Gabon and Prague, Africa and Europe Brought Together by the Traditional Latin Mass -- by Rev. Stanislav Přibyl

Gabon in Prague

On Sunday, June 22, 2025, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Gabon, Major General of the National Gendarmerie, Ms. Brigitte Onkanowa, attended Holy Mass in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Charlemagne the Emperor in Prague, commonly known to Praguers as Karlov. Since 2016, the church has been a diocesan rectory for celebrations in the traditional Roman rite. The minister was in our Republic on a business trip and expressly wanted to attend the traditional Latin “Tridentine” Mass on Sunday. It was clear that this was her personal preference, as the Catholic Church in her country attracts the faithful mainly because of its widespread celebration of traditional Masses. It turns out that Africans do not necessarily need liturgical dances to affirm their cultural identity, which are almost imposed on them by Europeans as something supposedly authentic that they should exhibit for us.

For the Feast of Saint Anne: Honouring Grandparents and the Elderly in Catholic Tradition -- and the Catholicization of the African Heritage

Honouring Grandparents and the Elderly in Catholic Tradition:

A Christianised Ganda Cultural Reading

by Michael Kakooza

for Rorate Cæli

Introduction

In 2021, Pope Francis instituted the fourth Sunday of July as the annual World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly in the reformed Roman calendar.  This year, the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly will fall on 27 July 2025.

In the message he issued for the first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, the pope stated:

 

Think about it: what is our vocation today, at our age? To preserve our roots, to pass on the faith to the young and to care for the little ones. Never forget this.

It makes no difference how old you are, whether you still work or not, whether you are alone or have a family, whether you became a grandmother or grandfather at a young age or later, whether you are still independent or need assistance. Because there is no retirement age from the work of proclaiming the Gospel and handing down traditions to your grandchildren. … The future of the world depends on this covenant between young and old. … Keeping memory alive is a true mission for every elderly person: keeping memory alive and sharing it with others.

In the following discussion, I wish to contribute to broadening our appreciation of the concepts of grandparents and the elderly within the context of Catholic Tradition, drawing from the wisdom of my own cultural background as a Ugandan Catholic who is attached to the Traditional Latin liturgical heritage.