Reasons for hope

Religious indifference, hedonism and the crisis of values, the spread of pornography and prostitution: these are the "demanding" challenges with which the Churches of Europe and Africa are faced. "They must not discourage you, but rather represent an occasion for renewing your commitment and hope, the hope that is born from the consciousness that the night is drawing to a close and the day is near", said Benedict XVI on receiving in audience on 16 February the participants in the Symposium of the Bishops of Africa and Europe led by Cardinal Péter Erdõ, President of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, and by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, President of the Symposium of the Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. The Holy Father exhorted the bishops to continue their meetings "in the style of the exchange of gifts". "For the Church in Europe – he said -, the meeting with the Church in Africa is always a moment of grace by virtue of the hope and joy with which African ecclesial communities experience and communicate their faith, as I was able to ascertain during my apostolic journeys [to the continent]. On the other hand, it is wonderful to see how the Church in Africa, despite having to live in the midst of so many difficulties and with the need for peace and reconciliation, is ever willing to share its faith".The challenges. "The challenges by which you are faced today – said the Pope – are demanding. I think, in the first place, of religious indifference, which leads many people to live as if God did not exist or to be satisfied with a vague religious sense, incapable of measuring up to the question of truth or to the duty of coherence between faith and life. Today, especially in Europe, but also in some parts of Africa, the influence of a secularized environment, frequently hostile to the Christian faith, can be felt". The other challenge underlined by the Pope "with a view to the proclamation of the Gospel is hedonism, which has contributed to the penetration of the crisis of values into daily life, into the structure of the family, and into the very way in which the meaning of life is interpreted". "Another symptom of a situation of grave social malaise – continued Benedict XVI – is the spread of such phenomena as pornography and prostitution. You are well aware of these challenges, which prick your pastoral conscience and spur your sense of responsibility". So Benedict XVI urged the bishops not to lose hope, also because, he pointed out, "there are many forces for good at work in the societies of Africa and Europe. Many of them are to be found in the parishes and are distinguished by dedication to personal sanctification and to apostolate. I hope that, with your help, they may increasingly become living and vital cells of the new evangelization". In his address, the Pope also exhorted the bishops to have the family at the centre of their attention "because the family, as domestic church, is also the strongest guarantee for the renewal of society". Youth too must remain at the heart of the Church: "Europe and Africa – said the Holy Father – have a need for the new generations that are able to assume responsibility for their own future: and all the institutions must never lose awareness of the fact that the future lies in these young people and that it is important to do everything possible to ensure that their future be not clouded by uncertainty and darkness". The Pope then assigned to the bishops the task of following "with special solicitude their human and spiritual growth, also by encouraging those volunteer services that might have an educational value".Reviving the desire for God. "Today, in a global context, we must help the Bishops’ Conferences to carry out their mission, said Cardinal Péter Erdõ in his greetings to Benedict XVI. "The problems of our two continents and our various countries – he observed – are very different, but there are also many common aspects of the challenges of our time. Common to us all, above all, is the enthusiasm of faith, when it is alive. Meeting here in recent days has helped us not only to get to know and appreciate each other better, but also to discover together, with greater clarity, the Lord who generates and supports the communion between us". In spite of the differences between the cultures of Africa and Europa, "our fundamental values remain identical", observed Cardinal Polycarp Pengo. "That’s why – he declared – we wish to renew our missionary pledge to proclaim Jesus Christ to everyone"; the starting point must be "the revival of the desire for God, so often forgotten, in the depths of the human heart". The African cardinal also pledged to continue to "forge close personal and ecclesial relations between the two continents" and "be alert to what the Holy Spirit is in every moment prompting us to do together".