Pope finds great hope in Africa’s humanism and vitality

(November 18, 2011) Like the rest of the world Africa too has great problems and difficulties, but in Africa one finds a fresh humanism and the continent is a storehouse of life and vitality for the future on which we can count. Pope Benedict XVI made the comment on Friday to journalists during his flight to Benin. During the 3-day visit to the West African nation the Pope will deliver his post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation which based on the world synod of bishops for Africa held in the Vatican in 2009. Pope Benedict was explaining to reporters why he considered Africa the ‘spiritual lung of the world.’ He noted that the pace of change in Africa in the past 50 to 60 years after colonialism has been hectic and full of difficulties which have not been overcome as yet. But Africa’s freshness of life, particularly in its youth that is full of enthusiasm, hope, humour and joy shows us that here we have a human reserve, a freshness of religious sense and hope and a perception of a reality in the totality of God on which we can count. Pope Benedict held out Benin as a model for the rest of Africa. He said the small West African nation is at peace both internally and externally. Democratic institutions in the country function in the spirit of freedom and responsibility for the common good, hence justice and the work for the common good are possible and guaranteed. Moreover, as in most African nations, in Benin too there is peaceful coexistence among religions. They live together in mutual respect and in common responsibility for peace and interior and external reconciliation. The Holy Father said that the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation stresses coexistence and interreligious dialogue as an important factor of peace and freedom.