A thought to the Chinese Bishops and the announcement of his trip to Africa: these were the focuses of Benedict XVI’s sermon during Mass that yesterday marked the end of the XII General Ordinary Assembly of the Episcopal Synod. After thanking all the participants in the Synod, the Pope ent "a special thought to the bishops of mainland China, who could not be present at this synodal meeting. I wish to be, here, the witness of and thank God for their love of Christ, their communion with the universal Church and their faithfulness to the successor of the Apostle Peter. They are present in our prayers, along with all the devotees who have entrusted themselves to their pastoral care. Let’s ask the ‘Supreme shepherd of the flock’ to give them joy, strength and apostolic zeal so as to guide with wisdom and long-sightedness the Catholic community in China that we all have so much at heart". Then he announced his trip to Africa, in the run-up to the II Special Assembly of the Synod for this Continent (Rome, October 2009): "It is my intention to go to Cameroon next March to give he delegates of the Bishops Conferences of Africa the Instrumentum laboris for such synodal meeting. From there I will go on, God willing, to Angola to solemnly celebrate the 500th anniversary of the evangelisation of the country".
