Inculturation In Africa Challenges And Prospects

A collection of 8 articles from the January 2020 edition of La Civiltà Cattolica, the highly respected and oldest Catholic journal published from Rome. In Inculturation in Africa: Challenges and Prospects, Marcel Uwineza, SJ suggests certain paths that the inculturation process could take in Africa. He explains how refusing to inculturate the Gospel message slows down the process of the Church putting down roots in the continent. Pope Francis urges us not to become accomplices of any forms of human trafficking, but instead to forge a new worldwide solidarity and fraternity. Human Trafficking and the Dignity of Work discusses one of the most important and urgent global social responsibilities of the time. In what way is the anthropological and cosmic figure of the couple in the garden the bearer of a theological truth? Jean-Pierre Sonnet, SJ reflects on the twofold perspective that associates the mystery of the garden with that of the human couple in Each Couple is like a Garden: A Biblical Perspective. Juan Antonio Guerrero, SJ suggests three areas where we spend our daily lives as citizens in Urban Life and Citizenship. Public space, work and the family are these areas of our life that sometimes induce paralyzing habits of the heart, claiming they do not encourage relationships or common purposes. The synod for the Amazon was an example of a Church in movement, listening to the Spirit through the cry of the region’s indigenous peoples of the Amazon – its real protagonists. In From the Amazon River to the Tiber: Notes from a Special Synod, Victor Codina, SJ shares insights on aspects of this important ecclesial event. The album Ghosteen, by Australian musician Nick Cave, is a reinterpretation of his mourning for the death of his son. Claudio Zonta SJ says the album is a bridge over the darkness of pain that can only be crossed with the desire that love and pity are really the final words about human existence.

Although Africa is today often seen, because of its large number of Christians, as the future hope of the Church, a closer examination of African Christianity, however, shows that the Christian faith has not taken deep root in Africa. Many Africans today declare themselves to be Christians but still remain followers of their traditional African religions, especially in matters concerning the inner dimensions of their lives. It is evident that, in strictly personal matters relating to such issues as passage rites and crises, most Africans turn to their African traditional religions. As an incarnational faith, part of the history of Christianity has been its encounter with other cultures and its becoming deeply rooted in some of these cultures. The central question remains: Why has the Christian faith not taken deep root in Africa? This volume is concerned with answering this question.

In his quest to identify practices that strengthen the faith of African Christians, Magesa examines the nature of being church today in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Ethnocentrism is one of the greatest obstacles to peace on the African continent. Taking the Church as Family of God as a model of evangelization, this work explores means of inculturating the Gospel message in African cultures in order to transform them, make them blossom and enable Africans to live as authentic Christians in their cultures. It examines the values of African extended families and the prospects of interreligious dialogue as means through which the various religious bodies can effectively work together to overcome ethnocentrism and its evil effects and thus establish a wholesome African society where every human person is at home irrespective of family orientation or tribal background.