It seems whenever the Pope (any Pope in recent years) announces a Consistory for the naming of new Cardinals to the College, progressive voices always tout the appointment of non-European Bishops.
I think there is a feeling that somehow, if the College of Cardinals is more representative of the various cultures and peoples of the world, the Church itself will be less conservative and more open to adapting to the modern world and its prevailing values, whatever those might be at any given moment. In the minds of some, welcoming Prelates from Third-world countries will somehow introduce an openness to the Faith and provide the opportunity for greater heterodoxy in doctrine and practice.
But, I for one am not so certain. As I look at the global Church, it appears that the torch of orthodoxy is perhaps the brightest in the Third-world than it is in Europe and much of the industrialized countries of the West.
Just as an example, Africa has firmly established the reputation of being host to some of the most conservative members of the Church hierarchy. I number among these Cardinal Robert Sara, a native of Guinea and Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Wilfred Napier of Wouth Aftrica as well as Tanzanian Bishop Renatus Nkwande.
Certainly, it was the Bishops from Africa who constituted the most conservative voting bloc at the last Synod. And their influence would have been greater but for the fact that the African Church was largely under-represented (with 54 African Bishops in a Synod of 270 participants).
For instance, both Belgium and Nigeria were permitted the same number of Bishops, even though Nigeria has more than twice the number of Catholics as does Belgium, a difference of
18.9 million Nigerian Cathlolics to 8.5 million Belgians. But even those figures understate the gulf which exists between the two countries in terms of the percentage of actively practicing Catholics.
By almost every measure, the Catholic Church in Africa is experiencing tremendous growth, the very opposite of what is happening both on the European continent as well as in North America.
At the present time, Africa represents 16% of all Catholics worldwide.
And African Catholics are on the rise. From 1910 to 2010, they went from constituting just 1% of the local population to 21%, making Africa the fastest growing region for the century. By comparison, Catholics in North America increased by about 16%, according to the Pew Research Center.
From 2004 to 2050, African Catholics will continue their climb, increasing by 145.8 % to 342 million, making Africa the most Catholic continent after Latin America.
The number of parishes in Africa has more than doubled since 1980. So has the number of priests. Enrollment at Catholic schools, from kindergarten to college, has more than tripled, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The largest seminary in the world is in Nigeria, boasting 1,225 candidates for the priesthood, about a fourth as many as the total number in the entire United States.
And so, it would appear that, as time goes on and the numbers of non-European and Western Catholics grow, the Church may indeed become more conservative in its teachings and practices.
But this is nothing new to the history of the Church. Let us remember that at one time some of the greatest defenders of Church dogma were to be found in the deserts of Egypt and Alexandria.
So let those who hail the inclusion of non-European Prelates into positions of influence and leadership take care that they very well may be welcoming conservative elements and forces which may indeed derail their progressive agendas.
Such is the way of the Holy Spirit Who constantly surprises any who arrogantly believe that the Church is subject to their wills and ways.
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