Browsing by Subject "Pastoral Ministry"

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The Contribution of Pastoral Ministry in an Hiv/Aids Environment: With Special Reference to Mukuru Slums, Nairobi – Kenya.
(Tangaza University College, 2012) Kawama, Virgilius
The 15 (AMECEA) 1 th GENERAL INTRODUCTION Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa Plenary session admitted that HIV/AIDS is indeed a challenge to the Church and society in Africa and that solutions to this pandemic must come from within Africa itself. The Church in the region is challenged further to accept and care for its HIV/AIDS infected clergy, religious men and women and the laity, and be on the forefront in condemning any kind of stigmatization of the infected persons. The AMECEA bishops exhorted the people in the region and Africa as a whole to embrace behavioral change, uphold faithfulness in marriage, and for those who are not yet married, to abstain from casual sex and be Christ Centred. 2 The love and respect for the weak, the poor, and the sick caused the researcher (pastoral minister) 3 of this work to take the situation of the people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kenya as a focus of his spiritual, pastoral and theological reflection. According to the researcher, the pandemic calls for a pastoral approach that grows out of the reality between what is believed and what is done, theology and ministry, faith and life. This thesis aims at helping the reader to discover “The contribution of pastoral ministry in a HIV/AIDS environment” and how it may be improved for its effectiveness. The thesis is going to deal with the problem of HIV/AIDS, basing on the researcher’s practicum done with Lea Toto Program (LTP) July 2011. 5 in Mukuru 6 Slums, covering more than 186 contact hours between June and The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is concerned with the Insertion experience that will reveal the researcher’s experience while working in Mukuru slums with HIV/AIDS infected and affected people and how the epidemic affects the social, economic, religious, cultural and political aspects of the slums. It will also include the information gathered during the practicum. Literature review forms the second chapter, with special attention on the socio-cultural and pastoral analysis. It will help the researcher to reflect on the roles played by pastoral agents like Church leaders, Christians, believers of other faiths and all people of good-will. It will also promote additional reflection on the new orientations of care, prevention and advocacy while strengthening the existing ones. This chapter is mainly based on the researcher’s personal reading about the pandemic and related issues. The third chapter is the Theological reflection that will help the researcher to grow in the life of the Spirit, to affirm the presence of God and Jesus Christ in the lives of HIV/AIDS-positive people, and to discover the roots of the Church’s pastoral care for the sick. It is based on the practicum experience, biblical, theological positions, and other Church resources. The Theological reflection will also help the reader to explore thoughts, feelings, and general behaviour of HIV/AIDS people to reach a better understanding of their life and their relations to others and God. Pastoral planning for action is the focus of the fourth chapter. It is an attempt to concretely formulate a ministerial program which proposes specific solutions to both the pastoral agents and clients. It will take into account the physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions to suggest to the clients how to cope more effectively with the disease. The pastoral plan will offer alternative ways that provide the infected and affected people with love and hope, compassion and healing of Christ. It is a search for a new pastoral response which takes into consideration people’s experiences of life and the dangers posed by HIV/AIDS. The fifth and final chapter summarizes the main findings and recommendations that make clear the importance of having objectives that guide the pastoral minister in the ministry of HIV/AIDS. It shows how people are to face life-threatening problems from a Christian perspective. It will provide recommendations that could help society to face the suffering and difficulties brought about by HIV/AIDS in a meaningful way.
Exploration of the Relationship between Social Critical Consciousness and Pastoral Ministry in International Missionary Congregations: A Case Study of the Comboni Family in Kenya.
(Tangaza University College, 2020-10) Giudici, Stefano
The present research is a qualitative exploration of the relationship between social critical consciousness and pastoral ministry in international missionary congregations within Catholic Church. The research focused on the case study of two international missionary Institutes, the Comboni Missionaries and the Comboni Missionary Sisters, in Kenya. In the present study, critical consciousness is not limited to personal transformation but has a clear orientation towards social transformation. Hence, it is defined as social critical consciousness, which is analysed in the three dimensions of social identity, positionality, and intersectionality. A vast literature in various fields has been produced to show how essential it is for today to develop a social critical consciousness in order to engage the challenge of complexity, expressed through the realities of coloniality and multiculturalism. The same complexity exists in the Catholic Church, more and more global, and it is particularly experienced in international missionary congregations. However, there is neither reflection nor study of the topic in Church’s environments and among pastoral practitioners, dangerously posing the basis for an ineffective pastoral action for social transformation. The present study aimed at introducing the concept of social critical consciousness in the missionary narrative and praxis. It investigated the pastoral practitioners’ awareness of social critical consciousness through the exploration of their perception of the self, their pastoral action, their multicultural relationships, and their collaboration in the context of a multicultural community. A typological and thematic analysis of transcripts from twenty-nine personal interviews and three focus groups in different locations in Kenya was performed. Life and field experience of the participants was integrated with the vision emerging from archival documents of the two Institutes. Four main challenges emerged: the tendency of pastoral practitioners to describe themselves through one dominant charismatic identity, which leads to the prevailing of mission over personal identities; the de-politicisation of social identities and pastoral action; a disorientation as the common experience of the participants in multicultural contexts; an acritical acceptance of pluralism in ministry, which limits collaboration and enhances fragmentation. The study showed that there is an insufficient awareness of social critical consciousness among pastoral practitioners and proposed four recommendations for strategies for integrating social critical consciousness in pastoral ministry for social transformation: a social critical pastoral methodology, a social critical partnership, a social critical community, and a social critical training.
A Study on Former Child Combatants in Sierra Leone: Assessment of the Problem; Rehabilitation Strategies; Pastoral Ministry.
(Tangaza University College, 2002-02) Cosgrove, John
like many developing nations. due to its poverty and economic structures. Sierra Leone has had its share of street children who would beg on the streets from expatriates and wealthy Sierra Leoneans. In the mid-90s. while working in Sierra Leone. 1 was pestered by street kids in Freetown to the same degree that I experience the street kids during my visits to Nairobi If the number of kids approaching for a hand-out is a reliable indication of a country's street child population then I would propose that Freetown. in the mid-90s, had as high an incidence of street children as Nairobi does today. The Salesians began work with street children in the late 90s and presently have about 200 children in their care. Many of these children now live on the streets as a direct result of the increased fighting in the last five years. The idea for this paper arose from a combination of factors: during my pastoral practice in Sierra Leone from 1995 anti: 1998 1 met mans of these voting soldiers at road blocks. in the market, and even at our gate as they begged us 1hr food or soap. Anyone could realize that. in spite of the gun and military garb. these soldiers were still very much children: the media has also presented to the world the plight of child combatants rather