Thirty-two months after his first apostolic pilgrimage to the African countries of Cameroon and Angola in 2009, Benedict XVI is to return to the continent for his second visit, between 18 and 20 November.
This time, he will be heading to Benin, on the occasion of the publication and signing of the African Synod, which was celebrated in Rome, in 2009.
This will be the third time that this small Country welcomes a Pope, since John Paul II’s two visits in February 1982 and then in the same month, eleven years later, in 1993, and the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, took place in Ouidah.
Besides paying tribute to Benin’s capital, Cotonou, in Ouidah, the Pope will also pay his respects to a great witness of the Catholic faith, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin (1922-2008), who is buried in his birth town, in the chapel of Saint Gall’s Seminary.
In the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception, the Pope will sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation, which he will deliver to all African Episcopates, on Sunday 20 November.
This papal document is of great importance, as it represents the pastoral path taken by an entire continent.
It will provide in depth conclusions on the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which took place in the autumn of 2009 and which centred around the theme: “The Church in Africa, in service to reconciliation, justice and peace”.