Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lilongwe (Agenzia Fides) – Yesterday, May 8, the Intercongregational Philosophical Seminary located on the outskirts of Balaka (Malawi) ended its study seminar on sorcery and its impact on pastoral activity.
The opening address was given on May 4 by Dean of Studies Fr. Kanyike, Combonian Missionary, in front of a group of 60 students of the Seminary from various African countries and several volunteers. His address was followed by a talk on “Sorcery from a Psychological Standpoint,” by Fr. Mario Belotti, Monfortan missionary and professor of Psychology at the Seminary. Fr. Belotti observed that, just as traditional medicine has successfully cured African tribes for thousands of years, so too, sorcery has had a positive beginning that has since been lost. To respond to the evil influence that this practive continues to have on the lives of individuals and society, psychology proposes several approaches and techniques to help people and protect them from the world of the occult, the missionary pointed out.
The second talk focused on the present practices of sorcery. The speaker, Vinsent Kalawa, alumni of the Institute, highlighted that sorcery is not something of the past. After the arrival of the faith, after educational programs in an effort to universalize principals, sorcery is still present in the life and culture of the Africans. “We have embraced Christianity and made it our own, and yet sorcery continues to be a factor of daily life,” the speaker noted.
On the second day, the symposium was opened with a talk given by Emeritus Bishop Patrick Augustine Kalilombe of Lilongwe (the first Malawian to serve as Bishop of the Diocese), former professor of Sacred Scripture at the Kachebere Seminary during the 1960s. Bishop Kalilombe reflected on the theme of sorcery from a pastoral standpoint. According to the Bishop, a systematic course on sorcery should form a part of the academic curriculum in the African seminaries, especially as this subject continues to have a strong influence on culture and society in Africa. Bishop Kalilombe mentioned that Africans struggle with both the fear of what threatens them and the desire for healing. The Catholic Church should question whether we have often spoken without delving into the profound psychological workings of the African people, failing to offer convincing answers to the ardent desire for healing that local Christians have. This is why many leave the Catholic Church and go in search of “magical medicine” or knock on the doors of other churches that are more willing to respond to their desire for healing, which so often appears to exist in the Protestant Charismatic or Pentecostal Churches. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 8/5/2009)
