Fr. Louis Birabaluge, SX
Missionaries are still needed in Sierra Leone. This need became evident in a Course, organized by the Centre for Social Transformation of the University of Makeni (Unimak), for five days (4th-08th April 2016). Held in the Fatima Campus, the course was attended by more than 50 people, laymen and laywomen, religious men and women, and diocesan priests, pastoral agents from the dioceses of Bo, Freetown and Makeni.
Because the majority of the attendance was made up of missionaries, newly arrived in Sierra Leone, the emphasis was put on the kind of missionaries that are needed today in Sierra Leone. This paper aims to summarize the portrait of these missionaries, as highlighted by the speakers at the course: a. We want missionaries “preachers of an inculturated Gospel”; b. who learn from history; c. are open to new challenges; d. are “builders of communion”.
a. We want missionaries “preachers of an inculturated Gospel”
Missionaries who are coming in Sierra Leone today are mainly from the south of the Globe (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Congo, Togo, Benin, Chad, Mexico, India, Philippines…). Even if they are newcomers, their task will be the same as that of the earlier missionaries, the pioneers who reached first the country since 1605. During these four centuries of evangelization, what is changed is the challenges, but not the answers. Yes, what the people of Sierra Leone expect from missionaries is the same Gospel: Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13: 8).
During the course, Fr. Luis Koroma expounded the thesis of David Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in the Theology of Mission,( Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N. Y. 1991,[In Italian: La transformatione della missione, Queriniana, Brescia 2000] and Fr. Joseph Turay, on the topic of Culture and cultural change, marvelously helped the audience to understand the dynamics of the Christian mission, which follows the trend of “continuity in discontinuity” (Pope Benedict XVI). This means: “Preaching the same Jesus Christ with the conviction that He is our “hope” forever (1 Tm 1: 1), but in a changing world”.
The inculturation of the Gospel was highly stressed in the sense of knowing the local languages and cultures, the customs of people and their world view, the ability to recognize the “Unknown God”, as St. Paul in Athens (Ac 17: 23)… Actually more should be said and done in this vital approach to evangelization. Indeed, one of the participants reminded the speakers that it is the duty of the local priests and local specialists to produce material on culture and cultural change, which may be useful for the whole Church and for the new pastoral agents in Sierra Leone.
b. We want missionaries who learn from history
History is a great teacher for pastoral agents, stressed Fr. Joseph Turay. It helps to avoid the “complex of the saviour” which leads the newcomers to believe that they are “starting from zero”. Thanks to the book of Fr. Gerardo Caglioni sx, Sierra Leone: Quattro secoli di evangelizzazione, (Bologna, Emi, 2002), Fr. J. Turay briefly explored the history of the evangelization in Sierra Leone. He quoted some great names of the pioneers like: the Jesuit Fr. Baltazar Barreira, the Capuchin Fr. Serafin De Leon, the Cluny Sisters' Foundress, Mother Anne-Marie Javouhey, the SMA Founder, Marion de Bresillac, the Holy Ghost Father Fr. Edward Blanchet called the Savoy pioneer, the great Xaverian Bishop Azzolini and his companions…
All these names and many others were quoted in order to explain to the audience that they are heirs of a great missionary history, full of successes and failures. It is their duty today to carry on this adventure, learning from the methods of their predecessors: like asking the support of the elders of the community, using schools as tools of evangelization (Mother Javouhey and Bishop Azzolini), using the parish as the heart of the mission, with emphasis on catechism and spirituality, as explained by Fr. Francis Papa and Fr. Michele Carlini sx.
With gratitude to God and to the pioneers of the Christian mission in Sierra Leone, the organizers invited the audience not to be afraid to test new ways and means of doing mission. It would be a mistake and short-sightedness to think that you must simply copy the strategies of the predecessors in order to obtain a successful mission. In their times, the pioneers had to deal with their own challenges. It is up to us today to find answers to match our own challenges.
c. We want missionaries open to new challenges
Thanks to the expertise of Fr. Leonard Bangura, the audience were updated about the challenges Sierra Leone is facing today. From the outcome of the first diocesan synod of the Makeni Diocese(May 22nd-November 25th 2006) and the diocesan assemblies of Bo and Freetown (2012), Fr. Bangura outlined some urgent challenges which evangelization needs to address today, if the Christian message is to be relevant and credible. Among these urgent challenges, he listed: social and political crisis in term of poverty, injustice, corruption, tribalism, poor quality of education and deterioration of the health system, the rising of many new religious movements, rural exodus which leads to high concentration of unemployed population in urban eras, especially among the youth.
I echoed this description of the social context and its challenges, made by Fr. Bangura. When asked to inform the audience about the two African Synods (1994 and 2009), I showed how, from the post-synodal apostolic exhortations Ecclesia in Africa and Africae munus, the case of Sierra Leone is not to be isolated. It has to be linked to the wider context of the African social crisis. Thus, for the Church, here as elsewhere in Africa, the heart of the matter is the question of the social dimension of the Christian faith.
Indeed, the question asked by the Synod Fathers in 1994 (Second African Synod) is still urgent: “In Africa, the need to apply the Gospel to concrete life is felt strongly. How could one proclaim Christ on that immense Continent, while forgetting that it is one of the world's poorest regions?”(Ecclesia in Africa, n.51). To address social and political challenges, I argued that the relevance of the Christian mission depends today on how Christian communities should consider themselves as alternatives, small cities of God (Cf. Saint Augustine) and not just as mirrors of the malaise of the society. In the field of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, as stressed in Africae Munus, there is a need to serve the entire society by transforming, first, our Christian communities and making them places where peace, justice and reconciliation are possible and really experienced.
Actually, something in this direction has been done already, if we consider the huge charitable works of the missionaries and different local churches in Sierra Leone. Even presently, especially during and after the outbreak of the dreadful Ebola virus, the Church continues to carry out this task. In fact, Sr Antonette and Sr. Paul, both Cluny sisters, during the course, shared their pastoral experience with disabled and marginalized people: children with physical handicaps, widows and Ebola survivors. The Missionaries of Charity were invited to share their experience. Humble as they are, they preferred to speak, with great devotion, about their beloved Blessed Mother Teresa, reminding us of her social commitment motto in five words: “You did it to me” (Mt 25: 40). On behalf of the Council of Religious Leaders in Sierra Leone, Fr. Francis Sedu Sesay also informed the audience about the lobbying on behalf of the Council in regard to the parliament's plan to pass the “bill of safe abortion”.
Sierra Leone is not only a country of social and political challenges, it was stated by a brave layman, Mr Sesay, a lecturer at Unimak. He was called to brief the audience about the mission opportunities that Sierra Leone presently offers. According to him, there are many evangelization opportunities, from which we can take advantage: the openness of the people who are still God-fearing and generous, a youthful population, religious tolerance… Also, the Catholic Church as an institution is nationally appreciated especially for its many charitable works. But he clearly stated that he was aware of the fact that these charitable works were done with “resources coming from abroad”. If charity has to be an expression of the faith of the local church, he said, there is need to draw on local resources. Thus, the new missionaries should help the local church to develop a real commitment to self-reliance.
d. We want missionaries “builders of communion”
Sierra Leone needs missionaries who are builders of communion between the tribes, ethnic groups and between the rich and the poor. Since the end of the rebel war, the country has made tremendous progress, said Fr. J. Turay. Still the wounds of divisions are not completely healed. Missionaries originating from different cultures can help the country to take a further step. Because they live in community, which is real and deep, missionaries can be an examples in the area of reconciliation. Community life shows everybody that it is possible to live as brothers and sisters, and to be united, even when coming from different ethnic or social backgrounds (cf. Ps 133:1), to recall the words of Africae Munus. ( n.117. )
The commitment to building communion among people in Sierra Leone urges the entire Catholic church to preach by deeds and not only by words. In a sober address, the audience were reminded of the recent events and divisions that took place in the diocese of Makeni, concerning the succession to Bish. Biguzzi as Bishop of Makeni. It was generally admitted that there still an urgent need for all Christians in the country to prove that the water of baptism is stronger than the blood of ethnic groups and social affiliations.
The course was opened by Bish. Natale Paganelli, sx, the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Makeni and Chancellor of the Unimak, who celebrated the Mass. In his joyful and spontaneous homily, he asked all the participants to be missionaries of joy and mercy, as Pope Francis splendidly gives an example to all. He asked us not to be afraid to propose the Gospel to the people of Sierra Leone as a way to achieve human happiness.
This event was the first experience as a course for newcomers on “Pastoral ministry in the Church in Sierra Leone” at Unimak. The participants expressed their full satisfaction. Some suggestions were made: perhaps to reduce the numbers of speakers in order to make more space for participation from the floor.
Missionaries are still needed in Sierra Leone. This need became evident in a Course, organized by the Centre for Social Transformation of the University of Makeni (Unimak), for five days (4th-08th April 2016). Held in the Fatima Campus, the course was attended by more than 50 people, laymen and laywomen, religious men and women, and diocesan priests, pastoral agents from the dioceses of Bo, Freetown and Makeni.
Because the majority of the attendance was made up of missionaries, newly arrived in Sierra Leone, the emphasis was put on the kind of missionaries that are needed today in Sierra Leone. This paper aims to summarize the portrait of these missionaries, as highlighted by the speakers at the course: a. We want missionaries “preachers of an inculturated Gospel”; b. who learn from history; c. are open to new challenges; d. are “builders of communion”.
a. We want missionaries “preachers of an inculturated Gospel”
Missionaries who are coming in Sierra Leone today are mainly from the south of the Globe (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Congo, Togo, Benin, Chad, Mexico, India, Philippines…). Even if they are newcomers, their task will be the same as that of the earlier missionaries, the pioneers who reached first the country since 1605. During these four centuries of evangelization, what is changed is the challenges, but not the answers. Yes, what the people of Sierra Leone expect from missionaries is the same Gospel: Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13: 8).
During the course, Fr. Luis Koroma expounded the thesis of David Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in the Theology of Mission,( Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N. Y. 1991,[In Italian: La transformatione della missione, Queriniana, Brescia 2000] and Fr. Joseph Turay, on the topic of Culture and cultural change, marvelously helped the audience to understand the dynamics of the Christian mission, which follows the trend of “continuity in discontinuity” (Pope Benedict XVI). This means: “Preaching the same Jesus Christ with the conviction that He is our “hope” forever (1 Tm 1: 1), but in a changing world”.
The inculturation of the Gospel was highly stressed in the sense of knowing the local languages and cultures, the customs of people and their world view, the ability to recognize the “Unknown God”, as St. Paul in Athens (Ac 17: 23)… Actually more should be said and done in this vital approach to evangelization. Indeed, one of the participants reminded the speakers that it is the duty of the local priests and local specialists to produce material on culture and cultural change, which may be useful for the whole Church and for the new pastoral agents in Sierra Leone.
b. We want missionaries who learn from history
History is a great teacher for pastoral agents, stressed Fr. Joseph Turay. It helps to avoid the “complex of the saviour” which leads the newcomers to believe that they are “starting from zero”. Thanks to the book of Fr. Gerardo Caglioni sx, Sierra Leone: Quattro secoli di evangelizzazione, (Bologna, Emi, 2002), Fr. J. Turay briefly explored the history of the evangelization in Sierra Leone. He quoted some great names of the pioneers like: the Jesuit Fr. Baltazar Barreira, the Capuchin Fr. Serafin De Leon, the Cluny Sisters' Foundress, Mother Anne-Marie Javouhey, the SMA Founder, Marion de Bresillac, the Holy Ghost Father Fr. Edward Blanchet called the Savoy pioneer, the great Xaverian Bishop Azzolini and his companions…
All these names and many others were quoted in order to explain to the audience that they are heirs of a great missionary history, full of successes and failures. It is their duty today to carry on this adventure, learning from the methods of their predecessors: like asking the support of the elders of the community, using schools as tools of evangelization (Mother Javouhey and Bishop Azzolini), using the parish as the heart of the mission, with emphasis on catechism and spirituality, as explained by Fr. Francis Papa and Fr. Michele Carlini sx.
With gratitude to God and to the pioneers of the Christian mission in Sierra Leone, the organizers invited the audience not to be afraid to test new ways and means of doing mission. It would be a mistake and short-sightedness to think that you must simply copy the strategies of the predecessors in order to obtain a successful mission. In their times, the pioneers had to deal with their own challenges. It is up to us today to find answers to match our own challenges.
c. We want missionaries open to new challenges
Thanks to the expertise of Fr. Leonard Bangura, the audience were updated about the challenges Sierra Leone is facing today. From the outcome of the first diocesan synod of the Makeni Diocese(May 22nd-November 25th 2006) and the diocesan assemblies of Bo and Freetown (2012), Fr. Bangura outlined some urgent challenges which evangelization needs to address today, if the Christian message is to be relevant and credible. Among these urgent challenges, he listed: social and political crisis in term of poverty, injustice, corruption, tribalism, poor quality of education and deterioration of the health system, the rising of many new religious movements, rural exodus which leads to high concentration of unemployed population in urban eras, especially among the youth.
I echoed this description of the social context and its challenges, made by Fr. Bangura. When asked to inform the audience about the two African Synods (1994 and 2009), I showed how, from the post-synodal apostolic exhortations Ecclesia in Africa and Africae munus, the case of Sierra Leone is not to be isolated. It has to be linked to the wider context of the African social crisis. Thus, for the Church, here as elsewhere in Africa, the heart of the matter is the question of the social dimension of the Christian faith.
Indeed, the question asked by the Synod Fathers in 1994 (Second African Synod) is still urgent: “In Africa, the need to apply the Gospel to concrete life is felt strongly. How could one proclaim Christ on that immense Continent, while forgetting that it is one of the world's poorest regions?”(Ecclesia in Africa, n.51). To address social and political challenges, I argued that the relevance of the Christian mission depends today on how Christian communities should consider themselves as alternatives, small cities of God (Cf. Saint Augustine) and not just as mirrors of the malaise of the society. In the field of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, as stressed in Africae Munus, there is a need to serve the entire society by transforming, first, our Christian communities and making them places where peace, justice and reconciliation are possible and really experienced.
Actually, something in this direction has been done already, if we consider the huge charitable works of the missionaries and different local churches in Sierra Leone. Even presently, especially during and after the outbreak of the dreadful Ebola virus, the Church continues to carry out this task. In fact, Sr Antonette and Sr. Paul, both Cluny sisters, during the course, shared their pastoral experience with disabled and marginalized people: children with physical handicaps, widows and Ebola survivors. The Missionaries of Charity were invited to share their experience. Humble as they are, they preferred to speak, with great devotion, about their beloved Blessed Mother Teresa, reminding us of her social commitment motto in five words: “You did it to me” (Mt 25: 40). On behalf of the Council of Religious Leaders in Sierra Leone, Fr. Francis Sedu Sesay also informed the audience about the lobbying on behalf of the Council in regard to the parliament's plan to pass the “bill of safe abortion”.
Sierra Leone is not only a country of social and political challenges, it was stated by a brave layman, Mr Sesay, a lecturer at Unimak. He was called to brief the audience about the mission opportunities that Sierra Leone presently offers. According to him, there are many evangelization opportunities, from which we can take advantage: the openness of the people who are still God-fearing and generous, a youthful population, religious tolerance… Also, the Catholic Church as an institution is nationally appreciated especially for its many charitable works. But he clearly stated that he was aware of the fact that these charitable works were done with “resources coming from abroad”. If charity has to be an expression of the faith of the local church, he said, there is need to draw on local resources. Thus, the new missionaries should help the local church to develop a real commitment to self-reliance.
d. We want missionaries “builders of communion”
Sierra Leone needs missionaries who are builders of communion between the tribes, ethnic groups and between the rich and the poor. Since the end of the rebel war, the country has made tremendous progress, said Fr. J. Turay. Still the wounds of divisions are not completely healed. Missionaries originating from different cultures can help the country to take a further step. Because they live in community, which is real and deep, missionaries can be an examples in the area of reconciliation. Community life shows everybody that it is possible to live as brothers and sisters, and to be united, even when coming from different ethnic or social backgrounds (cf. Ps 133:1), to recall the words of Africae Munus. ( n.117. )
The commitment to building communion among people in Sierra Leone urges the entire Catholic church to preach by deeds and not only by words. In a sober address, the audience were reminded of the recent events and divisions that took place in the diocese of Makeni, concerning the succession to Bish. Biguzzi as Bishop of Makeni. It was generally admitted that there still an urgent need for all Christians in the country to prove that the water of baptism is stronger than the blood of ethnic groups and social affiliations.
The course was opened by Bish. Natale Paganelli, sx, the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Makeni and Chancellor of the Unimak, who celebrated the Mass. In his joyful and spontaneous homily, he asked all the participants to be missionaries of joy and mercy, as Pope Francis splendidly gives an example to all. He asked us not to be afraid to propose the Gospel to the people of Sierra Leone as a way to achieve human happiness.
This event was the first experience as a course for newcomers on “Pastoral ministry in the Church in Sierra Leone” at Unimak. The participants expressed their full satisfaction. Some suggestions were made: perhaps to reduce the numbers of speakers in order to make more space for participation from the floor.