RADAR • POPE FRANCIS’ PLANNED VISIT TO AFRICA

A DEFINING MOMENT FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

BY STAN CHU ILO | RESEARCH PROFESSOR, WORLD CHRISTIANITY AND AFRICAN STUDIES, DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO, USA

POPE FRANCIS’ planned visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan in February 2023 intends to be a dialogue with African Catholics and to listen to political leaders and the youth.

It comes at a defining moment in what is regarded as a fairly progressive papacy. Since 2021, Pope Francis has engaged the Catholic Church in a synod, a worldwide consultation on her future, a process which will conclude in 2024. It is the most ambitious dialogue ever undertaken since the Second Vatican Council in 1965. It is exciting for reform-minded Catholics, but distressing for conservative Catholics.

The ongoing synod has exposed the fault lines in modern Catholicism on issues of women, celibacy, sexuality, marriage, clericalism and hierarchism. How Pope Francis—who marks a decade of his papacy this year—manages these increasingly divisive issues will largely define his legacy.

The question is how African Catholics can bring about a consensus approach to managing these matters and how another papal visit to
Africa will address the challenges and opportunities that Africans are identifying through the synodal process.

The influence of African Catholicism

The Catholic Church is witnessing its fastest growth in Africa (recent statistics show 2.1% growth between 2019 and 2020). Out of a global population of 1.36 billion Catholics, 236 million are African (20% of the total).

African Catholics are not simply growing in number. They are re-inventing and re-interpreting Christianity, infusing it with a new
language and spiritual vibrancy through unique ways of worshipping God.

The Catholic Church in Africa is well placed to be a central driver of social, political and spiritual life. In many settings, the Church provides
a community of hope where the fabric of society is weak because of war, humanitarian disasters and disease.

The DRC, for instance, has the highest number of Catholic health facilities in Africa at 2 185, followed by Kenya with 1 092 and Nigeria with 524 facilities. Additionally, bishops have mobilised peaceful protests against violence in the DRC and Nigeria.

Catholicism on the continent is witnessing a ‘youth bulge’. Central to Pope Francis’ advocacy for Africa is his appeal that churches, religious groups and governments show solidarity with young people whom he calls as “the church of now”. The Pope denounced the exploitation of Africa by external forces and its destruction by wars, ideologies of violence and policies that rob young people of their future.

Why DRC and South Sudan?

Pope Francis takes the message of a humble and merciful Church to some of the most challenging parts of Africa. The DRC and South Sudan are two countries which illustrate the impact of neoliberal capitalism and the effects of slavery, colonialism and imperialism. Together, they have unleashed the most destructive economic, social
and political upheaval in modern African history.

Pope Francis is coming to listen especially to the poor, to young people and to women who have been violated in conflicts. He also hopes
to address the hidden wounds of clerical sexual abuse in the Church.

Pope Francis will see how war, dictatorship and ecological disasters have denied ordinary people access to land, labour and lodging. These
are the “three Ls” he proposes as vital in giving agency to the poor.

Some opposition

Pope Francis will no doubt receive a warm welcome during his visit. Most African Catholics embrace his message of a poor and merciful
Church because it speaks to their challenges.

However, many African Catholics, particularly high-ranking Church leaders, are yet to embrace his reform agenda. The previous two popes encouraged a centralising tendency, which promoted unquestioning loyalty to Rome by African bishops. As a result, these bishops resisted attempts by African theologians to modernise and Africanise Catholic beliefs and practices to meet local needs and circumstances.

Some African bishops are uncomfortable with Pope Francis’ progressive agenda on liberation theology, openness to gay Catholics, ondemnation
of clerical privilege and power, and inclusion of women in mainstream leadership.

Rather than being a strong Church that looks like Africa, some of the Catholic dioceses on the continent have embraced medieval traditions—
such Roman rituals and Latin—that alienate ordinary African Catholics, especially young people.

Africa’s future role

Pope Francis has often spoken of giving Africa a voice in the Church and the world. Many African Catholics wonder how this will happen when, for the first time in more than 30 years, there is just one African holding an important executive function at the Vatican: Archbishop Protase Rugambwa of Tanzania, secretary of the Dicastery for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Many African Catholics hope that Pope Francis will announce some African appointments to the Vatican and create a pontifical commission
for Africa, similar to the Latin American one. This will be a significant way of giving African Catholics a voice in the Church of Rome.

Pope Francis hasn’t fully recovered from the health challenges that led to the cancellation of the trip last July, but he is making this trip because he believes that Africa matters.