The Role of the Laity in the Life Of The Church in Mozambique (1977-1997)

Abstract

Lay ministries in the Catholic Church are our point of focus in this Essay. A lot has been written about the laity. Since the time of the New Testament through the patristic period to our modern times, there have always been lay people who dedicated themselves to the life and activities of the Church (cf. Acts 4: 32-35, 6: 1-7). We see even today how much Christ's faithful people are striving to keep up their faith burning as a community, even though the priest may not be there. We may bear witness of their heroic commitment to the welfare of the church to the extent of risking their own short-lived life. But we should also be courageous to confess that all that has been said or we may say about the lay people and their ministries in the Church is just not enough. Despite their active presence in the community, their contribution is not more than an act of contrition for their daily sins. Otherwise there would not be such alarming worry about what the church was supposed to do in the society, in the politics, in the world economy and science, ecumenism and dialogue. It can be sad to hear from a bishop saying his diocese has fifty-three priests, whom he has to distribute to 37 parishes, without forgetting those who are sick who need to be replaced. And when it is time for confirmations, he spends ten months confirming people daily. Sometimes he even fails to confer the sacrament to all due to other commitments he has to attend to. But the question is why should he do that job alone? If he cannot fulfill his duties in due time, others can do it through delegation! Therefore it would be unfair to say besides him there is nobody else who can do something that will contribute to the maturity in faith and salvation of many. The work of the laity in the church since its early ages is of great importance that it should not be neglected. They always raised their voices even in the moments of danger like death, wars. persecution of the church. Through their contribution the church did survive from trials in history. Sometimes through them the church defines its own identity and understands its mission in the world or society. Here we have the example of Mozambique where the church resisted the revolution aggression through lay people. Some of these people lost their lives for trying to defend the Christian community. Therefore the laity are the living martyrs of faith. And today the church is being called to bear witness to its faith in this pluralistic world. How can it make that work unless the laity are included and kept in the church? Mozambican Church is one of those Churches that have suffered martyrdom and terror in the course of human history. Immediately after independence on June 25, 1975, the Church underwent the severity of the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology. Being an agent of religion it was labeled the "opium of the people" and therefore it had no reason of being there. It was striped all its institutions, projects and properties. The places of worship were taken away by the new system of governance and turned into schools and barracks. In short, the church was persecuted. This situation impoverished the church as an institution. It lived without identity and lacked the essential means for its survival. However the Spirit of God sustained it. Enlightened by his light, the church emerged from the trials through the work of lay people. These people proved to the hierarchy officials, to the world at large that the church of Christ was more than possessions and physical structures, it was all the baptized people of God, be it ordained ministers, the laity or consecrated women and men religious. Therefore the church could still exist even without any official recognition from the high authority of the society. It is in this way that the Mozambican Church defined its identity. It became a Ministerial Church, a family in which every member is expected to work for the welfare of the community, each according to his or her abilities and vocation. Our aim in this paper is to give a brief presentation of the role of lay people (ministers) in the life of the Church in Mozambique from 1977 to 1997. This has been a crucial moment for the church and people in Mozambique. Besides the burden of the revolution and the worldwide economic reforms, internal armed conflicts, contributed to creating refugees and several other people were displaced. Natural disasters for example: floods, drought and subsequent famine also characterize this period. Yet amid these confusion the people kept up their faith. They worked side by side with their pastors and the Church grew stronger until it mediated in the cease-fire and peace negotiations in Mozambique that culminated with the Peace Treaty on October 4, 1992. However we may also confess that the traditional structures of the Church are still drawing us backward. They tend to blind us to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, communities and daily relationships with God, among ourselves and with the universe. The old structures often make us to think that Christianity and the church are things of the past. Therefore they should not be maintained as they had been as the tradition and Magisterium of the Church teach. Hence we are sometimes tempted to think that all that comes along history of the Church is just extra and not necessary. In Mozambique today, some sort of marginalisation of lay people by the ordained ministers is notoriously taking roots. The situation of the laity in Mozambique is of great concern today. Clericalism has cropped in again. This paper is a pastoral and theological reflection on the life and missionary of the church in Mozambique. It comprises four chapters. In the first chapter we are dealing with the historical background that forced the church to move from its traditional iron hierarchical structures to the option of basic Christian community or lay ministries. It covers the period from 1962 to 1983. The second chapter is entirely dedicated to the experience of ministries in the Church. especially from 1977 until 1990; while the third chapter highlights the actual situation of the laity in the Church, the fourth chapter is the general conclusion and it gives pastoral recommendations for the church.