EVANGELIZING THE CHURCH IN AFRICA IN THE CONTEXT OF ECCLESIA IN AFRICA 27 YEARS AFTER
Mike Utsaha
Executive Secretary,
Resource & Planning Commission,
Catholic Diocese of Makurdi.
“Despite the mainly negative picture which today characterizes numerous parts of Africa, and despite the sad situations being experienced in many countries, the Church has the duty to affirm vigorously that these difficulties can be overcome. She must strengthen in all Africans hope of genuine liberation. In the final analysis, this confidence is based on the Church’s awareness of God’s promise, which assures us that history is not closed in upon itself but is open to God’s Kingdom. This is why there is no justification for despair or pessimism when we think about the future of both Africa and any other part of the world”
Pope John Paul II
Ecclesia in Africa, September 14, 1995
Yaounde, Cameroun
Memory constitutes probably one of the most poignant features in the lives and the identity of individuals, corporate entities, public institutions, organisations and local and other communities and nation states.
As individuals, more often than not, we remember; for instance, the days on which we were born, got wedded, attained certain educational qualification, assumed certain offices or inducted into some hall of fame. It is the same thing for nation states. Every October 1, Nigerians remember the day on which we formally transited from a colonial territory to an independent sovereign state. Similarly, on June 12 every year we mark democracy day while on May 29 we mark the day when the current democracy was ushered in and power transferred from a military regime to a democratically elected civilian government.
This situation is not particularly different even for religious institutions like the Catholic Church. Which is why, on a yearly basis, we join other Christian denominations to mark Christmas on December 25. There are of course several other days and dates that hold special significance in the life and the spirituality of the Catholic Church and today is one of such days.
It is on this same day, in the year 1995, that the then Holy Father, venerable Pope John Paul II, in Yaounde, Cameroon, issued the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Africa which when translated from Latin, the official language of the Catholic Church, into English language, means “the Church in Africa”. The full title of that document is: The Church in Africa and her evangelizing mission towards the Year 2000: ‘You shall be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8)”.
The Pope is, unarguably, is the head of the global Catholic community and, as head, he communicates with has people in various ways: homilies, public statements, special audiences, in-flight interviews, papal encyclicals, and of course post-synodal apostolic exhortations like the one under consideration.
A post-synodal apostolic exhortation is, as the name suggests, a statement issued by the Pope at the end of a long and elaborate synodal process, marking not just the end of the process but an endorsement of the resolutions taken at such a synod. It is also a call to action of some sorts.
Ecclesia in Africa is the product of the first ever special or general assembly of Catholic Bishops on evangelisation in Africa. The assembly opened on April 10, 1994 “in Saint Peter’s Basilica with thirty-five Cardinals, one Patriarch, thirty-nine Archbishops, one hundred forty-six Bishops and ninety priests”, and lasted till May 8, 1994.
I like to describe Ecclesia in Africa as one document that covers a multiplicity of areas that touch on diverse issues regarding evangelisation in Africa. It is a historical document being the product of the first ever special assembly of Bishops on Africa. But it is equally a tool that measures and evaluates the extent of evangelisation in Africa, the level of collegiality within and amongst Bishops in Africa while placing emphasis on “universality as against uniformity” within the global Catholic Community. It is equally a cultural document of some sorts which highlights some positive African values. Most of all it is one document that gave tacit endorsement and perhaps authentic paternity to five key areas in the life of the Church in Africa – evangelization, inculturation, dialogue, justice and peace, and the means of social communication.
What I find particularly intriguing about this document is that on its 27th birthday it does appear that some of the philosophical and social conditions that influenced its outcome remain prevalent on the continent of Africa.
This, for instance, is how the Holy Father described the continent of Africa back then in 1995: “All the preparatory documents of the Synod, as well as the discussions in the Assembly, clearly showed that issues in Africa such as increasing poverty, urbanization, the international debt, the arms trade, the problem of refugees and displaced persons, demographic concerns and threats to the family, the liberation of women, the spread of AIDS, the survival of the practice of slavery in some places, ethnocentricity and tribal opposition figure among the fundamental challenges addressed by the Synod”. Twenty seven years after, has this situation changed? Your guess is as good as mine!
Thankfully, the Holy Father rises from that chilling and perhaps depressing catalogue of the prevailing situation to one of hope and optimism for a continent that’s holds all the potentials of greatness and unrivalled development.
This is how he put it: “For my part, I express the hope that the Church will continue patiently and tirelessly its work as a Good Samaritan. Indeed, for a long period certain regimes, which have now come to an end, were a great trial for Africans and weakened their ability to respond to situations: an injured person has to rediscover all the resources of his own humanity. The sons and daughters of Africa need an understanding presence and pastoral concern. They need to be helped to recoup their energies so as to put them at the service of the common good.
Pastoral concern is indeed at the heart of the process of understanding, appreciating, perhaps internalising and, hopefully, implementing the text of Ecclesia in Africa, and there could be no better time than now when hope is fast giving way to despair, optimism is rapidly being replaced by pessimism and patience is fast running out leaving us with a sense of urgency that is better imagined. The challenge is for us all to rise up in unison, roll up our sleeves, get down to the urgent task of rebuilding and repositioning the continent of Africa and its people to take its rightful place in the comity of democratic nations.
In this regard, I am unable, hard as I have tried, to resist the temptation to once again reproduce here what the Holy Father said in the document: “A last question must be asked: Has the Church in Africa sufficiently formed the lay faithful, enabling them to assume competently their civic responsibilities and to consider socio-political problems in the light of the Gospel and of faith in God? This is certainly a task belonging to Christians: to bring to bear upon the social fabric an influence aimed at changing not only ways of thinking but also the very structures of society, so that they will better reflect God’s plan for the human family. Consequently I have called for the thorough formation of the lay faithful, a formation which will help them to lead a fully integrated life. Faith, hope and charity must influence the actions of the true follower of Christ in every activity, situation and responsibility. Since “evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new”. Christians must be formed to live the social implications of the Gospel in such a way that their witness will become a prophetic challenge to whatever hinders the true good of the men and women of Africa and of every other continent.
I am particularly intrigued by this primacy of the role expected of the laity in Africa as a valuable resource for evangelisation and the preparatory processes they may require to be able to discharge this papal mandate. In our country Nigeria especially, as we look towards the 2023 general elections with hope and optimism but also with fear and trepidation about the climate of insecurity that has enveloped the land and the extent to which this could conceivably degenerate, what can the laity in particular do to salvage the situation?
I pose this question fully aware of the fact that Africa has a critical role to play in the process of evangelisation in the global Catholic Community. In an era when, for instance, vocations are on a sharp decline in other parts of the world, the Church in Africa is not only overwhelmed by a virile and robust vocation but is able to send missionaries to these other parts of the world. In an era when spirituality has come under intense pressure from values that are inconsistent with long established doctrinal and other practices of the Catholic Church continues to demonstrate unflinching commitment to authentic Catholicism without any compromise of any kind. At a time when Churches in other parts of the world are considering holding Masses once in two weeks parishes and pastoral units in Africa are on a steady path of growth and expansion.
Surely, the Church in Africa has a significant role to play in the future of Catholicism globally. We as African Catholics, clergy, religious and the lay faithful alike, must rise up and take seriously this onerous responsibility. This is the least that the church expects from us.
