African Catholics have numbers, but faith must mature
May 31, 2005
While the Catholic Church in Africa is experiencing rapid growth and large numbers of religious vocations, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana, said he worries about the nature of the growth.
BALTIMORE (CNS, May-27-2005) -- Cardinal Turkson told The Catholic Review, newspaper of the Baltimore Archdiocese, that the Church must encourage a genuine conversion.
"It is true that the Church in Africa is thriving," Cardinal Turkson said. "But we also have had a certain type of catechesis that is not too deep. Traditional cultures and values are not too radically transformed by the values of the Gospel. We need a more deeply rooted experience of conversion."
The cardinal visited Baltimore May 18-19 before heading to Connecticut for the ordination of a Franciscan friar.
Cardinal Turkson pointed to the genocide and war that has plagued Rwanda as an example of how some Catholics on his continent have not fully embraced the Gospel message.
Rwanda "was supposed to be 80 percent Catholic, but they forgot they were Catholic, and they forgot they were Christian," Cardinal Turkson said. "There was terrible loss of life. Evangelization needs to be radical so that traditional values are challenged and transformed."
The cardinal said he is saddened to see the church struggling in Europe. European missionaries took the Catholic faith to Africa, and Catholics there look to Europeans as their spiritual parents, he said.
"It's indispensable that we see Christianity come back to Europe," said Cardinal Turkson. "If Europe should become less Christian, it gives us a sense of being orphans, of having an experience of faith without parents."
He said it hurts evangelization efforts in Africa when people look at Europe and see that those who encouraged Africans to embrace the faith are now abandoning it.
"I'm glad the new pope is from the North again," said Cardinal Turkson. "I pray that the fact that he comes from Europe will provide a new springtime of faith for Europe."
Cardinal Turkson said that in his archdiocese of about 300,000 Catholics, he is encouraged that many men and women respond to the call to religious life. Two years ago, 17 men were ordained to the priesthood in Cape Coast.
Religious formation must ensure that candidates "embrace the sacrifices that are involved," he said.
Because of the high number of vocations, Cardinal Turkson sends some of his priests to other parts of the world where few are available. Four Cape Coast priests currently are in Canada, two in Seattle and several more in New York and Europe.
During his two-day stay in the Baltimore area, Cardinal Turkson met with Baltimore Cardinal William H. Keeler and Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and celebrated a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
African Catholics have numbers, but faith must mature