Cotonou, Benin, Nov 18, 2011 / 13:32 pm
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Benin at the beginning of a three-day trip where he will unveil his blueprint on the future of the Church in Africa entitled “Africae Munus.”
“May this document fall into the ground and take root, grow and bear much fruit 'in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty,' as Christ himself said,” declared Pope Benedict upon his arrival to the small West African country.
The Pope was met at Cardinal Bernardin Gantin Airport in Cotonou by President Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin and Archbishop Antoine Ganye of Cotonou.
They were accompanied by colorful groups of local women who danced and sang as the Pope stepped off his chartered Alitalia flight. Many of the woman waved scarves and umbrellas bearing the Pope’s image.