To the President of the Republic, Established Bodies of the State and the Diplomatic Corps

On Monday, 12 August 1985, the Holy Father met with the President of the Republic, established bodies of the State and members of the Diplomatic Corps*, in Yaoundé (Cameroon). The Pope remind them that despite the diversity of their population, their "task is to revive its conscience and to converge the efforts of all citizens, the contribution of all ethnic groups, towards the common good.”

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. How could I not be sensitive to the warm words and lofty considerations just expressed? I warmly thank His Excellency President Paul Biya and, through him, I thank all those who contribute to welcoming me to this country of Cameroon, so dear to me, in visiting which, as Pastor of the Universal Church, I feel great joy. This evening I have the honor of addressing the political leaders of the country and the diplomats: in the exercise of my mission as Universal Pastor, I consider this meeting very important, given your high responsibilities for the progress of Cameroon and for world peace.

2. My respectful greeting and good wishes go first of all to you, Mr. President, who a little less than three years ago rose to the supreme judiciary, after having played an important role for many years in the service of your country. You have the heavy task of promoting the unity of the nation, of bringing together all forces in the direction of its development, seeking to ensure the good of all the inhabitants of Cameroon and of leading the country into the momentum and renewal that it needs.

Together with you, I greet those who collaborate with you in this great undertaking as members of the government, those who support it in terms of political options, as members of the central committee or the national political bureau of the democratic union of the people of Cameroon, as well as those who have legislative responsibility as parliamentarians. May God help you in the conduct of public affairs in the service of all your compatriots!

3. Cameroon appears in fact to be a crossroads of ethnic groups, languages, religions, open to both the French-speaking and English-speaking worlds, in the heart of Africa, and very representative of this continent. Such a situation certainly requires that there be between these very different groups a spirit of tolerance and dialogue, respect for the specific conditions of culture and religion, consideration of local responsibilities and the rights of each, mutual esteem and fraternal cooperation. It also requires, from national leaders, great vigilance to ensure that this spirit is observed everywhere, to prevent some from suffering any kind of harassment by others, and to guarantee the participation of all in the common good.

This is the situation that Cameroon has to deal with. It demands more than other situations of the same kind. However, a union that knows how to integrate harmoniously this jumble of differentiated realities and personal values ​​has the possibility of greater richness on the human level. For its part, the Catholic Church experiences a somewhat similar situation on a universal scale. In this same country I have had the opportunity to visit four regions with quite different pastoral problems; I have had the opportunity to hear in the liturgy a chorus of various linguistic expressions. Our communion is born precisely from this “Catholicity”. And no one is excluded from our sympathy, nor from our dialogue: I have just met the delegation of the Protestant Churches, then that of the Muslims.

4. However, Cameroon can never be a mosaic of particular interests. It is a sovereign state, a unified republic. It is a nation. And it is your task to revive its conscience and to converge the efforts of all citizens, the contribution of all ethnic groups, towards the common good. You try to develop this patriotic feeling that makes the inhabitants of Cameroon proud of their national identity. You rightly want everyone to participate actively in public life - with respect for order, for the supreme good of the nation and for the rights of others - in order to prepare a worthy future for all the children of this country, ensuring them as much as possible equality of opportunity. It is an immense task to realize your projects of integrated rural development, of moral and intellectual formation of the youth, of job creation, while at the same time addressing the problems of health, the environment, urbanization, transportation, wages, social protection.

5. All countries, especially those of the Third World, must thus take up an economic and social challenge with limited means, and they seek to mobilize all their energies. The important thing is to find a way of doing so that, in itself, develops the best qualities of the human being, without resorting to an oppressive system that makes man lose his freedom, and also without allowing the economic powers to blindly and selfishly increase their reach for the benefit of a few. It is equally important to avoid the paralysis of excessive bureaucracy, and the evils of corruption, fraud and waste. One can only rejoice when one sees the appeals of the leaders of this country for a moralization of action put into practice: for rigor in management, for honesty, for professional competence and conscience, for a job well done, for tenacity in effort, for a sense of responsibility, for concern for the common good, for self-denial, for the pursuit of social justice for all.

6. The Church evaluates this ethical impulse positively, and hopes that it will bear fruit. Certainly, in all countries of the world, she is keen that her religious purpose, her methods, her doctrine - which is a message of spiritual life, even before entailing moral dignity as a consequence - are not confused with those of the State. She always remains free in her judgment on realities of a moral nature. She calls for an additional justice and charity that takes into account all personal and community components, and that overcomes the ever-present risks of personal selfishness or the abuse of power.

The Church is also of the opinion that a State cannot successfully carry out the noble task of educating the civic sense if it does not rely sufficiently on the intermediate social components, on the more restricted natural communities and on the various components that also have this educational role. I am thinking in particular of the family which must be supported in its stability and in its mission; of the school which well deserves support, to the extent that it integrates this moral and spiritual formation into the instruction imparted. It always remains true that the formation of consciences in moral rectitude, in the sense of personal responsibility, in solidarity with others is exactly and in itself what the Church seeks as a projection of the Christian message within social life. She is therefore very happy when she notes convergences between her own commitment and the efforts of political leaders.

7. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the constituted bodies of this country, I do not want to forget all that is dear to you in the matter of foreign policy. You want Cameroon to acquire the full role that is due to it in the concert of nations, not only to assert its rights, but to give its contribution to the efforts of the international community to advance peace, justice, development. In addition to you, I now turn to the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to this Government and to the representatives of the international organizations resident in Cameroon.

You are aware of the participation that the Holy See willingly gives in the life of the community of nations, both in the diplomatic contacts permitted by its own statute and in the international meetings to which it is invited. At the beginning of each year I myself have the opportunity to explain to all the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See the principles which guide our action, with regard to the tireless search for peace through dialogue, the need to reduce armaments, the safeguarding of fundamental human rights and fundamental freedoms, the consolidation of legal instruments capable of guaranteeing greater justice, the need for solidarity, in particular between the North and the South of the world, the effective consideration of the basic needs of food survival and hygiene, and in general to humanitarian concern for all "those left on the margins along the path of history" (cf. John Paul II, Allocutio ad Exc. mos Viros nationum apud Sanctam Sedem constitutos Legatos , 4, 15 January 1983: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VI/1 [1983] 125).

Today, without resuming that discourse on a global scale, I would like to consider with you the common good of the African continent, in which your mission is carried out. It seems to me that this good passes in particular through respect for the identity of Africa and its dignity, through the contribution to its economic development, through the promotion of its moral progress. And this is the question posed to our conscience: what do we do, what can we do to truly promote the good of all our brothers and sisters in Africa?

8. Dignity presupposes first of all authentic national independence (cf. John Paul II, Allocutio ad Exc. mos Viros nationum apud Sanctam Sedem constitutos Legatos , 2, 14 January 1984 : Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VII/1 [1984] 71). This is now the case for all the countries of the African continent; and it is to be hoped that those which are not yet independent - I am thinking in particular of Namibia - will soon become so, in an honourable and peaceful manner, like all the other African nations. The stage of independence, happily achieved in these last twenty-five years, must permit the expansion of the effects expected and already obtained. How can we deny that this is a capital issue for the full responsibility of the nations involved, for a development consistent with their respective human, moral and spiritual values, for a strengthening of understanding and solidarity between the countries of Africa? And yet independence does not in itself solve the serious problems of a country's evolution. Many of them still fear, from outside, a more subtle form of dependence, of an economic or cultural nature, through which they are subjected to certain ideological influences that they have allowed to penetrate their own civilization.

Beyond these hopes for full freedom in the conduct of their internal affairs, the countries of Africa would undoubtedly hope that those of other continents would take greater account, at the international level, of their proposals and decisions, which, in general, bear the hallmark of moderation and do not call for violence.

What these young independent nations would finally like to achieve now is self-sufficiency.

9. Economic self-sufficiency cannot mean that the country should withdraw into itself, which would be neither possible nor desirable. It is, however, right that each country in Africa should take the reins of its own development, and be encouraged to do so, using all the natural resources at its disposal, and ensuring the growth of products suited to its own needs. It is also desirable that solidarity with African countries in the same geographical area should be strengthened where it already exists, and that it should be born where it does not yet exist. These natural relations of neighborliness have already produced happy results.

I also applaud the efforts of the Organization of African Unity: how can we not wish that, as in other organizations on the continent, this unity will progress, in order to ensure a coherent path towards the just solution of the various political and social problems of Africa?

Finally, it is necessary for the international community to continue to provide its aid and even increase it, given the state of emergency in many African countries in terms of hunger, health or investments. It is to be hoped that the problems of security between East and West will not polarize too much the tension and the use of resources in the countries of the so-called North of the world: may they worry much more about the growing disparities with the countries of the so-called South, and understand that interdependence is also a question of survival for them! But the point to which the Third World countries remain legitimately sensitive is that of the context in which this aid is placed: they do not accept that it masks a deterioration in trade relations or certain injustices in the field of trade or investments. They want sincere help to get them out of the inextricable problem of loans and debts that are too heavy and that they have been forced to undertake at the cost of high risks.

Those who seek the good of Africa, whether they belong to the North or the South of the world, will be able to reconsider these problems with equity and open the way to realistic and just solutions, capable of safeguarding the dignity of countries that have the right to progress in development.

10. If it is true that such progress is only authentic in justice, it is only possible in peace. Africa needs peace. It cannot tolerate wars or guerrilla warfare that are ruinous for human lives and destruction, which require, among other things, an increase in military spending and exacerbate passions, turning brothers into enemies. Who can side with fratricidal wars, and in some cases even genocide?

In the face of existing or resurgent conflicts, everyone must honestly ask themselves what their causes are. The injustices committed by certain regimes with respect to human rights in general or to the legitimate claims of a part of the population that is denied participation in common responsibilities unleash revolts whose violence is deplorable, but which can only be quelled by re-establishing justice. It is also true that certain external interferences incite guerrilla warfare for the sole purpose of destabilization (cf. John Paul II, Allocutio ad Exc. mos Viros nationum apud Sanctam Sedem constitutos Legatos , 4, 14 January 1984: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VII/1 [1984] 75). Finally, it is certain that the sale of arms carried out solely with a view to profit incites belligerents. Those who love Africa will at least avoid fanning these hotbeds of violence, and will instead do everything possible to bring the parties to that wisdom of peace which corresponds to the profound desire of many Africans who have already been sufficiently tested in other fields.

11. Among Africa's trials, everyone thinks of the terrible scourge of drought that is affecting so many countries, in the Sabel region and in many others. The resulting famine finally seems to be moving the entire world, yet - beyond the urgent relief on which the lives of millions of our brothers and sisters depend - each of us knows that it is necessary to prepare now for a more secure future. God has placed enough resources of imagination in our spirit, of love in our hearts and of strength in our arms, thanks to the technical means that he has enabled us to put into practice, to help us emerge from a fatalistic mentality. The sense of responsibility on the part of those concerned, the generous solidarity of their brothers open the door to hope. The FAO and many other organizations take this challenge to heart. The Apostolic See contributes with its own initiatives, according to its means; I will speak about this again shortly in Nairobi. But let none of us turn away in the face of the desperation that strikes the victims of the famine around us!

12. The sad situation of refugees is unfortunately not limited to Africa alone. There are tens of millions of refugees on our planet, but those from Africa have become particularly numerous, and have probably doubled in the last five years. In this regard too we must pay tribute to international organizations, such as the High Commissioner for Refugees, which follow these problems with a profound humanitarian sense and contribute greatly to the management of refugee camps. We also know all that this country of Cameroon has done to offer asylum to refugees from Equatorial Guinea and especially from Chad, and to participate in their integration. Here too, however, the causes of these forced displacements should be eliminated. It is not only hunger or precarious living conditions that drive people to flee, but also fear, war, injustice (cf. John Paul II, Allocutio ad Exc. mos Viros nationum apud Sanctam Sedem constitutos Legatos , 6, 15 January 1983: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VI/1 [1983] 127). Even if material support is given to some of the refugees, the state of moral prostration in which they find themselves, uprooted from their homeland and without work, remains inhuman. It is desirable that they be integrated in the best possible way into the economic and social life of the country that hosts them; however, the best solution is voluntary repatriation with guarantees of security in the country of origin. I also draw attention to the innumerable immigrants, whose fate has become just as precarious as that of the refugees.

13. There are other scourges which every country which has achieved independence must strive to eliminate. They exist, more or less seriously, in other places besides Africa. Some countries can be congratulated for having put an end to them. However, they deserve to be insisted upon once more, because too many innocent people are victims of them and we feel powerless to help them. I want to speak for them. I want to speak about the violations of human rights, so loudly proclaimed in other places. How can we not think of arbitrary arrests, sentences, executions without a real trial, detentions for crimes of opinion in inhuman conditions, torture, disappeared persons? Security reasons are invoked; and no one denies the legitimacy of security measures in the face of threats which risk shaking democratic regimes themselves; but they are often invoked beyond necessity, without any guarantee of justice, and as if a difference of political opinion were already a crime.

Another glaring injustice in some regions of Africa is that of racial discrimination which rightly arouses the indignation of the world and the Church. It is deplorable to note that a system of apartheid still persists which, through harsh repression, continues to make too many victims by trampling on an elementary human right!

Finally, among the fundamental rights of the person, I feel the need to mention religious freedom once again, since I know of too many situations in which Christians are harassed in the exercise of their worship and in obtaining the means necessary for their formation in the faith. In some regions of Africa, for example, the Church suffers in seeing her missionaries expelled or not welcomed, when they come to dedicate their ministry to the service of the local Church, which asks for their help, and of the populations who benefit from it; she suffers in witnessing certain forms of discrimination or suspicion of which her faithful are victims; she suffers in seeing the life and personal freedom of priests, men and women religious, who bear witness only to love and peace, violated.

All these deplorable situations are the fruit of the spirit of violence or pride of a very small minority; more often, they manifest fear and lack of maturity. They dishonor those who bring them into being. States proud of their sovereignty must live up to their responsibilities and understand that they have duties towards their people and towards each of their citizens (cf. John Paul II, Allocutio ad Exc. mos Viros nationum apud Sanctam Sedem constitutos Legatos , 4, 14 January 1984: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , VII/1 [1984] 73ff.).

14. In fact, those who love Africa see, beyond these miseries everywhere connected to the weakness of man, a certain number of human, moral and spiritual values ​​that only ask to be expanded, and which Christianity, for its part, would like to promote and ennoble through the peace and charity that come from Christ. Africa can offer the world, among other things, the example of generous and tireless hospitality, the example of that solidarity that counts so much between members of the same family or tribe, to the point that no one is ever left without help, the example of a spontaneous religious sense that makes one familiar with the invisible. These are values ​​that the modern world would greatly need in order to avoid the contradictions and dangers of a humanism deprived of its fundamental religious dimension and to bring about a joyful community at all levels of society.

Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, please see in my intentions the great desire to see this African continent increasingly loved, respected, promoted, welcomed on the international scene. Your honor as political and diplomatic leaders is to contribute to the happiness of the peoples, yours and all those of the human community who can only live in solidarity. In this noble function, may the Almighty inspire you and give you his peace!

* L'Osservatore Romano 14.8.1985 p.5.

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