Fr. Louis BIRA sx
The 15th number of the African Study Center of the Xaverian Missionaries was published in December 2020[1]. It talks about ecumenism but in a new form. By making this number available to readers in this week of prayer for Christian unity (18-25 January 2021), we hope that it will be a companion on the path of Christian unity that Africa and the world so desperately need today.
Here is the Edito.
"Let all be one like you, Father, you are in me and I in you; may they too be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17:21). These words from Jesus' prayer indicate that to work for Christian unity is to be faithful to the commandment of the Master, Christ. On November 21, 1964, in approving the Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, the Catholic Church officially wanted to follow the path of Christians of other denominations for whom dialogue, sharing and praying together had become over time a normal way of being followers of Christ.
The first number of the Decree reminds us that the division among Christians openly opposes the will of Christ. It is an object of scandal for the world and it obstructs the holiest of causes: the preaching of the gospel to every creature. Indeed, unity among Christians is a sign of witness in the world: for the world to believe! The various initiatives undertaken by Christians of different faiths over the years prioritized this aspect of witness.
Yet there is now an ever-increasing gap between Christ's prayer and the reality of Christians in the world. In our times, Christ's disciples give the impression that being divided is normal. The advent of the so-called "neo-Pentecostal" churches blurred the lines of dialogue between Catholic Christians and Christians from classical Protestantism. And so the question: should we think that the ecumenical movement has no future?
The dossier published in this number of our Cahiers responds with the affirmative but conditionally. By the title: "Pentecostalism in Africa: Understanding for Dialogue," the text refers to "neo-Pentecostal" churches as new actors that no ecumenical movement can do without if it wants to be serious and realistic. Moreover, this new ecumenical breath requires that Catholics have to understand the neo-Pentecostal Christian phenomenon on which the extension of Christianity today in the world depends.
Winners’ Chapel, Church of Praise, Prayer Tower, Church of Borne, Bethel City, L'Agnel, Liberation Church of captives, The Door, Christian Assembly, Candles, Assembly of Saints, Celestial Parliament, Amen Ministry, Spiritual healing, Awakening Center, Church of Compassion... What do these different names refer to? What do they have in common? It would be a mistake to believe that there would be no common thread between these different appellations. The text we publish provides a key of understanding to readers. It claims that despite the diversity of their names, the many churches that are now present on the African continent are a global phenomenon that has a common history, a coherent teaching and whose members are not fooled. On the contrary, they make an intelligible spiritual journey. And by listening to them, they gladly tell the "stories of their conversion" which have surprising similarities.
The fruits of this research, which we publish a part, we owe them to Father Pier Agostinis, a Xaverian missionary of Italian origin, on a mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He did this study at the Catholic Institute of Paris guided by the question: "How to understand the phenomenon of the new churches and what theological reflections to propose to open paths for the future?" Reading the author's text, one realizes that the neo-Pentecostal churches have opened a new page for the ecumenical movement.
We are aware of the criticism towards neo-Pentecostal churches in Africa. Jean Damascene Bwiza’s article published in the Appendix echoes this. However, our Centre, following our colleague, pleads for a respectful look and a capitalization of the spiritual potential that the neo-Pentecostal phenomenon brings to Africa.
[1] Find the full text here: https://dg.saveriani.org/en/saveriani/centri-saveriani/cea/item/cea-15-pentecotisme-en-afrique-comprendre-pour-dialoguer.
The 15th number of the African Study Center of the Xaverian Missionaries was published in December 2020[1]. It talks about ecumenism but in a new form. By making this number available to readers in this week of prayer for Christian unity (18-25 January 2021), we hope that it will be a companion on the path of Christian unity that Africa and the world so desperately need today.
Here is the Edito.
"Let all be one like you, Father, you are in me and I in you; may they too be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17:21). These words from Jesus' prayer indicate that to work for Christian unity is to be faithful to the commandment of the Master, Christ. On November 21, 1964, in approving the Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, the Catholic Church officially wanted to follow the path of Christians of other denominations for whom dialogue, sharing and praying together had become over time a normal way of being followers of Christ.
The first number of the Decree reminds us that the division among Christians openly opposes the will of Christ. It is an object of scandal for the world and it obstructs the holiest of causes: the preaching of the gospel to every creature. Indeed, unity among Christians is a sign of witness in the world: for the world to believe! The various initiatives undertaken by Christians of different faiths over the years prioritized this aspect of witness.
Yet there is now an ever-increasing gap between Christ's prayer and the reality of Christians in the world. In our times, Christ's disciples give the impression that being divided is normal. The advent of the so-called "neo-Pentecostal" churches blurred the lines of dialogue between Catholic Christians and Christians from classical Protestantism. And so the question: should we think that the ecumenical movement has no future?
The dossier published in this number of our Cahiers responds with the affirmative but conditionally. By the title: "Pentecostalism in Africa: Understanding for Dialogue," the text refers to "neo-Pentecostal" churches as new actors that no ecumenical movement can do without if it wants to be serious and realistic. Moreover, this new ecumenical breath requires that Catholics have to understand the neo-Pentecostal Christian phenomenon on which the extension of Christianity today in the world depends.
Winners’ Chapel, Church of Praise, Prayer Tower, Church of Borne, Bethel City, L'Agnel, Liberation Church of captives, The Door, Christian Assembly, Candles, Assembly of Saints, Celestial Parliament, Amen Ministry, Spiritual healing, Awakening Center, Church of Compassion... What do these different names refer to? What do they have in common? It would be a mistake to believe that there would be no common thread between these different appellations. The text we publish provides a key of understanding to readers. It claims that despite the diversity of their names, the many churches that are now present on the African continent are a global phenomenon that has a common history, a coherent teaching and whose members are not fooled. On the contrary, they make an intelligible spiritual journey. And by listening to them, they gladly tell the "stories of their conversion" which have surprising similarities.
The fruits of this research, which we publish a part, we owe them to Father Pier Agostinis, a Xaverian missionary of Italian origin, on a mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He did this study at the Catholic Institute of Paris guided by the question: "How to understand the phenomenon of the new churches and what theological reflections to propose to open paths for the future?" Reading the author's text, one realizes that the neo-Pentecostal churches have opened a new page for the ecumenical movement.
We are aware of the criticism towards neo-Pentecostal churches in Africa. Jean Damascene Bwiza’s article published in the Appendix echoes this. However, our Centre, following our colleague, pleads for a respectful look and a capitalization of the spiritual potential that the neo-Pentecostal phenomenon brings to Africa.
[1] Find the full text here: https://dg.saveriani.org/en/saveriani/centri-saveriani/cea/item/cea-15-pentecotisme-en-afrique-comprendre-pour-dialoguer.