Africa is the continent where Catholicism is growing fastest. Here, in the first of two interviews with leaders of the Church there, the Provincial of the Jesuits in East Africa, Fr Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator SJ, tells Christopher Lamb about his background in traditional religion and how he sees the future role of the continent in the worldwide Church Had it not been for an evening of schoolboy high jinks, it is unlikely that the man who is now leader of the Jesuits in East Africa would even be a Catholic.
Growing up in Benin City, Nigeria in the 1980s Agbonkhianmeghe (pronounced “abon-ghe-a-may-ee”) Orobator took part in a tradition where youngsters would stay up all night before Easter Sunday setting off fireworks. When he was 15, however, things took a different turn.
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26 October 2013, The Tablet
‘Leadership is about service’
Voices from Africa – 1
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User Comments (3)
I joined the Green Party for this very reason and am standing as a local candidate. One of the benefits that I see to the Greens is that policy is driven by members and so is a "bottom up" approach rather than dictated by the leadership. This means that policy can change when challenged from within the party as I have begun to do. The more members with opinions in support of Catholic values, the more likely the policies will begin to reflect those values. Many Christians of various denominations have joined the Greens in the last 12 months so things will begin to change I think over the next few months/years and the Greens are definitely the best fit with both my own values and align best with CST.
When I first came across Green Party's values, I was really rather surprised at their similarities with Catholic Social Teaching.
There are of course problems with how they implement their values - abortions, assisted suicides, closing of faith schools can be difficult for British Catholics to comprehend, given the values of the Green Party.
Why is there not a perfect political party?!
Jonathan Tulloch's outlining of the Green's manifesto presents us with a dilema. The proposals suggest an appreciation of human dignity and a social vision which is inclusive rather than exclusive. But assisted dying is not something I could support.
So what to do? Vote for a manifesto which ticks most of the social justice boxes or throw the whole lot out on a single objection? I'd have to vote for the manifesto then lobby like crazy to resist assisted dying.
Sadly, the whole question is academic.