African Ancestor Beliefs and the Catholic Communion of Saints: Concord or Conflict?
Most if not all Black Catholics within the Archdiocese of Cape Town (ACT), South Africa, pray to their ancestors. Is this acceptable in terms of our faith? Does it amount to idolatry as some maintain? Should this practice be banned, as some Christian denominations have insisted? Can it be harmonized partially or completely with the belief related to the Communion of Saints? Given the empirical reality of the ancestor system of belief, along with other African Traditional beliefs, what should our response be? This article takes as given the fact of ancestor veneration and moves across to the theology of the Communion of Saints, seeking points of concord or conflict. As such, it deals more with Christian theology than with the details of the ancestor belief system. But the starting point is African culture.
SUMMARY (of 11 page document below)
Inculturation is a two-way process. In the one direction we attempt to evangelize culture. In the other direction we consciously set out to employ local forms to express Christian truths, so that the receiving culture assimilates the Christian message at the deepest level of culture. Christianising culture (the one direction) involves challenging a culture, purifying it, enlivening it with Christian leaven, and unearthing the spiritual riches of a culture, which are often a preparation for evangelization and provide a clear direction to future mission. In the case of the ancestor system of beliefs, all four processes need to be employed. In regard to enculturating (or Africanising) Christianity, we use language, visual inculturation (eg. vestments), writing African theology and philosophy, and identifying parallels between the religious culture and Christianity, using the one to amplify the other.
Since the African ancestor system of belief has survived two centuries of Christian mission, we look at the theology of the Communion of Saints for possible coherence with this very important system of belief. This theology satisfies us that those who have gone before us, are not asleep, but are a constant presence to us, having experienced immediate judgement after death and immediate reward or punishment, and are in a real time communication with us. I contend that it is not only the canonised Saints who are in contact with us, but all those in heaven and purgatory as well, as there is no doubt from the documents of the Church that these are in communion with us. Some prayers for the Dead in Catholic funeral rites refer to raising up the departed on the Last Day, which to me refers to the Last Judgement which takes place on the day of Christ’s second coming, after a personal judgement which those who died before this time will have already experienced.
In the same way that African ancestors need acknowledgement by their progeny, but for different reasons, our departed need prayers to facilitate the process of purification, purgatory. Those who have gone before us no doubt have a very special interest in our wellbeing, and being present to us, will no doubt pray for us. There is no problem, then, in seeing the departed as a benign presence, with our best interests at heart. There are many experiences narrated, subjective, admittedly, of some type of assistance and communication received from our departed family members.
Ancestors are seen as mediators between God and humankind. The intercession of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and of the saints (canonised or not), share in the intercession of Christ, which in no way rivals the Son’s unique intercession, but enhances it. It flows from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on it, depends entirely on it and draws all its powers from it (Lumen Gentium 60). All prayer, whether directly to God, or indirectly through the saints, goes through the Son, there is no usurping of this route. The intercession of the saints, then, is a gift from God. All the Black Catholics whom I have questioned, pray to the ancestors. There is no mysterious invoking of spirits. All also pray to Jesus. However, I must express concern when people go to diviners for these agents to call up spirits. This is a questionable practice and dangerous spiritually. If the diviner merely claims to speak to the ancestors as intermediaries, there seems to be no problem, otherwise we are on dangerous ground (cf 1 Samuel 28:5-20). In the paper below I set out various Bible passages which refer to the supremacy of Christ in all matters, and the need to purify the system of ancestor beliefs where there is danger that the central role of Christ is diminished.
In regard to honouring the saints, I refer to the Catholic tradition of dulia, which refers to honouring the saints, hyper-dulia, a higher form of honour or veneration reserved exclusively for Mary, the Mother of Christ, and latria, which is worship, reserved exclusively for God. There is no hesitation in professing the subordinate of Mary (and of course the angels and saints) (Lumen Gentium 62). To honour a creature, or what God has achieved in that person, is to honour the Creator even more, who guided the person on the path of sanctity. God is glorified in his saints. The saints are not an essential route to God, but by virtue of their heroic lives, may claim some special influence with God, and in the case of family, a special concern for their progeny.
Those in heaven are in a higher ontological state of existence and are valid sources of wisdom. I refer to several New Testament passages which provide us with a sense of how the saints can assist us, even beyond intercession. Also, various Prefaces of the Catholic Mass refer to the saints as guiding us still, protecting us, communicating with us, giving us inspiration and strength. However, these saints do God’s will perfectly (I refer to the prayer the Our Father, which asks that we do God’s will AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, where His will is perfectly fulfilled). In other words, the saints are not independent of God, as the ancestor cult seems to suggest, and it seems highly questionable as to whether the saints can actually hurt or harm us, as many Africans believe.
From research it is clear that the ancestors evoke a large amount of fear among Black Africans, and the neglect of the ancestors or disobedience of what they seem to be telling their progeny can cause severe harm to their family or clan, and in fact, even to a nation. They are seen to be able to act independently of God and act even in a capricious manner. I do not find support of these contentions in our Christian faith and it is clearly an area which needs to be addressed. Events which cause some form of suffering always have a cause, for the African person, and the ancestors, or God, or enemies get the blame.
The ancestors are seen as protection from evil spirits, which feature strongly in African tradition. If the African person is too preoccupied with the world of evil spirits, perhaps the Western mind is too dismissive of this reality (seeEphesians 6:11-12). If a person receives a communication from an ancestor, I believe this is definitely within the realm of possibility. But it could also be from an evil spirit, or it could be a psychological phenomenon. If it is from an ancestor (eg a dream), the interpretation of this communication is also critical.
I have covered some issues which are basically a question of inculturation, of facilitating the acceptance of the Christian message by the African person at a deep level. I note below various results of poor inculturation. These include the fact that the African person has a dual religious system, the Christian faith and the Traditional system, operating almost independently of each other, at times conflicting with each other. Inculturation is the process of bringing the two together, without compromising the Christian faith. There is the saying �Mass in the morning, traditional healer or diviner at night. If we do not deal with these issues, we will fail to achieve a fuller conversion to Christ.
The African theologian, Okure, asks whether we need ancestors when we have all we need in Christ, and worries that the African Christian is serving two masters (1998:16-17). She acknowledges that evangelization needs to take into account the African world-view, but insists that there must be a sound Christological and Pneumatological basis. The supremacy of Christ and the Holy Spirit must be clear. Christ’s free gift of the Holy Spirit is better than anything the ancestors can offer, according to her. This gift is obtainable without resort to arduous rituals. For Okure, African Traditional Religion is the equivalent of what the Old Testament was for the Jewish Christian, a preparation for the fullness of revelation. I acknowledge these comments, but note that we still have to dialogue with the substantial body of tradition embedded in the African mind, in order to achieve a profound conversion to Christ, and to derive reciprocal enrichment from the wisdom of this rich tradition.
Introduction
I present an attempt to dialogue Catholicism with certain aspects of ancestor beliefs of the mainly the Xhosa-speaking community within the ACT. Inculturation is a two-way process of evangelization. In the one direction, we attempt to evangelise the culture (I set out the main tasks of this below). In the other direction we set out consciously to employ local cultural forms (the most obvious being language) to express Christian truths.
The assumption is that there are basic truths, or essential parts of the Christian faith, which must remain unaltered, and variable forms, modes of expression, which should be adapted to make the basic matter more understandable. To use a colloquial expression, the essential matter is the baby, and the form or external expression, is the bathwater.
Many African scholars believe that the dismissal of African Traditional Religious beliefs such as ancestor veneration, is to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Without studied dialogue between faith and culture, evangelisation simply drives the powerful existing beliefs underground, and we end up with a dual religious system, at the expense of a more profound conversion to Christianity. The attempt to identify deep values enables the missionary to have a frame of reference, as well as various starting points from which to lead a person from the known in their culture, to the unknown but similar (to varying degrees) in the Christian faith. There need not always be similarities, of course.
Inculturation: from Faith to Culture: Christianising culture.
I proffer the following main tasks of Christianising culture.
1. Challenging Culture.
Walls, (1996) observes that there has never been a culture that could completely absorb the Gospel painlessly. The Gospel is often a sign of contradiction, a sign destined to be opposed (Lk 2:24). My conclusion is that there are aspects of ancestor beliefs that need to be challenged.
2. Purifying Culture.
This involves separating what is acceptable in terms of Christian values from what is unacceptable. My thoughts below reflect this attempt.
3. Enlivening the Culture.
This involves enriching neutral or positive customs of the culture with the Christian leaven, such as bringing Christ into the ground of male initiation amongst the Xhosa, or into cultural weddings.
4. Unearthing the Riches of the Culture.
Here we look for Seeds of the Word (cf Shorter 1988:76-79), the divine influence of the Word and the Holy Spirit already present in the culture. These Seeds reflect the mysterious presence of the Eternal Logos, through whom all things came into being ((Jn 1:3). Creation theology proposes an interiority of the Cosmic Christ in all creation, tying in with the mysterious statement in Acts (17:28) in him we live and move and have our being. It has been argued that ancestor veneration is a preparation for the fullness of evangelisation.
Inculturation: From Culture to Faith: Enculturating Christianity
This includes identifying key components of the local culture and religion, and comparing them to Gospel values, where there is a clear correspondence between them, and where necessary, making the appropriate change. There may be a change of both (faith and culture), producing a new way of expressing Christianity, one which better resonates with the African experience.
Catholics have tended to focus on inculturating the Mass, since the Eucharist is the heart of the Catholic faith. However, the scope should include preaching, catechetics, theology in general, sacraments, prayer life, spirituality, underlying philosophy.
1. Language is basic to inculturation.
2. Visual inculturation includes African art, liturgical vestments with African patterns, etc.
3. Writing African theology and philosophy. Walls (1996:35) argues that the Hellenistic people could not be converted without the conversion to the whole universe of Greek thought, a universe constructed over centuries,. The School of Rome and Athens have provided the platform for Western theology, and a new platform is needed for Africa. Walls (1996:xvii) argues that in fact our understanding of Christ grows as we do mission, by writing African theology (for example), as African Traditional Religion encounters the Christian faith. He sees a veritable goldmine of new theology and cultural studies by opening up the wisdom of Africa and Asia, comparable to the rich discoveries and new science of a century ago.
4. Identifying Parallels, Bridges, Stepping Stones. In my theologising below, I look for such parallels in order to construct a type of intellectual bridge between faith and culture. Various ancestor beliefs bear similarity to the Christian faith, and can be used as a type of stepping stone, a bridge with which to traverse from the known and familiar in the culture to the new and unfamiliar but similar in the Christian faith. Okure, for example, (1998:18-19) sees ancestor beliefs as a bridge to belief in the Holy Spirit, and also to bringing people to understand incorporation into the Body of Christ and the Communion of Saints.
From my experience with black catholic people in Cape Town, it is very clear that ancestor beliefs have survived some two centuries of evangelisation by missionaries. Tlhagale (2000:52-53) argues that beliefs such as the powers of the ancestors, evil spirits, and witchcraft remain an integral part of the African world-view. To be merely dismissive of this is to pretend these profound values are simply not there. If new truths are to be compared to existing African beliefs, they need to be juxtaposed in a way that there is no elimination of the culturally determined way of self expression at yet at the same time it should allow for the transformation (purification) of the old truth brought about by the life-giving power of the gospel (:5). My article is similar to Tlhagale’s article Saints and Ancestors: A Closer Look (2000:27-53), but I hope adds some interesting perspectives.
The Theology of the Communion of Saints
The ancestor belief system of the Xhosa directs attention to existing Christian theology on this aspect of faith, to see what it has to say about those who have died. The Christian Church believes of course in life after death. Jesus tells us that God is God, not of the dead, but of the living (Mt 22:32). The communion of saints is an item of faith defined in the Apostles’ Creed and is part of a long held tradition of the Church. In an Apostolic Constitution (1967, a statement on the system of indulgences ), Pope Paul VI refers to this tradition, according to which those in heaven (the sons (sic) of God), are joined through Christ to all on earth by a wonderful link in the supernatural oneness of the mystical Body of Christ, in one mystical person as it were (Neuner & Dupuis:533).
The document Lumen Gentium (= LG 1965), article 49, defines three different but interrelated communions:
1. There is the Church in the present time, the Pilgrim Church (on its way, striving for holiness), or Church Militant, doing battle against sin and evil;
2. The Church Suffering or Expectant, namely those being purified in purgatory;
3. The Church Triumphant, or in Glory, namely all those in heaven.
There is a type of unity between these three states and an exchange of spiritual goods by which these three groups can assist each other.
Those in heaven and purgatory are present to us in this world (LG 51 refers explicitly to communion with those who are being purified). Those in heaven pray for the Pilgrim Church and assist it in its worship, joining in when the Pilgrim Church celebrates its liturgy. Hebrews (12:22) refers to heaven (Mount Zion and the city of the living God), with angels and the whole church of first-born sons (sic), enrolled as citizens of heaven. Revelation 5:12 refers to ten thousand times ten thousand of them, together with an immense number of angels gathered around the throne.
The Church Suffering is a doctrine derived both from Scripture and Tradition. In Mt 12:31-32, Jesus speaks of the sin against the Holy Spirit which will not be forgiven in this life or the next, from which we conclude that there is a forgiveness of sins in the next life, according to to the Catholic Catechism (1994:268, paragraph 1031, and 1 Cor 3:15-17, referring to judgement day when fire will test each person’s work, and the one whose work is burnt down will suffer loss of it, though he himself (sic) will be saved). In the parable of the unforgiving debtor (Mt 18:23-35) Jesus warns of being handed over to the torturers till he (sic) should pay all his debt (V 24), a reference to judgement, punishment and a definite end to the punishment. Furthermore, in 2 Macc. 12:38-46, Judas Maccabaeus prays for the dead soldiers, that their sin might be completely forgiven, expecting the fallen to rise again, hence he had this expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin. For this reason, the Catholic Church recommends prayers, alms-giving and works of penance to be undertaken on behalf of the dead (Catholic Catechism 1994:268, article 1032).
Are those who have departed asleep until the last day?
The Catholic belief is that of an immediate judgement after death and immediate reward or punishment. The Second Council of Lyons (1274, in Neuner & Dupuis, 1990:18, paragraph 26) states that souls free from sin will be received immediately into heaven. In Constitution Benedictus Deus (1336, Neuner & Dupuis, 1990:768, paragraph number 2307), we understand that purgatory is also an immediate experience, and the subsequent ascent into heaven occurs even if the general judgement has not taken place. There is a Last Judgement, or general judgement, on the last day, when Christ returns in glory, and this is a more general type of event which will reveal God’s providence in the world and in our own personal lives.
It needs to be noted that various prayers for the dead refer to raising the soul up on the last day, and here I assume this is a reference to the Last Judgement. It seems clear that the dead are not asleep, (as some argue), but that they are fully alive, living in a higher state of ontological existence.
The saints in heaven and purgatory are in a mysterious way, present to us in this world, and both pray for us, although the souls in purgatory cannot earn merit from their prayers. It is by their personal suffering and the prayers of others for them that their debt is brought to an end. This is the basic theological framework of the communion of saints against which to compare the ancestor veneration which characterises African Traditional Religion.
Ancestors
An ancestor is someone who has died, usually a male, often of exemplary virtue (although even those with known faults may be deemed to be an ancestor), who interacts with their progeny of their clan line only. There is no problem in believing that these are present to us in this world, and that our late relatives have a special concern for us, praying for our best interests. Whilst the Black Catholics I I work with refer to ancestors in the plural and general form, they relate only to those in their own clan line. The preference for male ancestors denotes a measure of patriarchy present in this culture.
The ancestor may be initially in a place of unknowing, and this seems to be the closest there is to the notion of purgatory, and a bridge to this concept. The spirit needs to be welcomed home through the rite of ukubuyisa, whilst Christians pray for their dead to be welcomed into the heavenly kingdom. Ancestors need acknowledgement, obedience, they need to be remembered, even at the penalty of punishment. This belief in punishment is discussed below. Where an animal is sacrificed for a relative, this can be connected to Christians who offer the sacrifice of the Mass, prayers and works of penance for the souls in purgatory. But care must be taken to emphasise the unique nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the one perfect sacrifice of Christ.
In this sense, the ancestors are incomplete in that they need the attention of their progeny. In the Christian framework, those in purgatory are in the process of being completed, of being purified or perfected. They need our attention, our prayers. However, those in heaven are presumed to be completely fulfilled. Yet we can speculate about our late relatives and friends, who are deeply concerned about us, even if only in a compassionate way, since in heaven there are no more tears or sadness. There is a tradition that believes that all those in heaven actually enjoyed a permanent increase in blessedness when Mary the mother of Jesus entered heaven. Is it not possible that when a family member enters heaven, that their friends and relatives also enjoy an increase in happiness? Jesus tells us that there is joy in heaven over one repentant sinner (Lk 15:7), and of course, entry into heaven implies that every last sinned has been repented and atoned for. In this manner, the demands of the ancestors to be acknowledged is a bridge to the very real need to pray for the dead.
We face the argument of how we can know whether our dead relative is in heaven, or in purgatory. They could be in hell (cf 2 The 1:9 Their punishment is to be lost eternally, excluded from the presence of the Lord). Are Christians who pray to friends or relatives, or Africans praying to ancestors, wasting their time? Firstly, no prayer can ever be a waste of time. Any breath of holy desire, of petition, will achieve some beneficial effect, even if the actual request is wide off the mark of God’s will. God will always give the gift of the Spirit to those who pray (Lk 11:13).
God is close to those who seek the unknown God, even if indirectly (in shadows and images, cf LG 16), even via ancestors or other gods. The good desires of people of goodwill are also legitimate prayers to God who desires all people to be saved (1 Tim 2:4). There is no suggestion here that salvation or grace is bestowed by any other means than via the Christ Event, but that the search for the unknown God participates in this event, through God’s generosity. The Holy Spirit allows all to be partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery (Gaudium et Spes, = GS1965:22, a Vatican II document). In people of goodwill, grace is active invisibly in their hearts and this grace is sourced from the Easter Mystery.
Secondly, we can ask how do we know that a relative or ancestor is not in heaven? Even those in purgatory can pray for us and so assist us. Generally, a relative who has died and had an evil reputation, will not be identified as an ancestor, so we are left with the possibility of the person being in either heaven or still being purified. Tlhagale (2000:27-37) overcomes this problem by comparing canonized saints with ancestors. Canonized saints are regarded as definitively in heaven. However, this comparison is comparatively restrictive, excluding the majority, who in their way have attempted to do God’s will. On the basis of Hebrews 12:22 and Revelation 5:12 (referred to above), I argue that the communion of saints refers to all those in heaven, not only the canonized saints. I understand that others will have difficulty in judging a relative to be in heaven. I add that there have been many reported experiences of late relatives, admittedly subjective experiences, where assistance has been provided or where they have asked for prayers for themselves, to assist in their purification.
The ancestor notion of the African people is a relatively restricted one, compared with the broader belief in the communion of saints and those in purgatory, and not limited to clan lines. Saints outside of the clan can be of assistance to us, according to our Christian theology, there is a wider degree of communication and exchange of spiritual goods.
Intercession of the Saints
Again, with the starting point of the ancestor as a mediator between his clan and God, I examine the Christian notion of intercession to see what this involves. A special decree of the Council of Trent (1653, Neuner & Dupuis page 401), avers that the saints reigning together with Christ pray to God for humanity. It is good to invoke them and to have recourse to their prayers, to ask for favours from the Father through the Son, reinforced by the intercession of the saints. It is incorrect, the Decree argues, to see this as idolatry, or prejudicial to honouring Christ, the one mediator between God and humanity (1Tim 2:5), because it is a sharing in the intercession of Christ by his good will towards us and the saints.
Christ rewards their meritorious behaviour in their earthly lives by giving ear to them in their heavenly lives. It is argued, in fact, that to object to honouring or praying to a saint, is evidence of a limited sense of ecclesial awareness, and of an excessively individual, personal, private form of religion (cf Apostolic Letter Vicessimus Quintus Annus 1988, Neuner & Dupuis, page 395-398).
The intercession of Mary the mother of Jesus (and of the saints as well, canonized or not, in my opinion), is a share in the intercession of her Son, which in no way rivals the Son’s unique intercession, but enhances it (LG 60). This intercession flows from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it (LG 60). It does not hinder in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ, but on the contrary, fosters it. As Christ’s ministers and followers, we share in the priesthood of Christ, and our intercession does not exclude the unique mediation of Christ but is a sharing in this one source (LG 62).
In LG 49 the saints in heaven are seen to never cease to intercede with the Father for humanity, professing the merits they acquired on earth, through the one mediator between God and humanity. Their concern and prayers help us in our weakness, even completing in their flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his Body, the Church (cf Col 1:24). In LG 50, we are advised to humbly invoke our heavenly benefactors to obtain benefits from the Father through the Son. LG 51 refers to the living communion that exists between us and those in the after-life.
It is clear from this that the saints are valid subjects of our prayers, but that this is a gift from God who allows them to share in the Son’s unique intercession. This theological framework justifies praying to ancestors. The majority of Black Catholics I have questioned in the Cape Town area, answer that they do pray to their ancestors. The extent to which they do varies considerably. Some communicate only with ancestors at occasional rituals, others pray to their favourite relative every day. There is no mysterious invocation of ancestors, by those that pray to them, they simply address them in verbal or silent prayer. At many ancestor rituals, Christ is also invoked. It is difficult to assess whether the role of Christ is in fact diminished in any particular case. But I believe the centrality and supreme authority of Christ does need to be emphasized. The ancestors should also not be seen as an impenetrable barrier blocking them off from Christ, but that Christ is always present to us (Mt 28:20b I am with you always; yes, to the end of time). Also, a certain amount of purification of beliefs is needed here, namely that ancestors cannot act independently of God, they are not autonomous agents. Appropriate Scripture passages to reinforce the supremacy of Christ include the following:
Mt 28:18 Jesus states all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me;
Jn 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me;
Jn 14:9 – Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, to emphasize Christ’s oneness and equality with the Father. I believe it needs to be stressed that Christ is equal to the Father, even though in the Xhosa, or Sotho, or Western cultures, the son is seen as below the father in terms of authority and honour. Jesus’ divinity must be emphasized, he is more than a very holy prophet, he is God/Man in one, begotten by the Father but not created by the Father. We run into difficulties with the understanding of the Trinity but I do believe we can successfully portray Jesus as one with the Father, equal in majesty and honour.
Phil. 2:10 – so that all things in heaven, on the earth and in the underworld should bend the knee at the name of Jesus. To a people who have a high degree of fear of evil spirits, this assertion if Christ’s power over the underworld is comforting;
Jn 8:58 – before Abraham ever was, I am – another assertion of Christ the Incarnate Word and his equality with the Father, and his existence as the Eternal Logos with the Father from the beginning of time;
Col 1:15 -16 – He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth
Col 1:18 – so that he should be supreme in every way.
There is a tendency by black Christians to over-emphasise the Old Testament, which points to a certain underestimation of the central role Christ and the Easter Mystery. These powerful quotations emphasise above clearly the complete superiority of Christ over all creatures and in fact of all creation. No creature can be equalled with the Incarnate Word, thus in LG 62, we read The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary, and by extension, of all the saints and angels.
I have no hesitation in applying the notion of intercession not only to the canonised saints, but to all who have gone before us, acknowledging the difficulties some may have with this assertion. By baptism, we all share in the common priesthood of Christ and qualify therefore as intercessors whether dead or alive. We are referred to in the Bible as a kingdom of priests (1 Pet. 2:9), called to pray for the world. There is no problem therefore, in seeing ancestors as intercessors on our behalf. It is worth repeating that it makes complete sense that those who have gone before us have a special interest in our well-being and ultimate salvation, and are praying for us. Those in heaven have been fully purified, and therefore, it could be argued, that they have additional sway in their prayers. We need to keep in mind, however, that all prayer goes through the Son to the Father, and that our ancestors can only hear the prayer by the power of God. When we pray, the Holy Spirit, who plumbs the depths of God, is obviously immediately aware of our prayers and our real needs, even before we ask for something (Mt 6:8). We also need to emphasise that Christ is a surprisingly personal and very close God, who does not insist on mediators to reach him, he is imminently accessible.
There is another practice which is questionable. Many Black Africans visit diviners in order to communicate with the dead. In the Book of Samuel (1 Sam. 28:5-20) King Saul does what is frowned upon in their faith tradition, he persuades a necromancer (referred to as a witch in the New Jerusalem Bible) to call up the spirit of the departed Samuel. This is a puzzling piece of theology. The souls of the departed are in God’s hands, and have no power in themselves to appear to us unless expressly allowed by God. So in this passage it seems that Yahweh allows Samuel to communicate with Saul in this special case. If diviners are truly in contact with spirits, are these the souls of the departed, or perhaps evil spirits, since our faith asks us not to call up the dead via special rituals, even if we could call them up. I have to argue that communication with the departed is a one-way process where the departed are intercessors on our behalf, whom God allows to hear our prayers, and I cannot see that God will allow them to be called up. Those, therefore, that claim to contact the dead are on dangerous ground.
Honouring the Saints, the Ancestors
Again, starting with the local practice of honouring ancestors, I attempt to reconcile this with our Christian faith. The reality is that ancestors are honoured, so I move from culture to faith to examine the faith tradition. Catholic teaching defines three levels of respect paid to heavenly personages. The first level is called dulia, the honouring of canonised saints, and I maintain, our own relatives who have gone before us, as well as angels. It seems to me as natural to honour those in the after-life as it is to honour anyone in this life. The Archangel Gabriel punishes Zecariah for doubting his message (Lk 1:20), establishing a Biblical precedent for respect of a heavenly personage. The second level is referred to as hyper-dulia, or veneration, a higher level of honour reserved exclusively for Mary the mother of Christ. To Mary is attributed the words all generations will call me blessed (Lk 1:48) The third level is latria, or worship, reserved exclusively for God. There is no question of Catholics worshipping Mary or any other saints or angel. As I have noted above, LG 62 states that there is no hesitation in professing the subordinate role of Mary, and of course of all the angels and saints.
To honour a saint or ancestor is to celebrate the triumph of Christ in their lives. To honour a creature, or what God has achieved in that person, is to honour the Creator even more, who guided the person on the path of sanctity. God is glorified in his saints. Thus the honouring of saints and our communion with them should not diminish the worship of God through Christ, but should enrich this worship. God chooses to manifest his glory in his saints (LG 51). The distinction between honouring and worshipping is essential and needs to be stressed, as black Catholics hear from friends in other Christian denominations that ancestor veneration is idolatry. The Catholic Xhosa prayer book (Bongan’ iNkosi, Prayerbook of the Pastoral Council of the Xhosa Region, ABC Press) recognises some ancestor rituals and sets out Christian prayers to accompany them. Otherwise, the Catholic Church in Cape Town has been largely silent on this issue. Individual priests have on occasion involved themselves with such rituals, by way of prayers and providing special blessings for young adults about to go for manhood rites.
Qualities and Roles of Ancestors and the Communion of Saints
Many black catholics continue to ascribe supernatural powers to ancestors, even that these can act independently of God. From a Christian point of view, those in heaven graduate to a new ontological state, becoming like angels (Mt 22:50), and are free from the very substantial limitations of the human condition, including ignorance, also a consequence of original sin. These personages have seen God, they have received a glorified body. They must therefore possess a far greater wisdom and freedom from human ignorance as a new creation, and must be worthy sources of wisdom to their progeny, notably in their prayers.
The ancestor is also seen as having reached a higher level of completion and considerable powers, which derive from their death and transition to a new state. They are a continual presence as are the saints in communion with us. But they are not an essential route to Christ, who tells us he is with us to the end of time (cf Mat 28:20b) and that in him all things hold together (Col 1:17b), meaning that we can never be apart from Christ’s cosmic presence. African Traditional Religion sees God as remote, distant, therefore it is necessary to deal with him via ancestors. As I have noted above, all the Catholics I have questioned, pray to Christ as well as ancestors, but there is the danger of the underestimation of Christ.
Ancestors are accorded many powers by Black Catholics. Before enlarging on this, I am prompted to consider the various ways in which the heavenly hosts can be of assistance to us, to expand our awareness of these and of what I believe is the substantial help they do give us. In this way, I hope to give more substance to the African confidence in the role of ancestors. In Luke’s parable of the pounds (Lk 19:11-26), the faithful servant is in the end rewarded with the government of many cities, which to me implies a role in the earthly life, in some mysterious way beyond simply praying for their own progeny. Also, in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 25:14-30, cf verse 22), the faithful servant is rewarded with even greater things, notably, as he joins in his master’s happiness, where this last sentence might refer to the servant’s admission to a glorified state, with important tasks awaiting them. The apostles are promised a part in judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Lk 22:30), whilst certain Eucharistic prayers used in the Mass attribute the following roles to the saints:
Angels: in honouring them we honour their Creator and they can pray for us;
Saints and angels: they join in with us praising God;
Apostles: from their place in heaven they guide us still, and through them God watches us and protect us;
Pastors: God gives us their protection in answer to their prayers;
Holy Men and Women: in their prayer for the Church God gives us strength and protection and helps us by their constant prayers and gives us inspiration and strength.
These points suggest a far wider role for our ancestors than intercession, and even a measure of autonomy, of using their judgement at the grass-roots level. I have argued that God likes to be glorified in his saints, thus that he acts via these saints rather than directly. If Black Catholics over-estimate the role of ancestors to varying degrees, Westerners significantly underestimate the influence and scope of assistance of our departed loved ones. But even if their presence with us suggests a measure of autonomous support, they must by necessity do God’s will, since all who are in heaven, and have been perfected, must do God’s will perfectly, as in the prayer The Our Father, verse 22 (Mt 6), which reads your will be done on earth as in heaven. Thus they cannot do anything contrary to the Lord’s will.
This leads to the belief, also of many Black Catholics, that ancestors can punish us, even causing physical harm, as well as misfortunes in other areas of life. Does this tie in with Christian theology? One rule of inculturation is that a new idea must cohere with the Christian faith and teachings. Do we believe that the God of love uses our relatives to hurt or kill us?
We need to explore a theology of punishment. In an attempt to address this issue, some Catholics argue that when a person does evil, God and the ancestors cannot force them to do God’s will. God allows them to sin, but they somehow move out of the protective sphere of God and ancestors. The person is left to their own devices, much as the father let the prodigal son get into trouble (Lk 15:11-32). In the Old Testament, there are numerous examples of Israel abandoning God’s ways, losing his protection and then crying to the Lord when they were overrun by their enemies.
This type of reasoning coheres with the central idea of a God of love, and a God always waiting, almost anxiously, like the prodigal son’s father, for the person to return to God. The parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15, 4-7), shows that the Lord is proactive, in fact, he does not wait for the sinner to repent on their own initiative, but acts to draw them back to him. This too would seem a most appropriate way of describing the attitude of our ancestors, eager to see us back on the path of salvation.
In the Book of Samuel (2 Sam. 24:10-25), we see the God of punishment, when he gives David a choice of three punishments (famine for a certain time, defeat by enemy, or three days of epidemic visited on his people), for taking a census. David chooses the epidemic and an angel of God is sent to strike down people with pestilence. The angel Gabriel punishes Zecariah for doubting God’s message (Lk 1:20). There is also the story of Ananias and his wife being struck dead for their deception of the Christian community (Acts 5:1-11). This is a initial attempt at deriving a theology of God punishing us in this life.
Having noted these points, it nevertheless remains difficult for me to accept that God will use ancestors to hurt or even kill their progeny, or their live-stock, or cause some misfortune. Many Black Catholics and other Black Christians ascribe personal and societal woes to neglect of the ancestors. It would seem that it is more of the neglect of the example of these that brings trouble, such as when Israel was disloyal to the example of their Fathers in faith.
It is interesting to note an untitled and un-named research report, conducted in about 1985, amongst the BaSotho in Lesotho. The author describes fifty interviews with mostly adult people, who claimed communication from their ancestors (39 by dreams, 9 from diviners, 1 from a vision). The author concluded that one of the prevailing attitudes to the ancestors was one of fear. The main reason is that in 28 of the cases, there was a clear threat of punishment or actual punishment for neglecting the ancestors. In another two cases there was an implied threat, even if not explicitly mentioned. Evil included death by lightning, illness, interference with work, collapse of a house, death of children. Eleven of the communications brought good advice, something clearly good, two dissuaded progeny from evil.
A questioning approach can be taken to the communications, of course. Did the person attribute the evil to the ancestor after the event? Was there psychological deception, or the very real possibility of evil spirits posing as ancestors? Also, I do not dispute the occurrence of real communication from an ancestor, but I question the interpretation of this event. I continue to lean to the positive communications, as more likely to be cases of genuine intervention by the ancestors present to us, with the blessing of God, of course. I hope readers have emerged from the Enlightenment paradigm by which only visible and measurable phenomena are accepted, with a new outlook to the mysterious and the real world of saints and angels as well as evil spirits also present to us, trying to influence us for the worst!
Burhmann (1984), a Jungian psychologist, refers to the personal unconsciousness and collective unconsciousness which send messages to the conscious mind via dreams and other ways. She maintains that the techniques used by traditional healers facilitate communication with the unconscious, in this way, providing answers to the ailing person’s problems. There is thus the possibility that a communication is actually a psychological phenomenon.
The ancestors are seen as protecting us from evil spirits. Here too I believe that if the African is too pre-occupied with evil spirits, the Western mindset is too unbelieving and too casual about such spirits. The Book of Revelation (12:9, 17) refers to Satan and his angels being hurled down to the earth, and to making war with the people on earth. The Apostle Paul (Eph. 6:11-12) warns that our enemies are not human but the spirits of evil. When Satan tempts Jesus with control over all the kingdoms of the world (Mt 4:8-9), there is a clear suggestion that Satan has considerable influence in the world, and that sin is also embedded in the structures of politics, business and society in general, not just in the hearts of people. The theology of evil spirits ascribes their origin to a test that God gave all his angels. Those who rebelled, by choosing wrongly, were permanently corrupted, including the Archangel Lucifer, who became known as Satan. There are the fallen angels, the evil spirits who are bent on warring against humanity.
Pastoral works such as house blessings, providing holy water, and praying over people are, I believe, very important in the African context. These are some solutions to the fear of evil spirits. If pastors themselves do not perform these functions, parishioners themselves will look elsewhere for solace, or pray over each other. If a person believes they are troubled by evil, they can be reassured of the supremacy of Christ over all creation, and of the invisible support of the whole team of heavenly personages, including the ancestors. To dismiss this as superstition is both pastorally and theologically incorrect.
Poor Inculturation
Failure to inculturate properly in the ACT has in my opinion resulted in the following negative consequences:
1. A diluted Catholicism reflects in poor observance of certain basic minimums of catholic practice, such as (a) relatively infrequent use of the sacrament of reconciliation, (b) relatively poor Mass attendance, (c.) receiving Holy Communion after missing Mass for some time. This to me is a sign of lack of appreciation and understanding of the foreign catholic ethos, not a deliberate act of neglect.
2. Dual religious systems, such as interrupting Mass attendance when a family member dies. For example when a husband dies, the wife traditionally remains at home for weeks, missing out on the graces of the Mass, but conforming to the custom to be at home and to receive the visitors, rather than to the catholic requirement to attend the Sunday Mass; Ancestor rituals are of course a form of dual religious practice, but in many cases the catholic Church has attempted to Christianize these rituals to varying extents. There have been some attempts to harmonise animal sacrifice with the Eucharist, but this has raised much opposition.
3. Retention of African Traditional Beliefs, such as wearing traditional items for protection against evil, and the belief that the ancestors can hurt us, a belief I find difficult to accept, amounting to partial acceptance of Catholicism only.
4. Transferring membership to more inculturated churches.
5. Going to both the Catholic Church as well as others, for example, for healing, including healers and diviners.
6. Failure to provide for real needs and fears, such as being too dismissive of the fear of evil spirits.
7. Dismissal of African Traditional Religion results in missing out on important ways of inculturating, of moving from the known in the African culture to the unknown in the Christian faith, as I have attempted to do above.
8. The Catholic Church has tended to blame poor performance of catholic duties on poor instruction instead of lack of knowledge of the receiving culture and attempts to inculturate.
9. The reasoned encounter of faith and culture should yield riches as the new culture’s latent and implicit theology is unearthed, providing new insights and new theologies. Walls (1996:148), refers to a veritable El Dorado, a rich gold mine of theological riches waiting to emerge from this encounter. These discoveries are not been made because of lack of effort at serious inculturation.
10. There has been an inevitable fragmentation and deconstruction of African culture, but not only as a result of Christian mission, but also because of the powerful effects of industrialization, colonization, Westernisation, on the polities, economies and social structures of the African social systems.
11. There has been a failure of the local church to emerge, with ongoing reliance on expatriate priests and few black vocations.
Okure (1998:16) asks that if we have been transferred from the ancestral bloodline to that of Christ, do we still need the ancestor cult? I argue that they have valuable roles to play, but that Christ should be the main focus. But God is surely sympathetic to the hopes of the parents in heaven for their offspring. Okure, however, rightly worries that the Christian may end up serving two masters, where the notion of ancestor is more powerfully embedded in the mind of an African (:16,17). There is also the real possibility of evil spirits posing as ancestors to lead people astray.
Whilst Okure (1988:23) agrees that evangelization needs to take into account the African world-view, she insists that there must be a sound Christological and Pneumatological basis which acknowledges the infinitely higher authority of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The alleged powers to guide the clan, call and commission individuals to carry out special functions in the community needs to be similarly approached, that is, to be sound from a Christological and Pneumatological basis. Christ’s free gift of the Holy Spirit is better than anything the ancestors can offer. This gift is obtainable without arduous rituals (:21). For Okure, African Traditional Religion is the equivalent of what the Old Testament was for the Jewish Christian, a preparation for the fullness of revelation. Christianity goes further than the Old Testament and the ancestors. It calls members to love enemies. It transforms the Jewish faith and the ancestor faith beyond their limits. These faiths are not completely parallel (although there are illuminating parallels), but a preparation, a path to a fuller way. Okure worries that undue devotion to ancestors can condemn Africa to an inferior or third-world Christianity. The supremacy of not only Christ, but of the Holy Spirit, must be clear.
We still have a long way to go. If the Greek Church needed to encounter Christianity with its own philosophies for many centuries, to really make the religion its own, we need to continue our efforts, and in the end, to encourage African priests to take inculturation to its deeper levels. Some African scholars, fear that the Western Church, in its attempt to inculturate, will end up creating the African Church once more in its own image and likeness, and unless the Western Church withdraws, the African Church cannot find its rightful place and expression of faith. It is as Jesus said that unless he departed, the Spirit would not come, so, in the same way, Western influence needs to depart, to make way for the new paradigm. This is an endorsement of a pure anthropological approach to inculturation, which starts with culture by a person steeped in the culture. I hope that my etic approach, however, paves the way at least in part for reconciling aspects of ancestor beliefs with Catholic doctrine.
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