Cardinal says he hopes African issues make final list of propositions
Oct 24, 2005
As members of the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist amended and refined their final list of propositions to present to Pope Benedict XVI, one African cardinal said he hoped some issues important for the church in Africa would make the final cut.
VATICAN CITY (CNS, Oct-19-2005) -- The synod fathers have already distilled and pared down the working groups' original 287 propositions to a list of 50.
But of the 256 official voting members, only 50 are from Africa. Whether issues such as polygamy and the appropriateness of African instruments and dance in dignified worship would survive the final revisions was anyone's guess.
"Nobody knows what the final draft is going to look like," said Cardinal Peter Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana.
One proposition on the Eucharist and polygamy did appear in a revised draft.
It said the church's teaching on marriage requires that those entering the church break off polygamous relationships before receiving the sacraments. It said the church recognizes that this process may take time and requires a combination of "tenderness and firmness" on the part of pastors.
"You cannot simply say (to the man), 'just let the others go and take the first wife,' because that becomes an issue of justice. If there are children involved, you just cannot send away somebody," Cardinal Turkson told reporters in an Oct. 18 press conference.
Sometimes a man wishing to break off his polygamous relationships is able to ensure the financial security of the women he is leaving; in some instances, he "can set up a small business for the wife and let her go," he said.
"But then you have not taken care of another need (of hers), and that is the need for a sexual partner," he added.
The cardinal said the church does not want to force celibacy on others, nor does it want to "expose them to prostitution" or "a loose type of living."
The individuals involved have to decide if the woman would "be free to go and look for" another husband, he said, though when the woman is "at middle age it's sometimes difficult" for her to find another spouse.
He said if couples decide to remain in their polygamous relationships, then the church in Ghana tries to offer them "spiritual communion until a clear solution" is found.
In the draft list of propositions, the synod called for the preservation of the dignity and sacred character of liturgical celebrations. It asked the Vatican to prepare a practical instruction for priests on how to celebrate the Mass.
But Cardinal Turkson said that "dancing and expressing yourself bodily at certain parts of the Mass should also be seen as having a place" in dignified worship.
"Dignified worship does not eliminate or make redundant the need to worship in the African style," he said.
He said one bishop from Nigeria told synod fathers that, just as the church is trying to "breathe with two lungs" through its ecumenical efforts with the Orthodox, the church should also "aspire to live with all the sinews and muscles in our body."
"There must be room" for African styles of worship, which can include ululation -- a joyful or mournful high-pitched cry -- or tam-tam drums, he said.
Dignified worship "means that we recognize the awesomeness of the mystery that we are before, and that means we comport ourselves well" during the Mass, he said. But if the faithful feel joyful and "need to move," this should be accepted, he added.
The Catholic Church loses "a lot of people to the evangelicals" because "sometimes they feel that the only other place they can worship like we used to worship in Ghana is sometimes in these evangelical circles," the cardinal said.
"I think we can involve people in worship more than we've done," he said.
Cardinal says he hopes African issues make final list of propositions