Archbishop
André Fernand Anguilè
Archbishop of Libreville, Gabon
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During the next months, the celebration for the 150th anniversary of EVANGELIZATION in Gabon will take place.
Having arrived in Libreville on the 28th of September 1844, with his brother Gregory, Father Jean Rémy Bessieux offered the first Eucharistic sacrifice in Gabon on the 29th of September 1844.
On arrival in Gabon, the first missionaries tried to transmit the faith and the Western "values of civilization" according to the instructions given by Father Libermann. The mission also brought about ambivalent transmission: the divine and the human were revealed overlapping each other, like the expression of the Church’s theandrism. In the religious, the real life of the people was not forgotten. So, Father Bessieux built the first school with a center for apprenticeship four months after his arrival and in 1856 the "School of Latinists", the seminary which gave the first Gabonese priest Walker RAPONDA, in 1891.
Today, we can see the following results: - 60% of the Gabonese have received Baptism in the Catholic Church;- a large number of the administration of the country have been to Catholic schools;- youth and adult movements, groups of prayer and catechists are present everywhere;- permanent diversified education is given to the young, the catechists and adults;- a religious international Congregation for diocesan law (the Sisters of Saint Mary) give witness of evangelical life;- the entire episcopate is Gabonese.
Unfortunately - we have less than 50 Gabonese priests; - a blossoming of sects; a loss of the moral sense because of foreign publicity.
On the socio-economic-political level, we can see an ailing: - a plethora of students in certain classrooms, - unemployment, - delinquency, -add to this the devaluation of the C.A.F. Franc at the beginning of this year, which throws people into great difficulties, - etc...
The way to be followed is long and perhaps arduous. But the help of the LORD will not leave us and we foresee:
- a pastoral for inculturation of the Christian marriage;
- promotion of the Christian family bearer of the evangelical values and fertile for truvocations;
- the formation of base communities to a more intense and involved life, rooted in the Paschal mystery;
- the re-evaluation of the ministry of the catechists;
- a pastoral for vocations at the height of the attention of the Christian communities and society;
- particular care for the problem of justice and peace which are the foundation of a more just society.
In answer to the question posed in the "Relatio ante disceptationem" (n 34): "Church in Africa, what must you become now so that your message is pertinent and credible?", we propose the following four fundamental fidelities:
-FIDELITY TO THE TEACHING OF CHRIST to become zealant messengers.
-FIDELITY TO FRATERNAL COMMUNION for charity and unity.
-FIDELITY TO PRAYER which makes men and friends of God.
-FIDELITY TO THE SHARING OF BREAD, source of holiness.
Africa needs: - zealous messengers of the Good News, - fervent believers in the love of God and our neighbour, - preachers, - and saints.
Original text in French
