The Rites Of Initiation In Christian Liturgy And In Igbo Traditional Society

The Second Vatican Council aims to make the Christian life to command greater appeal and to deepen the faith in the Paschal Mystery among Christians everywhere through very lively celebrations. It therefore gives special attention to the renewal of the liturgy in consideration of the plurality of cultures, languages and customs of particular Churches within Christendom. This study belongs to the area of possible liturgical adaptations and renewals of the Roman rite to accommodate the multicultural reality in the Church. Directives in this regard are given in the Church. Directives in this regard are given in the Council's constitution on the Liturgy, Sacro-sanctum Concilium 37-40. Today, the different contextual engagement with these directives are designated with the word inculturation. For the sake of precision and thorough treatment, this work is geographically restricted to the Igbo land Nigeria which belongs to the English speaking part of West Africa. It makes an extensive investigation into the traditional forms of initiation rites in the pre-Christian Igbo society. Holding to the fundaments of the Christian rites of initiation as well as the true principle for liturgical renewals, it distributes responsibility for the tension between the traditional pre-Christian practice of initiation and the Christian practice as the missionaries of the 19th century introduced it, to crises of cultural identity and the missionaries' inattention to the cultural grammar of the people they wanted to evengelize at all costs. Apart from the problems associated with mass religious ignorance of many Igbos as it is evident in the mushrooming of religious movements in the area, it exposes the biasedattitude in the way the traditional and cultural rites of the Igbos were eliminated by 19th century missionaries, and in the light of the theological intimacy between the Church and her liturgy, it asks for possible ways out as it makes recommendations.

In the face of the difficult task of inculturating the Christian faith in Igboland, christianizing the Igbo and igbonizing Christianity, this book offers an interesting and inspiring study of Igbo traditional initiation forms in comparison with the Christian sacraments of initiation. Because of its characteristic features and the significant role in Igbo tradition and culture, it proposes traditional Igbo initiation forms as inculturation basis for pastoral catechesis of Christian initiation.

The joy over the growth of Christianity in Africa is also a challenge to all concerned to help Christianity take roots, ennoble and become one with the cultural life of the numerous tribes of Africa. This missionary expectation is not yet fully realized in many local churches in Africa. From these perspectives, Adolphus Chikezie Anuka inaugurates a new brand of concrete, target-oriented emphasis on dialogical inculturation. In this book, the Mmanwu cultural institution of the Igbo people of south eastern Nigeria stands in central focus, opening itself to the influences of Christian values as well as speaking to the religious assumptions of Christianity. The theoretical results of this research work and its practical pastoral suggestions are both enlightening and appealing.

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.

Is post-modern society devoid of sacramentality or a sense of the sacred? This question is central to the challenges posed by revolutionary post-modern sensibilities that tend to render the rites for the celebration of the sacraments obsolete and irrelevant. To address this issue, the author applies the post-modern emphasis on plurality and radical particularity to the communal dimension of traditional societies exemplified in the worldview of the Igbo people of Southeast Nigeria to shed light on the liturgical celebration of reconciliation in the Church today. The contention is that the sacraments are multi-vocal symbols that cannot command the same meaning in different contexts. In this connection, this book provides a clear notion of the theological foundation, principle and framework of the sacrament of reconciliation and offers a practical guide for its authentic liturgical celebration in a plural context. Its argument is that all are being summoned to interpersonal encounter through dialogue, or a relationship founded on mutual recognition and respect for difference. On this basis, the book proposes possible reconciliation rites drawn from the Igbo communal existence that have the capacity to accommodate people with other faith perspectives in a common liturgical celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation.

Religious education in Nigeria is in a state of transformation, owing to the country's current pluralist nature among other factors. In the process, concepts of religion and education are revisited and reassessed in order to make them meaningful to mankind in his pluralist world. With this book, author Michael Okoh inaugurates a fundamental revision. He brings traditional African education and values alongside Christian ideals into dialogue with the "Western progressive learning approaches," paving new ways for religious education activity in Nigeria, particularly in Igboland. (Series: Tubingen Prospects on Pastoral Theology and Religious Pedagogics / Tubinger Perspektiven zur Pastoraltheologie und Religionspadagogik - Vol. 45)