ST.

AUGUSTINE PERAMIHO INSTITUTE OF

PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY

FIRST SEMESTER OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR

2023/2024

PHILOSOPHY III

Course Name: INCULTURATION AND THE CHRISTIAN

FAITH IN AFRICA

Course Code: SL 311

Course Status: Supplementary Obligatory Course

BY FR. JUSTUS RWEHUMBIZA KAHWA

OCTOBER 2023
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INCULTURATION AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IN AFRICA
(SL 311)
Course Aim
The course aims at making the students see the urgency of incarnating the Christian message in African
cultural contexts, in such a way that the Gospel message not only finds expression through elements proper
to the various African traditional cultures, but also becomes a principle that animates, directs and unifies
the Church in Africa and remaking it so as to bring a transformed African Christian Culture. Therefore, the
purpose of this course is to eliminate the gap between African culture and Christian life and faith or to get
rid of the split between the Gospel and culture, the challenge of our time.

Course Description
The course examines the process of evangelization in the post-missionary Africa, and sees how it could be
intensified and extended, so that it embraces the principles of inculturation as proposed by the Church
Magisterium. Thus, the course proposes the necessity of revising the methods of Evangelization and
renewal of them in such a way that evangelization is not a one way traffic, but a one that is interactive and
complementary.

Course Objectives
1) To see the urgency of inculturation in African Christianity today
2) To understand the relationship of the universality of the Church and the process of inculturation.
3) To understand the guiding principles in the process of inculturation
4) To understand the relationship between inculturation in Africa and the call of the Church today for
new evangelization.
5) To emphasize on the role of Small Christian Communities as a modality of establishing an
authentic African Church.
6) To research so as to suggest and propose possible areas of inculturation in Africa

Course Content
1) Historical Background
2) Meaning of Inculturation and its urgency
3) The origin of the concept of ‘inculturation’
4) Inculturation as a theological concept
5) The provenance of African inculturation theology
6) Theological foundations of inculturation
7) Imperatives for inculturation in the Scriptures
8) Imperatives for inculturation in the history of the Church
9) Current results on the practice of inculturation
10) Challenges of inculturation
11) God’s family: inculturation in Ecclesia in Africa
12) Conclusion

Expected Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course the students are expected to:
1) To appreciate the urgency and necessity of inculturation in Africa today
2) To have more interest in the process of inculturation

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 3) To become the animators of inculturation in their particular local dioceses

1. Historical Background

The coexistence of Christianity and other cultures dates back to the apostolic age. Before his Ascension,
Jesus instructed his disciples to spread his teachings to the ends of the earth (Mt 28,18; Mk 16,15), Saint
Paul's speech to the Greeks at the Areopagus of Athens (Acts 17:22-33) could be considered as the first
inculturation attempt. The speech was not well received by all, according to verse 32: "Now when they
heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked".[3] Around the year 50, the apostles convened the first
Church council, the Council of Jerusalem, to decide whether to include Gentiles and inculturate Gentile
culture.[4][5] The Council confirmed that Gentiles could be accepted as Christians without first converting to
Judaism.

Cultural conflicts continued until Christianity incorporated the Greco-Roman culture.[6] Similar
inculturation occurred when the Roman Empire ceased and the Germanic and Medieval cultures became
dominant, a process taking centuries.[7] Early practitioners of inculturation in the history of missions
include St. Patrick in Ireland and Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. After
the schism of 1054, the Catholic Church was largely restricted to the Western parts of Europe. Attempts
failed to return the sphere of influence to the cultures of the Middle East with the crusades and the Latin
Empire in Constantinople (1204–1261). The Protestant Reformation generated a division in the Western
Church. However, at the same time, Spanish and Portuguese discoveries of the Americas, Asia and Africa
broadened contact with other cultures and civilizations.[8]

Inculturation after the discoveries

After the discoveries of new territories and the Council of Trent (1545–1563) the movement became more
systematic, when the Catholic Church had to ponder how and to evaluate elements of ancient non-Christian
cultures. Notable figures were, among others, José de Anchieta for the indigenous people of Brazil,
Thomas Stephens (Jesuit) in Goa, Roberto de Nobili in Southern India, Alexandre de Rhodes in Vietnam.

China
Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements, published in 1607
Main article: Chinese Rites controversy

The Jesuits Matteo Ricci, Adam Schall von Bell and others had successfully reintroduced Christianity to
China. Ricci and Schall were appointed by the Chinese Emperor in Peking to be court mathematicians,
court astronomers and even Mandarins. The first Catholic Church was built in Peking in 1650.[9] The
emperor granted freedom of religion to Catholics. Ricci had adapted the Catholic faith to Chinese thinking,
permitting, among other things, the cultic veneration of ancestors, which he described as a mere cultural
practice. The Holy See disagreed, deeming the veneration an act of worship and hence idolatry, and
forbade any adaptation in the so-called Chinese Rites controversy in 1692 and 1742. The Chinese emperor
felt duped and refused to permit any alteration of the existing Christian practices. The Church experienced
missionary setbacks in 1721 when the Kangxi Emperor outlawed Christian missions.[10] According to
Franzen, "The Vatican policy was the death of the missions in China."[11]

Papal teachings

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Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII fostered inter-cultural diversity, leading to the reintegration of the Armenian Catholic
Church into the Catholic Church in 1879. He opposed efforts to Latinize the Eastern Rite Churches, stating
that they constitute a most valuable ancient tradition and symbol of the divine unity of the Catholic Church.
His 1894 encyclical Praeclara gratulationis praised the cultural and liturgical diversity of expressions of
faith within the Church. In Orientalum Dignitatis he repeated the need to preserve and cultivate diversity
and declared different cultures to be a treasure.[12] He opposed the latinization policies of his own Vatican
and decreed a number of measures which preserved the integrity and distinctiveness of other cultural
expressions.[12]

Benedict XV and Pius XI

While Pope Pius IX and Pope Pius X tended to be slightly more Latin oriented, Benedict XV was
especially concerned with the development of missionary activities, which had suffered so much during
World War I. Inculturation meant to him first of all the development of domestic clergy. On November 20,
1919, he appealed to the Catholics of the world, to support missions and especially the development of
local clergy, favouring a de-Europeanization of the Catholic missions.[13] Pope Pius XI followed suit by
promoting local clergy so the local cultures were better recognized. He held a mission congress in Rome in
1922 and personally consecrated each year bishops from Asia, Africa and Latin America.[14] At his death
240 dioceses and administrations were in the hands of domestic bishops.

Pius XII

In 1939 Pope Pius XII, within weeks of his coronation, radically reverted the 250-year-old Vatican policy
and permitted the veneration of dead family members in China.[11] The December 8, 1939 issuance from the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith issued at the request of Pius XII stated that Chinese
customs were no longer considered superstitious but rather an honourable way of esteeming one's relatives,
and therefore permitted by Catholics.[15] The Church began to flourish again with twenty new arch-
dioceses, seventy-nine dioceses and thirty-eight apostolic prefects, but only until 1949, when the
Communist revolution took over the country.[16]

The introduction of the Gospel means inculturation and not the destruction of local cultures. Pius
emphasized this because not all seemed to understand this point. He wrote in Summi Pontificatus that a
deeper appreciation of various civilizations and their good qualities is necessary to the preaching of the
Gospel of Christ.[17] And in his 1944 speech to the directors of the Pontifical Missionary Society, he said:

 The herald of the Gospel and messenger of Christ is an apostle. His office does not demand that he
transplant European civilization and culture, and no other, to foreign soil, there to take root and
propagate itself. His task in dealing with these peoples, who sometimes boast of a very old and
highly developed culture of their own, is to teach and form them so that they are ready to accept
willingly and in a practical manner the principles of Christian life and morality; principles, I might
add, that fit into any culture, provided it be good and sound, and which give that culture greater
force in safeguarding human dignity and in gaining human happiness.[18]

Inculturation was addressed in his encyclicals Evangelii praecones and Fidei donum, issued on June 2,
1951 and April 21, 1957, respectively. Pius increased the local decision-making of Catholic missions,
many of which became independent dioceses. Pius XII demanded recognition of local cultures as fully
4
equal to European culture.[19][20] Continuing the line of his predecessors, Pius XII supported the
establishment of local administration in Church affairs: in 1950, the hierarchy of Western Africa became
independent; in 1951, Southern Africa; and in 1953, British Eastern Africa. Finland, Burma and French
Africa became independent dioceses in 1955.

Paul VI

In the Second Vatican Council, Paul VI promulgated the decree Ad gentes, teaching that inculturation
imitates the "economy of Incarnation".[21]

John Paul II

John Paul II addressed the issue in several encyclicals and public appearances. The term was used again by
the encyclical Redemptoris Missio of John Paul II in 1990.

 "The incarnation of the Gospel in native cultures and also the introduction of these cultures into the
life of the Church."[22]
 "The intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity
and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures."[23]
 "It is now acknowledged that inculturation is a theological term which has been defined in
Redemptoris Missio 52 as the on-going dialogue between faith and culture."[24]

Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI, like his predecessor, placed a high regard on the dialogue between cultures and religions.
Though he at one point attempted to move from the notion of "inculturation" to "inter-culturality", [25] he
would later state that the inculturation of the faith is necessary, as long as the specificity and the integrity
of the "culture of faith" are not compromised.[26]

Challenges and criticisms

Christian approaches of inculturation have not always been positively received by the context being
inculturation.

In Francis Xavier's missionary work in Japan, Xavier asked the convert Anjiro for a Japanese word that
would be the equivalent of Deus and was offered the word Dainichi. While first accepting it, Xavier later
realized Anjiro's Dainichi derived from the central divinity of Shingon Buddhism. To avoid invoking the
god of a competing religion, Xavier retranslated Deus into a simple phonetic equivalent Daiusu. This
turned out to be disastrous due to its phonetic similarity to the phrase dai uso, meaning "Great Lie."
Avoiding Xavier's difficulties Matteo Ricci in China and Roberto de Nobili in India did not attempt the
same phonetic simulations in inculturation.[27]

Notes and references

1. Bosch David J., (1991). Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, Maryknoll,
Orbis Book, New York, pp. 447–457. ISBN 9780883447192.
2. Bevans, Stephen B. (2002). Models of Contextual Theology (rev. and exp. ed.),Maryknoll, Orbis
Books, New York, pp. 26–27. ISBN 9781570754388.
5
 3. (ESV)
4. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (2002), p. 37, Chapter 1 The Early Christian
Community subsection entitled "Rome", quote: "In Acts 15 scripture recorded the apostles meeting
in synod to reach a common policy about the Gentile mission."
5. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (2002), pp. 37–8, Chapter 1 The Early
Christian Community subsection entitled "Rome", quote: "The 'synod' or, in Latin, 'council' (the
modern distinction making a synod something less than a council was unknown in antiquity)
became an indispensable way of keeping a common mind, and helped to keep maverick individuals
from centrifugal tendencies. During the third century synodal government became so developed
that synods used to meet not merely at times of crisis but on a regular basis every year, normally
between Easter and Pentecost."
6. Franzen,319
7. Franzen 319
8. Franzen 321
9. Franzen 323
10. McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (1990), p. 328, Chapter 9 The Expansion of
Christianity by John McManners
11. Franzen 324
12. Duffy 241
13. Franzen 382
14. Franzen 385
15. J Smit, Pope Pius XII, New York 1950 pp. 186–187
16. Franzen 325
17. Evangelii 56
18. Evangelii 60
19. Audience for the directors of mission activities in 1944 A.A.S., 1944, p. 208.
20. Evangelii praecones. p. 56.
21. Walker, C. (2009). Missionary Pope: The Catholic Church and the Positive Elements of Other
Religions in the Magisterium of Paul VI. IVE Press, New York. [1].
22. John Paul II, encyclical Slavorum Apostoli, June 2, 1985, No. 21: AAS 77 (1985), 802–803; Address
to the Pontifical Council for Culture plenary assembly, Jan. 17, 1987, No. 5: AAS 79 (1987), 1204–
1205.
23. Redemptoris Missio 52–54.
24. Ethiopia and Inculturation, Brendan Cogavin C.S.Sp.
25. Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal (2004). Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press. [2].
26. Follo, F. (2010). Inculturation and interculturality in John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Oasis,
29/03/2010. [3].

27. Kim, Sangkeun (2004). Strange Names of God: The Missionary Translation of the Divine Name
and the Chinese Responses to Matteo Ricci's Shangti in Late Ming China, 1583–1644. New York,
NY: Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 84–85.

General sources

 August Franzen, Church history, Kirchengeschichte, Herder Freiburg, 1988

 Schineller, Peter. A., Handbook on Inculturation, New York, 1990.
 Shorter Aylward, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, Maryknoll, New York, 1988.

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2. Meaning of Inculturation and its Urgency
Inculturation is a rare dictionary word that gained popularity after the Second Vatican Council. It is the
incarnation of the Christian message in particular cultural context, in such a way that this experience not
only finds expression through elements proper to the culture in question, but becomes a principle that
animates, directs and unifies the Church and remaking it so as to bring a new creation. Therefore,
evangelization in post-missionary Africa, to be intensive and not just extensive, must imbibe the
principles of inculturation. Inculturation provides the fertile ground for incorporating the culture of
particular peoples into the life of the Church. This disconnects evangelization with the missionary
concept of evangelization as a one-way traffic and connects to a process that is interactive and
complementary. It is through inculturation that the church would reappraise her evangelizing mission so
as to maintain and exceed the present successes and redefine its orientations and goals.
In spite of the evident success of missionary work in Africa seen in the teeming population of Africans
who have embraced Christianity, there is an evident lack of depth in the faith and commitment of
converts; there is also an increasing proliferation of Afro-Christian Indigenous Churches. This cannot be
blamed on the lack of commitment of missionaries in Africa, for we saw them labour exceedingly. The
cause, according to Metuh (1993), is due to the missionaries’ intolerance of the tendency of the new
African converts to introduce elements of the traditional religion into Christianity. There was a clash of
worldviews and the failure of missionaries to come to terms with the traditional African cosmology.
Hence, for the realisation of an intensive evangelization in Africa, there is need for inculturation. Only
inculturation would lead to an intensively Christianized community that would witness transformation of
the different levels of its life, laws, customs, moral values and its worldview in the light of the gospel
message. Waliggo (1996) avers that “the simple rules of communication require that the speaker adapts
himself to the audience, and his message, in order to be understood by his audience, has to be clothed in
the thought-patterns of the hearers” (p. 14). Since evangelization in Africa in the third millennium is
primarily the responsibility of Africans, it should focus on the evangelization and Christianization of
African worldviews, cultures, institutions and values. It is in this regard that the church in Africa has to
tackle inculturation as a matter of necessity and urgency in her evangelizing mission.

3. The origin of the concept ‘inculturation’

A historical analysis of the evolution of the Church reveals that the idea of inculturation is a new one, but
again it is as old as the Church. It is thus not surprising that Onwubiko (1997) said that inculturation is a
new vision of an old problem in the Church or a new approach to a solution of an old problem. It
appeared in missiological discussions not so long ago. According to Metuh (1996), the concept was
probably first used in a theological sense by Joseph Masson, a professor of the Gregorian University
Rome. Mason (cited by Metuh, 1996), argues that there is a more urgent need for a Catholicism that is
inculturated in a variety of forms.
Schineller (1990) avows that the exact origin of the word as it functions in the theological community is
unclear, but he points to its use by Cardinal Sin of Manila at the Synod on Catechesis held in Rome in
1977 and its first insertion into Papal Documents by John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation on
Catechesis on October 1979. Since then, the concept has become a common place and was frequently
used by the John Paul II during his visits to Africa. Metuh (1996), views the origin of the concept of
inculturation from a secular perspective. He maintain that the term is borrowed from cultural
anthropology where it denotes the process by which a person is inserted into his culture. This, however,
has been given a slight change in its missiological use as a process by which the church becomes inserted
7
 into a particular culture. It is in this regard that Schineller (1990) says that “at its best, the term combines
the theological significance of incarnation with the anthropological concepts of enculturation and
acculturation to create something new” (p. 21).

4. Inculturation as a Theological Concept

A definition of the theological content of inculturation can be considered from a variety of angles.
However, from whatever angle you choose to approach it, the theological content remains the same.
According to Walligo (1986),
Inculturation means the honest and serious attempt to make Christ and his Gospel of
salvation ever more understood by peoples of every culture, locality and time. It is the
reformulation of Christian life and doctrine into the very thought patterns of each
people…. It is the continuous endeavour to make Christianity ‘truly feel at home’ in the
cultures of each people. (p. 11).
In the contention of Arrupe (1990),
Inculturation is the incarnation of Christian life and of the Christian message in particular
cultural context, in such a way that this experience not only finds expression through
elements proper to the culture in question, but becomes a principle that animates, directs
and unifies the cultures, transforming it and remaking it so as to bring about a new
creation. (p. 6).
From this perspective, inculturation becomes a process that plies the pattern of the ‘Word made-flesh’,
which would involve the gospel taking life and flesh in the beliefs of people who welcome Christ and the
values of the gospel. Just as Christ became man so as to win salvation for all, the gospel must become
‘culture’ so as to win the heart of ‘local people’. John Paul II (cited by Udoidem, 1996) shares the same
sentiments with Arrupe when he defined inculturation as “the incarnation of the gospel in autochthonous
cultures, at the same time, the introduction of these cultures into the life of the church” (p. 2). He further
stresses the need for reciprocity in the relationship between the gospel and cultures.
Crollius (1986) adds a new dimension to our concept of inculturation when he defined it as,
The integration of the Christian experience of a local church into the culture of its people
in such a way that the experience not only express itself in elements of this culture, but
becomes a force that animates, orients and innovates this culture so as to create a new
unity and communion not only within the culture in question, but also as an enrichment
of the church universal. (p. 43).
This notwithstanding, when all is said about inculturation, it must not be forgotten that it is a conscious
and conscientious effort to help the people of Africa be converted down to the very roots of their culture.
As its prospect, it strives at attaining a confluence between the conversion of mind and the conversion of
the way of life, so that African Christians would be able to live their faith in all its depth and be able to
give it expression in their own way.

According to Metuh (1996), there are concepts that may suggest the same meaning at the pragmatic level
with inculturation, but are neither fully synonymous in conceptual content, nor compatible in their
theological or ideological implications. These concepts include interculturation, enculturation,
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acculturation, indegnization, africanization, contexualization, adaptation and reformation. Amidst all these
concepts, inculturation is chosen by the researcher as a veritable instrument for post-missionary
evangelization in Africa because, as a concept, it possesses a wholeness that would enhance intensive
evangelization in Africa.

5. The provenance of African Inculturation Theology

African inculturation theology arose against the background of attempts made during the missionary
period to sow the seed of the gospel in Africa. Long before the advent of missionaries, some negative
notions dominated Europe’s concept of Africa. For instance, Homer (cited by Njoku, 2002) said that
Africa is a remote place at the extreme of the universe where people worshipped and sacrificed to the
gods. Hobbes (cited by Njoku, 2002) said that Africa is a timeless place in which there are no art, letters
or social organization, but instead only fear and violent death. According to Hegel (cited by Njoku,
2002), Africa is an historic continent even though it has a geographic location. The people live in a
condition of mindlessness barbering without laws and morality. Rousseau (cited by Njoku, 2002), said
that the black people are unable to think in any reflective manner. Their engagement in arts is, therefore,
a thoughtless activity which is the antithesis of the intellect. Comte (cited by Njoku, 2002) wrote that
“Africans are people who lack the sophisticated linguistic skills, the scientific and political faculties of
the European and are best suited to dancing, dressing up and singing” (p. 10). These ideas, in one way or
the other conditioned the relationship between European missionaries and Africans: they undermined the
worldview of the African people.
Metuh (1996) argues that African inculturation theology, grew out of the different movements which
questioned the assumptions of this early missionary missiology. From this, a new vision of African
missiology emerged, and emphasized that any theological application to Africa, must take account of the
Africans to whom the faith is addressed, their culture, religion and civilization. It also recognized that
Africans have come of age, and can no longer be treated as footnotes in missiological activities in their
home land. They have the right to reflect on Christianity in their own terms, and express their faith in a
theology and religious life relevant to their cultural situation. The pursuit is for a theology that would
value the cultural and religious experience of the African people.
The main movements that influenced the birth and fired the spread of African Inculturation Theology
include, the African Culture Society (SAC), which was a francophone Catholic strand; there was also the
Anglo-phone All African Council of Churches (AACC), through which Protestants made significant
contributions to the development of African theology; the liberation oriented and ecumenical strand led
by the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT), made contribution to the
development of inculturation theology through their work titled African Theology En Route, which is
made up of selections from papers presented at the Pan- African Conference of Third World
Theologians, held in Accra, Ghana, in 1977. Black Theology, which developed in South Africa, in
reaction to racial discrimination; while this could have contributed to the development of inculturation, it
was more of a political theology. Contributions were also made by AMECEA (Association of Member
Episcopal Conferences in East Africa) through sponsorship of conferences, workshops, colloquia and the
publication in the Journal African Ecclesiastical Review (AFER). The Catholic Institutes of East and
West Africa and the Association of Episcopal Conferences of English-Speaking West Africa
(AECEWA) have also stirred up similar interests in theological research in the East and West African
Regions. These communities, movements and Institutions provided a fertile ground for the sowing and
nurturing of the seed of Inculturation Theology and have continued till date to influence its development.
9
 6. Theological foundations of Inculturation
Inculturation has a couple of theological foundations. These foundations would be discussed under the
following sub-themes.
a. The mystery of the Trinity
The idea of the Trinity is a solid theological foundation for inculturation. The penetration and indwelling
of the three divine persons reciprocally in one another, does not throw away the distinctiveness of persons
in the Trinity; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons but consubstantial.

The beauty of this interpenetration lies in the fact of their distinctiveness. In accordance with Trinitarian
appropriation, the Father has distinct qualities, as the Son and the Holy Spirit do. Their missions in the
economy of salvation are also distinct, but still, it is the same one God who acts. Cultural diversity can
itself be a source of unity in the Church if it is respected. Plurality in the one Church of Christ can also be a
source of beauty to the Church. Cultural pluralism does not pose a threat to the Church’s unity, it rather
adds to its beauty.
b. The mystery of the incarnation
According to Krieg (1995), the incarnation refers to the “abiding reality of the hypostatic union of the
divine nature and the human nature in Jesus Christ” (p. 659). For so many theologians, the idea of the
incarnation expresses the whole process of inculturation. It is within the parameters of this understanding
that Gaudium et Spes (1965) maintains that genuine inculturation should be based upon the mystery of
the incarnation, seen not only as a mystery and as an event in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but
as a process to be carried on in history till the end of time.
c. The mystery of creation
Scripture scholars generally agree that the book of Genesis was written during the exile to counter the
Babylonian myths of the origin of man. It is in this regard that Gallagher (1997) observes that the
narrative of Genesis was an early example of dialogue between faith and culture, “as against the
Babylonian stories of wars and chaos, Genesis shows God freely and serenely creating as a gift to
humanity, and indeed portraying God as an artist rejoicing in the sheer goodness of the finished work”
(p. 105). He further maintains that these texts are much more than the stories of origin. They are rooted
in God’s continuing relationship with us in our responsibility for each other and human history. When
God tells us to multiply and rule the earth, he gives us the mandate of continuing his work of creation;
and this provides a biblical basis for us to see culture as a human response to God’s continuing creative
gift, since culture is a product of human ingenuity and creativity. And if all that God has made is good,
human culture is also good. This does not rule out the proclivity of culture to become sour and lose its
beauty, in that case, culture would need redemption. For John Paul II (1995), this is where Christianity
has the capacity to transform human cultures, where necessary, so that they follow the logic proper to the
mystery of redemption. This is achieved through the process of inculturation, which brings the divine in
contact with the human.
d. The Paschal Mystery
The Paschal Mystery refers to the unified total event of Christ’s Passion, death, Resurrection, in so far as
it reveals and accomplishes God’s previously hidden plan of salvation. John Paul II (1995) contends that
every culture needs to be transformed by the Gospel values in the light of the Paschal Mystery,
Given the close and organic relationship that exists between Jesus Christ and the Word
that the Church proclaims, the inculturation of the revealed message cannot but follow
the ‘logic’ proper to the Mystery of Redemption”. Indeed, the incarnation of the Word is
10
 not an isolated moment but tends towards Jesus’ ‘Hour’ and the Paschal Mystery: ‘Unless
a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it bears much fruit’ (Jn 12:24). Jesus says:
‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself’ (Jn 12:32). This
emptying of self, this kenosis necessary for exaltation, which is the way of Christ and of
each of his disciples (cf Phil 2:6-9), sheds light on the encounters of cultures with Christ
and his Gospel. (p. 85).
e. The mystery of Pentecost
On Pentecost day, religious people gathered in Jerusalem from all parts of the world. When the apostles
spoke, they were all excited because they heard them speak in their own different languages (Acts 2:5-7).
People from different countries in the world, culturally diversified but united as a Church and hearing the
Gospel in their own various languages, was the beauty of this Church and the cause of feeling at home
for new believers. John Paul II (1995) writes,
Thanks to the outpouring and action of the Spirit, who draws gifts and talents into unity,
all the peoples of the earth when they enter the Church live a new Pentecost, profess in
their own tongue the one faith in Jesus, and proclaim the marvel that the Lord has done
for them. (p. 85).

f. Revelation and grace

Schineller (1990) holds that revelation and grace could be considered as theological foundations for
inculturation. With regard to revelation he holds that the seed of the Word of God is present in every
culture. And so the agent of inculturation does not step into godless contexts as some missionaries have
earlier conceived, but rather into a holy ground, where God is already in contact with a given context,
even though in an imperfect and hidden ways. This expands the traditional belief that revelation is only
found in scriptures with their highpoint in Christ to the understanding of revelation as a dynamic and
ongoing process. In this case, cultures, both traditional and modern, remain the locus for God’s past,
present and future revelation.
Related to the theology of revelation is that of grace. Schineller (1990) avows that grace,
Like revelation is offered to all men and women, and any exclusivist understanding of
grace would deny the understanding of inculturation as a two-way street, a listening as
well as sharing or teaching. The exclusivist understanding of grace accounted for the lack
of respect for local cultures and traditional religion, and for the colonialist attitude of
much traditional missionary endeavour. If, on the other hand, grace is offered to and in
some ways present in cultures and contexts beyond the explicit Christian pale, then the
agent of inculturation must attend to and search for the presence, learn from it and build
on it rather than reject or ignore it (p. 47).

7. Imperatives for Inculturation in the Scripture

Jesus who is the Christ, the apostles, the Church Fathers in sowing the Gospel had respect for other
peoples’ cultures. Jesus and his apostles came from the Jewish background whose religiosity, prayers
and practices of worship were well defined. However, Jesus’ attitudes towards the Jewish cult were
represented in two categories: fidelity and autonomy. In fidelity, Jesus had respect for the traditions of
his time. He came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them (Matthew 5:17). He was
faithful in observing the offering of sacrifices in the temple (Matthew 21:12), the service of words in the
synagogue (Matthew 6:6), observing the day of the Sabbath, the feasts of Passover, Tabernacle, and
11
Dedication (Matthew 26:17-19). However, his fidelity did not lie in passivity, but represented that of a
“critical yes”, a reforming fidelity, that placed a demand of purification to the worship of is time. His
autonomy found expression in his challenge to fellow Jews to spiritualize and interiorize the Jewish
religion and in this process he was giving birth to the era of Christian worship.
When Jesus preached the Gospel, he used categories familiar to his audience. We hear of absentee
Lords and Tenant revolts (Matthew 21:31-45); Small family-run farms (Mt 21:28-30); debts and debtors
(Matthew 18:25- 35); extortion and corruption (Luke 16:1-9); uncaring rich (Luke 12:18); day labourers
paid merely subsistent wages (Matthew 20:1-6); these graphically reflect the detail of the picture of
Palestinian countryside during his time. St Paul wrote, “To the Jews I became a Jew, in other to win
Jews… I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some” (Philippians 9:20 &
22); in the opinion of Metuh (1996), St Paul was talking about missiology, and at the same time using
the language of contextual theology in which lies the theology of inculturation: bringing the Christian
experience into the culture of the people, a process that makes alive the dynamic and eternal motion of
the incarnation. Freyne (1980) observes how St Paul criss-crossed the Mediterranean world on sea and
land with the Good News of Christ vying for the souls of the masses with religious leaders and
philosophers. Any contemporary missionary will testify to the value of Paul’s acquaintance with the
language of the people and his ability to share many of their assumptions with them.
After Jesus, Dulles (1983) argues that his apostles continued to employ the same model in their attempt
to bring the Good News to the peoples of their time. With the conversion and subsequent mission of St
Paul to the Gentiles, so many gentiles were converted to Christianity and there now arose the question as
to whether to allow the Gentiles to become Christians without imposing on them the law of circumcision
held in high esteem by the Jews. This called for the Council of Jerusalem between 49- 50AD. The
Judaizers held that circumcision, as contained in the Old Testament was necessary for salvation, while St
Paul and his followers maintained that all that was needed for salvation was faith in Jesus and baptism in
his name (Acts 15). According to Schineller (1991), Peter’s position which agreed with Paul’s,
prevailed, and it was decided not to lay extra burdens on the Gentile converts. Because of this liberating
decision, the mission of Paul continued with great success, and the Church expanded far beyond the
borders of Palestine. One did not first have to become Jewish before becoming a Christian. (p. 30).
8. Imperatives for Inculturation in the History of the Church
Justin (cited by Shorter, 1988) made a notable attempt at arguing that the Christian faith is not only
compatible with whatever is good and noble in Hellenistic and Roman cultures, he holds that the
different cultures were inspired by God and should be appropriate for his service. He saw these cultures
as prefigurations of Christ “a Logos spermatikos” (seed bearing word). He taught that the Spermatic
Logos has been implanted in the heart of every human culture since all things were created through
Christ, with him and for him. Justin (cited by Shorter, 1988), stated further that,
We are taught that Christ is the first born of God, and we have explained above that he is
the word (reason) of whom all mankind have a share and those who live according to
reason are Christians, even though they were classed as atheists… Thus, whatever has been
spoken aright by any man belongs to the Christians, for we worship and love, next to God,
which is from the unbegotten and ineffable God. (p. 76).
Clement (cited by Shorter, 1988) established a fundamental theory- a harmony of faith and Greek
culture, which places Greek philosophy at the service of faith. For him the ideas of Greek Philosophy
were a gift to mankind and find their unity in Christianity. He further stated that,
Philosophy was necessary to the Greeks for righteousness until the coming of the Lord, and even
now it is useful for the development of true religion, as a kind of preparatory discipline for those
12
 who arrive at faith by way of demonstration. For, “your way will not stumble” the Scripture says, if
you attribute to Providence all good things, whether belonging to the Greeks or to us. For God is
the source of all good either directly or indirectly as in the case of philosophy. But it may even be
that philosophy was given to the Greeks directly; for it was a “schoolmaster”, to bring Hellenism to
Christ, as the law was for the Jew. (p. 136).
Following the expansion of the Church from Palestine to Rome, it became clear that the church was
going into a new culture and would have to have new ways of expressing herself. In 312 Constantine,
through the edict of Milan, gave freedom of worship to Christians, which paved a way for the initiation
of large numbers of people to Christianity and the shaping of their belief systems on the Greek and
Roman philosophical thought, principles and methods. At this time, the Greek language dominated, after
which Latin overpowered it in the West while Greek remained in the East. With the dominance of Greek
language it influenced the culture of the Church at the time, especially Greek Art; and so many concepts
of theology have their etymology from the Greek language. The court which Constantine relinquished to
the Church for a place of worship influenced the Church structures, event to this day. The Roman
juridical system was a basis for the Church’s hierarchical structure. The celebration of Christmas
replaced the Roman pagan feast of the sun.
St Augustine learnt much from Greek Philosophy, especially from Plotinus which he used greatly in his
writings. It is his opinion that as faith runs on earth and takes its citizens from all nations and languages;
and faith is not to be pre-occupied with customs, laws and institutions, neither is it to reject or destroy
any of these, but rather it should observe and conserve them so that they do not constitute an obstacle to
the religion that teaches the true worship of God.
From the foregoing, the question that arises here is how much of the African thought system has
influenced the faith they have received so that it becomes the faith of the African people?
9. Current results on the practice of inculturation
The benefit of hindsight reveals that the church in Africa has gone far as regards the practice of
inculturation. The subject African Inculturation Theology is presently been taught either as a self-
subsisting course or as a course under another in most ecclesiastical institutions. A number of
dissertations have been written on it by both graduate and post-graduate students. A good number of
journal articles and textbooks have been or are being published on it.

Associations of theologians and exegetes are being set up in great numbers, and they are organizing
symposiums and colloquiums. These research work, combined with the Christian sense of the African
faithful has today given birth to a distinctive African theology which has emerged out of the identity of the
African people and draws on African categories of thought and speaks to the historical situation of the
African people, and by a deep reflection on the African way of seeing God, human beings and life, is
enriching the universal church.
As regards the Mass in the Catholic Church, in Ethiopia, there is already an Ethiopian rite in existence. In
Zaire, there is also a Zairean rite which speaks to the people’s religious categories. However, in places
like Nigeria, the proposed Nigerian rite is still at the level of proposal and not practice. Among the
African Independent Churches much has been realised: African names are used by believers, African
local musical instruments are highly prized. Categories peculiar to the African worldview like healing are
incorporated to feed the spiritual hunger of the African soul. As such, the spiritual leader is not just a
teacher but a healer. So far in Africa the great majority of attempts at inculturation have been carried out
in the area of liturgy, and this has moved rapidly from simple adaptations to creative efforts. There is now
a wide usage of vernacular among African Christian worshipping communities. African art is now widely
13
used in the liturgy and in decorating places of worship. Traditional forms such as drum strokes, hand
claps, dancing and body language are now largely used in liturgy to express certain elements of the
Christian faith.
Nathaniel (1994), however, observes that in spite of the full mandate given to Catholic bishops and priests
to practice inculturation, it is sad that in this all-important task of making Christianity more meaningful to
Africans, not much has been achieved. However, many of the suggestions made by many Nigerian
theology lecturers and students in their dissertations rot away in the libraries or college archives. Nothing
of their proposals has been tried out in practice. There are still many African theologians who don’t see
the need for inculturation, they still prefer to walk, talk and live in the white man’s culture, which they
perceive as more superior to theirs. In most seminaries in Nigeria, where inculturation is practiced, it is
more of a caricature of what inculturation should be. It is usually limited to the liturgy of the Mass, and
celebrated once in a while, some times when there are western visitors around. In preparation, students go
to store to dust up what is considered their culture for display, as long as the celebration lasts or the white
men are in sight. Once they are gone, inculturation goes with them. This makes inculturation less of a way
of life, and more of a show in memory of antiquity.
10. The challenges of inculturation
A community of factors have clung to the wheels of inculturation, either reducing the speed of its
implementation or stopping its movement completely. According to Nathaniel (1994), unless these
obstacles are removed Africa is likely to disappoint not only her sons and daughters, but also the entire
universal church for her inability to take the initiative and make good of Africa’s finest hour. These
factors that have constituted obstacles to the development of inculturation include:
a. The problem of language
Language identifies a people more than other traits, including customs, traditions, dressing, attitudes and
other behavioural patterns. It is therefore a very significant instrument of inculturation. Nathaniel (1994)
observes that language plays the most leading role in the entire effort to bring Christianity much more
closer to Africans; it makes the Christian message clearer and more meaningful. The Germans, the
French, Italians and English people celebrate their liturgy, including paraliturgical activities in their
various languages. Their ministers preach in their languages. When the liturgy is celebrated in Latin or
other languages, it is usually for a special purpose. Here in Africa and Nigeria in particular, although
much has been achieved, there are still many ministers who cannot preach or administer the sacraments
in their local languages. They might be very good in Latin, Italia, French or Spanish, but when it comes
to their local languages, they find it difficult to communicate. They seem not to have taken note that the
language of the people is a key factor in evangelization.
b. The Problem of scepticism
Numerous African Independent Churches have obviously taken the initiative of adapting the Christian
religion to the mentality and lifestyle of the African people. These adaptation are found in the area of
liturgy: sacred music, dancing, drumming and the use of African art and local materials at worship. They
have adapted the devotional prayers and hymns to suit the African mode of worship and needs.

However, Nathaniel (1994) observes that many Bishops, priests and even the lay people of the mainline
churches are too cautious in giving any impression that they are imitating the African Independent
Churches. For many who belong to this group, they see it as downgrading for Catholics to copy the mode
of worship found in these spiritual churches. Many of those who belong to the mainline churches see the
leaders of these churches as false prophets. It should however be noted that the mainline churches cannot
be said to be imitating the African Independent Churches since both denominations are drawing from the
14
same pool, namely African culture. If this African culture is not evil, immoral or superstitious, and can
help give more meaning to Christian beliefs, why should these not be incorporated. This explains why
members of the mainline churches desert their churches for these spiritual churches where their spiritual
aspirations find more fulfilment.
c. Fear of syncretism
Tippet (cited by Yamamori, 1975) defines syncretism as the union of two opposite forces, beliefs,
systems or tenets so that the united form is a new thing. This agrees with the understanding of Schreiter
(1994), who defines syncretism as the “mixing of elements of two religious systems to the point where at
least one, if not both, of the systems loses basic structure and identity”. Pinto (1985) has a dismal
concept of syncretism. In his opinion, it is the “fusion of incompatible elements” or the “mingling of
authentic notions and realities of the revealed faith with realities of other spiritual worlds”.
Syncretism occurs when basic elements of the gospel are replaced by religious elements from the host
culture. It often results from a tendency or attempt to undermine the uniqueness of the gospel as found in
the Scriptures or the incarnate Son of God. Many clergy men and women and the laity fear that what we
call inculturation may turn out to be another form of what fetish priests, witch doctors and fortune tellers
do in African traditional religion. For Nathaniel (1994), even here a lot of work need to be done, namely
to purify what appears to be “superstitious” and “syncretistic” and adapt them to the gospel message of
liberation.
d. Distrust for things African
The distrust for things that are African is another serious obstacle to the progress of inculturation. Many
Africans are afraid and ashamed of being Africans. With the slave trade and later colonialism, the whites
gave blacks the impression that they were a superior race. In French colonies, through the principle of
‘assimilation’, they tried to stop the indigenous languages of colonies, which they considered inferior to
the French Language. In British colonies, English was taught at schools. Many Africans have grown
with the impression that their language is inferior. Many Africans, see their traditional poetry, including
freelancing with songs, dancing, and theatrical renditions as pagan. When we lose our culture, we lose
our identity, we suffer self-alienation because we become less African, and unfortunately never
European. To achieve our goal in inculturation, Nathaniel (1994) argues that we must liberate ourselves
from this negative self-image syndrome.

11. God's Family: Inculturation in Ecclesia in Africa

Popularly, inculturation in Africa is often understood as the assimilation of African values, traditions and
rituals into the Church's praxis. It is also seen as the Africanisation of the Church by ridding it of foreign
practices and replacing them by African traditional ones. The process of inculturation does include these
elements but inculturation is a much deeper process than the assimilation, indigenization and
accommodation which this popular understanding implies. Inculturation goes deeper than the importation
of rituals and practices and the accommodation of values even though it can include these things.
Inculturation is a theological term which is linked to the anthropological term "enculturation" coined by
Herskovitz (1952:39) as "the aspects of the learning experience which mark of man from other creatures,
and by means of which, initially, and in later life, he achieves competence in his culture". In Latin, the
English word "enculturation" was translated as "inculturatio" since Latin does not allow the 'en' prefix.
This word has now acquired theological significance and so is distinguished from the anthropological term
in languages which allow this. The main European languages of Africa: English, French and Portuguese
are languages which allow this distinction. In English, then, inculturation is a theological term which refers
15
to the cultural nature of the Church, its faith and its praxis. Misunderstandings arise in inculturation when
we reify concepts such as culture, faith, church and praxis. What we are concerned about is people. It is
people who are the subjects of culture, the church, its faith and its praxis. Inculturation is not just about
mixing faith and culture it is about the faith becoming a culture in the Church and this culture becoming the
culture of the people in the Church (EA 78).

Inculturation in Ecclesia in Africa

The Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: Ecclesia in Africa, devotes a considerable section to the issue of
inculturation. It notes that "the Synod considers inculturation an urgent priority in the life of the Particular
Churches, for a firm rooting of the Gospel in Africa...and one of the greatest challenges for the Church on
the continent on the eve of the third millennium" (EA 59).
When Ecclesia in Africa speaks about inculturation it tries to avoid the pitfalls noted above by drawing
clear theological foundations for inculturation (EA 60). These are the Incarnation, the Paschal Mystery and
the Pentecost experience. The Word must be flesh in all cultures. In the Incarnation, God shows his love
for humankind by being born into a particular culture in a particular time. From this we learn that the Word
must take flesh and live in all times and contexts. So inculturation is incarnational. It is "precisely this
insertion of the Gospel message into cultures" (EA 60).

From Incarnation to Paschal Mystery, The incarnation is not sufficient a theological category to exhaust the
meaning of Inculturation for "the inculturation of the revealed message cannot but follow the 'logic' proper
to the Mystery of Redemption". There is no incarnation without Jesus' "Hour" and the Paschal Mystery.
Inculturation also implies the transforming death and resurrection of our human condition and thus our
cultures in order that they may become Christian cultures. "Every culture needs to be transformed by the
Gospel values in the light of the Paschal mystery" (EA 61)
A Pentecostal Outpouring Inculturation is a movement of the Spirit which animates and inspires the people
of faith in their journey to the Kingdom. The subjects of inculturation are the Christians, people of faith
living through culture and inspired by the Holy Spirit. This inspiration comes in the tongue and culture of
the people (EA 61). It is the Spirit who is the principal agent of the Church's mission and so of
inculturation (cf RM 21-30).

Two Criteria for Inculturation Ecclesia in Africacalls for the respect of two criteria in the process of
inculturation (EA 62).

 The first of these is that all inculturation should be compatible with the Christian message. Since
Inculturation is concerned with evangelisation and the bringing of the good news to all people, then
all efforts at inculturation should clearly be part of that same good news. Syncretistic attempts to
incorporate practices and traditions in conflict with the Gospel message is not inculturation.

 The second criteria to be respected is that of communion with the Universal Church. The "Ancient
Eastern churches of Africa" are given as examples of areas where successful inculturation has been
achieved whilst maintaining this union (EA 62).

The Church as God's Family: Principal Image for Inculturation in Africa

The image of the Church as "God's Family" which appears in a slightly different form in Lumen Gentium
(LG 6) has been taken as the "guiding idea for evangelisation in Africa" (EA 63). This image incorporates
a central African value, that of the family. This is a value which is found throughout the continent where
16
emphasis on family life and the relatedness of people is of major importance. In Africa, human relatedness
forms a central pillar of life and worth. There is little notion of the individual and of personal self-
realisation. Community, particularly the community of the family, is the overarching understanding of
human nature. A person is a person through other people. In this area, African cultures are closer to the
Gospel values than modern Western cultures with their emphasis on the personal and the individual. The
African Synod, as well as Ecclesia in Africa, encourages theologians in Africa to work with the theme of
'God's Family' in order to "develop a theology of the Church as Family with all the riches contained in this
concept" (EA 63). Among the African values extolled under this image are the following: "care for others,
solidarity, warmth in human relationships, acceptance, dialogue and trust" (EA 63). Clearly the image of
the Church as God's family needs further development in order to become a symbol of the nature and
praxis of the inculturated African Church.

Fields for Inculturation, Ecclesia in Africa singles out two areas for immediate action in inculturation.
These are inculturation of the liturgy and the setting up of Episcopal Study Commissions to deal with
"matters concerning marriage, the veneration of ancestors and the spirit world, in order to examine in depth
all the cultural aspects of problems from the theological, sacramental, liturgical and canonical points of
view" (EA 64). In both of these areas, the document, as well as the Synod itself, is extremely cautious.
Whilst there is an encouragement to get involved in inculturation in these two areas, the parameters within
which approved initiatives may occur are clearly set down.
With regard to liturgical inculturation, the requirement is made that essential elements not be changed (EA
64). The document does not say what is meant by "essential elements" but it is hoped that this allows more
leeway than the rather bleak document on Liturgical Inculturation (Vatican 1994) from the Congregation
for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments which declares that "inculturation responds to the
needs of a particular culture and leads to adaptations which still remain part of the Roman rite" (§36 my
emphasis).

Such an approach which sees inculturation as adaptation has long been absent from the discussion on
inculturation. Study commissions should be set up to consider difficult pastoral issues in the area of
inculturation. At the same time, Ecclesia in Africa insists that "fidelity to the Church's teaching must be
maintained" (EA64) when considering those doctrines and practices which have been hard to "assimilate".
Clearly the references here are to areas such as polygamy, initiation practices and the reception of the
sacraments by people who remain faithful to traditional practices which are currently considered contrary
to the Church's teaching. The hope is that more adequate study of these issues will allow the problems to be
dealt with in ways that maintain the integrity of both the traditions in the local culture as well asthose in the
Universal Church. In the mean time people who find themselves in very difficult pastoral situations will
not find much to comfort them in the sidestepping of these problems by both the African Synod and this
Exhortation.

Other areas of concern for the Evangelisation/Inculturation process in Africa are highlighted in the
document. These include: Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogue (EA 65-67); The importance of integral
human development including the cultural dimension (68-69); the importance ofthe Prophetic role of the
Church in Africa to speak as the voice of the poor against unjust and corrupt Governments (EA 70) and the
importance of the Church's involvement in the Mass media in Africa (EA 71). There is little that is new in
the affirmation of these dimensions of the Church's praxis. However the cultural analysis made of the mass
media is significant. Mass media is seen as a culture itself and as such it needs to go through the
inculturation process. The mass media needs to be evangelised andtransformed as any other culture.
Similarly, this culture needs to enrich the Church and preachers as well as listeners and viewers need to be
socialised into it (EA 71).

17
Final Comments Ecclesia in Africa brings the fruit of the African Synod to the people of the continent. It is
clear that this document reflects the importance that the Synod Fathers and the Pope give to inculturation in
Africa. Whilst some areas of urgency have been indicated, we must remember that inculturation is seen as
"a process that includes the whole of Christian existence: theology, liturgy, customs, structures..." (EA 78).
Inculturation in all of these areas of the Church's nature and praxis is a tremendous challenge to the
continent. However, we should not be put off by the cautious nature of the document. This is a trait
common to all Roman
documents whose primary role is to maintain the Unity of the Church. In the fragmented ecclesial reality
which we find particularly in Africa but also throughout the world, we ought to affirm the importance both
of the maintenance of unity as well as the ecumenical search for it. The actual work of inculturation will
happen on the local level. In the Region under the Southern African Catholic Bishop's Conference we are
already fortunate to have a Pastoral Statement on Inculturation from the Bishops (SACBC 1995). This
statement is a response to the Synod and affirms the urgency of inculturation in this region of Africa. In the
Bishops' statement, inculturation is linked to the notion of feeling "at home in the Church". Clearly the
image of God's family coming from the Synod is already being developed here. The document encourages
parishes to get involved in the inculturation process and says that guidelines have already been prepared
"for all who will engage in the task of Inculturation".We find ourselves, then, in a time of experimentation
and reflection. It is a time for all to become involved in the promotion of inculturation in all areas of the
Church's life.

References
Bate S.C., Inculturation and Healing: Coping-Healing in South African Christianity, Pietermaritzburg,
1995.
Cluster E. A., Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa of the Holy Father John Paul II To
the Bishops Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious and all the Lay Faithful of the Church in
Africa and Its Evangelising Mission towards the Year 2000.
Herskovits M. J. 1952, Man and His Works: The Science of Cultural Anthropology, NY,1952.
Alfred A. Knopf., Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Vatican,1964.
Pope John Paul II, Remptoris Missio: Encyclical Letter on the Permanent Validity of the Church's
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12. Conclusion
For many in Africa, inculturation is limited to the activities in the Church premises, especially in the area
of translation and liturgy. However, inculturation must not be limited to any particular field or aspect of
evangelization in Africa because it is a movement towards full evangelization. John Paul II (1995) avows
18
 that it is a process that must underpin the entirety of the evangelization process, ranging from the
church’s structure, liturgy, translation and interpretation of scriptures, pastoral method to theological
research; it must touch on the personal, cultural, economic and political levels so that Africans can live a
holy life. It is a process that must affect even our way of thinking, so that whether in the church or at
home or in our working places the process continues to evolve into something integral and dynamic. This
therefore calls for the need for research in the field of African cultures in all their complexities.
In the area of scriptures, the African church should be able to make the scriptures accessible to the
people of God by translating it into the languages they understand. This has been greatly achieved in
Africa, as most cultures now have the sacred scriptures translated into their local languages. However,
there remains more to be done, as there are still some tribes that are yet to receive the Word of God in
their local languages. The pastoral method is another field for the experimentation of inculturation.
Many Christian communities in Africa need to be organized along the lines of the idea of the church as a
family of God.

This provides an ecclesiastical structure that is African, and which allows the people of God the
opportunity of seeing themselves as a communion of parts which must stand together. This also affects the
way they share responsibilities, such that it is not entirely left to the clergy or the lay faithful. In the area
of catechesis, there is the need to take African symbols and cultural values into account. The translations
of the catechism into African languages were done from the Catechism of the Council of Trent with little
or no adaptations and with foreign languages. Its methodology of questions and answers are not African.
Learning through stories and proverbs is more common to the African Background.
Inculturation should also be practiced in such a way that it relates the Gospel of liberation to the
experience of the Nigerian woman. Inculturation does two things: it roots the gospel in a culture and
inserts that culture into Christianity. To root Christianity in a culture prompts two events: the first is the
transformation of the Nigerian culture that oppresses women; secondly, it involves positively developing
the culture of the Nigerian people so that they enhance positive potentials towards the development of
the woman. Inserting the Gospel of liberation into the experience of women means allowing the gospel
to be read and understood in the context of the experience of women, their joys and pains, their hopes,
disappointment, their achievements and failures. In this process Christ is again brought into the
experience so that they hear him say to them again “Talitha Qumi”, which means “Daughter arise”,
thereby liberating her from the dehumanizing conditions.
It is through inculturation that the church in Africa would reappraise her evangelizing mission in the
third millennium so as to maintain and exceed the present successes and redefine its orientations and
goals.
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