John Allen has been pushing Obama all along so his first article from the Synod today is not a surprise.
ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/without-even-showing-obamas-force-afric...
Already, the other day, he picked out one short sentence mentioning Obama from Cardinal Turkson's opening and truly wide-ranging intervention [a report on the implementation of the recommendations from the first special Synod for Africa after 15 years] and made a whole article out of it.
One can understand the African bishops' pride and that they would inevitably cite Obama as a precursor and harbinger for bigger things possible for any African. Not that they needed Obama for that, but POTUS is by far more powerful than UN Secretary-General as Kofi Annan was.
Indeed, in the initial speculations about the next Pope immediately after John Paul II's death, I sincerely believed that Cardinal Arinze could well be elected Pope without any reservations on the part of the cardinals if they felt he was the best man for the job.
I only hope the African bishops can separate their cultural and ethnic considerations from their doctrinal and pastoral responsibilities to the Catholic faith.
And on the practical side, Obama will have to outdo or at least match the outstanding record of George W. Bush's administration in effective US development assistance to Africa which surpassed that of all previous postwar US administrations combined.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/10/2009 14:17]