Abstract The Catholic church is a community of faith, and an agency of social transformation for a distressed African continent. Many Africans look up to the church for renewal and direction in their quest for integral development and cosmic flourishing. This expectation is gradually weaning in the face of the multidimensional challenges that weigh on Africa. Particularly, the impoverished social order and dysfunctional political systems deprive Africans of dignified lives and sustainable development. This article builds on prophetic dialogue as an ecclesiological paradigm for local churches in engaging the African social context in a manner that inspires social transformation. Grounded on prophetic dialogue, the article proposes pathways of local churches in addressing the concrete social issues and concerns of the people in their locality. These include social discernment, social palaver, and self-emptying. Drawing insights from the teachings of Pope Francis, the essay argues that these pathways offer credible and effective channels for a transformative encounter between the Catholic Church and African society.

Abstract This article scrutinizes some biblical texts playing an important role in motivating missionaries to separate from their children on a young age so that they were able to receive proper school education. The children received this schooling on a place far away and often also in another country. Thorough analysis demonstrates that the meaning of these texts was almost always different from the sense many missionaries and mission organizations extracted from them. Mirabile dictu these biblical pericopes were very seldom discussed within missiological academic literature.

Abstract Christianity and the environment have a tense relationship. Although in recent years an eco-theology of stewardship has taken flight, according to theologians as well as philosophers the historical track record of Christians with regard to nature in general and animals in particular leaves much to be desired. However, this view has never been empirically tested. In this article three early modern accounts of Protestant missionaries who lived in Greenland, New Netherland (North America) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are analysed in order to uncover attitudes towards animals. The accounts describe local fauna, reflect upon the way in which animals are treated and discuss ‘pagan’ attitudes towards animals. The concepts of tropicality and arcticality are used to help to frame the missionaries’ views on animals in terms of othering non-European fauna. The article concludes that the critique of Christianity’s track record is essentially justified, but also that it was more nuanced and complex than has hitherto been thought. As such, the early modern missionary accounts’ focus on wildlife may well serve as a source of inspiration for present-day missionary organizations.

Abstract The historiography of the inception of the Catholic Church in Ghana has focused largely on the activities of the European missionaries. This has left a gap in our knowledge regarding their first indigenous collaborators and their contribution. This is particularly the case of the Rev Fr Anastasius Odaye Dogli (1888–1970), the first indigenous Catholic priest of the Gold Coast about whom only scant literature exists. This article seeks to complement the work of earlier mission historiographers, by retrieving archival material from various sources in Ghana, Togo, and Italy, and sets out to retrieve his narrative blurred by a hundred years of legends that have emerged through oral tradition. It examines the challenges and struggles of a young African who broke through stereotypical, cultural, and colonial barriers to lay the foundations for a centenary of indigenous Roman Catholic clergy in Ghana.

Abstract The Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions share many stories. The narratives about Adam, Abraham, Moses, Solomon and many others are modelled one after the other. During the last decades much attention has been given to the ‘three religions of Abraham’ as sharing the heritage of that great biblical figure. This contribution concentrates on the stories of David in the three religions as expression of the one hermeneutic family. It pleads that Jews and Christians take the Muslim reinterpretation of their heritage serious.

Abstract This qualitative research on young adults of the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox Churches in Lebanon considers why participation in liturgy aids the identity formation of youth in both communities. By participating in liturgical rituals, these young adults express identities which transcend the limited spaces they inhabit. These spaces are influenced by the minority context in Lebanon, as well as by traumatic historic experiences of both Armenians and Syriacs. Such spaces stimulate the youths’ appreciation for their ancient traditions and their strong connection to other members of their church communities, both past and present. Their sense of belonging is rooted in ancient languages and narratives, and in the embodied rituals that open Armenian and Syriac young people up to the divine dimension of liturgy in church and in daily life. We argue that, for the research population, engagement in the liturgy is a matter of identity.