In mid-November 2011, Pope Benedict XVI visited Ouidah, Benin to address the public and unveil his most recent exhortation titled Africae Munus (“Africa’s Commitment”). Portions of Africae Munus, and some of the Pope’s accompanying remarks, were deeply disturbing and reminiscent of the Catholic Church’s early rationalization for Christianizing Africa, conquering the Americas as well as parts of South Asia and the Pacific. Among other comments, Pope Benedict voiced opposition to the “syncretism” of Catholicism with indigenous religious beliefs, used descriptive terms such as “occultism” and “evil” in reference to African religions and called for a “profound evangelization” of Africans.
Say No to Catholic Church’s Assault on Indigenous Religions | Orisa CDC
At the link above, there is also a petition in support of an open letter to the Pope which you can sign. This open letter (the whole text in PDF here), together with the supporting signatures, will be sent to the Pope.
In media, we always hear about the Evangelical Christians and their zealotry with the “conversion” of non believers. However, the track record of the Catholic Church in the Global South is not any better. As the Pope demonstrated in his visit to Benin, the narrative of forced colonial evangelization continues unabated. In turn, this leads to the oppression and eventual extinction of spiritual practices that have been in use for thousands of years across several continents.
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