Reflection on Africae Munus - Akpata Habib (11132)

Reflection on Pastores Gregis

Pastores Gregis is a summary of the pastoral rules around a sentence borrowed from Gregory of Nazianzus « first be holy then sanctify» addressed to the bishops. In fact this exhortation is actually a study and a compendium of a proposal on the work or mission of Bishop as the head of the local church. The path of holiness implies on the People and for People, entirely dedicated to his flock in loving and challenging communion. It is of great importance that it should not be seen as marginal issues. Indeed it is first and foremost the spiritual life of the bishop which promotes fertility of his pastoral action and not his ability of undertaking many social projects. The foundation of any effective pastoral care is the assiduous meditation on the mystery of Christ in the passionate contemplation of his face and generous imitation of his life as the Good shepherd. The exhortation addressed also the question of Christian hope today. For the Pope, Christ must remain our hope. “Whoever you are your hope should not be based on us” warns the pope.

Divided into seven chapters, the first share light on the collegiality and missionary character of Episcopate which is not always the main focus.  It is not enough to proclaim the collegiality and this missionary identity from the lips but rather to express it in a clear pastoral vision. There is a great shift in a sense that the collaboration among Bishops of the same country is no longer easy. The missionary spirit is left to the care of some few. The episcopate is more about business than guiding the faithful to the source of Life. The pastoral care is beyond the administration of Sacrament of confirmation. That is why the text insists a lot on the spiritual life of the Bishop. Moreover the text specifies that he must rely on the Word, the Eucharistic, Liturgy of hours, the beatitudes, the virtue of Obedience, poverty and chastity in a church that reflects the purity of Christ

Minister of the Grace of the supreme priesthood, the Bishop is the head of the liturgical life, pedagogy of faith. In this sense, he is also a symbol and instrument of communion among other churches. However he must encounter a lot of current challenges in promoting justice and peace, inter-religious dialogue, especially for the peace in the world, the social and economical and environmental integrity of the creation without forgetting the field of health and migration. It is an integral mission received from Christ through the mediation of the Church.

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Reflection on ecclesial communion in Ecclesia de Eucharistia

“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist”, the truth that keeps on coming in our ecclesiology lectures is not only an expression of a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. Despite the progress made possible by the liturgical reform, especially in terms of the active participation of the faithful, and "positive signs of the Eucharistic faith and love," and there are still some " " shadows "of abuse that contributes to obscure the sound faith and Catholic doctrine concerning this great  sacrament, which is the heart of the life of the Church. Although the ecumenical concern is clear throughout the text, the Pope intends to manifest fully the Catholic faith as he received it himself. On the one hand, through the Eucharist the Church never ceases to participate in the paschal mystery of the death and the resurrection of Christ. The Church was born of the paschal mystery and concentrates in itself all the Easter Triduum, the passion and resurrection of Christ. On the other hand, the Pope returns to the mystery of the one sacrifice of Christ that unfolds throughout the Eucharist and continues to live the Church. A conclusion is remarkably significant at this level. First, Eucharist affects the entire Christian community and, through it, all Christians and not the other way round. It is a call, a vocation in every community to celebrate the Eucharist. The source of ecclesial communion is therefore in the Eucharist. But for the pope we cannot just talk only of communion forgetting to establish the link between the Eucharist and penance. Because for the communion to be real, it presupposes a life of grace, sanctifying  grace and the practice of virtue.

             Despite the effort to highlight the relationship between the Eucharist and ecclesial communion, the text emphasizes and reminds at number 39 that the Eucharist is never reducible to the community that celebrates. Against any temptation that folds on the group, the Holy Father stressed the importance of binding in communion with the local bishop and the Roman Pontiff, as "the Bishop is the visible principle and foundation of unity in its particular Church "(49). We know how this principle is important at a time when Catholic groups, of all persuasions, may be isolated by promoting practices so different from those of the local church they reveal themselves as groups that are not really in communion with it.

Reflections on Ecclesiam Suam of Pope Paul VI

Paul VI published Ecclesiam Suam  his first encyclical, an exhortation addressed to the members of the Church and "all men of good will." For the Pope, it is more to "prepare their minds.’’ Paul VI painted a church attacked by the waves of the profane world, as he worked in a various schools of thought. He picks up the image of Peter's boat tossed by the waves like the modernism, subjectivism, naturalism and relativism, dangerous currents to the integrity of faith and morals. Paul VI invited especially not to get caught by two attitudes excessive false which is either excessive pessimism about the human condition, or an excess of optimism about human capacities. Paul VI focuses on the Church in its relation to the world. In this line, he wrote that the emergency is to determine how to "live in the world without being of the world", or how to "be in the world without being of the world" He recalls the vision of a world  in John’s Gospel "understood as humanity away from the light of faith and the gift of grace". Immunization against the contagion of evil and error and protection of oneself from infection coming from the world were his two major strong perspectives.

In contact with a world that does not accept God and his messenger, the Church must avoid navigating between two opposed pitfalls:  the splendid isolation of a church from the world and the danger of "conformity" by welcoming and adopting any customs and doctrines, forgetting Paul's admonition "do not be conformed to this world". Paul VI, however, maintains a positive outlook on the world, capable of goodness and honesty. The Bishop of Rome offers the image of the doctor to describe how the church must stand in the world: the doctor does not leak the patient, on the contrary, he is interested in him, he wants to heal . This image tells how Paul VI understands the "dialogue" of the Church with the world.

In addition, Ecclesiam Suam is famous because it is the first time an encyclical document  define dialogue as art of apostolic approach in entering into a relationship with the world. Finally, Paul VI proposes another relation of analogy following the logic of incarnation.

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Reflections on Lumen Gentium

The first words of Lumen  Gentium refers to Christ. He is the light of the nations whose light reflects on the Church. The church does not make sense unless in reference to Christ and to men. One cannot speak independently of its mission, which she has received from the lord to proclaim the Gospel to the world. The church and the world or humanity, are not in opposition or in conflict as two cities or companies. The relationship is interpenetration. The Church is at the service of humanity. The Church is then a Sacrament of salvation and that means it indicates the vocation of humanity and contributes to the fulfillment of this vocation and holiness, Of course, it remains to be reformed because of sin. Through her mission and by her presence in the world, all are called to holiness, therefore to salvation brought by Christ. This is the universal vocation to holiness.

Many scriptural expressions describe the Church as the most important Trinitarian structure, the people of God, the Body of Christ, Temple of the Spirit. The church derives her unity from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit sent by the Father. Communion and mission are always linked. Here we see a great shift in the theology on the Church.

The Church is first of all referred to as the people of God. All are equal. Ministers and the laity are the priestly people in charge of praise and share the sense of the faith by which Christ is proclaimed and sought as truth. The visible is at the service of the faithful. The religious are consecrated to God in a special way and promote the salvific  mission of the church. Finally, Mary is the model of the church reinstated in the history of God’s people.

The Roman Catholic Church is not simply identified with the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. The true Church subsists in the Catholic Church. The ecumenical aspect of the formula is immense. So the Church does not coincide with the Kingdom, she announces and she is walking up to it. Life in God is already and not yet there. Universal Church or Catholic Church often means the Church when we emphasize the link or communion with the pope. But the Catholic Church exists within and from local Churches. It is not a multinational company with branches; the bishops are not the representative of the pope. Collectively they lead the Church, in communion with the Bishop of Rome, Primus inter pares the first among the equals, which ensures the unity in charity. The episcopate is first defined as degrees of the sacrament of orders. Collegiality is the mode of deliberation and government of the Church. If it is not a democracy, the Church is not an autocracy.

Reflection  on Africae Munus

AKPATA Habib 11132T

Africae munus stand as the second exhortation after Ecclesia in Africa. It relies heavily on the conciliar text Gaudium et spes. In this document, highly contextualized, Benedict XVI underlines in the first part “the public role the Church and its place in the African continent today.” He encourages all Africans especially all the Christians to get largely involved in the processes of reconciliation and justice, and beyond that, to work for the establishment of a real democratic and peaceful society, by deliberately choosing the side of the poor and the most abandoned. “I therefore encourage Christians to become exemplary in the area of justice and charity” (Mt 5:19-20). But at the same time, the pope is fully aware that this challenging mission can only be done if the Church herself is exemplary, model and reflect Christ way of life in accordance with his Justice, condition for becoming light for all and building a just social order.

The second part is intended as a response to uncompromising internal ailments of the Church itself, including a direct address to the bishops and priests, missionaries and laity, no one is forgotten in this exhortation. To some extend this session echoes the clear intention of the pope against the scandalous behaviours of some prelates. Do we need to mention again the situation in Benin, in Central Africa Republic? Not only to them and to those whose case is still unknown, Benedict uses the language of truth:” The moral authority and the prestige that upholds the exercise of one’s juridical power can only come from the holiness of his or her life.”  Moreover, in matters of adminstration of temporal goods, the pope expects more from them (administrators): “The good administration of your dioceses requires your presence. To make your message credible, see to it that your dioceses become models in the conduct of personnel, in transparency and good financial management. Do not hesitate to seek help from experts in auditing, so as to give example to the faithful and to society at large.” Nothing should be as before. Even a warning was addressed to the priests who are asked to live with simplicity, humility and filial love. Here we find one of the accents of the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

Surly Africa is dynamic and rich in vocation. This should not justify inconsistent behaviors. As he did with the Western church about pedophiles priests, the pope asks Catholics first, an attitude of internal cleansing. This will be the best way of the Church in Africa, in the word of Africae Munus, to be the “spiritual lung” of the Church of tomorrow.