Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - “Africa needs a process of reconciliation 'ad intra' and 'ad extra,'” said Professor Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia from Cameroon, who teaches Culture, Religion, Art, and African Thought in the Lateran and Gregorian Pontifical Universities in Rome, in his address at the seminar on “Reconciliation, Justice, and Peace in Africa,” organized on the occasion of the II Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, by the “Giuseppe Toniolo” Institute for International Law of Peace and the International Forum of Catholic Action (FIAC).
Professor Nkafu, creator of the concept of “African vitalogy” (a neologism created to portray the African vision of the world, man, and God), explained that Africa should first of all be reconciled with itself, as there are many conflicts and wars and internal disorder in several nations, and divisions over borders or natural resources. However, there should also be a reconciliation between Africa and those who foment these conflicts from the outside. “We cannot deny the responsibility of African leaders in sustaining and provoking the violence that afflicts Africa, however neither can we ignore the fact that the African wars would be fought with bows and arrows, were it not for the funding of those outside the continent who provide modern arms to the Africans, so they can fight amongst themselves.” In addition, “the neocolonialism that transforms the colonized into accomplices and executers of their own colonialization, necessarily leads to a cultural crisis and thus, to an identity crisis.” It is an identity crisis that is seen on a political, social, and economic level. Western democracy itself, in Africa, runs the risk of turning into a dictatorship in disguise (“democratic dictatorship,” the speaker called it), when - in the political arena – there are forty political parties dominated by only one man or a certain faction.
According to the speaker, Africa should recuperate its own cultural identity, to ensure peace in justice and progress in human and social development. “For the people of Africa, peace is only possible if they are considered part of the one human family. Peace is a supreme good, necessary for the harmonious existence of individuals in community and among members of the extended family...”
In order to resolve a conflict, what is needed is a communal process of reconciliation that begins with each one acknowledging their own fault in front of the community. Thus, after the guilty promises to repair the damage done, receives the forgiveness of the victim. “Reconciliation as an act of recuperation and reintegration into the harmony of the community, must pass through an examination of conscience, the acknowledgment of one's own faults, of one's own sins, to ask for the community's forgiveness. The rite of reconciliation ends with a meal shared in a festive atmosphere. Penance varies from country to country. Sometimes, they call for a sum of money to be donated to the community, perhaps to pay for the reconciliation celebration. Only in the case of a severe damage (destruction of a costly good) or in the case that the victim needs medicine, the recompense is given to the one who suffered the offense.”
Thus, a great effort is needed to bring peace to Africa, an effort that should be made not only by Africa, but also by the rest of the world, especially by those who continue to foment the wars and dictatorships in order to exploit valuable natural resources. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 20/10/2009)
