The tendency to regard children as least powerful overlooks the immense influence they wield over the affairs of men.

Most cultures regard children as the fulcrum of progress, the assurance of continuity, inheritors of our deeds and misdeeds. Life consists of the enjoyment of the fruits of sacrifices made by past generations, of upholding the standards of inherited values, and of laying the groundwork for future enhancement. For these, nature calls man to plant trees under which the yet unborn will find shelter.

There is no greater index than the investments made in young ones. Nations, communities, institutions, families, religious groups, and other units or clusters of society give prominence to developing capacities of the young. No known institution surpasses the Catholic Church in such efforts.

Investments in education, health and other social services accompany our drive-in evangelization. Results bear testimony to the non-discriminatory approach to human development. One Catholic school has produced two governors neither of whom is a Catholic. Revered stools such as that of the Emir of Kano and the Alaafin of Oyo have been occupied by non-Christian products of Catholic education.

Our clime is fertile ground for the seeds of evangelization to sprout, to grow and to bear fruits. We are the fastest growing Catholic region of the world in evangelization and in vocations. Our Churches are overflowing with worshippers, parishes and dioceses are being created at a fast pace. New vocations fill our seminaries; we are sending waves of holy priests to all corners of the world. We have become missionaries to the outside world.

The Age of Africa is no longer coming; the Age of Africa is here.

 

Kudos for all we have done; emphasis on the challenges ahead. Our yesterday is laudable, our today is outstanding, our tomorrow can only be better. Yet we must be inward-looking especially because of today’s environment. An environment dominated by hatred from other Christian bodies, violence from Islamic groups, and repression from governments.

The local Church bleeds from wounds inflicted by those actions which are by no means new. Our eagle has been rained upon for far too long. The Church in Africa is a persecuted Church, and it is time we devised conscious protective measures aimed at safeguarding our future.

We cannot allow our young ones to be scared away from the Church by those who persecute the Body of Christ. We should not permit the complicity or inaction of civil authorities to arrest our progress.

This jubilee year is an assurance of the eventual triumph of the Body of Christ over all forms of persecution. It is also a reminder of the continued rejuvenation of the Church by succeeding generations. At the close of the Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope John Paul II tasked the youths of that year with being the Guiding Light of the coming Jubilee of 2025.

Pope John Paul II is no longer with us, but his admonition is with us in the roles that the young ones of 2000 are playing in this Jubilee Year of Hope. Babies in Year 2000 are the priests, deacons, nuns and animators of today. Robert Francis Prevost OSA, not yet a Bishop in 2000, was appointed the Superior General of the Order of St. Augustine the year following the Jubilee on his way to becoming the Bishop of Rome this Jubilee year.

Pope Francis calls us to reflect on our roles as Pilgrims of Hope during this Jubilee year. Central to faith is the hope of salvation. A cleric always repeats that “we are in the business of hope.”

Were hope not to be the root of faith, it could be the fruit of the tree of faith. Blessed are we in the hope of the coming generation. A generation of promises, flowers of faith, petals of love.

 

Ayo Fasoro

Non Sum Dignus