African Catholic cardinals denounce “cultural imperialism”

Special to USAfricaonline.com

Vatican City — African cardinals denounced the “cultural imperialism” of wealthy countries in their aid, trade and health care policies for Africa, saying Wednesday that the West’s promotion of abortion rights and condoms is destroying the continent’s moral fabric.

African prelates attending the three-week meeting on the role of the Catholic Church in Africa said their countries needed economic development partnerships that are based on trust and fairness, not ones that exploit Africa’s natural resources and put conditions on aid.

“We want to be helped, but helped in the name of truth, with respect of what we are and what we want for ourselves,” Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, told a news conference.

He and Cardinal Wilfred Fox Napier of Durban, South Africa, denounced “hidden” agendas of international aid groups and countries that promote abortion rights and condoms to fight HIV, saying the West was trying to impose its views on Africa.

Their arguments have been echoed during the synod, with repeated criticisms of institutions that promote “reproductive health care” for women. The Vatican has warned that such programs — often supported by the United Nations — are really just a cover for promoting access to abortions and birth control.

The Vatican opposes abortion and artificial contraception. It has come under heavy criticism for its opposition to condoms as a way of fighting HIV, particularly in hard-hit Africa.

“There are certain cultural norms that are inherent in Africa,” Napier said. “One of them is that sexual activity is for bringing babies into the world. It’s not so much for enjoyment.”

But he said the “cultural imperialism” imported from the West “is saying ‘no, it’s for enjoyment, and pregnancy is almost a disease.’”

Napier also cited the practice by some aid groups of conditioning their aid with terms that are unacceptable to the Catholic Church, such as requiring a part of funding for anti-HIV programs to be set aside for condom purchases.

“Western populations think that their life is the model for everybody, but it’s not the case,” Sarr said. “If they have some ideas, they can put forward these ideas, but these shouldn’t be imposed on all the populations in the world.” AFP

——–

Catholic African Synod should include Black Americans says Colombia’s Archbishop

Special to USAfricaonline.com

Archbishop Jorge Enrique Jimenez Carvajal of Cartagena, Colombia, said in reference to the synod currently being held at Rome of African bishops that the scope of the conference must be expanded in scope so as to encompass the reality that Africans were brought to the Americas and form a distinctive part of the culture of both South and North America.

Archbishop Carvajal as reported in Spero said, “Thousands and thousands of Black people were brought to America where they were auctioned and forced to work until they died. … Peter Claver awaited the ‘slave ships’ with expectations different from those of the traders. … For the apostle, the new arrivals were ‘children of God’ who needed to know all the truth of the Gospel. … Africa is the ‘Great Motherland’ of all our Black peoples from Canada to the Tierra del Fuego, including all the marvels of their presence in the Antilles and the Caribbean.”

How many things that make the American continent great have only been possible with the contribution of black people, heirs to such still-hidden richness, to such a wealth of symbols that with the passage of time have enriched the Christian message, to such joy of believing in the faith even though life has been so hard to them?”

The history of Africa in America is not of yesterday, it is living today. For this reason I believe that this Synod should also include a reference to the Black people of America (I hope you have noticed the use of the word ‘American’ to designate the whole of America: North, Central, Antillean, Caribbean and South). A large part of their heart still lives and will continue to live in Africa; they will appreciate what happens here and consider it as pertaining to them.”

Cartagena was a main seaport during the Spanish colonial period of South America through which thousands of Africans transited to slavery on plantations, mines, and manufacturing. It retains a vibrant Afro-Hispanic culture.

———

Spero: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued a statement, congratulating President Barack Obama on being honored with the Nobel Peace Prize by Norway.

Said Cardinal George, “In the name of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, I would like to offer congratulations to President Barack Obama on his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. As he has graciously said, much of the work of realizing a more peaceful and just world for all persons and nations remains to be done; but the prize was given because as President of the United States he has already changed the international conversation.”

“In our own country, the remarkable and historic achievement of his election has changed the relationships between men and women of all races. The rich diversity of United States society is now more surely anchored in a national unity that is better able to foster the peace we all are challenged to pursue. Our prayer is that almighty God will bless the President and his family.”

———–

——

Those Republicans? Not Guilty! It’s the opportunists….By Raynard Jackson

http://www.usafricaonline.com/republicans-notguilty-raynardjackson-oct80/

——

President Obama, hate-mongers and mob cons. By Chido Nwangwu, Publisher of USAfricaonline.com, www.Achebebooks.com, CLASS magazine, The Black Business Journal,  USAfrica.TV, and the largest digital images/pictorial events domain for Africans  abroad www.PhotoWorks.TV

http://www.usafricaonline.com/president-obama-hate-mongers-and-mob-cons-by-chido-nwangwu/

http://www.usafricaonline.com/chido.obamavshatemongers09.html

Follow Chido at FaceBook.com/usafrica
and at Twitter.com/chido247

—–

USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com (characterized by The New York
Times as the  most influential African-owned, U.S-based multimedia
networks) established May 1992, our first edition of USAfrica magazine
was published August 1993; USAfrica The Newspaper on May 11, 1994;
CLASSmagazine on May 2, 2003; www.PhotoWorks.TV in 2005
——