Here are some thoughts of Most Rev. Anatole Milandou, archbishop of Brazzaville, Congo:
By finding myself here, it was a kind of continuing education – just like when we bishops go to Rome once in a while – that deepened my understanding of the Social Doctrine of the Church. We have really discovered many aspects to which we were not paying attention. I think that this invites us to deepen our understanding of this Social Doctrine that is part of the Magisterium.
When we see these banking systems that lead a multitude of people to their death, there is really something that shakes us up, we the bishops of Africa. We must reflect on this question in a serious manner. No, we do not know the Social Doctrine of the Church well enough, and we should.
It has been often repeated to us here: “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea, 4:6.) I am afraid these words apply to Africa now. Hence the urgency of the course given here on Social Credit. Come to teach our Christians in Africa. The doors of our dioceses are wide open to us, because we have understood your message.
When I see statesmen like Lincoln and Sankara who were assassinated, I realize that we are dealing with financial powers that are really monstrous. Then I understand why here you link action and prayer because Jesus said that “this kind (of demons) does not come out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21.) So I really understood this connection: prayer and action because the wolf may loose his teath, but never his nature. So, we must be very careful, we are facing a system of monsters…
I thank all the members of this work: women and men. I encourage you to continue. In Africa, we say: ‘We throw rocks only on a tree that bears fruit’. If a tree does not have any fruits, we have no interest in it, but if the tree produces fruit, we throw rocks at it. If you encounter difficulties today, it is not an occasion to be discouraged; on the contrary, we must always forge ahead.
What we have just learned of Social Credit is an extra string to our bow… So we pay homage to the Pilgrims of St. Michael for what they are doing here and all over the world, for their profound conviction because in the face of the tepidity that is gaining ground more and more in the Church of the western world, the old churches that evangelized us, there are those who are renouncing their Christian roots and soliciting revival churches and all other religions. I think it is groups like this, like yours, that will make the faith triumph, the faith of the Church. In all of this, we congratulate you for your profound conviction.
Myself I have a parish, a shrine dedicated to St. Michael, because the first diocesan priest who founded this parish had a devotion to St. Michael. He was a miracle-worker and those miracles he accomplished, he attributed to St. Michael. This devotion developed in our country, at least in our Archdiocese and in almost all of the countries in Congo. There are many movements of apostolate dedicated to the devotion of St. Michael. This is because the first veteran priest, founder of the first parish, dedicated it to St. Michael. Many people go there on pilgrimage.
This means that St. Michael should defend us in the battle, in difficult moments. You carry the torch of this faith. One throws rocks only on a tree that bears fruit. Remember this. Thank you for the invitation. Thank you for the fraternal reception that we have received here. I think that it is a bit in the image of the first Christian community. Continue to “cast off into the deep” (Luke 5:4), as Pope John Paul II said.
Bishop Anatole Milandou
Subscribe