By Fr Makau Nicholas IMC
For the past five months Isiolo County has experienced nasty episodes. Despite being a natural disaster county, it has now turned to a human designed disaster. To many, the problem is invented so as to answer to some personal or particular group’s interest. The recent conflict between the Borana who are searching for pasture for their animals and the Turkana has left many wondering. The clash has left about 30 people dead and many displaced. It has returned the development stride to the scratch as property was reduced to ashes and potential income generating people maimed and incapacitated. Disheartening is the fact that the dispute has not been given any sensible attention.
A councilor was arrested and accused of inciting the Turkanas. There is a calculated move to ignore the plight of the victims. Reasons are given that the land in dispute is trust land and no one can claim ownership. The constitution is quoted to defend the position of Borana’s entry to the place saying that everyone has a right to live anywhere in Kenya. But they deliberately avoid quoting the clause that defends the freedom and right against invasion, forceful eviction and the right to ownership. In defending the right of the Borana to graze their camels anywhere, it is to accuse the Turkanas for farming or erecting their houses which bars the presence of the animals.
One is forced to repeat the question the Turkana community is asking; What is the motive of the Boranas keeping so many animals if there is scarcity of grazing land? Why did the Borana move to Camp Garba at this moment of the year? If they are only after food for their animals, why kill people and burn houses? The church and the school destruction, lingers very serious questions; is it a tribal clash or a religious conflict, is it a fight over resources or fight over chiefdom dominance, is it power wrangle or it is economic strength, is to tell who is the host community or the newcomer? Is it a way to prepare who will own the resource city that Isiolo is being designed to be?
Who is responsible and who can help avert it? The local leaders and particularly the area MP has been absent from the area. Very little has been done to call for a resolution. Now is the time to seek an equitable justice. Further delay will escalate the conflict. It has been explained, “it is the culture of the Borana people to keep animals”. But is it their culture also to be hostile and violent? Their neighbors also have their culture. Now is the time to develop a new culture of coexistence. Let the Borana elders be summoned by the state law and be forced to acknowledge that their culture is not in isolation and that it is not just to promote their own haven without care of the others’. Let culture and tradition not be used to justify or explain a conflict that has claimed lives and destroyed properties. Validating such culture and tradition is only a limping pretext that does not pass the test of credibility.
March 14, 2012, I visited the catholic mission at Camp Garba which hosts over 600 people in the open ground in very dire circumstances. I visited Kiwanja, Eremet and mashambani villages where they had escaped from. The villages of Bulagadud and LMD were also empty as people had run away for their safety. I was saddened by the ugly incident which I found. The catholic Consolata missionaries, Fr Tallone and Fr Wambua have opened doors to the children and mothers as other women and men are spread across the compound. Fr Wambua guided me through the compound; crowded, with dusty, torn mattress, blankets, worn out sheets and all sorts of house hold goods are scattered all over. The demarcation of occupancy space is the far the mattress can reach. Given that the cemented corridors of the clergy house, the sisters’ convent and those of the school are not enough, others find space along the fence and under the trees. Since the school is still on, they have to vacate the place before 7.00 am before pupils come and return at 5.00pm when the school day is over.
This is the most painful moment that I have witnessed. I stood near the police post and 200m away I could see small children, women with babies on their back, and men carrying their items packed in polythene bags or sacks coming to the mission for the night. At arrival it is still painful to see them rushing to get water or collecting grass for firewood to cook something. The mosquitoes sting leaving pimples. Children are crying as they scratch themselves all over due to irritation. One can hear the alternating cry of babies across the compound. As I visit groups am overwhelmed by fear as I see small bonfires scattered in the entire mission compound. “hawa wote ni waturu (Turkana’s) tulichomewa mahome zetu na waboraana” (all this are Turkanas, our houses were burned by the Boranas) a teenager told us.
As I look at the thickets, I could imagine of the invasion of snakes, scorpions or other crawling creatures. I see the same place has become a toilet. It is a nightmare to walk as one will be stepping on the excrement or surprise an adult at the call of nature. Cooking is done on the open. For those who have sick, aged or small babies in their family, they suffer a double tragedy. As the cooking items are not enough or conducive, there is also the danger of an accident and diseases.
March 15, 2012, I could see people going out of the church compound. They want to provide room to the school that is about to start. Majority are eligible to school, but theirs is far away. “our school is not here, it was there (pointing the direction), we ran away when camels came in and the owners were shooting us” a standard three girl at mashambani primary school told me, as I walked her and her family out to nowhere in particular. It was heart breaking to see families leave only to go out of the fence, gather in groups as they had nothing to do. Their village is across but they cannot dare return. They spend whole day in the same routine waiting for any hope. They are on their own; no one comes to speak to them except the catholic missionaries. The police who are expected to come to tell them to go back are silent.
As I talk to them I understand there is another group who went to camp at the Isiolo police station as a way to draw attention to their cause. But they are not wanted there. “This is my home and I can’t allow strangers to stay in. I don’t know who is who” the OCPD told me in asking him why he wanted the people to vacate the only place that looked securer. In the police station there are another 450 people who are living behind the post. It is a pain and nuisance to the police officers, it is a matter of their reputation and rank “but supposing something happens when they are here, who will be responsible” one of the police officer tells me. But an exchange ensures as one of the elders answers back very bitterly “it is better we die here and someone can report and be held responsible than being burned in the village”.
I discover that the police have arranged for two Lorries to take the people back to the villages they had run away from.
Things are in disarray. It is purported that the police station wasn’t secure. The people do not want to go back in fear of a possible attack and fear that they will be forgotten and they had nothing to sustain themselves, since all their belongs had been burned down or vandalized by the Borana invaders. As I tried to engage the OCPD to a negotiation, we reached a deal that men will go first to survey the situation accompanied by a contingent of police men. I opted to drive down the villages with them as a way of solidarity.
THE CAMELS OF ISIOLO THAT SHOOT AND BURN
Heaven broke loose. The village was ashes. No house is standing. No sooner had we reached the first village, the people jumped out of the vehicles crying “look here was my house, look this was my kitchen. Oh! Here, here they caught up my brother, here they killed him” the people scattered, each trying to trace their homestead that was no longer there. The exercise was guarded by Kenya police. Visible were exercise books, metallic and steel items that the fire could not reduce to complete ashes. The tears and the lamentations were so painful. The journalists who had kept a distance now came closer.
I noticed a young police officer wiping tears and shaking his head vigorously and this hurt me the more. You can only discover there were homesteads when you see bricks, some spared iron sheets, some other household goods that had now been turned black. Before the houses were torched some were vandalized and properties were scattered outside. The Catholic Church had not been burnt. But it had been seriously profaned. The doors had been broken, the windows smashed and the glass spread all over. The holy of holiness, the altar, the tabernacle the most sacred places had been tampered with and cut into pieces. I could not understand the motive of destroying and disfiguring the statue of Mary. The poster bearing the image of Pope Benedict XVI had been badly pierced and there was disorder in the church. Rosaries were cut into pieces.
A man was able to identify a rosary that belonged to his mother. I blessed it and let him carry it to her. In the school, everything was in total mess spread all over. The furniture was damaged, cut into pieces or simply scattered out of place. At the head teacher’s office, there was no place to step in. The desks and the shelves had been destroyed and all the materials sprinkled on the floor. Text books, exercise books, packets of chalk had been littered. A similar dreadful face confronted us at the teachers’ staffroom. We toured the village collecting various items; chairs, books, spoons either lifted from the school, the church or homesteads and abandoned in the forest.
I had never seen search a massive herd of camels at one place at one given time. They filled the whole place. They exceeded 20,000 camels. The police men had pushed an equal number across the mountains in the previous day. The men in seeing the camels were agitated, they became irate. The village elder explains “we saw the camels first, as we wondered due to their number, there was shooting and our houses began to burn”. He narrated how it all started. “We had not seen the owners, but the camels. When we reported, we were ridiculed by the police officers; can camels shoot or torch a house?” a heated discussion ensured as policemen tried to explain to the elders’ dissatisfaction.
The situation was getting out of control; I invited the OCPD and his team for a meeting with the elders and probably invite some groups from the camel herders who were not far. The officers and Turkana elders accepted but to bring a Borana on board was not viable. After a fruitless hour of consultation the OCPD declared; “you will not go back to the backyard of the police station, you either remain here or I will take you to the stadium” Roma locuata causa finita. At this time as we sought the next move, the police officers jumped into their vehicles and sped off.
As the dust calmed down, only the camels that earlier we had known to “shoot and torch” and six police officers are visible. We are at the middle of the camels at the battle field. I called the group for a prayer. At the end of it, I could not only read my own tension but it was in all the faces in front me. How can we get out of here? Are we safe? “Hapa kuna njama, wametudanganya tuingie kwa magari yao na sasa wametuleta hapa na kutuachia adui. Hatuna silaha kama wao, tena tuko wachache. Hata ka nikubaki, hatuna chakula. Kwanini wanatufanyia hivi” Complained one man.
Two hours later, two GK Lorries brought back the women and children. Dumped them and went back. It was assumed that shelters like tents, food, water will be provided but all in vain. People remained in darkness, the night was unusually chilly and dark perhaps to celebrate the misfortune. Men organized themselves to remain awake guarding their families till the following day.
All looked exhausted. They appeared a people without a future and hopeless. Some mothers had given up the struggle and they complained kwanini wasitumalize badala ya kutuangaisha hivi. Hata hawa askari siwana bunduki, siwatuue, waenda wakapumzike? I got disturbed and disappointed. Where is the rule of law? Where are the executors of law? Who are the leaders of Isiolo who should intervene to restore hope to these displaced residents? Where is the conscience of the government officers?
Fr Makau is the chair of the Consolata Missionaries Justice and Peace Commission.
Showing posts with label cisa news africa consolata kenya nairobi opinion blog newsletter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cisa news africa consolata kenya nairobi opinion blog newsletter. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Book for Man or the Man for the Book
By Nigerian Bishop Emeritus of Ekiti Catholic Diocese, Michael Olatunji Fagun.
The opinion expressed in Much ado about Qur’an burning by Disu Kamor, Director of Media and Communications Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) in the Wednesday March 7, 2012, edition of The Guardian, page 51 makes a good defense of the sacred and due respect for cultural values and personal feelings of others, making reference to the age old saying in every religion – treat others as you would like to be treated.
But the expressed opinion of Kamor, as good and convincing as it was, fails to see the other side of the problem beyond the sacrilege of burning holy books. That is, the sacrilege of wanton destruction of human life at the least provocation of Muslim religious sentiment.
Every sound religion condemns murder and culprits are decisively dealt with. Two wrongs do not make a right. In fact, in honest opinion, human life is more sacred than any holy book, for the book, whatever its source, is made for man and not man for the book.
Though Kamor, in his socio-political harangue against the Western world, referred to Pope Benedict’s reference to what an emperor said about Islam without truly meaning any harm, but seemed to have closed his eyes on the wanton killings of unconnected people by some irate fanatical Muslims on that occasion, as if it did not matter. Let me limit this intervention to our problems with Muslim fanaticism in Nigeria.
The wisdom of our people advises that while you lash out on the thief, you should caution the robbed to be security conscious. Right thinking Nigerians would expect the enlightened members of the Islamic religion to caution and do something positive to stop the excesses of the so called radical or fanatical Muslims from desecrating human life in Nigeria as it is customary of them, even without any provocation, except for the existence of people of different faiths living where Muslims are in the majority. This is evidenced in our history as shown below.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, jihads fought by Uthman Dan Fodio and others led to the forced conversion, enslavement or killing of traditional believers he overcame in Nigeria. Victims of this episode are still licking their wounds and nursing their grudge in the Plateau area of Nigeria.
An offshoot of Islam called the Yan Tatsine violently rebelled against the authorities and non-members. These radical Muslims were inspired by Maitatsine in 1972 using Qur’anic students called almajiri or gardawa and unemployed migrants to lash out havoc on the Nigerian populace.
During the 1980s, Islamic religious riots were very prominent in Nigeria. They occurred in and around the cities of Kano in 1980, Kaduna in 1982, Jimeta in 1984 and in Gombe in 1985 involving gory killings of human beings.
There were clashes in October 1982 when Muslim zealots in Kano were able to enforce their power to keep the Anglican House Church from expanding its size and power base, as they saw it as a threat to the nearby Mosque, even though the Anglican House Church had been there forty years prior to the building of the Mosque.
The sad practice of not granting land for church building in the Muslim north of Nigeria is still prevalent.
Also, there were two student associations in Nigeria who came into conflict, the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) and the Muslim Students Society (MSS). On one occasion there was an evangelical campaign organized by the FCS and brought into question why one sect should dominate the campus of the Kafanchan College of Education, Kaduna State.
This quarrel accelerated to the point where the Muslim students organized protests around the city that culminated in the burning of a Church at the college. The Christian majority at the college retaliated on March 9, 1982 when twelve people died and several Mosques were burnt.
The most worrisome today is the Boko Haram movement that has also been connected to the Al-Qaeda movement who claim to be promoting the cause of Islam. They want to implement Sharia law across some six Northern States of Nigeria through the bombing of Christian Churches and indiscriminate killings of innocent Nigerians currently. No right thinking person would accept this infernal ideology and practice.
These occurrences do not speak well of any religious body. Enough is enough. Let our good Muslims redeem the name of Islam in Nigeria from the hands of its spoilers. There should be no more of the proverbial swallowing of the camel and spitting the gnat. The book is made for man and not man for the book. Both should be held sacred. There should be no more human sacrifice at the altar of any sacred object.
The opinion expressed in Much ado about Qur’an burning by Disu Kamor, Director of Media and Communications Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) in the Wednesday March 7, 2012, edition of The Guardian, page 51 makes a good defense of the sacred and due respect for cultural values and personal feelings of others, making reference to the age old saying in every religion – treat others as you would like to be treated.
But the expressed opinion of Kamor, as good and convincing as it was, fails to see the other side of the problem beyond the sacrilege of burning holy books. That is, the sacrilege of wanton destruction of human life at the least provocation of Muslim religious sentiment.
Every sound religion condemns murder and culprits are decisively dealt with. Two wrongs do not make a right. In fact, in honest opinion, human life is more sacred than any holy book, for the book, whatever its source, is made for man and not man for the book.
Though Kamor, in his socio-political harangue against the Western world, referred to Pope Benedict’s reference to what an emperor said about Islam without truly meaning any harm, but seemed to have closed his eyes on the wanton killings of unconnected people by some irate fanatical Muslims on that occasion, as if it did not matter. Let me limit this intervention to our problems with Muslim fanaticism in Nigeria.
The wisdom of our people advises that while you lash out on the thief, you should caution the robbed to be security conscious. Right thinking Nigerians would expect the enlightened members of the Islamic religion to caution and do something positive to stop the excesses of the so called radical or fanatical Muslims from desecrating human life in Nigeria as it is customary of them, even without any provocation, except for the existence of people of different faiths living where Muslims are in the majority. This is evidenced in our history as shown below.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, jihads fought by Uthman Dan Fodio and others led to the forced conversion, enslavement or killing of traditional believers he overcame in Nigeria. Victims of this episode are still licking their wounds and nursing their grudge in the Plateau area of Nigeria.
An offshoot of Islam called the Yan Tatsine violently rebelled against the authorities and non-members. These radical Muslims were inspired by Maitatsine in 1972 using Qur’anic students called almajiri or gardawa and unemployed migrants to lash out havoc on the Nigerian populace.
During the 1980s, Islamic religious riots were very prominent in Nigeria. They occurred in and around the cities of Kano in 1980, Kaduna in 1982, Jimeta in 1984 and in Gombe in 1985 involving gory killings of human beings.
There were clashes in October 1982 when Muslim zealots in Kano were able to enforce their power to keep the Anglican House Church from expanding its size and power base, as they saw it as a threat to the nearby Mosque, even though the Anglican House Church had been there forty years prior to the building of the Mosque.
The sad practice of not granting land for church building in the Muslim north of Nigeria is still prevalent.
Also, there were two student associations in Nigeria who came into conflict, the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) and the Muslim Students Society (MSS). On one occasion there was an evangelical campaign organized by the FCS and brought into question why one sect should dominate the campus of the Kafanchan College of Education, Kaduna State.
This quarrel accelerated to the point where the Muslim students organized protests around the city that culminated in the burning of a Church at the college. The Christian majority at the college retaliated on March 9, 1982 when twelve people died and several Mosques were burnt.
The most worrisome today is the Boko Haram movement that has also been connected to the Al-Qaeda movement who claim to be promoting the cause of Islam. They want to implement Sharia law across some six Northern States of Nigeria through the bombing of Christian Churches and indiscriminate killings of innocent Nigerians currently. No right thinking person would accept this infernal ideology and practice.
These occurrences do not speak well of any religious body. Enough is enough. Let our good Muslims redeem the name of Islam in Nigeria from the hands of its spoilers. There should be no more of the proverbial swallowing of the camel and spitting the gnat. The book is made for man and not man for the book. Both should be held sacred. There should be no more human sacrifice at the altar of any sacred object.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Frequently Asked Questions on the Church’s Veneration of Relics
This year the Catholic Congregation of Salesians of Don Bosco will mark its 150th anniversary since foundation.
To mark the celebrations the relics of Don Bosco the founder of the congregation, will make a stop –over in East Africa, Kenya on their world wide pilgrimage to commemorate the anniversary. The relics will be in Kenya from December 1, to 7, 2011.
By Dr. Christopher Owczarek, Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA)
At the end of this year, relics of Don Bosco will make a stop-over in East Africa on their world-wide pilgrimage to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesian Congregation (1859–2009)--a Catholic order of priests and brothers spread in 130 countries and working in the field of education, especially among the poor youth —and to prepare for the bicentennial of the birth of Don Bosco (1815–2015).
It is in this context that we wish to deepen our understanding of this coming event by re-examining the biblical, theological and historical foundation of the veneration of the relics of saints in the Catholic Church.
In order to do so, we shall try to answer few relevant questions:
1) What are relics of Saints?
These are the material remains of the saints which are venerated as signs of their continued presence in the world. The word relic comes from the Latin reliquiae, meaning "remains" or "something left behind". They may be physical remains of a saint (a bone, a hair, skull, a limb, etc.), an item that the saint wore (a shirt, a glove, etc.) or an item that the saint owned or frequently used (a crucifix, rosary, a prayer book etc.) or even a piece of cloth that is attached to these.
2) Is the Veneration of the Relics peculiar to the Catholic Church?
The veneration of relics is, to some extent, a primitive instinct, and it is associated with many other religious systems besides that Christianity. At ancient Athens the supposed remains of ancient heroes, Oedipus and Theseus enjoyed an honour which it is very difficult to distinguish from a religious cult. Miracles and healing were only rarely attributed to them; rather, their presence protected the city, as the tomb of Oedipus was said to protect Athens. The tomb of Theseus became a sanctuary for runaway slaves and all men of low estate who were afraid of men in power.
In the Far East, the famous story of the distribution of the relics of Buddha, an incident which is believed to have taken place immediately after his death, seems to have found remarkable confirmation in certain modern archaeological discoveries. In any case the extreme development of relic-worship amongst the Buddhists of every sect is not in dispute.
3) Has the Catholic Church theologically justified pagan or, we can say, purely human practices and even developed them? Or, as the great Reformer Martin Luther maintained, is the worship of relics a money-making invention of the worldly Church that deserves condemnation?
We need to state this right away: the Church has not invented the veneration of relics, just as she has not invented the Incarnation of Christ and his Resurrection. As in the case of the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus, those who came to believe in him did so because of the overwhelming evidence of his supernatural power and presence even after his death. Similarly, in case of the relics, i.e., the material remains of the saints, the believers simply witnessed some extraordinary events associated with them.
During his ministry on earth, Jesus displayed his divine power through his word and touch. Even the clothes he wore, when approached with faith, could transmit his healing power. We read in the Gospel according to Luke 8:43-48: 43 And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased(Luke 8:43-48).
What happened to that woman was not just an isolated event, as the Gospel according to Mark (6:56) tells us: wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
Jesus promised his disciples that those who believe in him would do the works he was doing and even greater then these (John 14:12: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.)
This prophecy came true after the ascension of Jesus. In the New Testament we find the description of such great works in the life of the apostles Peter and Paul. We read in the Acts of the Apostles: (5:14-16) And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Then in 19:11-12: And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
If just a shadow cast by Peter’s body or a handkerchief that touched the body of Paul were bringing healing, this was a clear indication that their bodies were the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and the divine power emanated from them. (Cf. 1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?). Christians expected that even after their death the time would come when their bodies would rise to everlasting life, transformed and glorified, but still their bodies (cf. 1 Cor 15:35-57). That is why, right from the beginning, they venerated the bodies of great apostles and martyrs and wished to be buried close to them in order to be raised together with them.
The early Fathers often quoted an event linked to Elisha’s bones in order to demonstrate the efficacy of the relics: “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21)”
4) What is the Catholic doctrine regarding the veneration of relics of the saints?
In fact, right from the beginning the Church strived to keep the use of relics in perspective. In his Letter to Riparius, St. Jerome (d. 420) wrote: “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are.” St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) added: “We by no means consider the holy martyrs to be gods, nor are we wont to bow down before them adoringly, but only relatively and reverentially”.
The great medieval theologian, St. Thomas, had this to say regarding the relics: “Those who have an affection to any person hold in honour all that was intimately connected with him. Hence, while we love and venerate the saints who were so dear to God, we also venerate all that belonged to them, and particularly their bodies, which were once the temples of the Holy Spirit, and which are some day to be conformed to the glorious body of Jesus Christ. Whence also”, adds St. Thomas, “God fittingly does honour to such relics by performing miracles in their presence”.
The teaching of the Catholic Church with regard to the veneration of relics is summed up in a decree of the Council of Trent, which enjoins on bishops and other pastors to instruct their flocks that “the holy bodies of holy martyrs and of others now living with Christ—which bodies were the living members of Christ and ‘the temple of the Holy Ghost’ (1 Corinthians 6:19) and which are by Him to be raised to eternal life and to be glorified are to be venerated by the faithful, for through these [bodies] many benefits are bestowed by God on men…
As we can see, the argument in favour of the veneration of the relics is not a fruit of some complicated theological doctrine but it is based on the facts on the ground, namely, the miracles occurring when the relics of saints are approached with faith. In this way, the Incarnation aspect of Christian faith is manifested, that is, God continues to manifest his power through the agency of the material body.
To mark the celebrations the relics of Don Bosco the founder of the congregation, will make a stop –over in East Africa, Kenya on their world wide pilgrimage to commemorate the anniversary. The relics will be in Kenya from December 1, to 7, 2011.
By Dr. Christopher Owczarek, Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA)
At the end of this year, relics of Don Bosco will make a stop-over in East Africa on their world-wide pilgrimage to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesian Congregation (1859–2009)--a Catholic order of priests and brothers spread in 130 countries and working in the field of education, especially among the poor youth —and to prepare for the bicentennial of the birth of Don Bosco (1815–2015).
It is in this context that we wish to deepen our understanding of this coming event by re-examining the biblical, theological and historical foundation of the veneration of the relics of saints in the Catholic Church.
In order to do so, we shall try to answer few relevant questions:
1) What are relics of Saints?
These are the material remains of the saints which are venerated as signs of their continued presence in the world. The word relic comes from the Latin reliquiae, meaning "remains" or "something left behind". They may be physical remains of a saint (a bone, a hair, skull, a limb, etc.), an item that the saint wore (a shirt, a glove, etc.) or an item that the saint owned or frequently used (a crucifix, rosary, a prayer book etc.) or even a piece of cloth that is attached to these.
2) Is the Veneration of the Relics peculiar to the Catholic Church?
The veneration of relics is, to some extent, a primitive instinct, and it is associated with many other religious systems besides that Christianity. At ancient Athens the supposed remains of ancient heroes, Oedipus and Theseus enjoyed an honour which it is very difficult to distinguish from a religious cult. Miracles and healing were only rarely attributed to them; rather, their presence protected the city, as the tomb of Oedipus was said to protect Athens. The tomb of Theseus became a sanctuary for runaway slaves and all men of low estate who were afraid of men in power.
In the Far East, the famous story of the distribution of the relics of Buddha, an incident which is believed to have taken place immediately after his death, seems to have found remarkable confirmation in certain modern archaeological discoveries. In any case the extreme development of relic-worship amongst the Buddhists of every sect is not in dispute.
3) Has the Catholic Church theologically justified pagan or, we can say, purely human practices and even developed them? Or, as the great Reformer Martin Luther maintained, is the worship of relics a money-making invention of the worldly Church that deserves condemnation?
We need to state this right away: the Church has not invented the veneration of relics, just as she has not invented the Incarnation of Christ and his Resurrection. As in the case of the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus, those who came to believe in him did so because of the overwhelming evidence of his supernatural power and presence even after his death. Similarly, in case of the relics, i.e., the material remains of the saints, the believers simply witnessed some extraordinary events associated with them.
During his ministry on earth, Jesus displayed his divine power through his word and touch. Even the clothes he wore, when approached with faith, could transmit his healing power. We read in the Gospel according to Luke 8:43-48: 43 And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased(Luke 8:43-48).
What happened to that woman was not just an isolated event, as the Gospel according to Mark (6:56) tells us: wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
Jesus promised his disciples that those who believe in him would do the works he was doing and even greater then these (John 14:12: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.)
This prophecy came true after the ascension of Jesus. In the New Testament we find the description of such great works in the life of the apostles Peter and Paul. We read in the Acts of the Apostles: (5:14-16) And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Then in 19:11-12: And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
If just a shadow cast by Peter’s body or a handkerchief that touched the body of Paul were bringing healing, this was a clear indication that their bodies were the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and the divine power emanated from them. (Cf. 1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?). Christians expected that even after their death the time would come when their bodies would rise to everlasting life, transformed and glorified, but still their bodies (cf. 1 Cor 15:35-57). That is why, right from the beginning, they venerated the bodies of great apostles and martyrs and wished to be buried close to them in order to be raised together with them.
The early Fathers often quoted an event linked to Elisha’s bones in order to demonstrate the efficacy of the relics: “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21)”
4) What is the Catholic doctrine regarding the veneration of relics of the saints?
In fact, right from the beginning the Church strived to keep the use of relics in perspective. In his Letter to Riparius, St. Jerome (d. 420) wrote: “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are.” St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) added: “We by no means consider the holy martyrs to be gods, nor are we wont to bow down before them adoringly, but only relatively and reverentially”.
The great medieval theologian, St. Thomas, had this to say regarding the relics: “Those who have an affection to any person hold in honour all that was intimately connected with him. Hence, while we love and venerate the saints who were so dear to God, we also venerate all that belonged to them, and particularly their bodies, which were once the temples of the Holy Spirit, and which are some day to be conformed to the glorious body of Jesus Christ. Whence also”, adds St. Thomas, “God fittingly does honour to such relics by performing miracles in their presence”.
The teaching of the Catholic Church with regard to the veneration of relics is summed up in a decree of the Council of Trent, which enjoins on bishops and other pastors to instruct their flocks that “the holy bodies of holy martyrs and of others now living with Christ—which bodies were the living members of Christ and ‘the temple of the Holy Ghost’ (1 Corinthians 6:19) and which are by Him to be raised to eternal life and to be glorified are to be venerated by the faithful, for through these [bodies] many benefits are bestowed by God on men…
As we can see, the argument in favour of the veneration of the relics is not a fruit of some complicated theological doctrine but it is based on the facts on the ground, namely, the miracles occurring when the relics of saints are approached with faith. In this way, the Incarnation aspect of Christian faith is manifested, that is, God continues to manifest his power through the agency of the material body.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Big Bang of Inner Transformation: Voice of the Transcendent
By Dominic Vincent Nkoyoyo*
After all the struggles and pains we go through in life, the shattering disappointments that sometimes bring us on the verge of despair, and after our successes in this world if any, the inevitable question is, ‘what next?’
This question is embodied and implied in every project, big or small, which we undertake!
This same question reveals also the limitations and weaknesses of our human powers and potential! For when we think of death, and ask, ‘what next?’ We come to a halt! Our cognitive and imaginative powers hit the wall! And all our psychic forces and capabilities, both conscious and unconscious, reach their extreme limits!
What lies beyond our earthly life is inconceivable! The very fact that we know neither the specific and decisive moment when we shall breath our last nor where and how we shall die, is enough to demonstrate that at a purely human level, we have no idea whatsoever of what lies beyond earthly life! If we knew that specific moment when we shall die, that would at least bring us very close to peering into the mystery of what lies beyond the grave!
And the fact of the decomposition of the human body at death, and the termination of all ordinary and normal communication with the dead, makes it even harder and more difficult to believe that there is life after death!
It demands therefore, consultation or getting in touch with an intelligence that is more powerful than ours, an intelligence that is omniscient to know what happens next after our death! In other words we have to get in contact with the Transcendent!
But does the Transcendent, the all knowing Intelligence exist? Being transcendent, being beyond all our psychic powers and ordinary experience, we have no scientific or experimental way of proving or refuting its existence!
And this leaves us with only three possible answers or solutions all of which are just matter of faith, namely: to believe that it exists, or that it does not exist, or that we just do not know whether or not it exists! This groups all human beings into three categories: the theists, the atheists and the agnostics! And no one has a right to condemn anybody for the position they hold! This is what we call freedom of conscience or religion or worship.
As for me, I situate myself in the camp or category of theists! I believe in the existence of the Transcendent! I acknowledge the presence of ‘The All Knowing Intelligence,’ active in each person’s life and in the universe at large! And this means that by getting in touch with it, this Transcendent and ‘All Knowing Intelligence,’ I can have at least a vague idea of what next, after our life here below!
But it is important that I share the reasons why I personally prefer theism to atheism and agnosticism! In other words, I have to answer the question, why theism appeals to me more than atheism and agnosticism. This is a long story and a search that has been tedious and sometimes very painful through the labyrinth of conflicting ideas, contradictory opinions and irreconcilable doctrines.
I was born to Roman Catholic parents. They were not very devoted Christians, but all the same they often went to Church, and we too their children followed. But this is not the reason why I believe in the existence of ‘The All Knowing and All Powerful Intelligence!’ For at some point during my youthful years, I had a terrible inner crisis that nearly forced me to abandon my faith and become an atheist!
In brief it happened like this, one day during my third year of philosophy in the Major Seminary, as I genuflected before the Blessed Sacrament, I was cast into the worst and darkest spiritual nightmare of my life! For the first time in my life I doubted the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
How could a whole person, a fully grown up human being that Jesus was, squeeze or compress himself and be contained in such a small host! I wondered. The doubt then extended to his historical existence. Did Jesus really exist? Could the Jesus story not be just one of the legends told from generation to generation? All these questions crossed my baffled and puzzled mind!
For the following three months I went to the library nearly every day and read books big and small, I read commentaries on the scriptures, theological and philosical books in search for a satisfactory answer to my questions. Unfortunately, I found none! But my conscious search for the Transcendent as a mature person had began.
Up until then I had taken Jesus Christ as the centre and meaning of my life, but here I was my faith in him totally shattered! And could find no answer to those deep questions about his historical existence and real presence in the Blessed Sacrament! So I decided that it was no longer meaningful for me to continue being a believer and a Christian!
It was therefore necessary for me to redirect my life! I had to take another path! And the path that my head proposed to me was to join the notorious army of Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada Ssalongo, CBE (Conquerer of British Empire) and Life President of Uganda! And my next move was to throw away my Bible and all the religious articles like the rosary and medals which I had in my possession.
Very soon the day for throwing away all these things that had become meaningless to me came. I gathered them and piled them on my table! But for reasons beyond my grasp when I looked at my Bible as it lay there on the table, I said to myself, «Before I throw away this Bible, let me open it for the very last time in my life!»
And a miracle I will never forget as long as I live, the miracle that saved my faith and so retained me in the camp of theists happened! For when I opened it, my eyes fell on (Jn. 14 :21) which reads : «Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.»
When I read this verse, my heart told me not to abandon my faith. For Christ had promised to reveal himself to us! And all along what I had wanted was exactly that, to have just a glimpse of this Christ! And in a way I cannot explain, interiorly all the doubts that had assailed me about the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and his historical existence vanished like smoke!
But even then, I am still just at the beginning of my search for the Transcendent. For I have not yet experienced that big bang of total inner transformation which those who clearly heard the Voice of the Transcendent underwent! Radical and profound changes in their lives clear not just to themselves, but to everybody!
The following are some of the great and prominent figures that underwent such a radical change after hearing the transforming Voice of the Transcendent:
Samuel: «Yahweh then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Yahweh, your servant is listening’….
Samuel grew up and Yahweh was with him…and the word of Samuel went out to all Israel.» (1 Sam.3 :10-21. 4 :1)
St. Paul: St. Paul says this of himself, «You must have heard of my career as a practicing Jew, how merciless I was persecuting the Church of God, how much damage I did to it.» (Gal.1:13). But this same Paul on the road to Damascus heard the Voice of the Transcendent and a big bang of transformation took place in his life! And he became one of the greatest pillars of Christianity! In the Acts of the Apostles we thus read:
Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me….’(A/A.9 :3ff)
After hearing the Voice of the Transcendent, Paul’s life changed totally! He made a U-turn! The change was radical and visible! And everybody was astounded!
Blaise Pascal: This great French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, on the night of November 23, 1645, he had a big bang of inner transformation, a spiritual experience that completely changed his life! He heard the Voice, the Word of Jesus Christ and promised never to forget his Word! For at the end of the account of this experience which is called: Blaise Pascal’s night of fire, he wrote, «Total submission to Jesus Christ and my director. Everlasting joy in return for one day’s effort on earth. I will not forget thy word. Amen.»
After the night of fire, Pascal’s life radically changed and this was clear to all those who knew him! It was a real big bang of inner transformation! And from then on he spent most of his time not on Mathematics, Philosophy and Science, but on moral and spiritual matters.
*Dominic Vincent Nkoyoyo, Monastery Val Notre-Dame, Canada.
After all the struggles and pains we go through in life, the shattering disappointments that sometimes bring us on the verge of despair, and after our successes in this world if any, the inevitable question is, ‘what next?’
This question is embodied and implied in every project, big or small, which we undertake!
This same question reveals also the limitations and weaknesses of our human powers and potential! For when we think of death, and ask, ‘what next?’ We come to a halt! Our cognitive and imaginative powers hit the wall! And all our psychic forces and capabilities, both conscious and unconscious, reach their extreme limits!
What lies beyond our earthly life is inconceivable! The very fact that we know neither the specific and decisive moment when we shall breath our last nor where and how we shall die, is enough to demonstrate that at a purely human level, we have no idea whatsoever of what lies beyond earthly life! If we knew that specific moment when we shall die, that would at least bring us very close to peering into the mystery of what lies beyond the grave!
And the fact of the decomposition of the human body at death, and the termination of all ordinary and normal communication with the dead, makes it even harder and more difficult to believe that there is life after death!
It demands therefore, consultation or getting in touch with an intelligence that is more powerful than ours, an intelligence that is omniscient to know what happens next after our death! In other words we have to get in contact with the Transcendent!
But does the Transcendent, the all knowing Intelligence exist? Being transcendent, being beyond all our psychic powers and ordinary experience, we have no scientific or experimental way of proving or refuting its existence!
And this leaves us with only three possible answers or solutions all of which are just matter of faith, namely: to believe that it exists, or that it does not exist, or that we just do not know whether or not it exists! This groups all human beings into three categories: the theists, the atheists and the agnostics! And no one has a right to condemn anybody for the position they hold! This is what we call freedom of conscience or religion or worship.
As for me, I situate myself in the camp or category of theists! I believe in the existence of the Transcendent! I acknowledge the presence of ‘The All Knowing Intelligence,’ active in each person’s life and in the universe at large! And this means that by getting in touch with it, this Transcendent and ‘All Knowing Intelligence,’ I can have at least a vague idea of what next, after our life here below!
But it is important that I share the reasons why I personally prefer theism to atheism and agnosticism! In other words, I have to answer the question, why theism appeals to me more than atheism and agnosticism. This is a long story and a search that has been tedious and sometimes very painful through the labyrinth of conflicting ideas, contradictory opinions and irreconcilable doctrines.
I was born to Roman Catholic parents. They were not very devoted Christians, but all the same they often went to Church, and we too their children followed. But this is not the reason why I believe in the existence of ‘The All Knowing and All Powerful Intelligence!’ For at some point during my youthful years, I had a terrible inner crisis that nearly forced me to abandon my faith and become an atheist!
In brief it happened like this, one day during my third year of philosophy in the Major Seminary, as I genuflected before the Blessed Sacrament, I was cast into the worst and darkest spiritual nightmare of my life! For the first time in my life I doubted the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
How could a whole person, a fully grown up human being that Jesus was, squeeze or compress himself and be contained in such a small host! I wondered. The doubt then extended to his historical existence. Did Jesus really exist? Could the Jesus story not be just one of the legends told from generation to generation? All these questions crossed my baffled and puzzled mind!
For the following three months I went to the library nearly every day and read books big and small, I read commentaries on the scriptures, theological and philosical books in search for a satisfactory answer to my questions. Unfortunately, I found none! But my conscious search for the Transcendent as a mature person had began.
Up until then I had taken Jesus Christ as the centre and meaning of my life, but here I was my faith in him totally shattered! And could find no answer to those deep questions about his historical existence and real presence in the Blessed Sacrament! So I decided that it was no longer meaningful for me to continue being a believer and a Christian!
It was therefore necessary for me to redirect my life! I had to take another path! And the path that my head proposed to me was to join the notorious army of Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada Ssalongo, CBE (Conquerer of British Empire) and Life President of Uganda! And my next move was to throw away my Bible and all the religious articles like the rosary and medals which I had in my possession.
Very soon the day for throwing away all these things that had become meaningless to me came. I gathered them and piled them on my table! But for reasons beyond my grasp when I looked at my Bible as it lay there on the table, I said to myself, «Before I throw away this Bible, let me open it for the very last time in my life!»
And a miracle I will never forget as long as I live, the miracle that saved my faith and so retained me in the camp of theists happened! For when I opened it, my eyes fell on (Jn. 14 :21) which reads : «Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.»
When I read this verse, my heart told me not to abandon my faith. For Christ had promised to reveal himself to us! And all along what I had wanted was exactly that, to have just a glimpse of this Christ! And in a way I cannot explain, interiorly all the doubts that had assailed me about the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and his historical existence vanished like smoke!
But even then, I am still just at the beginning of my search for the Transcendent. For I have not yet experienced that big bang of total inner transformation which those who clearly heard the Voice of the Transcendent underwent! Radical and profound changes in their lives clear not just to themselves, but to everybody!
The following are some of the great and prominent figures that underwent such a radical change after hearing the transforming Voice of the Transcendent:
Samuel: «Yahweh then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Yahweh, your servant is listening’….
Samuel grew up and Yahweh was with him…and the word of Samuel went out to all Israel.» (1 Sam.3 :10-21. 4 :1)
St. Paul: St. Paul says this of himself, «You must have heard of my career as a practicing Jew, how merciless I was persecuting the Church of God, how much damage I did to it.» (Gal.1:13). But this same Paul on the road to Damascus heard the Voice of the Transcendent and a big bang of transformation took place in his life! And he became one of the greatest pillars of Christianity! In the Acts of the Apostles we thus read:
Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me….’(A/A.9 :3ff)
After hearing the Voice of the Transcendent, Paul’s life changed totally! He made a U-turn! The change was radical and visible! And everybody was astounded!
Blaise Pascal: This great French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, on the night of November 23, 1645, he had a big bang of inner transformation, a spiritual experience that completely changed his life! He heard the Voice, the Word of Jesus Christ and promised never to forget his Word! For at the end of the account of this experience which is called: Blaise Pascal’s night of fire, he wrote, «Total submission to Jesus Christ and my director. Everlasting joy in return for one day’s effort on earth. I will not forget thy word. Amen.»
After the night of fire, Pascal’s life radically changed and this was clear to all those who knew him! It was a real big bang of inner transformation! And from then on he spent most of his time not on Mathematics, Philosophy and Science, but on moral and spiritual matters.
*Dominic Vincent Nkoyoyo, Monastery Val Notre-Dame, Canada.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Abolition of Death Penalty
In a recent meeting, the representatives of East African judges rejected calls from the international organisations to formally abolish death penalty. Other judges within Kenya found themselves divided on whether to maintain or abolish death penalty. Those in favour of keeping the capital punishment are posing the question “whose right to life is to be defended; that of the already killed victim or of the live aggressor?
The United Nations is in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty whereby the executions are suspended in view of total abolition. Although most of the countries in the world have not officially abolished the law, they no longer practice death sentence or if it is done very rarely (cf. Evangelium Vitae n. 56). Although the Catholic church does not exclude the possibility of the extreme way of punishing capital offences if this is the only way to defend other lives against the aggressor, it has nevertheless defended the right to life of every person and advocated for non lethal means to punish capital offences, which are more in conformity with human dignity and in line with the conditions of common good (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 2266-2267).
A non governmental Organization in Italy called “Hands off Cain” (in Italian Nessuno Tocchi Caino), initiated in the early 90’ the movement of suspension of death sentence and war against torture in general. The name of this association originates from the Biblical verse in the book of Genesis 4:15, whereby God put a mark on Cain so that nobody would kill him. Cain who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy was well aware that his burden was greater than he could bear and that people would be looking for his blood. However, God decided to protect the murderer saying that whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.
Is this not a clear indication that nobody really deserves death penalty, not because the crime committed is not capital, but simply because there is nothing or no punishment which can equal the crime of death of another person. I think a life lost in crime like murder can only be paid not by eliminating another life through death sentence, but by maintaining another life so that throughout his or her life one can repay through penance and other forms of punishment.
Those advocating for the death penalty instead seem to follow the law of an eye for an eye. Although they don’t quote the bible it can be traced in Genesis 9:6, where God speaks to Noah and tells him that he who sheds blood of man, shall by man his blood be shed. By this statement God however wants to stress how important and valuable human life is. This can be seen in the prohibitions (do not kill) found not only in Deuteronomy 5:17 and Exodus 20:13, but also in Mathew 5:21, among other biblical texts.
Article 26 § 1 of the Kenyan constitution states that every person has right to life. Although § 3 of the same article says that except to the extend authorised by the same constitution or any other law, it does not mean that such a law that might permit killing is a just law. We need to look at the objectives of punishment. It is meant to expiate one’s offences, to preserve public order and safety and as medicinal scope to correct the offender. It is obvious that when the person’s life is eliminated, some of the goals mentioned above won’t be effected. Preservation of public order and safety may be maintained by the aggressor’s death, but it is not guaranteed that such other persons capable of committing similar crimes are not still at large. And it might be impossible to eliminate each and every one who threatens public order and offends fundamental human rights. The circle will be too vicious if we have to apply an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth rule to every capital offence. Even when the universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) defends the right of every person, it states in article 1 that all human beings are equal in dignity and rights. This implies that even the person who murders another has the same right to life, regardless of the offence committed. While article 3 of the same UDHR defends security of every person, article 5 prohibits acts torture, cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment and punishment. With death penalty we can no longer talk of punishment, but revenge.
This is what precisely God meant by saying that whoever kills Cain will have sevenfold vengeance. Whoever then executes another person because he has committed a capital offence will also have to face the same charge. He is also going against the right to life of the other person (a murderer). As I pointed out, the vicious circle will be endless and the injustice great. Nowadays there are new technological ways of administering death penalty unlike the traditional head chopping or hangman. Nevertheless this does not lessen the gravity of the offence. All those involved in administering such punishment in countries whereby this is still practised, have a right to objection of conscious. This means they can pronounce against the act of killing someone if this goes against their inner voice: not simply as a personal matter, but against natural law of preservation of life, which is also prohibited by divine law.
Looking at the world records between 2010 up to at least July 2011, there is a positive evolution towards abolition of capital punishment. The number of countries/states practising it has gone down compared to the past years. In Africa, death penalty was executed by 6 countries in 2010 namely; Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Botswana. Recently it has been eliminated in Burundi, Rwanda, Cȏte d’Ivoire, Senegal etc. Asia remains the continent with the highest number of executions. In 2009 president Mwai Kibaki announced that the Kenyan government was commuting all death sentences to life in prison, a move which was seen to reduce by a fifth the total number of prisoners in the world facing the execution. What the East African judges are proposing now is a setback.
Kenya should be looking forward to officially eliminate death sentence after it took the move not to carry out the sentence, which in effect has not been done since 1983. Kenya should focus more on justice as pertains to non capital offences than putting into action the already dormant law of death punishment. It should actualize the moratorium favoured by majority of the nations because it is in line with the dignity the human person and in defence of his rights.
Death penalty can’t be termed as such like legitimate defence which needs to be an actual defence in the here and now action. When the officers in charge of security come across such concrete cases where the public need to be defended, unintentional killing may be viewed as legitimate self defence, if that was the only option to disarm the aggressor. However, when death penalty is executed it is not as a means to punish someone, but it becomes an end on its own. The end of capital punishment is the elimination of the culprit (killing). This does not neither guarantee that the crime committed will end nor give a chance to the person to amend his life. Life imprisonment seems to make sense as the society is free from the aggressors, yet at the same time the prisoners have time to reflect on their past life. Not all of them repent as seen by those who still organize other crimes while in prison or those who escape from prison. But at least the fact that they are imprisoned for life is almost equivalent to being sentenced to death, without being killed by anybody. One just waits for the natural death as he or she continues to study, work, reconcile with the creator and those he offended.
BY FR PASCAL MWAMBI MWAKIO
Master’s degree student at the Faculty of Bioethics
REGINA APOSTOLORUM UNIVERSITY, ROME.
The United Nations is in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty whereby the executions are suspended in view of total abolition. Although most of the countries in the world have not officially abolished the law, they no longer practice death sentence or if it is done very rarely (cf. Evangelium Vitae n. 56). Although the Catholic church does not exclude the possibility of the extreme way of punishing capital offences if this is the only way to defend other lives against the aggressor, it has nevertheless defended the right to life of every person and advocated for non lethal means to punish capital offences, which are more in conformity with human dignity and in line with the conditions of common good (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 2266-2267).
A non governmental Organization in Italy called “Hands off Cain” (in Italian Nessuno Tocchi Caino), initiated in the early 90’ the movement of suspension of death sentence and war against torture in general. The name of this association originates from the Biblical verse in the book of Genesis 4:15, whereby God put a mark on Cain so that nobody would kill him. Cain who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy was well aware that his burden was greater than he could bear and that people would be looking for his blood. However, God decided to protect the murderer saying that whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.
Is this not a clear indication that nobody really deserves death penalty, not because the crime committed is not capital, but simply because there is nothing or no punishment which can equal the crime of death of another person. I think a life lost in crime like murder can only be paid not by eliminating another life through death sentence, but by maintaining another life so that throughout his or her life one can repay through penance and other forms of punishment.
Those advocating for the death penalty instead seem to follow the law of an eye for an eye. Although they don’t quote the bible it can be traced in Genesis 9:6, where God speaks to Noah and tells him that he who sheds blood of man, shall by man his blood be shed. By this statement God however wants to stress how important and valuable human life is. This can be seen in the prohibitions (do not kill) found not only in Deuteronomy 5:17 and Exodus 20:13, but also in Mathew 5:21, among other biblical texts.
Article 26 § 1 of the Kenyan constitution states that every person has right to life. Although § 3 of the same article says that except to the extend authorised by the same constitution or any other law, it does not mean that such a law that might permit killing is a just law. We need to look at the objectives of punishment. It is meant to expiate one’s offences, to preserve public order and safety and as medicinal scope to correct the offender. It is obvious that when the person’s life is eliminated, some of the goals mentioned above won’t be effected. Preservation of public order and safety may be maintained by the aggressor’s death, but it is not guaranteed that such other persons capable of committing similar crimes are not still at large. And it might be impossible to eliminate each and every one who threatens public order and offends fundamental human rights. The circle will be too vicious if we have to apply an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth rule to every capital offence. Even when the universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) defends the right of every person, it states in article 1 that all human beings are equal in dignity and rights. This implies that even the person who murders another has the same right to life, regardless of the offence committed. While article 3 of the same UDHR defends security of every person, article 5 prohibits acts torture, cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment and punishment. With death penalty we can no longer talk of punishment, but revenge.
This is what precisely God meant by saying that whoever kills Cain will have sevenfold vengeance. Whoever then executes another person because he has committed a capital offence will also have to face the same charge. He is also going against the right to life of the other person (a murderer). As I pointed out, the vicious circle will be endless and the injustice great. Nowadays there are new technological ways of administering death penalty unlike the traditional head chopping or hangman. Nevertheless this does not lessen the gravity of the offence. All those involved in administering such punishment in countries whereby this is still practised, have a right to objection of conscious. This means they can pronounce against the act of killing someone if this goes against their inner voice: not simply as a personal matter, but against natural law of preservation of life, which is also prohibited by divine law.
Looking at the world records between 2010 up to at least July 2011, there is a positive evolution towards abolition of capital punishment. The number of countries/states practising it has gone down compared to the past years. In Africa, death penalty was executed by 6 countries in 2010 namely; Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Botswana. Recently it has been eliminated in Burundi, Rwanda, Cȏte d’Ivoire, Senegal etc. Asia remains the continent with the highest number of executions. In 2009 president Mwai Kibaki announced that the Kenyan government was commuting all death sentences to life in prison, a move which was seen to reduce by a fifth the total number of prisoners in the world facing the execution. What the East African judges are proposing now is a setback.
Kenya should be looking forward to officially eliminate death sentence after it took the move not to carry out the sentence, which in effect has not been done since 1983. Kenya should focus more on justice as pertains to non capital offences than putting into action the already dormant law of death punishment. It should actualize the moratorium favoured by majority of the nations because it is in line with the dignity the human person and in defence of his rights.
Death penalty can’t be termed as such like legitimate defence which needs to be an actual defence in the here and now action. When the officers in charge of security come across such concrete cases where the public need to be defended, unintentional killing may be viewed as legitimate self defence, if that was the only option to disarm the aggressor. However, when death penalty is executed it is not as a means to punish someone, but it becomes an end on its own. The end of capital punishment is the elimination of the culprit (killing). This does not neither guarantee that the crime committed will end nor give a chance to the person to amend his life. Life imprisonment seems to make sense as the society is free from the aggressors, yet at the same time the prisoners have time to reflect on their past life. Not all of them repent as seen by those who still organize other crimes while in prison or those who escape from prison. But at least the fact that they are imprisoned for life is almost equivalent to being sentenced to death, without being killed by anybody. One just waits for the natural death as he or she continues to study, work, reconcile with the creator and those he offended.
BY FR PASCAL MWAMBI MWAKIO
Master’s degree student at the Faculty of Bioethics
REGINA APOSTOLORUM UNIVERSITY, ROME.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
DRC Protracted War in the African Nation Series
Local War of Global Interest
In August 2010 the UN published a report …which documented crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between the nineties and 2003, a period when the country was being devastated by two wars. The report sheds new light on a conflict that still persists and behind which enormous interests move. This document was discussed at a conference held in November 2010 at the University of Parma, Italy.
An explosive report, so controversial, that its publication was opposed to the bitter end. No, nothing to do with the Wikileaks revelations but only the honest work of some UN personnel who documented the horror into which the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plunged between the mid-nineties and 2003, a period when the country was ravaged by two bloody wars forgotten by the media.
An act of neglect by the media that has also been the fate of this United Nations document, despite its devastating content. Or perhaps precisely because of them. A conference held in Parma in late November 2010 tried to pull back the veil of silence. The conference was organized by “Rete Pace per il Congo” (an organ linked to the missionaries who work in the war-torn African country) and the Department of Political and Social Studies at the University of Parma.
The gathering was introduced by the quite informal greeting of the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Roberto Greci, who mentioned the reason why the academic world had taken on the initiative: as “humanists,” he said, we cannot remain indifferent to the tragedies that are tormenting the world. After the Dean came Sister Teresina Caffi, a Xaverian working in eastern DRC. She summarized what happened in the country in those dark years, during which she explained, referring to a study by the International Rescue Committee, three million eight hundred thousand people died because of the war.
Blood-Stained Wealth
It all began on October 1, 1990, said Sister Teresina, when the then Head of the Ugandan Information Service, Paul Kagame, launched a rebellion to overthrow the government of Rwanda, a country considered strategic for gaining access to the wealth of the east of the DRC. A venture “supported and followed by the Anglophone powers eager to replace France in access” to the resources. Kagame relied on the thirst for revenge of the Tutsi whom the Rwandan regime, monopolized by the country's ethnic majority, the Hutu, had ousted from power. The war between government and anti-government supporters went ahead with various massacres until, in 1994, the ferocity reached its climax.
On April 6, the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and of neighboring Burundi, returning from a meeting of negotiations, was shot down. Both presidents died in the incident. In response Hutu extremists massacred 800,000 people: mostly Tutsis, but also many Hutus. A genocide known to the world, but of which, Sister Teresina said, much remains to be clarified. The massacres lasted a hundred days that is until Kagame managed to seize power in Rwanda.
The Hutu, terrified by the idea of collective vengeance, fled en masse to the neighboring DRC where they crowded into refugee camps. But the camps were too close to Rwanda, as various humanitarian organizations made clear, and tension, instead of diminishing, grew. The new Rwandan regime, in fact, considered them a threat, and in October 1996, after yet another ultimatum, bombed them. It was the beginning of the first war: troops from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda invaded the DRC. At their head was placed an old Congolese opponent of the oppressive government in Kinshasha, Laurent-Desire Kabila: in that way the “war could be called a war of liberation”, Sister Teresina commented. Although, the Xaverian sister added, with the progressive sickness of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the Kinshasa government had opened a process of democratization heralding positive developments.
In May 1997 the war ended and Laurent-Desire Kabila declared himself president. But the peace did not last long. After about a year, the new president, “also driven by popular pressure”, asked foreign troops to leave the country. In response, a second war broke out in August: “the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie” a rebel group which has its operational base in the eastern regions, rose against the government in Kinshasa. But, Sister Teresina said, it was a “screening rebellion” behind which lay Rwanda and Uganda yet again. Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Chad entered in support of Kabila. [to be continued].
Crimes against humanity
During the wars, which ended in 2003, unspeakable atrocities took place in the Congolese jungle. The UN experts made a kind of chart of the violence, ascertaining 617 slaughters, defined as “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes”. Emma Bonino, vice president of the Italian Senate, at the time of the war was commissioner of the European Union. Asked for her opinion, she tersely remarked: “To my knowledge, for the period in which I was an eyewitness, the UN report is very well done”. And she revealed that very strong pressure had been exerted to prevent its publication. In her speech she spoke of the start of the first war, recounting the shock at the bombing of the refugee camps, although the flag of the United Nations was flying over them. And she recalled an episode in which she was personally involved. It happened in the first phase of the war and the Rwandan government, fearing reactions to the invasion, had reassured the world that all the Hutu refugees had returned home, a total of 500,000 returning Hutus.
Information confirmed by the general commanding the UN multinational force stationed in the DRC. So all was well, everything normalized, so much so that the international force was dissolved. But questions arose from many quarters: at the beginning of hostilities there was talk of 1,200,000 refugees, while the returnees were only 500,000. It didn't add up. Doubts grew as disturbing news came from the missionaries in the DRC, who spoke of masses of fugitives on the move within the jungle. “We decided to check”, Bonino resumed. “So, after several searches, we found the Tingi-Tingi camp, 250,000 people crammed into an area four hundred kilometers from the border. Hundreds of thousands of refugees who simply did not exist for the world. They had done four hundred kilometers on foot. You can imagine their conditions ...
After that, she recalled, appeals and calls for action to stop the war multiplied, unfortunately in vain. She had the documents telling of those insistent appeals and showed them. “The fact is that, in the course of that first war, the international community was prepared to accept any wickedness just to end Mobutu's regime”, she explained. She also spoke of the effectiveness of the propaganda of the invasion forces, which capitalized on the genocide in Rwanda: the Rwandan Hutus were indiscriminately accused of those murders, a stigma which justified any atrocity against them. “But the perpetrators of the genocide were some tens of thousands ... The Hutu refugees in DRC were more than a million, most of whom women and children”, Bonino remarked.
During those years, the United Nations experts noted horrors without end: mass murder, brutal violence, people burned alive, cannibalism ... A series of crimes committed by the forces opposed to the Congolese government, but also (to a lesser extent, according to the UN report) by government forces. In particular the report focused on a “modus operandi” very much used by the forces of “liberation”: once arrived in a village, the weary civilians were asked to gather together for a food and clothing distribution. Then, when the intended victims (mainly Hutu of Rwandan origin) had been picked out, they were tied up before being killed with blunt instruments (mostly with hammers).
Sometimes in dozens, others in hundreds, including women and children. A similar selection was made at checkpoints, separating those who were to be repatriated to Rwanda from the others. Then, instead of Rwanda, those selected were killed and their bodies made to disappear in mass graves or thrown into rivers or latrines. Another ploy for identifying the prey was to allow the humanitarian organizations to enter the territories under the control of the forces of “liberation” to permit assistance to be given to the fugitives hiding in the jungle. Permission granted so that the relief workers took with them trusted persons to check on their operations. In reality, the latter then located the fugitives and passed the information to the executioners ... The UN report includes variations on the tragic theme set out above: women and children buried alive or killed by smashing their heads against walls or trees.
A score performed with method and dedication, so much so that the United Nations experts speculated that a veritable genocide had been committed against the Rwandan Hutu refugees in the DRC. And they asked that a special court be set up to verify the truth of this hypothesis. Among the many crimes also the mass kidnapping of children to turn into soldiers or to subject to sexual violence. But the acts of pedophilia committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo did not make many headlines.
War and mobile phones
Mathilde Muhindo Mwamini, a former member of the DRC parliament, spoke at the Parma conference on the sexual violence that took place in those years and explained how it, carried out on a large scale and in a systematic way, had served as a weapon: the aim being to spread AIDS and erode the social fabric of the civilian population, since it resulted in the psychological disruption of family relationships. Also, since the domestic economy of Congolese society is based largely on women's work (particularly in the fields), the violence was also meant to undermine the subsistence of families.
A detailed report by Muhindo Mwamini showed that widespread impunity was a key factor in the perpetuation of such practices even today. Indeed, because at the Parma conference not only the past was spoken of, but the tragic present also. In fact the eastern region of Democratic Republic of Congo is far from pacified. Terror continues to rage even after the end of the war. On various occasions militias led by adventurers, with the support of the Rwandan regime (and others), have risen up against the Kinshasha government. The last major rebellion was that of Laurent Nkunda, leader of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People), who, after putting the region to fire and the sword, was arrested in January 2009 and imprisoned in Rwanda. Currently those who are spreading terror are armed groups known under various acronyms: the anti-Rwandan Hutu armed forces, former militiamen of the CNDP still in active service (a recent UN report states that Nkunda had not broken his ties with his old buddies and that he is pulling the strings from prison in Rwanda) and many others.
The various warlords are vying for pieces of territory, roads, mines, rivers, leading to continued violence against the civilian population. While the international community remains silent. Marco Deriu, a sociologist and lecturer in the Department of Political and Social Studies at the University of Parma, explained the enormous interests in this war in eastern DRC, one of the richest areas in the world: there are huge reserves of gold, diamonds, oil, cobalt, uranium, cassiterite, wolframite, copper, coffee and hard woods ... In detail there is: 17% of the world's production of rough diamonds, 34% of the world's cobalt, 10% of world production of copper, 4-5% of world production of tin and 60-80% of coltan resources. This latter mineral is used for electronic components, particularly for telecommunications and computers, but also for play stations, as Deriu remarked with tragic irony. The chaos of this continuous war still allows the looting of natural resources. More or less everybody is exploiting the situation: the warlords, the various dealers (local and international) in resources and weapons, up to the big multinational corporations that are buying precious minerals at bargain prices.
It is a conflict that feeds off itself, given that the profits are partially reinvested in fomenting warfare so as to increase business, in a crescendo of chaos organized by subtle minds. At the expense of the local populations who are driven out of mining areas or used as forced labor for the mines or to reinforce the ranks of the militias. The fate of women and girls, however, is that of sex slaves. It is difficult to break this network of concentric interests in a war that is both local and global. “But this UN report is a window of opportunity”, said Muhindo Mwamini in concluding her speech, “and at the same time, a testimony to the fact that, sooner or later, the truth comes to light”.
There were many Congolese at the conference, mostly young students. Some of them were there thanks to the Xaverians, with whom they have close and affectionate relations. They spoke out, asked questions, told of their experiences. They asked for justice and peace. And there was an amazing lack of bitterness in their words, despite everything that has happened and is happening in their country. They had smiling faces, bright eyes. And that is more than a window of hope.
NOTE: The chaos of this continuous war still allows the looting of natural resources. More or less everybody is exploiting the situation: the warlords, the various dealers (local and international) in resources and weapons, up to the big multinational corporations that are buying precious minerals at bargain prices. A conflict feeds off itself, given that the profits are partially reinvested in fomenting warfare to increase business.
By David Malacaria, This article was first published in the magazine called 30Days, a catholic Italian Magazine.
In August 2010 the UN published a report …which documented crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between the nineties and 2003, a period when the country was being devastated by two wars. The report sheds new light on a conflict that still persists and behind which enormous interests move. This document was discussed at a conference held in November 2010 at the University of Parma, Italy.
An explosive report, so controversial, that its publication was opposed to the bitter end. No, nothing to do with the Wikileaks revelations but only the honest work of some UN personnel who documented the horror into which the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plunged between the mid-nineties and 2003, a period when the country was ravaged by two bloody wars forgotten by the media.
An act of neglect by the media that has also been the fate of this United Nations document, despite its devastating content. Or perhaps precisely because of them. A conference held in Parma in late November 2010 tried to pull back the veil of silence. The conference was organized by “Rete Pace per il Congo” (an organ linked to the missionaries who work in the war-torn African country) and the Department of Political and Social Studies at the University of Parma.
The gathering was introduced by the quite informal greeting of the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Roberto Greci, who mentioned the reason why the academic world had taken on the initiative: as “humanists,” he said, we cannot remain indifferent to the tragedies that are tormenting the world. After the Dean came Sister Teresina Caffi, a Xaverian working in eastern DRC. She summarized what happened in the country in those dark years, during which she explained, referring to a study by the International Rescue Committee, three million eight hundred thousand people died because of the war.
Blood-Stained Wealth
It all began on October 1, 1990, said Sister Teresina, when the then Head of the Ugandan Information Service, Paul Kagame, launched a rebellion to overthrow the government of Rwanda, a country considered strategic for gaining access to the wealth of the east of the DRC. A venture “supported and followed by the Anglophone powers eager to replace France in access” to the resources. Kagame relied on the thirst for revenge of the Tutsi whom the Rwandan regime, monopolized by the country's ethnic majority, the Hutu, had ousted from power. The war between government and anti-government supporters went ahead with various massacres until, in 1994, the ferocity reached its climax.
On April 6, the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and of neighboring Burundi, returning from a meeting of negotiations, was shot down. Both presidents died in the incident. In response Hutu extremists massacred 800,000 people: mostly Tutsis, but also many Hutus. A genocide known to the world, but of which, Sister Teresina said, much remains to be clarified. The massacres lasted a hundred days that is until Kagame managed to seize power in Rwanda.
The Hutu, terrified by the idea of collective vengeance, fled en masse to the neighboring DRC where they crowded into refugee camps. But the camps were too close to Rwanda, as various humanitarian organizations made clear, and tension, instead of diminishing, grew. The new Rwandan regime, in fact, considered them a threat, and in October 1996, after yet another ultimatum, bombed them. It was the beginning of the first war: troops from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda invaded the DRC. At their head was placed an old Congolese opponent of the oppressive government in Kinshasha, Laurent-Desire Kabila: in that way the “war could be called a war of liberation”, Sister Teresina commented. Although, the Xaverian sister added, with the progressive sickness of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the Kinshasa government had opened a process of democratization heralding positive developments.
In May 1997 the war ended and Laurent-Desire Kabila declared himself president. But the peace did not last long. After about a year, the new president, “also driven by popular pressure”, asked foreign troops to leave the country. In response, a second war broke out in August: “the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie” a rebel group which has its operational base in the eastern regions, rose against the government in Kinshasa. But, Sister Teresina said, it was a “screening rebellion” behind which lay Rwanda and Uganda yet again. Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Chad entered in support of Kabila. [to be continued].
Crimes against humanity
During the wars, which ended in 2003, unspeakable atrocities took place in the Congolese jungle. The UN experts made a kind of chart of the violence, ascertaining 617 slaughters, defined as “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes”. Emma Bonino, vice president of the Italian Senate, at the time of the war was commissioner of the European Union. Asked for her opinion, she tersely remarked: “To my knowledge, for the period in which I was an eyewitness, the UN report is very well done”. And she revealed that very strong pressure had been exerted to prevent its publication. In her speech she spoke of the start of the first war, recounting the shock at the bombing of the refugee camps, although the flag of the United Nations was flying over them. And she recalled an episode in which she was personally involved. It happened in the first phase of the war and the Rwandan government, fearing reactions to the invasion, had reassured the world that all the Hutu refugees had returned home, a total of 500,000 returning Hutus.
Information confirmed by the general commanding the UN multinational force stationed in the DRC. So all was well, everything normalized, so much so that the international force was dissolved. But questions arose from many quarters: at the beginning of hostilities there was talk of 1,200,000 refugees, while the returnees were only 500,000. It didn't add up. Doubts grew as disturbing news came from the missionaries in the DRC, who spoke of masses of fugitives on the move within the jungle. “We decided to check”, Bonino resumed. “So, after several searches, we found the Tingi-Tingi camp, 250,000 people crammed into an area four hundred kilometers from the border. Hundreds of thousands of refugees who simply did not exist for the world. They had done four hundred kilometers on foot. You can imagine their conditions ...
After that, she recalled, appeals and calls for action to stop the war multiplied, unfortunately in vain. She had the documents telling of those insistent appeals and showed them. “The fact is that, in the course of that first war, the international community was prepared to accept any wickedness just to end Mobutu's regime”, she explained. She also spoke of the effectiveness of the propaganda of the invasion forces, which capitalized on the genocide in Rwanda: the Rwandan Hutus were indiscriminately accused of those murders, a stigma which justified any atrocity against them. “But the perpetrators of the genocide were some tens of thousands ... The Hutu refugees in DRC were more than a million, most of whom women and children”, Bonino remarked.
During those years, the United Nations experts noted horrors without end: mass murder, brutal violence, people burned alive, cannibalism ... A series of crimes committed by the forces opposed to the Congolese government, but also (to a lesser extent, according to the UN report) by government forces. In particular the report focused on a “modus operandi” very much used by the forces of “liberation”: once arrived in a village, the weary civilians were asked to gather together for a food and clothing distribution. Then, when the intended victims (mainly Hutu of Rwandan origin) had been picked out, they were tied up before being killed with blunt instruments (mostly with hammers).
Sometimes in dozens, others in hundreds, including women and children. A similar selection was made at checkpoints, separating those who were to be repatriated to Rwanda from the others. Then, instead of Rwanda, those selected were killed and their bodies made to disappear in mass graves or thrown into rivers or latrines. Another ploy for identifying the prey was to allow the humanitarian organizations to enter the territories under the control of the forces of “liberation” to permit assistance to be given to the fugitives hiding in the jungle. Permission granted so that the relief workers took with them trusted persons to check on their operations. In reality, the latter then located the fugitives and passed the information to the executioners ... The UN report includes variations on the tragic theme set out above: women and children buried alive or killed by smashing their heads against walls or trees.
A score performed with method and dedication, so much so that the United Nations experts speculated that a veritable genocide had been committed against the Rwandan Hutu refugees in the DRC. And they asked that a special court be set up to verify the truth of this hypothesis. Among the many crimes also the mass kidnapping of children to turn into soldiers or to subject to sexual violence. But the acts of pedophilia committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo did not make many headlines.
War and mobile phones
Mathilde Muhindo Mwamini, a former member of the DRC parliament, spoke at the Parma conference on the sexual violence that took place in those years and explained how it, carried out on a large scale and in a systematic way, had served as a weapon: the aim being to spread AIDS and erode the social fabric of the civilian population, since it resulted in the psychological disruption of family relationships. Also, since the domestic economy of Congolese society is based largely on women's work (particularly in the fields), the violence was also meant to undermine the subsistence of families.
A detailed report by Muhindo Mwamini showed that widespread impunity was a key factor in the perpetuation of such practices even today. Indeed, because at the Parma conference not only the past was spoken of, but the tragic present also. In fact the eastern region of Democratic Republic of Congo is far from pacified. Terror continues to rage even after the end of the war. On various occasions militias led by adventurers, with the support of the Rwandan regime (and others), have risen up against the Kinshasha government. The last major rebellion was that of Laurent Nkunda, leader of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People), who, after putting the region to fire and the sword, was arrested in January 2009 and imprisoned in Rwanda. Currently those who are spreading terror are armed groups known under various acronyms: the anti-Rwandan Hutu armed forces, former militiamen of the CNDP still in active service (a recent UN report states that Nkunda had not broken his ties with his old buddies and that he is pulling the strings from prison in Rwanda) and many others.
The various warlords are vying for pieces of territory, roads, mines, rivers, leading to continued violence against the civilian population. While the international community remains silent. Marco Deriu, a sociologist and lecturer in the Department of Political and Social Studies at the University of Parma, explained the enormous interests in this war in eastern DRC, one of the richest areas in the world: there are huge reserves of gold, diamonds, oil, cobalt, uranium, cassiterite, wolframite, copper, coffee and hard woods ... In detail there is: 17% of the world's production of rough diamonds, 34% of the world's cobalt, 10% of world production of copper, 4-5% of world production of tin and 60-80% of coltan resources. This latter mineral is used for electronic components, particularly for telecommunications and computers, but also for play stations, as Deriu remarked with tragic irony. The chaos of this continuous war still allows the looting of natural resources. More or less everybody is exploiting the situation: the warlords, the various dealers (local and international) in resources and weapons, up to the big multinational corporations that are buying precious minerals at bargain prices.
It is a conflict that feeds off itself, given that the profits are partially reinvested in fomenting warfare so as to increase business, in a crescendo of chaos organized by subtle minds. At the expense of the local populations who are driven out of mining areas or used as forced labor for the mines or to reinforce the ranks of the militias. The fate of women and girls, however, is that of sex slaves. It is difficult to break this network of concentric interests in a war that is both local and global. “But this UN report is a window of opportunity”, said Muhindo Mwamini in concluding her speech, “and at the same time, a testimony to the fact that, sooner or later, the truth comes to light”.
There were many Congolese at the conference, mostly young students. Some of them were there thanks to the Xaverians, with whom they have close and affectionate relations. They spoke out, asked questions, told of their experiences. They asked for justice and peace. And there was an amazing lack of bitterness in their words, despite everything that has happened and is happening in their country. They had smiling faces, bright eyes. And that is more than a window of hope.
NOTE: The chaos of this continuous war still allows the looting of natural resources. More or less everybody is exploiting the situation: the warlords, the various dealers (local and international) in resources and weapons, up to the big multinational corporations that are buying precious minerals at bargain prices. A conflict feeds off itself, given that the profits are partially reinvested in fomenting warfare to increase business.
By David Malacaria, This article was first published in the magazine called 30Days, a catholic Italian Magazine.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Religious Freedom
A REFLEXION ON THE CONVERSION OF PERSECUTOR: SAINT PAUL
Acts 22:3-16
If salvation came to us through the cross, then the latter becomes clearly a way through which the expiation of our sins, the cleansing of our stained mind and heart, is carried out before we are actually restored to our primeval image, that which God gave us at the creation of the universe, as narrated in the two first chapters of the Book of Genesis. In this context of the way of the cross, any moment of persecutions and tribulations is seen in the light of our faith to the crucified Christ, not as moments of disgrace but of grace.
The conversion of Paul is one of the amazing manifestations of God’s grace, forgiveness and power to empower what human eyes may judge as unworthy disgrace. It’s clear that Paul was out there on a specific mission: “to persecute the newly growing Christian Church by arresting and eventually killing its followers.” It’s exactly there that the Light of the Lord shone in his darkness. That’s where I remember the English saying that “every cloud has a silver lining.” Obviously bad situations may bear some glittering lights in them if at all we are able to sail beyond the large and “cast the net into the deep.”
The occasion of Paul, the converted persecutor, prompts me to rethink about the current Christian persecutions by other religions such as Islam (in several parts of the world, recently in Egypt) and Buddhism (in some parts of India), all of them brothers of ours, sharing the same gift of human life from the same God that we do call with different names as the late South-African Reggae Star Lucky Dube put it in his song “Jah live”: “Some call him Jah, some Allah, some God… but He cares for everyone…”
As the persecution of the Christian Church is reawakening, it appears to me that our reading and interpretation of the situation is widely biased and blinded by the “Americanized or the Westernized vision of Islam.” And this unilateral narrowed vision impedes us from grasping the situation in a more eclectic approach that would bring together history, faith, reason and our commitment and witness as Christians in the world. The Americanized/Westernized vision of Islam associates the latter with “terrorism”, a widely shared vision in the West. I am equally amazed that the counter position comes from the same America and through a lay leader in the person of President Barrack Obama whose moderate approach seems to balance this unilaterally minded vision (Cf. his positive statement when Muslims wanted to build a Mosque on Ground zero where the two Towers of the World Trade Center were blown off). His speech was very conciliating and urging the American people, and all of us by extension, to forego any form of “hate speech” and use in our language “the words that heal” instead of “words that wound” (Cf. his latest speech in Tucson/Arizona when he visited a recovering Gabrielle Giffords in her hospital bed after being shot in the head).
First of all, I want to state clearly that I’ve no intention whatsoever to provide any form of apology to terrorism. As a Christian believer, a priest, a free thinker and a student in Communication and Mass Media, I fundamentally subscribe for a peaceful world with religious, political, ideological and social tolerance. No one has the right to take people’s life as this pertains to God alone, the Creator of life. I simply find absurd and narrow minded this association of some Religions to “terrorism.” This is, to my humble opinion, a real easy short cut, a cheap way of pointing quickly a finger at someone else without looking deep inside on our own side. So I wonder as I ponder on the grace of Saint Paul, “the converted persecutor”, isn’t there any other way of reading history, using different lenses than the most popular current one viewing only the surface? Beyond the gruesome events of terrorism here and there, isn’t there any meaning that God is trying to communicate to us as Christians in the nightmare of modern liberalism and terrorism? If in the past, God did use pagan Kings like Nebuchadnezzar to make his glory be known by his chosen people Israel, what impedes Him today to use some other historical circumstances to make us re-question our own journey in the world as far as our Christian commitment or witness is concerned? My suggestion is therefore a wider and eclectic reading of the reality that brings us back to ourselves, inside our own home in order to see if we are not in some ways responsible for letting other alternatives thrive, looking better than our Christian faith; or giving an opportunity to others to express their emotional outburst at the extreme.
Are you responsible? “Yes, I am!” is my answer after a number of considerations that I would like to share in this short reflection. If you find yourself challenged, then let us look together for words that heal and restore peace with our different brothers in dialogue. If you hold a different opinion than mine, then let me know so that we may grow together in our reading of reality as it unfolds itself.
History taught me that somewhere along the line, crusades were organized around the 15th-17th Centuries to establish Christianity in the West and fight against all the infidels. I do not remember if that was called “terrorism”, maybe the word did not yet exist, or at least was not yet on the limelight like today. What do I think in my mind and feel in my heart when others are using methods I did use in the past to repress their freedom of religion? They probably felt the same way I feel right now. The fact that I was not physically there to witness the crusades does not alter my historical link to this dark past (Just as the West does with the story of slavery in Africa). Without ratifying the concept of “holy wars,” I simply wonder if this is not somehow part of the process of religious development in human history, taking in account the fact that a religion such as Islam for instance, takes its roots in the year 622 of our era, 7 centuries after Christianity. Such an argument would not apply for Buddhism or some other religions older than Christianity.
History taught me that from independence in 1960 until now, most if not all leaders of my country, D.R. Congo were and are Christians, even former students in Seminaries, as these were the best learning Institutions in our African countries during colonization and at the dawn of our independence. I did not hear any Muslim name in our governments, maybe one or two. All my presidents, from “Joseph” Kasa-vubu to “Joseph” Kabila, passing through “Joseph”-“Désiré” Mobutu and Laurent-“Désiré” Kabila, were and are all Christians, possess Christian names and go to different Christian services, especially on Sundays. The D.R. Congo population is Christian in majority (over 50 %)… Yet we can see the stark contrast! How much all these seeds, not necessarily fruits, of Christianity, except the first Joseph, have wrecked our very rich country with their drunkenness of power, greed and selfishness! Most leaders and people continue mixing both Christian faith and some occult and traditional practices, ranging from animist and fetishist rituals to stark devil worshipping where human blood is used.
History taught me that the West has become extremely democratic that it is terminally ailing from a thorough and stubborn amnesia of its Christian roots of development that brought it to the peak of its medieval and early modern glory. In the name of democracy and human freedom, the West has trampled down several values and removed all Christian symbols, namely the cross of Christ, from their schools so that children may have no reference to any form of religion. The West has forbidden prayers to avoid any form of discrimination and allow religious freedom in Christian schools; the other religions did not do that, they are still maintaining their non negotiable traditions in schools. In the name of the same democracy, the West has let children become stronger and fight their own parents, those from whom God gave them life, accusing them to the police and having them jailed for not fulfilling their rights; the other religions did not do that! While the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, some Christian Churches tolerate the ordination of homosexual pastors and nurture paedophiles in the name of freedom as if the Word of God has changed for modern Christianity… and with no one protest, homosexuality has been simply cancelled from the list of psychological deviations to become a natural, free and fulfilling sexual orientation! This mentality is in the process of its exportation across the globe! Oh! Even our fellow non-rational creatures, our cows and goats, cocks and hens, domesticated in our animal husbandries know the difference between male and female; ask them, they also know the right and natural sexual orientation better than the so-called human animal!
History taught me that my people back home were practicing agriculture before we missionaries – I’m one of them – brought them salt and sweets, shirts and shoes and began dishing out money to serve their needs under the beautiful evangelical intention of “helping the poor”. We infantilized them instead of making them mature persons with the development of their hard working skills. And we still continue doing so, stripping them from any human self worth and dignity while we should rather empower them and raise them up from the ash heap by the products of their sweat, to be faithful to the God’s given mandate in the book of Genesis. From hard workers and tough survivors against natural disasters, we turned our people into lazy expectants settled in the disastrous belief that “they got nothing and their salvation has to come from elsewhere.” And in the world global context, “if you’ve got nothing, you are nothing!”
History taught me that not so long ago, a Christian Western president called “Gushing War Blades” (I’m still expecting the Ocampo sword to fall upon him! Unfortunately it won’t!). GWB stubbornly waged a war in some Middle-East country, home for thousand of Muslims, because their hung leader, Salaam Hell, was suspected to have weapons of mass destruction. Nothing of the kind was found but the so called “World saviors” are still present there and no peace is found yet. Wonder! No one raised a voice to term that “terrorism”! In my own country, D.R. Congo, 6.000.000 people have lost their lives, thousands of women raped, mutilated of their lips and body parts with devilish cruelty… and recently, one nun, the former General Superior of the Augustinian Sisters of Dungu was coldly riddled with bullets by the LRA rebels… Aren’t some of Christian Super powers behind all these gruesome sceneries… letting African puppet leaders serve faithfully their interests at the expenses of our beloved people, the very people of God… still nobody calls that “terrorism”!
Then I wonder if the term “terrorism” is only applicable when the killing is initiated by others, different from us? Does it have a discriminatory meaning depending on denominations and geographical situations; or does it have a universal meaning applicable to all similar situations around the world? Or is it used only when it’s linked with suicide bombers and saved for planes bombing and other weapon and missile strikes? Isn’t the fight against “terrorism”, within the so called “Axis of evil”, as referred to by the World Salvation Legion, another way of perpetuating this “terrorism” and justifying their exorbitant military expenses and their economic invasions of poor countries rich in petrol and minerals? Have we thoroughly investigated the reasons why this terrorism begun and still goes on? Is it the right method to deal with consequences while causes are neither solved nor even addressed?
I think, in my humble perspective, that there is a tremendous inconsistency between professed values and the real commitment to the witness of faith. Somewhere, deep down in their confused minds and hearts, our people are hoping for some better alternatives even though they are still hanging around with the known status quo already offered. Maybe that is why others find it relatively easy to fish in our Christian ponds.
My heartfelt acknowledgement goes to all great Christian leaders whose struggles and witness brought a palpable social impact felt beyond their geographical boundaries. I particularly think of Reverend Pastor Martin Luther King in the USA (Martyr of the fight against discrimination of the black people), Bishop Desmond Tutu in South-Africa (living icon of the fall of Apartheid), Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Blessed woman having given herself totally for the dignity of the poor), Bishop Oscar Romero in Peru (Martyr for the defense of the poor natives)… and all world Christian disciples who have dedicated or sacrificed their lives for the incarnation of the liberating message of Christ’s Gospel without bending low or keeping a compromising silence in the face of peoples’ oppression. Such witness is needed to reaffirm our faith in Christ within a world seemingly loosing the compass. We ought to follow such steady examples in our search for and restoration of human dignity in its divinely anthropological roots of “beings created in God’s image.” I do believe that if we’re walking towards such a witnessing direction “to become light and salt of the earth”, then persecution, part of the ongoing process of Christ’s cross in the fight between light and darkness, will have some sparkling light on “some new Paul’s” of our time, falling from their domineering horses and responding to some peculiar questions leading them to “some conversion”, not necessarily Christian but “Godly grounded.”
Fr. Nhessy, NKULU ILAND, imc.
Acts 22:3-16
If salvation came to us through the cross, then the latter becomes clearly a way through which the expiation of our sins, the cleansing of our stained mind and heart, is carried out before we are actually restored to our primeval image, that which God gave us at the creation of the universe, as narrated in the two first chapters of the Book of Genesis. In this context of the way of the cross, any moment of persecutions and tribulations is seen in the light of our faith to the crucified Christ, not as moments of disgrace but of grace.
The conversion of Paul is one of the amazing manifestations of God’s grace, forgiveness and power to empower what human eyes may judge as unworthy disgrace. It’s clear that Paul was out there on a specific mission: “to persecute the newly growing Christian Church by arresting and eventually killing its followers.” It’s exactly there that the Light of the Lord shone in his darkness. That’s where I remember the English saying that “every cloud has a silver lining.” Obviously bad situations may bear some glittering lights in them if at all we are able to sail beyond the large and “cast the net into the deep.”
The occasion of Paul, the converted persecutor, prompts me to rethink about the current Christian persecutions by other religions such as Islam (in several parts of the world, recently in Egypt) and Buddhism (in some parts of India), all of them brothers of ours, sharing the same gift of human life from the same God that we do call with different names as the late South-African Reggae Star Lucky Dube put it in his song “Jah live”: “Some call him Jah, some Allah, some God… but He cares for everyone…”
As the persecution of the Christian Church is reawakening, it appears to me that our reading and interpretation of the situation is widely biased and blinded by the “Americanized or the Westernized vision of Islam.” And this unilateral narrowed vision impedes us from grasping the situation in a more eclectic approach that would bring together history, faith, reason and our commitment and witness as Christians in the world. The Americanized/Westernized vision of Islam associates the latter with “terrorism”, a widely shared vision in the West. I am equally amazed that the counter position comes from the same America and through a lay leader in the person of President Barrack Obama whose moderate approach seems to balance this unilaterally minded vision (Cf. his positive statement when Muslims wanted to build a Mosque on Ground zero where the two Towers of the World Trade Center were blown off). His speech was very conciliating and urging the American people, and all of us by extension, to forego any form of “hate speech” and use in our language “the words that heal” instead of “words that wound” (Cf. his latest speech in Tucson/Arizona when he visited a recovering Gabrielle Giffords in her hospital bed after being shot in the head).
First of all, I want to state clearly that I’ve no intention whatsoever to provide any form of apology to terrorism. As a Christian believer, a priest, a free thinker and a student in Communication and Mass Media, I fundamentally subscribe for a peaceful world with religious, political, ideological and social tolerance. No one has the right to take people’s life as this pertains to God alone, the Creator of life. I simply find absurd and narrow minded this association of some Religions to “terrorism.” This is, to my humble opinion, a real easy short cut, a cheap way of pointing quickly a finger at someone else without looking deep inside on our own side. So I wonder as I ponder on the grace of Saint Paul, “the converted persecutor”, isn’t there any other way of reading history, using different lenses than the most popular current one viewing only the surface? Beyond the gruesome events of terrorism here and there, isn’t there any meaning that God is trying to communicate to us as Christians in the nightmare of modern liberalism and terrorism? If in the past, God did use pagan Kings like Nebuchadnezzar to make his glory be known by his chosen people Israel, what impedes Him today to use some other historical circumstances to make us re-question our own journey in the world as far as our Christian commitment or witness is concerned? My suggestion is therefore a wider and eclectic reading of the reality that brings us back to ourselves, inside our own home in order to see if we are not in some ways responsible for letting other alternatives thrive, looking better than our Christian faith; or giving an opportunity to others to express their emotional outburst at the extreme.
Are you responsible? “Yes, I am!” is my answer after a number of considerations that I would like to share in this short reflection. If you find yourself challenged, then let us look together for words that heal and restore peace with our different brothers in dialogue. If you hold a different opinion than mine, then let me know so that we may grow together in our reading of reality as it unfolds itself.
History taught me that somewhere along the line, crusades were organized around the 15th-17th Centuries to establish Christianity in the West and fight against all the infidels. I do not remember if that was called “terrorism”, maybe the word did not yet exist, or at least was not yet on the limelight like today. What do I think in my mind and feel in my heart when others are using methods I did use in the past to repress their freedom of religion? They probably felt the same way I feel right now. The fact that I was not physically there to witness the crusades does not alter my historical link to this dark past (Just as the West does with the story of slavery in Africa). Without ratifying the concept of “holy wars,” I simply wonder if this is not somehow part of the process of religious development in human history, taking in account the fact that a religion such as Islam for instance, takes its roots in the year 622 of our era, 7 centuries after Christianity. Such an argument would not apply for Buddhism or some other religions older than Christianity.
History taught me that from independence in 1960 until now, most if not all leaders of my country, D.R. Congo were and are Christians, even former students in Seminaries, as these were the best learning Institutions in our African countries during colonization and at the dawn of our independence. I did not hear any Muslim name in our governments, maybe one or two. All my presidents, from “Joseph” Kasa-vubu to “Joseph” Kabila, passing through “Joseph”-“Désiré” Mobutu and Laurent-“Désiré” Kabila, were and are all Christians, possess Christian names and go to different Christian services, especially on Sundays. The D.R. Congo population is Christian in majority (over 50 %)… Yet we can see the stark contrast! How much all these seeds, not necessarily fruits, of Christianity, except the first Joseph, have wrecked our very rich country with their drunkenness of power, greed and selfishness! Most leaders and people continue mixing both Christian faith and some occult and traditional practices, ranging from animist and fetishist rituals to stark devil worshipping where human blood is used.
History taught me that the West has become extremely democratic that it is terminally ailing from a thorough and stubborn amnesia of its Christian roots of development that brought it to the peak of its medieval and early modern glory. In the name of democracy and human freedom, the West has trampled down several values and removed all Christian symbols, namely the cross of Christ, from their schools so that children may have no reference to any form of religion. The West has forbidden prayers to avoid any form of discrimination and allow religious freedom in Christian schools; the other religions did not do that, they are still maintaining their non negotiable traditions in schools. In the name of the same democracy, the West has let children become stronger and fight their own parents, those from whom God gave them life, accusing them to the police and having them jailed for not fulfilling their rights; the other religions did not do that! While the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, some Christian Churches tolerate the ordination of homosexual pastors and nurture paedophiles in the name of freedom as if the Word of God has changed for modern Christianity… and with no one protest, homosexuality has been simply cancelled from the list of psychological deviations to become a natural, free and fulfilling sexual orientation! This mentality is in the process of its exportation across the globe! Oh! Even our fellow non-rational creatures, our cows and goats, cocks and hens, domesticated in our animal husbandries know the difference between male and female; ask them, they also know the right and natural sexual orientation better than the so-called human animal!
History taught me that my people back home were practicing agriculture before we missionaries – I’m one of them – brought them salt and sweets, shirts and shoes and began dishing out money to serve their needs under the beautiful evangelical intention of “helping the poor”. We infantilized them instead of making them mature persons with the development of their hard working skills. And we still continue doing so, stripping them from any human self worth and dignity while we should rather empower them and raise them up from the ash heap by the products of their sweat, to be faithful to the God’s given mandate in the book of Genesis. From hard workers and tough survivors against natural disasters, we turned our people into lazy expectants settled in the disastrous belief that “they got nothing and their salvation has to come from elsewhere.” And in the world global context, “if you’ve got nothing, you are nothing!”
History taught me that not so long ago, a Christian Western president called “Gushing War Blades” (I’m still expecting the Ocampo sword to fall upon him! Unfortunately it won’t!). GWB stubbornly waged a war in some Middle-East country, home for thousand of Muslims, because their hung leader, Salaam Hell, was suspected to have weapons of mass destruction. Nothing of the kind was found but the so called “World saviors” are still present there and no peace is found yet. Wonder! No one raised a voice to term that “terrorism”! In my own country, D.R. Congo, 6.000.000 people have lost their lives, thousands of women raped, mutilated of their lips and body parts with devilish cruelty… and recently, one nun, the former General Superior of the Augustinian Sisters of Dungu was coldly riddled with bullets by the LRA rebels… Aren’t some of Christian Super powers behind all these gruesome sceneries… letting African puppet leaders serve faithfully their interests at the expenses of our beloved people, the very people of God… still nobody calls that “terrorism”!
Then I wonder if the term “terrorism” is only applicable when the killing is initiated by others, different from us? Does it have a discriminatory meaning depending on denominations and geographical situations; or does it have a universal meaning applicable to all similar situations around the world? Or is it used only when it’s linked with suicide bombers and saved for planes bombing and other weapon and missile strikes? Isn’t the fight against “terrorism”, within the so called “Axis of evil”, as referred to by the World Salvation Legion, another way of perpetuating this “terrorism” and justifying their exorbitant military expenses and their economic invasions of poor countries rich in petrol and minerals? Have we thoroughly investigated the reasons why this terrorism begun and still goes on? Is it the right method to deal with consequences while causes are neither solved nor even addressed?
I think, in my humble perspective, that there is a tremendous inconsistency between professed values and the real commitment to the witness of faith. Somewhere, deep down in their confused minds and hearts, our people are hoping for some better alternatives even though they are still hanging around with the known status quo already offered. Maybe that is why others find it relatively easy to fish in our Christian ponds.
My heartfelt acknowledgement goes to all great Christian leaders whose struggles and witness brought a palpable social impact felt beyond their geographical boundaries. I particularly think of Reverend Pastor Martin Luther King in the USA (Martyr of the fight against discrimination of the black people), Bishop Desmond Tutu in South-Africa (living icon of the fall of Apartheid), Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Blessed woman having given herself totally for the dignity of the poor), Bishop Oscar Romero in Peru (Martyr for the defense of the poor natives)… and all world Christian disciples who have dedicated or sacrificed their lives for the incarnation of the liberating message of Christ’s Gospel without bending low or keeping a compromising silence in the face of peoples’ oppression. Such witness is needed to reaffirm our faith in Christ within a world seemingly loosing the compass. We ought to follow such steady examples in our search for and restoration of human dignity in its divinely anthropological roots of “beings created in God’s image.” I do believe that if we’re walking towards such a witnessing direction “to become light and salt of the earth”, then persecution, part of the ongoing process of Christ’s cross in the fight between light and darkness, will have some sparkling light on “some new Paul’s” of our time, falling from their domineering horses and responding to some peculiar questions leading them to “some conversion”, not necessarily Christian but “Godly grounded.”
Fr. Nhessy, NKULU ILAND, imc.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
A Critical response to the Article “Are you a Sperm Donor?”
By Fr Pascal Mwambi Mwakio,*
This is a reaction to the Saturday magazine in one of the Kenyan local dailies story, “are you a sperm donor? from the website www.nation.co.ke (posted Friday, April 22, 2011 at 18:00). Sperm banks (from anonymous donors) are widely known for artificial insemination/fertilization purposes through the in vitro fertilization. This is mainly for women or men (married) with pathologies regarding their reproductive system.
When donation of sperms come from the husband of the same marriage, then this is referred to as homologous artificial fertilization (artificial insemination by husband AIH), but when the male gametes come from a different man apart from the husband, this is called heterologous artificial fertilization (artificial insemination by donor (AID). The legal, ethical and moral issues involved are enormous in case of AID.
Morally, these techniques are illicit and immoral whereby they involve substitution of the conjugal act (sexual relationship) of the couples; lack of respect to the conceived lives (normally more embryos are ‘created’ at the same time); lack of dignity in the manipulation of lives conceived; loss of lives and separation between the sexual union and procreation of children in case of fertilization in the test tube (in vitro fertilization).
The story of Marion, (probably a pseudo name), as used in the article, portrays lack of seriousness in these complicated issues. The use of sperm donation for purposes of beauty and attractiveness, through genetic selection is a setback and not really a progress. It takes us back to the Nazism era whereby discrimination of some human beings was practiced.
It is lack of fidelity in marriage for a married woman to prey for other man’s sperms other than their husbands for whatever reason at all. Physical beauty or attraction is accidental to the dignity of human beings. It may reduce some chances of recognition, for instance in beauty contests or models, but it does not diminish somebody’s dignity and respect. It is unfortunate to associate these traits with success and failure or with worthiness of a child.
It seems a contradiction (except for adoption and marriages whereby children fathered by other man existed before) to want to have a husband who is not the father of your children. A wife/husband who really loves her/his married partner cannot lie or ‘fake’ pregnancy with another person.
Rather than aesthetic reasons, the story of Marion seems driven by infidelity. She did not disclose or agree with her husband about the heterologous fertilization, although consent does not approve this case. She kept it secret to herself and I believe still secret to her children. Legal complications will arise eventually pertaining paternity and progeny.
The child born out of such a situation would have two fathers, a biological (the sperm donor) and a social one (the husband of Marion). The child will be a legitimate son/daughter to the mother, but not to the husband. This means that the child can have disclaimer rights (to disown) to the social father and claim progeny to the biological father. The social father can also disown the children not born legally from their marriage. Legitimate children are those born out of a valid marriage; born by a married woman; conceived by action of husband and in stability of marriage. In the case of sperm donation by a (known or anonymous) donor, conception is not by husband’s action. Children born out of heterologous fertilization and those involving selection of traits, are prone to Psychological problems. The psychosocial integrity of the child is not respected when another man donates the sperm.
The question asked by the child may be why this happened. This child becomes a ‘product’ of somebody else’s choice. “I am attractive or beautiful because mum wanted me this way”. How will these ‘attractive children’ view those considered as not attractive? Marion calls her husband ‘plain’ because he lacks these traits. All this leads to a form of discrimination and lack of respect to persons lacking the character traits we desire. We should learn to accept others as they are, and not for how they appear.
If Marion would still love unattractive children born from the sperm donor, just in case the attractive traits were not transmitted, then why can’t she accept children by her husband who was not good looking? It seems there are other reasons for preying sperm donors. Marion’s husband does not seem to have any problem with fertility. If she did not use in vitro fertilization, normally used for such cases, then she committed and sought adultery willingly with the sperm donor.
Thanks to biomedical technology, there is a possibility of proving biological parents of a particular child. Marion imagines that the possibilities of her husband finding out the really father of his children are nil. It would not be unwise for parents who doubt their partner’s fidelity to go for DNA test to prove who the biological parent of the children is. Days are long gone for the Latin phrase mater semper certa est, pater numquam, meaning that the mother is always certain, but never the father (is more difficult to prove).
DNA test has come in handy. This however, may not be a very good approach since it may create more disunity than unity where mere doubts exist. The presumption of law that the father of a child born during marriage is the husband of the wife may need to be reviewed. Men should be careful about women who are out to exploit them to donate their gametes for selfish and eugenic reasons.
The sperm donor story shows lack of serious commitment to marriage, an institution designed by the creator Himself. This mentality can lead young mature boys, for economic gains, to sell their sperms to women who are in search of male gametes or to sperm banks.
Marriage is a covenantal relationship between a male and a female, geared towards procreation of children. Children in marriage are a fruit of the union between the husband and wife. Children have a right to be born out of matrimony where both the husband and wife have paternal (and maternal) project. This ought to be respected. I hope that not all who read the article presented by Marion will take her serious and that they will defend their fidelity in marriage welcoming and respecting children, no matter their physical characteristics, as a gift from God, with same dignity as any other child. Artificial insemination by donor remains therefore substitutive of the proper subject the husband, in the conjugal act.
*Fr Pascal Mwambi Mwakio is a catholic priest from Mombasa Archdiocese, Kenya. He is currently a student of masters in bioethics at Regina Apostolorum University, Rome-Italy.
This is a reaction to the Saturday magazine in one of the Kenyan local dailies story, “are you a sperm donor? from the website www.nation.co.ke (posted Friday, April 22, 2011 at 18:00). Sperm banks (from anonymous donors) are widely known for artificial insemination/fertilization purposes through the in vitro fertilization. This is mainly for women or men (married) with pathologies regarding their reproductive system.
When donation of sperms come from the husband of the same marriage, then this is referred to as homologous artificial fertilization (artificial insemination by husband AIH), but when the male gametes come from a different man apart from the husband, this is called heterologous artificial fertilization (artificial insemination by donor (AID). The legal, ethical and moral issues involved are enormous in case of AID.
Morally, these techniques are illicit and immoral whereby they involve substitution of the conjugal act (sexual relationship) of the couples; lack of respect to the conceived lives (normally more embryos are ‘created’ at the same time); lack of dignity in the manipulation of lives conceived; loss of lives and separation between the sexual union and procreation of children in case of fertilization in the test tube (in vitro fertilization).
The story of Marion, (probably a pseudo name), as used in the article, portrays lack of seriousness in these complicated issues. The use of sperm donation for purposes of beauty and attractiveness, through genetic selection is a setback and not really a progress. It takes us back to the Nazism era whereby discrimination of some human beings was practiced.
It is lack of fidelity in marriage for a married woman to prey for other man’s sperms other than their husbands for whatever reason at all. Physical beauty or attraction is accidental to the dignity of human beings. It may reduce some chances of recognition, for instance in beauty contests or models, but it does not diminish somebody’s dignity and respect. It is unfortunate to associate these traits with success and failure or with worthiness of a child.
It seems a contradiction (except for adoption and marriages whereby children fathered by other man existed before) to want to have a husband who is not the father of your children. A wife/husband who really loves her/his married partner cannot lie or ‘fake’ pregnancy with another person.
Rather than aesthetic reasons, the story of Marion seems driven by infidelity. She did not disclose or agree with her husband about the heterologous fertilization, although consent does not approve this case. She kept it secret to herself and I believe still secret to her children. Legal complications will arise eventually pertaining paternity and progeny.
The child born out of such a situation would have two fathers, a biological (the sperm donor) and a social one (the husband of Marion). The child will be a legitimate son/daughter to the mother, but not to the husband. This means that the child can have disclaimer rights (to disown) to the social father and claim progeny to the biological father. The social father can also disown the children not born legally from their marriage. Legitimate children are those born out of a valid marriage; born by a married woman; conceived by action of husband and in stability of marriage. In the case of sperm donation by a (known or anonymous) donor, conception is not by husband’s action. Children born out of heterologous fertilization and those involving selection of traits, are prone to Psychological problems. The psychosocial integrity of the child is not respected when another man donates the sperm.
The question asked by the child may be why this happened. This child becomes a ‘product’ of somebody else’s choice. “I am attractive or beautiful because mum wanted me this way”. How will these ‘attractive children’ view those considered as not attractive? Marion calls her husband ‘plain’ because he lacks these traits. All this leads to a form of discrimination and lack of respect to persons lacking the character traits we desire. We should learn to accept others as they are, and not for how they appear.
If Marion would still love unattractive children born from the sperm donor, just in case the attractive traits were not transmitted, then why can’t she accept children by her husband who was not good looking? It seems there are other reasons for preying sperm donors. Marion’s husband does not seem to have any problem with fertility. If she did not use in vitro fertilization, normally used for such cases, then she committed and sought adultery willingly with the sperm donor.
Thanks to biomedical technology, there is a possibility of proving biological parents of a particular child. Marion imagines that the possibilities of her husband finding out the really father of his children are nil. It would not be unwise for parents who doubt their partner’s fidelity to go for DNA test to prove who the biological parent of the children is. Days are long gone for the Latin phrase mater semper certa est, pater numquam, meaning that the mother is always certain, but never the father (is more difficult to prove).
DNA test has come in handy. This however, may not be a very good approach since it may create more disunity than unity where mere doubts exist. The presumption of law that the father of a child born during marriage is the husband of the wife may need to be reviewed. Men should be careful about women who are out to exploit them to donate their gametes for selfish and eugenic reasons.
The sperm donor story shows lack of serious commitment to marriage, an institution designed by the creator Himself. This mentality can lead young mature boys, for economic gains, to sell their sperms to women who are in search of male gametes or to sperm banks.
Marriage is a covenantal relationship between a male and a female, geared towards procreation of children. Children in marriage are a fruit of the union between the husband and wife. Children have a right to be born out of matrimony where both the husband and wife have paternal (and maternal) project. This ought to be respected. I hope that not all who read the article presented by Marion will take her serious and that they will defend their fidelity in marriage welcoming and respecting children, no matter their physical characteristics, as a gift from God, with same dignity as any other child. Artificial insemination by donor remains therefore substitutive of the proper subject the husband, in the conjugal act.
*Fr Pascal Mwambi Mwakio is a catholic priest from Mombasa Archdiocese, Kenya. He is currently a student of masters in bioethics at Regina Apostolorum University, Rome-Italy.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Political Leaders must Promote Inter-Ethnic Understanding
ARTICLE 19 reminds Kenya’s political leaders to promote intercultural understanding through their speeches and actions by refraining from making statements that undermine equality and fuel inter-ethnic tensions. The responsibilities of political leaders are especially vital at this time of heightened tensions in Kenya surrounding two ongoing cases against six prominent Kenyans before the International Criminal Court (ICC)…[Readmore]
Introduction
ARTICLE 19 is concerned about the escalating levels of inter-ethnic tensions in Kenya. This tense atmosphere stems from discussions currently taking place in the country relating to two ongoing cases against six prominent Kenyans at the ICC as well as recent comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Education Minister William Ruto – at recent rallies and in the media. Comments made by some members of parliament attending a rally against the ICC process on Monday 4 April and on Monday 11 April have also contributed to fuelling tensions within the country.
International Criminal Court: process
The two ongoing cases against six Kenyans accused of having committed crimes against humanity have attracted a huge degree of interest in Kenya, and beyond. The so-called “Ocampo Six” are accused of being the main perpetrators of the 2007-2008 post-election violence that claimed more than 1,300 lives and forcefully displaced over 650,000. They include some of the most powerful people in the country such as Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy Prime Minister, finance minister, the son of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, and the perceived leader of the Kikuyu tribe; Francis Muthaura, head of the public service and Cabinet Secretary; William Ruto, the former education minister and the perceived leader of the Kalenjin ethnic group; and Hussein Ali, the former policy chief. Each of the “Ocampo Six” maintains their innocence.
The ICC issued summonses in relation to each of the six individuals following requests by the ICC Prosecutor in December 2010. The first three defendants – William Ruto and Henry Kosgey, both until recently cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and senior members of the Orange Democratic Movement, and Joshua Sang, the head of KASS FM, a radio station – are accused of committing crimes against humanity. The charges include murder, forcible transfer and persecution of perceived supporters of President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity. The three remaining defendants – Francis Muthaura, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Hussein Ali, who was chief of police during the violence – are accused of committing crimes against humanity, including through murder, forcible transfer of population, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and persecution by employing the services of a known criminal gang called Mungiki, to carry out attacks against perceived Orange Democratic Movement supporters. They are also accused of instructing the police not to interfere with these attacks or bring the perpetrators to justice.
The ICC’s involvement in the “Ocampo Six” case stems from the failure of Kenya’s coalition government to set up a credible local tribunal to try those responsible for the ethnic attacks during the post-election violence in 2007-2008, which had its roots in politically inspired violence of earlier decades dating back to the independence, in 1963.
The Kenyan government has attempted to challenge the ICC prosecutions over the admissibility of the case arguing that justice can be dispensed locally. However, Kenya’s justice system has failed to hold to account any of the perpetrators of the post-election violence in any of the over 3500 cases reported and under investigation. The Kenyan government has also appealed to the UN Security Council, which has refused to intervene, to defer the international charges against the “Ocampo Six” for a year. In sharp contrast to the attitude of their government, most Kenyans support the ICC process. A poll published on Tuesday 5 April 2011 by the research firm Synovate indicated that 61% of Kenyans wanted the trials to proceed at the Hague.
The ICC has set the confirmation of charges hearing in the cases of Ruto, Kosgey and Sang for 1 September 2011 and in the cases of Muthaura, Kenyatta and Hussein Ali for 21 September 2011.
Escalating inter-ethnic tensions
Although four of the six suspects have kept a relatively low profile since being named by the ICC Prosecutor in December 2010, Kenyatta and Ruto have made highly publicised speeches at rallies and “prayer tours” around the country in an attempt to discredit the ICC process and to cause public disaffection against Raila Odinga.
These rallies have transformed into venues for ethnic mobilisation and recall the increasing tensions that led up to the 2007 elections. Although Kenyatta and Ruto deny that their speeches spread ethnic hatred, it is apparent that their speeches which “abuse, ridicule and provoke others … sow the seeds of discord that can easily manifest themselves in violence” and a new wave of bloodshed in Kenya. The situation has prompted the country’s leading newspaper, The Daily Nation, to argue: “unless checked, these politicians will lead this country into anarchy” (Editorial, The Daily Nation, 4 April 2011).
The ICC itself has indicated its concern about the dangers of such speeches upon a new bout of violence in Kenya. At the pre-trial hearing of Ruto, Kosgey and Sang, Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova indicated that: “It came to the knowledge of the chamber by way of following some articles in the Kenyan newspapers that there are some movements towards re-triggering the violence in the country by way of using some dangerous speeches.” Judge Trendafilova said that such activities were a breach of a key condition imposed on the suspects when the summonses were issued on 8 March 2011, although she did not single out any specific individuals. Failure to heed the warning of the ICC, however, could lead to the replacement of the summonses to appear with arrest warrants for those found in breach of the conditions.
In defiance of the ICC warning, supporters of Kenyatta and Ruto have subsequently indicated that these men will continue to speak out against the ICC and their cases. The supporters also indicate that Kenyatta, Ruto, the other members of the Ocampo Six and the supporters themselves should be free to talk as they wish.
Responsibilities of Political Figures and the Media, Obligations on the State
ARTICLE 19 reminds all state and political actors in Kenya that the rights to freedom of expression and equality are universal, interdependent and indivisible human rights. Put differently, these rights are mutually reinforcing and can only be properly realized if they are promoted at the same time.
ARTICLE 19 reminds politicians and other leadership figures – including the “Ocampo Six” – that they have responsibilities to avoid making statements that promote discrimination on ethnic grounds or undermine equality in Kenya. These political figures should instead take advantage of their positions to promote intercultural and inter-ethnic understanding, including by contesting where appropriate, discriminatory statements or behavior.
Furthermore, ARTICLE 19 recommends that Kenyan media should, take care to report in context and in a factual and sensitive manner whilst ensuring acts of discrimination and the harm caused by them are brought to the attention of the public. The media should also avoid unnecessary references to ethnicity and other group characteristics that may promote intolerance, but take steps to ensure that their workforces are diverse and they address issues that concern all ethnic groups.
The responsibilities of political and other leadership figures and the media have been elaborated upon in the Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality. ARTICLE 19 draws attention to the Camden Principles as they are especially relevant to the situation in Kenya at this time.
ARTICLE 19 is an independent human rights organisation that works around the world to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.
For more information contact: Henry Maina, Director, ARTICLE 19 Kenya +254 20 3862230-2 or Email: henry@article19.org or Mona Samari, Senior Press Officer ARTICLE 19, + 44 207 324 2510 or email mona@article19.org
Introduction
ARTICLE 19 is concerned about the escalating levels of inter-ethnic tensions in Kenya. This tense atmosphere stems from discussions currently taking place in the country relating to two ongoing cases against six prominent Kenyans at the ICC as well as recent comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Education Minister William Ruto – at recent rallies and in the media. Comments made by some members of parliament attending a rally against the ICC process on Monday 4 April and on Monday 11 April have also contributed to fuelling tensions within the country.
International Criminal Court: process
The two ongoing cases against six Kenyans accused of having committed crimes against humanity have attracted a huge degree of interest in Kenya, and beyond. The so-called “Ocampo Six” are accused of being the main perpetrators of the 2007-2008 post-election violence that claimed more than 1,300 lives and forcefully displaced over 650,000. They include some of the most powerful people in the country such as Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy Prime Minister, finance minister, the son of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, and the perceived leader of the Kikuyu tribe; Francis Muthaura, head of the public service and Cabinet Secretary; William Ruto, the former education minister and the perceived leader of the Kalenjin ethnic group; and Hussein Ali, the former policy chief. Each of the “Ocampo Six” maintains their innocence.
The ICC issued summonses in relation to each of the six individuals following requests by the ICC Prosecutor in December 2010. The first three defendants – William Ruto and Henry Kosgey, both until recently cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and senior members of the Orange Democratic Movement, and Joshua Sang, the head of KASS FM, a radio station – are accused of committing crimes against humanity. The charges include murder, forcible transfer and persecution of perceived supporters of President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity. The three remaining defendants – Francis Muthaura, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Hussein Ali, who was chief of police during the violence – are accused of committing crimes against humanity, including through murder, forcible transfer of population, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and persecution by employing the services of a known criminal gang called Mungiki, to carry out attacks against perceived Orange Democratic Movement supporters. They are also accused of instructing the police not to interfere with these attacks or bring the perpetrators to justice.
The ICC’s involvement in the “Ocampo Six” case stems from the failure of Kenya’s coalition government to set up a credible local tribunal to try those responsible for the ethnic attacks during the post-election violence in 2007-2008, which had its roots in politically inspired violence of earlier decades dating back to the independence, in 1963.
The Kenyan government has attempted to challenge the ICC prosecutions over the admissibility of the case arguing that justice can be dispensed locally. However, Kenya’s justice system has failed to hold to account any of the perpetrators of the post-election violence in any of the over 3500 cases reported and under investigation. The Kenyan government has also appealed to the UN Security Council, which has refused to intervene, to defer the international charges against the “Ocampo Six” for a year. In sharp contrast to the attitude of their government, most Kenyans support the ICC process. A poll published on Tuesday 5 April 2011 by the research firm Synovate indicated that 61% of Kenyans wanted the trials to proceed at the Hague.
The ICC has set the confirmation of charges hearing in the cases of Ruto, Kosgey and Sang for 1 September 2011 and in the cases of Muthaura, Kenyatta and Hussein Ali for 21 September 2011.
Escalating inter-ethnic tensions
Although four of the six suspects have kept a relatively low profile since being named by the ICC Prosecutor in December 2010, Kenyatta and Ruto have made highly publicised speeches at rallies and “prayer tours” around the country in an attempt to discredit the ICC process and to cause public disaffection against Raila Odinga.
These rallies have transformed into venues for ethnic mobilisation and recall the increasing tensions that led up to the 2007 elections. Although Kenyatta and Ruto deny that their speeches spread ethnic hatred, it is apparent that their speeches which “abuse, ridicule and provoke others … sow the seeds of discord that can easily manifest themselves in violence” and a new wave of bloodshed in Kenya. The situation has prompted the country’s leading newspaper, The Daily Nation, to argue: “unless checked, these politicians will lead this country into anarchy” (Editorial, The Daily Nation, 4 April 2011).
The ICC itself has indicated its concern about the dangers of such speeches upon a new bout of violence in Kenya. At the pre-trial hearing of Ruto, Kosgey and Sang, Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova indicated that: “It came to the knowledge of the chamber by way of following some articles in the Kenyan newspapers that there are some movements towards re-triggering the violence in the country by way of using some dangerous speeches.” Judge Trendafilova said that such activities were a breach of a key condition imposed on the suspects when the summonses were issued on 8 March 2011, although she did not single out any specific individuals. Failure to heed the warning of the ICC, however, could lead to the replacement of the summonses to appear with arrest warrants for those found in breach of the conditions.
In defiance of the ICC warning, supporters of Kenyatta and Ruto have subsequently indicated that these men will continue to speak out against the ICC and their cases. The supporters also indicate that Kenyatta, Ruto, the other members of the Ocampo Six and the supporters themselves should be free to talk as they wish.
Responsibilities of Political Figures and the Media, Obligations on the State
ARTICLE 19 reminds all state and political actors in Kenya that the rights to freedom of expression and equality are universal, interdependent and indivisible human rights. Put differently, these rights are mutually reinforcing and can only be properly realized if they are promoted at the same time.
ARTICLE 19 reminds politicians and other leadership figures – including the “Ocampo Six” – that they have responsibilities to avoid making statements that promote discrimination on ethnic grounds or undermine equality in Kenya. These political figures should instead take advantage of their positions to promote intercultural and inter-ethnic understanding, including by contesting where appropriate, discriminatory statements or behavior.
Furthermore, ARTICLE 19 recommends that Kenyan media should, take care to report in context and in a factual and sensitive manner whilst ensuring acts of discrimination and the harm caused by them are brought to the attention of the public. The media should also avoid unnecessary references to ethnicity and other group characteristics that may promote intolerance, but take steps to ensure that their workforces are diverse and they address issues that concern all ethnic groups.
The responsibilities of political and other leadership figures and the media have been elaborated upon in the Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality. ARTICLE 19 draws attention to the Camden Principles as they are especially relevant to the situation in Kenya at this time.
ARTICLE 19 is an independent human rights organisation that works around the world to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.
For more information contact: Henry Maina, Director, ARTICLE 19 Kenya +254 20 3862230-2 or Email: henry@article19.org or Mona Samari, Senior Press Officer ARTICLE 19, + 44 207 324 2510 or email mona@article19.org
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Long Easter Prayer of an Internally Displaced Child
By Father Nhessy Nkulu Iland, IMC,
Little Dewy attended Sunday mass and was so much impressed by the reading of John 11: 1-46 on the death and resurrection of Lazarus. “He cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’”. “Come out!”… “Come out!”… “Come out!”… The preacher’s voice continued resounding in his ears long after the 43rd verse was read. He wondered how and when he was going to “come out” from the makeshift life he has been living since the post election violence shattered his dreams. A sudden strong desire to “come out” of his long lasting plight pulled out of his young and innocent heart a spontaneous prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ! You ordered Lazarus out of his tomb… Why don’t you just do that again for me now? For such a very long night, I have been in a tomb of hardships and misery with no hope to “come out” at all! Lord, I did not even know what elections were. I saw on that fateful morning daddy and mummy going to a poll station to cast their vote and give us a new president for our beloved motherland Kenya. Oh, Lord! I did not mind who would “come out” as president! I knew it would be a Kenyan leader, anyway I waited! Instead, oh Lord, all hell broke loose thereafter. I had no idea election meant trouble, killing, looting, running up and down… such a terrible nightmare! I would not like to see that happening again… Oh Lord, I beg you, spare me of that hell for the rest of my life!
Lord God! I had a warm shelter, food, clothes, school fees… You blessed me with hardworking daddy and mummy who took care of me. I had milk, sukuma, ugali and irio everyday… I had a future! But look how I’m living now, Lord! I tread from one place to another. I have no place to call home, no food, no clothes, no… nothing! Lord, did you see how my shack was blown off by the wind the other day it rained? Do you know how my strong daddy and sweet mummy are toiling to keep us all five children alive? The other day my little sister was sick and there was no money to take her to the hospital! My old brother was sent home from school since daddy could not pay his school fees! Yesterday we did not have enough food and we just don’t know if today we will find something to eat! Oh God! Can’t you see all that? Why don’t you say: “Come out!” and give us life again? Oh God, I beg you!
The other day, Lord, I heard a loud noise along the street and asked what was happening. I was told someone returned from Hague… Since I was hungry, Hague sounded in my ears like egg… I thought of the eggs I used to eat when I still had a place to call home! I don’t even know if those going there are really the ones who broke all hell loose on my people and me… But I know, Hague won’t bring back my eggs and my home too soon. Maybe Hague will take another decade, perhaps two, before it hatches the eggs sheltering those who brought violence and took away my dream for a better future. I wonder where I will be then, Lord, when Hague will be over!
That is why my dear Lord, I come to you today, begging you to dawn your sunrise into my long lasting night so that I may truly celebrate the resurrection of Christ, your son and my dearest brother! Sure, mummy always told me that we will rise at the end of time when you get back here; we won’t need homes, food, drinks, school fees… But now, Lord, I just need all that to stay alive and celebrate Easter. Why don’t you say it again: “Kenyans, sons and daughters of mine, come out of your tombs!”…
…the tomb of confusion of priorities where animals in our parks and orphanages are better protected and well taken care of than I, your son, for whom you created all these animals. They have now more rights than I. An elephant cannot be killed… I can be, anyway! It does not matter! Oh Lord, remove the splinter in our eyes so that we may “come out” of our tomb of confusion and give priority to our brothers and sisters, living beings created after your very image.
…the tomb of hate and division laying a wide gap between my people and those who took away our dream for the future. Almighty Lord, I beg you, extend the boundaries of our Eastern province to the Pacific coast of China; widen the Western province up to the USA beach! We will then “come out” of our tomb of tribal discrimination and nepotism to look at each other as brothers and sisters with no boundaries and with only one Father, you, the God of all Creation!
…the tomb of greed and selfishness worsening our sufferings day by day. Let the millions spent for luxurious trips and prestigious lawyers hired be used to build us better homes so that we may “come out” of the hot and unbearable shacks!
…the tomb that is prolonging our nightmare with vain and broken promises. Lord God, just as Christ, your son and our brother, became a man, let the words of our earthly powerful leaders turn into actions so that we may “come out” of the camps where, in inhumane conditions, are living in.
…the tomb of carelessness and irresponsibility making some of the people I always regarded with respect and esteem as my daddy utter words of threats endangering the next election. Lord, smooth their sharpened tongues so that we may, forever, “come out” of the tomb of violence.
…the tomb of stony indifference where we hardened and locked our hearts in hate, in lack of compassion and forgiveness. Oh, Lord! Give courage and humility to those who broke our life and dumped it into the tomb of gloom, to kneel down, feel sorry and ask for our forgiveness. In addition, give us too the compassion to forgive them. Remove in us the stone of indifference, Lord, and give us a new heart of flesh so that, as one people of the same Kenyan family, we may all “come out” of anger, bitterness, division, hate… to be able to forgive from the heart and love again.
…then “Hague” will be turned to “Hugs” of love and true forgiveness for a new era of justice, peace and unity… then Christ will rise in our peaceful hearts revived in the joy of the good news of Easter… then the light of the risen Christ will shine again in our warmer homes with milk and irio on our tables and bring back our sweet dream for a brotherly future of one Kenya, one people!
Little Dewy attended Sunday mass and was so much impressed by the reading of John 11: 1-46 on the death and resurrection of Lazarus. “He cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’”. “Come out!”… “Come out!”… “Come out!”… The preacher’s voice continued resounding in his ears long after the 43rd verse was read. He wondered how and when he was going to “come out” from the makeshift life he has been living since the post election violence shattered his dreams. A sudden strong desire to “come out” of his long lasting plight pulled out of his young and innocent heart a spontaneous prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ! You ordered Lazarus out of his tomb… Why don’t you just do that again for me now? For such a very long night, I have been in a tomb of hardships and misery with no hope to “come out” at all! Lord, I did not even know what elections were. I saw on that fateful morning daddy and mummy going to a poll station to cast their vote and give us a new president for our beloved motherland Kenya. Oh, Lord! I did not mind who would “come out” as president! I knew it would be a Kenyan leader, anyway I waited! Instead, oh Lord, all hell broke loose thereafter. I had no idea election meant trouble, killing, looting, running up and down… such a terrible nightmare! I would not like to see that happening again… Oh Lord, I beg you, spare me of that hell for the rest of my life!
Lord God! I had a warm shelter, food, clothes, school fees… You blessed me with hardworking daddy and mummy who took care of me. I had milk, sukuma, ugali and irio everyday… I had a future! But look how I’m living now, Lord! I tread from one place to another. I have no place to call home, no food, no clothes, no… nothing! Lord, did you see how my shack was blown off by the wind the other day it rained? Do you know how my strong daddy and sweet mummy are toiling to keep us all five children alive? The other day my little sister was sick and there was no money to take her to the hospital! My old brother was sent home from school since daddy could not pay his school fees! Yesterday we did not have enough food and we just don’t know if today we will find something to eat! Oh God! Can’t you see all that? Why don’t you say: “Come out!” and give us life again? Oh God, I beg you!
The other day, Lord, I heard a loud noise along the street and asked what was happening. I was told someone returned from Hague… Since I was hungry, Hague sounded in my ears like egg… I thought of the eggs I used to eat when I still had a place to call home! I don’t even know if those going there are really the ones who broke all hell loose on my people and me… But I know, Hague won’t bring back my eggs and my home too soon. Maybe Hague will take another decade, perhaps two, before it hatches the eggs sheltering those who brought violence and took away my dream for a better future. I wonder where I will be then, Lord, when Hague will be over!
That is why my dear Lord, I come to you today, begging you to dawn your sunrise into my long lasting night so that I may truly celebrate the resurrection of Christ, your son and my dearest brother! Sure, mummy always told me that we will rise at the end of time when you get back here; we won’t need homes, food, drinks, school fees… But now, Lord, I just need all that to stay alive and celebrate Easter. Why don’t you say it again: “Kenyans, sons and daughters of mine, come out of your tombs!”…
…the tomb of confusion of priorities where animals in our parks and orphanages are better protected and well taken care of than I, your son, for whom you created all these animals. They have now more rights than I. An elephant cannot be killed… I can be, anyway! It does not matter! Oh Lord, remove the splinter in our eyes so that we may “come out” of our tomb of confusion and give priority to our brothers and sisters, living beings created after your very image.
…the tomb of hate and division laying a wide gap between my people and those who took away our dream for the future. Almighty Lord, I beg you, extend the boundaries of our Eastern province to the Pacific coast of China; widen the Western province up to the USA beach! We will then “come out” of our tomb of tribal discrimination and nepotism to look at each other as brothers and sisters with no boundaries and with only one Father, you, the God of all Creation!
…the tomb of greed and selfishness worsening our sufferings day by day. Let the millions spent for luxurious trips and prestigious lawyers hired be used to build us better homes so that we may “come out” of the hot and unbearable shacks!
…the tomb that is prolonging our nightmare with vain and broken promises. Lord God, just as Christ, your son and our brother, became a man, let the words of our earthly powerful leaders turn into actions so that we may “come out” of the camps where, in inhumane conditions, are living in.
…the tomb of carelessness and irresponsibility making some of the people I always regarded with respect and esteem as my daddy utter words of threats endangering the next election. Lord, smooth their sharpened tongues so that we may, forever, “come out” of the tomb of violence.
…the tomb of stony indifference where we hardened and locked our hearts in hate, in lack of compassion and forgiveness. Oh, Lord! Give courage and humility to those who broke our life and dumped it into the tomb of gloom, to kneel down, feel sorry and ask for our forgiveness. In addition, give us too the compassion to forgive them. Remove in us the stone of indifference, Lord, and give us a new heart of flesh so that, as one people of the same Kenyan family, we may all “come out” of anger, bitterness, division, hate… to be able to forgive from the heart and love again.
…then “Hague” will be turned to “Hugs” of love and true forgiveness for a new era of justice, peace and unity… then Christ will rise in our peaceful hearts revived in the joy of the good news of Easter… then the light of the risen Christ will shine again in our warmer homes with milk and irio on our tables and bring back our sweet dream for a brotherly future of one Kenya, one people!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Moving Towards Respectful Dialogue And Just Relationships Or Towards Fundamentalism-Moralism?
By Fr Lazaro Bustince Sola, Missionaries of Africa,*
Introduction
One of the most intriguing questions we face today both in Church and State Institutions as well as in society in general is the interaction between two fundamental and simultaneous movements: the movement towards respectful dialogue and just relationships on one hand, and the movement towards fundamentalism on the other.
On one hand we observe the commitment and struggle of many social groups to promote a more respectful dialogue among cultures, ethnic groups and faiths, a more just society. Proof of this commitment are events like: the present appraisals in many Arab countries, solidarity with victims of natural disasters like in Japan, interfaith commissions to work together for a more human and peaceful society, human rights groups, social forum, UN efforts to foster a greater solidarity among the human family, the Churches commitment to dialogue, the second Synod for Africa to promote reconciliation, justice and peace, and the increasing number of Religious Societies which take as a priority the commitment to justice, peace and dialogue.
At the same time, there is a clear movement towards greater fundamentalism! Examples of this could be: political dictatorships and presidents for life, abuse and control of resources by individuals and multinationals, mafias for women and children exploitation, drugs and arms trafficking, absolute powers of some cultural and religious leaders, middle east conflicts, suicidal bombers, appointments of many religious leaders of “strict mentality movements”, impositions of some religious leaders-bishops upon their congregations, covering up injustices, increasing demand of “blind obedience” in many religious congregations and increasing emphasis on strict observance of external laws and practices to feel secure and orthodox.!
In this article, I want to focus on religious fundamentalism!
“There can be no peace in society without peace among religions “! (Hans Kung)
By religious fundamentalism, I refer to: the mind set and practice of APPLYING VERY STRICTLY the rules and teaching of any religion.
This can take place in cultural, political and economic systems. Basically, fundamentalism leads to RIGID thinking and attitudes resulting in COMPULSIVE or driven behaviour.
MORALISM referring to having or showing very FIXED ideas about what is right/wrong leading often to judge/condemn human behaviour.
Highlighted is the importance of: genuine dialogue and compassionate relationships, the movement towards fundamentalism-moralism, some roots and consequences of this fundamentalism-moralism among religious.
1. GENUINE DIALOUGE AND COMPASSIONATE RELATIONSHIPS
We notice in today’s world a strong movement towards: freedom, democracy, respect for human dignity and human rights, dialogue and social justice. Humanity is crying for greater solidarity, justice, authentic peace and respect for the other. The cry for responsible leaders who care for the common good and empower their followers other than dominate and dictate without any form of dialogue or consultation is becoming very loud in all spheres of life. Examples of the recent political uprisings in Egypt, Libya among others are big lessons. In Uganda, the recent Elections have shown quite clearly the craving for change and for a more just society and responsible leaders of integrity. In the Church, especially after the second African Synod, there is as well a great awareness and commitment to promote justice and dialogue among ourselves and in society. In many religious congregations, as in our own Missionaries of Africa Society, there is certainly a renewed commitment, clearly expressed in our four recent Chapters, to promote more just and respectful relationships in all our services. This commitment though is clearer in the documents than in our daily attitudes and behaviour.
Our daily witness is not quite as convincing, particularly in the quality of our relationships, in being Mission centred and in our style of leadership. There is a big gap between words, what we preach and actions. We often remain at the level of “political correctness” and of “secular success”, rather than becoming prophetic witnesses.! I find that Pedro Arrupe’s life and leadership is one of the most inspiring prophetic witnesses for religious leaders today. By the end of Vat.II, he was already convinced that: True faith must bear fruits of compassionate justice in dialogue with each culture of today’s world! We humans are so attracted by power and glory that frequently we forget the “Ways of the Kingdom”, and the Way of Jesus which is the way of washing of the feet and service to all that they may have LIFE!
MOVEMENT TOWARDS FUNDAMENTALISM-MORALISM
In today’s world, injustices, corruption, decadency the moral fabric, abject poverty and abuse of power (political –religious) seem to be on the increase and this leads to frustration, social civil unrest, loss of lives and loss of credibility.
The constant social, political and religious “protests” of these days are symptoms of a deeper evil at work. Personal and structural dictatorships seem to have the upper hand in controlling resources, abusing human dignity and rights and other violations of human freedom which take place with impunity.
These fundamentalists’ attitudes and behaviour are particularly evident and regrettable in religious movements, in the Church and in religious societies/orders manifested in the following ways:
• Abuse of minors, both by civil and by some religious leaders.
• Impositions of some religious leaders and even some bishops on their congregations.
• Vatican decisions of imposing certain “strict” renewal movements on some churches, like Japan.
• The focus on “ritual celebrations” forgetting compassionate behaviour and respectful dialogue. Jesus was clear that he wants mercy and not just sacrifices! Math. 9,13
• Increasing demand of “blind obedience” in many religious circles rather than personal and community discernment to search together for God’s Will.
• Abuse of power and money-power in office;
• Gender violence, jealousy and lack of genuine dialogue and cooperate discernment in religious congregations;.
• Unfair suspension and dismissal of staff in religious institutions based on personal issues, ethnic bonds and without any previous dialogue;
• Manipulating appointments of religious members for “bad” reasons;
• Focussing more and more on “survival issues” rather than on Mission;
• Controlling attitude in leadership style rather than “team leadership” in genuine dialogue;
• Covering up injustices and abuses rather than truth telling, compassionate justice coupled with forgiveness and reconciliation
• Encouraging “formalism and uniformity”, for safety’s sake, rather than personal responsibility, quality relationships and creativity.
1. SOME ROOTS OF THIS FUNDAMENTALISM-MORALISM AMONG RELIGIOUS
Lack of focus on the Lord’s Mission for us today
Many religious congregations are becoming quite “introvert” because of the ageing of their members rather than focussing on Christ’s Mission for us in today’s world. Some religious leaders are turning to “strict observance of the rules”, partly out of fear, rather than remaining Mission centred and prophetic. Being too preoccupied with our own survival, we loose the focus on Christ’s Mission for us today and become irrelevant to people’s lives and needs. Our faith often bears little impact on everyday’s life and on the culture of today. Are we deeply rooted in the Vine!?
Disconnected from people and from reality.
The decreasing number in many religious societies is also caused by our lack of credibility. We live often in our own “ivory towers and comforts”, disconnected from the real life and the real needs of the people. We engage in some charitable works but rarely dare to go to the root of the injustices and find ways to overcome them. Since religious are hardly affected by the injustices, pains, sufferings and concerns of so many people, they fail to read the signs of the time. In this situation many religious “over-spiritualize” everything and speak-preach a language foreign and irrelevant to the people. Some religious groups could balance better their religious practices by being closer to the poor and needy. True intimacy with the Lord will bear always abundant fruits of loving the people. (cf. Jn.15:15)!
Crisis of leadership.
We are facing in many religious communities a serious deficit of leadership. We have no charismatic leaders. We lack leaders of sufficient human and spiritual maturity, able to be at ease and dialogue respectfully with others. Thus, many religious leaders resort to abuse of power and to “labelling” of members, exonerating themselves from caring for them and causing serious harm to many. “They lord it over them”! (Mt.20:25). Many religious leaders also fall into the “celebrity culture” of secular leadership rather than remaining in the attitude of service. Many religious leaders seem to function in “political correctness”, be out of fear, be out of personal expectations for higher office! Some are in positions of authority because “we have nobody else”!
Among the temptations for religious leaders and financial administrators today, power for control (prestige, possessions) seems certainly the most damaging of all. The Gospel invites us precisely to use authority for service. Mt. 20,20-28. Some people who become leaders have never known parental love. They had authoritarian fathers, mothers or guardians who wanted to control everything, who did not understand or affirm them. These conflicts with parents often create a sense of insecurity and an ambivalent attitude in regard to authority. When children have had a bad experience with authority, they will have difficulty taking and exercising responsible leadership when they become adults. They have never had good models!
Sometimes authority becomes mere power. The leader then starts organizing everything and everyone, without any care and respect for the persons dignity. They often try to control others and stifle their freedom. Such a leader would easily start finding pleasure in having power and in all the privileges that are attached to a function. They tend not to listen, particularly to those whom they consider to be critical and disturbing.
The need for power can often hide and compensate for a lack of inner freedom and strength! Often leaders cling and hide behind the role instead of becoming good shepherds who serve others and the common good. In the Gospel of John Chapter 10, Jesus describes the characteristics of a good shepherd. Good shepherds know their sheep by name. Knowing someone by name implies knowing his or her gifts, strength, weaknesses, inner wounds as well as vocation and mission in life. This presupposes listening to each one attentively and constructively without judgemental attitudes.
Lack of ongoing renewal
Some religious leaders lack deep and ongoing renewal and sufficient human-spiritual maturity, becoming often “administrators and functionaries”. Being unaware of how they operate and why, they continue to act from their “shadows”, projecting on others the compulsive needs they have within themselves. The “ora et labora” (pray and work) of St. Benedict is often not balanced, leading many religious leaders to one sided views, “re-cycled preaching” and routine practices. There seems to be often a lack of understanding and integration between personal freedom-initiative and community responsibility, due to insufficient human-spiritual integration.
How many of us know and are committed to implement the recommendations of the second African Synod and the Catholic Social Teaching? How many are in touch with the signs of the time ?
2. SOME CONSEQUENCES OF THIS FUNDAMENTALISM-MORALISM AMONG RELIGIOUS
Unless “we live more justly, love more tenderly and walk more humbly with our God” (Micha 6,8) with genuine respect for each other and well focussed on Christ’s Mission for us today, our religious congregations will become more and more irrelevant in the lives of the people, seeking “false” securities in ritualistic celebrations and “strict observances” of external regulations, thus becoming counter-witnesses!
The Church and religious are fast loosing credibility in many countries because of these injustices, abuse of power, hiding the truth and irrelevant living. Clinging to traditions and rituals has failed to bring renewal and vitality. The tendency to find “refuge” in external practices, uniformity and strict observance of blind obedience is one of the most serious temptations for today’s Church and religious. Equally damaging is the lack of consequence and single minded commitment to live the priorities of the Mission as defined in the Gospels, in the Synods of the Church and our own Chapters. This has serious repercussions not only on the number of vocations but especially on the lack of credible and life giving witness. “They do not practice what they preach”! Mt. 15,8. We become then “conformists”, “secularised” and irrelevant rather than prophetic and life giving witnesses. Our faith to be transformative, needs to be “hammered on the anvil of life”, and pruned in deep intimacy with the Lord and care for the neighbour.
CONCLUSION
“This people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandments and cling to human traditions”. Mk. 7, 6-8
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees…” Mth.5,20
“The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with goodness”. Ps.33,3
How we deal with fundamentalism- moralism will determine our spiritual and moral health as individuals, our vitality and relevance as religious societies/orders, and our credibility as leaders of the world which cries for true freedom and integrity. The events in the world today do not afford us the luxury of stagnation in the status quo. The bells of history are definitely tolling for fundamentalism and calling for authentic dialogue and more just-compassionate relationships. I am convinced that in less than ten years, a change of mentality will be a reality in the style of leadership.! Lent may be a good opportunity to review our way of “praying, fasting and helping others”! Perhaps this can be a time of awakening and turning to God and our neighbour in greater truth, compassionate justice, genuine dialogue and convincing witness both as individual leaders and as religious communities.
For this we pray and labour!
*By Fr Lazaro Bustince Sola Missionaries of Africa, Lourdel House, Kampala.
Introduction
One of the most intriguing questions we face today both in Church and State Institutions as well as in society in general is the interaction between two fundamental and simultaneous movements: the movement towards respectful dialogue and just relationships on one hand, and the movement towards fundamentalism on the other.
On one hand we observe the commitment and struggle of many social groups to promote a more respectful dialogue among cultures, ethnic groups and faiths, a more just society. Proof of this commitment are events like: the present appraisals in many Arab countries, solidarity with victims of natural disasters like in Japan, interfaith commissions to work together for a more human and peaceful society, human rights groups, social forum, UN efforts to foster a greater solidarity among the human family, the Churches commitment to dialogue, the second Synod for Africa to promote reconciliation, justice and peace, and the increasing number of Religious Societies which take as a priority the commitment to justice, peace and dialogue.
At the same time, there is a clear movement towards greater fundamentalism! Examples of this could be: political dictatorships and presidents for life, abuse and control of resources by individuals and multinationals, mafias for women and children exploitation, drugs and arms trafficking, absolute powers of some cultural and religious leaders, middle east conflicts, suicidal bombers, appointments of many religious leaders of “strict mentality movements”, impositions of some religious leaders-bishops upon their congregations, covering up injustices, increasing demand of “blind obedience” in many religious congregations and increasing emphasis on strict observance of external laws and practices to feel secure and orthodox.!
In this article, I want to focus on religious fundamentalism!
“There can be no peace in society without peace among religions “! (Hans Kung)
By religious fundamentalism, I refer to: the mind set and practice of APPLYING VERY STRICTLY the rules and teaching of any religion.
This can take place in cultural, political and economic systems. Basically, fundamentalism leads to RIGID thinking and attitudes resulting in COMPULSIVE or driven behaviour.
MORALISM referring to having or showing very FIXED ideas about what is right/wrong leading often to judge/condemn human behaviour.
Highlighted is the importance of: genuine dialogue and compassionate relationships, the movement towards fundamentalism-moralism, some roots and consequences of this fundamentalism-moralism among religious.
1. GENUINE DIALOUGE AND COMPASSIONATE RELATIONSHIPS
We notice in today’s world a strong movement towards: freedom, democracy, respect for human dignity and human rights, dialogue and social justice. Humanity is crying for greater solidarity, justice, authentic peace and respect for the other. The cry for responsible leaders who care for the common good and empower their followers other than dominate and dictate without any form of dialogue or consultation is becoming very loud in all spheres of life. Examples of the recent political uprisings in Egypt, Libya among others are big lessons. In Uganda, the recent Elections have shown quite clearly the craving for change and for a more just society and responsible leaders of integrity. In the Church, especially after the second African Synod, there is as well a great awareness and commitment to promote justice and dialogue among ourselves and in society. In many religious congregations, as in our own Missionaries of Africa Society, there is certainly a renewed commitment, clearly expressed in our four recent Chapters, to promote more just and respectful relationships in all our services. This commitment though is clearer in the documents than in our daily attitudes and behaviour.
Our daily witness is not quite as convincing, particularly in the quality of our relationships, in being Mission centred and in our style of leadership. There is a big gap between words, what we preach and actions. We often remain at the level of “political correctness” and of “secular success”, rather than becoming prophetic witnesses.! I find that Pedro Arrupe’s life and leadership is one of the most inspiring prophetic witnesses for religious leaders today. By the end of Vat.II, he was already convinced that: True faith must bear fruits of compassionate justice in dialogue with each culture of today’s world! We humans are so attracted by power and glory that frequently we forget the “Ways of the Kingdom”, and the Way of Jesus which is the way of washing of the feet and service to all that they may have LIFE!
MOVEMENT TOWARDS FUNDAMENTALISM-MORALISM
In today’s world, injustices, corruption, decadency the moral fabric, abject poverty and abuse of power (political –religious) seem to be on the increase and this leads to frustration, social civil unrest, loss of lives and loss of credibility.
The constant social, political and religious “protests” of these days are symptoms of a deeper evil at work. Personal and structural dictatorships seem to have the upper hand in controlling resources, abusing human dignity and rights and other violations of human freedom which take place with impunity.
These fundamentalists’ attitudes and behaviour are particularly evident and regrettable in religious movements, in the Church and in religious societies/orders manifested in the following ways:
• Abuse of minors, both by civil and by some religious leaders.
• Impositions of some religious leaders and even some bishops on their congregations.
• Vatican decisions of imposing certain “strict” renewal movements on some churches, like Japan.
• The focus on “ritual celebrations” forgetting compassionate behaviour and respectful dialogue. Jesus was clear that he wants mercy and not just sacrifices! Math. 9,13
• Increasing demand of “blind obedience” in many religious circles rather than personal and community discernment to search together for God’s Will.
• Abuse of power and money-power in office;
• Gender violence, jealousy and lack of genuine dialogue and cooperate discernment in religious congregations;.
• Unfair suspension and dismissal of staff in religious institutions based on personal issues, ethnic bonds and without any previous dialogue;
• Manipulating appointments of religious members for “bad” reasons;
• Focussing more and more on “survival issues” rather than on Mission;
• Controlling attitude in leadership style rather than “team leadership” in genuine dialogue;
• Covering up injustices and abuses rather than truth telling, compassionate justice coupled with forgiveness and reconciliation
• Encouraging “formalism and uniformity”, for safety’s sake, rather than personal responsibility, quality relationships and creativity.
1. SOME ROOTS OF THIS FUNDAMENTALISM-MORALISM AMONG RELIGIOUS
Lack of focus on the Lord’s Mission for us today
Many religious congregations are becoming quite “introvert” because of the ageing of their members rather than focussing on Christ’s Mission for us in today’s world. Some religious leaders are turning to “strict observance of the rules”, partly out of fear, rather than remaining Mission centred and prophetic. Being too preoccupied with our own survival, we loose the focus on Christ’s Mission for us today and become irrelevant to people’s lives and needs. Our faith often bears little impact on everyday’s life and on the culture of today. Are we deeply rooted in the Vine!?
Disconnected from people and from reality.
The decreasing number in many religious societies is also caused by our lack of credibility. We live often in our own “ivory towers and comforts”, disconnected from the real life and the real needs of the people. We engage in some charitable works but rarely dare to go to the root of the injustices and find ways to overcome them. Since religious are hardly affected by the injustices, pains, sufferings and concerns of so many people, they fail to read the signs of the time. In this situation many religious “over-spiritualize” everything and speak-preach a language foreign and irrelevant to the people. Some religious groups could balance better their religious practices by being closer to the poor and needy. True intimacy with the Lord will bear always abundant fruits of loving the people. (cf. Jn.15:15)!
Crisis of leadership.
We are facing in many religious communities a serious deficit of leadership. We have no charismatic leaders. We lack leaders of sufficient human and spiritual maturity, able to be at ease and dialogue respectfully with others. Thus, many religious leaders resort to abuse of power and to “labelling” of members, exonerating themselves from caring for them and causing serious harm to many. “They lord it over them”! (Mt.20:25). Many religious leaders also fall into the “celebrity culture” of secular leadership rather than remaining in the attitude of service. Many religious leaders seem to function in “political correctness”, be out of fear, be out of personal expectations for higher office! Some are in positions of authority because “we have nobody else”!
Among the temptations for religious leaders and financial administrators today, power for control (prestige, possessions) seems certainly the most damaging of all. The Gospel invites us precisely to use authority for service. Mt. 20,20-28. Some people who become leaders have never known parental love. They had authoritarian fathers, mothers or guardians who wanted to control everything, who did not understand or affirm them. These conflicts with parents often create a sense of insecurity and an ambivalent attitude in regard to authority. When children have had a bad experience with authority, they will have difficulty taking and exercising responsible leadership when they become adults. They have never had good models!
Sometimes authority becomes mere power. The leader then starts organizing everything and everyone, without any care and respect for the persons dignity. They often try to control others and stifle their freedom. Such a leader would easily start finding pleasure in having power and in all the privileges that are attached to a function. They tend not to listen, particularly to those whom they consider to be critical and disturbing.
The need for power can often hide and compensate for a lack of inner freedom and strength! Often leaders cling and hide behind the role instead of becoming good shepherds who serve others and the common good. In the Gospel of John Chapter 10, Jesus describes the characteristics of a good shepherd. Good shepherds know their sheep by name. Knowing someone by name implies knowing his or her gifts, strength, weaknesses, inner wounds as well as vocation and mission in life. This presupposes listening to each one attentively and constructively without judgemental attitudes.
Lack of ongoing renewal
Some religious leaders lack deep and ongoing renewal and sufficient human-spiritual maturity, becoming often “administrators and functionaries”. Being unaware of how they operate and why, they continue to act from their “shadows”, projecting on others the compulsive needs they have within themselves. The “ora et labora” (pray and work) of St. Benedict is often not balanced, leading many religious leaders to one sided views, “re-cycled preaching” and routine practices. There seems to be often a lack of understanding and integration between personal freedom-initiative and community responsibility, due to insufficient human-spiritual integration.
How many of us know and are committed to implement the recommendations of the second African Synod and the Catholic Social Teaching? How many are in touch with the signs of the time ?
2. SOME CONSEQUENCES OF THIS FUNDAMENTALISM-MORALISM AMONG RELIGIOUS
Unless “we live more justly, love more tenderly and walk more humbly with our God” (Micha 6,8) with genuine respect for each other and well focussed on Christ’s Mission for us today, our religious congregations will become more and more irrelevant in the lives of the people, seeking “false” securities in ritualistic celebrations and “strict observances” of external regulations, thus becoming counter-witnesses!
The Church and religious are fast loosing credibility in many countries because of these injustices, abuse of power, hiding the truth and irrelevant living. Clinging to traditions and rituals has failed to bring renewal and vitality. The tendency to find “refuge” in external practices, uniformity and strict observance of blind obedience is one of the most serious temptations for today’s Church and religious. Equally damaging is the lack of consequence and single minded commitment to live the priorities of the Mission as defined in the Gospels, in the Synods of the Church and our own Chapters. This has serious repercussions not only on the number of vocations but especially on the lack of credible and life giving witness. “They do not practice what they preach”! Mt. 15,8. We become then “conformists”, “secularised” and irrelevant rather than prophetic and life giving witnesses. Our faith to be transformative, needs to be “hammered on the anvil of life”, and pruned in deep intimacy with the Lord and care for the neighbour.
CONCLUSION
“This people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandments and cling to human traditions”. Mk. 7, 6-8
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees…” Mth.5,20
“The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with goodness”. Ps.33,3
How we deal with fundamentalism- moralism will determine our spiritual and moral health as individuals, our vitality and relevance as religious societies/orders, and our credibility as leaders of the world which cries for true freedom and integrity. The events in the world today do not afford us the luxury of stagnation in the status quo. The bells of history are definitely tolling for fundamentalism and calling for authentic dialogue and more just-compassionate relationships. I am convinced that in less than ten years, a change of mentality will be a reality in the style of leadership.! Lent may be a good opportunity to review our way of “praying, fasting and helping others”! Perhaps this can be a time of awakening and turning to God and our neighbour in greater truth, compassionate justice, genuine dialogue and convincing witness both as individual leaders and as religious communities.
For this we pray and labour!
*By Fr Lazaro Bustince Sola Missionaries of Africa, Lourdel House, Kampala.
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