Angelus

On Sunday, 11 August 1985, at Yaoundé (Cameroon), the Holy Father led in the recitation of the Angelus, remembering those who are in anguish beyond this "island of peace."

According to Christian custom, at midday we turn to Mary for the Angelus. Every Sunday, with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square in Rome, the Pope loves to pray like this. Today I do it with you, dear Christians of Yaoundé and inhabitants of Cameroon.

With Mary we give thanks. After having welcomed the Savior in her, through the power of the Holy Spirit, with the faith and willingness that you know, in the house of Elizabeth she praised, better than anyone else, the Lord who would do great things in her. Today the Lord comes to fill sixteen new priests with the power of his Spirit to send them to serve the people of God. May they always remain in thanksgiving for the gift received! And you too, dear brothers and sisters, who receive these priests as a gift from God, who participate yourselves in the mystery of the Transfiguration, of the luminous presence of the Lord among us!

And with Mary we pray. Let us open our hearts to the entire African continent. On this day of celebration, on this Sunday, on this island of peace, how can we forget those who, elsewhere, are in anguish? I am thinking in particular of the many victims of the new bloody clashes that have taken place in recent days in South Africa and that are worrying all of Africa and the entire world. As I said at the audience in Rome on Wednesday, I express my profound sorrow, my concern, my prayer.

May God welcome all these victims into his peace. May he inspire in all wisdom, just behavior, a sense of respect for the dignity of others, the will for peace, to put an end, without delay, to every unworthy discrimination of man and to every violence, ruinous for man.

We also pray for the happiness of this country that welcomes us: for the Church of Cameroon. We ask Mary especially to intercede for the sanctity of all the priests of her Son, for the strengthening of faith in all the disciples of her Son, so that evangelization may continue in this country. When the first missionaries arrived in Cameroon, in October 1890, near Edéa, they could not foresee, according to human views, humanly speaking, the future of their mission, so difficult were the living conditions. But they immediately consecrated their foundation to Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and gave it the name of Marienberg, “The Mountain of Mary”. With Mary, we believe that nothing is impossible for God. We entrust to her the fruits of this mission. May Christ who became flesh in her dwell among us and, unceasingly, lead us from darkness to his admirable light!

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