AFRICA/ANGOLA - Synod, the Bishop of Leena: "The problems of the West are not ours"

by Fabio Beretta

Leena (Agenzia Fides) - Low levels of education, lack of services, leprosy, the spread of aggressive sects: these are just some of the problems that the Catholic community in Angola faces on a daily basis, where pastoral urgencies "are often different from what is discussed during the World Synod of Bishops". This is what the Bishop of the Diocese of Leena, Martín Lasarte Topolansky, stressed in an interview with Fides.

"It is true what the Pope said, that when we think of the Church, we often think of the 'West'. Certainly, this is the history of the Church, you cannot erase two thousand years of the beauty and richness of Christianity", said the Angolan bishop, "But the Holy Spirit has blown everywhere. But you notice that on many occasions, such as this Synod, the Church is Eurocentric. Sometimes people want to present the problems that the Church in the West has as if they were the great problems of the universal Church. Instead, we should say: calm down, you have these problems and it is fine to face them, we encourage you. But we have so many other critical issues, such as first evangelization or the formation of the faith of the laity, interreligious dialogue or the enormous growth of sects of all kinds."

"In my diocese there is still leprosy," the bishop continued. "It is true that secularization is advancing in Europe, but in Africa there are hundreds of seminarians who need support in their training. We are a Church in the process of development. The Catholic Church is beautiful with its diversity, it has riches and critical aspects in all latitudes that are all too often not recognized."

And speaking of critical aspects, one problem in Angola is the rise of Islamist extremists. "The problem is objectively there," the bishop admits. "In some cases, Christian girls marry Muslim men, their children are sent to study in countries with an Islamic majority, and when they return, they have become Muslims linked to extremist groups. It almost sounds like 'vocational pastoral care'..."

The situations vary depending on where you are: "There is dialogue, but not always and not everywhere. In the east of the country there are situations that are the exact opposite of the west, so dialogue becomes more difficult in some areas. And when you put poverty and a lack of horizons together, a dangerous mixture is created."

The same applies to the Pentecostal churches: "These are completely detached groups that do not even enter into dialogue with the Protestant churches," explains the Bishop of Leena. The problem of belief in witchcraft also persists: "There are places where magic and belief in witchcraft are the main cause of violence and murder. Every day we deal with a society in which there are so many unpleasant situations. Everyone is free to believe what they want, of course respecting the faith of their ancestors, but we must respect the dignity of every person first and foremost.”

The active presence of many foreign missionaries helps in this: “Having missionaries from different peoples and nations is a wealth. One could succumb to the temptation to say: 'We are mature, we don't need anyone'. It is true that I am the only non-Angolan bishop, the others are all local, but we all recognize,” emphasizes Bishop Topolansky, “that their presence is a sign of the times. In my diocese, 123,000 square kilometers, is one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa and where eight languages are spoken, they are a resource.”

“Today,” concludes the Bishop of Leena, “we also have Angolans who have gone to Papua New Guinea and the Amazon as missionaries. Countries that once welcomed missionaries have now become countries from which missionaries leave. The Gospel is always the same, the way of evangelization changes, but the Church is missionary by nature and always will be." (Agenzia Fides, 30/9/2024)

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