Excerpt from the homily of Pope Benedict XVI at Amadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Thursady, March 19:

“Dear fathers and mothers here today, do you have trust in God who has called you to be the fathers and mothers of his adopted children? Do you accept that he is counting on you to pass on to your children the human and spiritual values that you yourselves have received and which will prepare them to live with love and respect for his holy name? At a time when so many people have no qualms about trying to impose the tyranny of materialism, with scant concern for the most deprived, you must be very careful. Africa in general, and Cameroon in particular, place themselves at risk if they do not recognize the True Author of Life! Brothers and sisters in Cameroon and throughout Africa, you who have received from God so many human virtues, take care of your souls! Do not let yourselves be captivated by selfish illusions and false ideals! Believe – yes! – continue to believe in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – he alone truly loves you in the way you yearn to be loved, he alone can satisfy you, can bring stability to your lives. Only Christ is the way of Life.”

Read the full homily here.

- Thanks to CRS East Africa information officer Debbie DeVoe for bringing this to our attention.

Pope Benedict XVI met with representatives of Cameroon’s Muslim community on Thursday, March 19. An excerpt from his talk:

“When men and women allow the magnificent order of the world and the splendour of human dignity to illumine their minds, they discover that what is “reasonable” extends far beyond what mathematics can calculate, logic can deduce and scientific experimentation can demonstrate; it includes the goodness and innate attractiveness of upright and ethical living made known to us in the very language of creation.”

Read the rest of the Holy Father’s address here.

- Thanks to CRS East Africa information officer Debbie DeVoe for bringing this to our attention.

Sister Marie Therese runs the Center of Hope, a home for children in Yaoundé, Cameroon who have lost one or both parents to HIV related illnesses. Photo by Lane Hartill

CRS supports the Yaoundé diocese in Cameroon, where information officer Lane Hartill reports today on a project undertaken by the diocese. Pope Benedict XVI visits Cameroon March 17-20. Lane reported yesterday about a prison in Cameroon.

After leaving the prison, I go in search of Sister Marie-Therese. She runs the Center of Hope in Yaoundé, a home for 46 children who have lost one or both parents to HIV. Sister Marie-Therese and her team care for, feed, and educate the children who are between 7 and 12 years old. The center also works with their host families to better care for them when the children return to their families or host families (usually when they are 12 or 13 years old). She has a group of community outreach workers who identify children whose parents are HIV positive and can no longer properly care for them.
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CRS supports the Yaoundé diocese in Cameroon, where information officer Lane Hartill reports today on a project undertaken by the diocese. Pope Benedict XVI visits Cameroon March 17-20.

Suddenly, I feel like Matlock.

I’m walking amongst a few thousand men, some of who have been charged with murder and many of them want me to help them in court.
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Lane Hartill, CRS regional information officer for West Africa, sends this report from Cameroon.

There’s a frank conversation going on in a mud house in eastern Cameroon.

A handful of orphans live here, and they are raising themselves. There is an older sister who’s 21, but she’s rarely home and, from what I can gather, isn’t much of a mother. She comes home only at night and brings along a man. He’s new, says her 16 year-old sister, Edwige. She’s been seeing him since her first husband died.
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