In Rome, African Ambassadors celebrate the continent’s resilience and culture

Françoise Niamien - Vatican City

Centred around the values of unity and fraternity, members of the group of resident African ambassadors accredited to the Holy See celebrated Africa Day alongside other Africans residing in Rome. Several non-African guests also participated.   

The celebrations took place at Rome’s Casa Bonus Pastor and began with Holy Mass, presided over by Cardinal Francis Arinze, Emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In his homily, the Nigerian-born Cardinal conveyed a message of peace, unity, and fraternity to the entire African continent, which is battered by conflicts such as war, violence, terrorism, corruption, and famine in some regions. 

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Following the Eucharistic celebration, an art exhibition and the sharing of culinary specialties from the represented African countries took place. It was a moment of conviviality and reunion around Africa, bringing together diplomats and their guests. The large hall of Casa Bonus Pastor was decorated with the colours of the flags of the 16 member countries of the African ambassadors’ group. 

Mr. Antoine Zanga, the ambassador of Cameroon to the Holy See and Dean of the African diplomatic corps, expressed joy at the event. "Fraternity and unity among our different countries should be something we keep striving for," he said. The Cameroonian ambassador also voiced hope for a reconciled and united continent and for the happiness of its people. 

Speaking with one voice

Isidore Marcel Sene, ambassador of Senegal to the Holy See, praised the gathering as bearing "a message of brotherhood among the children of the same continent, despite current challenges… One Africa, indivisible, speaking with one voice to be better heard," the Senegalese diplomat reiterated. 

For his part, Régis Kévin Bakyono, ambassador of Burkina Faso to the Holy See, emphasised that achieving true African unity and sustainable development requires a paradigm shift. 

"We need to silence what divides us by correcting what must be corrected, and taking action, relying on our own human and natural resources," he said and added, "This gives us a strong chance to achieve both African unity and sustainable development." 

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The group of resident African ambassadors accredited to the Holy See comprises sixteen countries: Angola, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Senegal.