The 18th edition of the pilgrimage to the saints of Africa focused on the place of African women in the Church and society. Togo was the country honoured at this event hosted by the Abbey of Saint-Maurice (VS) on the 2nd of June 2019.
The brightness of the courtyard between the Saint-Maurice school and its refectory is almost blinding. The picnic ends and small groups gather in the rare shaded areas left by the sun at its zenith. Choirs and pilgrims are drawn to the procession that is being formed and that will lead them to the basilica for the mass of this 18th pilgrimage to the African Saints.
The songs rise, punctuated by percussion, among which the voices of the women, the majority on this day, dominate. They are in honour of this African pilgrimage to Saint-Maurice. “Exceptionally, this year we have no invited bishop or saint to honor. The theme is therefore the place of women in the Church and society,” explains Father Claude Maillard, White Father, member of the pilgrimage committee. He added that Togo is the country in the spotlight and that Bishop Jean Scarcella, Father Abbot of the Abbey, has agreed to preside at the pilgrimage mass.
The essential role of women
“The role of women is essential in Africa,” explains Father Maillard. It has its full place in the family, the community that is the pillar of social life in Africa. In a society dominated by men, he believes that things are moving, especially in politics. Slowly, of course, but surely.
Agnès Rondez, a Togolese woman who arrived in the Jura in 2001, spoke on the theme of the day, drawing inspiration from the lenten campaign – Bread for All. She supports the statement: “In Africa, women are the carriers of the world, tireless, they are the driving force,” she says. She creates, she sews, she is “up front” to feed the family and take initiatives. “In Togo, at the market, it is the woman you will find,” she smiles.