The Catholic Church crimes in Africa
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Re: The Catholic Church crimes in Africa
ዓቐበቶም ክንገብረሉ ኩዳ! https://www.aciafrica.org/news/23057/va ... gelization
Vatican Cardinal Urges Eastern Africa’s Catholic Church to Tackle Obstacles to Human Development through Evangelization
Credit: AMECEA
By Jude Atemanke
Nairobi, 20 July, 2026 / 11:40 pm (ACI Africa).
The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) has challenged the Catholic Church in Eastern Africa to identify and confront the concrete obstacles preventing people from living with dignity, saying evangelization, charity, and integral human development are inseparable dimensions of the Church's mission.
Delivering the keynote address at the 21st Plenary Assembly of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) on Monday, July 20, Michael Cardinal Czerny said the Church's mission is to accompany people in overcoming the barriers that hinder their flourishing rather than merely addressing material needs.
“If you can discover how charity, evangelization, and integral human development are three ways of saying the same thing, you have grasped the message,” Cardinal Czerny said during the event at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (ADN).
He reflected on the Church's understanding of integral human development, saying it encompasses every dimension of the human person—material, intellectual, cultural, social, and spiritual.
“Our ecclesial call is to become partakers and evangelizers of this abundant divine life given to us in Christ,” Cardinal Czerny said.
He identified numerous challenges that continue to frustrate authentic human development, including human rights violations, economic and social injustice, insecurity, violence, unemployment, environmental degradation, forced migration, human trafficking, humanitarian crises, and threats to democracy.
“We need to be continually discovering what the real obstacles to the integral human development of our people are, and then accompany them and minister to them.” Cardinal Czerny said.
Turning specifically to the AMECEA region, the Czechian-born member of the Society of Jesus (SJ/Jesuits) cited challenges previously identified by Church leaders, including forced migration, violence, climate change, environmental injustice, youth unemployment, food insecurity, poor governance, and pressure on family life.
“We need to keep asking, what are the most serious obstacles to integral human development in each diocese and throughout the region? And how can the Church most effectively accompany the people in facing and overcoming them?” he said.
The Cardinal cautioned against reducing development to economic growth, consumerism, or externally funded projects, insisting that authentic development is measured by the flourishing of the whole person.
“No one can develop someone else. The Church promotes integral human development, but the people are the primary agents of their own development. Our role is not to develop people. Our role is to accompany people in overcoming the obstacles to their development,” the Vatican-based Cardinal said.
He described such accompaniment as fundamentally pastoral, saying, “Don't let them tell you that it is political or merely social. It is pastoral.”
Reflecting on Pope Leo XIV'sfirst Encyclical Letter on Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, Magnifica Humanitas, the Vatican Cardinal said Christians are called to ask what kind of civilization humanity is building and whether it truly safeguards the dignity of every person.
“We are responsible for the civilization we are building,” he said.
Drawing on the biblical accounts of the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah, Cardinal Czerny contrasted human ambition driven by self-sufficiency with collaborative efforts inspired by God and directed toward the common good.
He said Pope Leo's teaching reaffirms that human dignity is not dependent on wealth, social status, abilities, or even a person's moral failures.
“Human dignity is a gift that precedes and transcends each person, endowed by God as an expression of His unfailing love,” the Cardinal said.
He added that because of this inherent dignity, the Church must continue promoting and defending the rights of every human person without exclusion.
Cardinal Czerny also highlighted the five guiding principles of Catholic Social Teaching—the common good, the universal destination of goods, solidarity, subsidiarity, and social justice—as essential tools for addressing contemporary social challenges.
“The way forward is together,” he said, adding that Christians are called to move beyond personal interests in pursuit of the common good.
The Vatican Cardinal praised Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai as an example of someone whose commitment “contributed to making history more humane,” urging Church leaders, Religious, lay faithful, and young people to emulate such witness.
He also underscored the importance of involving young people in the Church's mission, expressing gratitude that the AMECEA Plenary Assembly included significant youth participation.
“The social teaching of the Church is an examination of conscience for society and for the Church,” he said, emphasizing the need for inclusive decision-making that avoids paternalism and clericalism.
Cardinal Czerny challenged Church leaders to communicate more effectively the richness of Catholic Social Teaching, particularly to young people whose understanding of development is often shaped by consumer culture and digital media.
He insisted that true development is found not in wealth or consumption but in self-giving modeled on Christ.
“It is about living a life of purpose and generosity and meaning rooted in our relationship with God and expressed in relationships of listening and accompaniment,” he said.
Quoting St. Irenaeus, the Cardinal reminded AMECEA members that “the glory of God is humanity fully alive,” adding that authentic human development means meeting people's needs while helping them discover and cultivate their God-given gifts.
Cardinal Czerny encouraged AMECEA members to become “weavers of hope” by helping people overcome obstacles to abundant life through the Gospel.
“The Church really wants to engage with people's real challenges so that they may encounter Christ, the Lord of life, within their specific culture and situation,” he said.
He invited participants throughout the Assembly to reflect on the principal obstacles to human development in their dioceses, how local Churches communicate Catholic Social Teaching, and how they can better proclaim the Gospel's message of hope, reconciliation, peace, and integral human development.
“Let us become weavers of hope in our world, sharing who we are and what we have so that the presence of Jesus may grow among His Kingdom, and we take shape,” Cardinal Czerny said in his keynote address.
Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.
