A Church in The Modern World of Africa: The Zambian Experience
Abstract
Zambia became independent of British colonial rule in 1964, one year before that greatest document of the Second Vatican Council, Church in the Modem World (Gaudium et Spes), was published. The Catholic church in Zambia has over the past forty years played a very significant role in the development of the country. This has occurred both through direct service institutions (e.g., schools and hospitals) and through explicit social teaching on key issues facing the country at large. Today the church enjoys a prominent and respected place, in cooperation with other church bodies, in influencing the social, economic and political life of the people, as well as the religious life of individuals and the community.
Description
How often have you and I used the opening words of Gaudium et Spes, “The joys and hopes, the fears and anxieties...”, to call attention for ourselves and for others to the overriding priority of the Church’s mission today, the service of all humanity to enjoy life to the fullest! Surely, there is no "church in the modern world” if there is not that Christian community composed of women and men, united in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, in a journey to the Kingdom intimately linked with humankind and its history.