L’évêque détient une autorité inhérente à la succession apostolique, à la plénitude du sacrement de l’ordre, aux multiples pouvoirs que lui confère le droit canonique. Pour les évêques africains, leur autorité est renforcée par la particularité de leur statut au niveau social, culturel et politique. Ce sont des hommes que l’on ne peut que difficilement contester. Les prêtres, dans l’exercice de leur ministère, quel que soit sa dimension, doivent se référer toujours à leur évêque du fait du lien juridique de l’incardination. Cela permet de bien gouverner les prêtres, de garantir la hiérarchie et le bon fonctionnement du diocèse. Toutefois, en Afrique, l’autorité épiscopale ne s’impose pas toujours à cause du tribalisme, d’abus de pouvoir de certains prêtres, de la désobéissance mettant à rude épreuve l’efficacité de l’autorité. Force est de constater que des évêques abusent également de leur autorité et de leur pouvoir, violent dans l’impunité les normes ecclésiales, n’assument pas vraiment leur responsabilité au préjudice des prêtres. Ainsi, il est nécessaire de revenir à l’importance du sens du service dans l’exercice du ministère épiscopal et de renforcer l’application rigoureuse de la loi universelle de l’Église catholique. Par rapport à la volonté de l’autorité suprême de l’Église, qui manifeste une évolution en sanctionnant des évêques défaillants, l’occasion est opportunément donnée afin que l’institution ecclésiale, notamment face aux réalités diocésaines en Afrique, avance plus largement en termes de contrôle, de vigilance, de sanction, de protection des droits des prêtres et des laïcs. / The bishop holds an inherent authority from the apostolic succession, the fullness of the sacrament of orders, the multiple power that canon law bestows upon him. The authority of the bishops in Africa is reinforced by the distinctiveness of their status, whether it is at the social, cultural or political level. They are hardly disputable. Presbyters always have to refer to their bishop in the exercise of their ministry, no matter the size of that ministry, and that because of the legal binding of the incardination. This guarantees the governance of the priests, the hierarchy and the efficiency of diocesan administration. However, the bishop’s authority doesn’t always prevail because of the tribalism, the abuse of power of certain priests and the disobedience that puts a strain on the authority. It must be noted that certain bishops also abuse of their authority, violate in impunity the ecclesiastical norms and fail to exercise their responsibilities to the priests’ detriment. Therefore, it is necessary to return to the importance of service in the exercise of the episcopal ministry and to reinforce the rigorous application of universal law of the Catholic Church. If the Supreme authority of the Church is willing to manifest its evolution by severely sanctioning the bishops who fail their mission, there will be a true opportunity for change in order, for the ecclesiastical institution who faces the diocesan realities in Africa, to advance more largely in terms of control, caution, sanction and protection of the rights for both the priests and the laity.

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This study deals with Francisco G. Penzotti, a Bible colporteur and church planter, opening in 1888 in Peru a branch of the American Bible Society. But the Peruvian con-stitution prohibited any public, non-Catholic religious activities. The country's situation for decades had been confrontation between clerical conserva-tism and progressive liberal forces, thus dividing Peruvian society. Penzotti became a catalyst in this confrontation at a time of critical importance, thus revealing the frailty of the Roman Catholicism as an integrating force in this society. He becomes a "human interface" in the struggle for tolerance and freedom of worship, involving the participa-tion of important sectors of Peruvian society. This paper describes the historical background and Protestant activities prior to Pen-zotti, then his work and person. A missiological summary interprets Penzottis success, acting as a human link between two distinct eras and clearing the way for a future of tolerance and religious freedom in Peru. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This study deals with Francisco G. Penzotti, a Bible colporteur and church planter, opening in 1888 in Peru a branch of the American Bible Society. But the Peruvian con-stitution prohibited any public, non-Catholic religious activities. The country's situation for decades had been confrontation between clerical conserva-tism and progressive liberal forces, thus dividing Peruvian society. Penzotti became a catalyst in this confrontation at a time of critical importance, thus revealing the frailty of the Roman Catholicism as an integrating force in this society. He becomes a "human interface" in the struggle for tolerance and freedom of worship, involving the participa-tion of important sectors of Peruvian society. This paper describes the historical background and Protestant activities prior to Pen-zotti, then his work and person. A missiological summary interprets Penzottis success, acting as a human link between two distinct eras and clearing the way for a future of tolerance and religious freedom in Peru. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Through a diplomatic transcription and contextualisation of two poems from Geistliche und Weltliche Poemata (1650) by Anna Ovena Hoyer (1584-1655) it is suggested that two contexts are highly relevant and fruitful for understanding the polemical nature of the Early Modern Era. The two examined contexts are anti-clericalism  ̶  the negative stance towards Lutheran clergymen  ̶  and the conditions for writing as a female in Early Modern times. By offering comments and providing information regarding these two contexts, it is demonstrated how they successfully explain and motivate how a lay uneducated poetess develops rhetorical strategies to express radical criticism of the discourse of Lutheran clergymen. Notably, the authors of the two poems, Werdenhagen and Hoyer, legitimise a morally superior poetess by constructing a feminine authority derived analogously from the story of Martha and Mariam in the Bible. Furthermore, Hoyer uses this claim of being a mouthpiece for godly wisdom to delegitimise the bookly and rational knowledge acquired in the universities by the Lutheran clergymen. By using the politically charged term “der gemeine Mann”, she appeals to the political defeats of the great majority of laymen in the Early Modern Era. In her polemic against the Lutheran clergymen, it is implied that the expected silent subservience of the laymen towards the clergymen is problematic, since the clergymen due to their blind faith in bookly knowledge are neither righteous nor Christian. Thus, it is suggested that the examined pieces of poetry could be understood as radical criticism of the Lutheran social model. / Genom en diplomatisk utgåva och kontextualisering av två dikter från Geistliche und Weltliche Poemata (1650) av Anna Ovena Hoyer (1584-1655) föreslås två kontexter som särskilt relevanta för att förstå den tidigmoderna tidens prägling i polemiken. Dessa två undersökta kontexter är antiklerikalismen - den negativa attityden gentemot lutherska kyrkomän - och villkoren för att skriva som kvinna i tidigmodern tid. Genom att bidra med kommentarer och information kring dessa två kontexter påvisas att dessa framgångsrikt kan förklara vilka retoriska strategier som den outbildade poeten använder för att rikta en radikal kritik mot lutherska kyrkomän. Det är anmärkningsvärt att de två diktarna Hoyer och Werdenhagen legitimerar bilden av en moraliskt överlägsen diktande kvinna genom att konstruera en feminin auktoritetsfigur ur berättelsen om Marta och Mariam i Bibeln. Därutöver använder Hoyer denna konstruktion av att vara Guds språkrör och förmedlare av vishet för att avfärda kyrkomännens rationalism och bokkunskap som de fått från sin universitetsutbildning. Genom att använda den politiskt laddade termen "gemene man" hänvisas implicit till tidigmoderna politiska förluster för den stora icke-klerikala allmänheten. I polemiken kritiseras dessutom att den tysta lydnaden till kyrkomännen hos den icke-klerikala allmänheten är problematisk, då kyrkomännen till följd av sin blinda tro på bokkunskap varken är rättfärdigade eller kristna. Därigenom föreslår analysen att den undersökta poesin kan förstås som en radikal kritik av den lutherska socialmodellen.