Cardinal Says Church Mission is One, With Many Faces
Oct 31, 2007
As the Catholic Church celebrated World Mission Sunday, Cardinal Peter Turkson, archbishop of Cape Coast, explained that evangelisation - and not simply socio-economic development - is the Church's primary objective.
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi, 23 October 2007) "The point of mission is the promotion of the Gospel and faith in Jesus. This will take many forms in different countries," Cardinal Turkson told ZENIT. For example, the cardinal continued, "proclaiming the Gospel may require some structural support, as in India, Latin America, and Africa."
"Also, there are places where proclaiming the Gospel will take the form of the simple presence of witnesses, as in northern Africa and the Middle East; for instance, something as simple as carrying a Bible. In this case, the testimony is in the form of the witnesses' lives and what they do," he added.
The 59-year-old Ghanaian cardinal was last week visiting England to strengthen links between the two countries. He said Africa had a duty to support the Church in Europe.
While Ghana had one priest for every 2,400 Catholics, "we are not talking about sharing personnel, since we don't have a surplus, but recognition that we are a world Church - a Church together. As much at possible we must respond to people's needs because we see what our brother needs. If this is what is needed in Europe, this is something we can share."
In Africa, he said, needed a deepening of the faith among Christians by properly former priests. "If a priest has to preach about conversion, he cannot do it if he himself has not experienced it, if it is missing in his life," explained the cardinal.
"The people then leave the Church and enter other groups, like the evangelicals, because they did not have a deepening of their faith. The people learned a few notions and concepts, but not about the offer of God's love, and the richness of what the Church has to offer."
"What is needed is the experience of God's love for us in Christ Jesus, not just to be talked about but lived and experienced. When this is the case, something is lasting in the experience of the person," Cardinal Turkson added.
"We need to discover new pathways of inviting people - not simply philosophizing - to enter into a relationship with God."
Cardinal Says Church Mission is One, With Many Faces