Faith Healing Ministry In Africa A Catholic Bio Social Ethics

The present book engages three fields; namely, African traditional religion (ATR), Catholic religion and biomedical sciences in their endeavor to sustain health and well-being. It proceeds from the conviction that faith-healing is an essential element of theological bioethics. The discipline of theological bioethics reflects on the questions that arise in medicine and treatment of illness, and issues related to human biology, decisions to be made in case of this or that pain or disease, including the discernment on the normal and paranormal phenomena that could affect people of faith. The search for spiritual powers, as they are related to the not-yet-born, to the living, and to the dead is a crucial question to Catholic bioethics and pastoral ministry. This work considers that complex issue without pretending to offer a definitive answer. It relies on Catholic bioethics as a multi-disciplinary approach illumined by faith to propose some criteria for making a discernment regarding powers of spiritual healing which are claimed in today's Christian Sub-Saharan Africa.

In this book, Stan Chu Ilo offers an integral theology of development and a critical social analysis of different development theories and practices in the world, especially in Africa. Ilo offers a comprehensive biblical, anthropological, and theological foundation of the principles and praxis of Catholic social ethics from the Second Vatican Council to Pope Francis. Drawing from the social encyclical Charity in Truth, Ilo shows how Catholic social teaching responds to some of the challenging questions and concerns of our times in relation to human rights, ecology, globalization, international cooperation, development and aid, human and cultural development, business ethics, social justice, and the challenges of poverty eradication. He creatively applies these principles to the social context of Africa, and lays a groundwork for sustainable Christian humanitarian and social justice initiatives in Africa.

"A disciplinary map for understanding African Catholicism today by engaging some of the most pressing and pertinent issues, topics, and conversations in diverse fields of studies in African Catholicism"--

The issue of human development, and in particular economic development, has been an important challenge for Roman Catholic social teaching in the post-Vatican II period. This challenge is particularly relevant for the Church in sub-Saharan Africa because while the African sub-continent is one of the fastest growing areas of Catholicism today, it is also arguably the poorest region on earth. In light of this situation, African liberation theologians have spoken of the necessity for a greater Church commitment to economic development, while the bishops' conferences have emphasized the intimate link between Christian evangelization and 'human promotion.' Specifically, these liberation theologians and bishops' conferences employ ethical arguments to critique the lingering effects of European colonial policies, the lack of African participation in international markets, and the present-day debt reduction and structural adjustment programs of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. However, in addition to offering these critiques, they also propose foundational principles upon which they believe African economic structures should be based. With these issues in mind, the specific question this study addresses is what contribution can the African Catholic Church make toward the articulation of a truly African theology of development, a contribution that takes into consideration the realities of both present-day African life as well as the social teaching of the universal Church?

In this book, Stan Chu Ilo offers an integral theology of development and a critical social analysis of different development theories and practices in the world, especially in Africa. Ilo offers a comprehensive biblical, anthropological, and theological foundation of the principles and praxis of Catholic social ethics from the Second Vatican Council to Pope Francis. Drawing from the social encyclical Charity in Truth, Ilo shows how Catholic social teaching responds to some of the challenging questions and concerns of our times in relation to human rights, ecology, globalization, international cooperation, development and aid, human and cultural development, business ethics, social justice, and the challenges of poverty eradication. He creatively applies these principles to the social context of Africa, and lays a groundwork for sustainable Christian humanitarian and social justice initiatives in Africa. ""Ilo focuses particularly on the importance of African traditional culture, especially the Ubuntu sense of community, at the heart of the ability of Africans to control their own development. He emphasizes the need for the church to recognize the deep roots of traditional religious cultures of Africa and to find ways that the gospel can enrich, not replace, those traditions."" --James R. Stormes, SJ, Theological Studies ""The thorough, broad perspective Ilo provides on development in Africa, particularly from a Catholic perspective, makes this book an invaluable resource. It is a significant contribution to development literature. The author's outlook is starkly realistic and refreshingly hopeful for the future of Africa."" --W. Jay Moon, International Bulletin of Missionary Research ""What an epic book! This is a profound and important book. Stan Chu Ilo takes us on a powerful journey through Catholic theology to Africa, its history and the development challenges of today. It is a book full of both personal passion and systematic rigor. It interweaves personal story, deep theological reflection, and robust academic analysis to reach workable and practical principles for aid today. It brings a fresh, African and Catholic perspective to an aid literature, populated largely by defunct Western prescriptions."" --Rich James, co-author of Capacity-Building for NGOs: Making it Work ""Imagine a Western church leader or church member interested in donating to an overseas cause, in a judicious way. Or, imagine a politically minded person, wanting to think through the relationship between Christian faith and aid and development. Then again, perhaps the reader simply wants to learn more about Catholic social ethics, African theology, or the link between dogmatics and social justice. There are many sorts of reader to whom this book would appeal, and that wide-ranging application is part of its appeal."" --Stephanie Lowery, Wheaton College ""Theologically, the book converses mainly with Catholic theology and social ethics. But its topic and message, like that of Catholic social teaching as a whole, can be appreciated by all those working toward a 'civilization of love' and particularly animated by Christian faith."" --William P. Gregory, writing in Missiology Stan Chu Ilo is a research fellow at the Center for World Catholicism and Inter-Cultural Theology, and Assistant Professor of Catholic Studies and World Christianity at DePaul University, Chicago, USA. He is also the founder of a registered Canadian Charity, Canadian Samaritans for Africa which is actively involved in social justice initiatives and poverty eradication programs and projects in four African countries. He is the editor of African Christian Studies Series for Pickwick Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers.

A call to reform Catholic health care ethics, inspired by the teachings of Pope Francis

Contains comparative data for colleges, universities, seminaries, convents and monasteries, religious archives, and the libraries located in the headquarters of hundreds of denominations on the continent.