The Tablet’s National Correspondent, Christopher White, is on the ground in Nigeria for the first annual Pan-African Catholic Congress on theology, society and pastoral life. Below are the reports he has filed.
Special Coverage: Christopher White in Africa
Kenyan Nun Uses Law Degree to Navigate Church Through African Society
Sister Leonida Katunge wears two hats – or habits, rather – spending her days alternating between teaching courses in liturgy and practicing law in her homeland of Kenya.
Africans Warn Numerical Growth Has to be Matched by ‘Tools of Liberation’
A major African summit concluded on Dec. 9 with a warning that despite the continent enjoying the Catholic Church’s highest growth rate, unless theology and pastoral practice is “translated into tools of liberation” then “the growth of the Church will only be in number.”
Experts Say Pope’s Metaphor of a ‘Field Hospital’ has Special Punch for Africa
According to a range of scholars at a Pan-African Congress on Theology, Pastoral Life, and Society, the pope’s metaphor for the Church as a “field hospital” provides particular resonance for the African continent – and, they say, must guide pastoral practice in the realms of education, liturgy, and the laity.
Nun Warns African Catholics, ‘If You Want to Lead, Clean House on Abuse’
As the number of African Catholics continues to soar, one Kenyan nun is warning that they must first “clean house” when it comes to the issue of clergy abuse before exhibiting greater leadership in the global Church.
Pan-African Summit Opens With Pleas for Justice for Africa and Its People
A much-anticipated Pan-African Congress opened Dec. 5 with a plea for justice, both for the continent and its people.
Watershed Congress to Spotlight Poor Africans ‘Hanging on the Cross’
Throughout his papacy, during which he clocked some 40 trips to Africa, St. Pope John Paul II would frequently refer to the continent as both a “missionary church and a mission church.”
