Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bagamoyo (Agenzia Fides) – The African Members and Consultors of the Pontifical Council for Culture will meet from July 23-26, 2008 with the aim of providing a new impulse to the pastoral approach to culture. The theme of the meeting will be Pastoral Prospects for the New Evangelization in the Context of Globalization and its Effects on African Cultures. Prelates of different Episcopal Conferences who have a responsibility for the pastoral approach to culture will also attend the meeting to be held at Bagamoyo in Tanzania.
This meeting forms part of a series of initiatives which intend to promote the pastoral approach to culture in different parts of the world. The last such meeting in Africa was held at Johannesburg in 2004, and offered the Bishops in Southern Africa, an opportunity to reflect on the theme, One People of God within the Diversity of Cultures. This time around, close attention will be paid to the evangelization of cultures, with a special emphasis on matters related to secularization.
In the current context, with the cultural environment and lifestyles intensely affected by the effects of globalization, the Church strives to promote the inculturation of the faith along with a new Christian humanism which will allow men and women in Africa to be fully African and fully Christian. His Eminence Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, Member of the Pontifical Council for Culture and President of SECAM will deliver the Concluding Talk on the theme: The Church, Family of God, Responding to the Challenges posed by Globalization's Diffusion of Cultural Models Foreign to African Cultures.
The Catholic Cultural Centre “Bagamoyo” run by the Spiritan Fathers is the venue for the meeting. Bagamoyo, which in Swahili means “lay down your heart”, was one of the major ports of slave trade, from where slaves were taken from Central and East Africa, to be sent to the markets of Zanzibar. Hundreds of thousands of persons would be captured in the inner zones of the continent and then embarked from this port. A mission was opened in 1868 for those who had escaped from the slave traders or had been ransomed by the missionaries. While choosing the theme, the organizers have not overlooked the fact that secularization involves a modern form of slavery, neither less oppressive nor less damaging to the dignity of the human person.
The Church is conscious of the fundamental cultural dimension of sustained development, indispensable for the future of the African continent. Therefore, particular weight will be given to the cultural values present in Africa which are at the service of the dignity of the human person. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 18/07/2008)
