THE FAMILY IN THE MESSAGES OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE MAJOR SUPERIORS OF NIGERIA (CMSN) TO CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE SOCIETY

Oseni Osilama Ogunu

Abstract


Since 1998 the Conference of Major Superiors of Nigeria (CMSN), men and women, regularly issued Communiqués after its annual General Assembly on a selected theme. These Communiqués frequently refer, here and there, to the subject of family. This article briefly exposes the idea of family, exploring some identified  issues relating to it  as  indicated in the  Communiqués published  till date. These issues  are in some way of   major interest to Consecrated Life and its  mission  in Nigeria today and solicit the collaboration of everyone in the Church, including religious institutes, and in the  society.     This reflection, hopefully, will contribute  towards an adequate, balanced appreciation - at least from historical, theological and socio-pastoral viewpoints – of the meaning, the importance, scope and the rights of   the  family in life of the Church and society according to the  discourse  of  the CMSN.

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The CMSN, as used here, refers to the two conferences of representing all male and female Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Nigeria, namely, Nigeria Conference of Women Religious (NCWR) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Nigeria(Men); normally, both Conferences hold a General Assemblies annually, in January, to deliberate on issues of common interest. At the end of the Assembly the joint Conference (CMSN) issue a pondered Communique - addressed to all consecrated persons, to members of the Church and to the society especially in Nigeria - concerning the theme chosen for the given year’s Assembly. 2 Echoes of Hope: The Stand of the Conference of Major Superiors of Nigeria on Issues if Faith and Life, Edited by Kanu Ikechukwu Anthony, OSA. This important and beautiful collection includes all the Communiques of the CMSN from 1998 to 2014. 3 Echoes of Hope, pg.5 4 Echoes of Hope, pg.2. 5 Echoes of Hope, pg.3 6 Echoes of Hope, pg.11 7 For reflections on this point (religious poverty) by some scholars, see: Vicente Carlos Kiaziku, Consecrated Life in Bantu Africa (Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa, 2007), especially chapter 5; Aylward Shorter, Religious Poverty in Africa (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa1999); Otene Matungulu: Pour Inculturer accueil et pauvreté en Afrique (Kinshasa: Éditions St. Paul Afrique, 1988); Otene Matungulu, Estar com Cristo Casto, Pobre e Obediente: ensaio de uman espiriualidade banto dos votos (Maputo: Paulinas, 1996); Ketele-Matondo-Tshibola Kalembu, “Pauvreté religieuse in Afriqueâ€, in: Vie Conscrete XL/2(1977) 108-112. 8 Echoes of Hope, pg.11 9 Echoes of Hope, pp.21-22 10 Echoes of Hope, pg.22 11 Echoes of Hope, pg.22 12 Echoes of Hope, pg.27 13 Echoes of Hope, pg.27 14 Echoes of Hope, pg.27 15 Echoes of Hope, pg.28 16 Echoes of Hope, pg.52 17 Echoes of Hope, pg.50 18 Echoes of Hope, pg.53 19 Echoes of Hope, pg.59 20 Echoes of Hope, pg.60 21 Echoes of Hope, pg.61-62 22 Echoes of Hope, pg.66 23 Echoes of Hope, pg.29 24 Echoes of Hope, pg.29 25 The CMSN, as used here, refers to the two conferences of representing all male and female Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Nigeria, namely, Nigeria Conference of Women Religious (NCWR) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Nigeria(Men); normally, both Conferences hold a General Assemblies annually, in January, to deliberate on issues of common interest. At the end of the Assembly the joint Conference (CMSN) issue a pondered Communique - addressed to all consecrated persons, to members of the Church and to the society especially in Nigeria - concerning the theme chosen for the given year’s Assembly. 26 Echoes of Hope: The Stand of the Conference of Major Superiors of Nigeria on Issues if Faith and Life, Edited by Kanu Ikechukwu Anthony, OSA. This important and beautiful collection includes all the Communiques of the CMSN from 1998 to 2014. 27 Echoes of Hope, pg.5 28 Echoes of Hope, pg.2. 29 Echoes of Hope, pg.3 30 Echoes of Hope, pg.11 31 For reflections on this point (religious poverty) by some scholars, see: Vicente Carlos Kiaziku, Consecrated Life in Bantu Africa (Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa, 2007), especially chapter 5; Aylward Shorter, Religious Poverty in Africa (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa1999); Otene Matungulu: Pour Inculturer accueil et pauvreté en Afrique (Kinshasa: Éditions St. Paul Afrique, 1988); Otene Matungulu, Estar com Cristo Casto, Pobre e Obediente: ensaio de uman espiriualidade banto dos votos (Maputo: Paulinas, 1996); Ketele-Matondo-Tshibola Kalembu, “Pauvreté religieuse in Afriqueâ€, in: Vie Conscrete XL/2(1977) 108-112. 32 Echoes of Hope, pg.11 33 Echoes of Hope, pp.21-22 34 Echoes of Hope, pg.22 35 Echoes of Hope, pg.22 36 Echoes of Hope, pg.27 37 Echoes of Hope, pg.27 38 Echoes of Hope, pg.27 39 Echoes of Hope, pg.28 40 Echoes of Hope, pg.52 41 Echoes of Hope, pg.50 42 Echoes of Hope, pg.53 43 Echoes of Hope, pg.59 44 Echoes of Hope, pg.60 45 Echoes of Hope, pg.61-62 46 Echoes of Hope, pg.66 47 Echoes of Hope, pg.29 48 Echoes of Hope, pg.29


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