VATICAN - Benedict XVI tells Curia: “For the Church and for myself personally, the year now drawing to a close passed largely under the sign of Africa”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Another year rich in important events for the Church and for the world comes to an end. For the Church and for myself personally, the year now drawing to a close passed largely under the sign of Africa,” said the Holy Father in his address to the Roman Curia, whom he received on the occasion of the exchange of Christmas greetings on December 21. The Pope began by recalling his trip to Cameroon and Angola, mentioning “the festive joy and cordial affection” with which the Successor of Peter was received, thus experiencing the Universal Church, the community that embraces the world and that gathers together in God, through Christ. “All of us together form the family of God, brothers and sisters by virtue of our One Father: this has been the experience I lived.” The Pope especially noted the liturgical celebrations as “real celebrations of the faith,” characterized by the great joy we share, “which was also expressed through the body, yet in a disciplined fashion, directed towards the presence of the Living God” and the “sense of the sacred.”
The trip was made with the purpose of presenting the Instrumentum Laboris for the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which would take place in October. The Pope commented: “On the occasion of my visit to Africa, the theological and pastoral force of pontifical primacy as a point of convergence for the unity of the Family of God, was made evident. There, in the Synod, the importance of the collegiality - of the unity - of the bishops, who receive their ministry from the fact that they enter to form part of the community of the Successors of the Apostles, emerged even more powerfully.” Benedict XVI then highlighted that “in the communion of the Synod, we had a practical experience of the ecclesiology of the Council.”
Referring then to the theme of the 2009 Synod - "The Church in Africa at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace" - the Pope described it as "a theological and, above all, a pastoral theme of vital relevance. Yet, it could also be misunderstood as a political theme... The very real question which the pastors are continually asking themselves is precisely this: how can we be realistic and practical, without attributing to ourselves a political capacity that does not correspond to us? Were the Synod Fathers able to find the rather narrow path between mere theological theory and immediate policy action, i.e. the path of 'pastor'?” As he had already had the occasion to say in his speech at the conclusion of the Synod, the Pope reiterated his affirmative response to the question.
Reflecting on the term “reconciliation,” Benedict XVI showed how “peace can only come about through an interior reconciliation...Every society needs reconciliations in order to practice peace. Reconciliations are necessary for healthy politics, however they cannot be carried out only in this manner. They are pre-political processes and should come from other sources.” Then, in regards to the Church's task in reconciliation, the Pope highlighted that “if man is not reconciled with God, he is also in disharmony with the creation. Another aspect of reconciliation is the capacity to recognize guilt and to ask forgiveness, of God and of neighbor. And lastly, part of the process of reconciliation is the willingness to do penance, the willingness to suffer to the end for a fault and allow oneself to be transformed. There is also the part of gratuity...the willingness to go beyond what is necessary, not to be stingy, but to go beyond that which is required by merely juridical conditions.”
“Today, we should once again learn the capacity to recognize our guilt,” Benedict XVI said. “We must rid ourselves of the illusion that we are innocent. We should learn the ability to make penance, to let ourselves be transformed; to go out to the encounter of others and obtain from God the courage and strength necessary for such a renewal. In our world today, we need to rediscover the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation...If our hearts do not possess the strength of reconciliation, the interior conditions necessary for a political commitment to peace will be lacking.”
Once again referring to the key word “reconciliation,” the Pope also recalled his pilgrimage to Jordan and the Holy Land: “everything that can be seen in those countries invokes reconciliation, justice, and peace.” As for his trip to the Czech Republic, a country with an agnostic and atheist majority, Benedict XVI highlighted that “even those who claim to be agnostic or atheist should be carried in our hearts, as believers.” The first step in evangelization consists in our making sure that “man does not omit the question of God,” and taking up the words of Jesus from the Prophet Isaiah – that the temple should be a house of prayer for all peoples – Benedict XVI added: “I think the Church should also today open a sort of 'court of the gentiles' where men can engage in some way with God, without knowing Him and before they have found access to His mystery, at whose service would be the internal life Church. Along with dialogue with other religions there must also be the dialogue with those who experience religion as something foreign, to whom God is unknown and who would not, however, want to simply remain without God, but at least approach Him as Unknown." (SL) (Agenzia Fides 22/12/2009)