Hypothetical new rite in Africa. Thoughts?

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I mean, it would be easier to adopt the Ethiopian Rite to other African cultures than the Latin Rite which is completely foreign to them.
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From what I’ve said above, I think you can see that the Ethiopian Rite would be as foreign to us as the Latin Rite or if closer than it, would still be considerably ‘strange’ as to be foreign- They are simply a different people. It would have worked perfectly, if they had continued to do what Christians had done through out the centuries, which is to spread the faith. By now, the Rite might have been indigenized long ago and would probably not even be an Ethiopian Rite at all 🤷.

This idea of the Ethiopian church being more acceptable for Africans I find is a Western assumption from Europeans and “Western” Africans, who suffered unimaginably in western hands- Perhaps I’m wrong. The Rastafarians have created a whole religion that they base on Haile Selassie and the Ethiopian Church- They think that Haile Selassie is the African Jesus (they actually believe that he’s the return of Jesus as King- A second incarnation) which is strange because Haile Selassie was himself a devout Orthodox 🤷.
ConstantineTG said:
But it wasn’t because the Latin Rite just fit into every other culture. In many cases, the faith was forced onto other cultures (Spanish Inquisition).
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To us it wasn’t forced. The colonialists oppressed us, it’s true. But schools and hospitals were provided by the Churches and people were converted not by force but by education in school and the efforts of missionaries. Those that went to Protestant schools became Protestant, Catholic schools became Catholic etc I’m just happy that most of my people identify as believers in Jesus Christ and are baptized as part of our way of life 👍
 
Walking_Home said:
I don’t think it is matter of just picking the Latin rite – but what rite – the missionaries doing the evangelizing come from.
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I agree with this.

It seems pointless to start prescribing a particular rite onto a country where immigration, be it of missionary or mercenary or scholastical nature, could eventually override the new rite. The Catholic Church seems to be moving now to a standardization of the liturgy, and not looking for more diversity. You can only go so far as to appeal to a new culture which has no idea what religion is all about, much less its liturgy.
 
Marybeloved said:
The Ethiopians and Eritreans and Somalians are semitic/cushitic groups- They are very different from what the West call “sub-saharan” Africans, or the race that the scientists would call negroid and are genetically much closer to Caucasians than us. Basically, Africans who are ancestors to African-Americans in Africa are distinct from the cushitic groups and semitic groups and the Arabs up north. I suspect that this maybe why an entire millenium passed w/out anyone bothering to teach us about Jesus Christ 🤷? Because I see no other reason. Ethiopia was an established civilization for 1,000 years and many African groups were tribal societies. If they had any interest in converting us, they would have done so- easily. At least many of us. I think most of the Continent would have been Coptic if nationalistic/racial differences hadn’t gotten in the way- I mean 1,000 years is a LONG time!
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They can further inculturate from the Ethopian Rite. As mentioned, the Latin Rite is completely foreign to them. Look at the Byzantine Rite, we have Middle Easterners (Melkites), Greeks and Slavs. While the rest of Africa isn’t exactly Ethiopian, its a culture closer to theirs than Latin or the other ethnicities of the other Rites.
 
YoungTradCath said:
Exactly. I was going to talk about Mexico or Brazil, for example, but I decided not to.
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Well, I’m a product of the Spanish Inquisition, so I really have nothing bad to say about it 😃
Islam was making its way up north from Malaysia (I believe the Sultan of Manila at that time was already Muslim) so if the Spanish Conquistadors didn’t come and forcibly took the islands, I wouldn’t be on this site today (or maybe I will, but in a different capacity).

But still, it changed our society, our culture. We’re not as closely related to the Indonesians and Malaysians anymore because we’re Westernized by Spanish culture.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Well, I’m a product of the Spanish Inquisition, so I really have nothing bad to say about it 😃
Islam was making its way up north from Malaysia (I believe the Sultan of Manila at that time was already Muslim) so if the Spanish Conquistadors didn’t come and forcibly took the islands, I wouldn’t be on this site today (or maybe I will, but in a different capacity).

But still, it changed our society, our culture. We’re not as closely related to the Indonesians and Malaysians anymore because we’re Westernized by Spanish culture.
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Constantine, What are you? Filipino?
 
ITSM that in some respects, the Mass of Paul VI was created to allow for more cultural flexibility in the Latin Rite, to make it more universally applicable.
 
OraLabora said:
ITSM that in some respects, the Mass of Paul VI was created to allow for more cultural flexibility in the Latin Rite, to make it more universally applicable.
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It’s worth asking, I think, if that’s a good thing.

In a way, that kind of betrays its mostly-European heritage.
 
OraLabora said:
ITSM that in some respects, the Mass of Paul VI was created to allow for more cultural flexibility in the Latin Rite, to make it more universally applicable.
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Yes, and it has been indigenized already in some respects. I can imagine that if a foreign manner of worship were to be introduced at this point it might have a negative reaction if the after-math in the West of the OF introduction is anything to go by. What is needed is not an artificial effort to create an African liturgy or any other for that matter, but to allow whatever liturgy is used to take on the shape and flow of the particular culture by slow adaptation, with checks on abuses. I think that’s how liturgies are indigenized or made anew, no? If you really think about it, what is the mass in terms of structure? Look at the OF. It’s just a certain order of saying certain prayers- 🤷. Why does it need to be changed to be Africanized? The way we say them, sing them etc are our own way, but what prayers can you give us that will really be African? They can’t! They cannot be Roman or Byzantine or American- They can only be Christian. The way and manner we worship can differ, but the mass itself can only be christian, not African or anything else.

I love our Swahili mass- I’ve grown up associating the word mass or misa (Swahili) with it. I would not want to give it up just so that it can have a name like African Rite, we can even name what we have now African Rite w/out changing it too much. Certainly it can be enhanced even more. I love our own ‘additions’ by custom to catholic practice, like prostration before the monstrance and holding out our hands for ‘Our father’. But ultimately, what is needed here is exactly what is needed in Europe, America, S. America and everywhere else- Catechesis on the meaning of the mass and our faith and prayer. Just my two cents, though.

I wish there was another African here to contribute a different perspective to this discussion. :hmmm:

Peace
 
OraLabora said:
ITSM that in some respects, the Mass of Paul VI was created to allow for more cultural flexibility in the Latin Rite
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There may be some truth to that. And that includes not only the Latin text but also the non-vocal prayer as well.
to make it more universally applicable.
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Problem however comes from not being able to distinguish a Catholic worship from a non-Catholic one. And furthermore, Masses shouldn’t be designed only for the local crowd.
 
ProVobis said:
Problem however comes from not being able to distinguish a Catholic worship from a non-Catholic one. And furthermore, Masses shouldn’t be designed only for the local crowd.
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The distinguishing factor is the faith, not the externals. If the distinguishing factor for Catholic worship is Latin and the EF, what about the Eastern Rites? 🤷 Not Catholic enough? 🤷
 
TheMc said:
What about lex orandi, lex credendi?
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But prayer must be based on the right faith, the correct theology. You don’t just pray then believe. The Church has to make the prayers that point us to the right faith. You can see this in spontaneous prayers by Protestants, which is why they’re heading in every direction possible, except the right one.
 
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