(Archbishop of Kisumu, Kenya)
Introduction:
The Instrumentum Laboris speaks of the advantage of the Small Christian communities and says that some Episcopal Conferences in Africa have adopted them as a pastoral priority, as is the case of the AMECEA. The aim of my intervention is to ask the Synod that his pastoral priority may be stressed so that it may be considered a priority valid not only for some Episcopal Conferences but for all our Catholic Parishes in Africa.
Rationale of this proposal: The main reasons to justify this proposal could be summarised by saying that small Christian communities are an excellent way of implementing the outcome of this Synod in its five chapters:
In the field of the Proclamation of the Gospel: Small Christian communities help implement the ecclesiology of Communion so much cherished by the Constitution Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council. In this ecclesiological context the sharing of the Word of God, the love among Christians and the indiscriminate solidarity with all the neighbours, which characterise the life of these communities, constitute a living proclamation of the Gospel values. It is a fact that many are called to the Catholic Church thanks to the evangelical witness of these Small communities. They are also one of the best places in which lay ministries can be developed.
In the field of Inculturation: the experience of Small communities, according to many of the responses given in preparation for the Synod, shows that they offer a way of being a Christian which is very much in consonance with the communitarian value of African cultures. Since they take the social neighbourhood as a human cell of the Church, they are built on the natural and spontaneous social network which characterises the African way of life.
The issues of justice and peace are dealt with at grassroots level in the daily life of the Small Christian communities. Grounded on the wise principle that justice, like charity, starts at home, they are a practical school for the promotion of justice at local level, among those who live in the same geographical area and have to face similar problems.
The interreligious and ecumenical dialogue is not just a theoretical issue in the life of Small Christian communities in Africa. In them this dialogue takes place in the events of life, especially on occasions like weddings, births and deaths in which African solidarity is particularly expressed beyond religious confessions.
In the realm of social communications the Small Christian communities are a privileged place for fostering group media of communication through local newsletters, drama groups, songs and story-telling which are so well known in African tradition.
For all these reasons it is of paramount importance that the Synod on Africa recommends the establishment of Small Christian communities in the parishes, so that the new model of the parish for the year 2000 will be the one of a community of communities.
Original text: English
