Catholics remember Pope Francis as a friend of Africa, with some setting theology aside

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic's capital had been torn apart by inter-religious violence leading up to Pope Francis' 2015 visit, its streets haunted by fear and division.

Yet, there was the open-air popemobile driving through a Muslim-majority neighborhood of Bangui, a zone off-limits to Christians, with the pope crossing a line many feared amid a yearslong civil war.

An imam at his side, Francis removed his shoes, bowed his head and entered a mosque, imploring people to "say 'no' to hatred, vengeance and violence, especially that committed in the name of a religion or God."

The episode is being recalled by Catholics as they weigh the pontiff’s legacy throughout Africa, a continent where the faith is growing rapidly and where, unlike Francis, the priesthood leans deeply conservative.

A ‘big lesson on humility’

Priests and parishioners who spoke to The Associated Press from Morocco to South Africa remembered Francis' commitment to the marginalized, including victims of violence, poverty or the enduring structures borne from colonialism.

"Christians and Muslims who used to stare at each other were reconciled," Ella Carine Kossingou, a Bangui resident, said of Francis' visit. “I’m not Catholic, but I won’t forget his presence in our country."

Following the announcement of his death, a graffiti artist dabbed finishing touches onto a portrait of Pope Francis in Kenya. In Nigeria, parishioners lined up to sign a condolence book beneath his portrait. And in South Sudan, Father James Rombe knelt to pray along with students at the St. Lawrence Minor Seminary.

"He taught our leaders a big lesson on humility, and what it means to be a servant — a servant leader," Rombe said, remembering when Francis kissed the feet of warring South Sudan leaders as government troops battled rebels in parts of the country.

“That was the powerful message that we all received from him: Hope. To be hopeful. And these two words always go together: hope and peace,” Rombe added.

Once at odds, conservative priests now mourn

Throughout his 12-year pontificate, Francis visited 10 African countries, seven more than his predecessor. He spoke of "the wisdom found in poor neighborhoods," in a Kenyan slum, preached fraternity across religion divides in Morocco and condemned foreign plunder in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The late pope “was very unambiguous in telling world powers to stop exploiting Africans,” said Father Michael Nsikak Umoh, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

African ministers who clashed with Francis' stances on same-sex couples remembered him this week as someone who shared a commitment to justice, rather than someone with whom they disagreed. A priest in Cameroon told Catholic media that Francis was a “post-colonial pope.” In Mozambique, another recalled his ministry in the aftermath of natural disasters.

“I’m not sure that he would want to be painted liberal or conservative. What he wanted to do was to walk a line between church teaching and the experience of people,” said Father Hugh Patrick O’Connor of the South African Council of Churches.

That line, however, often frayed at the edges.

African bishops' conferences, largely among the church's most conservative, pushed back against Francis' positions. After he issued an edict allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa, called for more recognition of perspectives from Africa, which he described as "the future of the Church."

The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa, led by Cardinal Ambongo, and Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops were among the conferences that disavowed Francis’ stance on same-sex couples. Despite those differences, Father Tryvis Moyo, the conference’s secretary-general, remembered him as a “faithful shepherd who did not just become leader of the church, but became the conscience of the world.”

Moyo highlighted Francis’ commitment to doctrine and gospel while holding steadfast to his conference’s stance against blessing same-sex couples.

“He was not hesitant to say or stand up for what he believed in,” Moyo said of Francis.

About one in five Catholics lives in Africa

Francis led the church as Catholicism experienced rapid growth throughout Africa, including in places where ministries provide health and social services to communities below the poverty line.

More than 281 million Catholics live across Africa’s 54 countries, far more than the 185 million when Francis became pope in 2013, according to the Vatican’s latest figures.

Elizabeth Foster, a Tufts University historian and author of “African Catholic,” said that, in addition to a reformer, Francis was also a byproduct of debates that took shape during his youth, when the church was navigating decolonization and Europe’s withdrawal from Africa.

“In the space of two generations, we’ve gone from a predominantly European church that was exported to Africa to now, where the flow of people has entirely reversed and Africans are coming to Europe to run parishes and the missionary societies that were founded to evangelize Africa,” she said.

‘A man of the poor’

Dom João Carlos Nunes, Archbishop of Maputo, remembered Francis' ministry in light of Mozambique's floods and cyclones, including when he visited in 2019.

“He was a man of the Church and also a man of the poor, of those who have no voice or place, those who are left aside. He taught us to welcome, to have a huge heart, to love without measure," Nunes said.

Outside leadership, many remembered him as someone who spoke to their struggles and embodied a faith attentive to the reality they lived.

"He was real, he was like Jesus. He came down to our level. He understood us,” said long-time congregant Lee-Anne Bertrand at the end of a memorial this week at Cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg.

Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco. AP writers Chinedu Asadu, Michelle Gumede, Mogomotsi Magome, Charles Mangwiro, Florence Miettaux and Farai Mutsaka contributed from throughout Africa.