African students in Rome organize protest in defense of the Pope

Rome, Italy, Mar 27, 2009 / 21:04 pm

African students in Rome have convened a large protest to remind the international community of the inalienable rights of Africans, express their disagreement with the distortion of Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on condoms and with the companies seeking to profit from selling prophylactics in Africa.

Vatican Radio reported that the gathering will take place on Sunday, March 29 at 11:30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, in order to pray the Angelus with Benedict XVI. 

The events purpose, according to organizers, is to thank the Pope for his “lucid and detailed social, cultural, spiritual, environmental and economic diagnosis” of the African continent, and for “the different solutions and paths” he pointed out so that “Africans themselves might be the artifices and protagonists of their own development.”

The African students said their message to the world is that the absolute priorities for Africa should be “food, water, energy, medical care, stable income for families, a commercial system that facilities the exporting of African products and not just the exportation of primary materials, as well as the appreciation of its own riches right there and not the looting of its resources.”

“It is also to cry out our ‘No’ about the speculations over Africa. No to the political distortion of the Pope’s message for Africa! No to those who want to make Africa one of the main markets and outlets of condoms! Yes to effective care for AIDS in Africa! Yes to education!” the students exclaimed.