Pope Tells Africans to Blend Church, Customs
DAKAR, Senegal — Pope John Paul II Friday challenged his small Roman Catholic flock in Africa to find the right balance between their own customs and church requirements.
On the third day of a pilgrimage to heavily Muslim Senegal, the Pope said the blending of “authentically African fruits in union with the universal church” was essential to the spread of Catholicism on the continent.
He suggested, however, that some practices cannot be easily blended with church doctrine, saying it was the church’s duty to call for “Christian marriage” in Africa, where polygamy is still widely practiced.
The 71-year-old pontiff, his facing reddening from the African sun, celebrated an open-air Mass at a sanctuary in Poponguine, 45 miles south of the capital of Dakar.
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