Things that matter. Garrantzia daukaten gauzak

Ibrahim Traore eta Pope Leo XIV

Graham Greem-ek honela laburbiltzen du idazlearen jarrera: “The important thing is to write about things that matter”

Idatz ditzagun, hortaz, garrantzia daukaten gauza batzuei buruz:

a) Ibrahim Traore presidentea

President Ibrahim Traore shocking message to the New Pope Leo XIV

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqatArjV1M)

A Bold Letter from Captain Ibrahim Traoré to the New Pope – A Message the World Needs to Hear

In this powerful, heartfelt letter, President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso delivers a direct and uncompromising message to the newly elected Pope. This is not just a diplomatic note — it’s a wake-up call to the Vatican and the global Church to reckon with the silence, complicity, and centuries of injustice faced by Africa.

Speaking as a son of Africa, a soldier of the people, and a voice for the oppressed, Traoré questions the Church’s past role in colonization and challenges the new Pope to take a prophetic stand — not just in words, but in action.

Transkripzioa:

0:00

to his holiness Pope Robert Francis I

0:02

write to you not from a palace nor from

0:04

the comforts of foreign embassies but

0:06

from the soil of my homeland the land of

0:08

Burkina Faso where dust mingles with the

0:11

blood of our martyrs and the echoes of

0:13

revolution are louder than the hum of

0:14

foreign drones overhead i am not writing

0:17

as a man seeking

0:19

approval nor as one entangled in

0:22

diplomatic pleasantries i write to you

0:24

as a son of Africa bore bruised unbowed

0:26

you are now the spiritual father to more

0:28

than a billion souls including millions

0:30

here in Africa you inherit not just a

0:32

church but a legacy and in this moment

0:34

of transition while white smoke still

0:36

lingers above Vatican rooftops I must

0:38

send this letter across seas and sands

0:40

beyond gods and gates directly to your

0:42

heart because history demands it because

0:45

truth compels it because Africa the

0:47

wounded and the rising is watching your

0:50

holiness we Africans know the power of

0:52

the cross we know the hymns the prayers

0:54

the lities we have built churches with

0:56

callous hands and defended our faith

0:58

with our blood but we also know another

1:00

truth one that too many preferred to

1:01

bury that the church at times walked

1:03

beside colonizers that while

1:05

missionaries prayed for our souls

1:07

soldiers littered our lands that while

1:09

your predecessors spoke of heaven our

1:10

ancestors were chained on earth and even

1:13

now in this so-called modern age we feel

1:15

the chains still not of iron but of

1:17

silence of indifference of geopolitical

1:19

games played in holy shadows so I ask in

1:22

the name of the mothers who pray on dirt

1:23

floors and the children who wear in

1:25

catechism with empty stomachs will your

1:27

papacy be different will you be the pope

1:29

who sees Africa not as a periphery but

1:31

as the prophetic center will you be the

1:34

pope who does not only visit slums for

1:35

photo opportunities but who dares to

1:38

speak with rage against the forces that

1:39

make those slums permanent you see your

1:41

holiness I am a man shaped by war not

1:44

wealth i was not groomed for politics by

1:47

western institutions i was not taught

1:49

diplomacy in Paris i learned leadership

1:51

entrenches among the people where pain

1:53

is teacher and hope is resistance i lead

1:56

a nation that was tossed aside by the

1:57

world until we refused to be silent we

2:00

were told we were too poor to be

2:01

independent too weak to be sovereign too

2:04

unstable to resist but I tell you this

2:06

with the thunder of ancestors in my

2:08

voice we are done asking for permission

2:10

to exist we are done pleading for

2:13

validation from powers who exploit our

2:14

minerals while preaching morality and we

2:17

are done absolutely done watching global

2:20

spiritual leaders turn their eyes from

2:21

Africa’s cries because the politics are

2:23

inconvenient your holiness I speak now

2:26

not only for Burkina Faso but for a

2:28

continent too long patronized africa is

2:30

not a continent of pity we are a

2:32

continent of prophets prophets who were

2:34

jailed exiled and murdered for daring to

2:36

challenge the empire and you now that

2:38

you wear the ring of St petite will you

2:40

walk in the path of the prophets or will

2:43

you too be a prisoner of politics we

2:45

need no more platitudes we do not need

2:47

more thoughts and prayers while Western

2:49

firms extract uranium from Nigerinda

2:52

gold from Congo under armed guard we do

2:54

not need diplomatic neutrality while

2:56

African youth drown in the Mediterranean

2:58

fleeing wars they did not start wage

3:01

with weapons they did not make we do not

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need saccharine statements while African

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sovereignty is auctioned off behind

3:07

closed doors in Brussels Washington and

3:10

the Geneva what we need is a pope who

3:12

will name the modern-day Herods who will

3:14

thunder against economic empires just as

3:16

borly as the church once thundered

3:18

against communism who will say without

3:20

apology that it is a sin for nations to

3:22

profit from the destruction of Africa

3:24

you know the teachings of Christ you

3:26

know he flipped the tables of money

3:28

changers you know he said blessed are

3:29

the peacemakers but he never said

3:31

blessed are the appeasers so I ask you

3:33

person will you speak against the

3:35

silence of France and its shadow

3:36

operations in the Sahel will you condemn

3:39

the arms deals that fuel proxy wars in

3:41

our deserts and forests will you name

3:43

the greed that dresses itself in

3:46

charity the diplomacy that cloaks

3:48

imperialism and peace talks because we

3:50

see it act we live it your holiness i do

3:54

not ask you to be African i ask you to

3:56

be human to be moral to be brave because

4:00

courage real courage is not blessing the

4:03

powerful it is defending the powerless

4:05

when it costs something let me speak

4:07

plainly the Vatican has wealth beyond

4:10

imagination art beyond price access

4:12

beyond borders but true power is not

4:14

measured in treasures behind marble

4:16

walls where true power is measured in

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the courage to confront injustice even

4:21

when it comes dressed in a tailored suit

4:23

carrying diplomatic credentials and

4:25

smiling through its ends your holiness

4:27

the world stands at a precipice on

4:29

Africa this battered and beautiful

4:31

continent is not merely watching from

4:33

below we are climbing we are bleeding we

4:36

are rising and we are daring to ask

4:38

questions that echo louder than canon

4:39

law where was the church when our

4:41

presidents were overthrown by foreign

4:43

backed mercenaries where was the church

4:45

when our youth were abducted and

4:46

indoctrinated into wars funded by

4:48

nations that pretend to be peacekeepers

4:52

where was the church when our currencies

4:53

collapsed when the IMF choked our

4:55

economies when our leaders were punished

4:57

for choosing sovereignty over submission

4:59

do not tell us to forgive while the whip

5:02

is still in the hand of the abuser do

5:04

not tell us to pray while our prayers

5:05

are met with drone strikes do not speak

5:07

of peace without naming the propheteers

5:09

of war because silence your holiness is

5:11

no longer holy and neutrality is no

5:14

longer noble if you ought to be the

5:16

shepherd of this global flock then hear

5:18

this cry from the dust of Oadugu we are

5:20

your sheep too but we do not graze

5:23

quietly in the fields we march in the

5:25

streets we die on the front lines we

5:28

rise from the ashes with fire in our

5:30

bones and scripture in our mouths we are

5:32

not asking for charity we are demanding

5:34

justice and justice must begin with

5:37

truth the truth that Christianity in

5:39

Africa has been both a bomb and a blade

5:41

the truth that the church has fed our

5:43

spirits while failing to protect our

5:44

bodies the truth that redemption without

5:47

reckoning is a halftruth and halftruth

5:49

have never healed nations your holiness

5:51

you now sit upon the chair of St

5:54

peter but remember Peter denied Christ

5:57

three times before the rooster crowed do

6:00

not let history say the church denied

6:02

Africa once again let the rooster crow

6:04

in the Vatican loud and clear let it

6:07

wait the conscience of cardinals and

6:08

kings let it echo through the corridors

6:10

of power where men in robes and men in

6:13

uniforms trade silence for influence let

6:16

it announce a new dawn not just for the

6:18

church but for the world because here in

6:20

Africa we do not fear dms we create them

6:23

we are the sons and daughters of Sankara

6:25

Lumumba Nen Krumba and Bik we carry

6:28

scriptures in one hand and decor the

6:31

memory of revolutionaries in the other

6:33

we have learned to pray and protest with

6:35

the same breath and we ask will your

6:37

papacy walk with us will you meet us in

6:39

our pain not just in our pews will you

6:42

recognize the God in our hunger the

6:44

Christ in our chaos the Holy Spirit in

6:46

our struggle because if not now when if

6:48

not you and if the church continues to

6:51

preach peace while ignoring the

6:52

machinery of oppression what gospel is

6:55

left to believe in i say this not with

6:57

anger but with sacred urgency we are a

6:59

people at the crossroads of prophecy and

7:01

politics and Africa’s time is no longer

7:04

coming it is here we are rewriting the

7:07

narrative reshaping the future

7:09

reclaiming the dignity denied to us by

7:11

centuries of foreign domination and

7:13

spiritual manipulation and the church

7:16

must decide where it stands with the

7:18

powers that be here with the people who

7:19

bleed i do not write this letter to

7:21

condemn i write it to invite to invite

7:24

you your holiness into a deeper

7:26

solidarity to a solidarity that walks

7:28

barefoot with the poor that dares to

7:31

speak truth in Rome as boldly as it does

7:33

in Rwanda that names the saints not just

7:35

by miracles but by their commitment to

7:37

justice we await your voice not from

7:40

balconies but from trenches and from

7:43

fabas from refugee camps from behind the

7:46

bars of political prisons where truth is

7:49

incarcerated because only that voice

7:51

your voice can redeem the silence and if

7:54

you dare to speak it not only will

7:55

Africa hear you the world will sign the

7:59

Captain Ibrahim resident of the

8:01

transition bertina Faso son of Africa

8:06

servant of sovereignty

oooooo

b) Pope Leo XIV

@tobararbulu # mmt@tobararbulu

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=navBX2A37ls)

In this powerful and unprecedented message, Pope LEO XIV responds directly to Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the leader of Burkina Faso, following a bold and heartfelt letter that echoed the pain, dignity, and rising voice of Africa. 

This is more than a letter—it is a conversation between two worlds.

A continent that has endured centuries of exploitation, silence, and marginalization finally receives a response—from the very heart of the Vatican.

With measured diplomacy and deep emotion, the Pope addresses:

The scars of colonialism still felt in African nations

The burden of economic injustice and resource exploitation

The struggle for sovereignty amid foreign interference

The heartbreak of migration and the search for dignity

The stolen heritage and the need for cultural respect

The vital role of African faith and prophecy in the global Church 

And a call for forgiveness, unity, and a new beginning

This dialogue is a tribute to the real cries of the Global South—and a mirror to those in power.

Transkripzioa:

0:00

to his excellency President Ibrahim Truff president of the sovereign nation

0:06

of Burkina Fazo son of the African soil defender of his people may grace and

0:12

peace be multiplied to you through wisdom courage and truth i received your letter not as a political communicate

0:21

nor as a demand echoing through diplomatic channels i received it as a

0:26

cry of the soul powerful principled and painful from a son of the continent that

0:31

has known too much loss too much silence and too many broken promises i have read

0:37

your words not once but many times and each reading pierced deeper than the

0:43

last for in your voice I heard not merely the anger of a president but the

0:48

righteous cry of a continent long wounded by the dual blades of neglect an

0:55

explodition let me begin now with the fence but with confession yes the church

1:00

has at moments in history stood beside colonizers when it should have stood

1:05

beside the crucified there were chapters some long some shamefully brief where the mission of

1:12

salvation became entangled in the machinery of subjugation where the

1:17

banner of the cross was hoisted beside flags of empire and the teachings of

1:23

Christ were diluted by the ambitions of kings for these sins sins of omission

1:29

and commission I bow my head in repentance no institution however sacred

1:36

is above self-examination and if the church is to remain a beacon it must not only shine

1:43

light outward it must shine it within you ask will this papacy be different

1:48

and to that I reply not only will it be different it must be for too long the

1:53

African voice has been heard only in whispers your leaders have been praised only when they were pliable and

2:00

demonized when they dared to defy unjust systems your resources have been extracted while your people were left to

2:08

scavenge what was theirs to begin with but Africa is not a charity case africa

2:15

is not a patient waiting for the West to administer spiritual or political anesthesia

2:22

africa is the cradle of courage the wellspring of song the pulse of prophecy

2:27

it is not the worst burden it is its teacher let me speak plainly as you did

2:33

President Trias on colonial legacy uh President Triayor you spoke of chains

2:39

not only of those that bound the bodies of our ancestors but the invisible ones

2:44

that still clutch at the soul of Africa let us speak truth not as adversaries

2:49

but as men burdened with memory colonialism was not simply a political conquest it was a spiritual betrayal it

2:58

was not just the theft of land but the attempted eraser of identity entire

3:04

civilizations with their poetry their proverbs their cosmologies their sacred

3:09

rhythms were silenced under foreign flags and foreign gods the missionaries

3:15

some sincere came with crosses in one hand but behind them followed gunboats traders and governors with contracts of

3:22

domination baptismal fonts were built next to whips scriptures were preached

3:28

beside swords the story of Christ who came to liberate was too often retold in

3:34

the language of control and though many of those missionaries gave their lives in service and some stood up to the

3:41

powers of empire the broader truth remains the church did not always stand

3:46

with the oppressed too often it stood with the conqueror i confess this not as

3:52

a political calculation but as a moral reckoning because if the church is to

3:57

truly mirror Christ then it must weep where Christ would weep and surely he

4:03

weeps for what was done in his name on African soil i have seen the ruins of

4:09

colonial prisons turned into schools i have met grandmothers who remember their

4:15

tribes being renamed i have watched as young African seminarians ask is this

4:21

faith ours or was it imported let me answer clearly the gospel was never

4:27

meant to conquer it was meant to liberate christ was never a colonizer he

4:33

was a carpenter from Nazareth brownskinned occupied poor and so I

4:38

pledge that under this papacy we will revisit our history not to dwell in

4:43

guilt but to root out denial not to perform penance with words but to open

4:49

doors with justice the church must become not a reminder of conquest but a

4:55

refuge for cultural rebirth let the next chapter be one written together by

5:00

African hands in African languages and in full ownership of faith that was

5:06

never truly foreign but always somehow destined to rise again from African soil

5:11

on economic injustice president Trrower when you speak of bloodstained minerals

5:17

and hunger in the shadow of gold mines you are not exaggerating you are revealing a wound that the world has

5:24

chosen to press with silence africa is rich yet too many of her children remain

5:30

poor why because the wealth beneath your soil cobalt gold uranium colan oil has

5:37

been turned into a curse not a blessing these were supposed to be gifts of providence not instruments of plunder

5:43

martin stood off building schools they have built empires far from the shores of Africa let us no longer pretend that

5:51

economic suffering is accidental let us no longer speak of underdevelopment as if it were nature’s

5:59

plan it was policy it was greed it was engineered stagnation orchestrated debt

6:07

and predatory agreements signed in glass towers while farmers walked barefoot

6:13

through dust and yes while the church itself may not have signed trade deals

6:18

or drawn oil contracts it has often been too quiet when it should have cried out

6:23

too cautious when it should have stood between the vulnerable and the vultures too diplomatic when the gospel demanded

6:31

disruption there are African nations today where a child cannot drink clean

6:36

water but multinationals extract billions from the same land without paying fair dues there

6:43

are communities where women give birth in candlelight hospitals while cargo

6:48

ships full of precious resources sail out of port guarded by foreign guns that

6:53

is not trade that is to be extractor from the and this dear brothers and

6:59

sisters of the world is not just an African tragedy it is a global scandal

7:04

it is the failure of our collective morality it is the blasphemy of preaching justice on Sunday while

7:12

investing in systems of extraction on Monday president Tigori asked will the Vatican name these sins yes we will uh

7:20

we will no longer speak of poverty without naming its architects we will

7:25

challenge institutions that pretend benevolence while negotiating for control behind closed doors we will no

7:34

longer sit at global summits in silence when African leaders are told to

7:39

privatize their future in exchange for tor short-term loans the church must not

7:45

merely advocate for aid it must fight for equity we must speak of economic

7:50

repentance for true peace cannot exist where there is structural theft where prosperity for the few is built on the

7:58

perpetual depletion of the many where Africa must always borrow back its own

8:04

wealth with interest this papacy will seek partnerships with African

8:09

economists theologians and reformers we will ask not how we can help Africa but

8:16

how we can dismantle the systems that have hurt her for centuries and let us be clear Africa does not need saving

8:23

africa needs space to breathe to rise to govern her destiny without manipulation

8:30

must as mentorship let this be the era when the church uses its global influence not to advise politely but to

8:38

advocate prophetically because economic justice is not a matter of numbers it is

8:43

a matter of soul when a mother in Uagadoo or GMA or Bamako weeps because

8:48

her educated son cannot find dignified work or when she buries that son because

8:54

he drowned trying to flee to a distant shore we must ask what gospel are we preaching if it does not confront the

9:01

system that made that death inevitable we must ask ourselves what is the value

9:07

of prayer if it does not drive us toward justice and so I say to you President

9:12

Raur and to all of Africa the church cannot be neutral in the face of

9:18

economic oppression christ overturned the tables once now we must ask whose

9:24

tables must be turned today on political interference and sovereignty president

9:31

Traur when you speak of sovereignty your voice carries the weight of centuries

9:36

centuries during which the African will has been contested coralled and

9:42

conditioned by powers that did not emerge from the soil of Africa but

9:48

planted themselves there like towering foreign trees casting long shadows across native lands the struggle for

9:55

African self-determination is not a new cry it is the old song of resistance

10:00

that began when the first maps were drawn without your consent when borders were carved by the hands of colonial

10:07

ambition and when leaders chosen not by your people but by distant interests

10:13

were placed like marionets in high office and yet even as flags changed and

10:21

independence was declared interference did not end it merely changed form today

10:27

it comes in the language of strategic partnerships in the packaging of

10:32

humanitarian aid in the presence of military bases that were never

10:37

democratically invited we call them allies and some may well be but we must

10:43

also ask why does Africa remain a battlefield for the the interests of

10:48

others why must your internal affairs be negotiated in foreign capitals before

10:54

they respected at home why are African elections monitored with suspicion while

11:00

fraudulent dealings elsewhere are called irregularities why is it President Trayaur that when an

11:06

African leader speaks of nationalizing resources he is accused of

11:12

authoritarianism but when a foreign CEO exploits those same resources he is

11:17

praised as an innovator we have built a global order where some nations act with

11:23

impunity while others must beg for legitimacy that is not peace that is bot

11:29

imbalance masquerading as diplomacy as a church rooted in the message of Christ

11:35

who was born under occupation and crucified by an empire we cannot ignore

11:40

this christ stood with the occupied not the occupiers he wept for Jerusalem not

11:46

because it was wealthy but because it was wounded by foreign interference and

11:52

internal betrayal and so today we must weep for for Bamako for Wagadugu cities

11:59

whose destinies are often debated in rooms where their sons and daughters

12:05

have no seat your holiness you asked will the church defend African

12:10

sovereignty let me be clear sovereignty is not a luxury it is a right it is not

12:16

a privilege to be granted by stronger nations i is a divine dignity rooted in

12:22

creation itself every people has the right to shape their own future every

12:28

nation has the right to protect its identity its culture its path forward

12:34

and the church has a moral compass for the global community must not merely

12:40

affirm this right in writing we must defend it in action we must reject

12:45

policies and treaties that bind nations in economic shackles while pretending to

12:50

offer freedom we must expose covert operations manipulation of local

12:57

politics the orchestration of coups disguised as democratic transitions you

13:05

mentioned the drones over your skies captain trail machines that hum with foreign code and foreign command you

13:12

mentioned the whispers in your capital the silent hand that tries to tip the scales of justice and governance these

13:20

are not the marks of a free world these are the remnants of imperial logic the same logic that says Africa is a project

13:28

to be managed not a continent to be respected but Africa is rising and with

13:34

her rise comes the discomfort of those who once dictated her fate that discomfort is necessary it is the pain

13:42

of awakening to my fellow leaders of faith across the world Christian Muslim

13:47

Jewish Hindu Buddhist and beyond I say if we do not stand for sovereignty we

13:53

stand for subjugation by default to the diplomats and financiers who design

13:58

Africa’s future from boardrooms if your strategy begins without consultation

14:04

with the people who live the consequences then it is not partnership it is paternalism to the leaders of the

14:13

west and east if your presence in Africa is more visible in your embassies and

14:18

air strips than in the lives of the people then your mission is misaligned

14:23

and to the African people you are not pawns in a geopolitical chess game you

14:29

are heirs of civilizations older than most flags your voice matters not

14:34

because the world permits it but because of God bestowed it the church will walk with you as you reclaim your voice we

14:42

will support transparency and truth we will not support covert manipulation we

14:48

will stand against puppet regimes and bless only those governments that derive

14:53

their authority from the consent of their people not the pressure of external powers africa deserves

15:00

sovereignty not in symbolism but in substance let us work for a world where Africa’s leaders are chosen by the

15:08

ballot not by foreign banks where decisions are made in Dhakar and Nairobi not whispered in Paris Washington or

15:16

Moscow because in the eyes of God there is no secondass continent and uh in the

15:22

heart of the church there should be no secondhand freedom on migration and the crisis of dignity president Traur your

15:31

words echo the silent footsteps of millions who have left African soil not

15:37

for riches and not for bory but for the mere right to survive the world sees the

15:42

migrant boats capsizing in the Mediterranean and measures tragedy in

15:47

statistics but we as shepherds of souls must see what lies beneath those numbers

15:53

a mother clutching her child as scout salt water burns their skin a young man

15:59

whispering a prayer as he steps into a vessel made for fishing not for fate a grandmother in a distant village

16:06

lighting a candle unaware that her granddaughter’s last breath was taken

16:12

between waves and wire africa is bleeding not just through war or exploitation but through migration born

16:19

of despair and the shame is not Africa’s the shame belongs to the system that

16:25

allowed such despair to become normal it is the shame of a world that extracted

16:31

Africa’s resources then built walls against the people who mine the cobalt

16:37

harster the cocoa or drill the oil it is the shame of nations that drain Africa’s

16:42

youth through unfair trade destabilize her governments through covert operations then wonder why her children

16:50

seek refuge elsewhere what hypocrisy is this to bar the door to those whose

16:56

suffering was in part manufactured by the very guests now seated in halls of

17:02

power president Trur I have seen the camps i have wept in Lampedusa

17:07

i have prayed in silence at Lesbos i have looked into the eyes of children who have no more tears left to cry and I

17:15

have asked myself what kind of world allows this what kind of church dares to stay neutral we must call this crisis by

17:21

its true name a moral failure and I say to the powerful nations of the world if

17:27

your wealth was built on Africa’s back then your borders cannot be closed to her pain migration is not a crime let me

17:35

repeat this as loudly as tooth allows migration is not a crime the

17:41

criminal is not the refugee the criminal is the warlord armed with weapons from

17:46

western factories the criminal is the propheteer who manipulates currency

17:52

markets until food becomes unaffordable the criminal is the foreign consultant who designs development plans that never

18:00

develop the people yes borders must be respected yes nations have the right to

18:06

regulate who enters and exits but the first border we must protect is the dignity of the human person when a man

18:13

risks his life crossing the desert because staying home means starvation it

18:18

is not freedom of movement it is forced displacement when a woman flees with her

18:24

baby stabbed to her chest to avoid military raids funded by invisible hands

18:30

it is not migration it is survival africa’s children do not migrate out of

18:36

laziness they migrate because hope has been outsourced to the leaders of Europe

18:42

open your eyes not just to gates understand why they come look not only to their passports but to your past

18:50

ask not what they threaten but what they reveal to the leaders of Africa we must

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create nations worth staying in nations where brilliance is not exported but

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embraced where our schools don’t train the youth to leave but to lead to the global church we must protect migrants

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not as a political talking point but as sacred lives we must build sanctuaries

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advocate for fair asylum laws and remind the world that the Holy Family

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themselves fled as a refugees into Egypt let us not forget Jesus was once a

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migrant child and to the migrants themselves those on foot on boat in

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detention centers in shelters in fear you are not forgotten you are not

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invisible you are not illegal in the eyes of God you are the living sermon of

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this age a sermon that confronts the comfort of the powerful a sermon that calls us back to conscience a sermon

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that tells us that if global justice had hands they would be building bridges not

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borders president Tr if your letter is a trumpet of resistance let this reply be

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the hymn of remembrance we cannot uh talk of peace while ignoring the exodus

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of an entire generation we cannot speak of hope while silencing the stories of

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the displaced africa’s youth deserve better than tombstones in foreign lands

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and unmarked graves beneath desert sands they deserve futures uh not funerals and

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so long as I have breath I will preach this truth that no human being is illegal that no continent owns

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compassion that until migration is a choice and not a last resort our work as

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shepherds is not done on cultural respect and the theft of memory

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President Radhur in your words I hear the voice of a continent not merely robbed of wealth but robbed of memory

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the theft of Africa is not only found in her gold her diamonds her oil it is not

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only measured in ships laden with human cargo or in modern contracts master’s

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aid know the deepest wound is more intimate it is the wound of eraser of narratives rewritten of cultures

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humiliated of sacred traditions silenced this too is colonization not of land but

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of the soul what do we say to the child in Uagadugo who learns that the museums

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of Europe house more artifacts of their ancestors hand the soil on which they

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walk what do we say to the elder in Timbuktu whose great greatgrandfather’s

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manuscripts were taken for preservation yet never returned what do we say to the

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griots whose oral history was labeled primitive while conquerors wrote their

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own sins into scripture we call it preservation we call it exchange but let

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us speak plainly it was a looting of memory and memory President Trayor is

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sacred without memory a people cannot heal without memory a people cannot rise

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without memory a people cannot know who they truly are and that is precisely

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what made the theft so devastating i have walked the Vatican’s archives and marveled at their beauty their scope

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their depth yet I have also wept at what is missing from the shelves of African

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children how can the future be formed if the past remains fragmented how can a

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continent find dignity if her genius is displayed under foreign flags behind

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security glass beside plaques that reduce kingdoms to tribes and freedom

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fighters to rebels you see the problem is not simply that Africa’s cultural treasures reside in foreign capitals the

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deeper tragedy is that in many of those places their presence is still justified by arrogance they say we protect what

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Africa cannot they say we curate what Africa neglects but how do you protect

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what you first stole how do you claim to preserve what you never asked permission

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to take and so I say now in this sacred moment of renewed dialogue between the

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church and Africa it is time it is time to return what was taken not as an act

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of charity but of justice not as a symbol of goodwill but as an admission

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of wrong not to complete history but to begin its healing culture is not a

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souvenir it is a seed and Africa’s children deserve to plant it back into

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the soil of their own nations let us return the masks the bronzes the

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manuscripts not only into hands but into hearts let us restore the languages that

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were once forbidden let us honor the rhythms once mocked the faiths once

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dismissed the stories once burned let us end the centuries long assumption that

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the west interprets and Africa imitates forio the soul of humanity is too rich

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too diverse too interconnected to be monopolized president Trrower I hear

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your plea i receive your challenge i feel the pain you carry not only as a

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head of state but as a son of de soil africa does not need permission to be

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proud her wisdom predates cathedrals her philosophies shaped

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civilizations her spiritual heritage even when not written in Latin bears the

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fingerprints of God and I must say to the world African identity is not a

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relic it is not a museum piece it is not a romanticized past or a charity case

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for UNESCO it is a living breathing testament to resilience to creativity to

24:56

sacred memory to the youth of Africa reclaim your stories to the custodians

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of global heritage unbold the glass cases to the institutions that have

25:08

built prestige on plunder rebuild your honor through restitution and to the

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church the universal church let us finally acknowledge that missionary work

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must never mean cultural amnesia let us teach theology with humility let us

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breach Christ without erasing identity let us be bold enough to say Jesus can

25:31

wear African robes speak in African proverbs walk through African landscapes

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and he loses nothing of his divinity cultural respect is not political

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correctness it is spiritual necessity and when we honor the memory of others

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we reflect the very heart of Christ who never asked his disciples to become

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Roman to be redeemed let the church become a place where all memories are safe let the Vatican be known not only

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for what it holds but for what it returns and let us remind the world that to erase a culture is to offend the

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creator himself for he who created all people created all their expressions

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president Trur your challenge is not to a man but to a system and I in the name

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of the church I now lead say this we must not only listen we must repent we

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must act on faith prophecy and Africa’s role in the future church president

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Traur in your voice I hear not just the echoes of resistance but the thunder of

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prophecy you are right to remind the world that Africa is not a footnote in

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salvation history she is a wellspring of faith a

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sanctuary of miracles and a cradle of prophetic fire she is not the world’s

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burden she is the world’s beacon for too long the global church has spoken to

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Africa not with her it has evangelized her without listening to her theology it

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has preached to her people yet rarely sat at their feet it has sent

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missionaries across oceans but refuse to recognize the missionaries africa now

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sends back not with swords but with songs not with doctrine alone but with

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conviction carved from centuries of perseverance let us remember this truth

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africas Christianity is not borrowed it is born it is born in the matters of

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Uganda it is born in the desert fathers of Egypt whose prayers echoed through

27:46

monastic walls long before cathedrals rose in Europe it is born in the

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stubborn praise of people who even under chains still sang hymns to heaven and it

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is born a new every Sunday in corrugated chapels beneath mango trees in hidden

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valleys and open plains where faith is not a theory but a heartbeat a freak’s churches do not echo because they are

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built with perfect stone they echo because they are filled with voices unashamed of joy hands raised not out of

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habit but out of hope and the world must see what I now say clearly africa is not

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the church’s future she is its present she is its soul emotion she is the

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pulsing rhythm that keeps the body of Christ alive in places where others have grown cold i look at Burkina Faso where

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the church bleeds yet does not break where Christians and taunt Muslims die

28:44

side by side defending each worst right to worship where shepherds lead without

28:50

luxury and believers risk death just to gather that is not weakness that is not

28:56

marginal faith that is the gospel in its raw purest form and if the church is to

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be reborn it will be in places like this in the crucible of courage in the soil

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where blood and prayer are sewn together your holiness I write to you as a head of state yes but also as a believer and

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I ask you will you make room for African prophets at the Vatican’s table not only

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as guests but as co-authors of doctrine of vision of the very future of the faith will you invite their

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theologies rooted in Ubuntu in communal wisdom in the sacredness of ancestors

29:34

into the cathedral of global thought will you recognize that African

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spirituality is not superstition but a sacred lens through which millions

29:46

perceive the touch divine so because prophecy does not only come wrapped in

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Latin vestments or Greek syllables sometimes it comes in the cries of mothers whose sons were taken by war in

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the poetry of elders who have never read Thomas Aquinus but know what it means to forgive 7 time 70 sometimes it comes in

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the resilience of girls who walk miles just to read the Bible not because it is

30:13

required but because it is beloved president to our you have reminded us

30:18

that Africa is not voiceless the church must now choose whether it will be deaf we cannot afford to repeat the arrogance

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of the past where the faith was universal in name but western in flavor we cannot build a global church with

30:32

regional blind spots we cannot pray thy kingdom come while ignoring the kingdoms

30:38

that are rising in spirit and strength across Africa it is time to ordain more

30:44

African cardinals not as symbols but as shepherds it is time to canonize African

30:50

saints who lived and died in the 20th and 21st centuries not only martyrs of

30:55

the ancient church but prophets of the present it is time to teach African

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theology in seminaries in Rome in Paris in New York not as electives but as

31:10

essentials it is time to treat African faith not as exotic but as exemplary and

31:18

yes it is time to confront the subtle racism still embedded in global ecclesial structures the assumption that

31:25

a liturgy must look European to be reverent or that African worship is too

31:30

emotional too loud too raw no it is alive and where fate is alive the spirit

31:37

is near so I say let us bless the drums and the dance let us sanctify the

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languages and the liturgies of every village every people every tongue that

31:49

calls Jesus Lord let the church be a symphony not a solo let the Vatican

31:54

become not just a center but a circle one where Africa is not just received but revered and let this be the legacy

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of your papacy that you did not simply look toward Africa but walked with her

32:08

learned from her defended her the spirit of the Lord does not recognize colonial

32:13

maps it flows wherever hearts are open and today the spirit is moving through

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Africa with power that let us not stand in its way let us not tame it with

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tradition let us not filter it through fear instead let us follow it and be

32:31

renewed unforgiveness unity and a new beginning your

32:37

excellency you have spoken with a heart awakened by pain shaped by battle and

32:43

illuminated by a fierce yearning for justice and I in turn speak to you now as a servant of reconciliation not in

32:50

the shallow sense of forgetting the past but in the sacred sense of transforming

32:56

it africa’s story as you so passionately reminded me is not a single wound but a

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body bearing many wounds of land stolen tongues silenced faith weaponized and

33:06

dreams deferred and yet in all this you have not called for vengeance but for

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recognition not for division but for dignity not for retribution but for

33:18

renewal this this is the heart of the gospel forgiveness President Trrowa is

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not the eraser of memory it is the sanctification of memory it is when the

33:29

flame that once burned becomes the light that now guides forgiveness is not

33:34

submission it is the highest form of strength the kind that can reach across

33:39

centuries and clasp hands where once there were chains let us be clear

33:45

forgiveness without justice is an insult and unity without truth is a lie but

33:51

forgiveness built on truth and unity grounded in justice this is the foundation of a new dawn i speak now not

33:59

only to you but through you to the continent you represent africa is not merely the cradle of humanity it may

34:08

well be the soul of its future and the church the true church must walk with Africa not as patron but as partner not

34:15

as teacher but as pilgrim not with superiority but with shared humanity the

34:20

kingdom of God does not move through empires but through the humble it does not grow through exploitation but

34:28

through compassion and in that kingdom the last shall be first africa has long

34:34

been counted among the last perhaps now is the time for her to rise as first in

34:40

spirit in strength in witness so I extend my hand not just in words but in

34:45

commitment let us form a council of memory and mercy african theologians

34:51

elders historians and used together with bishops and pastors from the Vatican to

34:58

journey through the scars of the past and to to carve out a shared path

35:04

forward let us build the Vatican African Commission to audit not only our aid by

35:10

our conscience to listen before we preach and to heal before we instruct let us create spaces in Rome for African

35:18

liturgies not as exhibitions but as central acts of worship so that the drum

35:24

beatat of the savannah may echo in St peter’s and the incense of Burkina Faso

35:29

may mingle with that of Jerusalem let us above all commit to the humility of

35:34

dialogue not the dialogue of press releases and photo ops but of prophets

35:40

and poets of broken hearts and healing hands president Traor the world is weary

35:47

it is choked by cynicism and fatigue but you have reminded me and reminded the

35:52

church that hope is not naive it is revolutionary and so I conclude with

35:58

this let this be not merely an exchange of letters but the birth of a covenant

36:05

not a covenant of institutions but of intentions not between two leaders but

36:10

between two souls and through us perhaps between two worlds i will pray for you

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and I ask you to pray for me not as politicians but as pilgrims on the same

36:21

difficult road may the God of justice walk beside you may the Christ of the

36:26

poor dwell within you and may the spirit of reconciliation unite us all from

36:31

Oadugu to Rome from the tombs of martyrs to the altars of tomorrow in peace hope

36:37

and brotherhood poplas servant of the servants of God

36:44

[Music]

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