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Africa’s Church in focus
Not long before his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II imparted on Africa, a continent he loved, a final gift by announcing a second Synod for Africa, just a decade and a half after the first. In doing so, Pope John Paul acknowledged that Africa is a dynamic continent caught up in profound change.
Much has changed in Africa and in the world since the first African synod in 1994. For example, increasing numbers of African countries have move towards democracy, whereas 15 years ago much of Africa was ruled by dictatorships. But within that context, civil wars are on-going in many African countries, while corruption and extreme poverty remain widespread. Globalisation has accelerated since the last synod, not always to the benefit of Africa. We now have a better understanding of how climate change is affecting the continent. The HIV/Aids pandemic has spread enormously throughout the continent since 1994.
These temporal problems are among the many that challenge Africa’s Catholic Church. How it should respond to these issues of social justice therefore will form a central part in the deliberations at the October 4-25 synod, as pledged by the theme “The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace”.
There are also new dynamics that impact on the Church itself. For example, the relationship between Islam and Christianity in many parts of Africa has changed in nature, not invariably for the better. Communications technology has exploded, creating new opportunities as well as concerns for the Church in Africa.
The number of Catholics in Africa is growing at a rapid pace, as are vocations to the priesthood. Responding to that growth — in the ability to provide pastoral care or the formation of priests, for example — represents a major challenge to the Church, on the continent as well as in the Vatican.
One question which should benefit from open discussion at the synod — and beyond — is that of inculturation. This refers not only to the incorporation of African tradition in the liturgy, but also to addressing the sometimes contrary relationship between African culture (and the impact on it of modern Western influences) and the Catholic faith and disciplines, trying to find solutions to these as a way to animate a moral regeneration.
One may hope that the synod will make evident that the Vatican cannot address problems that are unique to Africa through a Eurocentric worldview. It does not suffice, for example, to appeal for sexual morality in generic terms when there are so many people, especially women, who have no autonomy over their own sexuality. The manner in which the Church frames its message on the continent must show an awareness of specific African circumstances.
The synod is an opportunity to present the Church in Africa as confident, with the will and capacity to work towards greater self-sufficiency. It should no longer be seen as a missionary backwater.
Africa has many very competent Church leaders who can and should be represented in greater numbers in the College of Cardinals and in the Roman curia. Why should there not be two, three or even four Africans leading curial dicasteries (since the retirement of Cardinal Francis Arinze last year, there is at present no African heading a Vatican dicastery)?
Apart from issues of social justice, the synod will doubtless spend much time on questions of formation and catechetics. Ideally, the synod will provide the basis for the development of a truly African catechism that finds ways of attuning the Church’s authentic teachings and values with local cultures and society — a truly African catechism.
If the synod produces nothing more than that, it will be a success.
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“the Vatican cannot address problems that are unique to Africa through a Eurocentric worldview”
It is not at all obvious that “the Vatican” addresses Africa’s problems “through a Eurocentric worldview”: the two Special Assemblies for Africa of the Synod of Bishops suggest quite the opposite.
The African crisis lies not in any “Eurocentric worldview” whether in “the Vatican” or elsewhere – that is no longer a profitable analysis. The Special Assembly in 1994 had somewhat diffusely identified the degradation of African cultural heritages as a serious threat (Ecclesia in Africa, nn. 43, 48, 52, 71 [1995]). It is now a crisis.
The outline for the Second Special Assembly re-opened the topic, but in a more concentrated way (Lineamenta, nn. 20-23 [2006]). Then the working document – drawing on responses from the particular Churches in Africa – refined and condensed the analysis in starke terms (Instrumentum laboris, n. 31 [2009]):-
“The marring of a cultural identity has led to an interior instability in persons, which is seen in moral laxity, corruption, materialism, the destruction of an authentic idea of marriage and the notion of a sound family, the neglect of the elderly and the denial of a childhood to children.
“A process organized to destroy the African identity seems to be taking place under the pretext of modernity.
“This is increasingly occurring through illiteracy, resulting from too little being invested in education by powerful public leaders. In this way, the education of youth succumbs to the influence of the false values propagated by the mass media, some politicians and other public figures”
This coincides with the view repeated on many occasions by the Holy Father. If we must use the term, “the Vatican” is uncompromisingly on the side of Africa and views her problems from the inside.
“starker” in para. 4 of previous post – apologies.
***
The absence of Africans from positions of leadership in the Curia cannot be remedied unless the number of African cardinals is increased: currently, there are only 7 under the age of 75.
If I have tracked them correctly, the 25 “magisterial” departments are headed by: 18 Europeans from eight countries (including 6 from Italy); 2 Latin Americans (from Brasil and México); 2 Asians (from India and Syria); and 3 from the USA.
The principle of an international Curia (mooted in the Conciliar Decree Christus Dominus, n. 10) is well established at this level, with these 25 posts filled from twelve countries. This diversity is particularly noticeable at the premier tier of “Congregations”, which are led by nine cardinals from nine countries on four continents (North and South America, Europe, and Asia).
Cardinal Napier’s comment (in reply to an interviewer who asked him, shortly after the last conclave, what had been the chances of a pope being elected from Africa or South America) remains pertinent: “. . I think we’ve got to look at ourselves [and] ask if we are developing the kind of leadership that would make an impact on the rest of the Church.” (Zenit interview, 22 May 2005).
Despite Günther’s view that the Church in Africa has “many very competent leaders”, that hope remains far from being realised if the South African experience is anything to go by. In the last three years, 5 of the 10 episcopal appointments in South Africa have been filled from the ranks of foreign missionaries.