To the Bishops of Benin (17 February 1982)

On Wednesday, 17 February 1982, the Holy Father addressed the Bishops of Benin in Cotonou, speaking of the need to distinguish in the culture of their people what is compatible with the Gospel and what is not. 

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,

1. How happy I am to find myself among you, in your home! I would almost dare to say: this is how I feel I can best carry out my mission of strengthening the Churches, as long as God gives me health. I am thus learning to know your dioceses of Cotonou, Abomey, Lokossa, Natitingou, Parakou, Porto Novo thanks to the Pastor of each of them. And I am delighted that Monsignor Adimou is now assisted, in his heavy responsibilities as Archbishop of Cotonou and President of the Episcopal Conference, by Monsignor Isidore de Souza. I should name an eighth, your predecessor, the dear Cardinal Gantin, who now devotes himself entirely to the good of the universal Church.

2. During this beautiful celebration that we have just experienced, I believe I have said the essential things about evangelization. I also read your succinct and precise report with interest. I wanted to highlight all the positive things that are currently happening in the Church in Benin. I am delighted to see that you have a large, well-trained Beninese clergy who live in good harmony with the many priests and nuns from other countries who can still provide you with their valuable assistance. I encourage, I said, your effort for vocations, your zeal to promote an adapted catechesis, a living and dignified liturgy which knows how to assimilate with the required prudence the valid expressions of popular prayer, your concern to form the laity to the apostolate for their environment and their task as catechists, particularly in Ouidah. Despite the difficulties that everyone knows, Christians and even nuns are admitted, and appreciated, as teachers in nationalized schools. You continue to ensure a very evangelical and effective presence in the healthcare world, in the training of future mothers, etc.

I also stressed the need for mutual aid between the South and the North, and I would like to insist that you do not fear making more numerous and quality missionary personnel available to the bishops of the North. But I know that you are already well aware of this duty of sharing that evangelization requires.

3. You are now, from a social and political point of view, in a situation that I know well from experience. I see that the Church here is overcoming this ordeal well; you even talk to me about a certain “spring”. I raise three important points on this subject. First, promote the greatest unity among yourselves, an unfailing unity, between the pastors and among all the apostolic workers of the Church: this will be your strength, this is what will save your Church. Then, continue the efforts that will strengthen the faith, form it in depth, so that it can face atheist ideologies and so that Christians can account for them. Finally, while remaining in your purely spiritual mission, remain very attentive to the human and moral problems which are acutely emerging in today's society, and train the laity to take their responsibility in this area. Thus it will be clear that Christians are the first to contribute loyally to the good of society, to the service of the homeland, particularly to development.

4. I still think of your concern to evangelize the customs of this country. This is the whole problem of the enculturation of faith. In this delicate area, and crucial for you, I know I can trust you to carefully discern the “semina Verbi”, everything that is compatible with the Gospel, can and even must help to express it in the life of a way adapted to this people, by integrating what most profoundly marks the minds, and at the same time to courageously clarify what moves away from evangelical authenticity or requires conversion. The successful rooting of the Gospel in your people depends on it.

5. In the homily, I spoke more specifically about the family. Some dioceses have taken this theme as a pastoral effort. It is indeed essential, as is the effort for vocations. I am sure that you will do everything, with your priests, your nuns and your truly Christian couples, to allow as many people as possible to better discover the grace of the sacrament of marriage, to desire it. And you will be able to present and explain, in a manner adapted to the Beninese, the different aspects of the exhortation “ Familiaris Consortio ”, which records the experience of the Synod, the universal experience of the Church in this area.

6. I don't have time to deal with the delicate issue of dialogue with Muslims, which I often address in other countries.

I also know that you encounter particular problems with sects, some already old, others new. Catholics must help each other face it with charity and discernment. This is where the sense of the unity of the Church matters.

7. Ultimately, the main thing is, as you say, to help Christians have a dynamic faith.

It is not just a question of method, which is certainly important. It is a matter of evangelical zeal. Without forgetting that faith is a gift from God to be asked for in fervent prayer.

Your priests obviously need, more than ever, to feel that you are very close to them, to their lives, to their concerns. And likewise the laity will become even more responsible by simply meeting you, conversing and reflecting with you.

For all this great work, thank you. I encourage you. I pray for you. Pray for me! And I bless you with all my heart.
 

© Copyright 1982 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana