Eucharistic Communion and Rituals of Communion in Igbo Culture

Foreword

Inculturation is a hot property these days. Everyone agrees it is a good, but nobody knows exactly why they think so. Everyone agrees it might be beneficial, but nobody knows exactly how to go about it. It would seem, then, that it behooves us to look at a particular case instead of flailing at the abstraction, and to follow a particular competent guide instead of wandering perplexed. This book concerns a specific case, and Mary-Reginald is that guide.

Cheap inculturation is easy to do: shuffle the pieces on the board, replace one element with an anomalous substitution, make the whole event over in our own image. Worthwhile inculturation is more costly, which is why Mary-Reginald levies three taxes upon the reader in preparation. First, her detailed scholarship guides the reader through the literature that has sought to define inculturation, and after looking at its aim, scope, and method, she recounts theological bases for it in magisterial teachings. In many ways, this is the most challenging chapter because it surveys the field and establishes a vocabulary. Second, the reader must be led to appreciate the tradition, religion, and culture of the Igbo people in West Africa. This she gives as a gift from her own personal life as a Nigerian. If we are not to thrash at abstractions, we must look at the ethnological specifics of geography, language, socio-political structures, economics, and traditional religion. Only then can we be prepared to even somewhat appreciate what rituals of communion ←xi | xii→mean to the Igbo people, one of which Mary-Reginald has chosen to concentrate on: the Kola nut ritual. Why? Because she is seeking an enrichment of the understanding of eucharistic communion in light of the Kola nut ritual. Therefore her third task is to take the reader through Catholic teaching on the subject, beginning with its foundation in the post-apostolic period but focusing especially upon its treatment by the second Vatican Council and modern theologians. Once these three tasks have been performed—a definition of terms, an account of the African experience, and a theology of eucharistic communion—then we can look profitably at the integration of liturgy, faith, and culture in the particular case study of eucharistic communion and rituals of communion in Igbo culture.

Acknowledgment

A book project of this level is almost never accomplished singlehandedly. The present work is no different. Thus, it behooves me to at least mention a number of persons to whom gratitude is due.

First of all are my parents, Benedict Chukwuemeka and Regina Ijedinma Anibueze, who bore me and taught me to aspire for excellence in all things; for their unconditional love and encouragement, they will forever remain my idols. To Mother Ifechukwu Udorah and all Daughters of Divine Love who were kind and supportive of my academic endeavor, I extend my appreciation.

My most profound gratitude goes to Prof. David Fagerberg, whose scholarly accomplishments, critical thinking ability, and exceptionally clear pedagogy attracts and inspires me. Prof. Fagerberg provided me with relevant materials for the entire span of this project and also wrote the forward of this book. I am also deeply grateful to other mentors who inspired, nurtured, and contributed to the completion of this project, especially Professors Elochukwu E. Uzukwu, Maxwell E. Johnson, Patrick Chibuko, and Nathan D. Mitchell.

Words cannot express my indebtedness to Rev. Martins C. Emeh, J.C.L., who devoted his linguistic talents to the reading of the final drafts of this book. Thank you for providing constructive feedbacks as well as ensuring that the Igbo language is accurately written and punctuated in accordance with standard ←xv | xvi→morphology. You are a rare gem. To my precious and beloved family: Chika Anibueze, Nneka and Olusegun Obasun, Chinwe and Chijioke Orji, who persistently supported and encouraged me all the way, I remain ever grateful.

Introduction

The timely call of the Second Vatican Council (convened 1962–1965) for incarnating the Gospel message in different cultures demonstrates an authentic response of the Church to the command of Christ, which is to spread the Gospel message to the ends of the earth. Documents accruing from this historic Council, by way of theological and pastoral continuity, have emphasized ways of realizing the Church’s openness to cultures and peoples of the world by ushering in a new method of evangelization of the Christian faith in the Church, often referred to as inculturation.¹ The word inculturation is new in its terminological use, but is as old as the word evangelization in its contextual point of emphasis in the life of the Church.² The Council views inculturation as an openness concomitant with the universal and unique nature of the Paschal Mystery of Christ, which by divine will is meant to reach the ends of the earth. The Christian faith thus becomes concretized in every culture so that the faith not only expresses what it believes, but also believes what it expresses.

Since the end of this Ecumenical Council, inculturation has been the dominant concern of African theologians, and has received numerous endorsements from the popes and the bishops of Africa. The Church and African theologians aim to make the message of the Paschal mystery of Christ find a home with and among all the peoples of the earth, as well as to make all peoples of the earth find ←1 | 2→a home in the paschal mystery of Christ. However, the Church in Africa, with all its rich cultural endowments, faces each day the challenge of how to inculturate or integrate the Christian faith with the cultural praxis of the people. African theologians have embarked on this enormous task of inculturation and, for decades, have struggled to integrate faith with culture in various areas of theology. The most exemplary area of inculturation on the continent has been liturgical celebrations, a ritual act in which the faith is expressed, celebrated, and lived out. The quest for an inculturated faith in Africa is still in progress due to the diverse nations, cultures, and traditions that comprise the continent. Given this diversity, here I examine in-depth one particular nation and cultural group, in order to propose new ways for integrating the Christian Faith with that culture.

The Igbo culture is one of the richest not just in Nigeria, but in all of West Africa,³ due to the diverse rituals that accompany almost all of their daily activities. Most ritual activities have contemporary religious underpinnings simultaneously intertwined with aspects of the culture.⁴ Like other nations in Africa with rich cultural traditions, the Igbo have struggled for an inculturated theology, a theology that incorporates the traditional genius of the people into Christian life. Part of this struggle is the cognitive orientation of the notion of inculturation among the Igbo people as simply a way of replacing Western ritual elements with Igbo ritual elements, especially in liturgical celebrations. In addition, there is a struggle for a reorientation of the intellectual attitude used by missionaries during their evangelization of Igboland, an attitude that saw most Igbo traditions as “fetish, pagan, and idolatrous,” resulting in a disconnect between a proper understanding of the faith in the light of the culture of the people. These struggles and disconnects are responsible for the lack of a deep-rooted Christian faith among many Igbo Christians.

In this work I examine the Igbo traditional rituals of communion and the Christian Eucharistic faith expression. In doing so, I provide valuable insight into the process of inculturation, and create possible ways for dialogue between the genius of the people and the Christian faith. More specifically, I examine the Emume Ịwa Ọjị (Kola nut Ritual), Emume Iri Ji Ọhụrụ (New Yam Festival), and Ịgba Orikọ (Ritual Meal of Reconciliation) rituals. Of the three, the Kola nut ritual is the most revered and pervasive ritual of communion, to the extent that no other ritual of communion can be celebrated without the Kola nut. While these rituals have in the past been performed and intended for local cultural practices, they have evolved over time, such that they currently encompass Christian religious aspects and can be discussed in light of the Eucharist. Through an analysis of these three traditional rituals, I show it is possible to integrate the religious elements of ←2 | 3→these rituals with the relational and theological aspects of the Christian Eucharistic communion.

The Eucharist is the central reality of the Christian faith in Catholicism, and a gift in which Christ lives and works, furthers his mission of divinizing humanity, and wills to renew and transform the structures of all cultures. The Eucharist is the fons et culmen (source and summit) of the Christian life.⁵ Relationally and theologically, the Eucharist is “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, and a bond of charity.”⁶ Eucharistic communion, the core of a Christian’s relational life, therefore expresses communal solidarity, mutuality, and interpersonal relationship. These relational and theological expressions of Eucharistic communion increase in wealth and meaning when Christians of different races and cultures are able to understand the universal call to unity and interconnectivity in post-modernity. Given this understanding of the Eucharist, the application of the theology of the Eucharist to the semina verbi in Igbo traditional rituals promotes active participation in the Eucharistic liturgy and fosters growth of the Christian faith among the Igbo.

Rituals are indispensable features of a religion and constitute the living core of the religion. A ritual is a medium of communication within a particular group. As Uzukwu asserted, “it is a programmed way of acting that characterizes an ethnic group so that participants express their being part of the group through the ritual gesture.”⁷ The life of the Igbo is surrounded with religious rituals which they undergo individually from the cradle to the grave. These include, inter alia, initiation rituals, communal sacrificial rituals, reconciliation rituals, burial/funeral rituals, and thanksgiving rituals. These rituals define the life of the individual and community, as they establish a bond of communion among participants and serve as an avenue of communication between the human and the spiritual worlds, as well as between humans and spirits believed to be present at the rituals, who oversee the whole ritual action.⁸ The Igbo rituals of communion bear similarities with the Christian Eucharist, which has had to align with the cultural realities of the people it seeks to address, namely, Igbo Catholics.⁹ As such, I examine and analyze the three rituals of communion in order to understand how these rituals, through sound catechesis, could help deepen the liturgical life of the Igbo, as well as foster a truly inculturated Igbo Catholicism. Furthermore, since the rituals of communion in Igbo culture are unexplored systematically in relation to the Eucharist, which is central in Christian ritual and the symbol of communion, this work undertakes that task. Notably, the three rituals are prevalent among the Igbo, give direction to their lives, and determine the wellbeing of their present and future generations.

The book has four main parts with ten chapters. Part I has three chapters. I first explain the meaning, methods, and relevance of inculturation, with an elucidation of other related concepts, such as indigenization, contextualization, acculturation, translation, adaptation, interculturation, and incarnation. Next is the discussion on the theological basis for inculturation and magisterial teachings on inculturation. The last chapter discusses the dynamism of culture with the aim of ascertaining the role that culture and rituals play in the transmission of the Christian faith.

Part II, with three chapters, gives a detailed background of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Chapter 4 will help the reader appreciate the tradition, religion, culture, and geographical location of the Igbo. There is an explication of the meaning of rituals, and a discussion of the three Igbo rituals of communion; Emume Iwa Ọjị (Kola nut Ritual), Emume Iri Ji Ọhụrụ (New Yam Festival), and Ịgba Orikọ (Ritual Meal of Reconciliation) in more detail. Having drawn the significance of the role of the abovementioned rituals of communion, I end the chapter by examining the advent of Catholicism in Igboland. Discussing these Igbo rituals of communion lays the foundation for the integration of faith and culture I present in Part IV.

In dealing with Part III, I consider, within a historical framework, the concept of Eucharistic communion in Catholic theology, with a focus on Eucharistic features that center on communion, such as thanksgiving, meal sharing, fellowship, reconciliation, and unity, in the two chapters. I subsequently apply these Eucharistic themes in the integrative study of the Eucharist and Igbo rituals of communion in the next chapter.

Part IV, the heart of the work, has two chapters. I discuss the integration of Eucharistic communion and Igbo rituals of communion in the liturgical life of Igbo Catholics. I draw similarities and differences, where necessary, from both. I then demonstrate how the Igbo rituals of communion act as a lens for understanding the theological and relational aspects of Eucharistic communion, and ←4 | 5→the impact of this encounter in the liturgical life of the Igbo people. Overall, my primary goal in this book is to integrate the understanding of Eucharistic communion with Igbo traditional rituals of communion, thereby enriching the culture with the Christian Gospel of faith. I also aim to contribute to scholarship in the areas of theology, liturgy, and inculturation. The conclusion, which is a summation of the main insights gleaned from this discussion, provide a set of recommendations on the prospect of pastoral action to integrate faith and culture in Igbo Catholicism.