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A mounting body of evidence demonstrates that our generation and our civilization teeter on the brink of a man-made disaster of global scale. Climate change stands as the defining question of our century. Calls to global action are as strident and passionate as the enormity of the situation is grave and consequential. Of particular significance is Pope Francis' encyclical letter "Laudato Si'" on the care for our Common Home. This article discusses some of the main messages from "Laudato Si'" including its call for pedagogical models of "ecological education" or "environmental education". The article is adapted with minor modifications from an address at the opening session of the OIEC World Congress held in New York in June 2019.

The article examines critical factors that determined the impact, reception, and implementation of Vatican H in Africa. Drawing on historical accounts, the author identifies and analyzes personalities, contexts, and issues that conditioned and shaped Africa's participation in the council. Looking back 50 years, he argues that while the continent's participation was negligible, shaped by a combination of events and attitudes that either facilitated or hampered reception, concrete examples abound of how the council generated impetus for growth, renewal and reform in inculturation, interreligious dialogue, theological reflection, and ecclesial collaboration in Africa., OF AFRICA'S ROLE in the Second Vatican Council, Patrick Kalilombe, recently deceased theologian and bishop of Lilongwe, Malawi, wrote: The presence of Africa at Vatican II was marginal and by [...]

Providing a critical reading of Pope Benedict's Caritas in veritate from an African perspective, the note examines several key issues in the encyclical to determine their relevance to the situation of development and underdevelopment in Africa. The note also points out some omissions and troubling situations regarding the role of women in development and the contribution of religion to development, and calls for a careful nuancing of the theological and philosophical underpinnings of the encyclical., LOOKING AT A KING'S MOUTH,' says an African proverb, 'you'd think he never sucked at his mother's breast!' Reading Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in veritate (2009) on integral human [...]

COMPLEXITY, AMBIGUITY, AND UNCERTAINTY characterize the relationship of church, state, and Catholic ethics in Africa. The East African country of Kenya provides a microcosmic sample of the larger continental profile. [...]

This article explores the practice of polygamy in Africa and analyzes the arguments for and against. Considered a pastoral challenge, the responses of Christianity range from ambiguity through accommodation to opposition. Polygamy affects women in ways that justify giving prominence to their voices in the debate about its implications. This article proposes a view of polygamy as an asymmetrical system that devolves privileges and entitlements to men in relation to women. Further, it considers pastoral options that include empowerment of women, compassionate attitude toward women in polygamous situations, and ecumenical convergences with other ecclesial traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]