A bit of
a background of Pope Francis. He was born in Latin America (developing continent),
Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Through his life he has been a champion of humility and actively involved
in the concern for the poor. His humility as a way of life has stood out for
him. Notably, his choice to live in a guesthouse instead of the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors.
His refusal to wear heavily ornamented vestments
and traditional papal mozzetta cape upon his election, as well as choice of
silver over gold for his Piscatory ring and the
list goes on. There is a lot of privileges that comes with the position of
being a Pope that he has refused to partake and that is why I think we should listen
and act when he addresses the subject of the poor.
His predecessor
was Pope Benedict XVI previously known as Cardinal Ratzinger, a Bavarian
and the Prefect of
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
in Rome. He found strong theological
oppositions coming from Latin America, homeland to Pope Francis. One them was an interesting controversy that
took place between Cardinal Ratzinger, the guardian of faith and Leornado Boff.
Boff had
criticized the Catholic Church on the issue of hierarchy and power. He argued
that Jesus started by establishing a community of disciples whom were all poor.
Drawing from that understanding he criticized the hierarchical nature of the
Catholic Church by saying that hierarchy did not come first before Church as
purported, but was a consequence.
This he argued should form the basis of what
the church should be like today, a continuity of this community created by
Christ while He was still on earth. According to him leaders do not create communities
but in fact they should be part of it. (Cox 1989, 144) That did not go well
with Ratzinger who accused him of “ecclesiological relativism” and gave him
total condemnation from Rome.
It would appear
to me that Pope Francis holds the same view with Leornado Boff of breaking down
the strong hierarchical powers and allowing the church to be involved in the
daily struggles of its people.
Like Ratzinger, Pope Francis would also appear
to reject Boff’s Marxist language of “hegemony” in his theology. However, they
both agree with 1965 Vatican II view towards progressive politics of
“Continuing dialogue between the Church and
the world” and its total rejection of “economic equality and disparity between
the rich and the poor nations.”
This is what
Pope seem to have been telling the people and the church of Kenya. Please get
involved with the issues of the poor among you, stop land grabbing,
exploitations, reject corruption, help the weak in your midst, create safe
areas for the vulnerable among you and the list goes on.
The
conversation that need to take place between theology and the issues affecting
Africa today are well encapsulated by Jean-Marc Ela.
He argues that
the challenge of Christianity in Africa has remained enormous. With the history
of slavery and colonialism Africa fought them off to gain her independence.
With political freedom came along an ‘ardent quest’ to contextualise
Christianity in a way that expresses the context. After Vatican II there has
been evidence of ‘indegenity’ in areas of ‘theology, catechetics, liturgy, and
religious life.’ (Ela,
1994, p136) However, this process has not been satisfactory, as the process of
contextualisation has to go further than that to include Africa realities.
He points out that the church has presently
failed in addressing various issues affecting the continent today a process he
calls “obligatory”. (Ela, 1994, p136) Using the Levite, a Christian principle
in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-32) he shows the church’s
failure to participate in the pain and suffering of her people. He states, ‘we
cannot become the inheritors of administrators of a Christianity that simply
continues on its way, passing the victim lying in the ditch.’ (Ela,
1994, p137) He challenges the church to re-evaluate four areas which he finds
lacking:
a)
An active role
by African Church is addressing the problem of poverty.
He argues that,
the church cannot afford to remain silent, passive and indifferent in the
issues concerning poverty in Africa. He condemns the church for her disconnect
with her constituents who continue to wallow in a state of desperation. (Ela,
1994, p137)
In spite of her
independence from European colonial powers, the mention of the word Africa
elicits a myriad of problems hunger, extreme poverty, civil wars, poor
leadership, droughts HIV and Aids just to mention a few. Therefore, the urgent
call for the church to fight ‘against forces that assault peoples’ dignity’
(Ela, 1994, p138) is both timely and relevant. This is a call for a church that
is concerned with the changing societies by restoring justice and human dignity
to people who are oppressed.
Africa theology
Ela (1994, p140) argues, must include liberation as well. It must go beyond the
issue of culture into addressing ‘mechanisms and structures of oppression at
work.’ Refusal to heed this call is a ‘refusal based on a new perception of the
requirement of the Gospel.’ Africans, he argues, must deal with the problem of
oppression and injustices if the faith is to be incarnate in the continent.
(Ela, 1994, p141)
b)
A call toward an
Evangelisation of liberation
Ela (1994,p141)
paints a picture where Africa is in a situation worse than during the
independence and the church remains disengaged in African’s struggle against
exploitation. He calls for ‘renunciation of evangelization of Africa in
dependency.’
He attacks
viciously the west church slogan of “compassion for the Negroes” (Ela, 1994,
p141) which he argues has not been helpful in solving the plight of Africans.
This means therefore that our theology, which should be based on the Bible,
must identify with the poor, those living on the margins as well as the victims
of evil machinations.
Africans are
known to be religious. This sets them on a constant search for a religion that
touches every aspect of their lives. The absence of a dichotomy between the
secular and religious should be an eye-opener to the church.
Any presentation
of a Christianity that is devoid of these basic truths will not appeal to them.
We must therefore behave the gospel; bear the gospel in a holistic sense to
every area of life to touch politics, education, social life and not just
preaching. Jesus must be allowed to penetrate and be Lord. Ela (1994,142)
c)
Bible and
Africa.
Ela (1994,
p144) calls for a ‘new articulation of the Bible with the African situation,’
whose when given ‘an African reading, is capable of liberating, of giving a
message of life that has not always been understood in the churches.’ (Ela,
1994, p145) This means therefore that
the Bible should offer the central point in which our theological reflection
finds locus.
He makes the
point that ‘God is not neutral’ when we read His word in relation to the poor.
If that be the case, he ask ‘how can we leave a people in a state of poverty
and marginalization?’(Ela, 1994, p145)
It is in searching for the ‘dangerous,
subversive memory’ of Jesus Christ that we ‘discover the prophetic character of
the poor and other marginalized groups.’ (Ela, 1994, p146)Like Jesus the
Servant we must “battle for the liberation of the human being and the coming of
the Reing of God.” (Ela, 1994, p146)
This servant Christ must be seen not only the ‘Lord of Worship’ but
‘Lord of the world in all dimensions’ as well. (Ela, 1994, p147)
The Church must take the leading role in
offering a Eucharist which “calls for justice and transformation of the current
structures of our societies.” (Ela, 1994, p148)
d)
Toward a
Credible Christianity
The call of
genuine Christianity cannot be ignored by the writer: a kind of Christianity
that takes into account the poverty and exploitation prevailing on the
continent of Africa. (Ela, 1994, p150) As an African Christian I resonate with
this call.
The initial church of Africa was powerful as it routed and chased
away darkness and paganism but re-emergence of fetishism and worldliness, which
set the agenda of some of the churches today, is worrying. The first Christians
were defiant in their lifestyles, had values that made them stand against the
evil cultures and traditions of the day and whose point of reference was the
Bible.
This is a
challenge to African Christianity, which calls us to return to the source and
be reconciled with God. We must stand
“in solidarity with these men and women around us who have been left
“half-dead,” Ela, 1994, p151) get ourselves ‘dirty hands’ if our faith is to be
of any relevance. (Ela, 1994, p152)
Though heavily
influenced by Liberation Theology, which he uses to call for a rejection of
theology constructed only on academic and abstract terms, I agree with Ela that
our Christianity ought to engage with our communities. We must daily strive to
bring transformation that frees people from the snares of afflictions and oppression.
Pope was spot
on
