lso Africa is attentively following the funeral of Pope John Paul II live on TV. From the east Democratic Republic of Congo to the Ivory Coast, passing from Burundi and Central Africa thousands of faithful are gathered in the parishes, cathedrals or in their private homes paying final homage to a Pope that with his travels in the African continent, showed a closeness to the population and its sufferance like never before.
“Given to the same time zone, here in Bukavu (capital of the eastern Congolese province of South Kivu) we began the mass in the central Cathedral at exactly 10:00, simultaneously with St. Peter’s”, said to MISNA Father Luigi lo Stocco, a Xaverian missionary. “The Cathedral is packed. In the first pews are the authorities of the region and military, and then the faithful. But aside from the 3,000 people that the Church can hold, like in St. Peter’s, also in Bukavu there is an immense crowd outside the doors, which is impressionable to see grow by the minute.
“The actual nature of Bukavu appears to be weeping the death of the Pope, the sky is gray and a light drizzle contributes to the sad atmosphere”, underlined Fr. Lo Stocco, specifying that the Congolese mass will continue for another three hours, like that on St. Peter’s Square.
Religious sources contacted by MISNA in the main cities of east Congo refer analogous scenes in Kisangani, Goma, Uvira, Kasongo and Kindu, while in the capital of Kinshasa a mass is due to be held in the central Cathedral of the city. “All parishes have set up televisions out and inside the churches, taking advantage of the live coverage on the Burundian national TV of the funeral of Pope John Paul II”, explained to MISNA a missionary contacted in Bujumbura.
“Hundreds and hundreds of people are before me, in our small parish, in silence and profoundly moved. They are mainly youths and very many of them I know are not believers, but now I see them with tears in their eyes watching the images from Rome”, explained the missionary. But in Bujumbura, where the main celebration is being held in the Cathedral, thousands of people are following the funeral on private TV’s.
“Many have put their televisions at the window so others can follow the funeral of the Pope, while others directly opened the doors of their homes to anyone that wants to follow this really historic event”, explained the missionary. Despite the delicate phase the Ivory Coast is experiencing in these days, some zones of Abidjan, the main city of the nation, this morning reflect those of the Italian capital with empty streets and closed stores for the funeral that the entire world is following on live TV.
“Many people have remained home to follow the live coverage of the ceremony”, explained Fr. Marco of the St. Lawrence parish of Abidjan. “At this morning’s mass we realized that there were less people, we attempted to understand the reason and they explained to us that many made appointments to go to friends houses to follow the funeral of the Pope”, added the missionary.
(From MISNA)