The Third Plenary Assembly took place from 16-23 February 1992 at St. Augustine’s Major Seminary in Matola, Mozambique, with the theme Inculturation in Evangelisation.
Welcoming address by the President of IMBISA
Archbishop Jaime Pedro Gonçalves, President of IMBISA, who gave the opening address
Archbishop Jaime Pedro Gonçalves of Beira and president of IMBISA, gave the opening address, welcoming all to the plenary assembly, including the president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano. He said:
We are tackling the topic of Inculturation in order to strengthen the historic mission of the church in the world which is to promote, purify and conserve the cultural values of the people.
The region was awash with changes in many countries, and Archbishop Gonçalves referred to that in his address:
As we gather for this Assembly I want to express our profound joy at seeing that the church in Namibia is in a free and peaceful country; we want to congratulate the church in Angola which rejoices in peace and the new panorama of life in the Angolan nation. Our joy is also shared with our sister church in South Africa, which, after a long period of darkness and discrimination is now journeying towards the light. (Minutes, p. 23)
Words of welcome by Mozambique President Chissano
President of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano (Photo: Wikipedia)
President Chissano acknowledged that the theme of justice and peace of the second assembly in Harare of 1988 contributed to “helping to find adequate solutions to the grace problems of Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa,” for the winds of change are blowing in our region, “although some clouds still persist” (Minutes, p. 25)
He noted that the present assembly’s theme is
an extremely stirring and fundamental topic for the people from whom colonialism had stripped their cultural wealth, distorting and impoverishing their identity (Minutes, p. 25).
IMBISA pastoral letter of 1988 contributed to peace in the region
The bishops mentioned the pastoral letter on the theme of Justice and Peace in Southern Africa, worked on by the second assembly in Harare in 1988, expressing his hope that “it has contributed in a certain way to the peace processes in the region since September 1988” (Minutes, p. 23).
St. Augustine’s Major Seminary in Matola, Mozambique
Inculturation and evangelisation
Their focus on inculturation was in preparation of the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.
The pastoral work of inculturation which we are undertaking will involve difficulties, but we should not be discouraged in the search for that which we ARE so that we may BECOME authentic Africans and authentic Christians (Minutes, p. 23).
In that regard, the propositions that the assembly prepared and sent to the Africa Synod Secretariat in Rome included, among others (Minutes, pp. 31-32):
Study of African cultural values
1.3 The role of ancestors in African tradition should be the object of special consideration with a view to integrating it into the Christian vision of life.Catechesis, liturgy and evangelisation
2.1 Increasing use should be made in catechesis, liturgy and evangelisation of our characteristic attitudes, such as deep rooted belief in God, the integration of the spiritual and material in our thought and feeling, profound appreciation of life, community, celebration and ritual. African culture gives such value to life that it considers people happy who live many years and leave numerous descendants. Those who live in this manner have a ‘good’ death. Those who do not, have a ‘bad’ death.Critical moments in life
3.8 In regard to death, the problem of death considered ‘bad’ because of violence or because of occurring at an early age should be dealt with in the light of the death of Christ. Far from being ‘bad’, the death of Christ became a blessing for all deaths of all people of all ages, leading to participation in the Resurrection of Jesus himself.Some functions in African culture
4.1 There are some functions in African culture that merit consideration, because of their powerful influence on society and the problems they raise for the inculturation of the Gospel: functions such as those of diviner, sorcerer or witch, healer and herbalist.
4.2 These functions or roles, their influence on society, the fears they inspire and the help they give require urgent and careful study and evaluation.Special vocations: ordained ministry and religious life
5.4 In some of our territories the permanent diaconate is being introduced and is showing good results. This ministry requires new attitudes in priests and communities, new ways of sharing ministry and new ways of formationWomen in African culture
6.1 There is still a dichotomy between the legal principles of equality between the sexes and the subjection and exploitation under which women often suffer.
6.3 Inculturation … involves emphasising the human dignity of women and discarding old attitudes and customs unworthy in the treatment of women as human beings and daughters of God.Communication and art
7.2 The mother tongue is outstanding in terms of sensitivity and intelligibility. No other language can replace it. The existence of a national language tends to make one overlook the importance of the local language in evangelisation. Pastoral workers should learn it.
7.8 The Church should defend freedom of speech and practice it herself by seeking consensus, as in traditional life, through conversation and dialogue. In this way the Church will enable those normally silent to express themselves.Inculturation and the city
As solicitous pastors we must be attentive to the phenomenon of urbanisation which is also irreversible in Africa, bringing with it a technological mentality and the emergence of a new culture. If the evangelising influence of the Church is to relate to this changing culture, there must be dialogue with it or total de-Christianisation will result. The topic is so vast and important that it merits the urgent and appropriate study of theologians and other specialists.
Theological Institute
The plenary assembly resolved to establish a theological institute at IMBISA, as it was worded in the proposal: “a research, resource and reflection Institute with pastorally related programmes, action-oriented research” (Minutes, p. 30).
The secretariat to move to Avondale
Fr. Ted Rogers, SJ, was director of IMBISA Secretariat at the time of the Third Plenary Assembly (Photo: Southern Cross)
The director of the secretariat, Fr. E. Rogers, S.J. reported that the office space in Herbert Chitepo Ave became increasingly cramped. In the light of this, the standing committee accepted an offer from ZCBC of “a property known as St. Albert’s, an old former preparatory school in Avondale district of Harare … that could be used as offices and also for residential seminars for up to about twenty persons” (Minutes, p. 26).
At the time of the plenary assembly in February 1992, ZCBC was still using St. Albert’s as accommodation for seminarians, due to a shortage of accommodation at the seminary.
Message to the people of God
At the end of the assembly, the bishops published the following communique.
We, the IMBISA Bishops of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, having concluded a study week on African culture and the Christian faith, send you this message:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Jesus Christ is our elder Brother. He has shown us that God is our Father and has made us God’s family through the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s family includes us the living as well as the dead who have once given us life, our parents and grandparents, our ancestors. We announce to you with joy that we do not have to deny respect for our ancestors in order to have faith in Christ. And so we encourage you to value our African tradition and use whatever is good and helpful in it for the building up of the Christian community.
Christ has conquered death and freed those imprisoned by death. “He is the first born from the dead” (Col. 1:18). The love of the Risen Christ has no limits. In this love we embrace those “who have gone before us”, those who have died untimely deaths in war and violence. We mourn and we honour our dead as the good traditions of our people have taught us to do. We put them into the hands of Christ “through whom God wanted to reconcile all things to himself, everything in heaven and everything on earth, by making peace through his death on the cross” (Col. 1:20).
We put ourselves into the hands of Christ with everything that we are and everything we have. We praise and worship God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with the words and images and symbols we have inherited from our culture and create ever anew. We praise our God singing our songs and dancing to our rhythms.
Christ the conqueror of sin and death, frees us from all dark shadows, from anxiety and fear. His love conquers all, and “in love there is no room for fear” (1 Jn. 4:18). In this great hope we work for justice as to bring peace to our region, especially here in Mozambique from where we send you this message. Through Christ we are united with the refugees and all who suffer in the war and long for peace, “for he is the peace between us” (Eph. 2:14), since he has shed his blood for us. This is our prayer: with Christ may Africa rise and praise God with its own voice now and forever. (Minutes, p. 33)
Sources
IMBISA. 1992. Third Plenary Assembly of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa. Matola, Mocambique, February 1992 Minutes. Harare: IMBISA.
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