Cardinal Dolan Of New York Praises The African Church

Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai

Unlike the xenophobic comments of Cardinal Kasper who is blinded to the fact that many in his native Germany no longer go to Church, Cardinal Dolan of New York has shown remarkable openness and appreciation of the heroic Church of Africa. We want to remind Cardinal Kasper that by maintaining the biblical faith on the meaning of marriage, the African Church is simply being faithful to the apostolic form of the faith. It is this form of the faith that Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Ireneaus, Justin, will recognise. While Islam is growing in Germany, Kasper is busy watering down the faith. 

Cardinal Timothy Dolan spoke about the African bishops participating in the synod, in an interview with Catholic News Service. "We in the Church in Europe, the Church in North America, we suffer sometimes from a lethargy, don’t we? Not Africa! … The bishops of Africa are prophetic in reminding us that the role of the Church is to transform the culture, not to be transformed by the culture. … I’m afraid sometimes we in the West might say, "Oh, I guess we ought to dilute things, I guess we ought to capitulate, it’s obvious this teaching’s being rejected, oh my Lord, we’re not popular." And the Africans say, "Well, you know what? We’re not supposed to be. What we’re supposed to do is propose the truth and invite people by the love and the joy of our lives to embrace the truth. And take it from us, brothers, it works."