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Human rights and duties in the social teaching of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC): 1953-1995.

A dream come true! Ever since I landed in the theological domain in the early 1980s, it has been my desire to contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights within the African context. Eight years of pastoral service at grassroots level during the prime years of my priesthood sharpened my intellectual curiosity for researching how the Catholic church has been responding to human rights issues in Tanzania. I could not have landed on a better source for this purpose than the TEC's social teaching that extends back to almost half a century. This thesis brings together the TEC's literature on human rights and duties from 1953 to 1995. By way of an historical-expository moment, three historical periods are identified, accompanied by analysis of what the TEC's teaching reflects of the Tanzanian context during changing times and circumstances. Second, the ethical-theological analysis moment examines the TEC's emphasis on personal, social, and instrumental rights and the limitations and possibilities of its human rights teaching. As Christian churches in Africa are more than ever determined to integrate peace and justice approaches into their evangelizing strategies, the credibility of the Catholic church in Tanzania in this process can be strengthened by learning how the TEC has attempted to handle human rights issues. The thesis can be a stimulant to the Catholic church in Tanzania in its protection and promotion of human rights, and for mobilizing forces of concerned response.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/4142
Date January 1998
CreatorsRutechura Rweyemamu, Pius.
ContributorsWalters, Gregory J.,
PublisherUniversity of Ottawa (Canada)
Source SetsUniversité d’Ottawa
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format288 p.

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