(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says that being with people does him good. In a long and very personal interview with Juan Beretta, a reporter from the Argentinean newspaper “La Voz Del Pueblo”, the Pope speaks of his feelings of when he was elected Pope, of how he misses walking the streets, using public transport and…
Read more
Speaking on the occasion of Africa Liberation Day or Africa Freedom Day being celebrated by many African countries on 25 May 2015, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson has spoken passionately about the need for African governments to work towards nation building. Cardinal Turkson, who originates from Ghana, was speaking in Rome in an interview with Fr. Paul Samasumo of Radio Vatican’s English Service for Africa.
“A number of people in Africa value the sense of solidarity and belonging to tribal groups than to national groups,” he has said.
According to Cardinal Turkson, most African governments have not been able to achieve nation building and nationhood. The Cardinal says, “The historical creation of country boundaries in Africa was not done with a sense of dignity by colonial powers. The boundary making disregarded the question of who lives where and other crucial factors. Hence, this has contributed to challenges of nation building on the African continent,” the Cardinal Turkson said.
Christians in Africa, the Cardinal emphasised, should particularly be at the forefront and speak the language of Saint Paul who says, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). “This has not happened in several places in Africa – and Europe as well. If that happens, one would expect that at least in the Church our sense of communion would supersede that of our tribal belonging. The value of ‘Family of God’ should drive people to realise that in a family there is belonging and fairness; in a family, relationships are reconciled and built,” he said.
Asked about one of Africa’s present challenges, migration and the current tragedies of young people dying in the Mediterranean sea on their way to Europe, Cardinal Turkson said that he appreciates what the European Union and what all other concerned groups are trying to do. He however says, “We should first learn to turn off the tap and not limit ourselves to mopping the water. It is of paramount importance to investigate questions about where the migrants are coming from and what is making them flee,” he said.
The Cardinal says that migration is a challenging issue that heads of states and governments in Africa need to look at seriously. He says that African youth are the ones who are capable of carrying out development on the continent and if they are abandoning the continent it would be difficult to develop Africa. “The human person, human capital is one of the greatest assets we have for development in Africa hence the need to invest in the capabilities of these young people and making them contribute to nation building is the way forward for Africa,” he said.
The Cardinal further challenged Africa to invest in the education of its people and make resources available to them.
(By Rudolph Nyamudo and Fr. Paul Samasumo/Vatican Radio)
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(from Vatican Radio)…
Speaking on the occasion of Africa Liberation Day or Africa Freedom Day being celebrated by many African countries on 25 May 2015, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson has spoken passionately about the need for African governments to work towards nation building. Cardinal Turkson, who originates…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) If you are wealthy, you should make sure your riches serve the “common good.” An abundance of things lived selfishly is “sad”, steals “hope,” and is the origin “of all kinds of corruption,” large or small. That was Pope Francis’ reflection in his Homily at this morning’s Mass celebrated in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.
In his Homily, Pope Francis reflects on one of the most famous passages of the Gospel: Jesus meets the rich young man who enthusiastically asks to follow Him and assures Him he will always live by the commandments. But when Jesus tells him one last thing is needed – to sell his things, give everything to the poor and then follow Him – the young man’s attitude and willingness swiftly change. Suddenly, “the joy and hope” in the rich young man vanish, because he does not want to give up his riches.
“The attachment to riches is the beginning of all kinds of corruption, everywhere: personal corruption, corruption in business, even small commercial bribery, the kind that shortchanges you at the counter, political corruption, corruption in education … Why? Because those who live attached to their own power, their own wealth, they believe they’re in heaven. They are closed; they have no horizon, no hope. Eventually they will have to leave everything.”
Rich and sterile
“There is a mystery in the possession of wealth,” says Francis. “Riches have the ability to seduce, to take us to a seduction and make us believe that we are in a paradise on earth.” Instead, says the Pope, that earthly paradise is a place without “horizon”, similar to that neighborhood the pontiff remembers seeing in the seventies, inhabited by wealthy people who had built walls and fences to defend their property from thieves:
“And living without horizons is a sterile life; living without hope is a sad life. The attachment to wealth makes us sad and makes us sterile. I say ‘attachment,’ I am not saying ‘good administration of one’s riches’, because riches are for the common good, for everyone. And if the Lord gives them to one person it is so that they are used for the good of all, not for oneself, not so they are closed in one’s heart, which then becomes corrupt and sad.”
Open your hand and your horizons
Wealth without generosity, insists Pope Francis, “makes us believe that we are powerful like God. And in the end it takes away the best: hope.” But Jesus, he concludes, indicates in the Gospel the right way to live.
“The first Beatitude: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ or the stripping off of this attachment and making sure that the riches that the Lord has given one are for the common good. It’s the only way. Open your hand, open your heart, open up the horizon. But if you have a closed hand, your heart is closed as the man’s who threw banquets and wore expensive clothes; you have no horizons, you do not see others who are in need and you’ll end up like that man: far from God. ”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) If you are wealthy, you should make sure your riches serve the “common good.” An abundance of things lived selfishly is “sad”, steals “hope,” and is the origin “of all kinds of corruption,” large or small. That was Pope Francis’ reflection in his Homily at this morning’s Mass celebrated in the chapel of…
Read more