Evaluación de los directivos por parte del Consejo Estudiantil

179 usually from a specific geographical location within the parish are constituted into a small Christian community. Such groups meet regularly to share the word of God and some even undertake outreach programmes as well. In the process, backsliding Christians who are supposed to be members of such community are won back. This kind of personal interest in members has led to not just a steady growth in the number of the faithful but also a deepening of the faith among members in the realisation that the sharing of the word of God should not end at the Sunday worship. In most parts of Auchi Diocese, such groups meet weekly. And in most cases, they end the day’s gathering and sharing with a Eucharistic celebration of the Mass, which usually adds a symbolic meaning to the group as a small but important part of the universal body of Christ.

iii. The document stressed on the effect and impact the person of the evangeliser has on how the Good News is perceived and received. It states: “The witness of life has become more than ever an essential condition for real effectiveness in preaching and precisely because of this, human beings are, to a certain extent, responsible for the progress of the Gospel that we proclaim.”³⁷⁶

Thus, the person involved in evangelisation and how it aids the efforts of evangelisation is unambiguous: The evangelisers must be the first reflection of the Good News they preach and produce the first fruits as witnesses. Within this context, emphasis on the quality of the training of pastoral agents, particularly priests and catechists has been redesigned in order to produce men and women high in knowledge and character. In Africa especially, the character of the person of the evangeliser has a much higher impact than possibly elsewhere. In Africa, one’s character is even more important that the words that emanate from his mouth. Thus, in order to have sufficient time to build the personality and character of priests and deacons, the period spent in formation has been increased from 7 to 9 years, while that of catechists (usually married) is increased from 2 to 3 years now.

180 after the Vatican II Council and 15 years after the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangeli Nuntiandi.

Among the most urgent concerns addressed by the document include;

i. Fearing the sense of decline of the missionary activity, the document has as its primary goal an interior renewal of faith and Christian life.

ii. To clear up doubts and ambiguities regarding missionary activity ad gentes.

iii. To confirm in their commitment those exemplary brothers and sisters dedicated to missionary activity and all those who assist them.

iv. To foster missionary vocations.

v. To encourage theologians to explore and expound systematically the various aspects of missionary activity.

vi. To give fresh impulse to missionary activity by fostering the commitment of the particular churches, especially those of recent origin, to send forth and receive missionaries.

vii. To assure non-Christians and particularly the authorities of countries to which missionary activity is being directed, that there is only one purpose to all of this: to serve man by revealing to him the love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.

In view of the above, the document raises even pertinent questions that border the minds of many such as: Is Missionary work among non-Christians still relevant? Has it not been replaced by inter-religious dialogue? Is not human development an adequate goal of the Church’s mission? Does not respect for conscience and for freedom exclude all efforts at conversion? Is it not possible to attain salvation in any religion?

a. CHURCH AS INSTRUMENT OF SALVATION

In the Acts of the Apostles 4:10,12, there is a clear reference to the fact that there is no other way in which one can be saved except by the name of Jesus. “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well….And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”³⁷⁷

Also, St. Paul’s reaction in 1 Cor. 8: 5-6 is an indication of Paul’s rejection of the polytheism of the religious environment of his time and emphasizes: belief in one God and one Lord.

377 Acts 4:10,12.

181 Christ thus becomes the mediator between God and man, to whom the Church, like St. Paul must direct people to. (1 Tim 2: 5-7; Heb 4:14-16). And the acceptance of the new life mediated by Christ and continued by the church beginning from the apostles, is continuous and even now requires a missionary urgency just like the era of the Apostle when they received the direct command from Christ himself “to go out to the all whole world and preach the Good News” (Mk 16:15; Matt 28:19). As the document states, “the urgency of missionary activity derives from the radical newness of life brought by Christ and lived by his followers.”³⁷⁸ And this new life is a gift, which people are asked to freely accept and embrace because it is God’s self-communication.

Now, there is always the question of whether one is free to accept and embrace God’s communication of Himself to man. There is even a more fundamental question: Is it legitimate to reject or to say no to God? Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to describe man only from the horizontal dimension, in a deliberate effort to exclude God, in the vertical dimension. In the experience of humanity, cases abound of regimes which have sought to establish such “new humanity” without God but which have largely not been successful.

Proclamation of the Good news does not violate freedom. Vatican II states:

The human person has a right to religious freedom….All should have immunity from coercion by individuals, or by groups, or by any human power, that no one should be forced to act against his conscience in religious matters, nor prevented from acting according to his conscience, whether in private or in public, whether alone or in association with others.³⁷⁹

However, proclaiming Christ and bearing witness to him does not constitute violation of freedom when done in a way that respects consciences. The central point here is that “faith demands a free adherence on the part of man, but at the same time faith must also be offered to him.”³⁸⁰ In addition, the fathers of Vatican II council further write;

…in accordance with their dignity as persons, equipped with reason and free will and endowed with a personal responsibility, they are compelled by their own nature and are bound by a moral obligation to seek truth, above all religious truth…they are bound to hold the truth once it is known, and regulate their whole lives by its demand.³⁸¹

378 John Paul II, 1990, Redemptoris Missio, Encyclical Letter on the Permanent Validity of the Church's Missionary Mandate. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio.html. Accessed on 07.04.2015.

379 Paul VI, 1965, Dignitates Humanae, Vatican Council II Declaration on Religious Freedom, in: Austin Flannery, O.P. (Ed.), 1996, The Basic Sixteen Documents: Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations, New York, pp.551-568.

380 John Paul II, 1990, Redemptoris Missio, op.cit.

381 Paul VI, 1965, Dignitates Humanae, op.cit.

182 Because the church itself became the first beneficiary of salvation, having being won for Himself by Christ, she was invited and called by Christ to become and participate in the salvation of others, for Christ ‘carries out his mission through her.’ While the council believes that God loves all peoples and grants them the possibility of being saved (1 Tim 2:4), and that Christ has been established as the one mediator, the church, however, has herself been established as “the universal sacrament of salvation.” This ordering of salvation applies whether one (a) is a catholic faithful (b) who believes in Christ, or (c) people everywhere called to God’s salvation. Although, it is the desire of God that all be saved, however, Salvation, which always remains a gift of the Holy Spirit, requires man’s cooperation to save himself and to save others. God established the church in his plan of salvation, therefore, to help facilitate man’s salvation of himself and with the saved, and worked towards saving others.

Consequently, salvation is offered to all and not just to those who are in the Church. For the many, who for no fault of theirs, either because of religious faiths or cultural affiliations to which they are exposed to in the environment in which they live, or due to some physical or psychological barriers placed on their way to hearing about and knowing Christ, are not inside the church, have access to salvation by virtue of a special grace, which though originates from Christ, but nonetheless, has a unique and mysterious relationship with the church.

Love is the sum total of the commandment of Christ to his apostles and to the world. This, he demonstrated specifically in his closeness to those on the margin of the society, the poor: by being close to them, by going to eat in their homes (Lk 5: 30; 15:2), treating them as equals and friends (Lk 7:34) and making them feel loved by God, through revealing to them God’s tender care for the needy and sinners (Lk 15:1-32). Through these gestures of Christ, the poor are able to experience liberation. This kingdom of love established by Christ is for everyone:

individuals, society and the world. In this sense, there is an “anthropocentric” description of the kingdom of God, in which attention is focused on the earthly needs of man: socio-economic, political and cultural. Important as they may be, “such a notion nevertheless remains within the confines of a kingdom of man, deprived of its authentic and profound dimensions.”³⁸² This is not the notion of kingdom as understood by the church because the kingdom of God cannot be detached from Christ.”³⁸³

382 John Paul II, 1990, Redemptoris Missio, op.cit.

383 Ibid.

183 The church, being effectively and concretely at the service of the kingdom, does this by her call to conversion. The activity of the Church is not limited only to those who accept the gospel message, the church, while always focussing on the eschatological kingdom, is also involved and contributes to activities such as dialogue, human promotion, commitment to justice and peace, education and care of the sick, and aid to the poor and to children.

These horizons and possibilities for mission of the church, propelled by the Holy Spirit, as its principal agent, are growing with time. As it were,

The church must face the challenges and push forward to new frontiers, both in the initial mission ‘ad gentes’ and in the new evangelisation of those peoples who have already heard Christ proclaimed….Today, all Christians, the particular churches and the universal church, are called to have the same courage that inspired the missionaries of the past, and the same readiness to listen to the Spirit.³⁸⁴

In reality, religious situation in our world has changed and the resulting challenges are complex. Today, religious realities which were once clear and well defined and the application of certain ecclesial distinctions and categories to which people were once accustomed have become complex and even becoming increasingly difficult to explain. On this, the church fathers write;

We need only think of certain phenomena such as urbanization, mass migration, the flood of refugees, the de-Christianization of countries with ancient Christian traditions, the increasing influence of the Gospel and its values in overwhelmingly non-Christian countries, and the proliferation of messianic cults and sects.³⁸⁵

As a result of the confusion that has arisen with reference to the use of ‘mission’ and

‘missionaries’ as a result of which questions have been raised whether ‘mission’ or

‘missionaries’ are still necessary or still have a role to play in the world of today, the church makes three distinctions:

1. The proclamation must apply to those who have no contact with the gospel or those who lack Christian communities sufficiently matured to understand the message and share it with others.

2. There are the situations in which the Christian communities are mature with solid and established ecclesial structures. They bear witness to the faith in their immediate environment and even able to committedly participate in the universal mission of the church. Here the church provides pastoral care and carries out her activities.

384 Ibid.

385 John Paul II, 1990, Redemptoris Missio, op.cit.

184 3. There is also the situation, in which countries, particularly those with ancient Christian

roots and occasionally in younger churches, where entire groups of the baptised have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the church and live lives far removed from Christ and the gospel. The church’s response here is “new evangelisation” or “re-evangelisation”.

The Mission ad gentes constitutes an important part of the missionary activity of the church although there is still an interdependent relationship between it and the pastoral care of the faithful and new evangelisation/re-evangelisation and therefore it is difficult to make a clear-cut distinction between them. Each of them influences, stimulates and assists the others. And it is for this same reason that mission ad intra (from within) acts as a stimulus for missionary activity ad extra (from without). All evangelisation must begin from within first and then flow outwards.

However, as in every human endeavour, the church experiences immense difficulties in the course of evangelisation, some of which are internal as well as external. More serious are the internal difficulties which would include; lack of fervour manifested in fatigue, disenchantment, compromise, lack of interest, joy and hope. Others include; divisions among Christians, de-Christianisation of Christian countries, decrease of vocation, the counter-witness of believers and Christian communities which no longer follow the model of Christ in their lives and ‘indifferentism’ founded on the belief that one’s religion is as good as the other.

b. CURRENT REALITIES OF MISSIO AD GENTES

The changing realities of the world in which people live have an impact too on the missionary activity of the church. Such areas could include: expansion of cities in such a way that the living attitudes and styles of peoples change so rapidly. Reaching the young, who constitutes vast majority of populations of countries is a reality. Needless to say that the future of the continents and countries rests on the young generation. How can the message of the gospel reach them? As the document states:

Clearly, the ordinary means of pastoral work are not sufficient: what are needed are associations, institutions, special centres and groups, and cultural and social initiatives for young people. This is a field where modern ecclesial movements have ample room for involvement.³⁸⁶

386 John Paul II, 1990, Redemptoris Missio, op.cit.

185 There are as well the phenomena of migrations, which have seen the presence of large numbers of non-Christians in traditionally Christian countries. This opens up, in a special way, a new pastoral responsibility for the church in the frontiers of hospitality, dialogue, assistance and fraternity. The church can and must not shy away from this duty. The tragedy of poverty, sometimes the cause of large migrations, takes an intolerable dimension with each passing day. The church, through proclamation of the gospel and its pastoral care, must become the means and avenue for restoring the dignity of the increasing number of people under such burden.

The Mass media or social communications have so unified the world and turned it into what is now known and called ‘a global village’, where almost every barrier of communication between people even in large distances have suddenly disappeared. The growing indispensability of the mass media is summed up thus; “The means of social communication have become so important as to be for many the chief means of information and education, of guidance and inspiration in their behaviour as individuals, families and within society at large.”³⁸⁷ In an even more special way, this is a world that has not been given the required priority in the preaching of the gospel and incidentally it is the only medium of communication that a large number of the younger generations are familiar with. How else can they be evangelised if not by encountering them in these media?

Since the media has become a new culture of itself, it is not enough to use it only for the propagation of the gospel, it is also expedient to penetrate this culture with a view to influencing it with Christian values and principles.

The Areopagus in this regard can be seen in the culture of the use of mass media by the young in the Diocese of Auchi. For instance, in the geographical area where the diocese of Auchi is located, the youths or younger generation constitutes approximately 50%³⁸⁸ of the almost one million population as at 2012. Practically, every young person has a mobile phone.³⁸⁹ And 3 out of every 4³⁹⁰ youths have access to the internet on the phone. On the other hand, because laptops are still very expense, only 5 out of every 100 young persons have laptops³⁹¹. Now, with this reality, how has the diocese of Auchi been able to enter into this culture? The

387 Ibid.

388 Source is Index Mundi. And this refers to the age group between 15 and 54.

http://www.indexmundi.com/nigeria/age_structure.html. Accessed on 14.11.2013. Wikipedia puts it at 53%

although its age bracket was between 15 and 64. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Nigeria, Accessed on 14.11.2013.

389 Results from a field research by this author in May, 2013. See attached appendage to this work.

390 Ibid.

391 Ibid.

186 penetration has been slow. The diocese was itself only able to launch a website in 2011. It has a Facebook account with 59 friends as at 25^th February, 2014.³⁹² Before February 9^th, 2014 which was the first update in 2014, its last update was on August 26^th, 2013.³⁹³ It showed clearly that the lack of efforts to publicise the account and the absence of regular updates could be reasons why it has not got many friends in spite of the fact that there are thousands of Auchi youths using Facebook. However, 50 out of the 75 priests of the Diocese (representing 2/3 or 66%) have a Facebook account.³⁹⁴ The implication of this is that, while the foundational structures are already present, the actual penetration of the social media itself, at least on a collective scale, has not started.

5.4.6 ECCLESIA IN AFRICA- FIRST SYNOD OF THE BISHOPS OF AFRICA