Interview with Cardinal Francis Arinze
Faith Drives His Zeal for Liturgy
by Sabrina Arena Ferrisi
(Page: 2 of 4)
Africa is a little different.
You see the average African - if he were bringing up the gifts
at offertory at Mass - he would have some type of movement from left to right to show joy.
They don't jump up and down! Not exactly. They show graceful movement. That would
be normal.
In India, parts of Asia, there are gestures with flowers or with
a bit of fire that are very graceful and meaningful in their culture. Those who are in that
culture see the meaning and it lifts their heart
to God.
The main reason we go to Mass is to adore God, to praise him, to
thank him, to ask for what we need and ask for forgiveness. So those who want to talk about
dance in the liturgy must answer some hard questions - whether what is called dance helps in
those directions.
You see why it is hard to give instructions valid all around the
world. You must take a hard look at culture. I am not talking about dances that are morally
unacceptable, dances that are unnecessarily
provocative.
Obviously, I am not talking about those. The bishops in each
country have an important responsibility in this whole
matter.
What advice can you give the faithful if they see abuse in their
parishes?
Do your best to speak with those in the parish who
can do something about it. If there is no success, if it still very important,
you can approach your diocesan office. But the first thing to do is not to take
paper and write to the Vatican. There must be a better solution than that,
although as a last resort, people retain that right.
I have heard you are a convert, and you had the good fortune
of being baptized by Nigeria's first blessed. Can you tell me a bit
about your conversion?
When people hear the word "convert," they normally think
of someone who was, for example, Episcopalian or Baptist and then became a Catholic.
In my case, it was not exactly that. I was simply a small boy with my family.
My parents practiced the African traditional religion. People believe in one God
and in spirits, good and bad, and ancestors. That was the normal religion when the
missionaries came to our area.
Gradually, parents sent their children to Catholic schools.
Most of the children would become Christians freely. They were not bound to accept
Christianity. It was at the age of 9, then, that
I was baptized.
In our context in Nigeria, we would hardly call the person
a convert. But for us, it was simply growing up in the natural religion that people had,
then came contact with Christianity, and then one became a Christian. The process of a
person becoming a Christian is a work of God's grace. We cannot explain the whole thing
ourselves.
The priest who was our parish priest at that time was Father
Michael Tansi. He was ordained in 1937. He was, at first, assistant priest in another
parish, then began in our parish in 1939. He was the first parish priest there in a place
called Dunukofia. He baptized me on
Nov. 1, 1941.
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