JCTR Bulleting 52 : Making social teaching relevant

Africa has so much potential and promise, but faces so many problems in its quest for integral human development. The following two articles reflect on the church’s social teaching (CST), an important source for realising the potential and promoting development. David Kaulemu, a professor on leave from the University of Zimbabwe, describes a new initiative for CST, and Pete Henriot presents a summary of some of the key teaching.

The Catholic social teachings have often been described as “our best kept secret.” This is so because very few people, including Catholics themselves, know of them and what they say. The Church -- through the Pope, the Second Vatican Council, Synods of Bishops, and regional bishops’ conferences -- has produced many documents on many key social issues. But it is distressing that many of these documents are not readily available for people to be acquainted with so that they might know what the Church has said and how they can respond.

Catholics have participated in many different forums at different local, national and international levels without the benefit of the many documents that have been produced for them. This has meant that sometimes the Church has been criticised by Catholics and others when these criticisms could simply have been answered by reference to the documents.

Many discussions on topical issues such as inculturation, the role of the laity in the Church, justice, peace, human rights, ecumenical cooperation and others, could be much richer if guided by or held in the context of the rich body of social teachings.

FORMATION OF AFCAST

Recognition of these facts is what has led to the recent formation of the African Forum for Catholic Social Teaching (AFCAST). This is a diverse group of Catholics concerned with, interested in and involved in the field of the Catholic Church’s social teachings. These Catholics have come together in order to share their knowledge and experience with each other and in order to explore, promote and popularise the social teachings with the African church and society at large.

AFCAST was born out of a series of meetings beginning in 1999, bringing together persons from several countries in southern and eastern Africa. It is currently housed at Arrupe Jesuit College of Philosophy and Humanities, a seminary affiliated with the University of Zimbabwe, Harare. It plans to work closely with already existing Church structures such as IMBISA, (southern)

African bishops conference), AMECEA (eastern African bishops conference), national bishops conferences, Commissions for Justice and Peace, educational institutions and others.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

· Being open to discovering what it really means to be socially concerned in the African context, showing a sensitivity to the sensibilities and peculiarities of each region.

· Being genuinely open to listening and observing to what is happening at the level of the local church, economically, socially and politically, thus emphasising the principle of subsidiarity.

· Believing that the social teachings should underpin development and pastoral activities that are based on concepts of social justice and human dignity.

· Having an ethical sense, accompanied by a public conscience and social commitment to transforming the world in the spirit of the Gospel message and to respect the obligations of stewardship of God’s creation.

· Being aware of not working in a vacuum but rather in a spirit of partnership and dialogue with all others in the social teaching field.

· Focussing the activities of AFCAST where they are most needed at any given time.

· Believing that the gap between the evolution of the social teachings by the church’s leadership and their practice on the ground needs to be bridged.

STRATEGIES

1. Research and evaluation of current and past theories and activities within the filed of the social teachings in Africa. AFCAST will encourage the publication of books and articles on the social teaching. Already exiting journals, magazines and newsletters will be used. In the future, AFAST will have its own newsletter that will report and discuss issues from the region.

2. Formulate guidelines and recommendations appropriate to the African context, for those working with the social teachings.

3. Bring people together to discuss their experience and knowledge of the social teachings and to channel this dialogue through the appropriate bodies in the church and society. AFCAST will organise workshops, conferences and other meetings to facilitate reflection and dissemination of the social teachings. It will also encourage people familiar with the social teachings to participate in local, national and international meetings with the view to expressing and recommending the position of the social teachings on the relevant issues.

4. Contextualise, popularise and ensure accessibility of the social teachings in order to influence the renewal of Africa. AFCAST will encourage the republication, translation and simplification of the social teachings, using the mass media extensively.

5. Influence local, national and regional economic, political and social policies from the point of view of the church’s social teachings. AFCAST will encourage people familiar with the social teaching to participate in the transformation of world.

As it inaugurates its programmes, AFCAST invites all individuals and institutions who can help to make visible the Catholic social teaching to come forward by contacting the office in Harare (see details below). An inventory of all such individuals and institutions working with and on social teachings is being complied. A documentation centre of the social teachings is being established at the Arrupe College Library. It will be open for use to the public. Donations of documents, books, video/audio tapes, etc., to the documentation centre will be very welcome.

As AFCAST gets moving, it is our hope to make a signficiant contribution to public policy debate and decisions and to the role of the church in the promotion of social justice. The time has come to let the secret out!