The Subcommittee on the Church in Africa
“…the salt of the Earth
…the light of the world.”
(Mt 5: 13-14)
The Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa was founded on the basic principles of Pope John Paul II’s call to action in Ecclesia in Africa and the adoption of the statement A Call to Solidarity with Africa from the bishops of the United States.
“The critical challenges and enormous potential facing Africa today serve as the opportunity for--and test of--our mutual solidarity. Our response to this vocation of solidarity with the Church and peoples of Africa enables us to express love ‘in deed and in truth’ (1 John 3:18), a love that creates no borders and sets no limits to what might be accomplished together in Christ.” --United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, A Call to Solidarity with Africa (2001)
Africa faces the economic and social hurdles of enormous debt, epidemic, severe poverty, and political unrest. In spite of these challenges, the Church in Africa has almost tripled in size in the past 30 years. However, it is difficult for the church to sustain its growth and maintain essential pastoral outreach. The Fund provides grants to finance pastoral projects including outreach programs, schools, evangelization, and education of clergy and lay ministers. Our solidarity is necessary to help the “salt of the Earth” Church in Africa realize its potential as a “light of the world.”
THANK YOU to all who have generously contributed to the Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa. Your support makes a real difference in the faith lives of the people in Africa. Please continue to pray for our African sisters and brothers.
If you miss your parish collection, donations may also be sent to:
Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa
USCCB-Office of National Collections
3211 4th Street NE
Washington, DC 20017
Promotion resources are always available here.
Church in Africa News
During Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican published a 62-page document called an “instrumentum laboris” for this fall’s Synod of Bishops for Africa, themed “The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace: You are the Salt of the Earth. You are the Light of the World. (Mt 5: 13-14)”
The general goals of this year’s synod are to assess what has been accomplished since the post-synodal papal document “Ecclesia in Africa” from the first African synod in 1994. The synod hopes to help Catholics get a firmer grasp on their faith, find a way the Gospel can be intertwined in local cultures, paying attention to creative pastoral responses to the needs of couples and families, highlighting the need for greater investment in education, better integrating women and the laity into the Church’s leadership and pastoral planning, involving the Church in media, and helping the bishops to be more effective agents to overcoming ethnic differences.
The document highlighted that although the Church in Africa is growing, they still face many problems such as political instability, selfish leaders, clear violations of human rights, armed conflict, fragile economies, agriculture problems, lack of clean water, and HIV/AIDS.
The document calls for a united effort among Catholics to help end the injustices in Africa to promote peace and to find a better way for the faithful in Africa to have a more active role in promoting unity in the church and in society for the common good.
Pope Benedict XVI addressed the Special Council of the Synod for Africa on March 19th, 2009. There he recognized Jesus’ connection to the spiritual continent. “Dear friends, at the beginning of my address, I consider it important to stress that your continent has been blessed by our Lord Jesus himself . . . God chose your continent to become the dwelling-place of his Son . . . Africa is where the Son of God was weaned, where he was offered effective sanctuary. In Jesus, some two thousand years ago, God himself brought salt and light to Africa.”
Pope Benedict XVI went on the address that although Africa faces many challenges, the continent is full of spirit and potential. He said, “(Africa is a) continent so rich both in promise and in pressing human, cultural and spiritual needs. This morning I called Africa ‘the continent of hope.’” He furthered this point by saying, “Africa will be able to find the strength needed to face its sometimes difficult daily existence, and thus it will be able to discover immense spaces of faith and hope which will help it to grow in God.”
Please visit www.catholicnews.com to read the full CNS story on their Website, or visit www.vatican.va to read the full document or address.
"Responding to the call of the Church in Africa, as pastors in the United States we recognize the mutual bonds of solidarity that unite us-bonds that have been forged through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We stand in solidarity with the Church and the peoples of Africa, to recognize and support their courageous commitment to peace, justice, and reconciliation . As we do this, we are reminded of the words of the Holy Father: "Africa is not destined for death, but for life!" - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, A Call to Solidarity with Africa (2001).
Archbishop Wilton Gregory, then USCCB president, greeting a local
villager during a 2001 visit to Uganda.