Africa as “Church of the sheaves”: Vatican Official Urges Sending Missionaries Despite Limited Resources
Catholics in Africa are living in “the time of the harvest” and should share the fruits of their growing vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life by sending missionaries to communities in need despite limited financial resources, a Vatican official has said.
Reflecting on Africa’s movement from receiving missionaries to sending them, the Vatican official described the continent’s local Churches as part of what he called the “Church of the Sheaves. ”He said the initiative draws its name from Psalm 126, which depicts those who go out carrying seed and return rejoicing with the harvest. “Those who went out carrying seed for the sowing were the missionaries,” the Vatican official who previously served as the Holy Father’s representative in Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Guyana among others told ACI Africa on August 6. “These were people that left their homes and loved ones at the most beautiful moments of their youth,” he further said, adding that many travelled without the modern means of transportation and communication available today. “Some of them were not thinking of going back home anymore. They did not even know whether they would be able to communicate with their families,” he went on to say, adding, “So, in most cases, their going was like a dying. ”(Story continues below)The Nigerian Archbishop said the missionaries “did not go empty-handed,” but carried the Gospel to the communities they served. “The beautiful thing is that the seed they sowed has grown, has brought here plants and trees that have grown and are producing fruits, abundant fruit,” he said. “We are now living the time of the harvest,” Archbishop Nwachukwu said, and added. “We are carrying the sheaves, the fruits of the sacrifice and the endeavours of these icons. These, I call them our heroes in the faith. ”He said missionaries from the West had contributed to evangelization and to the development of education, healthcare and community life in Africa, while acknowledging that some became associated with colonialism, abuse and the destruction of local values. “Of course, nobody is perfect. We have some of them that fell into the traps of the devil. Some got involved in elements of colonialism. Some got involved in elements of abuses,” he said. He cautioned, however, against reducing the contribution of generations of missionaries to “the loud-sounding mistakes of some of them. ”“Let us think of what they brought to our people in the area of education. They transformed our people. Let us think of what they brought in the area of healthcare. Let us think of what they brought in the area of bringing people together,” Archbishop Nwachukwu said. “We are interested in the great job they did in bringing us the message of salvation of Jesus Christ, in bringing us the message of love,” he added. A Homecoming, Not “Re-evangelization”Archbishop Nwachukwu clarified that African missionaries travelling to Western countries should not consider their mission a project to “re-evangelize” those who first brought the Gospel to Africa. “The Church of the Sheaves is not a Church that is coming back to re-evangelize. No, that is not our duty,” he noted, and explained, “Europe is still evangelized. So, we are not going to evangelize Europe. We are going back as a fruit of the product of the missionaries from the West. ”The role of African missionaries, he said, is “to integrate into the family, strengthen the family, help the family in its renewal. ”“We bring with us some elements. One is gratitude, for the West to know that Africa is grateful for the sacrifice of their sons and daughters,” Archbishop Nwachukwu said, and went on to identify gratitude, homecoming, communion and participation as characteristics that should accompany the missionary contribution of Africa’s growing Churches. “Our Churches are growing and flourishing. We call them the Church of the Sheaves, but we have to underline the elements that should mark the Church of the Sheaves: gratitude, homecoming, communion, and then participation in the life,” he said. Archbishop Nwachukwu acknowledged that Churches accustomed to sending personnel and resources may also need to become more receptive to missionaries coming from Africa. “People that are accustomed all life to giving and giving are not always disposed to welcome,” he said. “There is also a need to encourage the Church, the mother Churches of the West, to adopt a new mentality of openness, of welcoming the fruits of the sacrifices, the fruits of the missionary endeavours of their own sons and daughters,” he added. The Vatican official said the “Church of the Sheaves” seeks to bring together existing partnerships between African Churches and Churches in Europe and North America. “We are trying to gather them and bring them together in a kind of institutional initiative so that they will feel the backing of the universal Church and of the Holy See in going into this type of partnership,” he said. Placing Material Wealth at the Service of EvangelizationArchbishop Nwachukwu also called for continued catechesis as African communities acquire greater material resources, saying wealth should support rather than weaken evangelization. “Wealth should not be seen as something that automatically destroys faith,” he said, and added, “If the people who are wealthy receive the right type of catechesis, they are going to know that their wealth is a gift from God. ”“This is a time to prepare by giving the right type of catechesis to our people, to let them know that material wealth should not be seen as a hindrance but could be seen as a means, something to foster the faith and evangelization,” Archbishop Nwachukwu told ACI Africa. Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla is ACI Africa’s founding Editor-in-Chief. He was formed in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), and later incardinated in Rumbek Diocese, South Sudan. He has a PhD in Media Studies from Daystar University in Kenya, and a Master’s degree in Organizational Communication from Marist College, New York, USA.