Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, began an official visit to Mozambique this Friday on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the African country.
According to the program released by the Secretariat of State, on his first day, Parolin met in Maputo with President Daniel Francisco Chapo and participated in the commemorative ceremony organized at the Apostolic Nunciature. On December 6, he held high-level institutional meetings with the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Margarida Adamugy Talapa, with the Prime Minister, Maria Benvinda Levy, and with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Mateus Saize, in addition to meeting with the country’s bishops.
Today, December 7, Parolin will preside over the closing Mass of the III National Youth Day at Maxaquene Stadium and will later visit the Casa Mateus25 assistance center, dedicated to the poorest. In the coming days, he will continue his pastoral visit: on December 8, he will travel to the diocese of Pemba to meet with civil authorities and pastoral agents, and to celebrate the solemnity of the Immaculate there; on the 9th, he will meet with internally displaced persons and participate in an interreligious event; finally, on December 10, he will conclude his trip with a visit to the DREAM Center of the Sant’Egidio Community in Zimpeto.
The situation in Africa: a social confrontation?
Parolin’s visit to Mozambique comes at a time when the African Church is bleeding. Not only in Cabo Delgado, where jihadism has devastated Christian villages, but throughout the central strip of the continent: Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo… Africa has become the continent with the highest number of Christians killed for their faith.
Just a few weeks ago, Parolin assured that what is happening in Nigeria “is not a religious conflict,” but rather a confrontation “rather social, disputes between herders and farmers”.
Read also: Parolin downplays the blood of the Nigerian martyrs
The Nigerian bishops said it without ambiguity: it is religious persecution. They are targeted attacks against Christians because of their faith. It is martyrdom.
Reducing it to a “social” problem is to minimize the testimony of those who have given their lives for Christ. It is to obscure the causes. It is, ultimately, a way to deactivate the moral denunciation that the Church must exercise before the world.
Mozambique: a country living persecution
In northern Mozambique, especially in Cabo Delgado, jihadist violence has forced more than a million people to flee. Churches destroyed, catechists murdered, villages razed, Christian families displaced for confessing the name of Christ.
This is not a “dispute between farmers.” It is not a “social phenomenon.” It is a religious offensive. It is Islamic extremism striking vulnerable Christian communities.
Parolin is now visiting a country that has experienced this horror. He will meet with authorities, celebrate Mass, visit assistance centers, see displaced people. Will he continue to think the same?