(Archbishop of Harare, Zimbabwe)
1. The Proclamation of the Good News
Evangelisation must begin in the family which is the domestic Church and in which men and women exercise their complementary roles. But present ways of contracting marriage are excluding vast numbers from the sacraments of the Church. We need a reappraisal of the Church's marriage regulations and of Christian family life. The Small Christian Communities are of paramount importance and reflect the fact that all Christians have a duty of evangelisation. Here we wish to give special recognition to women in general and in evangelisation.
2. Inculturation
Inculturation is rooted in the mystery of Christ's incarnation and must addressed the person, the family and the whole Christian community. It is a part of tradition, of culture and identity and should influence all evangelisation and Christian life, especially in the areas the sacraments, scripture, marriage, family life and the liturgy. Of special importance is the role of the ancestors, healing and ritual blessings and the relationship of the Christian to Traditional African Religion.
3. Dialogue
Christian dialogue arises out of the conviction that the Holy Spirit is at work in all people for their mutual enrichment. Faced with civil conflicts, religious intolerance and misunderstandings we have become acutely aware of the need for dialogue. Dialogue should encompass all areas ? between clergy and laity, the local and universal Church, Christian, Islamic and Traditional African Religion and Church and State. Dialogue is not to proselytise others but to work together for the truth and the common good.
4. Justice, Peace and Human Promotion
The concepts of justice, peace and integral human development are essential parts of the biblical tradition, are affirmed in the Church's teaching and are also intrinsic African values. The Church has tried to meet this challenge with various measures, such as advocacy, reconciliation, mediation in conflicts, promoting democracy and work with refugees and now faces the new challenge of a second liberation in emerging new societies. The church can only promote justice if it makes all efforts to avoid injustice within the Church itself.
5. The Means of Social Communication
Social communications are essential for evangelisation. We must be conscious of both traditional African means of communication and those of modern societies and train our people in the knowledge and use of both.
Communication must be people-based and people-addressed. It should not be dominated by power groups, either political or economical. Modern mass media can adversely affect the moral and culture of peoples.
We must, therefore, as a priority, train priests, religious and all our people in the effective use and evaluation of all means of communication. We should lay special emphasis on newspapers and radio as a means of modern communications.
Original
text: English
