Towards a Theology of Human Mobility in Africa
Published by: Fabio Baggio, Mesmin Prosper Massengo and Samuel De Jesus Paquete
Today human mobility in Africa poses serious challenges to the Catholic Church, whose doors are often those knocked daily by migrants and refugees, seeking material and spiritual answers to their plight. The Church is called to promote a different perspective, where asylum, displacement and migration become a component of dialogue among cultures and societies, and where people on the move are viewed as fellow human beings. Moreover, the Church is expected to question a model of development, which ignores inequalities and disparities that result in displacing people from their home, environment and heritage. To respond to these challenges, a sound and shared theological reflection on the phenomenon of human mobility in Africa is deeply needed The 2016 International Conference in Brazzaville, titled “I took Up the Case of the stranger (Job 29:16)” was organized by the Association des Conférences Episcopales de la Région Afrique Centrale (ACERAC), in cooperation with the symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI). The event aimed at initiating a substantial theological reflection on the phenomenon of human mobility from the African perspective and promoting pastoral cooperation between local Churches in the sending, transit and receiving countries. This book presents the proceedings of the conference and collects contributions on the migration and development nexus in Africa and the link between conflicts and forced migration in Africa, from different scientific perspectives.
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