[Catholic Caucus] IMBISA theologians study challenges of inculturation in Africa

Vatican News ^ | November 7, 2026 | Sheila Pires

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[Catholic Caucus] IMBISA theologians study challenges of inculturation in Africa

The pastoral challenges of accompanying those in polygamous situations and the wider question of inculturation in the African Church were at the centre of a gathering of theologians representing the six episcopal conferences that make up the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA): Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST), Lesotho (LCBC), Mozambique (CEM), Namibia (NCBC), South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini (SACBC), and Zimbabwe (ZCBC).

At the Padre Pio Retreat Centre in Pretoria, South Africa, participants recently examined how the Church can respond to African cultural realities while remaining faithful to its teaching, particularly on marriage, baptism, and access to the Sacraments.

Study Group 10 of the Synod on Synodality

Speaking to the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) Communications Office, the IMBISA Director explained that the workshop was prompted, in part, by the publication of the final report of Study Group 10 of the Synod on Synodality, which examined the pastoral challenges surrounding polygamy in Africa.

The study was entrusted to the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), following discussions during the Synod, where African participants highlighted the continuing reality of polygamous marriages and the questions these raise for the Church’s Sacramental and pastoral life.

The resulting document was submitted to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith before being returned to SECAM for further work and subsequently presented as the final report of Study Group 10.

Fr Enrico Parry said some bishops and Church representatives felt they had not been sufficiently consulted during the process. This prompted IMBISA to invite Sister Ester Lucas, who helped prepare the document, to explain its origins, development and conclusions.

“We thought, what better can we do than get one of those who were involved in authoring this document, Sister Ester Lucas, and interrogate the document together?” he said.

For Fr. Parry, the discussion goes beyond understanding the document. It challenges the African Church to take responsibility for addressing the pastoral circumstances of people living in polygamous unions, particularly in relation to marriage and the reception of the Sacraments.

“We have to deal with it personally. We are the only people who will deal with it,” The IMBISA Secretary General stressed.

Beyond polygamy: the wider question of inculturation

The workshop also examined other cultural practices that present pastoral and theological challenges for the Church in Africa.

Fr Parry cited the SACBC’s ongoing reflection on Ubungoma and the question of respect for ancestors, noting that pastoral ministers frequently face questions from communities seeking guidance on these matters.

He observed that while the bishops examine such questions, priests and pastoral workers on the ground are often expected to provide immediate answers.

Participants at the workshop therefore sought to consider the broader meaning of inculturation, the questions it encompasses and the responsibility for developing appropriate pastoral responses.

Synodality: Listening and discerning together

The workshop combined theological presentations with group discussions using the Conversation in the Spirit methodology, encouraging participants to listen to one another, share experiences and discern possible ways forward.

Contributions include Sr Ester Lucas’s presentation on the SECAM document on polygamy and its pastoral implications, and Fr Ian Chitambo OMI’s presentation on inculturation, its challenges in Africa and the future of African Christianity.

The workshop, which concluded on 6 November, sought to strengthen theological reflection and pastoral discernment among the six episcopal conferences of the IMBISA region.

The theological gathering gave the Church in Southern Africa an opportunity to engage seriously with the realities of its people and take responsibility for addressing the cultural and pastoral questions arising within its own communities.

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TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: inculturation; mortalsin; polygamy; secularchurch; synodalchurch; worldlychurch

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Speaking to the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) Communications Office, the IMBISA Director explained that the workshop was prompted, in part, by the publication of the final report of Study Group 10 of the Synod on Synodality, which examined the pastoral challenges surrounding polygamy in Africa.

"Pastoral challenges" with polygamy? What about the moral demands of God and the Catholic Church instead?

The synodal church will deal with polygamy just as it has with co-habitation and adulterous unions and other "irregular situations" (as the synodal church prefers to call them) : turn a blind eye and give them all full access to the sacraments.

After all, from Tucho and Bergoglio's Amoris Laetita:

AL 301: ‘It is [sic] can no longer simply be said that all those in any “irregular” situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace. More is involved here than mere ignorance of the rule. A subject may know full well the rule, yet have great difficulty in understanding “its inherent values”, or be in a concrete situation which does not allow him or her to act differently and decide otherwise without further sin.’

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Synodal "church" Barf Alert

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More heresies from Amoris Laetitia:

AL 297 : ‘No one can be condemned for ever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel!’

AL 299 : ‘I am in agreement with the many Synod Fathers who observed that “the baptized who are divorced and civilly remarried need to be more fully integrated into Christian communities in the variety of ways possible, while avoiding any occasion of scandal. The logic of integration is the key to their pastoral care, a care which would allow them not only to realize that they belong to the Church as the body of Christ, but also to know that they can have a joyful and fruitful experience in it.

AL 308 : ‘I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion. But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a Church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness, a Mother who, while clearly expressing her objective teaching, “always does what good she can, even if in the process, her shoes get soiled by the mud of the street”.’