AFRICA - African Enchiridion the fruit of long labouring to collect African Catholic Church writings: testimony from author Fr. Oseni Ogunu

Monday, 27 March 2006

Rome (Fides Service)- “The idea of writing the "African Enchiridion" (AE) was a gradual and difficult process which began in late 1997, in the course of my academic studies and research in Rome, says Oseni Ogunu author of the African Enchiridion, of which volume 2 will be published next month. The Nigerian priest said: “The idea matured after a long reflection, consultations, and preliminary inquiries. The decision arose from an awareness of the widespread and persistent concerns in the Church and in Africa that made it clear that the teachings and reflections in the abundant documents and texts of the local Churches in Africa and its Diaspora must be made more available, accessible and better known.”.
It was no easy task says Fr Ogunu. Problems encountered included lack of complete accessible archives of bishops’ conferences and dioceses; poor circulation of information made it impossible to find documents previous to Vatican II; documents were lost or destroyed or never collected due to political and social events, including civil wars in some countries”.
“Another problem was dates. The exact date could have facilitated the tracing, and arranging of the documents. Some of the documents had no date. In other documents, the date is not clearly or completely indicated (since sometimes only the month and/or year are provided). In some cases, the date is either not legible, or more than one date appears on the same text. In yet other cases, the date indicated is only the period of days or weeks during which an assembly was held and on which occasion the document was presented (e.g. 4-6 April 1991: Consistory of Cardinals”.
His labour allowed Fr. Ogunu to acquire deep knowledge of the thought of the Church in Africa which, he says, cannot be summarised in a few lines, however some main points emerge. There is the clear adoption of the theology of incarnation, since the mid-1970s. This decisive position implied the abandonment of the theology of adaptation. Since then, and more so since the 1980s, in the thinking of the African Episcopate, the discourse on inculturation was gradually clarified and intensified. The areas of marriage and of liturgy received special attention in the discourse on inculturation, which of course is not limited to those areas.”
“The question of development and social justice is always present in the thought of the African Church but seen increasingly in relation to the family and problems of day to day living” says Fr. Ogunu. “As such the African Church has become explicit and forceful, for example, in demanding that to address the issues of family planning and population control in our Continent it is necessary to first resolve fundamental problem of basic social and economic needs of the population (e.g. good medical and health services, material poverty, education, lack of food and water), rather promoting abortion.”.
The Church in Africa has given considerable importance to improving health care and continues offer a fundamental contribution in this field. However there is a tendency to undervalue diseases of psychological origin. There is a widespread call for a more theologically and psychologically well-founded and pastorally well-integrated healing ministry in the Church in Africa, which requires a greater appreciation of Christ's own healing ministry. At the level of small communities and dioceses, various practical initiatives are emerging here and there in the continent (e.g. in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria) towards a proactive and realistic approach to the healing ministry. The agents of evangelisation in the Catholic Church in Africa ought to have a holistic vision of the human person. Fr Ogunu concludes.
You can acquire the African Enchiridion from the nearest Catholic Bookshop, or subscribe for and order it from the Publishers, the Editrice Missionaria Italiana (EMI), at. The website: www.emi.it. Or by writing to this address: The Editrice Missionaria Italiana (EMI), Via di Corticella, 181, 40128 Bologna, ITALY. Fax +39(051)32.75.52
(L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 27/3/2006 righe 52 parole 636)


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