THE DIALOGUE OF CULTURE AND FAITH IN THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF NNEWI FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS

INTRODUCTION

One of the ways through which the progress of faith and its depth in the lives of any people of God is measured is the extent that faith has taken root in the culture of such people. Indeed faith does not truly become mature until it has become culture. The Word of God needs to take flesh in different cultures of the world. It is true that experience and pastoral praxis have shown that the dialogue of faith and culture across the centuries has never been an easy process. Remaining faithful to her divine spouse who is the Word made flesh for our salvation, the Church, has never left the path of inculturation. Hence, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council maintain that, as the Gospel spreads from one part of the world to the other, the Church needs to properly discern the action of God in different cultures, isolate elements and resources of these cultures which are good in order to take them to herself, purify them, strengthen and elevate them (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium”, no. 13). The Church does not take over, indiscriminately, activities, institutions and forms of any given culture. These must be filtered with the Gospel to be acceptable to the Church. And to be truly acceptable to the Church, an element of culture must be compatible with the Christian message and open to the universality of the Church.

Bearing the above in mind, one can say that the experience of the progress of faith in the Catholic diocese of Nnewi for the past ten years has been really phenomenal. The diocese covers a geography that is populated by Igbo people. Therefore, the Gospel must become Igbo for the Igbo people to be saved through it. It is a testimony of faith that ten years after the erection of the diocese, the Family of God in the Catholic diocese of Nnewi have engaged the Igbo culture of its environment in serious dialogue and relationship, both at parish, regional and diocesan levels. In a very special way, the 2005 diocesan Synod provided a unique opportunity for the clergy and the whole people of God of the diocese to come together, first of all, to understudy some aspects of the our culture in order to properly deliberate on the challenges they pose to the advance of the Christian message in the diocese. Even after the Synod, so many pastoral initiatives, committees, meetings and consultations have been organised and arranged at different levels and at different times in the diocese to facilitate a proper marriage of the faith and the culture of our people. Truly, it must be admitted that this interaction process has not been too rosy as there have been moments of crises along the line. Yet, these crises and deliberative periods have given birth to many resolutions and concessions within the past ten years.

After ten years of particular witnessing in the diocese, one can only say that, thanks be to God, the Christian faith is no longer seen as a foreigner in the lives of a relative number of the faithful. Through thorough catechesis, so many of the faithful have received the Gospel wholeheartedly while at the same time participating in the cultural life of their communities in a way that does not contradict the faith. However, there are still so many who hold on to

some aspects of Igbo culture that are not amenable to the Christian message and therefore continue to challenge the progress of evangelization in the diocese and even cause trouble in many places. These cultural issues continue to present a serious challenge for the spread of the Gospel and the Church in Nnewi diocese. While some of these cultural issues have been discussed and permanently resolved by the hierarchy of the diocese, others are still being given attention. An outline of these issues will be relevant here.

SOME CULTURAL ISSUES IN THE DIOCESEChief among the cultural issues in the diocese are: Masquerades (Mmanwu Ozoebune), Ozo title taking, Christian burials and Ibu Ozu Nwada. Others include: Ibu Ofo, ritual covenant (Igba ndu), Osu Caste System, etc. It will be good to isolate some of these crucial cultural issues in order to look at how they have related with the growth of faith in the diocese so far and the decisions that have been taken with regard to them, permanent or temporary.

(a) Masquerades (Mmanwu Ozoebune) “Mmanwu Ozoebune” is surely one dominant cultural issue which has posed enormous challenge to the diocese since its creation. “Ozoebune” is a special species of masquerade which form part and parcel of the tradition in some parts of the diocese. In towns that display this masquerade, “Ozoebune” is a cult into which adult males in the community are initiated through some “pagan” rituals and taking of the oath of secrecy. Apart from the above, “Mmanwu Ozoebune” is regarded culturally as a spirit who is often adorned with vocal attributes of omnipotence and omniscience. In the past, members of this masquerade cult have fallen out with Christians and even pastoral agents for different reasons in different towns in the diocese, either because they overtly disturb Church activities and the faithful who go to Church in the morning or that they impose regulations that affect even Christians in the village. There have been times too when the point of difference was their freedom to participate in the burial of a Christian. This became a serious cultural issue for reflection and deliberation.

The point of reflection all the while has been: ‘are Christians allowed to belong to the “Ozoebune” masquerade cult?’ If yes, to what extent is this possible? Before the diocesan Synod, on account of the incessant conflicts between the Christian faithful and the masquerade cult, the Catholic Bishop of Nnewi, Most Rev. HilaryPaul Odili Okeke set up a committee to study the phenomenon of the Ozoebune Masquerade. The committee, among other things counselled caution in dealing with the issue of this type of masquerade. At the floor of the 2005 Synod, “Mmanwu Ozoebune” was one of the major issues that occupied the deliberative attention of the participants. At the Synod, the majority recommended the outright ban of the masquerade because of its inherent cultic character while the minority held that Catholics should be allowed to participate in the masquerade if it is devoid of “pagan” and fetish practices because of its entertainment and cultural values. (Post-Synodal Exhortation, Message of Eternal Life nos 69-71) At the end, the Synod, in view of the lack of consensus on the matter and given the fact that there had been earlier agreements between the “Mmanwu” group and some Catholic communities following instructions from ecclesiastical authority, decided that more study is needed on the phenomenon of this masquerade. However, in his Post-Synodal exhortation, Message of

Eternal Life, the Bishop urged all Catholics to ‘stop taking part in “Mmanwu ozoebune” as a way of respecting the consciences of other Catholics who see the masquerade cult as intrinsically associated with fetish cult and oppression.

After the Synod, time has been taken to study this masquerade more. The diocese set up a cultural committee which periodically submits its report to the diocesan Pastoral Council. In the final report of this committee to the diocesan Pastoral Council in March 2011, the committee which worked with the opinions of different parishes made it clear that the ‘masquerades as they appear in the diocese cannot be displayed without fetishism, charms and taking of oaths on idols or on materials that Christian conscience must reject.’ In conjunction with the parishes, they therefore submitted that Catholics be prevented from participating in such masquerade displays until fetishism is removed and proper catechesis is done. In a communiqué signed by the Bishop and the Chancellor of the diocese after the Pastoral Council meeting, it was stated that Catholics are forbidden from taking part in the cult of “Mmanwu Ozoebunu”.

It must be said that even though the challenge posed by this aspect of our culture is not yet fully resolved, a reasonable advance has been made. With more study and reflection, helped by the Holy Spirit, it is believed that the Church in Nnewi diocese will still come out more with better strategies of handling the challenge of the “Mmanwu” masquerade.

(b) Ozo Title takingOne other cultural issue that poses a serious challenge to the faith in the diocese is ‘ozo’ title taking. ‘Ozo’ title is a very common and strong traditional institution, with very strong significant social consequences. The problem is that in some communities, the titles are tied to one idol or another. While some communities have tried to extricate the title from the connection with idol worship, others have not. In some communities, Catholics join either secretly or openly in this idol worship while in others, they give money for the procurement of materials for idol worship, meanwhile pretending not to openly join in the worship.

The fact is that the issue of the participation of the Catholics in ‘Ozo’ title taking has been a grey area to the Church in Igbo land for a long time. Even before the creation of the Catholic diocese of Nnewi, the then Archbishop of Onitsha, now His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze issued some clear principles for the participation of Christians in ‘Ozo’ title (which one finds in the Post-Synodal Exhortation, The Message of Eternal Life no 67). These principles were adopted as a term of reference for the diocese during the 2005 diocesan Synod and restated in the Bishop’s 2011 Lenten Pastoral, Faith Rooted and Built up in Christ.

Among these principles, it was stated that before a Catholic would be allowed to take ‘Ozo’ title, there must be an agreement between the Otu Ozo (The Association of Titled people) and the Catholic community regarding the traditional title in question. The most fundamental condition in this agreement is that the titled men must declare that the title in question has no association with any deity either in itself or in the process of the

conferment of the title or requirements from the candidates or titled persons. In the 2011 Lenten pastoral, the Bishop added that, ‘since traditional titles are not Christian titles by the fact of the permission for Catholics to take them, they are not to be conferred within mass. Catholics who take the title in the proper way may come for thanksgiving Mass after the title-taking’ (Faith Rooted and Built up in Christ, no 125). Finally, both the Lenten pastoral and the Synod also agreed that the reform of the ‘Ozo’ title is still ongoing and therefore agreed that an ecumenical cooperation among all Christians who hold similar beliefs and who have similar attitudes is needed in the formation of Catholic Title Holders Association who would help in the final reformation of this cultural institution.

(c) Christian BurialsAnother cultural area to which the diocese has given a resolute attention is the area of Christian burials. Christians celebrate the funerals of their departed ones in such a way that the Church prays for the spiritual support of the dead, honours their bodies and at the same time brings to the living the comfort of hope (can. 1176 § 2). But most recently, funerals in our society have got many accretions and abuses that call for urgent attention. In the Post-Synodal exhortation, The Bishop of the diocese wrote that ‘while respecting traditional practices that are not idolatrous or superstitious, the Family of God has to organize the funerals of its members in such a way as to emphasize the primacy of the spiritual and eternal salvation’ (Message of Eternal Life, no 79). According to him, ‘Christian charity and solidarity should characterize the attitude of the Family of God in all matters concerning funerals of Catholics.’

As a result of the above, the diocese at the Synod issued regulations that will help cut extravagant costs on family members at the death of one of their Christian members. To facilitate this, the Synod issued that ‘the family of a deceased Catholic and the Catholic community are to ensure that the burial and funeral rites are carried out within thirty days of the death of the person’ (Message of Eternal Life, Ibid). The Catholic Community on its own part, should not make heavy demands from the family of the deceased.

There are some traditional cultural ceremonies connected with burials like Ibu/idu ozu nwada. How should Christians relate to this? The Synod maintained that Christians may be permitted to join in such ceremonies only if they are not done for motives that are against Christian faith and morals and if idolatrous, superstitious and fetish practices are completely removed.

(d) Ibu OfoAnother very common institution among the Igbo is the Ofo which can be a symbol of authority or an instrument of cult. Ofo has a rich symbolism in Igbo culture because it is taken to unite the family, clan or village and link the whole to the ancestors. Usually, the oldest man retains the Ofo of the family, clan or village. But given the Traditional religious matrix of this symbol, it is associated with rituals of African Traditional Religion. It therefore becomes a problem when the position of the oldest man comes to a Catholic. Both the 2005 diocesan Synod and the bishop’s pastoral letter were very clear that “on account of its association with aspects of African Traditional Religion that are unacceptable to Christians,

Christians are forbidden to take up the Ofo but are encouraged to respect the institution and values inherent in the system....If the oldest man is a Catholic, he may ask for Christian symbols, such as the crucifix or Bible to be the mark of his authority and position” (Faith Rooted and Built up in Christ, no 124).

CONCLUSIONHaving looked at some of the cultural issues that pose a challenge to the growth of faith in the diocese and having surveyed the attempts made by the Family of God in Nnewi diocese to incarnate the Christian message in the Igbo culture of our environment, it is good to end by restating the point made at the beginning of this evaluation. The Christian faith cannot be said to be truly mature if it has not yet become culture. No one doubts the fact that to encounter an aspect of culture, one needs to properly understand that aspect without prejudice or presumption. An increased awareness and study of different aspects of the Igbo culture, especially among priests, the religious and other pastoral agents, is hereby encouraged, otherwise, more conflicts would ensue between the local people and the Church ministers, who may not have the right language and style of relating with the culture of the Igbo people.

Ten years after the creation of the Catholic diocese of Nnewi, not a little feat has been achieved in the dialogue of faith and culture. We thank God for the successes recorded and we continue to kneel down in prayer, begging the grace of His support and direction, as we journey into the years ahead.