Pope Benedict XVI
Vatican City, Nov 18, 2011 / 01:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze says Pope Benedict’s upcoming visit to Benin will leave behind a positive and lasting legacy for all Africans.
“Catholics, other Christians in Africa and, indeed, those who are not Christian are all concerned in this visit,” the cardinal told Vatican Radio on Nov. 17.
Cardinal Arinze, 79, will accompany Pope Benedict on his three day visit to the small West African state which starts tomorrow. The Cardinal served as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship until 2008 when he retired.
The primary reason for the Pope’s visit is to allow the pontiff to sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation from 2009's synod of African bishops in Rome. The document—which is the Pope’s own response to that meeting—aims to help chart a path for the future of the Church in Africa.
Cardinal Arinze explained that the topic of that synod in 2009 was the Church in Africa “in the service of reconciliation, justice and peace” and noted that “this concerns all of us all...these go beyond religious frontiers.”
He hopes that many Africans will read the exhortation since “in these days of modern especially the computer—it is not difficult to download the full document so that it can be studied carefully by individuals and groups.”
Cardinal Arinze added that he wants journalists, academics, teachers, politicians and other societal leaders to “dissect it, digest it, study it and ask themselves what action this document asks us to take to promote reconciliation, justice and peace in our continent?”
Benin’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Theodore Loko, echoed the cardinal's hopes and told Vatican Radio that the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation was “very important because when we look at the topics it deals with they are the important problems in Africa.”
He predicted that if Africans “pay attention to these topics and the speeches of the Pope,” over the next three days then the whole continent will “gain a lot,” as it attempts to “address the problems we have in Africa—and God knows we’ve got a lot,” he said.
During his three day visit, Pope Benedict will also mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Catholic missionaries to Benin and will pay a visit to the tomb of his late friend, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, who died in 2008. The two worked together in the Roman curia for over 25 years.
Ambassador Loko recalled how Pope Benedict had once described Cardinal Gantin to him as “an African who gave much to the world.”
Cardinal Gantin is “a son of Benin who can be called today the first ambassador of Benin because through him many people know about Benin,” said the ambassador, adding that “among the people of Benin he is seen as a model of service.”
Benin – Democratic republic in W Africa: capital, Porto Novo. It was settled first in the 16th century and became the Kingdom of Dahomey, which dominated the region. From 16th to 18th centuries, there were limited missionary attempts from Europe, but effective evangelization began in 1861, ten years after the French started colonizing. In 1899, Dahomey was incorporated into French West Africa. In 1946, it was redesignated a French overseas territory. The Church hierarchy was established there in 1955. In 1958, it became an autonomous republic of the French community, and gained full independence in 1960. A series of coups followed. In 1975, it was renamed Benin, and in 1977 it was made a one-party state. The Communist government nationalized Catholic schools, expelled foreign missionaries, and jailed priests. The one-party system was dropped in 1989, and in 1990 the Catholic Archbishop presided over a national conference to draw up a constitution for a multiparty democracy. The plurality of faiths, and how to keep peace among them, is a challenge the Church faces in the new century. Catholics are 25% of the population.
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Coverage - All Times Local (time difference is +6 hours) |
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Friday, November 18
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Arrival ceremony at Cotonou's Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport.
3 PM |
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Visit to the Cotonou cathedral. Speech by the Pope.
4:30 PM |
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Saturday, November 19
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Mass in private in chapel at apostolic nunciature in Cotonou.
7:30 AM |
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Meeting with members of the government, representatives of state institutions, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of the principal religions in the presidential palace in Cotonou.
9 AM |
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Courtesy visit with President Thomas Yayi Boni in the presidential palace.
9:50 AM |
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Visit to the tomb of Cardinal Gantin in the chapel of St. Gall Seminary in Ouidah. Meeting with priests, seminarians, religious and laity in the courtyard of the seminary.
11:15 AM |
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Visit to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Ouidah and signing of the post synodal apostolic exhortation.
12:15 PM |
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Visit to the "Peace and Joy" Center of the Missionaries of Charity at St. Rita parish in Cotonou. Speech by Benedict XVI. Meeting with children at the parish.
5 PM |
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Meeting with the bishops of Benin at the apostolic nunciature.
6:45 PM |
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Dinner with the bishops of Benin and members of the papal entourage in the apostolic nunciature.
7:30 PM |
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Sunday, November 20
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Mass and presentation of the post synodal apostolic exhortation to the bishops of Africa in Cotonou stadium. Homily and remarks by the Pope. Recitation of the Angelus.
9 AM |
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Lunch with members of the special council for Africa of the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops and with the papal entourage in the apostolic nunciature.
12:15 PM |
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Farewell ceremony at Cardinal Gantin airport.
4 PM |
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Departure for Rome.
4:30 PM |
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Arrival at Rome's Ciampino airport.
10 PM |
