Pope Francis: “Stop Strangling Africa… This Land Cannot Be Plundered”
The testimony of Daniele Comboni, a missionary on the African continent, was chosen by Pope Francis to condemn the “economic colonialism” that today enslaves the “dark continent”.
During his general audience on September 20, Pope Francis made a powerful and very timely call to the world to put an end to the “economic colonialism” that today enslaves the continent and to fight once and for all the terrible and disgusting phenomenon of slavery.
As an example, the Holy Father chose the testimony of the Italian Catholic missionary and bishop who devoted his entire life to Christian work in Africa, Daniele Comboni. He died in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on October 10, 1881, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 5, 2003.
Pope Francis quoted Comboni as saying about African peoples, “They have taken possession of my heart, which lives only for them… I will die with Africa on my lips.” “He said this,” Pope Francis emphasized, “against the backdrop of the horrors of slavery that he witnessed. Slavery ‘turns into a thing’ a person whose value is reduced to his usefulness to someone or something.”
According to the Holy Father, “Comboni, in the light of Christ, realized the evil of slavery; he also understood that social slavery is rooted in a deeper slavery, the slavery of the heart, the slavery of sin, from which the Lord frees us.”
Therefore, as Christians, Francis said, “we are called to fight against every form of slavery.” He further noted, “However, unfortunately, slavery, like colonialism, is not a thing of the past. Alas, in Africa – so beloved by Comboni – which is being torn apart by many conflicts, an equally enslaving economic colonialism was unleashed after the political one.”
For Pope Francis, “this is a drama to which the most economically developed world often closes its eyes, ears, and mouth. So, I repeat my call: stop strangling Africa. This is not a mine that can be exploited, nor is it soil that can be plundered.”
And at the end of the general audience, the Pope prayed for peace in Karabakh, “Yesterday I received disturbing news from Nagorno-Karabakh, in the South Caucasus, where the already critical humanitarian situation is now aggravated by further armed clashes. I once again appeal to all parties involved and the international community to silence the guns and make every effort to find peaceful solutions for the benefit of people and respect for human dignity.”