Rome — “Africa is often seen as a little child in a cradle, whose voice is perceived as a disturbing cry and who needs to be calmed by giving her some ‘milk’ in the form of development aid,” said Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches), in his speech at the Colloquium “The Church in Africa: general perspectives in view of the Conclave and the future of the Church,” held on Tuesday, May 6, at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Archbishop Nwachukwu emphasized that at the international political level, there are those “who see Africa only as a baby in a cradle: They say, ‘Please go and calm the child so she does not disturb the adults who are talking.’ And then they give the baby a little milk in the form of a subsidy so she will be quiet and the adults can talk. That is why Africa is often viewed as a child who has no voice to be taken into consideration.” “Unfortunately, in the political world, Africa is still only either a mine from which minerals are extracted for one’s own production or a deposit for one’s own waste,” said the Secretary of the Missionary Dicastery. “And when Africans try to raise their heads to change this situation, there are those who set fires to prevent any change.”
That is why,” Archbishop Nwachukwu continued, “Africa is internationally viewed either as a baby in a cradle, as a mine, or as a landfill.” “We therefore need a new way of thinking, including in the Church,” he emphasized. “Africa finds itself in a situation it did not want, but it is working to respond and rise again,” he emphasizes. “And the Lord is with Africa, the continent that Jesus sought to bind to himself since he was a child and sought refuge there when he was in danger.”
Archbishop Nwachukwu reminds us that there is also a kind of new Herod in Africa, such as “the modern ideology that wants to destroy the Church.” It is above all the ideology of easy money that captivates the young African generation, says Archbishop Nwachukwu. “That is the real challenge: how to convey to young people where true happiness can be found, the true meaning of life,” he says. “In search of quick money, so many fall victim to scams or join criminal gangs or sects. What worries me about these phenomena is that efforts are being made to destroy the Church’s image. The Church, which came to save, is portrayed as having come to exploit people and destroy what was there before. When a young person grows up with these ideas, they reject the Church, forgetting that they only received an education because a missionary sacrificed himself to build the school where he went to study.” According to the Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, it is necessary to “strengthen the memory of our missionaries.” “And thanks be to God that in Africa we have received the faith from Westerners whom I call heroes of the faith, those missionaries who left for other continents when leaving meant death, also because today’s means were not available,” he emphasizes. “These missionaries were the best export product of the West, and it is time to reap the fruits of what they sowed,” concludes Archbishop Nwachukwu.
