ECCLESIA IN AFRICA

 

ECCLESIA IN AFRICA:  PROCLAMATION AND WITNESSING THE GOSPEL IN AN EFFECTIVE, EFICIENT AND RELEVANT APPROACH TO EVANGELIZATION

By Joseph B. Nyamunga

Reinstating the teaching of the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi of Pope Paul VI, Ecclesia in Africa (EIA) asserts that the grace and the vocation proper to the church indeed her deepest identity and reason for existing, is to evangelize all people. (Pope JPII (1995) EIA, no.55). The two principal ways of carrying out this all important vocation. This will be true through the witness of life that is lived in the midst of the community, and sometimes that will end up into martyrdom. This re-echoes the earlier teaching of Pope Paul VI where he said:

In the church, the witness given by a life truly and essentially Christian which is dedicated with the utmost fervor of the soul to our neighbor is the primary organ of evangelization (Evangelii Nuntiandi, n.41)

This means that the men of our generation are most impressed by witness than teachers and if they listen to these it is because they also bear witness. The starting place of this evangelization starts from the Christian family, the first cell of small Christian community, a privileged place for evangelical witness, a place of human and spiritual growth for parents, children, the youth and the aged. (Cf. Maura Browne, 1996: 87-107).

The Word of God should lead each one into interior transformation of all people of the good will whose hearts are open to the action of the Holy Spirit. (EIA, n. 55). There are those especially who are not yet evangelized, and who practice the non-Christian religion (EIA, n. 47). This Word should raise hope of the life that is rooted in the Paschal Mystery and celebrated in the Eucharist. An encounter with the living person called Christ. It has to reach individual being, society in every aspect of their existence. Evangelization is not a theoretical experiment but a life, a meeting of love which radically changes our life today.  

This Word (Sacred Scripture) has to be translated to a language that is accompanied by study-guides for use in prayer and study in the family and community, through the scriptural formation of the clergy, the religious, the catechists and the laity in general, through the careful preparation and celebrations of the Word, and the promotion of the biblical apostolate (EIA, n. 58).

The good news proclaimed by word of life. There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed

In other words, true evangelization takes place where the Good News is proclaimed in word and actions of life. For Jesus is the first communicator par excellence, who is by nature word, dialogue and communication. This communication has to be fostered from within and outside. The better diffusion of the information among the members of the church to be more advantageous position to communicate to the world the Good News of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. (EIA, n.122). 

This can be carried out through the traditional means such as songs, music, theatre, proverbs and fables in addition to the mass media. These are vehicles of the wisdom and the soul of the people and a precious source of material and inspiration for the mass media. 

The media has its own language, complete with its own specific values and counter-values. These are cultures that need to be evangelized. This will mean that the church has to train preachers of the Gospel, who must master the media style of communication, the readers – audience and print media, listeners- audiovisual media etc. (EIA, n. 71).

 All have to be trained in order to understand the kind of communication being made through the mass media and use it with discernment and critical mind. It’s our duty to ensure that Christian principles influence the practice of the profession, including the technical and administrative sector.

There should be more establishment of more communication technology, like radio, television, newspaper, good public address system, internet etc. The question here is the way ahead for the Church in Africa to establish her own religious media or not? EIA, n. 71 has recommended us:

The first Areopagus of the modern age is the world of communications which is unifying humanity and turning it into what is known as global village. The means of social communication have become so important as to be for many the chief means of information and education, to guidance and inspiration in their behavior as individuals, families and within society at large.

As we stand in the market place of ideas and listen to the views there is that immense variety of stories told, arguments presented and contemporary news interpreted daily, one must seek the ways and the means of being effectively present in order to project the teachings of the Church, present the Church and her leaders as major players in each country’s religious arena and provide the symbols that will enhance the identification and commitment of her members.   

As we establish radio stations, Catholic Magazines and newspapers, video production centers, internet facilities become important. Because these can reach a small portion of the population, the Church has to combine owning them with imbuing the general media culture with Christian values. The growing number of Catholic media practitioners perceive their profession as God-given vehicles for proclamation the Gospel values.

The media are not the magic wand that enables the gospel message to transform the lives of the audience, and they become powerful and effective in the process of evangelization if and when they reinforce the impact of the gospel already in operation in the lives of the people. The solid formation in faith starts right from the families, homes and places of work. 

We should recall that what conquered the cruelty of the Roman emperor who persecuted the Church was not the power of communication that was an alternative to Roman communication, but the witness of the martyrs, the presence of the fortress of the faith in the midst of fragility and weakness of human efforts to protect themselves and to announce their doctrine. (Ricardo Antoncich.,“Christian Witness as Communication” in The Church and Communication,(1994)  p. 150-151).

The families are assisted to see the language they use to bring up their children and the type of stories they share with them as veritable means of bringing them up as Christians and creating a Christian atmosphere in the homes. Even the types of posters and calendars they hang in their sitting rooms, the pictures they use as book-markers etc. Have a subtle way of filling people’s minds with things that are Christians and can elevate their thoughts to things that are holy and wholesome.

In this spirit therefore, parents should not abandon their responsibility for regulating the television and video viewing habit of their children. In 1994 during the World Communication Day Pope John Paul II called attention to this when he stated:

Forming children’s viewing habits will sometimes mean simply turning of the television set: Because they are better things to do, because consideration for other family members requires it, or because indiscriminate television viewing can be harmful. Parents who make regular, prolong use of television as a kind of electronic baby-sitter surrender their role as the primary educators of their children ( Joseph Oladeje Faniran., (1998) “Evangelizing the Media: A Challenge to the Church in Africa”, AFER, Vol 40, no.2:121).

The appropriate media include the liturgy the Liturgy and its various parts like songs, prayers, readings, the homily, and the offertory profession. Others are parish bulletin, the notice boards, the posters, the microphones, and the simple cameras, not to mention the video recorders. All can be creatively employed to communicate meaning, share experiences of faith. 

We need to invest in training and investing in communication skills for all those involved in preaching ministry in the Church, catechetical system in order to provide an ongoing solid formation in faith to the people and promoting Catholic family life as a foundation on which other forms of Christian formation can be built, vigorous promotion of Small Christian Communities to foster close human relationships, care and love.

Without a strong interior life of faith and prayer, and a message coming out of this experience, Christian communicators cannot really transmit the experience of Good News of redemption into the lives of the people who today sorely need that Good News. (Cf. Frans-Josef Eilers., “The Spirituality of the Christian Communicator” in Jacob Srampickal, et.al CrossConnections: Interdisciplinary Communications Studies at the Gregorian University, Rome (2006), p. 192.