Artigos articles

14/02/2010 - Michael McCabe, SMA

The Second African Synod: Major Emphases and Challenges

As an event the Second Special Assembly of the Synod for Africa (second African Synod) took place in the Vatican from the 4th to the 25 October 2009. Of course every synod is a process as well as an event. As Peter Henriot rightly pointed out in a recent article, the event or meeting is only the highpoint in a process that includes many steps from the preparation to the implementation. The preparation began in June 2005 when Pope Benedict XVI convoked the Synod and in a more focused way, the following year, when the document of Guidelines for Discussion (Lineamenta) was published, inviting a  reflection and response to various questions from the entire family-of-God in Africa.  Hopefully, the process will continue now with the implementation of the recommendations and commitments made in Rome  through concrete action plans.  In this paper I will be concerned mostly with the event of the Synod: its major emphases and challenges for the African Church. But first of all, a few words about the particular focus of this Second African Synod.

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14/02/2010 - Michael McCabe, SMA

OUR COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL JUSTICE IN THE LIGHT OF POPE BENEDICT XVI’S ENCYCLICAL LETTER, CARITAS IN VERITATE

Caritas in Veritate  (CV) was published on the 7th of July, 2009. It is the first social encylical of the present Pope, and also the first social encylical of the third millennium. It is a long letter (30,000 words), composed of 6 chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. This makes it more than tripple the length of Benedict’s two previous encylicals.  While Benedict is usually noted for his lucid writing style, this document is quite dense and even turgid at times – certainly not easy reading.  It is important to remember that this encyclical – and indeed most encyclical letters - irrespective of how many people were involved in the writing of it,  is a document signed by the Pope, after several revisions, and must be read integrally as the representing his teaching on social matters. In this talk I will examine the contribution of the new encyclical under two headings, its presentation of the core principles of Catholic Social Teaching and its identification of the major new problems and challenges that need to be addressed. I will end with a more personal reflection, outlining briefly a spirituality for our commitment to social and ecological justice.

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15/11/2009 - Michael McCabe

Mission as Dialogue

The thesis I wish to propose in this paper is that dialogue should be the model or pattern for all forms of mission and for every missionary. This viewpoint, received its clearest official Church endorsement in the 1984 document of the then Secretariat for non-Christians, “The Attitude of the Church towards the Followers of Other Religions”. This document states that “dialogue is the norm and necessary manner of every form as well as of every aspect of Christian mission” (no. 29). This affirmation goes well beyond asserting the inseparability of mission and dialogue. It says, in effect, that mission must be attuned to the key of dialogue. This vision of mission, which is still far from universally acknowledged and promoted by missionary congregations, is the fruit of a series of parallel developments in the recent history of the Church, developments which received a major impetus  from the documents of Vatican II, especially the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes (AG). The parallel developments I am referring to are in the Church’s approach to, and theological evaluation of, other religions, and in its understanding of its mission. In this paper I will, firstly, give a brief overview of these developments over the past 40 years which point towards a new vision of mission – namely mission as dialogue. Secondly, I spell out some of implications and challenges of this vision for missionaries today.

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29/09/2009 - Michael McCabe

Quo vadis Africa?

Whereas the first Synod was concerned with the evangelising mission of the Church in general, the theme chosen for this second Synod, “the Church in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace”,  targets explicitly the ad extra dimension of the Church’s mission, its prophetic role in society.  Presenting the Working Document, Pope Benedict underlined this focus: "Amidst the unfortunately numerous and dramatic conflicts still afflicting various parts of the continent, the Church is aware she must be a sign and instrument of reconciliation, so that all Africa may come together to build a future of justice, solidarity, and peace, implementing the teachings of the Gospel."

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