Holy Pontiff,
I am not a saint, neither am I Paul, but I also have a penchant for the writing of epistles. O thou Commander of the faithful, although you may be small in your own eyes, are you not the leader of the largest block of Europe’s population. Your Holy See, if democracy is all about numbers, then you carry the voice of Europe and so I beseech thee with due humility to speak to your followers and their political leaders.
Holy Father, I am sure you do know about the never-ending episodic massacre of African youths off the coast of Europe. My fingers shudder as I type these words for my mind is drawn to my cousin who perished on this same journey a couple of years back. A neighboring village close to my hometown lost three young lives this week and the death toll keeps rising. Every time I log on Facebook, a friend is announcing or lamenting the loss of a loved one close the doorsteps of the Vatican.
Holy Father, although you are not holding political office, the Church’s mission to bring the message of Christ to our continent came in tandem with the political domination of our people, so your office and that of EU President are no strange bedfellows. Certainly, I got a cue this week when Cuban leader Raul Castro thanked you for his country’s current rapprochement with the mighty West. A good word from your blessed tongue will surely not hurt the course of our young innocent lives daily wasting in the seas of our former colonial masters. Speak thou Holy Father for your message shall be heard.
Like Amos, speak Father that your voice may roar from the sacred halls of the Vatican and echo in the chambers of David Cameron and the EU President. Tell them, Holy Father, that the Day of the LORD is near and that it will not be a day of joy for those “who oppress the poor and crush the needy”!
You can warn Europe of the consequences of inaction and chastise David Cameron for the counter-productive moves he has been making against the meek African youths. Even as Europe is rushing to make amends, David of all Kings, is refusing a just quota system for these poor African youth. Perhaps you can remind Mr. Cameron that the meek he is rejecting are the children of the people whose economic, social and political systems were raped by his very own forebears, the British Empire.
Just when I thought this madness is already out of hand, I chanced upon a Ghanaian outfit, Joy Online’s report of sex camps in Italian forests hosting African women. The report laments: “The eerie makeshift atmosphere of the sex camps represents a clear sense that the economic and social crises are degrading the condition of everyday life for a vast range of people in many parts of the world and that the global elites’ answers to these crises cannot provide any solutions, regulations or reprieve in the near future.”
Truly, the elite and political leaders are failing in solving this problem; I was flabbergasted last night when I heard the Italian Foreign Minister proffer as solution to this crisis the destruction of boats from Libya! How dare Europe to wage war against Prophet Noah’s bequeathal to us all. The Economist magazine wrote about this same issue in their April 25th edition: “In a hastily arranged summit… EU leaders set out to do something about the drownings. Before them was a ten-point plan designed to enhance rescues, suppress people-smuggling and spread the burden of taking in refugees. Yet, even if Europe’s leaders embrace the plan in full, it would still fall short.”
So I can assure you Holy Father, this problem is not going away anytime soon. Do not trust the political animals in Brussels for a solution to this global shame.
Holy Father, Scripture teaches that when Adam was introduced to the world Up there among the angles, they were all asked to prostrate before him. Satan refused; Sounds like Satan was querying: “Hey not me; the stranger in our midst is not worthy of my respect; he is an illegal immigrant and I am a citizen!” And then he invaded the dwelling place of Adam and his wife. So he, the accursed one, tempted Adam and what followed was the archetypal migration the earth first witnessed. Since the story of this world started with migration why is it that your flock is being an obstacle to the movement of people?
Let me confess, Holy Father, the killing of African youth is not committed by your flock alone. While we lament the deaths at the Mediterranean, thousands of lives have also been lost in the vast deserts of North Africa; the Berbers are equally guilty for their betrayal of the very people they accept money from for smuggling. They do not only abandon these youths, they sometimes kill them and take their resources. Moreover, the countries sharing these deserts seem not to care, either.
Unfortunately there is no central authority in the Muslim world to address my cry to; and I do sincerely pray that ISIS fails in their mission. So, to you then is my plea: why is Christian Europe (and the Muslim Berbers) collaborating to kill our African Youth? The Arabs and the Western Nations came to Africa to baptise us, only to corrupt the Holy missions with political domination and economic exploitation. Why do they think that our youths are not fit to set foot on their lands?
When Pope John Paul II visited my country in 1992, he advised the youths to know ourselves and to be ourselves.
In a super-connected world, how can we find ourselves without travelling through God’s land? Father, I submit my plea to Your Holy countenance: plead thee for the youthful souls of our African brothers and sisters. Say unto Europe and to David Cameron in particular the words of the Wise King, David, the father of Solomon: Deal gently for my sake (with these young African souls)!
I bow!
Yours Faithfully,