There's the Negro spiritual He's got the whole world in his hands. Hope-fully, "He" refers to the one and only Almighty and not to Jesus or His Holiness the Pope. Well, there are only 100 Catholics in Somalia; otherwise nearly the whole world likes Pope Francis (I love-like him).
Roman Catholicism is big in the world and growing rapidly as "In the name of Jesus" the ideological battle for souls between the various Christian denominations rages on - a battle in which the Roman Catholic Church seems to be getting the upper hand . In One love Bob Marley asks the question: "Is there a place for the hopeless sinner?" The answer according to the Catholic Church is clear enough : just imagine for example that in 2007, Tony B-liar the former Prime Minister of Protestant Britain, repenting and turning Catholic, the message being that there is hope of heaven for all kinds of sinners.
Perhaps this is a wrong message for corrupt African politicians. In my view it could encourage even the most corrupt thusly, almost a new commandment: No need to fear or despair! You can sin now as much as possible (as much as you please) and gain salvation at the very last moment by accepting Jesus on your death bed.
Bard Dylan has reservations about this and expresses some certainties in his Masters of War, the bit that goes
"Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do"
It's love when you love and hate when you hate. More strong words for the unforgivable:
"And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead"
The Pontiff is in Africa, East Africa to be precise to encourage the doing of good deeds and to give hope to the hopeless, the shuffering and shmiling, the downtrodden. I guess that Central African may be feeling left out and a little jealous (the Democratic Republic of Congo with approximately 30 million Catholics, and in Burundi, 3 million). West Africans Catholics also have a few cardinals and are also hungry to see him (darshan), especially the large Catholic Congregations in Nigeria (23 million) Ivory Coast (5 million) Ghana (2.7 million) Sierra Leone (174,511) and Gambia (33,458)
The past two centuries a holy ideological war has been going on in Africa, between Christianity and Islam, for the souls of the African. During this time Islam has been spreading southwards faster than the Sahara desert. If you look at the map of Africa you will notice that the areas with the greatest consumption of alcohol are the least Islamized. It would seem that for example among the Bantus of the Congo although the religiously legal possibility of polygamy (maximum four wives) could be an attraction; to stop consuming al-cohol would be too high a price to pay for becoming Muslim. The formula is not easy to forget: The more of al-cohol the less of al-Islam. (The first act of Aime Cesaire's A Season in the Congo explains how building beer breweries was a necessity, a political priority - it's alcohol as the opium of the masses otherwise what you get is an uprising of the masses in revolt, revolution! It's the beer brewers that promote most of the "worldly" music in both Congos. But apart from the" worldly" the Congo has great gospel music all the way from Missa Luba to Yesu Christu - and so do all African countries. After the Congo it's Nigeria and Ghana. Connoisseurs know this.
The Pope's five big issues in Africa
The Pope is in Africa to win souls for the Catholic Church even as he preaches religious dialogue between Christianity and Islam whose tenet is that Jesus did not die on the cross and that the trinity is the one unforgivable sin known as shirk, polytheism.
When this Pope's predecessor visited Africa, Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi assessment of the visit is contained in this document Papal Bull
I think that the Pope's visit to Nigeria will cool this kind of ire in Chidi's poetry down a little bit. Professor Harrow says that "the real magic is poetry." Especially since Pope Francis is South American, we may get more magical realism
It's doubtful that a visit to Nigeria could have a have a dampening effect on the murderous Boko Haram who are currently, indiscriminately killing both Christians and Muslims and anyone else who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
About item 4 of his visit, homosexuality, he may be treading on dangerous ground, particularly in Uganda where the homophobic Museveni is bound to say "Hell no!" in Jamaica without police protection Ogbeni's miscreants and street urchins may even go as far as picking up stones to stone him.
Will the Pope say anything about FGM? In today's Gambia under the Great Yahya Jammeh he could probably preach against FGM and for the Blessed Virgin Mary to his heart's content, but in some other African countries he had better leave FGM alone.
Signed
Cornelius Hamelberg
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