APPROACH TO DEEPENING THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF CONSECRATED LIFE AMONG THE LAITY IN THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA

Monica Omowumi Rowland

Abstract


Unity being one of the marks of the church cannot be more appropriate a topic for reflection than now when our nation, Nigeria, is being plagued with so many challenges that seem to threaten the bedrock of her foundation - her unity.    The family of God here on earth which subsists in the Catholic Church continues to be a point of reference for the larger society.   Consequently, concerted effort must be made to strengthen this bond of unity that exists among the three states of life within the Church.  One way of doing this is through constant dialogue among the various states of life within the Church.  To this end, this paper will reflect on ways to better strengthen the existing relationships between the consecrated life and the lay life within the Church in Nigeria. Our task in this paper is of fourfold, first and foremost, we will reflect on the role and place of the consecrated life and the laity within the Church.  Second, we will also look at the consecrated life within the context of the evangelical counsels; thirdly, we will further explicate the mission of the consecrated persons in the modern world, and lastly we will proffer proactive approaches and attitudes to better understanding of the consecrated life by our lay men and women.

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Lumen Gentiuum #8 All quotations from the documents of Vatican Council II are taken from Vatican II: The Concilliar Documents, ed. Austin Flannery, Dublin: Dominican Publications, 1988. Catechism of the Catholic Church #873 Catechism of the Catholic Church #914 Lumen Gentiuum 42-43; Perfecta Caritatis 1 Cf. Mary Gerard Nwagwu, Consecrated Life in the Church: Discipline and Praxis (Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press,2008),p.1 Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church # 897 Lumen Gentiuum #4 Lumen Gentiuum #30 Lumen Gentiuum #31 Lumen Gentiuum #31 Lumen Gentiuum #33 Miguel Garijo-Gembe, Commuinon of the Saints (Collegeville, Mn: Liturgical Press, 1994), p.235. Cf. Vita Consecrata #4 Vita Consecrata #16

A. E Orobator, The Church As Family: African Ecclesiology in its Social Context (Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa, 2000)p.35 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province IIII, q. 183, art. 2, Rule of St. Benedict, 58, 7 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 1-II, 108, 4c; Perfectae Caritatis 1b; Lumen Gentium 42b. Lumen Gentium 10a, 44a Lumen gentium 32b. Lumen Gentium 17; Apostolicam Actuositatem 2; Ad Gentes Lumen Gentium #39. Catechism of the Catholic Church #915 Mary Gerard Nwagwu, Consecrated Life in the Church: Discipline and Praxis, p.16 Canon #573 Canon #599 Canon #600 Canon #601 Mary Gerard Nwagwu, Consecrated Life in the Church: Discipline and Praxis, p.23 Lumen Gentiuum #44 Vita Consecrata #54 Lumen Gentiuum #46 Cf. Vita Consecrata #51 Cf. Vita Consecrata #51 Vita Consecrata #13 Starting A fresh from Christ #8 St. Augustine, De Catechizandis Rudibus, 10.14- 14.22 Vita Consecrata #51 Vita Consecrata #54 Vita Consecrata #54 John Paul II, John Paul II Speaks to Religious 1981-1982 Book II compiled by Jena Beyer, S.J #45

i Congregation for Institute of Consecrated Life and Society of Apostolic Life and the Congregation for the Evangelization of People as, Message to Religious Men and Women of Africa, n.3, October 1976, published 3 June 1978 ii Paul VI, Africae Terrarum, #14.

iii Vatican Council II, Ad Gentes, # 18; Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, # 40. iv Ad Gentes, #20; Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, #69. v Congregation for Institute of Consecrated Life and Society of Apostolic Life and the Congregation for the Evangelization of People as, Message to Religious Men and Women of Africa, n.3, October 1976, published 3 June 1978 vi Cf. John Paul II, Vita Consecrata, #79-80; Ecclesia in Africa, #59, ## 62-63.

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