Publications Library

Property and Work in the Perspective of Inculturation

Property and Work in the Perspective of Inculturation

Property or what is commonly known as \"ownership\" or \"one's own\" is a concept that has been a subject of debate by many scholars and has been found to be even more intriguing in the context of African cultures. Since the concept of property in the African cultures is in the discussion, it would be appropriate to define what is meant by culture. Culture may be taken to mean the intrinsic value of society. It encompasses the concepts, habits, skills, art, instruments, institutions, etc. of a given people at a given period.
Inculturation and the Concept of God in the African Traditions

Inculturation and the Concept of God in the African Traditions

In the concept of God, too many other values in the African tradition are linked, as well as in the way of perceiving the world: be it in the physical or spiritual world. This book attempts, above all, to examine briefly the fundamental aspects of the question.
Suffering Illness and Death in the Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives for Inculturation

Suffering Illness and Death in the Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives for Inculturation

This book started this reflection with the strong message of hope by the African Synod in order to show that suffering is not the ultimate destiny of the African people, but life. Suffering modelled on Christ's passion always ends up in victory and fullness of life. This reflection contextualizes the suffering on the African continent in the light of the Christian faith while consciously utilizing African wisdom in the face of suffering. It enumerates the various forms of suffering in contemporary Africa; their underlying causes; the remedy given in African traditional wisdom; the Christian response characterized by inculturation and liberation; the challenges of African Christianity.
Education in Traditional Africa

Education in Traditional Africa

A general definition of education is the transmission of doing and thinking, of moral and rational principles considered valid by a particular human group and by its culture and which will be imprinted on the original psycho-physiologic constitution of the individual. Education is very much linked to the culture in which the child is brought up and, to a large extent, is equivalent to the transmission of that culture from one generation to the next. This is particularly evident in traditional Africa where culture, in addition to being a set of moral and rational principles, is above all a way of living and in fact life itself.
Reconciliation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges for Inculturation

Reconciliation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges for Inculturation

Harmony, peace, and reconciliation: are these values and ideals of African culture, and are they present today in our African minds and lives? Let us try to answer these questions. “Ecclesia in Africa’’, the final document of the African Synod, presents inculturation as a «path to holiness». Knowing that inculturation is the encounter of the Gospel with African culture, this may suggest that the Gospel and African tradition are both important for our sanctification.
Communication in Traditional Africa: Perspectives in Inculturation

Communication in Traditional Africa: Perspectives in Inculturation

Communication takes place through language by means of proverbs, myths, or maxims, but also through various rituals, dances, music, and body language just to mention a few. Each locality has its particular forms of communication, but we should keep in mind that in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, the essential elements of cultural reality reveal a surprising unity.
The Sense of the Sacred in Traditional Sub-Saharan Africa

The Sense of the Sacred in Traditional Sub-Saharan Africa

Every time, in all cultures, the sacred holds a central place in the thought, the worldview, and the life of various people and societies. This is why the sacred has been the object of many studies. As far as inculturation is concerned, as far as this topic, namely “the sacred in African culture’’, we may get it straight if we perceive it as what transcends and emerges from the simple natural world as a kind of epiphany of the divine in this world. In other words, it is a matter of discovering and highlighting also how far the supernatural and the divine is present in the African traditions in what has been expressed, after Vatican II, as the "seeds of the Word" in the various cultures.
The Person and the African Traditions in a Perspective of Inculturation

The Person and the African Traditions in a Perspective of Inculturation

Looking at the modern society always more vastly globalized, increasingly presenting itself as multi-ethnical throughout the world, and facing the challenges that it poses to safeguard the most essential values of the dignity and integrity of the human person, we truly appreciate a joint study that could help to clarify the reality of “The Person’’ as it is conceived in the African traditions. The present book contains Academic Addresses and an interesting number of Research Papers done by the regional committees of the Focolare Movement in Sub-Saharan Africa and offered to an audience of 300 delegates in May 2013 at Mariapolis Piero in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Family in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar

The Family in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar

There are various ways to speak of the family. In some parts of the world, there are new ethical codes and a variety of family organizations that do not always correspond to the norms of our African societies. Consequently, it is important to define the nature of the family generally and the African family in particular.
The Gospel and Culture - A Dynamic Encounter: Life Stories from Africa

The Gospel and Culture - A Dynamic Encounter: Life Stories from Africa

When we try to put the Gospel into practice in the joyful and sorrowful circumstances of life we come face to face with contradictions, doubts, temptations, and oppositions, especially when we are confronted by the habits, customs, and beliefs of a culture. Often the difficulties arise because we do not have a sufficiently deep knowledge of these habits, beliefs, etc. Alongside study and knowledge, another necessary measure is that of discerning, thanks to the wisdom that comes from God, the content of these cultural customs and practices which are in harmony with the Gospel and that which are not.

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