Pope holds giant mass in Africa
2009-03-19 19:10
Yaounde - Pope Benedict on Thursday held the first giant mass of his Africa tour, expressing solidarity with the continent's refugees and poor while steering clear of the international furore caused by his opposition to condoms.
The pope told an estimated 60 000 crowd packed into a football stadium in Yaounde that Africa was "a continent of hope" but that Africa, and Cameroon in particular, were at risk from people seeking to "impose the tyranny of materialism".
In a homily that extolled traditional family values, Benedict said it was a time to place greater emphasis on the sanctity of "every tiny human person".
He did not mention Africa's Aids epidemic or his opposition to the use of condoms which clouded the start of his first visit to Africa as pope.
The 81-year-old Benedict has been criticised by European governments and international Aids charities, for comments he made on Tuesday in which he said condoms aggravated the spread of AIDS.
The Vatican has sought to play down the controversy, saying Benedict had merely been expressing the Catholic Church's policy on contraception.
Fist contact with the masses
However, the French foreign ministry called it a "threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life," while the Dutch development minister said it was "extremely harmful" and that "the pope is making matters worse".
Even the government in Benedict's native Germany expressed concern.
Thursday's mass at the Amadou Ahidjo stadium was Benedict's first contact with the masses since his arrival in Cameroon. The reception was noisy and festive as he waved from his trademark white pope mobile as it circled the stadium's running track.
Many wore T-shirts and other items of clothing with Benedict's picture.
Some said they had queued outside the stadium all night to be sure of getting in. Marshalls struggled to contain the rush for the best seats when the gates were opened and thousands were left outside when the mass began.
The ceremony, which Cameroon's President Paul Biya was attending with his wife, was scheduled to last more than 3 hours.
"At a time when many people have no qualms about trying to impose the tyranny of materialism, with scant concern for the most deprived, you must be careful," he said in his homily.
"Africa in general, and Cameroon in particular, place themselves at risk if they do not recognise the True Author of Life."
"Take care of your souls, do not let yourself be captivated by selfish illusions and false ideals!"
Uprooted and fragile
The pope said the family "in your country and across Africa, is experiencing a difficult time. Certain values of the traditional life have been overturned".
The younger generation had been left "uprooted and fragile" and cut off from family.
"Is this an irreversible, inevitable development? By no means! More than ever, we must hope against all hope," he said.
"'Hoping against hope': is this not a magnificent description of a Christian? Africa is called to hope through you and in you! With Jesus Christ, who trod the African soil, Africa can become the continent of hope!"
The African people were sometimes "constrained to flee from themselves and abandon everything that once made up their interior richness", lamented Benedict.
"Confronted with the phenomenon of rapid urbanisation, they leave the land, physically and morally" ending up in "a kind of interior exile which alienates them from their very being".
Later, the pope is to visit Cameroon's National Rehabilitation Centre for the disabled, constructed by Canadian Cardinal Paul-Emile Leger, for what he has called "a meeting with the world of suffering".
Benedict met earlier with members of Cameroon's Muslim community.
The pope is due to fly to Angola on Friday for the second and final leg of the tour.
