ROME - Opening ceremonies for the Synod for Africa began on the octave of Easter, April 10. It was "solemnly inaugurated" by Pope John II with a high Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Never before have Africans - priests, sisters, laypeople - taken over St. Peter's with such uninhibited musical joie de vivre. There were drums and handclaps and dancing and joyous singing in 15 African languages. There was ululation - a kind of high-pitched wailing, a sign of happiness.
It all ...