The first black Catholic Pope that never was, Francis Cardinal Arinze, was in Kenya this week with peace tidings from the Vatican. The Cardinal, who is a household name in the Catholic Church having been considered as a possible successor to Pope John Paul 11, arrived in the country on Thursday, gave a lecture at the Catholic University and left on Friday.
He brought with him a message from the Holy See – Kenyans should pray for peace in these trying moments.
He was referring to the recent post-election violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and 300,000 others displaced from their homes.
“I bring to you the blessings of His Holiness Pope Benedict,” he said in his peace discourse.“In these challenging times, the Pope is encouraging Kenyans to continue working for a better country,” he said.
Chief whip
The Cardinal, who now seats in the Cabinet of Pope Benedict XVI, is highly regarded in the Catholic Church.
In ordinary language, he is the minister in charge of the entire church’s religious affairs and chief whip – in the Roman Catholic’s parlance known as the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments at the Holy See.
Cardinal Arinze, whose clout is apparent, later led bishops for a retreat at Resurrection Gardens in Karen.
The cleric, a highly-placed Vatican official from Nigeria, is one of the most often-named Papabili – men who have the qualifications to hold the top office in the church.
He is often referred to as the African Pope.
Indeed he was on a short list of candidates to succeed Pope John Paul II. Had the papal conclave decided on white-smoke-for-a-black-pope, then Cardinal Arinze could be sitting on topmost Catholic seat.
No wonder, everybody jostled to secure front seats close to the prelate during his talk.
Cardinal Arinze, who can easily pass for an ordinary priest, is soft spoken, yet authoritative.
The prelate conveyed a message to Kenyans and the leaders as well as the Catholic faithful from Pope Benedict XVI.
Cardinal Arinze relayed Pope’s message that Kenya was close to his (Pope’s) heart adding that he (Pope) really hopes the country maintains the peace so far achieved.
According to Cardinal Arinze, who was in the country for two days owing to his busy schedule in Rome, the Pope wanted leaders to take necessary actions to ensure peace for all Kenyans. His visit comes at a time when Kenyans have embarked on a healing process following the signing of a peace accord that ended violence occasioned by the disputed presidential elections in December.
While discussing the role of liturgy in the healing process, Cardinal Arinze said the challenges facing Kenya and many other African countries require forgiveness, reconciliation and unity in the church and the society.
“We are in a Church in which there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free person, neither female nor male; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And as a body is one, though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, is only one body, so also Christ,” he said.
Cardinal Arinze has been successive both in his priesthood and moving through the Vatican hierarchy. Since 1985, he has been in Rome full-time. He was confirmed as Cardinal in April 21, 2005 and given the docket of Prefect of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
He was also President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. His most recent job simply places him as the head of the body responsible for keeping an eye on Catholic worship. And he participated in the reforms brought in at the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s that transformed the Catholic Church, which until then had insisted on the same Latin Mass being used worldwide.
Born on November 1, 1932, in Eziowelle, a city of the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria, the African prelate also became Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni where he succeeded Joseph Ratzinger, who had become Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Arinze began studies at a local seminary in Nigeria and was talent-spotted when he was 21 years old and taken to Rome to complete his education.
He was ordained as a priest in Rome.
When he returned to Nigeria, he worked as education secretary for the regional government and for some time assisted the Bishop of Onitsha, the nearest city to his birthplace. It was not long before he was a bishop himself at the age of 35, then the youngest bishop in the world.
Cardinal Arinze was to become one of the principal advisors to the late Pope John Paul II. It was in 1985 when Cardinal Arinze was to resign from his post in Onitsha that the Pope named him a Cardinal Deacon.
His visit makes him the first such high ranking official into Kenya after the Pastoral visit of the late Pope John Paul II for the celebration phase of the African synod on September 18, 1995.
This, however, makes Cardinal Arinze’s second visit to the country having come at the Centenary celebrations in the early 1990s. The Cardinal’s deep-thinking mien could easily scare one from making an inquiry.
It is until you hear him speak that you can appreciate his brilliance.
He is receptive to critics.
But his responses are telling.
It also emerged that Cardinal Arinze does not only believe in goodwill but ability as well.
Serious matters
Yet when it came to the serious matters of the Liturgy, Cardinal Arinze ably delivered the guidelines informing the priests that if they lack the fire, they could not inspire.
“In preaching the liturgy, avoid theological acrobatics or showing that you have learnt theology, deliver the message. Liturgical celebration is not for entertainment. Those seeking entertainment can visit the church’s social hall after mass,” he said.
According to him, the priest should vet, discern and decide which kind of dances go with the liturgy unless it is a special celebration like Christmas and Easter.
He believes that the faithful should enjoy the liturgy and not the dance saying, “we celebrate Christ and not individuals”.
He concludes by challenging African leaders especially the bishops to build up nations in harmony and peaceful development despite the diverse ethnic groups characterising most African countries.
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