Onaiyekan, others in Rome for African Christian Theology confab

Francis Cardinal Arinze, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Catholic Bishop of Nsukka, Godfrey Onah and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Matthew Kukah are among Catholic clergy from Africa who converged on Rome for the conference, ‘African Christian Theology: Memories and Mission for the 21st Century,’ which began Wednesday and will end on Saturday, March 25th.

At the summit sponsored by the University of Notre Dame, Pope Francis urged  Africans to “discern ways in which the Gospel can be rendered more credible in the African context,” a report by cruxnow.com said.

In a letter signed by Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State and effectively the pope’s top aide, which was presented to Cardinal  Onaiyekan, the pontiff encourages all present to profit from this opportunity to discern ways in which the Gospel can be rendered more credible in the  African context.

The pope said this will “help deepen the commitment to evangelization, which will not be complete unless it takes into account ‘the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social,’ quoting his own 2013 document Evangelii Gaudium.

“Pope Francis hopes that your deliberations will strengthen the Church in Africa to continue transmitting the faith, drawing her members more deeply into the grace of Christ and the mission of the Church,” Parolin wrote.

The gathering which was convened by Nigerian theologian Rev. Fr. Paulinus Odozor of Notre Dame, aims at continuing a conversation initiated by a 2001 pastoral letter of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops titled “A Call to Solidarity with Africa”.

Odozor who opened the conference on Wednesday morning said that while this gathering builds on an earlier one in 2003, it’s not a repetition because Africa’s situation today is different from what it was fourteen years ago.

He said: “What he had hoped would be Africa’s shining moment in the sun has turned into a big disappointment in many ways and places.”

Although he described the Catholic Church on the continent as among its bright spots, Odozor also said: “It has its problems, and Christians could be more of a leaven, it’s becoming more and more a player at various levels of African societies.

“The African church has come of age, and, like all adults, it must examine its life.”

He said the aim of the conference was to bring African issues and conversation to a worldwide audience.