Today I am publishing the latest FIUV Position Paper, on the Traditional Mass in Sub-Saharan Africa. I am particularly grateful to our African contacts for help in preparing this paper.
Catholics of the older generation often tell me that at the time of the introduction of the reformed liturgy, it was frequently justified as being necessary for 'the missions'. This paper points to a number of difficulties with the idea that the reformed liturgy is particularly suited to Africa.
I will mention just one in this brief introduction: the implementation of a vernacular liturgy in Africa has presented the Church with peculiarly difficult challenges, because of the vast number of languages found in Africa, and the peculiarly limited resources, of money and numbers of clergy, to address these challenges. One can fairly say that, as far as many Africans are concerned, the project has been a failure in its own terms: vast numbers of African Catholics do not have access to a liturgy in their mother tongue. If that was what the Reform was all about, it simply hasn't taken place.
I have addressed another aspect of the situation, the problem of inculturation, on my own blog
here.
This paper can be downloaded as a pdf here; the whole series can be seen here; the series (not including this one) are published in hard copy: click on the button.
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The Extraordinary Form and Sub-Saharan Africa
The
post-Conciliar Papal Magisterium identify a number of
challenges facing the rapidly growing Church in Africa. On the one hand,
Africa’s traditional religions, culture, and tribal social structure pose both
opportunities and challenges to the evangelising Church and to social stability
and development. On the other hand, the rapid economic development,
urbanisation, and exposure to Western culture also create challenges for the
Church, as well as opportunities for Africans seeking to escape poverty.
Traditional African
culture
An
important theme is the importance of traditional African culture, including
religious culture. Pope St John Paul II expressed this powerfully when he
acknowledged, in his 1995 Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, that
these [sc. traditional] religions are the
living expression of the soul of vast groups of people.
In relation to the
influence of Western culture, which is frequently corrosive of any kind of
spirituality, he continued by urging Africans:
look inside yourselves.
Look to the riches of your own traditions; look to the faith which we are
celebrating in this assembly.
