Material
means
104.
Precisely in this context the Synod Fathers emphasized how necessary it is for
each Christian community to be organized so that as far as possible it can
provide for its own needs.206 Besides qualified personnel, evangelization
requires material and financial means, and Dioceses are often far from
possessing them in sufficient measure. It is therefore urgent that the
particular Churches in Africa have the objective of providing for their own
needs as soon as possible, thereby assuring their self-sufficiency.
Consequently, I earnestly invite the Episcopal Conferences, Dioceses and all
the Christian communities of the Continent's Churches, insofar as it is within
their competence, to see to it that this self-sufficiency becomes increasingly
evident. At the same time, I call on sister Churches all over the world to be
more generous to the Pontifical Mission Aid Societies so that, through their
structures of assistance, they will be able to offer to poorer Dioceses
economic assistance dedicated to projects that will generate resources, with a
view to increasing the financial self-reliance of the Churches.207 Lastly, we
cannot forget that a Church is able to reach material and financial
independence only if the people entrusted to it do not live in conditions of
extreme poverty.
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