Proceedings of Cardinal Poreku Dery Third Colloquium 13-15 August 2015 (Author Abstracts)
Colloquium Abstract:
Pre-colonial,
colonial and postcolonial events in
Authors Abstracts:
- Cardinal Dery in Dialogue with Religions,
Cultures and Human Development
By
Maamalifar M. Poreku
Missionaries of Africa Council Member
The late Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery lived a full, fruitful and a fulfilled life drawing on his experiences and riches from the pre-colonial and post-colonial periods as well as the pre-Christian and Christian era. He integrated these different aspects in his life, which has become a source of grace that impact on society and the lives of individual persons from different faiths, tribes, nations, etc. His background, his person and his leadership role as shepherd of God’s people without distinction, played an important role in making interreligious dialogue and development from different faiths’ perspectives possible. Therefore, this work will examine how his multicultural and tribal, large family and religious background and his experience both traditional and Christian have brought this about. It will focus on Dery as a person whose love and respect for the dignity of the human person led to his conversion to Christianity and to his call to the Priesthood. It will also deal with his leadership role as a shepherd of all God’s people beyond religious, ethnic, family, and national affiliation is an important aspect.
2. Embracing
the Future with Hope: The Emmaus Story in my Personal Life as a Religious
Brother and the Role of Cardinal Dery
Albert Ketelaars FIC
I feel grateful and challenged to have to prepare and present this paper to the 3rd Cardinal Dery Colloquium. In line with the general topic and theme of the colloquium ‘Religion, Culture, Society and Integral Human Development’, I have chosen as topic "Embracing the future with hope: The Emmaus Story in my Personal Life as a Religious Brother" as my theme of focus. The first part of the title of my paper has been taken from Pope Francis’ letter to all consecrated people on the occasion of the Year of Consecrated Life (Pope Francis 2014) while the second part is a biblical passage that is very dear to me because it highlights God’s mysterious ways to accompany people in their everyday life. I would like to develop this topic in four distinct parts. First, as introduction, I will briefly dwell on the structure of the pope’s letter as the method via which I will try to present my own understanding of the consecrated life; secondly, I will then enter deeper into the specific expectations of the Pope. The third part of the paper is a reflection and meditation on my personal life and growth as a religious brother for some fifty years now. In the fourth part of the paper, I will try to outline the challenges the Pope has stipulated for present day religious life and put these into perspective in the light of our Ghanaian society and cultural situation now, at least as I see and interpret it as it is partly influenced by my relationship with Cardinal Dery and other people like him.
3.
Reconciling Religion and
Culture to African Politics
Richard Kuuia Baawobr,
m.afr.
Bishop of Wa
There is no doubt that Religion and Culture play a role in politics in many places and Africa for that matter is not an exception. Religion is always necessarily rooted in a specific culture! It is common knowledge that Judaism and Islam, for instance, do not have the neat separation between the religious sphere and that political and social and cultural spheres. All are intertwined and are part and parcel of the identity of the orthodox Jews or Muslims. The influence, however, can be positive, or negative but never neutral. Reconciling Religion and Culture and Politics is about, in my understanding, trying to keep the delicate balance for the good of all in Society. This, is what Church leaders of the calibre of Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery tried to do in their time and what others today, and ourselves are called to do because of our faith and as a way of handing on the Dery heritage. A responsible commitment to Politics is a result of the way in which the Gospel of Jesus was preached and received in the any given culture. The invitation by the African Synod to Christians in Africa to be salt of the earth and light of the world is particularly an important way of living out the values of our culture in line with the Gospel. In view of examining how Religion and Culture in African Politics, in this paper I will consider the following things: Clarifying the three key terms: religion, culture and politics; The Catholic Church’s Teaching on the commitment of Christians to Politics show that Christians cannot and should not stand aloof from getting involved in their society and commitment for the common good; The Importance of dialogue between culture and religion will be considered; What influence Culture and Religion has / should have in Politics. The contribution of Church leaders in Africa will be considered at different moments thus situating Dery in the bigger picture of the Social Teaching of the Church and how that is still relevant today.
4.
Religion and Politics in
Africa: The Challenge for the African Church
Agbonkhianmeghe E.
Orobator, SJ
Head of Hekema University College
Historically speaking the continent of Africa has been the object of
fascination for explorers, navigators, missionaries, colonialists, historians,
anthropologists, game hunters, mercenaries, etc. This colonial fascination has
generated volumes of literature, claiming to illuminate the “dark continent”
and its “heart of darkness”. Yet the continent remains the butt of stereotypes,
generalizations and images in the perception of people outside Africa. It is
customary for many people to think of Africa as a simple reality, albeit
riddled with complex and emergency situations of conflict, diseases, and
misery. Africa is a well-studied continent, but it takes a much more careful
reading of the context of life in Africa to disentangle fascination from facts;
imagination from real-life situation. This presentation first sets the context for
the discussion of religion and politics in Africa by making some obvious
observations about the continent of Africa. Against that backdrop, it addresses
the topic of religion, politics, and the church in Africa from the perspective
of the Catholic tradition, but with due attention to other churches and
religions, and how they stand in relation to politics in Africa.
5.
The Northern Ghanaian
Immigrant Factor in Brong Electoral Politics and the Politics of Belonging in
Brong Ahafo, Ghana
Isidore
Lobnibe
Professor (Western Oregon University)
Over the past few decades, renewed interest in Africa’s place in comparative political analysis has resulted in the proliferation of both general and country-based studies, seeking to understand the effect and challenges posed by the continent’s democratic transition and consolidation. While the macro-level studies tend to isolate regional features of multiparty democracy for analysis, the latter have focused on understanding the factors influencing differential voters’ behavior and response in different localities and constituencies (Kelly 2001). One major contribution of the micro-level studies is the insights they provide into how Africans have responded to the waves of democratization that have swept over the continent since the 1990s (Nugent 1992, 1995; Geschiere and Gugler 1998). In Nigeria, for instance, Gugler has observed an increased commitment in forging of ties between African urbanites and their rural kinsmen as ambitious politicians turn to their homelands as a self-evident point of identification (Gugler 1999, 2005; see also Geschiere and Gugler 1998). Lentz put this renewed commitment of urban northern Ghanaians in proper context in her Ghanaian study when she notes that in the democratic dispensation “Everybody must be able to point to a homeland or home village, if he or she wishes to participate fully and have a say in the local decision-making process or be heard in the national political arena (Lentz 2006: 6). This paper seeks to make empirical contributions to the politics of belonging literature in Ghana by analyzing the results of the 2004/2008 general elections in some major constituencies of the Brong Ahafo largely through the lens of voters’ reactions.
6.
People are my Hobby: The
Philosophical Anthropology of Peter Cardinal Poreku Dery
Edward
B. Tengan
Director (Ss Peter and Paul Pastoral and Social Institute, Wa)
Dery liked to recount his encounter with an American journalist. The
latter had asked Dery about his hobby and without hesitation, Dery noted:
‘People’. Finding the answer rather funny, the journalist laughed it off and
continued his interview with the Cardinal. However, as he listened to the
Cardinal, the journalist noted how central the human person was in the life and
ministry of the Cardinal. In humility, the journalist apologized as he could
not agree more with the Cardinal: ‘here is a man whose being, time energy and
resources are spent on people. Indeed, his pastime is to be with and for
people!’ This paper discusses the notion of the person underpinning the life
and ministry of Cardinal Dery. The paper argues that, unlike his contemporary
John Paul II who developed a scholarly philosophical anthropology from his
academic pursuits, Cardinal Dery had an experiential anthropology that grounded
his life and ministry. Through a study of Dery’s published and unpublished
works and from personal experience of the man, Dery, the paper tries to
construct Dery’s fundamental tenets regarding the human person. The paper
argues that, Dery’s eclectic background, his experiences in a family that had
an open door to all and sundry, his grounding in the religious worldview of his
people, his conversion to the new religion (Christianity) and his academic
pursuits in Antigonesh and Lumen Vitae helped him develop a form of Christian
personalism. Some of the basic tenets of Dery’s philosophy include the natural
goodness in every person which, though tainted by sin, is not over-ridden by
this sin. As such Dery always believed in the fundamental truth that grace is
built on nature, hence his insistence on the natural virtues as being very
fundamental in the education of any child. In this vein, Dery never gave up on
any person. Fundamental in Dery’s thinking is the fact that each person is
unique and must be helped to develop his or her potentials the best way the
person can. Thirdly, Dery believed that the human person is defined by the
varied relationships that he is called upon to live out faithfully. This made
him emphasize the need for integral human development. In these relationships,
man’s relationship with the Transcendent shapes and gives ultimate meaning and
purpose to human life.
7.
Language in medicine
Debyser
An
Private Medical Practice
This paper considers healing or bringing real cure as an art which is restoring balance in the body. Dis-balance is manifested by an unharmonious expression, as the Chinese will put it, of ‘male’ (yang) and female’ (yin) energies in the body. This disharmony is spoken out through the language of body symptoms. Often, medical approaches themselves, as a way of understanding and dealing with these symptoms, are distillations from current ways of thinking and reasoning at a given time and place that are also culture specific to a community and society. The thoughts understandings are often related to perceptions of the body. When we talk about the ‘body’ this can mean the personal, individual body but it can also encompass more complex social systems like a family or a whole group or society. Unbalance will always seek to express itself through a language. The language spoken by these different bodies is consistent with the health condition of the person. Hence, understanding these languages as issued from those bodies as complete as possible is crucial in any start of constructive healing. As the body expresses itself on different levels of its being it is important to understand the language on all these levels. There is an implicit logic, a pattern behind.
8. Dagara Notions of Life; Its Transmission and Sustenance
Alexis
B. Tengan
Independent Scholar in
Anthropology
This chapter establishes the thesis that life, from the Dagara perspective, is a property of cosmic nature that can neither be created ex nihilo nor destroyed out of existence. It is recognised as a force of animation within a body or element. This belief links all life-bodies and life-elements to a common ancestral spirit of nature. This chapter also sets out to outline the figure the Nature Spirit (Kͻntͻn) and its cult as essential to human thought about life sustenance, growth and reproduction. The main claim is that human beings have relied heavily on the Kͻntͻn figure for the knowledge required to settle on land, to find the right resources for survival and to acquire the technology and skills of farming, rearing animals and the making of tools. As conclusion, the chapter discusses how the constitution and ritual maintenance of the cult of the Kͻntͻnmε serve as memory institution of human thought and knowledge
9.
Secularization: A Threat to a
Century Old Catholicism in the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province of Northern
Ghana? A Study with Particular Reference to the Catholic Diocese of Wa
George
Gyader
Lecturer, University for Development
Studies, Wa Campus, Ghana
The plantation of Catholicism in Ghana, and in
particular the northern territories of Ghana, since the arrival and settlement
of the Missionaries of Africa popularly known as the White Fathers and White
Sisters in Navrongo from1906 has been in many respects, a successful
faith-based project of missionary conversion approach and enterprise. In it the
people were required to turn away from their Traditional religious practices
and believe in the Christian God (see E. Tengan 2013). This is evidenced by the
growth and consolidation of the Catholic faith in Northern Ghana through the
erection of many parish locations and the building of many large churches and
also through the implementation of many socio-economic development initiatives
(such as; schools, hospitals, water systems orphanages etc.) that have
sustained the people in this part of Ghana (McCoy, 1988). The
implementation of related socio-economic development projects since the past
hundred years has initiated an age of a dynamic trend of modernization
including social transformations and institutional interconnections. Moreover,
as a result of the value of heightened interconnection that is rooted in the
globalization process the spread of the trend of secularization which has until
now been more prevalent in Western developed societies and other parts of the
world is becoming a very prominent potential force of influence and in the
global discourse context in relation to matters of religion and faith.
Considering the presence of this trend it is worthwhile to consider the
existence, experience, future orientations and resilience of the Catholic
Church since it took root at the beginning of the last century --- in the
universal catholic periphery of the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province (TEP) of
Northern Ghana. This is an important issue to consider particularly against the
dynamic of secularization as a global ideological discourse in religious
context and an influential evolving alternative way of living and value system
in a contemporary plural world society of modernity (technological progress
included) and globalization.
10.
Adopting Paolo Freire’s
Pedagogy of the oppressed as a
Christian Educational Theory in Ghana
Dongkore
Gregory
Lecturer, Ss Peter and Paul
Pastoral Institute
For Christians, the journey in education should start and end in Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. Christ is the perfect man and teaches us what the perfect human being should be. Education is about being and not about knowing. I would rather not have knowledge if such knowing will lead me to self-destruct. My research aims at strengthening my personal beliefs about education through verifiable data and a method that is accepted by the science of education. My choice of Freire’s educational theory has been inspired by his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire’s educational theory was born out of the existential human situation of oppression. I will therefore, examine the educational policy and practices in Ghana in the light of Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Education in Ghana was spearheaded by missionary societies. Because of the link between Christianity and education in Ghana the northern regions were completed ignored until the missionaries arrived on the scene at the beginning of the 20th century. A time gap of nearly 400 years separates the north and south of Ghana as far as access to Western education is concerned. A good starting point for addressing the educational imbalances in Ghana is to make information available. It is only when we have accurate information that a sincere dialogue can begin.
11.
Between Institutional Governance and Inequality
in Higher Education: The Case of the University for Development Studies (UDS)
Ghana
Jane
-Frances Lobnibe
Lecturer, University of
Development Studies (Ghana)
As the global economy slowly
recovers from the 2008/9 recession, rising social inequality exacerbated by
stagnating wages and unequal income distribution has emerged as a major concern
of policy makers and national leaders in both the “developed” and “developing”
worlds. This development has come about amid a fast changing knowledge economy
requiring specialized labor skills and high quality education to meet the
challenges of this complex technological and interconnected world. Be it at the global, regional or country
level, some have argued that a panacea to the current predicament is an
expanded and increased equal access to quality higher education. As a public
good and ideologically charged concept, education often can serve both as a
means of and for social mobility. When set against the imperatives of human
development, education can produce inequality and disenchantment, especially
when some groups are denied or excluded from access; the ways in which it is
distributed can perpetuate structural inequalities and the very structures it
is supposed to even out. In this chapter, I examine this dynamic in Ghana, using admission
requirements to the University for Development Studies (UDS) to unearth the
silences of the governance of UDS that include/exclude social actors for whom
the institution which was set up in 1992 was to afford access and opportunity,
thus perpetuating the very inequality it is purported to address. I ask to what
extent the potentially equalizing effects of education have been ordered by the
university’s own policies and practices and those of the National Accreditation
Board (NAB) and what implications these hold for students applying for
admission from deprived regions of Ghana.
12. Relevance of Christian Youth Associations in
Ghana in an Emerging Digital Culture
Africanus
L. Diedong
Lecturer, (University of
Development Studies, Ghana
Abstract:
In contemporary times young
people want to be heard and be part and parcel of daily conversations. Various
channels of communication offer young people opportunities to interact and
appreciate the dynamics of youth sub-culture. Arguably, social media has
enriched the scope and depth of conversations, and many a youth are attracted
by this development. However, how many young people actually appreciate that it
is one thing possessing and using state-of-the media gadgets for
self-gratification and another seeing these tools as a means to end? If
properly understood and appreciated, communication requires the actors to share
and exchange information and knowledge, capable of a positive impact in
people’s lives. Associations are vital platforms for sharing and embracing
values that can transform the lives of their members and society at large. The
propagation of important fundamental human values such as belief in God,
respect for life, the virtues of sincerity, honesty and hard work are some of
the noted features of many Christian associations. The availability and
influence of means of social communications provide Christian Youth
Associations an opportunity to capitalize on them in order to move beyond their
traditional environment operations. New media have a very strong following,
many of whom arguably are young people. How can Christian Youth Associations
make a significant shift into the current dynamic of social interaction
facilitated by social media? It demands a deep appreciation of the selling
values of the media so as to be in a better position to creatively and critical
use the media to transmit gospel values. Social media are useful tools various
Christian Youth Associations could use to respond in a more interesting and
profound manner to the Church’ call for a new evangelization for the
transformation of Christian faith. In the midst of diverse proposals of
messages of social media, which sometimes ennobles and at times confuses
undiscerning youth, viable Ecclesial Associations constitute unique rallying
points for educating and transforming the lives of their members through a
clear articulation of values that define a true identity Christian in modern
society.
Key words: Christian identity, youth
sub-culture, creative media use, Christian associations, new evangelisation.
13. Widowhood Rite Among the Dagaaba of
Ghana: Effectiveness of the Catholic Inculturation Process
Dapila N. Fabian
Bible Translation Consultant, Seed
Company, Arlington
To the Dagaaba of Northern Ghana, life is not
limited to the here and now, but extends into the hereafter. To them, life in
the hereafter is a continuation of the present life. As such when a person
dies, the living shower the departed person with gifts that will enable the
person live comfortably in the hereafter. Since the hereafter is seen in terms
of material existence, possessions provided for the dead include farm
implements, hunting tools, seeds, food, household utensils and other material
items that befit the status and occupation of the departed while they were
still alive. The departed are expected to continue with their present
occupations in the hereafter. A farmer remains a farmer, a hunter a hunter and
a pito brewer continuous in that occupation. The farmer will continue to
cultivate the different crops cultivated by the Dagao farmer as well as rear
animals. The Departed will therefore need to be provided with cows, sheep,
goats, hens and other birds reared by Dagaaba farmers. Alongside her usual
brewing equipment, a woman is also provided with the seeds of crops generally
cultivated by women such as okra, pumpkin, pepper and other minor crops. In the
hereafter, a man will continue to need the services of his wife and so will a
woman need her husband. It is here that a paradox sets in. Naturally the man will want to take his wife
along with him to the land of the ancestors so that they can continue to be
productive farmers, each with his or her traditional role. Procreation however
ends with the present life since one will live forever in the hereafter, and
the survival of the tribe will not be endangered. Despite providing the departed with all they
will need to settle down comfortably in the land of the ancestors, the Dagaaba
society will however want to retain the spouse. To the Dagaaba, the survival of
the society here on earth is paramount and must be given priority over individual
interests and desires. After all, the wife did not belong to the deceased, but
the society as a whole. The widowhood rites are therefore designed to sever the
relationship that existed between the deceased and the spouse. At the same
time, the widow (for that matter) is alienated from society and reintroduced
later to begin life afresh. The widowhood rite is therefore elaborate and
intensive, covered with many symbolisms, the meanings of which can only be
unveiled after a careful study and observation.
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