa is a critical proving ground for the Catholic future. This is one case, moreover, in which no one can complain about papal “silence.”

National Catholic Reporter January 9, 2009