(About the Synod on Synodality) So, coming to this Synod, the intention was not to address this or that problem. The main intention, the primary objective of the Synod, is about how we can become a new Church together, acquire a new way of being the Church; in our way of being, in our operating structures, in our collaboration structures.
Congolese theologian and catholic cardinal (1960-)
Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (24 January 1960–) is a Congolese cardinal of the Catholic Church who serves as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa. In 2023 he became president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. He is a member of the Council of Cardinals.
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Noi abbiamo, almeno dall’esterno, l’impressione che l’Occidente stia perdendo le proprie radici e le radici dell’Occidente sono esattamente i valori che l’Occidente ci ha portato durante la colonizzazione e noi abbiamo creduto in questi valori; ma constatiamo oggi che per l’Occidente questi valori non esistono più e questo ci confonde un po’. Ci poniamo delle domande: dove sta andando l’Occidente con questo genere di passi? E quando ho detto che l’Occidente rischia di sparire è per il fatto che un popolo è anche la sua cultura, ma abbiamo l’impressione che l’Occidente non è più disposto ad assumere la sua cultura: tutto è relativizzato, tutto è messo in discussione, e questo comunque ci inquieta.
We have the impression, at least from the outside, that the West is losing its roots, and the roots of the West are precisely the values that the West brought us during colonisation, and we believed in these values; but today we see that these values no longer exist for the West, and this confuses us a little. We ask ourselves: where is the West going with this kind of approach? And when I say that the West is in danger of disappearing, it is because a people is also its culture, but we have the impression that the West is no longer willing to embrace its culture: everything is relativised, everything is questioned, and this, in any case, disturbs us.
It has always been important for the Capuchins to encourage lay people to take an active part in the Church and in effect we have many local lay Catholics in the Franciscan Tertiary Order. This is very encouraging for us because the collaboration of well-prepared lay people is necessary for the apostolate.