By Fr. Melanio R. Viuya Jr., CICM

I just arrived from the village of Lida, 70 kms away from the parish convent. Even on foot it’s difficult because one has to cross the forests and the rivers with my Land Cruiser. Fortunately this old and rusty vehicle still runs rather well. It has already done more than 60, 000 km on very bad roads in the forest, I guess one has to multiply every kilometer by 3 to have an accurate picture of its true suffering.

Slow Journey

A portion of the 70 km travel was in a valley where the coffee buyers have recently cut a road. Yet again, this 16.5 km road was muddy and bumpy as the sun hardly penetrate to make it dry. I could hardly see the road, not much because the wind shield has a number of cracks but because there was the danger of hitting a trunk of tree hidden among the grass and bushes. There were also unseen holes and hills which could jolt the car violently and give the passengers a good shock to wake them up from slumber. I have to confess that both happened several times. I have pitied the vehicle and the passengers, of course.

Simon Kimbangu

Finally, my companions and I arrived at our destination. The village is densely populated, three or four families in one parcel of lot. The people themselves complain of lack of privacy, or problem we seldom hear from the village folk. The village is the seat of Kimbaguists in the region, a religion similar to the Iglesia ni Kristo in the Philippines but with a bit of Aglipayan and Rizalita characteristics. It is founded by Simon Kimbangu who is believed to be a prophet of Zaire. Many newly baptized Catholics leave the church and join the Kimbaguists who love lively music, with their innumerable flutes, drums, cymbals and the like.

Basic Communities

It was not my first time to visit the villages. I had already gone there to talk about the Basic Christian Community (BCC). This time, it was the follow up. The people had a lot of question about it. Though in general they are doing well according to the plan, there were nevertheless some confusions. They are very enthusiastic about the (BCC) because every Christian is given the opportunity to lend a helping hand in the work of the Church. The catechist used to be a lone ranger; he, but only he, was doing all the work. With the BCC they’ve experienced the sharing of responsibilities. They are given enough space to grow, to become mature in their faith. There are, for example, four bituka which can probably be translated as ‘sitios’ in the Philippines. Each etuka takes turn for the daily morning prayer which consists of reading the psalms and reflecting on the daily gospel. When someone gives birth or gets sick or dies in the etuka, the BCC takes care of everything, from the prayers to food preparations. What they appreciate most is that they are consulted before any decision is taken - which is actually done in consensus. (Yes, we rarely resort to dividing the house).

Pastoral Problem

During my short stay in the village, we held several meetings with the leaders of the BCC. With the youth, with those who are responsible for the catechumens, and others. the neighboring villages came over for the meetings and prayers. Apart from the meetings prayers, confession, Eucharist and baptism there were also the discussion in between these events. During these conversations I was confronted by a real pastoral problem with regard to the sacraments and the people’s customs and traditions. There was this couple who got married according to the custom f the place (the man giving dowry to the family of the woman). Marie, the wife, had always been hoping to get married in the church. Yet Etienne, the husband, kept on refusing because, according to their customs, the wife has to bear a lot of children first before getting married in the church. After 21 years, Marie had borne, only one, and a girl at that! The family of Etienne told him to get another wife so that his name will not be erased from the face of the earth. He then took the second wife, (yes, that is allowed in their customs) who gave him a son. The daughter of Marie is already married and has twelve children. Marie still lives in the house of Etienne but no longer sleeps with him. She plants in the farm of Etienne to help their daughter feed her children. She is still in the eyes of the people, the wife of Etienne. The second wife lives in the same house, too.

Dilemma

The problem now is that Marie desires to confess and receive Holy Communion. However, thought she’s the first wife, since not married religiously she may not receive she may not receive the sacraments. But she cannot be married religiosity to Etienne because he has a second wife. If she ever insists to receive the sacraments, she must first divorce her husband. To divorce him requires a lot of money because she needs to pay back the family of man the amount and the things her family received when they got married. Where on earth will she get that money? On top of this, she will be tries in court and may go to prison on the ground of “destroying the harmony and the family”. That, she would not surely like to happen.

This problem was discussed in public. I asked them: If ever Marie is allowed to receive the sacraments, what would be the people’s reaction? The opinions were varied. There were those who were in favor because she’s already old. They younger ones were against because it would set a precedent that those who are not married in the church will insist also on receiving the sacraments. The poor woman finds herself between two great rocks colliding against the other. Is this not one of the reasons why many Catholics leave the church and go to other faiths?

Due to the extent of the parish (65 villages, where a village may be 70 kms away from the centre as in our case; another village may require a two-day travel by canoe) and because of the lack of priests (I am for the moment the only priest who ministers to those villages) the people seldom get the occasion to celebrate the Eucharist.

Culture Enriching Church

And so we face the age old Christian dilemma: how to be faithful to the teaching of Christ and at the same time respect the local culture and customs? And how do we distinguish between light and shadow in the native culture? How do we purify the culture and enrich the Church with new creative human diversity? Surely the Basic Christian Communities are the best place for these questions to be solved.

Due to the extent of the parish (65 villages, where a village may be 70 kms away from the centre as in our case; another village may require a two-day travel by canoe) and because of the lack of priest (I am for the moment the only priest who ministers to those villages) the people seldom get the occasion to celebrate the Eucharist.

The catechist used to be a lone ranger; he, but only he, was doing all the work. With the BCC they’ve experienced the sharing of responsibilities.