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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The dilemma of grassroot inculturation of the gospel: a case study of a modern controversy in Igboland, 1983-1989 |
Author: | Kalu, Ogbu U. |
Year: | 1995 |
Periodical: | Journal of Religion in Africa |
Volume: | 25 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 48-72 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | Catholic Church African religions ancestor worship Igbo |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1581138.pdf |
Abstract: | The gap between theological reflection and grassroots reality is the departure point for this article. What does the church do when a cultural form is central to the life of a community and when the church perceives that cultural form to be inimical to the affirmation of the gospel and ecclesiastical tradition? How does 'dialogue and integration' operate in the heat of conflict? Experience has shown that rejection of traditional culture and affirmation of the unique claim of the gospel merely exacerbate matters. The conflict between the Aku community of northern Igboland (Nigeria) and the Roman Catholic Church over the celebration of the Odo ancestral cult in the period 1983-1989 illustrates the dilemma of grassroots inculturation of the gospel. The conflict was sparked off by one stage of the Odo cult in particular, viz. the departure event called 'Ula Odo Aku', which in both 1983 and 1989 fell on a Sunday. Bibliogr. |