THE IMPACT OF VATICAN II ON THE IDENTITY OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA
The African Synods in Comparative Perspective
Keywords:
CHURCH, IMPACT OF VATICAN IIAbstract
The African Synods – the first in 1994 and the second in 2009 –
aimed to highlight some of the basic issues facing the mission and
nature of the Catholic Church in Africa. While the former synod
characterized the ministry of the African church through the model of
family in God, the latest synod was charged with developing a model
which promoted the themes of reconciliation, peace, and justice in
light of regional conflicts arising within many sub-Saharan African
countries. Bringing together bishops and church leaders from
throughout the continent, the synods were motivated by the need for
an articulation of the presence and activity of the Catholic Church in
Africa in the period of post-colonial independence especially after the
1994 Rwandan genocide and South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission in 1995.
References
A.E. Orobator, “The Synod as Ecclesial Conversation,” in ed., A.E. Orobator Reconciliation, Justice, and Peace: The Second African Synod, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2011.
Synod Documents, “Message of the Synod,” in ed., Maura Browne, The African Synod: Documents, Reflections, Perspectives, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996.
Julius K. Nyerere, Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism, Dar Es Salam, Tanzania: Oxford University Press, 1968.
Chambi Chachage, Africa’s Liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Cape Town, South Africa: Pambazuka Press, 2010.
Bénézet Bujo, “Community Ethics,” in AIDS in Africa: Theological Reflections ed., Bénézet Bujo and Michael Czerny, Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa, 2007.
