Two bishops who participated in a major summit on African Catholicism earlier this month have a message to the Catholic Church in the western world: Don’t bring your polarization onto our continent.

Two bishops who participated in a major summit on African Catholicism earlier this month have a message to the Catholic Church in the western world: Don’t bring your polarization onto our continent.
Sister Leonida Katunge wears two hats – or habits, rather – spending her days alternating between teaching courses in liturgy and practicing law in her homeland of Kenya.
A major African summit concluded on Dec. 9 with a warning that despite the continent enjoying the Catholic Church’s highest growth rate, unless theology and pastoral practice is “translated into tools of liberation” then “the growth of the Church will only be in number.”
According to a range of scholars at a Pan-African Congress on Theology, Pastoral Life, and Society, the pope’s metaphor for the Church as a “field hospital” provides particular resonance for the African continent – and, they say, must guide pastoral practice in the realms of education, liturgy, and the laity.
As the number of African Catholics continues to soar, one Kenyan nun is warning that they must first “clean house” when it comes to the issue of clergy abuse before exhibiting greater leadership in the global Church.
A much-anticipated Pan-African Congress opened Dec. 5 with a plea for justice, both for the continent and its people.