Quarterly Bulletin

2009 is a very special year for Africa because Catholic Bishops from Africa will be meeting in Rome in October 2009 to discuss issues that are affecting Africa, not only spiritually but also in all other aspects of human life. It is hoped that Africans themselves discussing Church and social issues in Africa will make the Church truly African in its relevance and credibility. Fr. Peter Henriot, the Director of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, shares some reflections of the First African Synod as well as the coming Synod.

How to make the church in Africa relevant and credible?  That’s the central question, in my view, of the big event coming up in Rome in October 2009.  The “big event” is, of course, the Second African Synod (or, more formally speaking, the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops).

Just how widely the Synod is known and engaged with by African Catholics across the Continent -- in preparation, occasion and follow-up -- will determine a lot of the relevancy of the message of the event and the credibility of the church that tries to live out that message.  Because, in the words of the First African Synod (April 1994), the Church in Africa is the “Family of God,” it is critically important that the Family as a whole is involved in this Second African Synod.  This involvement is not simply in an event but in a process. 

FIRST AFRICAN SYNOD

When the First African Synod met, its theme was evangelisation: “You shall by my witnesses.”  Five key themes featured in the debates and in the follow-up document of Pope John Paul II, “The Church in Africa” (1995).  These themes and their emphases were:

• Proclamation – getting effective ministers of the Good News and building strong Small Christian Communities

• Dialogue – having open exchanges with other churches and faiths in Africa, and within our own Church

• Inculturation – promoting respectful incorporation of African values into our theology, practices, and celebration

• Justice and peace – working courageously for the dignity, rights and duties of everyone, with special concern for the poor

• Communications – using both modern and traditional means to get our message out

In varying degrees in the regional conferences, national secretariats and local parishes, these themes set a working agenda for the Church across the Continent.  Any honest study of the follow-up and impacts would list both positive and not-so-positive evaluations of the Synod.

Positively, there was in many places an enthusiastic renewal of the church, a strengthening of the Small Christen Communities, an engagement of justice and peace efforts with the socio-political-economic realities of the day, and an effort at authentic and appreciated inculturation. 

Not-so-positively, there was a failure to get the message of the Synod out at a popular level (e.g., translations), poor strategic planning for pastoral approaches, not deep enough and theologically grounded inculturation, and insufficient influence on political life.

JUSTICE AND PEACE PRIORITY

It is important to remember that the April 1994 Synod opened at the time that the genocide in Rwanda began and that it closed just before the inauguration of Nelson Mandela in South Africa.  It  is not surprising, therefore, that the justice and peace theme was the most prominent of the themes developed in speeches during the Synod.  Moreover, it is not surprising that the topic of the Second African Synod continues this focus on justice and peace.

“The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace: ‘You are the salt of the earth….You are the light of the world’ (Matthew 5: 13-15)” – this is the title for the coming Synod.  The reflection guidelines (Lineamenta) distributed for discussion several months ago reviewed what has happened in the past 15 years in Africa and the Church and posed questions toward theological and pastoral movement forward.  On the basis of responses to the guidelines has now come (with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Africa in March) the agenda (Instrumentum Laboris) for the actual business of the Synod. 

This agenda document is, in my view, a powerful call to the Church to strategise for an effective Synod meeting that will really have consequences for the lives of all Africans.  Much more will be said and written about this agenda in the months ahead (certainly here in the JCTR Bulletin!).  Here let me highlight just three things of great relevance to Zambia. 

First, there is a very strong rejection of any model of church that would withdraw it from public engagement in justice and peace issues.  According to the Synod document, “the church ought not to retire into herself.” I take that to mean that it is never the role of the church to “stay in the sacristy,” as some Zambian politicians like to demand whenever a Pastoral Letter comes out to challenge the situation in the country! 

Second, the document speaks favourably of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) that “seeks to identify the forms and causes of the corruption which rages on the Continent and goes unpunished.”  This should push us in Zambia to be actively involved in the APRM process. 

Third, the document sounds a clear and cogent warning about the risk of giving into the campaign for GMOs, a campaign that purports to assure food security.  This campaign, according to the  document, “should not overlook the true problems of agriculture in Africa: the lack of cultivatable land, water, energy, access to credit, agricultural training, local markets, road infrastructures, etc.”  Again, words very relevant to Zambia!

PREPARATORY DISCUSSIONS

In order the prepare themselves for the business of the Synod, the bishop delegates from various regions in Africa have been holding workshops with the aim of focusing attention on key elements.  The AMECEA region bishop delegates met in Nairobi for such a workshop in early March.  (AMECEA members include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia, with Somalia and Djibouti as affiliate members.)

In three days of lively discussions, the AMECEA bishops came up with some priorities emerging from the region.  The priorities made specific the call for serving the cause of reconciliation, justice and peace in a variety of ways.  These included:

• Peace and conflict resolution: there is need to address both the intra-state conflicts (e.g., tribal and regional) and the extra-state conflicts (e.g., aggressive action across borders).  (Truly, Zambia is blessed not to experience these tensions!)

• Poverty: the impoverishment of majorities of people is both an offence against justice and a threat to peace.  Recall Benedict XVI’s 2009 World Day of Peace letter, “If You Want Peace, Fight Poverty.”

• Inculturation: among many Africans there is the feeling that the model of “Church as Family of God” has not been sufficiently developed with deep African theology, and that liturgical performances still are foreign in much of the ritual and language.

• Ecology: global warming is affecting the lives of a growing number of Africans; damage to environmental harmony is growing through unrestrained extractive industry activities and deforestation. 

• Political governance: there is great need for what Pope John Paul II called “Holy Politicians” who move into public offices with the desire to serve the people and not simply themselves, their families, their tribes, their regions, etc. 

• Self-reliance: an oft-repeated cry is for developing more self-sufficiency in the African Church, with less reliance on donor assistance for everything that is done. 

• Formation: too many Catholics live with only a simple catechetical understanding of their faith; we must promote a mature faith across the whole community.

It is notable that some other burning issues affecting the Church in Africa did not surface highly on the AMECEA agenda.  These include the issue of the role of women in the Church, loss of many youth from active church participation, the fidelity of priests and religious to their vows and their commitment to selfless service of the people, the question of use of condoms; hierarchical structures and consultation with laity, and instances of corruption in church finances. 

Already during his visits to Cameroun and Angola, some of these issues have surfaced in the discourses of Benedict XVI.   It is difficult to imagine that such issues can be – or should be – absent from the debates and decisions of the Synod.

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

What can Catholics do during this “process” of the Second African Synod?  Obviously, a first call is for prayer that the Holy Spirit guide the entire process for God’s glory and the good of the African people.  Then it is very important that Catholics of every state – lay parishioners, leaders of church movements, students, religious and priests, bishops – become more informed about the agenda of the Synod and be prepared for the necessary follow-up.  A mature commitment to fostering the changes necessary for making sure that the Synod promotes a “relevant and credible” church is important. 

Such commitment would be shown, for example in promotion of a mature faith dedication, willingness to serve the Church even with all its faults, willingness to lovingly challenge the Church when appropriate, and search for engagement the church in the socio-political life so essential to reconciliation, justice and peace.

The Second African Synod, with its focus on the “Church in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace,” will indeed be an exciting moment for us!

Peter Henriot, S.J.
JCTR Staff
Lusaka