A Century of Catholic Mission

Steven Bevans

• Publisher: Regnum
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781908355140
• eBook ISBN: 9781912343294
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Century of Catholic Mission surveys the complex and rich history and theology of Roman Catholic Mission in the one hundred years since the 1910 Edinburgh World Mission Conference. Essays written by an international team of Catholic mission scholars focus on Catholic Mission in every region of the world, summarize church teaching on mission before and after the watershed event of the Second Vatican Council, and reflect on a wide variety of theological issues.

PART ONE

HISTORICAL STUDIES

CATHOLIC MISSION IN AFRICA 1910-2010

Francis Anekwe Oborji

Introduction

Any discussion of Catholic mission in Africa carries with it a reference to various phases of evangelization of the continent. A person would have to be blind not to see in Africa the long presence of Christianity before the two missionary expansions in the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. The history of Christianity in Africa is as old as Christianity itself. However, this does not imply that the whole of Africa encountered the Christian faith at the same time. Hence, one is led to ask: how did the evangelization of Africa start? What inspiration could one get from the early efforts so as to understand the reasons for the present one? Finally, what is the Catholic mission contribution in the evangelization of Africa? In order to answer these questions, the present study will concentrate only on the phases of evangelization of Africa, with particular focus on the role of the Catholic mission toward the end of the nineteenth century, just prior to the Edinburgh Conference of 1910, and its development through the twentieth century, up to the present day.

Allowing for some overlapping, the evangelization of Africa could be divided into five phases. The first phase began with the founding of the church in North Africa; the second phase covers the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries’ Christian expansions in sub-Saharan Africa, while the third phase is the period of the great missions, from the nineteenth century up to Vatican Council II. The fourth phase is from Vatican Council II to the celebration of the First Synod of Bishops, Special Assembly for Africa (1994); and the fifth phase is Post-Synod Africa, leading to the Second Synod of Bishops, Special Assembly for Africa (2009). Since the history of these phases of evangelization of Africa is so vast and varied, I shall present only an outline here, and focus particularly on the last three phases.

Phases One and Two: Christian Origins and Fifteenth Century Colonial Expansion

Christianity began in Africa along the Mediterranean Coast of the continent, starting from Egypt, the North Africa Maghreb region (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia), and reaching Ethiopia, which shared almost the same history of Christianity with Egypt and ancient Nubia. The history of Christianity in modern Africa cannot be adequately grasped without linking it to this early phase of Christian mission in the continent. In other words, Christianity came to Africa in its early centuries through Mediterranean Coasts and Trans-Saharan routes. It was only from the fifteenth century European expansion that Catholic mission began to reach the other parts of Africa through the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, thanks to the newly discovered transatlantic trade routes and the papal privileges (padroado) granted to the Portuguese sovereign by the Popes.

From its origins in Egypt and the north, Christianity spread down the Nile to Kush and Nubia, and many dioceses were founded. But the strength of the church at this era is not limited to the number of bishops and bishoprics. Indeed it was an active, strong and productive church. For instance, this phase produced the first African martyrs (e.g. Felicity and Perpetua of Carthage), and holy women (e.g. Monica and Thecla). The church in North Africa also gave Christianity its first theological institutes at Alexandria and Carthage.

However, the vibrant church of North Africa did not last long before it began to encounter many difficulties that weakened it and quickened its decline in the seventh century, and almost total disappearance in the eighth. The church was destabilized by internal conflicts provoked by doctrinal controversies. There were also external factors, such as the invasions of the Vandals from AD 429 to 439, and the Muslim occupation of North Africa between seventh and eleventh centuries, both of which contributed to Christianity’s disappearance. With the Muslim conquest of North Africa, the organized life of the churches disintegrated and could not hold their faithful against the stimulating effects of the new and vigorous Islam (Spencer 1962: 17).

The Coptic Church survived in Egypt as a minority, reduced to a state of protected minority (dhimmi), for which it had to pay tax (Brett 1982: 499). Christianity survived in Ethiopia, in spite of the poor education of its clergy and many years of isolation from the rest of the Christian world (caused by the Arab-Muslim occupation of trans-Saharan routes), because it appropriated local cultural elements congenial to African religiosity (Mbiti 1990: 230; Shenk 1993: 131-54).

The second phase of Africa’s contact with the Christian faith began with the arrival of Portuguese navigators in sub-Saharan Africa in the fifteenth century. After the fall of the church in North Africa, there were some attempts by some religious missionaries like the Franciscans, the Trinitarians and the Mercedarians, along the Mediterranean coast to save the situation. However, the heroic efforts of these religious missionaries could not do much. Hence, Africa had to wait until the fifteenth century for the ‘second missionary journey’ of the Christian faith. This time, unlike the first, which concentrated on Roman Africa, Ethiopia and their neighbors, the inhabitants of the tropical and sub-tropical Africa received the Christian message, that is, the Christians of Africa, south of the Sahara (see Nwachukwu 1994: 18).

The great king of the Congo, Nzinga a Nkuwu, asked for missionaries to proclaim the gospel to his people. The missionaries did arrive. The first group to make this event possible, as we have noted earlier on, were the Portuguese. The Portuguese explorers brought with them priests who became the first missionaries along the West African coasts. Many more missionaries came later, with the approval of the Portuguese kings, as was stipulated on the privileges of patronage (padroado) granted them by the popes over the new missions in Africa (Baur 1994: 48).

However, the newly founded missions began to decline. Neither the erection of an Apostolic Prefecture of the Congo in 1640 and the consequent arrival of the (Italian) Capuchins in 1645, nor the advent of the French also in seventeenth century could help in salvaging the situation. Such that by the beginning of the nineteenth century, the second phase of the missionary enterprise in Africa had failed practically (see Bouchaud 1967: 172-86; Baur 1994: 55-99; Nwachukwu 1994: 18-20).

Phase Three: The Nineteenth Century to Vatican II

The third phase of the effort to evangelize Africa is historically linked with the second phase. It covers the period of the great missionary expansions, from the nineteenth century to Vatican Council II. This period coincided with the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the colonization of Africa, and the independence of many African countries. The period witnessed attempts among nations of the world towards reaching better understanding after the two World Wars. Major missionary impetus in the years after the Edinburgh Conference in 1910 came from Benedict XV’s apostolic letter Maximum Illud (1919) and Pius XI’s encyclical letter Rerum Ecclesiae (1926 – see James Kroeger’s chapter in this volume).

Many missionary institutes were founded in France during the first half of this period, specifically for the conversion of Africans to Christianity. Among these are the Holy Ghost Congregation, the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, the Society of African Missions, the Missionaries of Africa (commonly known as White Fathers), and the Comboni Missionaries (see Obi 1985: 7).

Consequently, Portugal was virtually replaced by France in the missions in Africa. It was also during this period that the Congregation de Propaganda Fide issued the ius commissionis by which mission territories were allocated to particular missionary institutes to evangelize and administer (Oborji 1998: 53; AAS 1930: 11-15). In principle, the pope himself, represented by Propaganda Fide, had the primary responsibility for evangelization, and not a monarch, as it was the practice in earlier times (Ela 1986: 11). The missionary institutes were therefore responsible to the pope and not to their national sovereigns in matters concerning the mission territories. Nevertheless, some missionaries had to collaborate with the colonial administrators representing their nations in Africa, and the latter helped in financing mission projects such as, schools, hospitals, church buildings, and so forth (see Bouchaud 1967: 177 and Mosman 1961: 69-70). But this was not the case in all the places. There were places where the colonial masters impeded missionary activities, either because of anticlericalism of the colonizing nation, or because the Christian gospel and the education of Africans by missionaries undermined the colonial ideology (see Charles 1938: 386).

One remarkable feature of this phase was the gradual move from the understanding of the goal of mission as saving of souls to that of planting of churches, which included building of schools and hospitals, and other forms of social services. However, many missionaries interpreted the planting of churches literally, and tried to reproduce in Africa carbon copies of the churches in Europe, especially in terms of architecture, organizations and devotions. Again, some missionaries tended to judge the cultures of the ‘mission land’ according to the criteria of their own cultural traditions. In most cases, such judgments were very negative; so much so that the Congregation de Propaganda Fide had to intervene in 1939, to warn against negative and distorted interpretations of the traditions of the peoples of the mission lands (AAS 1939: 269).

During this phase also, the Bible and catechetical books were translated into some African languages. Apart from that, there was not much effort to carry on theological investigations into various aspects of African cultural elements and religiosity as a necessary step towards inculturation (see Baur 1994: 107-109).

Furthermore, this phase witnessed unfortunate inter-denominational rivalries among missionaries. Christian missionaries of different denominations were competing to outdo one another with regard to winning converts and establishing social services. This type of attitude made some Africans question the motive of the missionaries. In addition, it made Africans confused about which denomination to follow. It was really a scandal in the face of the new converts. Moreover, the competition caused unnecessary duplications in the establishment of social services as each group often tried to outdo the other. On a more serious note, the rivalries aggravated ethnic divisions among the local populace (see Mbiti 1990: 232-33).

Indeed, a good number of African authors are very critical of the missionary efforts of this phase (see Parrat 1995: 7). Such critiques include the missionaries’ involvement in colonial rule, denigration of traditional rites and customs, attitudes of superiority based on skin pigmentation and of paternalism, and unhappy desire to keep the African Church for as long as possible under European control (see Parrat 1995: 7ff; Fassholé-Luke et al. 1978: 357ff; Torres and Fabella, ed. 1976: 222-66).

However, many Africans regard the missionaries of this phase as the real founders of Christianity in modern Africa and are remembered with deep gratitude and admiration (see Synod of Bishops 1994c: 6). Evidences of the success of the missionary efforts of this phase could be seen both in the numerical strength and geographical distribution of the faithful. For instance, before the official opening of the Vatican Council II in 1962, the church was present almost everywhere on the continent and on the islands. J. Bouchaud writes that by 1964, when the Vatican Council II was in session, Africa had a total population of 230 million. Out of this figure, African Christians numbered 50 million (26 million Catholics, 19 million Protestants, 5 million Orthodox); Muslims, 95 million; African traditional religionists, 85 million. Catholics represented about 12 percent of the population (Bouchaud 1967: 41).

In addition, it could be said that the efforts of the missionaries produced good Christians, among these were: the Ugandan martyrs, Blessed Clementine Anwarite (virgin and martyr from Congo), Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo of Madagascar, St Josephine Bakhita of the Sudan, Blessed Bakanja Isidore (the Zairean martyr beatified on April 1994), and Blessed Michael Cyprian Tansi of Aguleri, Nigeria (a Cistercian monk). Other causes are reaching their final stages (see EAf 34).

Within this phase also, some Africans were accepted for the priesthood and religious life. These were to continue the work begun by the missionaries. The pastoral methods in vogue during this phase include outstations, Christian villages, and the school and hospital apostolate. Very significantly, by the mid-twentieth century, missionaries of this era, together with the newly evangelized Africans (theologians) began talking of the possibility of local theologies and pastoral methods for the African churches. These were to mature to what we call today ‘African theology’. That was the general situation up to the Vatican II (see Baur 1994: 290-93).

Fourth Phase: From Vatican II (1962-1965) to the African Synod (1994)

The fourth phase of evangelization of Africa is the period from Vatican Council II to the first Synod of Bishops, Special Assembly for Africa (1994). This phase has been described as a dynamic period of missionary commitment in the African churches, a period during which the whole world has started to benefit from the efforts of evangelization in the young churches of Africa. The missionary impetus of this phase naturally, is from the Vatican Council II’s teaching, especially its missionary theology of local churches as agents of mission in their territories. This led to the consolidation of the local hierarchy initiated by Pope Paul VI with his apostolic letter Africae terrarum (1967) and inauguration of SECAM (Symposium for Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) during his historic visit to Kampala, Uganda in 1969 (see Hickey 1982: 198ff).

Again, the main impetus for this phase came from the Council’s missionary decree Ad Gentes, which defines mission in its two-fold aims of evangelization and church formation (AG 6). The Council’s missionary juridical system of mandatum, which replaced the ius commissionis, also empowered the local bishops as fully responsible for evangelization in their dioceses. The missionaries are to enter into contract with bishops in whose dioceses they wish to serve (AG 26; CIC 1983: no. 790). This new approach is centered on the Council’s theology of mission as reciprocal activity among sister churches. In other words, the Council developed a theology of co-responsibility in evangelization and of trust of the local churches. This is a rediscovery of the local churches as the primary agents of mission (see Oborji 2001: 116).

But how have the African local churches been carrying out this role of being agents of mission? Cardinal Hyacinte Thiandoum of Dakar, in his capacity as the General Relator of the Synod Bishops for Africa (1994) presents the African churches’ approach to the mission of evangelization. According to Cardinal Thiandoum, evangelization is at the center of the missionary activity of the African churches today. It is first of all ‘Good News’, as the very word connotes. It is the proclamation to the world of the good and joyful news that God, who loves us, has redeemed and is redeeming his world through Christ. In its method and aim, therefore, evangelization must seek to give Good News to the world, and in particular, to peoples of Africa and Madagascar:

In a continent full of bad news, how is the Christian message ‘Good News’ for our people? In the midst of an all-pervading despair, where lies the hope and optimism which the gospel brings? Evangelization stands for many of those essential values which our continent very much lacks: hope, joy, peace, love, unity and harmony. Africa is in dire need of the gospel message for through the gospel God builds up his family. (Synod of Bishops 1994: 2)

In this regard therefore, the African local churches operate with a positive and integral concept of evangelization as clearly set forth in the relevant official documents of the church. It involves, no doubt, the preaching of the Word, inviting hearers to accept Jesus and his saving message and to enter into his church. But it is wider and deeper than that. It includes the transformation of human society through the message and living witness of the church and her members. What the gospels refer to as the ‘reign of God’, therefore, is what is witnessed to: promoting peace and justice, restoring human dignity, and bringing this world as close to God’s designs as possible. Evangelization touches all human beings and every human person, as also every aspect of human life. In the encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio, John Paul II considers evangelization in its three different situations: mission ad gentes, pasto...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part One: Historical Studies
• Part Two: Catholic Teaching on Mission
• Part Three: Roman Catholic Missiology
• Part Four: Elements of Catholic Mission
• Part Five: Catholic Mission Spirituality
• Bibliography
• List of Contributors
• Back Cover