CNS STORY: Ethnic tensions in the church must be overcome, say African bishops

SYNOD-DISCRIMINATION Oct-7-2009 (870 words) xxxi

Ethnic tensions in the church must be overcome, say African bishops

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholics in Africa have to overcome lingering ethnic and racial tensions within their own church communities in order to be credible witnesses to the Gospel and powerful agents for change, said a number of African bishops.

Part of the solution lies in a radical change of heart and greater emphasis on the church's vision of diverse peoples belonging to the same family of God, many bishops said in speeches Oct. 6 at the Synod of Bishops for Africa.

Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, said, "Questions like selfishness, greed for material wealth, ethnicity resulting in ethnic conflicts and others, which are the root causes of the lack of peace in many African societies, must be confronted without fear or favor and be followed up with specific pastoral directives."

He said he was saddened by allegations that priests have been involved in these conflicts either by their failing to act "or even by direct commission."

"In this synod we must have the courage to denounce even against ourselves things like the misuse of the role and practice of authority, tribalism and ethnocentrism," as well as religious leaders being guilty of political partisanship, he said.

If the church in Africa can overcome its divisions and demonstrate real unity and communion then it can speak with more authority about reconciliation, justice and peace, said Cardinal Pengo.

Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of Umtata, South Africa, said racial tensions still exist among parishioners and seminarians.

The tensions manifest themselves "in the lack of communion and cooperation between racial groups," he said, such as in not being able to get black, white and other Catholics to come together to diocesan events like pilgrimages and ordinations.

"There are also indications that in our seminaries students of other races, especially white students, do not feel at peace with black students," he said.

Bishop Sipuka said the principles of democracy and equality in post-apartheid South Africa have not filtered down to the people. In day-to-day life, "people still operate under the old system, perceiving themselves as still different and even enemies of each other," he said.

It has been easier to change the nation's institutions than the people's mentality, he said.

But with its primary focus on changing hearts, the church can make a significant contribution to overcoming racial barriers and fostering peaceful coexistence, he said.

Bishop Martin Munyanyi of Gweru, Zimbabwe, said reconciliation is needed both in the nation and the church because "we see simmering tension in some of our parishes due to language and ethnic differences."

The bishop also acknowledged church failures in the area of justice, including sometimes failing to pay employees a just wage and situations in which priests misuse church resources.

Another problem needing correction is that "some church practices tend to have a bias against the girl child. For example, the girl is punished while the boy is not," he said.

Bishop Michael Bhasera of Masvingo, Zimbabwe, said it is very "painful when Catholics turn against fellow Catholics in conflicting political, social, economic or regional scenarios."

The tensions can be overcome with better pastoral attention to educating everyone about the meaning of the church as a family of God, he said.

The faithful need to achieve a better understanding of how the sacraments bring them closer to Christ and to one another, said Bishop Bhasera.

"Sacramental bondage can be stronger than the biological bond that binds families" and can draw people of different ethnic and tribal origins closer together by being "bound by one blood, the blood of Christ," he said.

Bishop Lucas Abadamloora of Navrongo-Bolgatanga, Ghana, said there is a sense of racial discrimination even within the universal church.

He said the principle of the universal family of God is not experienced by many bishops, priests and laity from Africa who travel to the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.

"Our experience of the church in Europe and America and even by some of our brother bishops and priests suggests that we are second-class family members or that we belong to a different church," he said.

"The impression is created that we need them, but they do not need us," he said.

"Theory of fraternity and community is strong but the practice is weak," he said, adding that the synod should address this problem and find ways so that "all belong and feel at home" in the church.

Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, retired archbishop of Kampala, Uganda, warned the synod that a lack of education, especially of current and future political leaders, is leaving the continent's countries vulnerable to continuing corruption and exploitation.

"In most countries in Africa, the politics we are experiencing is godless politics," he said, and "it is this style of leadership which breeds conflicts."

"A new breed of dictators is replacing the former ones," he said. These new "mild dictators" practice a kind of "political engineering" in which they proclaim to be fighting for the rights, development and well-being of the people, but in reality pursue other, more selfish, interests.

Cardinal Wamala said the solution lies in evangelizing future leaders through education in the family and schools regarding the values espoused by Catholic social teaching.

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