1

AFTER 50 YEARS - THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE SECOND VATICAN

Jean-Marie Hyacinthe Quenum, S.J.♦

Abstract

The local Churches in Sub-Saharan Africa 1 faithful both to the spirit and letter of the Second Vatican

Council ecclesiology of communion has expressed a need for a true and deeper conversion to the

Gospel by starting a process of translating Christian faith in social and public life in a way that

transforms the way people relate to one another by assuming their differences. This essay explores the

Second Vatican Council ecclesiology of communion as the foundation of the renewal of Church life in

sub-Saharan Africa. It presents the post-Vatican II period as the beginning of a new era of

transformation for the local Churches in Africa. The proclamation of the Gospel started to touch every

aspect of human life by addressing the issues of unity in diversity in denominationally Christian

communities, poverty and injustice, tribalism and violence, HIV/AIDS and health care, refugees and

displaced people, good governance and democracy. The sub-Saharan post-Vatican II Church showed a

preferential care for those in most need by initiating a new way of being the Church on mission. The

new way of being the Church is the search of common good in a socially responsible community

honoring the creative power of God, the fellowship with Jesus Christ and the radical unity of the

people of God on which flourish differences inspired by the Spirit of God present in human history and

cultures.

♦ Rev. Dr. Jean-Marie Hyacinthe Quenum is a Beninese lecturer of Systematic Theology at Hekima College, a

Jesuit Constituent College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (Nairobi-Kenya).

Introduction

Fifty years ago, on October 11, 1962, the pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in St

Peter Basilica. Since the conclusion of Vatican II, 8 December 1965, the model of the Church as the

communion of brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ with a true sense of belonging to the Triune family

of God has changed the sub-Saharan way of being the Church on mission.

The Council Vatican II made the Church an open community sympathetically and empathically

involved in the joys, hope, sorrows, tears and pains of the modern world. By recognizing the cultural

and ecclesial plurality Vatican II encouraged intercultural dialogue, the collegiality of the bishops,

ecumenism, the variety within the One Church, liturgical adaptation, interreligious dialogue, solidarity

with the world and the revival of Church communion. Vatican II as the most influential ecclesial event

of the modern Church was a wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. It opened the way to a deeper

understanding of the Church as the communion of local Churches and enabled the people of God to

express the Gospel in new forms of life.2

What does the ecclesiology of communion of the Second Vatican Council refer to? What is the success

story of the ecclesiology of communion in sub-Saharan Africa? How can we assess the social change

brought about by the implementation of Vatican II vision of the Church as communion of local

Churches in sub-Saharan African context? My purpose in this article is to point out the salient features

of the Second Vatican Council's self-understanding of the Church as Communion limiting myself to its

rich insights particularly relevant to sub-Saharan local Churches in their attempt to be truly Catholic

and truly African. My perspective highlights Vatican II contribution as an inspiration for indigenization

allowing a process of African people getting in touch with their cultures and spiritualities in their

ecclesial experiences. Grass root Christian communities or small Christian communities called Church

of the neighborhood are the critical appropriation of the ecclesiology of communion expressed with the

2
H.-M. Legrand, "Revaluation of local Churches: some theological implications" in CONCILIUM 71 (1972), 53-
64.
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deepest and best values of African heritage so that the reality of the Church as "The Pilgrim People of

God" may be brought down to a local level.

The Church as the Family of God which emerged from the 1994 African Synod 3 of Bishops held in

Rome is the creation of African distinctive ecclesiology of communion promoting African mentality,

values and aspirations of oneness in intimate relationships, sense of brotherhood and sisterhood in

caring for the needs of all, togetherness in sharing and in decision-making and concern for an equal

dignity of all as the basis of communion and community-building.

1. What does the Ecclesiology of Communion of the Second Vatican Council refer to?

In continuity with the faith once given to the apostles, the Second Vatican Council paying close

attention to the "signs of the times" in the rapidly changing world of the twentieth century has stated in

Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the Church that the Church was first and foremost a

mystery of communion.4 It is a union of persons in a unique sense created by the Spirit of Christ. In the

Church as communion the Spirit of Christ dwells in many and holds them together. As a new

community of the true Israel, the Church is the fellowship of the disciples of the risen Lord Jesus

gathered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and sent to the world. The Church is much more than a mere

social structure, a centralized organization, a worldwide religious group, a pious association or even a

human society. The Church is a living reality emerging in human history through faith in Jesus Christ,

the incarnated Word of God made alive by the presence of the Holy Spirit in all spheres of human life

to perpetuate his work of salvation. As the presence of Jesus Christ in the world as its light "the Church

is the mirror of his glory; she reflects his splendor".5 There is an inseparable unity between Christ and

the Church. As a sacrament of the Holy Spirit, the Church is the union of persons held together in

intimate relationship by the self-communication of God in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:28). Through faith,

3
John Paul II, Ecclesia in Africa, Nairobi, 1995,n.61.
4
D. Boyle, Communion Ecclesiology, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2000.
5
Opening words of the dogmatic constitution on the Church.
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baptized people are one, forming the mystical body of Christ and sharing his Spirit as sons and

daughters of God (Eph 4:4-6). The Church, the bride of Christ, is in Tillard's words the "communion

between the visible and the invisible, the communal and the personal, the hierarchical and the

charismatic, the local and the universal."6 The Church is the visible expression of communion with

God. This communion is a gift of the Holy Spirit that makes of a community, a place of being together

with the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. Every member of the ecclesial communion is personally called

to join the fraternal community built up by the hierarchical and charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Grass-root Christian communities are local incarnations of the Church.7 The ordained ministry is the

center of unity of local Churches represented by bishops to whom were entrusted the local portions of

the people of God. They assume the responsibility of the communion of the universal Church in the

episcopate college whose head is the bishop of Rome. The Church is basically an interior reality lived

by the faithful through prayer, sacramental life and virtuous attitudes flourishing in outward

commitments for brotherhood, sisterhood, peace, justice and reconciliation. The Church is the historical

community of the disciples of Jesus Christ who are called forth by the Father to be gathered by the Son

and to be sent to the world by means of the Holy Spirit (Rom 1:1, 5; Rom 8:15-16). The Church is the

mystery of communion of the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ called forth to share the very life of

the Triune God. The Church according to Lumen Gentium8 in chapter l is an intimate communion of the

disciples of Jesus Christ with God, through the Holy Spirit. In chapter 2 of Lumen Gentium the Church

is seen as the communion of the disciples of Jesus Christ with the whole human family. Although the

Church has a special place in human history of salvation, she cannot be merely identified with Christ as

6
J.-m.r.Tillard, Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ: At the Source of the Ecclesiology of Communion. Trans.
Madeleine Beaumont, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2001),9
7
Evangelii Nuntiandi 15
8
Lumen Gentium is the dogmatic Constitution on the Church. It has eight parts. The first part (1-8) deals with the
mystery of the Church. The second part (9-17) is on the people of God. The third part (18-29) is on hierarchical structure
and in particular on Episcopate. The fourth part (30-33) is about the laity. The fifth part (39-47) is on the universal call to
holiness in the Church. The sixth part (43-47) is on the religious. The seventh part (48-51) is about the eschatological nature
of the pilgrim Church and his union with the Church in Heaven. The eighth part (52-69) is on the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and the Church.
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she is always in need of purification, renewal and reformation. As an eschatological reality, the Church

has not yet reached her ultimate goal. She remains in human history a pilgrim Church, God's

instrument to gather human beings toward their final and communal destiny when he will be “all in all”

(1Cor 15:28). The word "communion" above all others expressed the self-understanding of the Church

at the Second Vatican Council. In the First Letter of John 1:3, we find the frame of reference for the

correct understanding of "communion".9 It means that human beings through their union with the

Father and with his Son Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters together and they belong to one family of

the Triune God as sons and daughters of God. The Church through the proclamation of the mystery of

the communion of God with human beings in Jesus Christ unites human beings with one another.10

This gracious mystery of God sharing his life with the faithful in the body of Jesus Christ through the

Holy Spirit is called Church: communion with God in Spirit and communion between human beings by

the Spirit. The Church is the visible community in the world which proclaims the intimate family

relationship to which each and every person is called through Jesus Christ. As the community of God's

people, the Church is endowed by the Holy Spirit with various offices and services for her call for

holiness and mission to the world. The Church as communion is based on the love of God and others.

The authority of Jesus Christ as the Word of God, baptism, Eucharist, apostolic ministry, corporate

prayer and worship, structures of communion such as the collegiality of bishops, the common

priesthood of the faithful and the shared responsibility of local Churches to express the unity, the

holiness, the catholicity and the apostolicity of the Church are seen by the Second Vatican Council as a

means of communion. Growing inside every member of the body of Christ, the Church is the

communal reality that makes every faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, co-responsible, co-participant and

co-heir of divine promise that love will triumph over the darkness of sin, fragmentation, division and

9
"What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the communion that we
have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1Jn 1:3).
10
"Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some aspects of the Church Understood as Communion" 28
May 1992. This letter affirmed the ontological priority of the universal Church to the particular Churches.
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discriminations. The ecclesiology of communion of Vatican II is grounded on the apostolic

proclamation of the message of salvation centered on the Eucharist, the Word of God and the service of

the people of God. It aims at planting the seeds of the Gospel in local Churches by translating the

Christian message in the language and cultural values of the local people. By respecting the

worldviews, patterns of thought, ancestral religions and cultures of local people, ecclesiology of

communion uplifts the specific identity of the particular Churches within the universal Church. In the

line of the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, the ecclesiology of communion of Vatican II did not ask

sub-Saharan Africans to become Jews, Europeans or Americans. The ecclesiology of communion does

not abolish cultural differences. It inspires sub-Saharan African missionaries to establish truly local

Churches entrusted to well-trained native leaders ready to consolidate and spread the faith in the total

way of life of their people. This new vision of the Church by Vatican II has made sub-Saharan African

local Churches the most dynamic and vibrant Churches of the world as far as increase in the number of

Catholics is concerned. Dedicated men and women are promoting sub-Saharan African self-ministering

and self propagating local Churches. Since the Second Vatican Council, the local Churches in sub-

Saharan African context are at home within the original and specific African experience of extended

family. The Church is seen as a community of believers promoting human growth, solidarity,

development, protection of environment, good governance and democracy of sub-Saharan African

societies. Vatican II ecclesiology of communion has proposed a framework for a relevant ecclesiology

of the Family of God integrating the aspirations and values of sub-Saharan African societies religiously

represented by African traditional religions, Islam and Christianity.11 The African experience of

extended family valuing solidarity, interconnectedness, co-operation, collaboration, vital participation,

empathy, hospitality, protection of life and togetherness has been applied to the Church as the new

family of God united by kinship in the life of Christ, his blood shed at Calvary and his new presence in

the fellowship gathered in his name (Acts 2:42-47). The grass-root communities of local Churches

11
Ali A. Mazrui, The Africans: A triple Heritage, London: BBC Publications, 1986.
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enable God's people to relate at a personal level and make concrete Christ's will of communion in the

sub-Saharan African context. They provide practical means for shared responsibilities by involving all

the members of the basic communities to common tasks (Eph 4:11-13). Grass-root communities give a

sense of belonging to a local community where God's people can communicate at a deep level on the

Church's evangelizing work and on local development issues. Physical and spiritual proximity

characterize grass-root communities dedicated to common goals of evangelization and development

under the leadership of trained and responsible Christians. God's prophetic Word translated into local

mother tongues plays a crucial role in transforming the local Church as Eucharistic, apostolic and

caring Church, herald of the Gospel message and servant of the poor and oppressed. God's Word read

from an African perspective in grass-root communities presents Jesus Christ as the preacher of the

reign of God that renews the total way of life of sub-Saharan people. Jesus Christ is perceived as the

founder and progenitor of the new extended family of God, the Church in sub-Saharan Africa. His good

and exemplary life at the service of life makes him the source of life for sub-Saharan grass-root

communities. As a living dead and fully alive after his passion and crucifixion, Jesus Christ remains the

mediator between the invisible world of God and the visible world of sub-Saharan African people. Sub-

Saharan African people experience him in their grass-root communities as the ambassador par

excellence of reconciliation that makes them ministers of reconciliation in their homes, at work and in

marketplaces. Through the Eucharist celebrated as the festive meal of remembrance, Jesus Christ is

proclaimed as the healer, savior and mediator of reconciliation of grass-root communities of faith that

adopt him as kin in their life-situations. Friend of the poor and the marginalized, Jesus Christ is adopted

by sub-Saharan African Christians as the guest at home with the aspirations and family values of grass-

root communities. Adopted as kin, Jesus Christ is the personal presence of God intimately involved in

the daily life of grass-root Christian communities so that they "may have life, and have it abundantly"

(John 10:10). The risen Jesus fully alive in sub-Saharan local Churches is mediated through the power

of the Holy Spirit enabling grass-root Christian communities to become more socially responsible. By
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hearing the prophetic Word of God shared in grass-root communities the committed listeners following

the cultural model of African palaver are challenged by the contextual issues raised by the Spirit of

justice and compassion of Jesus; made kin of sub-Saharan African societies and at home with African

life situations. The person of Jesus Christ, his Word and deeds, the festive celebration of his paschal

mystery and the ethical commitment flowing from his teaching make Christian grass-root communities

a cohesive fellowship, free from individualism, self-interests and self-concerns. A common bond of

faith in Jesus Christ unites each member known by name, and playing a specific role according to the

gifts and offices received from the Holy Spirit. The humanizing values of sub-Saharan African

traditional close-knit communities are the stepping stones of God's love that unites the members of

local Churches into an unbroken communion. The sanctifying power of God is experienced in Christian

grass-root communities through discerning prayers, communal deliberations and the welcoming

acceptance of the contributions of all members working together for the reign of God.

2. The Success story of the ecclesiology of communion in sub-Saharan African Churches

The ecclesiology of communion has contributed to the deeper evangelization of the sub-Saharan people

called to be a reconciled community preaching the good news of unity to all people of good will. It has

promoted a rapid expansion of grass-root communities socially responsible and committed to the

service of real life situations of reconciliation, justice and peace. The ecclesiology of communion of

Vatican II has produced a new culturally relevant spirituality reflecting both the truth of Christian

salvation and the mentality and needs of sub-Saharan African Christians. It has integrated wholeness

and spirituality in the area of ecclesiology. To be a Christian is not just an individual choice based on

personal ethic and desire to improve oneself. It requires full participation in the life of the Church with

specific responsibilities in public life. It follows, therefore, that the activities of the grass-root

communities are not optional but the very heart of one's commitment to the mission of the Church.
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Today, sub-Saharan people feel more at home with their new Christian faith expressed in their

communal way of living. The ecclesiology of communion experienced in grass-root communities is

holistic. The grass-root communities are strongly godly, relational, life-giving, holistic, integrative and

transformative. As a life-oriented ecclesiology, the ecclesiology of communion exposes sub-Saharan

Africans to the life of God within the neighborhood. Through a reverential dialogue with African

traditional religions and Islam, grass-root Christian communities free of proselytism and crusade

mentality are becoming the contemporary forces of social and religious transformation with peace

activists, human rights leaders and caring laity involved in health and environmental programmes. Sub-

Saharan African ecclesiology of communion cannot be a version of Western ecclesiology. Free of the

westernizing influence of the colonial period, sub-Saharan ecclesiology is rooted in the local cultures

which are ancestral, communal and life-oriented. It is inspired by the guiding principles of Vatican II. It

embraces from inside the various ways of life of the sub-Saharan extended families, creatively using

their languages, symbols, arts, and thought patterns.

Following Nostra Aetate n.212 sub-Saharan African ecclesiology of communion critically appropriates

a sense of community as the cultural expression of the fullness of life bringing about the ecclesiology

of abundant life (John 10:10). In the sub-Saharan African perspective, the fullness of life is celebrated

in community as extended family. John Samuel Mbiti, one of the respected African theologians

expressed this truth in a dictum: “I am because we are, therefore I am".13 Communal relationship is the

highest form of social responsibility and the Church as the Family of God is the highest form of the

presence of Jesus Christ being fully alive in the members of his body. The risen Jesus is therefore fully

alive in the Church which is his body, his bride and his self-actualization in the world. The great

success story of the ecclesiology of communion in sub-Saharan African context is the fact that this

“The Catholic Church rejects nothing which is true and holy in these religions. She looks with sincere respect
12

upon those ways of conduct and of life, those rules and teachings which though, differing in many particulars from what she
holds and sets forth, nevertheless reflects a ray of that truth, which enlightens all men”
13
John S. Mbiti, African Religions 108-109.
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vision of the Church has helped the people of God to encounter God at personal and communal levels

through the maturation of the Word of God in their mind and hearts. In grass-root communities, the

people of God experience the lived unity of their human existence in faith. The people of God are

challenged to be socially responsible as they share with passionate enthusiasm the Word of God in the

context of their daily lives. In grass-root communities, the people of God collate the Word of God and

the "signs of the times". The Church's being and activities reflect the redemptive purpose of the

economic Trinity and promotes the welfare of sub-Saharan African societies. Sub-Saharan African

Christians as adopted sons and daughters of God through sanctifying grace receive from the apostolic

message: the sacramental communion and the liturgical life celebrating the paschal mystery, and are

impacting their societies with corporal works of charity, mercy and liberation.

In the republic of South Africa, the Church's struggle for democracy has been crowned by the

dismantlement of apartheid. In most sub-Saharan African countries democratic values and institutions

have been advocated by grass-root Christian communities and movements. In sub-Saharan African

conflict-riddled countries Christians are involved in the key task of reconciliation; offering the

Church’s resources needed to heal the wounds of genocides, wars and civil tensions. Faithful to the

traditional Christian ministry of care for the sick and dying, grass-root Christian communities are at the

forefront of campaigns against HIV/AIDS. The elimination of socio-economic poverty is in the agenda

of grass-root Christian communities and justice/peace organizations are challenging the social

structures of landlessness and the unequal distribution of wealth. Vatican II ecclesiology of communion

is a success story in sub-Saharan Africa. It has shifted the attention of the local Churches from

emotionally-charged worship, personal ethic and holistic healing to more engaged faith in public life.

Vatican II ecclesiology of communion in the line of Gaudium et Spes has initiated grass-root Christian

communities to the hermeneutics of see, judge and act in the light of the Word of God contextualized

through inductive method of assessment of reality based on social analysis. The local churches aligned

on the insights of Vatican II no longer indulge in religious deductive rhetoric. Drawing men and
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women into the communion of love originating from the Trinitarian God of Christian tradition, the

Church in sub-Saharan Africa is becoming "a sign and instrument, that is of communion with God and

of unity among all men".14

3. The social change brought about by the implementation of the Second Vatican Council vision

of the Church as Communion of local Churches in sub-Saharan African context

The ecclesiology of communion of Vatican II in the context of sub-Saharan Africa is about the

implementation of the teaching of Jesus Christ on the reign of God in the settings of the Church as

extended family. It is a practical way of living personal, interpersonal and social relationships in the

sight of the God of Jesus Christ within the daily life of people south of the Sahara. In sub-Saharan

African extended families the process of becoming human beings is experienced through conception,

gestation, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and death. In each stage of human growth, the

members of the extended families work together for the socialization of their brothers and sisters. The

sub-Saharan extended family system provides rituals, ceremonies of initiation and communal festive

manifestations that foster fellowship, togetherness, and a sense of oneness.” to be human is to belong to

the whole community, and to do so involves participating in the beliefs, ceremonies, rituals and

festivals of that community" (J. S. Mbiti ,1970).

In sub-Saharan ecclesiology of the Church as the family of God, the sense of fellowship, togetherness

and unity is extended from the extended family to baptismal ties and beyond. The Eucharist celebrated

in grass-root communities is the centre of Church unity. The Church leaders preserve the unity of

grass-root communities and loyalty to the Gospel message. Sub-Saharan African solidarity is adapted

to the evangelizing work with the virtue of hospitality to the sick, the poor and the marginalized. In

ecclesiology of the Church as Family of God, grass-root communities are sharing and caring local

Churches involved in the development of their neighborhood. The model of the Church as extended

14
LG1
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family of God makes Jesus Christ, the guest coming from God and the kin through his incarnation, the

brother to all. Every person who believes in Jesus Christ is a brother or sister to the other. Every

believer belongs to the extended family of God and should be treated as a true relative. This manner of

being the Church has brought social change in evangelical work.

Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue are now the methods of uniting the people of God in sub-

Saharan Africa. The purpose of the Church as extended family of God is to strengthen the communion

of God's people on the basis on community-building around the person of Jesus Christ, the Good

shepherd who came to give to his flock the fullness of life in grass-root communities. The power of

God is God's love shared in community to transform the believer into the relatives of God. The purpose

of human life according to sub-Saharan ecclesiology is to become a relative of God, a brother or sister

of Jesus Christ within the family of God extended to all human beings irrespective of their cultural

background, gender, social class and religion. The attitude of reverence is required before God source

of blessings for grass-root communities. Jesus, the universal brother is perceived as the human face of

God, the perfect image of God sent in human history to restore and heal the broken relationships of

violence, conflict and division as the servant of reconciliation. The Church in sub-Saharan Africa must

be a reconciled community, and a servant of reconciliation strengthening mutual interaction,

participation and communion among men, women and children. Communion in divided sub-Saharan

Africa presupposes the struggle to remove from human hearts, individualism, selfishness, greed and all

negative forces that diminish the sacredness of common life and common good. Communion is

possible when there is reconciliation requiring confession of sin of division, injustice, repentance,

cleansing and forgiveness and finally a strong desire to live by the love of God incarnated in the life

and paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. This divine love which is sacrificial, inclusive and compassionate

is the Trinitarian love that holds all things together. It implies mutual acceptance, forgiveness and the

ministry of reconciliation leading to pacific coexistence (Romans 15:7; Luke 6:36; 2 Corinthians 5:18).
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Conclusion

The sub-Saharan African ecclesiology of communion as the Family of God has transformed the lives of

God's people socially responsible in their grass-root communities. Jesus Christ is welcome in grass-root

communities as a guest who feels at home as kin. As Lord of life, Jesus Christ is the kin of grass-root

communities who shares sympathetically and empathically the social concerns of God's people. As lord

of life to whom all powers are given, Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit inspires new insights for the

transformation of things that fall apart in the world of sub-Saharan African Christians in grass-root

communities. Sub-Saharan ecclesiology of the Family of God bears the marks of the cultural

experience of the sense of community as extended family. In extended family, the fullness of life is

celebrated from birth to death and beyond in the spirit of lineage solidarity. Jesus Christ through his

incarnation has achieved a more profound solidarity with human beings by experiencing all that

diminishes life including death. Raised from the dead, Jesus, the Lord of life, confers to each member

of the family of God the dignity of the children of God living together in solidarity for the

transformation of the world into the reign of God. The ecclesiology of communion of Vatican II

describes the Church as having her origin in God revealed by Christ in the Spirit. Christ as a person is

the encounter with God. Through Christ and in the Holy Spirit, human beings are in communion with

God and with one another. The Church proclaims this mystery of communion in her people-oriented

grass-root Christian communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan African ecclesiology of

communion has shown, fifty years after the Second Vatican Council, its ability to meet the social

context of reconciliation, justice and peace. The sub-Saharan ecclesiology of the Family of God

working for the reconciliation of God's people dehumanized by socio-economic poverty and thirsting

for justice and peace, is an instrument of God's reign through her transformative presence as salt and

light (Matthew 5:13-14). The Second Vatican Council after fifty years remains for sub-Saharan Africa,

a source of inspiration, an encouragement for a real indigenization of the local Churches and a hope for

the proclamation of the Gospel message relevant to the social context of the people of God.