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From MISNAMarch 19, 2009
An encouragement for the Church to find its social vocation in a complex nation,
crossed by vital dialogue among cultures but also serious injustice in the
distribution of wealth: this is the meaning that the missionary world of
Cameroon gives to the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.
“The words pronounced by the Pontiff in the meeting with the Bishops in Yaoundé,
urge the Church to be more courageous. The situation has improved in respect to
20 or 30 years ago, but millions of people continue living in misery”, said
Father Armando Coletto, Xaverian Superior General contacted by MISNA in the port
city of Douala. During the meeting with the Bishops of Cameroon at Christ the
King Church in Tsinga, Benedict XVI yesterday reminded the Church of its mission
“to be the defender of the rights of the poor” and “to awaken hope in the hearts
of those left by the wayside”.
Words attended in Yaoundé, where the Pope was welcomed by cheering crowds on
Tuesday along the road from the airport to the nunciature. “The visit of Pope
Benedict XVI created an atmosphere of celebration, rendered even more intense by
the papal message on commitment toward the poor”, said to MISNA Father Renzo
Larcher. Cameroon, ruled for 27 years by President Paul Biya, is in a delicate
phase. Popular protests against the rising cost of living a year ago in Yaoundé
and Douala, the two major cities of the nation, forced the government to decree
a 15% increase in all salaries and wages.
“The world economic crisis enhances the difficulties faced by Cameroon, a nation
that largely depends on the export of farm products”, added Fr. Coletto. One of
the nation’s main social problems is the unequal distribution of wealth. “In the
coffee and cacao plantations of the north and farm estates of the south and
west, there are an increasing number of farm-hands forced to sell their work for
few pennies”, MISNA sources said from Douala.
Poverty and injustice do not only concern the villages and rural areas but also
the cities, where a growing number of youths arrive without work or money.
“Unemployment and the lack of professional perspectives is the main problem here
in Yomo Aban”, explained Fr. Larcher, adding that “the majority of families in
this neighborhood count six or seven members and without work it is impossible
to survive”.
In addition to stressing the social responsibilities of the Church, Benedict XVI
reminded the Bishops of Cameroon that if the Church is “gathered in brotherly
love; this leaves no room for ethnocentrism or factionalism, and it contributes
toward reconciliation and cooperation among ethnic groups for the good of all”.
In this regard, the outskirts of Yaoundé offer a positive model. “Indigenous and
populations that immigrated from west to south coexist in harmony: this is the
richness of Cameroon, a kaleidoscope of ethnicities where each day more than
4-million Catholics dialogue with other religious communities. Yaoundé is also
home to a large, beautiful mosque”, concluded Fr. Larcher.
