From: People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to make an Apostolic Visit to Benin from November 18 to 20, 2011 to present the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa Synod of Bishops in style. The Vatican Radio and three African musicians have produced a musical album to mark his visit.
According to Vatican Radio, the musical album dubbed Africa tenda amani (Afrca make peace!) produced in collaboration with Papa Wemba, Bonga and Fifito, will reflect the theme of the second African Synod: The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace.
According to the Director General of Vatican Radio, Fr Federico Lombardi, the album expresses in music the desire to accompany the fruits yielded by the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.
Fr Lombardi said that the songs in the album are in various languages and interpret the aspiration for peace, reconciliation and justice of the African peoples which according to him they are a concrete way of inculturating the Gospel in Africa, as emphasized by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Cameroon in 2009.
The good news is that the musical CD will be distributed to all bishops, dioceses and Catholic Radio Stations in Africa with an aim to spread the message of the second African Synod. This is also in accordance with the Papal Missionary Intention of November that promotes reconciliation, justice and peace in Africa.
Given that most of these trips involve the Pope giving speeches on issues that play an important role in the region that he visits, especially on education, contraceptives, abortion, and what it means to be Catholic, the Pope is expected to speak on matters touching on family values as opposed to same sex union.
Same-sex sexual acts for both men and women are legal in Benin, even though same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Same-sex sexual acts were previously illegal for both men and women, with a penalty of between one and three years in prison and a fine between 100,000 and 300,000 francs (150 to 300 euros).
The Pope may also touch something on voodoo. Once banned in Benin, the religion is celebrated at the country’s annual Voodoo Day, which draws thousands of celebrants.
In the past, the ports of Benin exported slaves and one of the religions of those slaves was voodoo, which remains strong in Benin today.
A voodoo stall offers solutions to help people’s businesses or exam results
There is a large trade in raw materials for voodoo. A chameleon is apparently necessary to help a business succeed, whilst a cat’s head, ground into a powder with seven herbs and the skin of an antelope, will help a student get good results at school.
You can also recall that when the Pope visited Australia (July 13 to July 21, 2008) to meet with the young people of the world at World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney he made a historic full apology for child sex abuse by court sentenced of 107 predatory Catholic priests, inter alia, and clergy in Australia, on July 19, 2008.
Before a 3,400 audience, he called for compensation and demanded punishment for those guilty of the “evil”: “Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country.
I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering.” The Pope said: “Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.
These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation. “I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops, and to work together with them in combating this evil. It is an urgent priority to promote a safer and more wholesome environment, especially for young people”.
In Cameroon and Angola (March 17 to March 23, 2009) the pope drew criticism for suggesting that condoms were not the answer to Africa’s Aids crisis, but rather, sexual behavior. The Pope said this in Cameroon before he travelled to Angola to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Catholic presence there.
During a March 21 mass, the pope urged Catholics to reach out and convert believers in sorcery. There have been some cases in Angola where police rescued 40 children who had been held in a house by two religious sects after being accused by their own families of witchcraft.
In Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories (May 8 to May 15, 2009) the story was different. During his visit, the pope condemned Holocaust denials, and called for cooperation between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Coming back to Benin, one of the big debates, and throughout the continent, is over China’s role in Africa. The name of the country was changed to the Republic of Benin in 1990 after the abolition of Marxism-Leninism the year previously. China has been helping Benin since the late 1960s out of friendship, and also because China wants to gain raw materials from Africa.
Per capita income for Benin’s population of 8.7 million is $440. An estimated 33 percent lives below the national poverty line. Statistics on the status of health and education, although improving over the past decade, reflect a low level of human development.
Life expectancy is 53 years. Mortality among children under five is 151 per 1,000. An estimated 23 percent of children under five are malnourished. Maternal mortality is estimated at 850 per 100,000 live births.
The adult literacy rate, at nearly 40 percent, is well below the 63 percent rate for Sub-Saharan Africa. In Benin, adult literacy for women aged 15 and older is just over 25 percent, far below the rate for all of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Among significant development challenges facing Benin is an increasing perception that the Government is falling behind in its ability to govern effectively. Corruption and ineffective management are widely recognized as significant problems.
Benin’s population is expected to reach 9.1 million by 2015. The Government is already hard pressed to meet the needs of its people for access to health care and education. Government expenditures as a proportion of GDP for health and education currently stand at 2.1 percent and 3.5 percent respectively. These are low compared to other low-income countries.
Former West African Development Bank Director Boni Yayi won the March 2006 election for the presidency in a field of 26 candidates. International observers including the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and others called the election free, fair, and transparent.
President Kerekou was barred from running under the 1990 constitution due to term and age limits. President Yayi was inaugurated on April 6, 2006. President, elected by popular vote for 5-year term, appoints the Cabinet.
In Benin, for instance, discussions are being held in Parliament about the Family Code, which is creating division between two points of views: women advocate that at home husbands and wives should have the same rights, while men believe that a woman should not expect to have the same rights as her husband.
Many feminists are being organised into associations to struggle for their rights — to have the same conditions as men, as far as representation is concerned. They claim that there must be parity in the number of men and women in Parliament and government, for a start. This has created intense debate in Benin.
Meanwhile, churches are fighting one another, be they of the same faith or not. The Protestant Methodist church, for instance, is being rocked by leadership conflict brought on by the modification of its constitution. The same thing is happening at the Renaissance church, which is a new congregation, because some of its faithful have been denounced for practices which are said to be against the church’s teachings.
Although the institutional setup for fighting corruption is quite well-established and Benin’s anti-corruption strategy is seen as successful by many international observers, property rights, although adequately defined, are not safeguarded in practice due to corruption.
Foreign investors should note that bribery regularly occurs in relation to several business procedures, including obtaining water connections, construction permits and commercial licences. The bribes demanded are reported to be especially high for foreign companies due to their alleged ‘capacity to pay’.
Most companies expect to give gifts in order to secure a government contract. Many observers note that public procurement and contracting procedures in Benin are highly corrupt.
Christians in Benin constitute approximately 42,8 percent (3,762,904) of the country’s population (8,791,832 – 2009 est.) According to the 2002 census, 27.1 percent of the population of Benin is Roman Catholic, 5 percent Celestial Christian, 3.2 percent Methodist, 7.5 percent other Christian groups (Baptists, Assemblies of God, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Rosicrucians, the Unification Church).
The Cathedral of Notre Dame des Aportres in Cotonou-capital city of Benin
The dioceses consist of Archdiocese of Cotonou, Archdiocese of Parakou, Diocese of Porto Novo, Lokossa, Abomey, Kandi, Dassa-Zoumé, N’dali, and Djougou. The Archdiocese of Cotonou is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Cotonou in Benin. The seat of the archbishop is Cathédrale Notre Dame in Cotonou . There is also a Minor Basilica at the Basilique de lImmaculée Conception in Cotonou.
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