In Cameroon, Benedict XVI personally presented African bishops with copies of the document with guidelines for the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Church in Africa, which will take place in Rome next October.  The document’s official title is the Instrumentum Laboris.

Benedict XVI
The Instrumentum Laboris is the fruit of your reflections, drawing out important aspects of the ecclesial and social situation of your countries of origin. It reflects the great dynamism of the Church in Africa, but also the challenges that must be faced, which the Synod will have to consider.

The theme is “The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace.”  Part of the documents looks back on the first Synod on Africa held in 1994, and notes the social, political, economic, and spiritual events and changes of the past 15 years.  

The document speaks of the role of African Catholics in the fields of education, health care, politics, the economy, culture and media.  It also focuses on the Church’s current and historic role in helping to achieve reconciliation, justice, and peace throughout the continent.  

The Pope also called on tens of thousands of people at the soccer stadium in Yaounde to reject the tyranny of materialism and recognize the True Author of Life.

Benedict XVI
Brothers and sisters in Cameroon and throughout Africa, you who have received from God so many human virtues, take care of your souls! Do not let yourselves be captivated by selfish illusions and false ideals! Believe – yes! – continue to believe in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – he alone truly loves you in the way you yearn to be loved, he alone can satisfy you, can bring stability to your lives. Only Christ is the way of Life.

This was the Pope’s last day in Cameroon.  He travelled to Angola the next day for the second and final leg of his trip to Africa. 

DDS