ROLE
OF THE INSTITUTES OF THEOLOGY
by
Rev. Paul Balembo
Buetubela
There are five Catholic Universities in Africa: the Catholic Faculties of Kinshasa (Zaire) created in 1957; the Catholic Institute of Western Africa (Abidjan ‑ Ivory Coast) set up in 1968; Catholic Institute of West of Africa (Port Harcourt ‑Nigeria) set up in 1979; Catholic University of East Africa (Nairobi ‑ Kenya) set up in 1985 and the Catholic Institute of Yaounde (Cameroon), set up in 1991.
The Institute for Theology and Philosophy of
Tananarive started as an Institute affiliated to the Pontifical University of
Naples in 1960 and, in 1972, it became an independent Institute. In this same
Institute, the Department of Philosophy was set up by the Congregation for
Catholic Education in 1993. This brings us to six Universities in Africa.
These six Universities can be placed in the tradition
of Catholic schools where the first and foremost vocation is at the service of
society. There are also teaching centres and research centres which depend on
the needs felt in the region or in the country. These centres include several
departments which cover the whole theological, philosophical, social and
religious research.
All these universities certify the presence of
“Catholicism” in the regions where they are located. From an African standpoint
they express what the International Federation for Catholic Universities (IFCU)
represents at world level.
They are all at the service of the local churches and
of the Universal Church for Evangelization of the “intelligentsia”. They are
called to build the new civilizations and contribute to developing African
societies. They are also called to answer the expectations and needs of African
societies being formed. A great effort has been made in formulating an African
theology and philosophy. Autonomy is necessary in order to work better and
these universities have three types of autonomy: academic autonomy (freedom of
research); administrative autonomy (qualified personnel) and financial autonomy
(financial independence).
Lastly, these Universities play an important role in
Evangelization by forming pastoral agents and their personnel: it is through
them that dialogue with other, philosophical and theological trends can be
possible.
Original text in French
