jctr.org.zm - Quarterly Bulletin; Bulletin 67

Since the Second African Synod was announced in June 2005, and discussion guidelines published in 2006, preparations for the Synod have continued amongst Bishops, advisors and all of the church in Africa. Despite concerns along the way that this Synod has not received wide attention like the First African Synod, this October, the Synod will actually take place to discuss different aspects of the Church and challenges in Africa today. Peter J. Henriot, S.J. (one of the AMECEA Bishop’s advisors) and Dominic Liche pull together some of the expectations that need priority at the Synod discussions and in the follow-up activities after the event.

The Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, popularly known as the “The Second African Synod,” is taking place from 04 to 25 October 2009. More than 200 bishops and advisors from all over Africa will meet in Rome with a special focus on how the Catholic Church can best serve the people of this Continent. The theme of the Synod is “The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace” ‘You are the Salt of the Earth.… You are the Light of the World (Matthew 5: 13-14)’”

Preparations for the Synod have been going on for the past three years, with efforts of mixed success to involve a cross section of Catholics to explore the significance of the theme and its implications for theological reflection and pastoral practices. “Mixed success,” because in many dioceses and parishes much activity has gone on and in many others very little activity!

The idea of having the Second African Synod was first announced in November 2004 by John Paul II. This was later confirmed by Benedict XVI in June 2005. The preparatory document (Lineamenta) was published in 2006. Sadly, the Lineamenta did not receive many reactions from Africans.

The “Discussion Guidelines” (in Latin, Lineamenta) were circulated to prompt early conversations about the theme, inviting an “examination of conscience” about our life as “Family of God.” The results of these conversations were then communicated to the Vatican for preparation of the “Agenda” (Instrumentum Laboris) to focus the debates of the Synod. When Pope Benedict XVI visited Cameroun in May, he presented the “Agenda” with a call for reflection and prayer to engage all of us in this important event.

The Lineamenta gives two major purposes of the Second African Synod: 1) to keep alive the message and spirit of the First African Synod by reflecting on the lessons learned from that Synod; and 2) to begin a process that seeks ways to overcome the crisis situations in Africa.

The First African Synod in 1994 addressed many issues affecting the Church in Africa. Five broad topics were extensively dealt with: 1) Proclamation, 2) Inculturation, 3) Dialogue, 4) Justice and Peace, and 5) Social Communication. The topics were under the theme, “The Church in Africa and Her Evangelizing Mission Towards the Year 2000: ‘You shall be my witnesses (Acts 1:8)’”

We are struck by the relevance of the “Agenda” topics to the life of the Church in Africa. There is an honest reflection on the ups and downs of implementation of the First African Synod (10 April to 8 May 1994), with clear recognition that many parts of Africa have in the past decade been severely wracked by armed conflicts and ineffective governance. The concrete experience of the Church in relating to this challenging situation is sketched with obvious questions regarding the effectiveness of our responses. Given the fact that this Synod has not received wide attention by Christians in Africa, implementing this Synod might be even more challenging than the first one.

As the Bishops and advisors meet in Rome in October, Africans have many expectations from the Synod. These expectations range from local churches to issues that touch the universal Church. We at the JCTR, have related to both the first African Synod and this one in reflecting on the issues raised in the Lineamenta and helping in implementation of the Synod recommendations. Below, we present some of the expectations from a Zambian perspective.

Of the many issues presented in the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum Laboris, it is our hope that the synod will prioritise five issues in their deliberations.

The first is the greater use of the church social teaching in dealing with challenges both in Church and society. These challenges in Zambia today include the nature of politics, bad constitution, corruption, poor implementation of policies, gender problems, poverty, tribalism, unfair trade relations, and poor debt strategies. The use of CST will be enhanced through formation of CST across all of the Church – bishops, clergy, religious, laity. There still is too much ignorance of the content of the CST and/or reluctance to take seriously its call for prophetic stances by everyone in the Church. Many lay people, including those in important positions of government and business, simply do not know about the CST because many priests and pastoral leaders have never communicated its content and challenge in homilies, workshops, catechetical programmes, etc.

A second priority is to put high emphasis upon promotion of the dignity of women in both Church and society. As the “Agenda” clearly notes, “women and the laity in general are not fully integrated in the Church’s structures of responsibility and the planning of her pastoral programmes.” Anti-evangelical cultural and ecclesial attitudes, patterns and structures must be challenged head on by the Synod if any true reconciliation is to be possible. Many problems that exist in our society today like the scourge of HIV and AIDS, poverty, and bad politics could be dealt with by dealing with gender inequalities in our society where women are looked down upon even in the church.

The third priority that Synod discussion and decision must address is something which is surprisingly absent from the “Agenda.” This is the topic of environmental concern touching issues such as climate change (global warming), ecological integrity, life-style adjustments, and industrial pollution by new investors coming to the Continent (e.g., in the extractives sector). Aside from one passing reference to multinational corporations’ not paying adequate attention to the environment, this topic that is so much in the forefront of problems in Africa is not explored. Surely the actual Synod deliberations will take up the topic! This is especially relevant in Africa when more and more foreign investments are becoming the mainstay in most African countries.

The fourth priority is lifting up the role of the laity within the Church and in the wider society. The laity are not just there to be at the bottom of the Church structures, they are the Church and as such formation of Church leaders should also consider seriously including training lay leaders in the Church and “holy” leaders in the wider society (such as politicians, business managers, and leaders in the private sector).

The fifth priority of the synod should be clear ways in which the synod is going to continue with the recommendations and aspirations of the First African Synod. How the themes of the model of the Family of God will be perpetuated, how evangelisation will be enhanced in Africa taking serious consideration of inculturation of the Gospel message.

The greatest challenge in the Synod discussions will be exactly how the effective implementation of the discussion and recommendations will be done. The lessons learnt from the implementation of the First African Synod should inform steps in implementation now. The preparations for the Second African Synod, especially widely involving Christians, were poor and more will need to be done in the follow up to the Synod. We suggest that setting up Synod Commissions in Dioceses, Parishes and even small Christian communities, could effectively help in the implementation process.

If the Synod is really to help the Church to remain relevant and credible in being the true “salt of the earth, light of the world,” greater use of CST in dealing with current challenges should be stressed, gender problems and women’s involvement in Church should be openly discussed, environmental issues especially behaviours of persons and corporations considered, and greater involvement of the laity in church life and leadership prioritised. Reconciliation, justice and peace are essentially dealing with issues such as the ones we propose.

Quarterly Bulletin

Bulletin 80 2nd Quarter 2009