Exploring the Possible Contributions of the African Palaver towards a Participatory Synodal Church

Exchange ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 209-237
Author(s):  
Stan Chu Ilo
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Consensus Building ◽  
Traditional Society ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Church

Abstract This essay argues for a participatory synodal Church and the possible contributions of the African palaver as a model for participatory dialogue in the Roman Catholic Church. The African palaver is the art of conversation, dialogue, and consensus-building in traditional society that can be appropriated in the current search for a more inclusive and expansive participatory dialogue at all levels of the life of the Church. I will develop this essay first by briefly exploring some theological developments on synodality between the Second Vatican Council and Pope Francis and some of the contributions of the reforms of Pope Francis to synodality in the Church. Secondly, I will identify how the African palaver functions through examples taken from two African ethnic groups. I will proceed to show how the African palaver could enter into dialogue with other new approaches to participatory dialogue for a synodal Church.

The Aggiornamento Phenomenon and the Second Vatican Council

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-105
Author(s):  
Hiermonk Ioann ( Bulyko) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
John Xxiii ◽  
The People ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Pope John Xxiii ◽  
The Church

The Second Vatican Council was a unique event in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Initiated by Pope John XXIII, it was intended to make the Roman Catholic Church more open to the contemporary society and bring it closer to the people. The principal aim of the council was the so called aggiornamento (updating). The phenomenon of updating the ecclesiastical life consisted in the following: on the one hand, modernization of the life of the Church and closer relations with the secular world; on the other hand, preserving all the traditions upon which the ecclesiastical life was founded. Hence in the Council’s documents we find another, French word ressourcement meaning ‘return to the origins’ based on the Holy Scripture and the works of the Church Fathers. The aggiornamento phenomenon emerged during the Second Vatican Council due to the movement within the Catholic Church called nouvelle theologie (French for “new theology”). Its representatives advanced the ideas that became fundamental in the Council’s decisions. The nouvelle theologie was often associated with modernism as some of the ideas of its representatives seemed to be very similar to those of modernism. However, what made the greatest difference between the two movements was their attitude towards the tradition. For the nouvelle theologie it was very important to revive Christianity in its initial version, hence their striving for returning to the sources, for the oecumenical movement, for better relations with non-Catholics and for liturgical renewal. All these ideas can be traced in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and all this is characterized by the word aggiornamento.

scholarly journals Roman Catholic Ecclesiology from the Council of Trent to Vatican II and Beyond

2018 ◽  
pp. 262-292
Author(s):  
Ormond Rush
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
People Of God ◽  
The People ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Church

For 400 years after the Council of Trent, a juridical model of the church dominated Roman Catholicism. Shifts towards a broader ecclesiology began to emerge in the nineteenth century. Despite the attempts to repress any deviations from the official theology after the crisis of Roman Catholic Modernism in the early twentieth century, various renewal movements, known as ressourcement, in the decades between the world wars brought forth a period of rich ecclesiological research, with emphasis given to notions such as the Mystical Body, the People of God, the church as mystery, as sacrament, and as communio. The Second Vatican Council incorporated many of these developments into its vision for renewal and reform of the Roman Catholic Church. Over half a century after Vatican II, a new phase in its reception is emerging with the pontificate of Pope Francis.

scholarly journals INTRODUCTION

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
John Xxiii ◽  
Charles De Gaulle ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Pope John Xxiii ◽  
The Church

Charles de Gaulle famously called the Second Vatican Council the most important event in modern history. Many commentators at the time saw the Council as nothing short of revolutionary, and the later judgements of historians have upheld this view. The astonishing enterprise of a man who became, quite unexpectedly, Pope John XXIII in 1958, this purposeful aggiornamento of the Roman Catholic Church was almost at once a leviathan of papers, committees, commissions, and meetings. Scholars have been left to confront no less than twelve volumes of ‘ante-preparatory’ papers, seven volumes of preparatory papers, and thirty-two volumes of documents generated by the Council itself. A lasting impression of the impressiveness of the affair is often conveyed by photographs of the 2,200-odd bishops of the Church, drawn from around the world, sitting in the basilica of St Peter, a vast, orchestrated theatre of ecclesiastical intent. For this was the council to bring the Church into a new relationship with the modern world, one that was more creative and less defiant; a council to reconsider much – if not quite all – of the theological, liturgical, and ethical infrastructure in which Catholicism lived and breathed and had its being.

African Ecclesiologies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Chu Ilo
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Church Of Christ ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
African Ecclesiology ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Catholic Tradition ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines the key issues in scholarship on the identity and mission of the Christian church in Africa, while also exploring in depth the identity of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa. First, the chapter discusses the methodological questions in scholarship in this area, while highlighting the types and models of African ecclesiology in general. Second, it historicizes the narrative of the church in Africa, showing the theological trajectories of scholarship on ecclesia in Africa in the Roman Catholic tradition. Finally, it briefly surveys the key themes being developed in African Catholic ecclesiology from the Second Vatican Council (1962–5) to the Second African Synod (2009). It concludes with a thematic account of how the priorities and practices of the church of Christ are being enacted in the mission of the church in Africa with regard to the challenges facing the Christian faith there.

scholarly journals The First Decree of the Second Vatican Council on the Role of Church Media and Its Present Use in the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine

2013 ◽  
pp. 287-291
Author(s):  
Pavlo Vyshkovskyy
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Church ◽  
New Phase

On December 5, 1963, at the end of the second session of the Second Vatican Council, a "Decree on means of public notice" was signed together with the Constitution on the Holy Liturgy. This was the first of the nine decrees issued by the Council, which expressed the views of the entire Ecumenical Church, which represented at the Council more than 2500 bishops, experts and theologians who participated in the General Assembly. Almost half of the Fathers of the Council were pastors of European dioceses. There were also 379 African bishops, 300 bishops from Asia and almost a thousand from the United States at the Council. All of them - the heirs of the College of the Apostles - saw humanity entering into a new phase of dialogue through the media, and wanted to answer the question of whether the Church could use them for their development and proclamation of the Gospel.

scholarly journals THE INCULTURATION OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERCULTURAL AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

2018 ◽  
pp. 144-155
Author(s):  
Nikolai V. Chirkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
Social Doctrine ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

In the missionary work of the Roman Catholic Church among non-Christian peoples and cultures, the Church resorts to the use of strategies for the inculturation of Christianity, based on the establishment and development of intercultural and interreligious dialogues. Based on the analysis of the official documents of the Roman Catholic Church (declaration of the Second Vatican Council, social doctrine of the Catholic Church, encyclicals and apostolic exhortations of the pontiffs), the author attempts to reveal the problems of the inculturation of Christianity rising in the context of intercultural and interreligious dialogues and making impact on the missionary work of the Catholic Church. Thanks to the reforms and subsequent decisions of the Second Vatican Council, the aspects, goals, tasks, and instructions for the dialogue of Christianity with non-Christian religions were formulated and set out. In future, the topic of intercultural and interreligious dialogues was developed and expressed in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, as well as in the encyclicals and apostolic exhortations of the Roman Catholic pontiffs. According to the Roman Catholic Church position, interreligious and intercultural dialogues are aimed at mutual enrichment of various spiritual cultures, and their development should prepare the ground for further evangelization.

scholarly journals Towards the Spirit of Renewal and Openess: The Roman Catholic Church Reforms and the Global South

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Willem Leonardus Turpijn ◽  
William Cahyawan ◽  
Benny Suwito
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Local Church ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Global South ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Western World ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Church

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) has brought change into the Roman Catholic Church. Since that day, various changes has taken place within the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church which has always been associated with the Western world, especially European and North American countries, is and will face the "Global South" phenomenon. Some recent studies have shown this real shift. This study will try to present how the “Global South” phenomenon occurs, and what’s the role of the Roman Catholic Church and also local Church, as well as the opportunity to grow and developed more. Discussing also how the Roman Catholic Church which has been built from a fairly long tradition for around two millennia will face the situation of its universality and also at the same time its diversities and localities as the Church becomes increasingly dominated by Catholics in the Global South region. Some of ideas are the Church should embraces Global South, increasingly develop the spirit of renewal and openness, and the most important thing is to involving the participation of local Church in South Countries to overcome social issues that occurs or we called it a Participatory Church.

Women, Religion, and Social Change in Brazil's Popular Church By Carol Ann Drogus. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997. 226p. $26.00.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-237
Author(s):  
Mala Htun
Keyword(s):  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Church

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church is seen as an obstacle to progressive social and political change in Latin America. Beginning in the 1960s, however, the Second Vatican Council and the growth of liberation theology prompted doctrinal and institutional changes in the church in Brazil and several other countries. From an ally of the conservative oligarchy and establishment, the church turned into an engine of mobilization for grassroots movements and a focal point for popular opposition to authoritarian governments. One of the more significant and widely researched changes in the “popular church” was the establishment of thousands of ecclesiastical base communities (CEBs) among the poor. The fact that the majority of CEB participants are women has received far less attention.

A Roman Catholic Understanding of Ecumenical Dialogue

Ecclesiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-193
Author(s):  
MICHAEL PUTNEY
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
Moral Failure ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
John's Gospel ◽  
The Catholic Church

Abstract<title> ABSTRACT </title>The Decree on Ecumenism and subsequent ecumenical documents indicate a growing commitment to ecumenical dialogue in the Catholic Church. Given the ecclesiology of communion of the Second Vatican Council and foundational ecumenical texts in St John's Gospel, it would be impossible for the Roman Catholic Church to be faithful to Christ if it were not engaged in dialogue with other Christian communions. Such dialogue is necessary for its own self-realization. Only through dialogue will it hear the call to conversion and receive the gifts that only other Christians can offer. for the Catholic Church to cease to be involved in ecumenical dialogue would be not just a moral failure, but an ecclesiological breakdown.

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