Archbishop Philip Anyolo has expressed concern about what he described as a global decline in the missionary spirit, and therefore called on the people of God in Africa to reflect on how the African Church can assist in missionary work across the world.
In his welcoming address at an ongoing Theological Symposium at the Kenya-based Tangaza University College (TUC), the Archbishop of Kenya’s Archdiocese of Nairobi, noted that the Church in Europe has been most affected by the crisis.
“The missionary impulse is in decline in many parts of the world. Christian faith is in decline where it used to dominate. In Europe, which was one time the epicenter of Catholic missionary efforts, the Church is in serious decline,” he said Thursday, February 22.
Organized by the Department of Dogmatic Theology at TUC’s School of Theology (SOT), the symposium was held under theme, “Make Disciples of all Nations: The Missionary Mandate of Christ… in the Religious, Cultural, and Social context of Africa Today.”
According to the prelate, consumerism, individualism, secularism, and the media are to blame for the decreasing numbers of Church attendees.
“Secular media bombards people with secular messages that are critical to Christianity: happiness comes from sex, happiness comes from money, and happiness is fulfilled in power. Life is too busy to have time for religion,” Archbishop Anyolo said, and added, “Africa is also negatively affected by different cultures, secular media and the globalized democratic view of the world.”
The Archbishop also said that in the face of the challenges to Christian faith, the people of God in Africa ought to reflect on “the major reasons for the decline of the missionary impetus in the Church in many parts of the world.”
In the face of the challenges to Christian faith, the people of God in Africa ought to reflect on “the major reasons for the decline of the missionary impetus in the Church in many parts of the world”, the Kenyan Archbishop said at the two-day event that had Robert Cardinal Sarah, the Prefect emeritus of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as the keynote speaker, adding that Africans should be vigilant “so that a similar tragedy does not attack us.”
The Archbishop further said that the people of God in Africa should ask themselves how they can assist in the missionary efforts of the global Church. He also said the Church in Africa is the life of the global Church.
Referencing Pope Benedict XVI in the Apostolic Exhortation Africae Munus, the prelate said, “A precious treasure is to be found in the soul of Africa, where I perceive a ‘spiritual ‘lung’ for a humanity that appears to be in a crisis of faith and hope1 on account of the extraordinary human and spiritual riches of its children, its variegated cultures, its soil and substances.”
Archbishop Anyolo then called on the people to “examine our consciousness.”
“Has my love for Christ and the missionary mandate grown cold over time or does it still gaze in the face of Jesus Christ?” he asked in conclusion of his speech.