Nigerians are used to Bishop Matthew Kukah’s contributions to national discourse. His article (“Cry, the beloved continent”, 19 February) extends his social and political concerns to the entire African continent. If Catholics in politics are encouraged to embrace democracy as defined by Chris Patten, Africa would be transformed, he argues.

A more powerful paradigm for Christian participation in political life is the metaphor of the leaven. Africans are currently emerging from their twofold historical humiliations through slavery and colonialism to reclaim their freedom as children of God. Coming from the cradle of humanity, Africans in the diaspora, living as migrants in “Old Europe” and in its former imperial homelands, will be the leaven in a world progressively estranged from its Christian roots. So long as Africans are poor and jobless, politics will be based on bribery and corruption. When Africans discover that Christian faith makes them the leaven of society, the salt of the earth, the situation in Africa may change.