Inculturation of The Rites Of Passage Among the Ewe of Togo Case Study: Twins, Pastoral Quest
Date
2002-02
Authors
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
Working for reconciliation is one of the biggest challenges of the Church in
her mission to the world, especially to Africa where wars, ethnic clashes and hatred
have divided the continent and the peoples among themselves. It is a great task
particularly for the Church of Cote d'Ivoire, which is facing the biggest treat of its
existence since its independence in 1960.
For forty years, Cote d'Ivoire enjoyed a stability that envied all the other
countries of the west-African sub-region, faced with war and coups. Its economic
success attracted people from neighbouring countries, and its main city Abidjan
nicknamed, "la perle des lagunes „t because of its strong development, far ahead of
all other capitals in the region, was the pride of the continent. However, since
September 2002, after a foiled coup attempt, Cote d'Ivoire is divided between a
rebel held North predominantly Moslem and a Government held South,
predominantly Christian and animist.
The causes of this war arc numerous, but the main point now is to know how
to reach a lasting peace and reconcile the Ivorians with themselves. This is the big
task of the Church today in that country. Being ourselves from Cote d'Ivoire, we
know how much this war has affected the people of the country, who were used to
peace and stability; we know the level of anger and frustration in the hearts of all,
being Moslems or Christians.
In fact, the Church is held between the anger of her Christians in their
accusations, justified or not, towards Moslems of supporting the rebels, and her
mission to proclaim Christ's teaching of love and of forgiveness towards the neighbour and even the enemy. She is also facing the anger of the Moslems in their
accusations, justified or not, towards Christians of discriminating them. She has the
duty to preach and work for justice.
So our objective in choosing this topic is to bring out some suggestions that
can help the country in its process of reconciliation. For we believe that a true
reconciliation can be effective if it is done through forgiveness and love. And this
we know, it is not something easy to achieve.
So we will start by presenting the actual situation of the country. Presenting
the socio-religious situation might help understand the political situation which
follows, where after two years of war, the country is still divided into two.
Presenting all these will help understand the dilemma of the Church. The second
chapter, which is the biblical understanding of reconciliation, is an analysis of
especially the New Testament references for reconciliation, forgiveness and love.
We will refer to the teachings of Jesus and of Saint Paul that might help the
Christians in their difficult mission of reconciliation. The last part, mission of
reconciliation in Christ, is where we want to give our suggestions, adding them to
what the local Magisterium is already trying to do. These are the pastoral challenges
of the lvorian Church, and even though they are not easy, in Christ, the Church will
succeed in her mission of reconciliation.
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Keywords
Inculturation, Rites Of Passage, Ewe, Twins, Pastoral Quest