Ouagadougou, 23 October, 2019 / 12:52 am (ACI Africa).
After Nigeria in 2008 and 2013 and Rwanda in 2016, Burkina Faso is set to host the fourth Africa and Madagascar Congress on Divine Mercy, a weeklong continental event that will kick off on November 18 under the theme, “Divine mercy, a grace for our time."
“The Church family of God in Burkina Faso, Africa and Madagascar is preparing to live an extraordinary event that is a gathering of believers in their diversity to celebrate, promote and live the brotherhood under the Sign of divine mercy,” the Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Philippe Cardinal Ouédraogo told the media during a press briefing Thursday, October 17, convened to review the state of preparations ahead of the continental event.
“With my fellow Bishops, we are very pleased with this pastoral initiative to organize a congress on divine mercy here in Ouagadougou,” Cardinal Ouédraogo said about the Congress that will bring together over 500 delegates, among them, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, priests, parish leaders and Small Christian communities, among other guests from across Africa, Madagascar and other parts of the globe.
The Congress is a response to the call of Pope St. John Paul II who wanted the people of God to "give our world new signs of hope by acting so that justice and solidarity may grow and a new culture of human life may be affirmed for the building of an authentic civilization of truth and love," Cardinal Ouédraogo disclosed during the press briefing.
The Ouagadougou Congress "will be inspired by the richness of the word of God, the magisterium of the Church and will address crucial themes such as poverty, wars, conflicts, tribalism, corruption and the evils that afflict the African continent".
