Mission as humanisation in the life and work of Bishop Joseph Shanahan : theological evaluation of an intercultural encounter in South-East Nigeria

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The predilection of humanity to replace the core essentiality of its existence with aperipheral worldview is plausible. This might be due to the dearth of humanistic virtues in Christendom today, resulting from individualistic and pluralistic views on religion and religious practices. Mission barely measures up to the growing obligations of all people inthe interdependent world of today. Humanisation and mission assume to be redeemable tools to reinstate the dignity and central essence of humanity, whereas pluralism and science have perverted many souls. As a result, a detailed investigation of early missionthat engaged in the practice of humanisation will be carried out, particularly in the southeast of Nigeria, which will be effective to re-strategize the intent of mission in the church today. The early missions in South-East Nigeria are majorly the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) and the Church Missionary Society (CMS). These missionaries, within themselves and within their environment, encountered much conflict and challenges, but were never deterred by these. The missionary works of Bishop Joseph Shanahan providedan example to be emulated, particularly hisextraordinary approach to dealing with socioculturaland political factors, which impacted the lives of the Igbo people till date. The foundation laid by Bishop Shanahan is a lasting legacy for the fervent practice of the Christian faith and vocation in Igboland compared to communities within and outside Nigeria.This study adopts a qualitative methodology based on archival sources and other secondary data, including journal articles, magazines, book chapters, conference or seminar papers, newspapers, Internet material, and other relevant works. This research evaluates mission as humanisation with a focus on the missionary life and works of Bishop Shanahan. This is done by reviewing literature on: humanisation and mission, andon the socio-cultural and religious factors that provoked both resilience and acceptance of Christianity in Igboland; the methods and approaches adopted by the CMS and RCM in their mission, with a special focus on Bishop Shanahan's mission; and the foundation laidby Bishop Shanahan in Igboland that sustained Catholicism and missionary growth in the region. Finally the impact of the works of the early missionaries (Shanahan in particular) in the contemporary church is also examined. The predilection of humanity to replace the core essentiality of its existence with aperipheral worldview is plausible. This might be due to the dearth of humanistic virtues in Christendom today, resulting from individualistic and pluralistic views on religion and religious practices. Mission barely measures up to the growing obligations of all people inthe interdependent world of today. Humanisation and mission assume to be redeemable tools to reinstate the dignity and central essence of humanity, whereas pluralism and science have perverted many souls. As a result, a detailed investigation of early missionthat engaged in the practice of humanisation will be carried out, particularly in the southeast of Nigeria, which will be effective to re-strategize the intent of mission in the church today. The early missions in South-East Nigeria are majorly the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) and the Church Missionary Society (CMS). These missionaries, within themselves and within their environment, encountered much conflict and challenges, but were never deterred by these. The missionary works of Bishop Joseph Shanahan providedan example to be emulated, particularly his extraordinary approach to dealing with socioculturaland political factors, which impacted the lives of the Igbo people till date. The foundation laid by Bishop Shanahan is a lasting legacy for the fervent practice of the Christian faith and vocation in Igboland compared to communities within and outside Nigeria.This study adopts a qualitative methodology based on archival sources and other secondary data, including journal articles, magazines, book chapters, conference or seminar papers, newspapers, Internet material, and other relevant works. This research evaluates mission as humanisation with a focus on the missionary life and works of Bishop Shanahan. This is done by reviewing literature on: humanisation and mission, andon the socio-cultural and religious factors that provoked both resilience and acceptance of Christianity in Igboland; the methods and approaches adopted by the CMS and RCM in their mission, with a special focus on Bishop Shanahan's mission; and the foundation laidby Bishop Shanahan in Igboland that sustained Catholicism and missionary growth in the region. Finally the impact of the works of the early missionaries (Shanahan in particular) in the contemporary church is also examined.This study proves that Bishop Shanahan's innate and humanising qualities in mission expedited the conversion to Catholicism and domination of Catholics in Igboland. These approaches and qualities include education, the value of children and women, languagelearning and indigenization of vocation. Moreover, this study establishes that the contemporary church replicates respect for human dignity and humanisation, as found in the early missions, though it needs to integrate more of Bishop Shanahan's humanisingvirtues. This research recommends further field studies in the area where Shanahan worked (Igboland) to validate its findings. Additionally, access to data on the early mission - as literature largely concentrated on the RCM strategies and successes - will help to elaborate on other strategies used by the early CMS.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University