(Bishop of Owando, Congo)
I will start with n. 4 of the Relatio where it was said in a pertinent fashion: "the local Church must assume the responsibility of its existence in the concrete". And that is inculturation: to adhere in its way to Jesus Christ, to respond in its way to Christ’s love, in its style and with its own means, to translate the love of God in its life, in its acts.
Also, it is the only way to understand what the Spirit says to the Churches in guarding well that this diversity does not bring to divergence.
In what is still called Congo, politics and faith in Christ have been intimately mingled.
During the 16th century, the king was converted and implicated but slavery will be presented as a mortal condition.
On the verge of independence it is a priest who inaugurates the state of Congo, by the Christians, he will be fired.
In full scientific socialism, it will be the most innocent of all the priests to be massacred, Cardinal E. Bayenda.
In the hour of democratisation, for
the people, the presidency of the Conference, with a prelate, hoped for
reconciliation, reparation.
Have we grasped the grace that God
has offered us?
In this field, mined by politics, it is not good to ride dogmas but to discern. If pastors are not specialised seers, neither can they be the voice of those without a voice, the eye of the blind, the ear of the deaf, the lawyer of the poor and the emarginated, and in one blow the bad conscious of politicians.
Politics is also a realm of apostolate. Politics, for those who have the vocation, is also an instrument of apostolate, the largest form of charity. Politics as pastoral is team work. In politics as in the pastoral, there is a need for money.
Original text: French
