TANZANIA: TEC’s 2023 Lent Message Highlights Human Dignity and Warns Against Secularism
Sarah Pelaji
Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) has issued a message for Lent 2023, asking believers to care about human dignity.
The message has explained the importance of having faith in God and the formation of children as it condemns homosexuality and superstitious beliefs, the production of weapons, the liberal idea that one can change one’s gender and secularism.
The bishops have insisted that believers must reflect on the value of their humanity by leaving the old personality and putting on a new personality in Christ.
“Put on a new personality and accept being led by the Holy Spirit to separate yourself from all kinds of evil in order to put on Christ in love, forgiveness, kindness, peace, compassion, gentleness and justice,” reads part of the message.
Among the many things emphasized by the Bishops in the Lenten message is forgiveness, that when Christ was on the cross, he forgave his persecutors (LK 23:34).
In the second chapter the message, bishops have emphasized physical, spiritual, mental, psychological and pastoral formation.
The bishops say that parents should teach their children to grow in love and about the spirit of self-evaluation at a young age so that by doing so, they may build a nation that respects human dignity.
“Parents need to realize that our families are the first school that should teach the meaning of our humanity and our personality in a different kind,” explained Father Florence Rutaihwa, the Director of the Pastoral Directorate TEC.
Fr Rutaihwa has also explained that the Bishops insist on spiritual formation to help them build and improve their relationship with God. Therefore, the clergy, parents and guardians at all levels of religion and government need to nurture those around them by being a good example for actions to strengthen the value of human beings and their faith (KKK 2252 – 2253).
In addition, they have emphasized on the mental formation that helps man to make life’s decisions.
On intellectual formation, the message underscores the promotion of human virtues in theory and in practice as well.
According to Fr Rutaihwa, on the moral side, formation helps the person to be able to make the right decisions about what should be done and what should not be done, because it is the natural law of human being, to do what is good and leave what is bad. Therefore, the Church strongly encourages children and adults to be brought up in knowing the good culture that exists in their society and ignore all the wrong cultures and traditions that suppress human dignity.
The message further highlights that children need psychological formation which help a person to realize true freedom in order to have a good relationship with God. If people get the right psychological formation, issues such as rape, same-sex marriages, violence against children will not happen in society.
The third chapter of the Lenten message has emphasized that Christians ought to be strong in character. Therefore, they must learn everything from Christ who is the leader and teacher of all (Jn 15:4-5). It also elaborates that human dignity is about caring for others, forgiving, resisting thoughts of jealousy and cruelty of all kinds, lust for power, betrayal, hate selfishness, political hatreds and a heart that gives itself for the sake of the church, that is, the Church and the needy. In addition, families should be schools for teaching dignity by using words that build peace, happiness and love. Christians should have firm faith in Christ who is the source of goodness.
The bishops have explained that in today’s world, there are faiths that have emerged and have confused many in following Christ. Many people have decided to love the shortcut life thinking that there is a short way to get success. They want Easter without Good Friday something which is clear laxity of Faith. They have made it clear that, knowingly or unknowingly, many Catholics have found themselves believing in things such as anointing water, treading on oil, etc. and leaving Jesus who is the true savior.
These beliefs cause a person to lose his humanity because loving worldly things causes a person to lose his humanity because he is ready to do anything even if it endangers his life and others. So, during the period of Lent bishops insists believers to make changes through prayers, fast and do good deeds to take off the old dignity and put on the new dignity.
In the fourth chapter, the bishops have explained how to remove the old personality by accepting to be enlightened by the Word of God which is the source of spiritual life for Christians (Ps 119:105); how to develop a personal relationship with God; and how to live a sacramental life in order live without sin and to immerse the Christian in the perfection of the new dignity.
