(Bishop of Mbala-Mpika, Zambia)
The commitment on the part of the Church to promote justice and peace as integral to evangelisation in Africa is not a commitment to a project or to a programme but to a way of life. It is a commitment of love that follows upon a conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps for too long we Christians have looked upon our mission of evangelising as a "spread of religion" rather that a "call to conversion". As consequence, an overly "spiritualistic" Catholicism has been emphasised, with the issues of justice and peace seen as non-essential to our faith.
Yet we have the clear teaching of the Church that "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world (is) constitutive to the preaching of the Gospel (1971 Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World). Truly, without active involvement in justice and peace, we have no evangelisation, we have no Christian community.
But do we really believe this and show our belief in the priorities of our ministry of evangelisation in Africa today? On this continent we share the Good News of Jesus amidst displaced persons, famines and diseases, hunger and illiteracy, economic failures and political chaos, structures of oppressions and violations of human rights. Our evangelical message must have a transforming impact on these situations of bad news or it simply is not credible Good News for our people!
The justice and peace way of life embraces a spiritual compassion with the suffering, a social solidarity to empower the poor and oppressed, a political effort to change unjust structures, and a cultural commitment to non-violence. Such a way of life must be taught beginning with basic catechesis for children and must be central to the Christian formation of adults. It must enter into our celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments. It must characterise the attitudes and behaviours of our own Church institutions.
We know that the commitment to justice and peace as integral to evangelisation requires not only word but also witness. The clear and courageous witness of Church officials and Church institutions is essential in the promotion of justice. The wages we pay to Church workers our honest accountability in the use of money, our respect for the rights of women, our openness to dialogue and consultation, our priority option for the poor: these are a few of the justice issues upon which we will be judged and are credibility assessed.
As chair of the Zambian Episcopal Conference, I can tell you that the Zambian Church?s clear teaching on justice and peace issues has in the past few years played a major and recognised role in our country during the political transformation to democracy and the economic struggle for development. Yet there still are many Christians ? including priests, religious and lay leaders ? who do not accept that the promotion of justice and peace is essential to the task of evangelisation. They seem to feel that it is only a "hobby" or a side-line for those who are not fully engaged in what they would consider to be true pastoral work.
Speaking on behalf of the Zambia Episcopal Conference, I therefore urge that this African Synod make very clear in our final statement a re-emphasis on the central place which the promotion of justice and peace must have in our evangelisation efforts. At this moment in the history of our continent, we can only echo the words of Paul, "woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor. 9,16) ? a Gospel which includes as a constitutive dimension the commitment to "action on behalf of just and participation in the transformation of the world."
Original
text: English
