ZAMBIA: Deeper Evangelization, a Primary Concern for Kasama Archdiocese
Most Rev. Ignetius Chama, Archbishop of Kasama during interview with AMECEA Online News
Part II of the Serialization of the Archdiocese of Kasama
Deeper evangelization that would help change the convictions of people in the Archdiocese of Kasama is greatly needed. According to Most Rev. Ignatius Chama, Archbishop of Kasama, people did accept and embraced the Catholic faith however, when it comes to problems of life, you don’t see them standing strong by that faith which they profess.
Archbishop Chama further indicated that Catholicism is one of the most popular faith in the Northern part of Zambia, where Kasama Archdiocese is located, in fact it is only until recently that things started changing as more Pentecostals are coming in as well as more main protestant churches.
“In terms of our faith and the expression of our faith, we did embrace the idea of enculturation very quickly; the translation of our liturgies into the local languages and also the liturgical movements, they were all put in that line of enculturation. Except again one would say we did not go deeper so that the people assimilate faith and their day to day life. and this is one of the challenges that we are facing in the Archdiocese of Kasama,” Archbishop Chama explained.
The problem is so pronounced that according to the Archbishop it appears as they “have people in two worlds, one foot in Catholicism and the other foot in the traditional world, where belief in witchcraft and witch finding dominates.”
“You see people who are strong Catholics still visiting the witch finders and they want the witch finder to explain what is happening to them, and when they are doing that they are not associating even their faith to what they are doing or to what is happening to them,” he explained adding that what they have done and continue to do is primary evangelization while in-depth evangelization is still lacking.
Department at CUEA and Member of the
International Commission for Theologians
Head of the Department of Pastoral Theology at Catholic University of Eastern Africa Rev. Dr. Nicholaus Segeja
told AMECEA Online News that deeper evangelization, which is not something that you do once and for all, in actual fact it is not even a program but rather a stage in the whole process of the ongoing mission of announcing the Gospel Message.
According to Dr. Segeja who is also a Member of the International Commission for Theologians at the Vatican, deeper evangelization involves two levels, the personal and community level.
“At the personal level we are now targeting not only number of converts, which is what happens during primary evangelization but the real conversion of the individuals, which is manifested not only in just emotions, feelings, and devotional practices but also in the conviction of mind-set, which leads to change of attitudes that governs the integral person, the whole person i.e. body and mind.”
He further explained that the deeper evangelization needs to respond to economic and social settings as well as development, so that people may have no reason to go back to consult their cultures for socio-economic problems. At the same time Dr. Segeja suggests that beside deeper evangelization, it is important to consider enculturation of certain aspects of cultural values. These he said need to be Christianised.
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NB: Part III of the Serialization of Kasama Archdiocese Continues Next Friday 2nd November
By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online New
