AFRICA - Bishops on the challenges regarding the family in Africa: poverty, war, ecological crisis, contrary ideologies

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The family in Africa is threatened by poverty, war, ecological crisis and the spread of ideologies contrary to family values. This was stated in the Contribution to the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, prepared by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM/SCEAM). The document, sent to Agenzia Fides, is entitled "The future of the family, our mission".
"We know many cases of separated, broken and divorced families. This phenomenon is exacerbated by the economic and political problems related both to our own responsibilities and due to the disastrous effects of a global economic system of enrichment of some and the impoverishment of others", say the African Bishops. "What is even worse is that many are abandoned to a generalized economic insecurity. And there is still, in Africa, a very serious economic inequality: a majority of people and families live in extreme poverty while a minority takes advantage of the riches and goods that are to serve the welfare of all.
This inequality is reinforced by what exists between the rich countries and in developing countries".
The strong, and often chaotic urban development which occurred in Africa in recent decades involves environmental problems that have an impact on family life, the Bishops noted.
"In Africa, the ecological challenge is also about the super-exploitation of the earth that leads to its destruction. We meet business men and women, governments and economic groups that, under the pretext of reducing poverty and work for the development of poor people, are engaged in programs to exploit, rob farmers of their land, destroy forests, pollute environment and cause unprecedented desertification", denounce the Bishops. Wars "provoke not only a real massacre, but also an ecological disaster. Africa is truly threatened ecologically".
Faced with these and other challenges, the African Bishops conclude saying that "the family is the cradle of life. Life is a gift from God and hope in a better future. Our belief is that the family cannot be submerged by the crisis and the difficult situations that it crosses. In proclaiming the Gospel of life, we are called to be witnesses of this hope". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/09/2015)


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