It has been assumed that the 1994 Rwandan genocide and massacres during which more than a million of human beings were killed resulted from the "Hutu Power" ideology of the Habyarimana regime (1973-1994). The perspective of this thesis rests on new lines of reasoning looking at the root causes of that ideology from two angles. Firstly, from 1880's Rwanda was subjected to external influences which constructed a meta-narrative founded on the Hamite myth defending the "Batutsi supremacy". Secondly, the local elite, comprising the traditional Batutsi nobility, then the educated and the post-independence Bahutu ethno-politicians assimilated these constructs. In fact, the group of people, the Banyarwanda, which the explorers, then the missionaries encountered, were distributed in three social categories: the Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa. These people had been living relatively peacefully together sharing many common factors including: cultural unity, language, religion, major social organisations like the clan and family habits such as intermarriages. Some lineages were, however, attempting to create their own identity. Out of that encounter between the West and Rwandan society, the image of Rwanda which was constantly projected was of a land dominated by a "race" of "Hamites of Caucasian origin who arrive in Rwanda from Ethiopia or Egypt". The 'Batutsi' were chosen by the new rulers, colonialists and the missionaries to promote "a Civilisation founded on Christianity". The other groups, the Bahutu and Batwa constituted the mass of "roturiers" relegated to a status of a second category citizens. Discriminatory policies were set up in cultural and political practices to reinforce the so-called differences in schools, evangelism and public sphere. An ethnic ideology, this thesis argues, emerged out of that meta-narrative.

The major aim of this thesis is to formulate the principles of economic justice and propose a just economic system which would critically guide Christian praxis in a secular pluralist society in general and Korea in particular. It is done through a critical dialogue with major Western and Latin American theologians and thinkers. First we have a brief historical overview of the socio-political condition in Korea and the Korean Protestant Church's response to show the importance of the question of economic justice for Korean Christians and the impasse in which they find themselves (Chapter 1). Our critical dialogue with the Western and Latin American thinkers starts with the consideration of the most fundamental issue of theological method (chapter 2). We establish our own theological method which involves the reciprocal relationship between theory and praxis at all levels of enquiry and the reciprocal interactions between philosophical, socio-analytic and hermeneutic mediations. After establishing the legitimacy of the notion of economic justice (chapter 3), we formulate our own principles of economic justice employing the philosophical method of hypothetical reflective equilibrium (chapter 4). We then propose democratic communitarianism as an alternative just economic system through a critical appropriation of the Marxist theory of exploitation and capitalist mainstream economics (chapter 5). We then elaborate theological views of the person, society (chapter 6) and the principles of economic justice underpinning the preceding discussions (chapter 7). Finally we return to our own context, Korea, to show the relevance of democratic communitarianism and its corresponding principles of economic justice (chapter 8).

This thesis is an exploration of the spiritual aspects of hospice care, from the perspective of my understanding of the theory of the social construction of knowledge, and my particular interest in how people implement theories, beliefs and knowledge’s, especially excluded knowledge’s, in practices. The study examines the relationship between the dominant understandings and structures of allopathic medicine, the claim that hospices provide “total” or “holistic” care (which includes spiritual care) for dying people, and the practices of workers in a particular hospice. In addition, it considers the relevance for my own research practice of feminist research methodologies and the attempt to integrate ways of knowing which are considered, on the one hand, “emotional” and/or “subjective,” and, on the other hand, “rational” and/or “objective.” The thesis begins with a chapter which considers the theory of the social construction of knowledge, focusing predominantly on Thomas Kuhn’s concept of the “disciplinary matrix,” and discussing the relationship of this concept to new, particularly challenging theories, such as theory of social construction of knowledge itself and Cicely Saunders’ theory of “total pain” and “total care.” The thesis proceeds to outline my methodological approach, using feminist ethnographic methods, and to discuss my approach to analysing the data I collected through my fieldwork. This chapter is followed by two chapters which discuss my empirical findings. The first of these two chapters, drawing predominantly on material gathered through participant observation, reflects upon general aspects of care in the hospice, and notes the difficulties of observing spiritual aspects of care. The second empirical chapter considers workers’ perceptions and talk about these particular aspects of care, primarily through the material I gathered through one-to-one interviews. I argue that the particular hospice I studied was not a uniform place, but rather an assembly of distinct spaces, and workers’ practices differed both between these different parts of the hospice and between workers within each area. Thus, there was not a uniform approach to care in the hospice, and it varied depending on which particular workers were involved with a particular patient.

Diocesan Coordinators are the principal drivers of activities within the Catholic Church in England and Wales to sustain and nourish healthy marriage and family life. This is the first study of their professional context, practices and purpose, further informed by North American accounts of family ministry in Congregational, Reformed and Roman Catholic settings, mainly from the 1980’s. This study aimed to better understand the Coordinator role so as to inform capacity-building efforts within dioceses for family ministry. This is an inductive study using the methodology of qualitative description. Fourteen diocesan coordinators participated in an online survey. Job descriptions, person specifications and diocesan vision statements were reviewed. Four Coordinators were selected for telephone interview. The tripartite conceptual framework draws on the Church’s understanding of family ministry, the diocesan-parish relationship and the ecclesial identity of the family. This study reveals that diocesan Coordinators are primarily responsible for training and networking activities with volunteers engaged in family ministry. Work with families in crisis is largely unacknowledged by their employers. Relationships with parishes are ambivalent. Coordinators tend to develop supra-parish networks of marriage preparation or parenting facilitators, rather than processes which enable autonomous parish family ministry to develop. Diocesan structures of support, including guiding visions for family ministry, are weak, compounding a lack of training for their role. Nonetheless Coordinators have developed important pragmatic approaches and moral frameworks to manage the sensitivities of this ministry. Their practice has implications for broader Church efforts to pastorally accompany families following publication of Amoris Laetitia, the pope’s post-synodal document on marriage and family life. More attention to recording practice is strongly recommended in order to facilitate reflective practice, particularly on pragmatic approaches and moral frameworks. Coordinators and their dioceses need greater theological competence, especially regarding the ecclesial identity of the family, in order to better serve the complexity and realise the potential of parish family ministry.

This thesis discusses the levirate custom also known as widow inheritance among the Luo of Western Kenya. Persistent observance of the practice by the Luo and its condemnation by the Catholic Church has led to a pastoral dilemma for the Catholic widows in the Archdiocese of Kisumu. Those who reject it are ostracized by the community while those who embrace it are excluded by the Church. This dilemma has remained unresolved for over 115 years since the arrival of Catholicism among the Luo. I have addressed the dilemma in this study. I used a multi-mixed research methods (quantitative and qualitative) to examine the perceptions of the Luo widows regarding the custom. However, the research relied heavily on qualitative methods through the use of focus group discussions, mixed discussion group, narrative techniques and Delphi. The study made use of the pastoral cycle paradigm to facilitate dialogue among the stakeholders in the levirate debate. The findings from the survey showed that a majority of the participants wanted the levirate custom abolished, and widows involved in Church ministries. However, a significant minority wanted it retained and asked the Catholic Church to recognise certain levirate unions. The responses from the focus groups, mixed discussion group and Delphi method, was that the levirate custom as currently practiced, is retrogressive and grossly violates the rights of widows and needs to be stopped. They called upon the government to intervene and protect widows against the abuses. However, the Catholic widows in levirate unions want the Catholic Church to re-think her stand on marriage in the face of diverse human cultures in a rapidly changing world. The desire by widows to be included in Church ministries, pointed to the need for a new model of pastoral care. I have developed a model of widowhood ministry in which Luo widows see Jesus Christ as their ideal husband. The model emerged from the narratives and resources of widows, and from the traditional models of widow care in the Judeo-Christian traditions.

No description available.

No description available.

This research expounds the understanding and practice of unity among the evangelical churches in Ethiopia and recommends an empirically-grounded and scholarly-informed praxis towards unity. Ethiopia is known for its long Orthodox Christian tradition that has played a key role in shaping the socio-cultural values of the nation. Evangelicalism, a less than a century old Christian movement in the country. was initiated by Western evangelical missions and developed by the native converts. For various social, political and theological reasons, the movement has faced resistance from established institutions and government functionaries. Nevertheless, evangelicalism has shown resilience and is now the fastest growing and influential religious group in Ethiopia. Practical theological investigation is the overarching methodology employed in this research. To explore the empirical reality of the subject, an approach that employed qualitative and quantitative social research methods with a methodological triangulation was utilized. Furthermore, prominent fieldwork findings are engaged in conversation with the current scholarship from historical, sociological, and theological disciplines. In other words, this is a multi-stage approach that retrieves primary data from the fieldwork and complements it with a secondary data from relevant scholarship. The empirical findings are the results of a year-long period of fieldwork, undertaken in 2007. The fieldwork included a three-month extensive review of the 656 official files of evangelical churches and para-churches held at the archive at the Federal Ministry of Justice of Ethiopia. This archive has not previously been investigated by scholars. Furthermore, near 800 informants, mainly evangelical church leaders, para-church coordinators, evangelical father figures, ecumenical bodies, and government officials participated in the interviews and group discussions. The thesis begins with related profiles of the nation, general theological reflections on prominent issues, the methodology employed and its application. Later, it presents the detailed account of the contemporary evangelical churches in the country vis-a-vis the established knowledge on the subject and heritages of evangelicalism. Finally, the thesis proposes twelve building-block concepts and a stepping-stone model of church unity. In sum, this path-breaking research affirms that despite their feeble nature of church unity, through a knowledge-based endeavour, the evangelical churches in Ethiopia could come into an empirically-oriented and theologically-sound visible unity.

This research study has contributed to the body of knowledge, new knowledge in applying Christian and Catholic moral theological principles to how nurses make end-of-life decisions and the possibility of how they could be involved were euthanasia to be legalised and how this could impact on the Christian nurse's role in caring for the patient. In addition the study has contributed new information on the experiences of one group of nurses working in care homes and how they make end-of-life decisions. The study also confirms research previously undertaken on end-of-life decision-making and the experiences of other nurses in the United Kingdom as well as other countries. Using a qualitative design as a framework, an investigation was undertaken to explore the experiences of eleven qualified nurses from care homes within one geographical area in the north of Scotland, and how they made decisions on end-of-life care. A review of nursing and moral philosophy and moral theology literature is undertaken to place the empirical study within the context of contemporary definitions of euthanasia, current legislation and key debates. The empirical research is evaluated to determine how any legalisation of euthanasia in the United Kingdom could impact on Christian nurses' decision-making and their roles in caring for the patient, in the light of Christian moral principles. The originality of the research lies in the exploration of the phenomenon with a particular group of nurses and the relation of the study findings to Christian moral principles.

This thesis is about Evangelical mission movements that have emerged in the Global South, particularly in Brazil, Ghana and India from the 1970s onwards. An important development among Evangelical churches since the Second World War has been the growth of Evangelicalism in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Former `mission fields' have turned into `mission forces' and changed the scenario of global missionary enterprise. The ability of the Christian faith to be translated into any cultural context, the so-called `translatability principle' of Christianity proposed by Andrew Walls, has been the starting point for analysing and evaluating the level of mission awareness and the models of mission involvement evident in Evangelical churches in the studied countries. However, the translatability principle is not sufficient to explain the emergence of mission initiatives and the models of mission engagement used by newer sending countries in the Global South. There are other issues that influence the way mission movements emerge and the research has identified specific key factors contributing to the formation of mission structures through analysis of the reasons why they have started and how they have developed over the last forty years. These have been divided into internal, external and international factors in relation to the history, tradition and growth of Evangelical churches in each country. The analysis demonstrates that the combination of these factors creates a propitious ambience for mission initiatives. Comparison has also been made with historical processes in older sending countries and similar developments in other newer sending countries. The information for this study derives primarily from interviews with mission leaders in Brazil, Ghana and India and from printed materials provided by mission organisations in these countries. The thesis contains an important contribution to the Area of Mission Studies and particularly to the study of newer mission movements, providing a methodology for the analysis and evaluation of the viability and sustainability of mission oranisations in the Global South.