The Synod for Africa has welcomed an Asian archbishop’s request for talks among bishops in developing countries on how to solve problems they have in common.

In its final communique, the synod agreed to accept the call for so-called “South-South” collaboration between the Churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

“We believe we have a lot to gain by not only comparing notes but also by joining hands,” said the communique. “May the Lord show us the direction forward.”

During the synod, Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo, General Secretary of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences had called for a Vatican agency to organize a meeting of bishops from the developed and developing world — the so-called North-South divide — in 2010.

He also suggested a similar separate South-South dialogue, the proposal that was finally accepted.

Bishop Quevedo said the aim was “to respond from the viewpoint of religious faith and morality to urgent issues of reconciliation, justice and peace.”

The synod took on board the “South-South” part of his proposal, though it did not specify how this was to be achieved. That will presumably be worked out later.

The main part of the communique on Africa sent a stinging rebuke to corrupt political leaders on the continent, and to many Catholics in high office who by their mal-governance give “the Catholic Church a bad name.”

It also took aim at multinational companies operating on the continent and pledged that the African Church would join hands with Asian and Latin American bishops to fight common problems.

“Many Catholics in high office have fallen woefully short in their performance,” the synod’s final communique said in an apparent reference to the President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola. Both are baptised Catholics.

It called on them to “repent or quit the public arena and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name.”

Africa is rich in human and natural resources yet many of its people live in “poverty, misery, wars and conflicts, crisis and chaos.” They are led by politicians “who have no regard for the common good” and are driven by greed and power, said the communique.

The synod said corrupt politicians had joined in “a criminal conspiracy” and “shameful collusion” with foreign interests, including powerful multinational corporations.

Those companies must “stop their criminal devastation of the environment in their greedy exploitation of natural resources,” the synod’s final communique said.

“It is short-sighted policy to foment wars in order to make fast gains from chaos, at the cost of human lives and blood.”

The three-week long synod, which ended on Oct. 24, also approved a booklet of 57 propositions or “concrete proposals” that it considers to be of “capital importance”. Pope Benedict XVI authorized the immediate release of the propositions.

At the end of the meeting, he announced that he has appointed Cardinal Peter Turkson, 61, from Ghana, a biblical scholar, as the new President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, becoming the only African in charge of an office of the Roman Curia.

On Sunday, Oct. 25, the Pope brought the synod to a formal close with a solemn, sung Latin Mass, interspersed with African hymns and music.

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Gerard O’Connell covers the Vatican as a correspondent for UCA News and other news organizations.

Source: UCAN

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