The Catholic Church has started preparations to welcome Pope Benedict XVI next March following his announcement of his first trip to Africa.The pope's visit follows an invitation by Cameroonian bishops and President Paul Biya. Archbishop Eliseo Antonio Ariotti, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, said he was grateful to the Holy Father for having accepted the invitation.
"I have already begun preparations for the Holy Father's visit. The Bishops' Conference in Cameroon has already begun taking measures to assure that the Pope's trip can be an occasion of spiritual growth for the country," Archbishop Ariotti said, according to FIDES.
The nuncio observed that Pope Benedict's visit recalls that of his predecessor, John Paul II, in 1995, when he presented the Apostolic Post-Synodal Exhortation 'Ecclesia in Africa,' at the conclusion of the Synod on Africa in 1994.
"Once again, the Holy Father has chosen Cameroon to be the place to host the presentation of the preparatory document of the Synod for Africa, which will take place in October 2009.
This choice could be because Cameroon is a country in the heart of Africa, where both French and English are spoken, and seems to be a logical choice for presenting the new document to all the African Bishops."
Cameroon has 17 million people of whom 4.6 are Catholic. The church has 24 dioceses with 808 parishes. There are 30 bishops, 1,151 diocesan priests, 581 religious priests, 312 professed brothers, 2,155 religious sisters, 19,597 catechists.
The Cameroonian Catholic Church runs 349 kindergartens with 34,889 students, 1,005 elementary schools with 270,252 students, and 139 middle schools and high schools with 72,116 students.
The Church also runs 23 hospitals, 228 clinics, 10 leper houses, 11 shelters, 12 orphanages, and 45 family consultation offices.
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(Source: AAC)