Sister Alessandra Smerilli on a visit to Dakar

The Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, together with Monsignor Roberto Campisi, Councilor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, participates in the Council of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel.

The annual session of the Board of Trustees of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel is holding its 43rd edition in Dakar, Senegal, from 17 to 21 February.

The Pontifical Foundation bears the name of the Pope who commissioned its creation in 1984 and is an instrumental organ of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD), whose values and mission it shares in promoting integral human development in the Sahel region.

Sr Alessandra Smerilli (who had also participated in the last meeting of the Board of Directors in Burkina Faso) and Mons. Roberto Campisi conveyed the closeness and concern of the Holy Father for the Foundation and the region in which it operates. In particular, the Secretary of the DPIHD showed the support of the Pope and his Dicastery in the unanimous effort to ‘fight against poverty, in the realization of integral human development for all our brothers and sisters and in the search for peaceful coexistence among the peoples of the Sahel’.

Smerilli also thanked the Foundation in the person of the new Pontifical Delegate, Mgr Florent Hassa Kone, Bishop of San (Mali), and the new council for the time and energy devoted ‘to the struggle for a better Africa’.

The Secretary then reiterated that the role of the Dicastery is to support the local Church in its priorities and to accompany empowerment processes: ‘By ensuring that we have a status appropriate to the current times and good governance, we want the Foundation to be able to respond flexibly to the many challenges it faces’.

Final communiqué

At the end of the meeting, the Board of Directors issued a final communiqué to summarise the work of the week.

In-depth exchanges took place on “the social, economic and political realities of each country as well as on the life and action of the local Churches”. The economic situation remained “generally concerning”. The “effects of climate change, including recurrent flooding”, and “youth and women’s unemployment that remains endemic” were also highlighted.

Therefore, the mission of the Jean-Paul II Foundation for the Sahel was re-established, “to be at the side of the people in their resilience efforts”. They have been tried, and they “call for a desired peace and security, a legitimate aspiration.”

In order to provide a more appropriate regulatory framework for the Foundation, the Pontifical Delegate, H.E. Archbishop Hassa Florent KONE, has been commissioned to revise the statutes of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel.

The Directors have also committed to better control the budget.

Faced with the choice of legal form of the institution, the Board of Directors clearly and unanimously decided to keep the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel in its status as a Pontifical Foundation. For the members of the Council, this decision is a “testimony of fidelity to the Holy Pope John Paul II, initiator and founder of the institution.”

Of particular note, the Board of Directors’ message addressed to the Holy Father, a message of filial communion, spiritual closeness for a prompt recovery and for the continuation of his pastoral ministry at the service of the Church and the world.

The trip was also an opportunity to visit the island of Gorée, through which millions of slaves passed, later deported to the Americas. Smerilli and Mgr Campisi, together with Mgr Dembele, the DPIHD official who accompanied them, visited the museum, including the cells where the slaves were held. They then received hospitality at a Christian family on the island.

At the end of her journey, Sister Smerilli met with some representatives of the African coordination for the "Atlantic Hospitality” project. The programme, supported by the DSSUI, involves various European and African dioceses for the promotion and coordination of a conscious and safe migration. The meeting was attended by Mgr. Florent Koné, bishop of Mali, Mons. Victor Ndione, Bishop of Mauritania and Father Steve, Africa Coordinator of the project.