MSc (Med), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Death and dying have preoccupied humanity since civilization began. While euthanasia is a multidimensional and multicultural ethical issue, the tendency has been for all countries to adopt Western definitions, terms and conditions which now include many legal prescriptions. My research report involves its practice by the Ntomba tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this practice, the hereditary Chief, upon installation, agrees to the belief that not only natural death takes chief’s individual life but his bwanga (energy, vital force) from which the whole community’s well-being including animal, vegetal and non-vegetal holds. Given importance of community over individual, he accepts to be euthanatized by his batwa (pygmies) when his energy has waned. I describe this as “autonomy” even if this may be considered “murder” by those who do not understand the cultural context. I will argue that in fact, it represents a different perspective and reflect on the possible commonalities concerning euthanasia in Ntomba traditional thought and Western philosophy.

Des expériences pastorales en Afrique nous ont amené à constater qu’en plus du questionnement de certains prêtres sur leur identité, des plaintes récurrentes contre eux sont soulevées au sein de la société en rapport avec la mauvaise gestion des biens temporels de l’Église, l’esprit carriériste, le problème du tribalisme, la question des mœurs, l’oubli de la prière et l’abus de pouvoir. La question de l’identité sacerdotale, le problème de formation des candidats au sacerdoce ministériel et la mise en question de leur manière de collaborer aux réalités traditionnelles et de vivre leur immersion dans leurs communautés ont des répercussions sur le langage adapté pour véhiculer le message chrétien parmi les cultures et peuples africains de nos jours. Toutes ces questions mènent à un problème général : l’enjeu du modèle christologique. Le modèle proposé vient de Rome et met en valeur la culture européenne ; une fois transposé en Afrique, on constate un déphasage, ce qui justifie la problématique. Pour trouver une solution à la problématique du modèle christologique, il nous faudrait élaborer un modèle toujours christologique, mais qui soit en phase avec les réalités du contexte culturel africain. L’intérêt consiste à examiner les comportements des prêtres africains eux-mêmes et l’équilibre de leur ministère, à revoir leurs programmes et leurs structures dans les maisons de formation, dans le but de former des prêtres qui vivront leur ministère en harmonie avec les réalités culturelles africaines pour encourager la bonne collaboration entre les prêtres africains et leurs communautés. Les communautés ecclésiales de base trouveront dorénavant des prêtres africains qui sont bien intégrés dans leur culture. Dans le cadre de la discipline de la théologie, notre étude présente un nouveau concept ou modèle : la christologie du témoignage. Dans le contexte culturel d’Afrique, nous avons besoin d’une initiation christocentrique pour les prêtres africains et d’une théopraxis, en vue d’une nouvelle évangélisation en Afrique. Nous mettons en valeur des communautés africaines en présentant l’expérience d’immersion de J.-M. Ela et J.-A. Malula. L’exemplarité de leurs apprentissages auprès des peuples kirdi et kinois devient pertinente et s’avère même un modèle d’imitation du Christ en vue d’une christologie du témoignage pour les prêtres africains. / Our pastoral experiences in Africa have led us to observe that in addition to some priests questioning their identity, repeated complaints against them are raised within society regarding the mismanagement of the Church’s temporal goods, the careerist spirit, the tribalism problem, the morality issue, the forgetfulness of prayer and the abuse of power. The priestly identity question, the problem of the priesthood candidates’ formation and the way they interact with traditional realities and live their immersion in their communities affect the language adapted to convey the Christian message among African cultures and peoples today. All these questions lead to a general problem: the issue of the Christological model. The proposed model comes from Rome, and values the European culture; when transposed to Africa, it becomes apparent that there is a lack of relevance, which justifies the issue. In order to address the Christological model question, we would need to develop a model that is still Christological, but one that respects the African cultural context. The interest lies in examining how African priests themselves behave and balance their ministry, in reviewing the programs and structures offered in the houses of formation, in order to prepare priests who will live their ministry in phase with the African cultural realities and to encourage a good collaboration between African priests and their communities. The base ecclesial communities will then have well integrated African priests. Within the theological field framework, our study introduces a new concept or model: the Christology of witness. In Africa’s cultural context, we need a Christocentric initiation for African priests and a theopraxis allowing for a new evangelization of Africa. We showcase some African communities by presenting the immersion experience of J.-M. Ela and J.-A. Malula. The exemplarity of their learnings among the Kirdi and Kinshasa peoples becomes relevant, and even proves to be a model of imitation of Christ in order to develop a Christology of witness for African priests.

How African individuals perceive the family life cycle, is the topic of this research. This qualitative study was facilitated with two individuals. Constructivism was used to explore how individuals create their reality. The Person-Centred Approach was studied to understand the importance of the Self- concept in the individual, and the role played by perceptions created in an ever-changing environment. Systems theory helped understand the interaction of family members as a system (family), especially the creation of stability after a state of disequilibrium – in this case, transitions between stages of the life cycle. Only with one respondent were some differences identified compared to the Western view of the life cycle. It was thus concluded that the family life cycle can be used as a guideline during therapy, regarding difficult transitions people (including African people) have to make, for therapists working from both the Person-Centred Approach and the systems perspective. / Social Work / (M.A. (Social Work (Mental Health))

How African individuals perceive the family life cycle, is the topic of this research. This qualitative study was facilitated with two individuals. Constructivism was used to explore how individuals create their reality. The Person-Centred Approach was studied to understand the importance of the Self- concept in the individual, and the role played by perceptions created in an ever-changing environment. Systems theory helped understand the interaction of family members as a system (family), especially the creation of stability after a state of disequilibrium – in this case, transitions between stages of the life cycle. Only with one respondent were some differences identified compared to the Western view of the life cycle. It was thus concluded that the family life cycle can be used as a guideline during therapy, regarding difficult transitions people (including African people) have to make, for therapists working from both the Person-Centred Approach and the systems perspective. / Social Work / (M.A. (Social Work (Mental Health))