Luo ancestor veneration and the Christian doctrine of the Communion of Saints

499 Pages·2013·2.24 MB·English

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Luo ancestor veneration and the Christian doctrine of the Communion of Saints: Toward
The development of an African Christian theology of ancestors

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty of the
School of Theology
Of The Catholic University of America
In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

By

Thomas Ochieng Otanga

Washington, D.C.

2013
Luo ancestor veneration and the Christian doctrine of the Communion of Saints: Toward the
Development of an African Christian theology of ancestors

Thomas Otanga, PhD
Director: James Wiseman, PhD
This monograph examines the belief of the Luo people of Kenya about their ancestors in light of
the Christian doctrine of Communion of Saints. The objective of the study is to discover ways by
which the veneration of African ancestors can be understood as similar to the belief in the
Christian doctrine of Communion of Saints. Furthermore, this monograph seeks to suggest
creative ways by which an African ancestral framework can become a point of departure for
promoting an authentic engagement between the Gospel of Christ and the indigenous African
cultures in developing an African Christian theology of ancestors.
A brief background of the monograph may be described as follows. Communio
sanctorum, the tripartite Church of the living, the Church in purgatory, and the triumphant
Church in heaven, can be compared to the relationship of African peoples with their ancestors,
with God, and with nature. The monograph begins with a study of the origins and theological
foundations of the communio sanctorum. It then uses the methodologies of qualitative research
and social historical research to examine the Luo funeral rituals in order to study the ancestor
cults and ancestor veneration that pervade the cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. The ancestral
beliefs and practices have been construed as both obstacles to the Gospel and preambles to it. In
studying the Luo funeral rites, we glean the Luo’s attachment to their ancestors. Furthermore, the
funeral rites demonstrate the Luo belief that death is basic to the understanding of the
significance of their ancestors. The Luo perform the funeral rituals together with other cultural
rites to ensure the incorporation of their deceased kin into the ancestral world. The Luo believe
that the ancestors, although deceased, remain a part of the community. The ancestors have such a
resilient and pervasive role in life and thought of the Luo that a Luo Christian is inclined to think
of his ancestor as being with God in the same manner that a canonized saint is believed to dwell
in the courts of God. There are also similarities between the Luo people and other African ethnic
groups; in fact we can apply some of the major observations and conclusions from the Luo to the
other African peoples in order to draw important conclusions for a Christian theology of African
ancestors.
Early Christian missionaries discouraged African funeral rituals (and many other African
traditional customs) and encouraged Christian burial rites. However, Christian rituals alone fail
to satisfy the cultural and spiritual needs of the African Christian believers. Consequently the
African Christian believers very often publicly assent to orthodox Christian beliefs and join in
the denunciations of the ancestor rites, but privately retain their loyalty to their indigenous
traditions. Their traditions affords them the means by which they can live in communion with
their ancestors whose commemoration they have always regarded as indispensable and beneficial
or even redemptive for their earthly existence. This dual or multi-faith practice is a spiritual
dilemma that if unexamined may become a problem that stifles the spiritual development of
African Christians, weakens the entire enterprise of evangelization and could in the long run
hamper the growth of authentic Christian faith. In this study I argue that African ancestral
veneration is on par with communio sanctorum. Moreover, since African ancestral beliefs and
practices are fundamental pillars of religion for many ethnic groups in Africa, I propose that we
use them to open up broad possibilities for defining pastoral strategies responsive to the African
Christian believers’ spiritual needs. The monograph ends by proposing that if Christianity is to
become firmly rooted in the rich African spiritual traditions, certain theological parameters must
be delineated to enable African Christians to relate their ancestral beliefs to the salvific work of
Christ. Ancestral beliefs and practices can therefore be viewed through a single theological lens
that serves as a hermeneutical tool for critiquing Western and Christian hegemonic forces as well
as responding to the cultural legacies of colonialism and of imperialism.
This dissertation by Thomas Ochieng Otanga fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral
degree in Spiritual Theology approved by Dr. James A. Wiseman, PhD, as Director and by Dr.
Raymond Studzinski, PhD, and Dr. Robert Schreiter, PhD, as Readers.

_______________________________
Dr. James A. Wiseman, PhD, Director

_______________________________
Dr. Raymond Studzinski, PhD, Reader

______________________________
Dr. Robert Schreiter, PhD, Reader
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments, xii
General Introduction, 1
PART ONE
THEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE COMMUNION OF
SAINTS .…………………………..…………………………………………….…….… 9
Introduction, 9

Chapter one
1.0 A CONCISE DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF SAINTHOOD BEFORE
CHRISTIANITY …………………………………………………………………...…. 12
1.1 The anthropological and eschatological aspects of the cult of the saints ………….. 12
1.2 Christian believers’ eschatological hope ……………………………….…….……. 15
1.3 Some pre-Christian Saints and Martyrs ………………………………….…….…... 18
1.4 Martyrdom in the early Church …………………………………………………….. 23
1.5 Some outstanding martyrs ………………………………………………………….. 26
1.6 The spiritual aspects of martyrdom and inclusion of other groups ………………… 29

Chapter 2
2.0 THE VENERATION OF SAINTS …………………...………………………………….. 34
2.1 The records of saints: the problem of fictitious hagiography ……………………… 34
2.2 The initial stages of veneration of martyrs ………………………………………… 35
2.3 The tombs, graves, and monuments of saints as sacred places …………………….. 37
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2.4 Devotions to the Saints’ relics ……………………………………………………... 41
2.5 Veneration of saints in the context of prayer ………………………………………. 46

Chapter three
3.0 COMMUNION OF SAINTS AS CHURCH DOCTRINE ……………………………... 51
3.1 Models of communion with the Saints …………………………………………….. 51
3.2 Communion of Saints as spiritual fellowship among believers ……………………. 53
3.3 The origins of the term Communion of Saints ……………………………………... 54
3.4. Some theological perspectives on the phrase “communion of saints” ……………. 57
3.5 Communion of Saints in the Catechism of the Catholic Church …………………... 59
3.6 Communion of Saints in Lumen Gentium ………………………………………….. 61

Conclusion of part one …………………………………………………………………………. 65

PART TWO
THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE SOUTHERN LUO
……………..………………………………………………………………………….………… 69
Introduction, 69

Chapter four
4.0 A CONCISE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE LUO …………………………………..... 70
4.1 An overview of the Luo people ……………………………………………………. 70
4.1.1 Literature on the Luo history, 73
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4.1.2 The Luo and other African peoples, 74
4.1.3 Ethnographic survey of the Luo: Nomenclature, 76
4.1.4 The Luo and their contact with other societies, 77
4.2 Religiosity of the Luo ……………………………………………………………… 80
4.2.1 The Luo concept of God, 82
4.2.2. Luo spiritual world view, 86
4.2.3. Chira as a mystical retribution, 89
4.3. The Luo appropriation of Christian faith ………………………………………….. 91
4.3.1. Acceptance of Christianity and rejection of Luo way of life, 94
4.3.2. Legio Maria Church as a protest and challenge to Christianity, 95
4.3.3. Legio Maria as a protagonist in the struggle for Luo religious autonomy, 99
Conclusion, 101

Chapter five
5.0 LUO FUNERAL RITUALS ……………………………………………..……………… 104
Introduction, 104
5.1 Ethnographic descriptions of Luo funeral rituals …………….................………… 105
5.2 Some preliminary observations about Luo funeral rituals …………..……………. 106
5.3 The Luo Funeral Rituals …………………………………………………..……… 108
5.3.1 Announcing death (Muocho/Golo Ywak), 108
5.3.2 Mourning (Ywak), 109
5.3.3 Vigils (Budho), 115
5.3.4 Bathing and preparing the corpse, 115
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5.3.5 Digging the grave (Kunyo), 118
5.3.6 Tero buru (Ash ceremony), 123
5.3.7 Burial (Iko), 126
5.3.8 Funeral bonfire (Magenga liel), 128
5.3.9 Cleansing rites: Liedo (Shaving), 129
5.3.10 Widow cleansing (Lago/Tero Dhako or Chodo Kola or Golo Kola), 131
5.3.11 Mourners’ departure after burial (Kee), 135
5.3.12 Keyo Nyinyo (Sharing and dividing the property of the deceased), 136
5.3.13 Yawo Dhoot (Opening the door) and Tedo (Cooking), 137
5.3.14 Final ceremony, 138
5.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………… 140

Chapter six
6.0 LUO FUNERAL RITUALS: COMMUNION OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
…………………………………………………………………………………… 142
Introduction, 142
6.1. Hermeneutic conception of Luo culture …………………………………………. 143
6.1.1 The problem: Against African symbols of rites and rituals, 143
6.1.2 The centrality of Luo funeral rituals for understanding of Luo culture, 145

6.2 Luo Funeral rituals: Death as a passage …………………………………………... 150
6.2.1 The “passage” of the funeral participants, 152
6.2.3 Fear driven patterns during “passage,” 155
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6.2.4 Death as a “passage” of the deceased, 158
6.2.5 The Luo hereafter situated in time and space, 161

6.3 Funeral rituals reconstitute a Luo community: Communitas and re-integration …. 164
6.3.1 Elements of communitas in Luo funeral rituals, 164
6.3.2 Communitas promotes the solidarity of the community, 168
6.3.3 Solidarity facilitates communion, 170

PART 3
LUO ANCESTORS TRADITIONS AS SIMILAR TO THE BELIEF IN THE
COMMUNION OF SAINTS …………………………..……………………………. 176

Chapter seven
7.0 LUO CULTS AND ANCESTORS ………………………………………….………….. 177
Introduction, 177
7.1 Luo Cults ………………………………………………………………………….. 178
7.1.1 A theoretical framework, 178
7.1.2 The cult of Nyikang, 178
7.1.3 The cult of Mumbo, 180
7.1.4 The cult of the dead, 182

7.2 The evil and good spirits in Luo tradition ………………………………… 187
7.2.1 The evil spirits in the Luo spiritual worldview, 187
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7.2.2 The good sprits in the Luo spiritual world view, 197

7.3 The Luo ancestral traditions……………………………………………………….. 203
7.3.1 Juogi, chuny, and the Luo ancestors, 203
7.3.2 The power of ancestors, 207

Chapter eight
8.0 THE NECESSITY OF DRAWING PARALLELS BETWEEN AFRICAN
ANCESTRAL BELIEFS AND COMMUNIO SANCTORUM …………………..... 220
8.1 The broad semantic range of ancestor worship and ancestor veneration ...……….. 220
8.1.1 Methodological and Terminological clarifications, 220
8.1.2 Africans do not worship their ancestors, 222
8.1.3 Africans venerate their ancestors, 235
8.1.4 A closer look at veneration of ancestors and communio sanctorum, 240

8.2 Foundations for drawing parallels between African ancestors and the doctrine
of Communion of Saints …………………………………… 243
8.2.1 Cultural foundations, 243
8.2.2 Magisterial foundations, 249
8.2.3 Ethical and moral foundations, 253
8.2.4 Sociological foundations, 256
8.2.5 Theological foundations, 260

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