Christian Consecrated Life in Sub-Saharan Africa: Past and Present Challenges
Inculturation is currently gaining ground in almost all aspects of the Church's life and teaching. It enables each people to read, interpret and live out the gospel and its charismas, like the consecrated life, in accordance with their cultural ways of being and acting without undermining their essentials. From this background, the author reflects on the Christian consecrated life with reference to Black Africans in general and the Igbos of Nigeria in particular. This article discusses some of the anomalies, practical problems and challenges existing in Igbo-Africa, which justify the call for dialogue and search for solutions from the gospel and cultural contexts for the well-being and authenticity of the indigenous religious.