Here is the homily of Archbishop Marie Daniel Dadiet at the parish church of Saint Cesaire (a town next to Rougemont) on September 2, 2009. Most Rev. Dadiet is Archbishop of Korhogo, Ivory Coast, vice president of the Bishops’ conference of the Ivory Coast and president of the Bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission for the Ivory Coast.
Excellencies, Reverend fathers and sisters, dear friends; Pilgrims of St. Michael, dear guests and pastor of the parish that receives us (Fr. Rejean Racine, pastor of Saint Cesaire). I would like to repeat, with you and for myself, the thanksgiving said by the Blessed Virgin Mary: "The Lord has done great things for me, Holy is His Name." (Luke 1:46.)
Like the Virgin Mary I would like to say thank you to the Lord, Who wished that we would be here with our friends, our brothers and sisters, the Pilgrims of St. Michael. Thanks to the Lord who wished to give us this occasion to meet our brothers and sisters from all the continents of the world. Thanks to the Lord who gave us this occasion to participate in these days of reflection and to this congress organized by our friends the Pilgrims of St. Michael. It is my first encounter with the Louis Even Institute, and I am happy to be here and to participate in the activities that are organized for this occasion.
Already our father, Cardinal Bernard Agre has spoken in Abidjan (the largest city in the Ivory Coast) of the activities of the Louis Even Institute. I remember one time in his office; he gave me three documents concerning your activities. (Three books on Social Credit.) He said to me: "My son, I am counting on you to read these documents, after come again to see me and we will discuss them." If I am here today, it is thanks to his advice, to his invitation, because the Cardinal is our father and we cannot refuse what he asks. If he asks, it is because it is for our good, our formation and our life as a bishop and priest.
Yes dear friends, we are happy to be with you, it is thanks to you that we are now discovering Social Credit. You travel throughout the world and throughout Africa. With all your deeds, you wish that each person would know and understand the message of Social Credit. In our countries of Africa and more precisely in the Ivory Coast, groups have been created that are working on these documents.
We know that last year, in the parish of Fr. Patrice Savadogo, there were fifteen days of reflection on Social Credit. Last March, the National Commission of Justice and Peace of the Ivory Coast received a delegation of the Pilgrims of St. Michael on the occasion of our national counsel and they had the occasion to speak of Social Credit to those assisting the counsel. They assembled in Aboville, which is the diocese of Bishop Alexis Touabli. Since then, the members of the Justice and Peace Commission have not ceased to reflect and to spread the message of Social Credit so that it may become one of their principle activities. I would like, before continuing, to say thank you to the Louis Even Institute, who also invited the National Chaplain of Justice and Peace of the Ivory Coast, Fr. Georges-Marie Angoran. I think that when he returns to the Ivory Coast, he will have time to instruct and repeat all that he heard at the congress that we are now living. Thank you for the invitation. (…)
Today Africa knows enormous difficulties. Our countries are torn apart, our countries are at war. There are countries in which has war existed for the last forty or fifty years – in the Ivory Coast we have only had seven years of war, but in other places it is more than that. Can we preach the Gospel today to someone who is hungry? Can we teach the Word of God to those who are hungry or enter into a house today and say: "The peace of the Lord be with you." Will these people who address the greeting of Christ from God, say to these people who are hungry, who are thirsty, who are suffering and dying of hunger, will they be able to answer me? I think not.
So dear friends, Pilgrims of St. Michael, we are counting on your dynamism, we count on your open spirit: help us to discover the depth and riches of Social Credit. Help our political leaders to know and discover the importance of Social Credit, because many times the message addresses itself, not to the simple and the weak, but to those who have a charge of renewing life, to those who have an obligation to convert or be in the heart of the conversion, because sometimes they ignore the message of salvation that we are addressing to them.
So during this Mass, we will ask the Lord to touch the hearts of our leaders, to touch the hearts of all those who are able to renew the world, that they may bring peace to our world and touch the hearts of those who are able to make an end to the misery of nations. May God, Who unites us in His church, give us the strength so that we may be His apostles, apostles of the good news, apostles who announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Amen.
Most Rev. Marie Daniel Dadiet
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