Pope to convoke big Vatican meeting on Africa

Vatican City - Pope Benedict announced on Wednesday that he would summon a special synod of Roman Catholic bishops to discuss the church's role in solving the problems of Africa.

Benedict told pilgrims at his weekly general audience that he planned to follow through with the intention of his predecessor, John Paul, to hold such a meeting.

His public commitment to Africa comes less than two weeks after finance ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations agreed ahead of next month's summit to huge debt relief in a drive to free Africa from hunger and disease.

Synods are major gatherings of Roman Catholic bishops to discuss a specific theme or region. They usually last about a month and are usually held at the Vatican.

"I hope this meeting will mark another impulse for the African continent for evangelization, the consolidation and growth of the Church and the promotion of reconciliation and peace," he said of the synod.

It would be the second synod on Africa called by the Vatican. The first was held in 1994 under John Paul, who made frequent visits to the continent during his 26-year papacy.

It was not clear when the African synod would be held but since the gatherings take much time to prepare, it was not likely to held before next year.

Any Vatican meeting on Africa would likely discuss debt relief, AIDS, corruption, poverty and war.

The Vatican applauded earlier this month when the world's wealthiest countries clinched a deal to wipe out more than $40 billion of impoverished nations' debts. But it called for more steps by developed countries to help Africa.

Proposals for increasing aid will be a main element at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, next month.

The 1994 synod ended with an appeal by African bishops to the United Nations and the West to stop their continent from "burning and bleeding." They called for debt relief, an end to arms shipments and greater solidarity for the poor.

Catholicism is growing faster in Africa than any other continent.

The number of men preparing for the Roman Catholic priesthood is high in some African countries and some Church leaders have suggested Africa will be called on in the future to ease the acute shortage of priests in Europe by sending clergy over to "re-evangelize the West."

The continent is also seen as a living laboratory of inter-religious relations because Christians and Muslims live side-by-side in many places there and often clash.