Response of René Marie GRAFFIN, the Archbishop of Yaoundé, Cameroon, to Vatican II’s Antepreparatory Commission

Eminentissime Domine,

Cum in litteris suis (1484 bis die Martii XXI) dignaretur Eminentia Reverendissima Tua mihi mandare ut ad Antepraeparatorium Concilii Oecumenici Coetum mitterem de quibus rebus hoc Concilium mundo moderationes dare posset, iam diu expertus quo usu Missionibus nostris in Africa opus esset, haec putavi utilia fore:

1. Ut denuo Communismus impius damnaretur: prosperitas enim technicarum artium qua pollet URSS tam penitus Africanos mentes movet ut talia vulgo audiantur: “Haud sane malus ille Communismus, utpote qui Russias regiones, ex rudibus inter Europae nationes, florentissimas effecit: scilicet doctrinae propagatio ab eo militat nos divertere ne per eum mature ad plenam libertatem perveniamus, repulso occidentali adiutorio. Verum, aiunt, a Summis Pontificibus damnatus est, sed ii ipsi occidentales sunt homines!”.

Sollemnis ergo condemnatio ab universi orbis Episcopis lata magni momenti gravitatisque videatur.

2. Ut instanter affirmaretur quo modo valeret Ecclesia moderari nationes ad sui iuris potestatem accedentes: nimis enim prona aestimatio habetur Ecclesiam debere in actione sola spirituali se continere, obliviscendo quod vitae materialis conditiones multum in illas spiritualis vitae impellent.

3. Ut monerent Deum honorandum esse non solum hominibus singulis, sed etiam societati et nationibus ut talibus.

4. Ut instanter disciplinam in sinu Ecclesiae memorarent, nam oculis nostris, democraticae opiniones quae ex liberarum rerum publicarum in regionibus Africae formatione pervulgantur etiam Ecclesiam penetrant, atque clerici etiam iuvenes nonnunquam vix mandata Episcopi accipiunt, ne S. Patris dicam: fas esse, putant, de eis disputare; illam quae olim oporteret oboedientiam, non iam hic valere; sed hodie, ratione iugiter progressa, nemo oboedire tenetur nisi iussa iusta et opportuna esse percipiat: sic vulgo in dies coeptum est putari. Quod spoliat, in facto, oboedientiam omni qualitate supernaturali, sed etiam graviter laedit unitatem qua viget actio sacerdotalis.

Dignetur Eminentia Tua Reverendissima altissimi respectus mei deferentiam in D. N. accipere

+ RENATUS GRAFFIN
Archiepiscopus Yaundensis

Most Eminent Lord,

Since in his letter (1484 bis March 21) Your Most Reverend Eminence deigned to enjoin me so that I might send to the Antepreparatory Commission of the Ecumenical Council matters concerning which this Council could give guidelines to the world, having now for a long time experienced by which advantage it might be beneficial for our Missions in Africa, I thought that these would be useful:

1. That impious Communism be condemned once again: for the prosperity of the technical arts with which the USSR exerts influence moves the minds of Africans so deeply that such things are commonly heard: “Certainly, that famous Communism is by no means evil, inasmuch as it made the regions of Russia the most prosperous, from the undeveloped among the nations of Europe: clearly, the propagation of doctrine on it strives to divert us lest we quickly attain full freedom through it, with western support having been repulsed. Even so, they say, it has been condemned by the Supreme Pontiffs, but they [those Pontiffs] themselves are Western men!”.

Therefore, a solemn condemnation pronounced by the bishops of the whole world seems of great importance and gravity.

2. That it may be urgently affirmed how the Church might be able to moderate nations advancing towards independent rule: for it is thought too readily that the Church ought to confine herself solely to spiritual action, forgetting that the conditions of the material life greatly influence those of the spiritual life.

3. To remind that God should be honoured not only by individual people, but also by society and nations as such.

4. To urgently bring to mind the discipline in the bosom of the Church, for in our eyes, democratic opinions that are spread through the formation of free states in regions of Africa also penetrate the Church, and even young clerics sometimes hardly obey the mandates of the Bishop, not to mention those of the Holy Father: they think that it is right to discuss them; that obedience, which once was necessary, is no longer valid here; but today, with reasoning constantly advancing, no one is obliged to obey unless they perceive the orders to be just and opportune: thus it has begun to be generally thought day by day. What, in fact, strips obedience of every supernatural quality, but also seriously harms the unity in which priestly action thrives.

May your Most Reverend Eminence deign to accept the deference of my highest respect in our Lord

+ RENATUS GRAFFIN
Archbishop of Yaoundé