REFELCTIONS • YOUTH IN THE CHURCH

Youth, faith, and belonging

The Church can be positively shaped by the joy, energy, enthusiasm and faith which young people manifest. However, for this to happen the Church must listen to their dreams and make the effort to accompany them in their search for beauty, love and truth

BY Fabian Oliver | Youth Minister, Johannesburg

AFTER SEVERAL years of dedication as an altar server, then a youth leader, and currently as a youth minister, I can confidently say that the youth are the Church of today and the Church of the future. Thus, intentional pastoral accompaniment of the youth remains an imperative exercise at the heart of Church ministry. In this reflection, I would like to offer considerations on the importance of youth accompaniment through listening to their stories and understudying their context as an ecclesial practice. We will look at the importance of faith nourishment as the collective response to God’s invitation to love, beauty, justice, and truth. Finally, we will consider the role of true belonging as an authentic pastoral practice. We will look at how recent scenarios as well as biblical stories capture the essence of youth accompaniment.

In meeting youths in their spaces, we should ponder on what Jesus would say to them

Accompany and listen

The words accompany and listen were key themes highlighted in the final document of the Synod of Bishops (2018) on Young people, the faith, and vocational discernment. These are still important tenets of ecclesial practice, for if the Church wants to meet young people where they are, she must journey with them, witness Christ in their midst and allow herself to be shaped by the questions and stories they pose. It ought to not be one-sided, where the Church dictates and is not willing to be shaped by current questions. Put differently and in the words of the Jesuit superior general, Arturo Sosa SJ, the Church should “discern the signs of the times through the eyes of young people” (O’Connell 2018).

If the Church wants to meet young people where they are, she must journey with them

There seems to be courage in young people to voice their concerns to the Church no matter how controversial it may be. In the Synod on Youth, young people voiced various issues including treatment and inclusion of people who are LGBTQ+, abuse scandals in the Church, the lack of involvement of women in leadership positions, etc. This activism echoed from some youth in the Church, for example, insisting and protesting that women be given voting rights at the Synod on Youth. Dulle (2018) gives voice to the spirit of global activism which cries out for justice and equality. While others see this activism as a ploy for the Church to become more secular, or worldly and less godly (and even sinful), others see this as an opportunity for the Church to be more inclusive, in touch with science, and perhaps more sensitive to the Spirit of God that consistently calls us to transformation. We cannot forget that it was 15-year-old Greta Thunberg that brought global attention to the current climate crisis. It was 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai that brought global attention to women’s and children’s right to education.

The experiences of youth matter! How we then journey with them remains the ecclesial question. We need to allow them to tell their story. The creation of spaces to listen, engage, pray, have fun, challenge and be challenged are vital. This includes intentional ecclesial ministries, advocacies, training of lay people, and support. It may also mean a deliberate going out and meeting young people where they are. For it is Jesus who meets the Samaritan woman in her context, breaks ethnic and gender barriers, listens, and invites her to drink from the living water of God (Jn 4: 5–30). In meeting youths in their spaces, we should ponder on what Jesus would say to them. What would Jesus say to the millions of unemployed youths in South Africa? What would He say to the millions of youths who are poor, migrants, living in war-torn oppression? What would He say to those throttled because of their race, gender, or sexuality? What words of Jesus can we offer to youth who are increasingly feeling depressed, anxious, and suicidal?

Faith nourishment: a call to beauty

In my experience as a youth minister, there remains a universal quest for the real, for beauty, love, truth and something greater than ourselves. This quest is tantamount to the words of the Church Father, St Augustine, who noted that “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” I believe that part of the faith-nourishing of youth is the cultivation of spaces able to witness God’s beauty in creation; to witness the beauty of our Imago Dei of being made in the divine image; that all life is sacred, and we should live in that sacredness. Along with beauty, these spaces should be geared towards feeling God’s eternal love, to allow for self-realisation, that you are loved, to love yourself, and reflect on what it means to love God and creation. Along with beauty and love, there should be spaces geared towards speaking God’s truth and justice. These are spaces enhancing oneness with others, compassion, and solidarity to stand with others and to do what is right and just in God’s sight. Thus, the authentic desire for beauty, love, and truth, are tenets of faith nourishment that allow youth to live in God’s presence.

In our busy everyday lives coupled with many hardships and human suffering, many youths fall into despair, finding it hard to have faith in God (let alone come into the doors of the church). Here, I am reminded of the Gospel story of the road to Emmaus where after witnessing the death of Jesus, the disciples are walking in sadness and disappointment having had their hopes shattered. Then, suddenly, Jesus is with them even at their lowest moment, and after He breaks the bread with them, they realise Christ is alive! Their faith is restored, and they share this with others (Lk 24: 13–35). So too is the role of pastoral accompaniment—to witness Christ in our midst even at the most difficult moments.

In meeting youths in their spaces, we should ponder on what Jesus would say to them

A place of belonging: a testimony

If there is authentic listening, journeying with, and faith nourishing, then youth may find a place of belonging. During one of our youth nights, the youth and I found ourselves seated at the back of the church gazing upon the crucifix of Jesus. I asked the youth a rather bold question, ‘Why do you love the Church and more specificallz Jesus who is placed on that Cross?’ The culmination of their answers beautifully captured the essence of our faith as Christians. Some said that in Jesus they found someone who did not judge them, who does not discriminate against anyone and who will always be there no matter what they go through. Another said they love Jesus because He persevered no matter how difficult things got in His ministry, He stayed true to who He was. This, for them, is an inspiring reminder to stay true to who you are and to your purpose. Someone else said, ‘Through Jesus, the Church is a place where I found belonging. After struggling to find the right friends, in the youth group I feel like I belong, and that Jesus teaches us how to accept and love each other.’ These testimonies from the youth offer us a glimpse of how Christ is alive in our lives.Christ is not dead and out of touch with our realities. For the youth, Christ is personal and continues to move behind the scenes in the wonderful journey of their young lives.

REFLECTIONS • AFRICAN LIVELIHOODS

JOB SEEKING AND JOB CREATION

Today many job seekers find that with challenges to the prospect of finding employment, they need to dig deeper and become more innovative and enterprising by creating jobs that add value to society. This goes for graduates, tradespeople and general workers alike. This approach, although daunting, leads to security, innovation and in some instances huge success!

BY MARIOLA BRAVO | WRITER, PRETORIA

Work as integral to life

In theory, we are free, with democratic constitutions making provision for fair work and pay at a grassroots level—but taking for granted the availability of work and access to livelihood, amounts to living in a fool’s paradise. The unfortunate reality is that most university graduates
have no employment prospects, while laypersons and labourers are limited, finding it hard to celebrate the recent increase by Minister Thulas Nxesi, South African Department of Employment and Labour, of the minimum wage in South Africa to R25.42 per hour.

While unemployment is a growing global phenomenon, rampant unemployment rates plague the African continent. South Africa’s unemployment rate was 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 (businesstech. co.za 2023). Improvement in the situation seems far off with headlines speaking of huge job cuts and even a complete economic shutdown.

Similarly, other African economies such as Angola, had 30.2% unemployment in June 2022, and Nigeria, 33.3% in December 2020 (tradingeconomics.com) show alarming numbers of about one in three people and their families having no fixed income. Work is meant to evoke rich personal growth, where creativity, a legacy for the future, development of our talents, living out our values, relating to others and giving glory to God, enter into play.

Will we harness the future of Africa’s remaining resources and ensure the future of its people?

Pope Francis (2016), says the following regarding the role of work in human society: “It is clear from the very first pages of the Bible that work is an essential part of human dignity; labour also makes possible the development of society and provides for the sustenance, stability and fruitfulness of one’s family.” Pope Francis quotes the Bible (Ps 128: 5, 6): ‘May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children’s children!’ The fact remains, Africa has never failed to be a land of abundance, rich in natural resources, stable weather conditions and a strong and vibrant people. With families unable to sustain themselves on minimum wages, recent decades have seen farmlands abandoned and breadwinners flocking to cities in search of opportunity. In these cities, nevertheless, it seems that dreams of a better life are not met with fulfilment. This long-standing problem of failure to create, provide and seize opportunity, leaves many African populations in abject poverty. Where did things go wrong? Where do we stand here and now? Where can we contribute to change?

Leadership, governance and globalisation

The world is becoming one. Globalisation is slowly integrating all companies, governments, and people of different nations. Money is central, considered the mover of all things. Leaders are fierce and wielding more power than ever, while human dignity and God’s will are cast aside as irrelevant! Pope Benedict XVI (2009) said it best when
he proclaimed, “I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world’s economic and social assets, that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: man is the source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life.” A lot can be said for Africa historically in terms of sound governance. Among the great civilisations born of Africa are the Zimbabwean Empire of Mwenemutapa, the Ethiopian/Aksumites
and Nubians, and the Egyptian Empire. Why then be doubtful that going forward, such good governance—often steeped in religious devotion—cannot again emerge?

Ubuntu, for example, stems from the ancient Zimbabwean civilization of
Mwenemutapa that practised ubuntu governance, meaning that ubuntu is more than just a philosophy but a practice. Ubuntu is an ancient Nguni word which emphasizes the importance of the group or community, as well as sharing and the moral attributes of a person. The Zulu saying, ‘umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,’ meaning, ‘I am because we are’, sums up the spirit of this practice. St Paul’s letter (Gal 5:13, 14) resonates beautifully with the core values of ubuntu, when he says, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’”

Past colonialism and future Artificial Intelligence

The past and the future should be factored in as we navigate towards tomorrow. The advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots has serious implications for job creation not only here in Africa, but worldwide—the two notions are, in
fact, irreconcilable. As the 4IR progresses, technology, products, and information will be spread at a faster pace than ever imagined. Realistically, there will be new developments which transform the way
people live, work and relate to one another. Although many developments are extraordinarily positive, for example, in the field of prosthetics and implementing AI in risky situations, the propensity
of industries to create profit at any cost, consistently cheats the common man of his human rights and dignity.

This is not to say that AI will not drive massive innovation. However, with the advent of the Fifth Generation (5G) technology together with airborne drone capability and advanced robot mobility, AI will very soon become mobile. Data collection and mimicry of all human endeavour
have been ongoing for decades. Together with software development, AI mobility will make human labour all but obsolete, replacing almost all humans in jobs with AI robot alternatives, including, but not limited to teaching, transport of people and goods, law, medicine, policing, mining
and possibly even farming. With humans needing access to resources to survive, this can easily cause humankind to be perceived as nothing more than a liability to the system—a far cry from the plans God has for us, I am sure! With unemployment set to become the norm, this may be
the last opportunity to determine how we navigate into this new territory. Proverbs 12: 11 tells us clearly that, ‘He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits has no sense.’

Failure to address unemployment issues holistically and immediately will mean that positive change
will not be possible

In many cases, poverty results from a violation of the dignity of human work, primarily because work opportunities are limited. Pope Benedict XVI (2009) observed this saying, “…a low value is put on work and the rights that flow from it, especially the right to a just wage and to the
personal security of the worker and his or her family.” Failure to address unemployment issues holistically and immediately will mean that positive change will not be possible, which may later create room for
rebellion and destruction. The question is, will we harness the future of Africa’s remaining resources and ensure the future of its people? Will handshakes happening behind the scenes once again shortchange that dignity of the common man? Will Africa and its people find the courage
and stamina to steer themselves towards a future worthy of future generations? These are questions for each of us to answer for ourselves.St John Paul II (1991) touched on the subject of gross unemployment when he said, “The obligation to earn one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow also presumes the right to do so. A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, nor can that society attain social peace.”

Skills development and job creation

It will take heart and sheer determination to emerge triumphant from such dire circumstances of unemployment. The development of entrepreneurial skills must take precedence over mere job-seeking. Skills development, improved education programmes and solid life skills need urgent attention. These objectives need support from parents in the home, government institutions, the Church and society as a whole.

Pope Francis (2013) says “Growth in justice requires more than economic growth while presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programmes, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality. I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the workforce and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded.”

Some of the many ways Africa can address unemployment include: translating economic growth into sustainable decent jobs; moving from subsistence to entrepeneurship farming; reform in education and training; harnessing the benefits of the digital economy; rural development; conservation; Pro-African import and export precedents; and mechanisation for local production of goods and services. These and many more areas need reform and righteous innovation, knowing now already, that in Africa, more jobs are required, not less!

We know that luxury is not always synonymous with quality of life and not all that glitters is gold. Just as there is a price for following along blindly, there is a reward for labouring righteously. St Paul (Col 3: 23, 24) tells us, “Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not
men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ.”

REFLECTIONS • FAITH RESPONSE

The Quest for a Better Life: Enhancing Solidarity with Migrants and Refugees

In this reflection, the author presents a genuinely Christian response, grounded in Scripture, to the drama of millions of migrants and refugees throughout the world who call out at our doors

BY Fabian Oliver | Theologian, Johannesburg

Escaping terror, finding terror

For many migrants and refugees, leaving their homeland is not only the quest for a better life, but for some, it is their only hope of staying alive. Many are fleeing from the horrors of civil war, violent dictatorships, sexual abuse of women, and extreme forms of poverty and oppression. The search for a better life is perhaps the signalling of a spirituality that chooses life in the midst of death. For some, it is an awareness that God still loves them and wants them to have life in its fullness—and this keeps them going.

However, the quest for a better life is often met with a different kind of terror in their new dwelling place in the form of ghastly living conditions in refugee camps, exploitation by local government officials, afrophobia, xenophobia, and gravely underpaid employment. We are not to forget that for many migrants and refugees the situation they find themselves in is not isolated and exists in a history of slavery, colonialism, racism, and systemic patriarchy. There remains a dire need for justice and solidarity for migrants and refugees. This reflection offers possible considerations.

Solidarity is Biblical

Throughout the Bible, there are stories of migration and refuge. From the onset, there are various teachings on how the Israelites ought to treat the ‘foreigner, stranger or alien.’ As part of the laws of justice and mercy in Exodus 23: 9, the people are reminded not to oppress the foreigner for they themselves know what it feels like to be oppressed in another country. Thus, hospitality towards strangers is a key part of Israelite identity. Jesus’ birth is also marked by His parents becoming refugees, fleeing

their homeland to a place of safety (Mt 2: 13–23). In His ministry, Jesus knew about the experience of not being welcome, feeling destitute, and without a dwelling place. This is evident in His words, “the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests but the Son of man has no place to lay His head” (Lk 9: 58). Jesus notes that the Kingdom of God will be given to those who welcome the stranger, for in doing so they have welcomed Him (Mt 25: 35).

Thinking theologically

Reflecting on migration and God, Botha (2013) offers the metaphor of God as a migrant who derives from God’s dwelling of non-accessible light to[wards] creation. Thus, in Jesus, God comes to us as a stranger in our midst. In reflecting on Jesus’ birth story marked by fleeing from violence, Askevold (2008) boldly states that every migrant [refugee or asylum seeker] “carries the face of Christ, and this compels us to act in a way that protects this innate dignity.” In a similar vein, we can say it is God who waits at the border with the many destitute, it is God who settles in conditions of squallor in the refugee camps, and it is God who weeps with those who have lost loved ones drowned at sea. On the flip side of a theology of God as a migrant, we can also think of God, who is the Creator of our cosmos, and thus it is God who has welcomed us into Himself as children, offering us the land as a means of living life in abundance together. Therefore, we are called to be stewards of the land. This idea of God was reminiscent of the prayer for refugees said by Pope Francis during his trip to the migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at the port of Lesbos:

Jesus notes that the Kingdom of God will be given to those who welcome the stranger, for in doing so they have welcomed Him

“Merciful God, may we share with them the blessings we have received from Your hand, and recognize that together, as one human family, we are all migrants, journeying in hope to You, our true home, where every tear will be wiped away, where we will be at peace and safe in Your embrace.” (Vatican Radio 2016).

Solidarity and advocacy

The situation with migrants and refugees calls us to an ever-present solidarity with all who suffer and are pushed to the peripheries of society. It calls us to carefully think of our methods and governance towards those seeking a better life. More radically, solidarity calls to question our own xenophobia, indifference, and self-centredness. It calls us to question the very reason why there is perpetual displacement, violence, and poverty visited upon certain communities. We need to critique policies and notions that view solidarity and concern for the poor and the marginalised as obstacles to economic growth. Beyond the vast amounts of social aid and policies geared towards migrants and refugees, the question remains, why is the situation and treatment of these people so vile and oppressive? There are no quick fixes or easy answers. However, there are ample possibilities for attaining a better life for all, working together as people, religious organisations, civil society, government, private and public sectors.

REFLECTIONS • ANTHROPOCENE ERA

Our Human Condition and Water in an Era of Global Warming

Humanity has the capacity to destroy or preserve this planet. Global warming and urbanisation are currently straining world hydric resources. A global effort to preserve water can determine our future

BY ohann Tempelhoff | Water historian and extraordinary professor, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, South Africa.

IN 1957 the political philosopher, Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) published a book, The human condition, describing how major scientific breakthroughs since the 17th century, had changed our consciousness of the world. Her intellectual focus was on Sputnik—the first unmanned spacecraft to orbit Earth’s elliptical path in a mere 98 minutes. Arendt argued that people had started thinking differently in the 20th century. For her, it had everything to do with a consciousness of our collective human condition in a time of exponential intellectual growth.

Arendt contemplated the vitality of human activities and how they shaped societies’ collective mentality. By using science, technology and the arts, humans had produced motorised transport, Einstein’s Law of Relativity, and even nuclear bombs. Humans, she warned, had even become capable of the mass extermination of their own species.

Moreover, humans had started exploring the Universe—beyond Earth’s confines. Arendt juxtaposed her understanding of the human condition with the tipping point of individual and collective self-perceptions of eternity and immortality.

Science has progressed much since the 1950s. By the 1990s physicists, meteorologists and environmental scientists warned governments of the world about global warming. They confirmed that emissions of greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide) and toxic chemical waste, had started warming up the planet. Earth has a long history of naturally warming and cooling over extended periods, but now we humans had started changing the very climate of our home planet.

The Anthropocene era and South Africa’s water challenges

As we drifted into a new millennium in 2000, the Nobel Laureate, Paul Crutzen, at a meeting of the Scientific Committee of the IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) in Cuernavaca, Mexico introduced the term, Anthropocene era, as a description of the time we are living in. Many scientists underscored Crutzen’s views. Humans (Anthropos) had indeed started changing the course of nature itself. The ‘new geological epoch’, Crutzen suggested, could well be named the Anthropocene era. Of all the animals on earth, we humans had scored a first—the capacity to change the planet’s climate. We may also be instrumental in its destruction.

Nowadays, environmental scientists use the Anthropocene era to describe the current dangerous trajectory of the human condition.

For one, climate change has a profound impact on South Africa’s water resources. We are one of the globe’s 40 most water-stressed countries. For many centuries we have thrived under extreme natural disaster conditions of drought and floods in what is today’s South Africa.

However, in the era of climate change, water-related floods and drought conditions have become anthropogenic disaster events. Now natural floods and droughts are compounded by how we humans have been abusing the environment. In April 2022, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and parts of the Eastern Cape suffered devastating floods. These floods turned into disaster events because we had anthropogenically changed natural environments to suit our own purposes. We had not planned ahead. Few precautions had been taken to safeguard human beings settled on what used to be natural shrublands, forests and even grasslands.

Since the 1970s the lack of rural and urban planning strategies, especially in South Africa’s informal settlements, claimed many lives. It wreaked havoc on human living conditions. Many urban residents had been left destitute under circumstances that had been shaped by a human condition, notable for its cunning ability to ignore the suffering of others. It was most evident in the lack of proper water and sanitation facilities in these settlements.

Unpredictable climate patterns

Between 2014 and 2020, South Africa experienced a countrywide drought. At the United Nations November 2021 Conference of Parties (COP) summit in Glasgow, South Africa’s climate change experts affirmed their consensus on future severe climate change. As members of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) they reported on a persistent climate change trend. Southern Africa is warming in the west. It will also become drier. Most rainfall will be unpredictable—mainly in the northern and south-eastern parts of the sub-continent.

Already we have some contemporary historical evidence. In 2016 the water resources of the Vaal Dam, a prime Gauteng water supply storage facility, started drying up. Thanks to erratic cyclonal events in 2017, the Mozambican channel weather turmoil was instrumental in flooding parts of Zimbabwe, Malawi, and the north-eastern part of South Africa.

Erratic cyclone conditions of this kind are destined to now determine our climate in southern Africa. The 2017 cyclone deposited much-needed stormwater in Mpumalanga Province that flowed into the catchment of the Vaal Dam. It saved the day for Gauteng Province—the country’s most populous region—thanks to a meteorological surveillance system of the country’s weather services.

In 2017 the City of Cape Town alerted its residents to prepare for a ‘Day Zero’. The city could soon be without water supplies. Western Cape’s customary winter rainfall had been erratic since 2015. In April 2018, within days of Cape Town running out of water, the first winter rainfall brought a respite to the city and its residents.

Urbanisation and connectivity

Sub-Saharan Africa is currently the region of the world with the highest urbanisation rate. In the mid-2000s, half of South Africa’s population was resident in urban areas. By September 2022 an estimated 66.7% of South Africa’s 60.9 million residents, lived in urban areas.

In urban areas, residents require copious water supplies, sanitation and proper stormwater infrastructure systems. Needless to say, there are frequent shortfalls in urban water resources and infrastructure systems in villages, informal settlements, towns, and the country’s cities. As more lands open up, plans are made to provide water and sanitation services. Often there are shortfalls in funding the infrastructure and ultimately even the water resources.

Our contemporary human condition is notable for its ability to be connected: mobile phones, computers, the internet and a vast array of social media platforms have connected us with countless numbers of people in many parts of the world. We are exposed to news, views, gossip and anger, but also humour. Experts now even speak of the ‘Multiverse’—a future human condition where our global intellectual feedlot is determined by algorithms and no longer our personal freedom to choose.

Water needs

How does the new Orwellian-type future impact our understanding of climate change and our access to water? Our body consists of more than 60% water. Females require on average 2.2 litres of water per day. Males need 3.2 litres.

Water is the prime natural renewable resource we engage with when we start every day. It helps take care of our hygiene, but also facilitates our food intake. We take water for granted.

Conserving water in the Anthropocene era of climate change should become part of our present human condition

Daily, hundreds of water sector workers in all parts of South Africa focus on water and related infrastructure services in the country’s urban areas. We seldom take note of the work they do—except when services collapse. Infrastructure systems in many parts of the country are overworked and under-maintained.

Estimates suggest that our daily per capita consumption of water in urban South Africa stands at 300 litres. In most urbanised countries of the world, per capita consumption stands at 175 litres per day. Our water sector experts suggest we should use about 200 litres per person per day. A major drawback is that as much as 60% of urban water supplies are lost, before they reach users, because of leaking pipelines.

Water preservation

We also unwittingly waste water. Think about daily brushing of teeth while the tap water runs. Why not shower instead of bathing? How regularly do we check up on potential domestic sewage wastewater leaks? What about re-using kitchen water for a backyard vegetable patch, or the flower garden?

The human condition in the realm of water appears to be focused on consuming, not conserving. We need to revise our understanding of the human condition in the Anthropocene era if we as humans aspire to live and thrive on planet Earth.

In the era of climate change, we are bound to face extreme conditions. Water may well become more scarce than ever before. Best present-day examples are 2022’s severe summer drought conditions, forest fires, floods and exhausted water resources in North America, Europe, north-eastern Africa, and Asia.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the recent destructive fires and floods in Australasia are stark reminders of what can happen in southern Africa. Conserving water in the Anthropocene era of climate change should become part of our present human condition.

REFLECTIONS • LIBERATION

From non-believers towards non-persons, an imperative missiological shift

The mission of the Church in Africa must give particular attention to millions of people marginalised and discarded by society, showing them compassion and accompanying them on their journey of liberation. She needs to be a sign of hope and to pursue an alternative world where everyone’s dignity is respected. The least ones are God’s face and our actions to them are also our responses to God

BY Fabian Oliver | theologian, Johannesburg

What is the mission of the Church in Africa?

South Africa sits unrivalled, with ample opportunity for growth and greatness for its people, having survived the yesteryears of holistic oppression. However, it is currently confronted with a type of dark night of the soul reality characterised by massive unemployment, unending corruption, rampant poverty, gender-based violence, and is world renowned for inequality. South Africa is not unique in these challenges and points to a larger African contextual crisis. Ghanaian Methodist theologian, Mercy Oduyoye stated the following which remains relevant today:

“Currently, Africa is a continent where people fight long, bloody wars to resist Islamization or the hegemony of dominant ethnic groups. Christians massacre Christians, Muslims struggle against Muslims, and conflicts, having nothing to do with religion, break out within and across national boundaries. Africa, barely out of the clutches of apartheid, continues to suffer from global racism and is riddled with poverty and death” (Oduyoye 1996).

What are we to make of the gradual decrease of Christianity in large parts of Europe, yet in Africa, Christianity is growing. More pertinent is the reality that Africa remains poor(er) despite its Christianisation. The massive spread of Christianity in Africa has yet to shift the reality from civil war and sickness. South African novelist, Zakes Mda laments the African predicament by averring, “Indeed our ways of dying are our ways of living. Or should I say our ways of living are our ways of dying?” (Mda 1995). Amid this, the question remains: what is the task and responsibility of the Church? What is its mission? This reflection attempts to answer the question by reviewing the shift in missiological focus from non-believers towards non-persons, otherwise categorised by Jesus as the least of these. Here, it is suggested that the Church has and should continue to be a community for all, and simultaneously be closer to the struggles of the marginalised, witnessing to God’s kingdom on earth.

Non-believers

It can be argued that in Western orthodox theologies the interlocutor has traditionally been the non-believer. Think for example of the earlier Catholic doctrine, extra ecclesiam nulla salus, (outside the Church there is no salvation). This resulted in decades of frequent missionary activity by the Church to offer salvation to as many souls as possible via the defined ultimatum of accepting Christianity or rejecting eternal life (Hick & Knitter 2005). Beyond the dark colonial history marked by this missionary project, there are other considerations that question this form of mission. This includes the reality that the current Church approach accepts the diversity of faiths and is even committed to journeying with these faith communities (seen in multiple Ecumenical and Interfaith movements). In this way, mission as conversion of non-believers remains dormant or worthy of re-evaluation.

We can dare to be a Church that responds to all forms of physical, spiritual, and economic poverty

Non-persons

This brings us to another possible approach. Peruvian Catholic priest and pioneer of Liberation Theology, Gustavo Gutiérrez (1983) noted that the interlocutor of theology should be the non-person, which is “the human being who is not considered human by the present social order, the exploited classes, marginalized ethnic groups, and despised cultures.” In Joseph M.P. (2015), the term non-person is more provocative than it is literal because while theologically we believe that all people are truly made in the image and likeness of God, still, by noting non-person, it illuminates past and current realities which systematically allow and maintain others’ to existence on the peripheries, throttled by conditions of poverty, violence, and injustice. Gutiérrez in CNA (2015) puts it like this:

“We referred to the poor as non-persons, but not in a philosophical sense, because it is obvious that each human being is a person, rather in a sociological sense; the poor, that is, are not accepted as persons in our society. They are invisible and have not rights, their dignity is not recognized.”

The Church should be a safe space for listening, talking, and imagining possibilities of peace, justice, and equality

Here, commitment towards the excluded should not be misconstrued for mere charity or seeing the marginalised as a means to an end. Rather, it is an invitation for the Church to continue to revive its theological starting point by looking at the world from the vantage point of the powerless. For Gutiérrez, the conditions of the marginalised are not a call for social relief, but an invitation to Christians (clergy and laity) to build an alternative life-giving social order. Likewise, we could advocate that the violence in Africa coupled with structural misogynistic patriarchy against women require not that we simply resist its evil, but that we participate with God in creating spaces of true equality and peace.

The tentative mission of the Church

Perhaps we can dare to be a Church that responds to all forms of physical, spiritual, and economic poverty, mindful that there is “none so poor as the one who does not feel any need” (Oduyoye 1996: 499). The Church should be a safe space for listening, talking, and imagining possibilities of peace, justice, and equality. It should see herself as the face of compassion, and not indifference. Here, we are reminded of the words of Pope Francis in Daly (2013), which say: “The thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the Church as a field hospital after battle.” Notwithstanding right doctrine (orthodoxy), we ought to also aspire towards right action (orthopraxy) to which the Church is in solidarity with Jesus who is the comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken-hearted. In times of despair, the Church is a place of hope. It is where we come to receive and witness good news. Thus, the mission of the Church is one of cultivating stories of hope, stories of resistance to injustice, stories of economics, land and housing, education, health, solidarity, non-judgment, and ultimately love.

An invitation to God’s liberating mission

American Catholic theologian William Cavanaugh (2016) reminds us that we must not forget that it is God and not us that will save the world. We are called merely to play our part in realising God’s salvific action, for it is God who takes the fruit of the vine, and the work of human hands and turns it into God-Himself. The mission of our Church is one of participating in God’s salvation, and in doing this, we are called to bear witness to the many crosses society bears and offer life in the many forms of death. Part of Jesus’ own mission was to bring good news to the poor (Luke 4: 18); thus, in the Gospel, Jesus is characterised through solidarity with the very least of humanity and where Jesus goes, we too must follow. In Jesus we see God’s love for all and also God’s preferential option for the broken, expressed in the Gospel of Matthew 25: 40–45. Interestingly, in this passage Jesus offers an ultimatum to the believers (not to the non-believers) of the possibility of hell or heaven based on the solidarity they have shown to the naked, the hungry, and the sick.

What is fascinating here is that Jesus does not identify Himself with those who help the least of these, rather Jesus sees Himself as the hungry, the thirsty, the prisoner. Thus, God can be found in the lowly and marginalised, in the sick, and in those who grieve. Through the eyes of compassion, we see God in others, especially in the ones on the fringes of society. It is the gospel truth that people cannot live on bread alone, but on every word of God. In a starving world, it is also true that people cannot live on the word of God alone, but also bread. Part of the mission of our Church is to discern the difference and bear witness to God’s liberation.

In Jesus we see God’s love for all and also God’s preferential option for the broken

“But there are moments when even I have seen God dancing in the eyes of a street kid in Johannesburg. I could swear that I have heard the voice of God in the low and high notes of some profane and sacred hymns alike. As well as residing among the poor, maybe God also dwells in the small mercies of strangers, in the aha moments when humans connect deeply and in the brilliance of the artist” Maluleke (2015).

REFLECTIONS • INCLUSION

Pathways of Education

The worldwide educational crisis calls for joint efforts, both in the family and at the school, to promote an inclusive model of teaching that leaves nobody outside the system and helps to form a relational human person

BY José Maia | Biology and Geology Secondary School teacher From Alenquer, Portugal

TODAY, MORE than ever, discussions and dialogues on education are held; and yet, quite a few questions plague us. At home, at school and in institutions in general, we witness the loss of authority in human relationships.

“Educating, however, has never been an easy task and today it seems to be ever more difficult. (…) Hence, there is talk of a great ‘educational emergency’, confirmed by the failures we encounter all too often in our efforts to form sound people who can co-operate with others and give their own lives meaning.” (Pope Benedict 2008).

We are immersed in a moral relativism where the fashionable values ​​are: complaining; the absence of rules in individual life and in interpersonal and social relationships, which materialise in difficulties of behaviour of children/pupils; and where voids proliferate.

This emptiness and loss had been foreseen by thinkers such as Nietzsche who signalled “the arrival of a world where norm and rule had given way to chaos and to the will of power of instincts and emotions.” In the world, an unbridled race for emotional and instinctive pleasure dominates, with the spread of new psychic diseases, such as addiction to games, video games, obsessions and a kind of slavery to which the Internet surreptitiously submits us.

Without realising, we may find ourselves tamed by the dominant culture at the level of ideas, fashions, consumption, among others, instead of proactively and fearlessly embracing proposals that go against the tide.

The culture of laziness arouses in young people a sense of a fantasy self-esteem painted with illusions, averse to responsibilities, which generate shortcuts to happiness and eventually leads to torment. Such a culture encourages individualism to avoid confrontation, and prioritises easy choices for immediate pleasure. No wonder young people are more and more vulnerable to depressions. Why? Because mental health depends a lot on our ability to relate to others.

School dropouts

The school reflects the entire cultural and educational reality and it is a relevant experience in the process of human growth. Currently, all over the world, we are witnessing an educational crisis, in which school dropout is glaring—despite all of UNICEF’s efforts—and is no longer due to poverty alone. In the so-called developed countries, this problem is disguised with larger fundings in education, together with an attitude of almost requesting the students to attend school as a favour.

School dropout is noticeably more evident in underdeveloped and developing countries, but also in developed nations the plague of dropout extends even to universities, with students not completing their cycle of education.

Dropping out is associated with behavioural and learning problems, emotional issues, lack of interest, motivation and of identifying with the school, among other factors.

Western countries—with a dropout rate around 10%—have not been able to remove the root causes of dropout, though mechanisms have been created to foster school attendance, for instance, compulsory education until 18 years old and tutelage regarding student absenteeism. In addition to social support, structures have been created to watch over and monitor possible warning signs of incoming dropouts, such as unsocial behaviours, poor academic results, among others.

Moreover, as there is an obligation to comply with certain standards, these dropout numbers are all too often subject to convenient ‘adjustments’ by the administration. Additionally, this rate does not take into consideration the attained levels of knowledge, discernment, or capacity to think critically.

Outside world

Often, the school gives more attention to certificates or numbers, rather than to a genuine educational nourishment. It is made more attractive, less difficult, and therefore, a discrepancy is created between the idyllic world of the school and the real life outside, which is full of challenges. However, it is essential to train the learners in a way that enables them to face the difficulties in their future, and does not lead them to give up, but contemplates every difficulty and helps them to confront it. It is also necessary to know how to include the component of ‘sacrifice’, always necessarily present, to achieve any goal. Learning how to cope with difficulties is a task that involves both the student and the educator.

“Suffering is also part of the truth of our life. So, by seeking to shield the youngest from every difficulty and experience of suffering, we risk raising brittle and ungenerous people, despite our good intentions: indeed, the capacity for loving corresponds to the capacity for suffering and for suffering together.” (Pope Benedict 2008).

Mental health depends a lot on our ability to relate
to others

Schools also started to be interested in other realities (associations, or equipment and gadgets such as mobile phones or television, digital platforms, video games, appliances of the virtual world), that quickly started to compete with the real world. Amazingly, we realized a lack of meaning entering into the families, schools and into the hearts of young people and adults. One cannot disguise the real disinterest that, hand in hand with a lack of preparation, generates an explosive mixture of depression and abandonment.

The pandemic did not help at all in this regard, having aggravated social differences and the consequent dropout effect. Thus, schools find themselves struggling with the concept of emptiness as a consequence of their diminishing credibility.

We need to understand the reality that surrounds us and not let ourselves be carried away by harmful ideas presented as whitewashed notions with questions posed such as what is the use of going to school or of learning this or that?

However, the world of fast utilitarianism does not realise that the neuronal development and maturation of human beings depends on the challenges and stimuli to which they are subjected, in order to generate mental tools useful throughout their lives.

According to the neuroscientist, Michel Desmurget, author of the book La Fabrique Du Cretin Digital (The digital cretin factory), our constant dependence on digital screens is causing harmful effects of alienation and brutalisation as we face the real world.

What answers can we offer?

We know that education is based on relationships, starting in the family. As Christians, we can have Jesus at home as an educational model. How? ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name’. The relationship of love between father and mother, as far as possible, makes them Jesus’ intermediaries in the educational act.

Looking at Jesus, we find some of His important characteristics as an educator:
His empathy—knowing how to enter into the other, how to listen;
His acceptance of the other;
Hope—things can always be improved;
His struggle for education—persistence;
Change, that entails concrete consequences;
Inclusion: He does not exclude anyone;
Credibility—existential convergence between the saying and the acting;
Consistency as an educator.

It is in the joint effort of education, both in the family and at the school that the originality of each person can emerge.

Our constant dependence on the digital world is causing harmful effects of alienation and brutalisation as we face the real world

The school stands in continuity with the family, in a spirit of subsidiarity.

Pope Francis underlines that “Education includes encouraging the responsible use of freedom to face issues with good sense and intelligence. It involves forming persons who readily understand that their own lives, and the life of the community, are in their hands, and that freedom is itself a great gift.” (Pope Francis 2016).

In this context, it is important to become aware of the need that the verb ‘give up’ disappears, starting with parents, teachers and the community who say ‘I do not give up on you, on your tomorrow’.

The school is a place of proximity—given the collapse of family support—and often becomes transformed into a unique place for socialisation, protection and guidance.

With the whole process of human transhumance, due to migrations, cultural exchange programmes, the refugee crisis and the effects of war, the school becomes a rich broth of cultures, classes, ethnicities and a place where dialogue—even between religions, though amidst unconfessed fears—occurs.

Pacts on Education

Let us not allow the abandonment of projects such as Living Peace, which encompasses schools from all continents, or the Global Educational Alliance launched by Pope Francis (2019) to “rekindle our dedication for and with young people, renewing our passion for a more open and inclusive education, including patient listening, constructive dialogue and better mutual understanding.”

With this Global Alliance on education, the Pope proposes a union of “forces in a broad education alliance, to form mature individuals capable of overcoming division and antagonism, and to restore the fabric of relationships for the sake of a more fraternal humanity.”

According to him, education is not like putting on and off your clothes, but implies an interiorisation that (as mentioned in the Instrumentum Laboris of the Global Alliance) includes the other person, a relationship and its fruit—fraternity.

Faced with the evident breakdown of intergenerational solidarity, technological overvaluation, the environmental crisis and existential anguish, a response is born; a new thinking about relationships that makes the differences a true source of unity.

Education is a path that leads the learner from the bottom to the top of the mountain

The Pope, with this educational challenge, emphasizes the importance that “in diversity may all people, according to their respective roles, share the task of forming a network of open human relationships. According to an African proverb, ‘it takes the whole village to educate a child’. Therefore, we have to create such a village before we can educate.”

The educational environment is a whole set of ideals, values ​​and lifestyles. The current world lives immersed in the fascination for technology, devaluing face-to-face communication, digging ditches of non-existing relationships. Attention is needed to an inclusive school that may be able to guarantee quality, and not be limited to mediocrity.

The light of hope

The inclusive school is not only the one that leaves nobody outside the system, but allows a path that lifts everyone to wider horizons. Education is a path that leads the learner from the bottom to the top of the mountain. Some may find it difficult and the desire to give up arises. Being inclusive implies finding strategies so that everyone can reach the top without leaving others on the way, bogged down in their difficulties.

The question of demand, when successfully achieved, also makes the student aware that he is worthy, more than what he really thinks. Not demanding is to send a message of being less, even if you do not intend to.

The school reflects the entire cultural and educational reality and it is a relevant experience in the process of human growth

The inclusive school has in itself a degree of flexibility that allows diversification of responses so that everyone can achieve their dreams. On the other hand, compulsory education can suffer from a short-sighted view of reality, especially when the diversification of the educational offer is scarce, ineffective and generates a misunderstanding of equality confounded with egalitarianism, not admitting responses with different degrees of demand.

Thinking of the educational global alliance proposed by Pope Francis and going to the roots of Christian education, we continue to believe in a life of hope, with steps of the one who searches, attentive to signs, singing new melodies that speak of the joys and groans that we share.

As we go through the educational and cultural night, we will light up the lights of hope. The overall purpose of the educational process is to help form a relational human person, the image of God and the Trinity. Deep down, what educates is Love, because, as the psychiatrist Ionata Pasquale (2006) wrote, “We were born to love and not to win.”

REFLECTIONS • COMMUNICATING HAPPINESS

MAKE YOUR FAMILY A CIRCUS OF FREAKS

Jesus, the Christ, is the Freak of freaks. To believe and follow Him
is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful

BY DILLON NAICKER | LAY MISSIONARY, JOHANNESBURG

HOLLYWOOD WAS not always in the habit of depicting “freaks” in a positive light until the Marvel vs. DC Comics (1996) universes of the new millennium gave new dignity to the ‘superhero’ or ‘mutant’. Identity politics aside, I am supernaturally drawn to these outstanding beings and have entertained a ‘Theology of the Freak’, more specifically inspired by the film, The greatest showman (2017). To be a freak, according to the Merriam Webster.com Dictionary, means to be unusual i.e., to stand out. Paradoxically, human beings possess a need for the latter, yet most settle for the comfort and safety of an uninspiring normalcy. Then there exist freaks that stand out for all the wrong reasons. Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma just might embody the villainous freaks in the virtual comic book of world history. But, how about Mother Teresa, St Therese of Lisieux, St Francis of Assisi or, on that note, Pope Francis? These, and many more, are the freaks of Jesus Christ and, like every human (including the villains), and the Lord Himself, come from families.

The theology of The greatest showman (2017)

In the film, The greatest showman (2017), Phineas Taylor Barnum criticises the ordinary people for their misery, and invites them to “come alive” by encountering the freaks of society. The film depicts Phillip Carlyle’s conversion from embracing the status quo to joining Barnum’s Circus of freaks. By choosing to associate with “the other side”, he finds life by rejecting “[his] place” among the seemingly dignified people he grew up with. Before the credit roll, Barnum is quoted as having said, “The noblest art is that of making others happy”. Carlyle thanks Barnum for helping him discover “love, friendship and a work that [he adores]”. The freaks similarly praise Barnum for giving them “a home” where they can be who they are “meant to be”.Notably, Barnum’s own wife and children find great joy in Barnum’s Circus: his mission to bring life to the world. The bridge between his circus family and that of his home is beautifully unveiled in the closing scene as he repeats the bridge of the film’s opening song, “it’s everything you’ll ever want, it’s everything you’ll ever need, and it’s here right in front of you, this is where you wanna be”. He sings these words next to his wife while the two of them enjoy their daughters’ ballet performance. Right at this moment, Barnum gets it.

Freaks are born and bred

Barnum, like any loving spouse and parent, wants to see his family happy. That same love, friendship and joy experienced by his family of freaks is what he desires for his wife, children and all of their posterity. At this point of the film Barnum and Carlyle have made an agreement to own the circus fifty-fifty, with Barnum remaining the ringmaster. As the film ends, Barnum hands over the ringmaster’s hat and cane to Carlyle who accepts his gesture and asks, “What will you be doing?” to which Barnum responds, “watching my daughters grow”. As a missionary, this decision disappoints me. Barnum seems to, in part, abandon his calling. However, as a family man—I salute him. He embraces the need to expand his mission beyond himself to rear more missionaries for the future, more freaks that can “make others happy”, more superheroes that can save souls for the “Greatest Show” which is the Kingdom of God.

The best evangelisation strategy is to capture people with the beautiful, enchant them with the good, and then lead them to the true

The X-Gene: the greatest Freak of all

With the Greatest Show as the Kingdom, the Greatest Showman is surely the King: Jesus. In the world of superhero science, mutants are believed to be as such due to their possession of the “X-Gene” in their DNA (X-Men 2000). As I theologise this mysterious gene, I find the Chi-Ro, a well-known symbol for Christ throughout Christian history (Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary). The Good News is that every person throughout history possesses this Christ-Gene in that “all things were made through Him” (Jn 1: 3) and, through Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, He has made “all things new” (Rev 21: 5). We are His Christ(X)-Men. The greater superhero-world sees all kinds of non human creatures with special powers, and human beings that receive powers through some kind of incident. In theologising the former, I find the heavenly beings of God’s kingdom, such as the choirs of angels. In doing so with the latter I find such incidents to be conversions i.e., encounters between humans and Jesus Christ that bring changes to their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. Prominent examples here are the twelve apostles of Jesus who became empowered evangelisers at Pentecost (Acts 2). More significant, perhaps, is what these Jesus-freaks do with their powers. Every human being, knowingly or not, wants to be a hero. So, what does the heroic path entail?

TIf you want to change the world, go home and love your family

Saints of the past and present: Christ in “the least of these” (Mt 25: 40)

If the noblest art is that of making others happy, then the world needs to know what authentic happiness is. No human person does not desire happiness. Bishop Robert Barron holds that the world offers four paths to happiness: wealth, honour, power and pleasure. Jesus offers the Beatitudes. The word “blessed” from the Greek makarios can also mean happy, fortunate or well-off (Vine’s Greek Dictionary). This Christian happiness is silly to the world (1 Cor 1: 18) and to many who claim to follow Him. So ensnared by power, pleasure, wealth and honour are (even) “Christians”, that the saints through the ages were (typically) oppressed by their fellow believers. They were often regarded as mindless, delusional individuals whereas they were as outstanding as Christ was. This is what it means to be a heroic freak. The saints were and are unique, as God created them to be, and not as the world expects them to be: originals as opposed to mere copies. They walk in the Spirit, and not in the spirit of the world and because they stand out as Christ did, they suffer in His image and likeness, hence being “blessed”. Pope Francis, in chapter four of Gaudete et Exultate (2018), points out five signs of modern-day holiness: 1) perseverance, patience and meekness; 2) joy and a healthy sense of humour; 3) boldness and passion; 4) living in community; and 5) constant prayer. These serve as good criteria for discovering the saintly freaks in society and the Church, both of the past and present. In addition, at the heart of this saintliness is love.

The way of beauty

…do well to attend to the “way of beauty” (via pulchritudinis). Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow Him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful…Every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus (Evangelii Gaudium §167).

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, in his homily at the Westminster Cathedral (2010), referred to the world’s need for the beauty of holiness embodied in the saints. Bishop Barron highlights the other two “transcendentals” inseparable from beauty: truth and goodness (Barron 2018). Barron (2014) explains the relationship between these transcendentals in the evangelisation task, according to the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar: “the best evangelisation strategy is to capture people with the beautiful, then enchant them with the good, and then lead them to the true”. Indeed, when confronted by authentic beauty, the human heart is struck simultaneously by what is true and good; it is awakened to its deepest yearning for 1) God (Pope Benedict XVI 2009), and 2) for what is ultimately true, good and beautiful are those things that are of God—the ultimate Truth, Good and Beauty. Since God is love (1 Jn 4: 8), it again stands to good reason why the greatest beauty is love. What draws us to Christ as to his saints is love of God and neighbour.

Beauty, in its authentic form, calls us to get in touch with life in its fullness i.e., life in Christ (Jn 10: 10). It calls us to question our existence, our meaning and purpose; it brings us before our Creator (Pope Benedict XVI 2009). We realise, states C.S. Lewis (1942), that we ourselves are part of this very beauty that has struck us; we are destined to be one with it. Now, we move from questioning to knowing and yearning, to hoping and believing in what is to come: eternal happiness (CCC §1818). Beauty calls us to listen to God, to believe what God says to us, and to leap into the arms of Jesus where I know I am lovable and loved, good and beautiful; that I matter; that I’m a big deal (Pivonka 2016).

How tragic that so many of us reject Beauty—Jesus—and remain chained by the powers, pleasures, treasures and honours of the world, removed from our authentic, free, fulfilled selves. It is however perhaps more tragic that the latter reality is mostly generated in the home when parents and guardians fail to recognise and uphold the dignity and power of uniqueness in their young ones and, moreover, grasp that this superpower has its source in God. Mary and Joseph raised the Freak of freaks, the Greatest Showman of the Eternal Circus, the Supreme Superhero—Jesus, the Christ. This was their mission of hope and faith, with love at its centre. Moreover, its fulfilment led to eternal salvation for the world. With Mother Teresa, then, I say, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family”.

REFLECTIONS • CAMEROON

The Narrow Path To Justice And Reconciliation

There seems to be no quick solution to the internal conflict that has split the country since 2016. The Church appears unable to be a sign of unity. Yet the testimony of the late Cardinal Tumi remains alive. One of his heirs speaks

BY Fr Ludovic Lado SJ
Interviewed by Fr Filippo Ivardi Ganapini MCCJ | Editor of the Comboni Magazine Nigrizia

THE CONFLICT that erupted in 2016 in the English-speaking areas of the northwest and southwest of the country has its roots in the past. It goes back to 1961 when the formerly British Southern Cameroons joined with French Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Ever since, the English-speaking minority felt marginalized and their right to autonomy was disregarded by the central government. For years, the northwest and southwest regions of the country have been campaigning for a continued use of the English language in schools and courts. When in 2016, the government dispatched French-speaking judges and teachers in the Anglophone region, people took to the streets to protest against it. The revolt was brutally repressed by the police force, resulting in the loss of many lives and the imprisonment of hundreds of activists. In the meantime, a separatist group started a guerrilla war for the secession of the Anglophone region and declared the self-proclaimed independent Federal Republic of Ambazonia. In the last five years, repeated armed raids by Anglophone rebels and the open conflict with the national army have claimed over 3 000 lives.

In such a climate of open confrontation, the Catholic Church in Cameroon has struggled to show herself steadfast as a bulwark of unity and an agent of reconciliation. She has shown quite clearly her internal differences. On one side, there are the bishops of the Anglophone areas who in their memorandum to the government have foreseen the risk of escalating violence and warned against the radicalization of the conflict. On the other side, sectors of the Catholic hierarchy, linked to the French-speaking area, have gone as far as supporting openly the repressive approach of President Paul Biya, in power since 1982. Some bishops, instead, in line with the thinking of Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, bishop emeritus of Douala who died last April at the age of 90, distanced themselves from the violent repression chosen by the regime against the opponents. Most of the ordinary people in the Church live in fear and prefer to be quiet and not to take any risk by exposing their socio-political views.

Aware of the Gospel’s demands for reconciliation, Fr Ludovic Lado, a Cameroonian Jesuit and a member of CEFOD (Center for Studies and Formation for the Development of N’Djamena-Chad), wants to bring his contribution to a divided country, helping the Church to become a sign and instrument of unity. In October last year he embarked on a pilgrimage from the city of Douala to the national capital Yaoundé. With his pilgrimage the priest wanted to encourage prayer for peace in the country, especially in the troubled English-speaking northwest and southwest regions. But after only two days of walking, Fr Lado was detained by the police who accused him of “an illegal activity on a public road”. Subsequently released with no charges filed against him, the Jesuit priest had to abandon his pilgrimage. Nonetheless he is determined to pursue the cause of justice and reconciliation in his country.

We contacted him on the phone asking him to take stock of his commitment.

The crisis in the country seems to have no end with an increasingly marked division between the French and Anglophone areas. Do you see any glimmer of hope for a solution of the conflict after the National Dialogue was launched in October 2019?

The well-known National Dialogue, much boasted by the government but poorly organized, is not at all inclusive and has not resolved the Anglophone crisis. Arbitrary killings, armed raids against villages and kidnappings continue in Anglophone regions and the regional elections of last December, which saw little local participation, were nothing more than a parody of decentralization and democracy. The ruling party has centralized for itself all the most important posts for governing the country. The current regime has no far-sighted political vision for the country’s future and does not allow opposition from the various cultural, ethnic and linguistic groups to contribute to the common good. There is nothing more to be expected from this corrupt system and only the departure of President Paul Biya, in power for the past 39 years, will perhaps be a trigger for the change. Actually, it is the élites around Paul Biya who run the country and make the decisions for him. These very people have no intention of engaging in dialogue with minorities or embarking on a real path of reconciliation. What we have in Cameroon is a very corrupt regime, responsible for a massive embezzlement of public finances and set only on promoting its own selfish interests.

What steps do you foresee in order to start a process of change based on a national reconciliation?

Sooner or later a true inclusive national dialogue will have to be organized with the more dynamic forces in the country, but I seriously doubt that this will be possible before Paul Biya leaves power. Those who are at the top now only know the language of violence to safeguard their interests and share the spoils of the state. To help heal the wounds, it will be necessary to envisage a long path of truth and reconciliation. The road is going to be long and painful because the wounds, especially on the English-speaking side, run very deep.

You started a peace march that was interrupted. Are you going to re-launch it and with what objectives and methods? Or are you thinking of other ways of bearing witness to the quest of justice and peace? What role should the Church play in resolving the conflict?

No, I do not think that I will re-launch the march unjustly interrupted by those in power. The message has reached the people. All I wanted to do was to draw attention to a general indifference that hinders the duty of brotherhood. I remain convinced that the Church could have done better to help resolve this crisis, but the infighting for leadership within the Cameroonian episcopal conference, has hindered the mobilization of the people against the oppressive policies of the state. I am currently writing a book based on the stories of suffering and resilience of about fifty internally displaced people due to the Anglophone crisis. Proceeds from the sales of this book will be used for the schooling of internally displaced children. I hope to find the necessary means for its publication.

Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, recently deceased, was a true witness of the gospel of peace and he influenced the generation of Catholics that has taken the side of justice and the poor. What is his most important legacy that he left to us?

Cardinal Tumi leaves a rich legacy to the Cameroonian Church and society. He was a man of God who loved justice and freedom, a very human person who was able, with his commitment, to bridge the gap between English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroon. He fulfilled his role as pastor and citizen by demonstrating that one does not exclude the other. He died without being able to see true democracy in Cameroon and the solution to the Anglophone crisis.

Do you see other witnesses or prophetic signs in the Cameroon Church today?

There are certainly Christians who dare to engage in prophetic gestures, some with discretion, others more openly. By and large, the Church in Cameroon is more concerned about rituals than to involve herself in prophetic actions. She is plagued and weakened by the same identity divisions that shatter Cameroonian society. Lay people are very afraid to engage themselves in actions that denounce injustices. They prefer to be concerned with liturgical rituals instead of becoming involved in the demanding work of Justice and Peace Commissions to build a truly free society.

What could be done in Cameroon so as to put into practice Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli tutti?

The encyclical of Pope Francis calls for a personal and collective conversion to the gospel of universal brotherhood. To do this as Christians we must feel challenged every time that the dignity of our brothers and sisters in the English-speaking areas is being trampled upon. In a document, inspired by Fratelli tutti, that I published on the eve of my pilgrimage for peace, I ask: “Where are our brothers and sisters from the northwest and southwest? Some have died, often in atrocious conditions, others are displaced in the countryside or have fled the country. Most have remained in those regions where their dignity is daily tested by precariousness”.

REFLECTIONS

God of The Abused Victims

BY FABIAN OLIVER | THEOLOGY STUDENT, PRETORIA

MY MOTHER told me:
If you stone the white fledglings [little bird],
God will punish you;
if you hit your friend,
God will punish you.
It was God’s sign
and the commandments of God fitted into my hands like ten more fingers.
Today they tell me:
If you do not love war,
if you do not kill a dove a day,
God will punish you;
if you do not strike the black,
if you do not hate the Amerindian,
God will punish you;
if you give the poor ideas
instead of a kiss,
if you talk to them of justice
instead of charity,
God will punish you,
God will punish you.
Mamma, is that really our God?
Juan Gonzalo Rose (Gutierrez 1988)

BETWEEN GOD AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Reflecting on this quote, I was reminded how certain Christian values or theological principles are deeply imbedded into our lived experience. However, it also became apparent how easy it is to confuse what is truly of God and what is our own destructive social projections of God. In thinking about the scourge of domestic violence in general, and violence against women and children in particular, as Christians, we must ask ourselves if this violence stems from an inherent cultural, social, and theological heresy that sustains violence towards those who are the most vulnerable in our society. The question then becomes, how do we (re)affirm Christian values that denounce all forms of domestic violence, and sustain values of love, freedom, and justice for all? This reflection aims to start this conversation by discussing the social and religious practices that implicitly maintain the status quo of domestic violence. Emphasis will be given to the plight of women. The reflection will end by attempting to harvest positive theological responses found in the person and message of Jesus Christ that focus on love over hatred, equality over superiority, and justice (peace) over violence.

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD

Consider the following facts: according to a briefing paper from the United Nations, one in five women throughout the world will become a victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime; half of all women worldwide who are victims of homicide are killed by their husbands or intimate partners. As many as 27 million (about 70% are women and girls) men, women and children are victims of human trafficking. In India, it is estimated that around 25 000 to 100 000 women are killed each year over dowry disputes, many of whom are burnt alive as a result (De La Torre 2014). In South Africa, on average, every eight hours a woman dies at the hands of an intimate partner. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the leading causes of death among South African women. Of pregnant women, about 40% experience physical IPV and about 19% experience sexual IPV (Nhlapo 2017).

Local theologians, Tinyiko Maluleke and Sarojini Nadar refer to what they call the “unholy trinity” which are religion, culture, and gender socialization. For them, this “trinity” possesses the power that often perpetuates the toxic treatment of women. Furthermore, they note how religion has very seldomly come to the aid of abused victims. Instead, sacred texts were [are] interpreted and used to justify the violence experienced by the victims (Maluleke & Nadar 2002). When religion is wrongly practised, victims of domestic violence are often told to suffer in silence like Jesus suffered on the Cross. In this instance, victims of domestic abuse may wonder if this is really the God they serve, the God that allows and even supports violence and abuse. They may feel as if they are the children of a lesser God. Thus, when dealing with domestic violence, the Church should start its reflection by looking inwards at its own practices and implicitness of this violence. In doing this, it may rethink some of the ideological identification of women with Eve, and with sexuality and sin which have supported patriarchy. For example, early Church father Tertullian said the following of Eve: “You are the devil’s gateway. You are the unsealer of the forbidden tree. You are the first deserter of Divine Law” (McReynolds & Graff 1995)

JESUS, THE ABUSED VICTIM

It is in Jesus that we see both our fragmented humanity and true humanity overlap. Jesus, whose obedience to God meant going against some social, cultural, and religious practices of the time, demonstrates that resisting dehumanizing ideologies (that include patriarchy, sexism, racism, inequality) paves the way to renewed life beyond oppression. Looking to the crucifixion, some feminist scholars insist that aside from being a saving act, the Cross also demonstrated the act of violence and injustice. Jesus was a victim of a grave injustice; therefore, salvation is when we are freed from violence and capable of living life in abundance (justice), which was the intention of the ministry of Jesus (Brock & Parker 2015). As we see Jesus on the Cross, our eyes are opened, minds renewed, and hearts drawn to this innocent act of love. May we who witness this, condemn all forms of abuse, and go out and express the fullness of love to all brothers and sisters. In his Letter to women at the Beijing Conference in 1995, Pope St John Paul II put it this way

THE GOSPEL AND WOMEN

When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation and domination, the Gospel contains an ever-relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ Himself. Transcending the established norms of His own culture, Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance and tenderness. In this way He honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God’s plan and in His love. As we look to Christ at the end of this Second Millennium, it is natural to ask ourselves: how much of His message has been heard and acted upon?

Through the lens of the Scriptures, we encounter a God of the poor, orphan, widow, slave, and abused victim. Consequently, the Church should always stand in solidarity with all who suffer from violence and abuse. Domestic violence strips away from our true humanity, our being made in the image of God. African womanist theologian, Mercy Oduyoye notes that to disrespect (I will add kill, abuse, rape, enslave…) women is to disrespect (kill, rape, abuse, enslave…) God who made us men and women (killing of the relational image). Though sin has taken, sin cannot finally destroy because “as God lives so shall we live” (Oduyoye 2001).