O Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church,
thanks to you, on the day of the Annunciation,
at the dawn of the new era,
the whole human race with its cultures
rejoiced in recognizing itself ready for the Gospel.
On the eve of a new Pentecost
for the Church in Africa, Madagascar and the adjacent Islands,
the People of God with its Pastors turns to you and with you fervently prays:
May the outpouring of the Holy Spirit make of the cultures of Africa
places of communion in diversity,
fashioning the peoples of this great Continent
into generous sons and daughters of the Church
which is the Family of the Father,
the Brotherhood of the Son,
the Image of the Trinity,
the seed and beginning on earth of the eternal Kingdom
which will come to its perfection in the City that has God as its Builder:
the City of justice, love and peace.

– Prayer of St. John Paul II printed in Ecclesia in Africa