Pope, in Africa, says church must help the poor

[March 18, 2009]  YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI set down strategy for his church in Africa on Wednesday, telling Cameroon's bishops to protect the traditional values of the African family and to spare the poor from the impact of globalization.

He also said that while the Catholic church in Africa is the fastest growing in the world, it faces competition from increasingly popular evangelical movements and "the growing influence of superstitious forms of religion."

The German-born pope, making his first African pilgrimage, also said that the exuberant local African rites should not "obstruct" the liturgy of the Mass.

Benedict began his second day with a meeting with Cameroon President Paul Biya at the presidential palace. Biya is one of Africa's longest-ruling strongmen, in power since 1982 and recently accused by the Amnesty International rights organization of seeking to crush political opposition.

No details of the meeting were immediately given.

The newspaper Le Jour carried a front-page interview with Cameroon Cardinal Christian Tumi asking Biya not to run again in 2011.

From the presidential palace, Benedict was driven to Christ the King Church to speak to Cameroon's 31 bishops and set down their mission.

"In the context of globalization with which we are all familiar, the church takes a particular interest in those who are most deprived," he said. "The bishop's mission leads him to be the defender of the rights of the poor."

He called it the duty of all Christians -- particularly those with political and economic responsibilities -- to contribute to the building of a "more just world where everyone can live with dignity."

He also worried about the impact of modernity and secularization on the traditional African family, telling the bishops to promote the understanding that marriage is indissoluble.

[Associated Press; By VICTOR L. SIMPSON]

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