May 1st, 2008 Newsletter  Download as Word document.May First Newsletter The Death
of John Mary Waliggo Top Africa Catholic Thinker and Rights Campaigner Dies Written By:CISA , Posted: Mon, Apr 28, 2008 KAMPALA,
April 25, 2008 (CISA) -Africa lost a leading
Catholic thinker and human rights crusader following the death last
weekend of Fr Dr John Mary Waliggo. _______________________________________________________________________ Editorial from Allafrica.com An Open Mind Shut With Waliggo's Passing The Monitor
(Kampala) The Rev. Fr. John Mary Waliggo, who has died of cancer at the age of 66, will be missed in Uganda and across the world but also remembered for his vast contribution to the three publics of the church, the academy and society. Those who knew him personally will also remember his conviviality. Many Ugandans will no doubt remember Fr. Waliggo for his role on important public bodies such as the Odoki Constitutional Commission, the Uganda Human Rights Commission, and the Media Council. Although Fr. Waliggo's published work was enormous, I particularly remember him for his contribution to two main controversies in Uganda's history. One was his vigorous defence of the Uganda Martyrs (abajulizi) against the charge that they were traitors, and the other was his departure from the popular view that construes the early rivalry between Protestants and Catholics in wholly negative terms. In his defence of the martyrs, the scholarly historian Fr. Waliggo was not ignorant of the forces, including imperialistic ones, at work in Buganda and the surrounding region in the second half of the 19th Century. He, however, saw that the mostly young martyrs stood for very important freedoms, namely the freedom of conscience and freedom of religion and challenged the traditional attitude of absolute obedience to the Kabaka and by implication to all who hold political power. On the rivalry between Catholics and Protestants in his doctoral thesis 'The Catholic Church in the Buddu Province of Buganda, 1879-1925', Fr. Waliggo sees a positive element to the rivalry and observes that the Baganda loved hearing different points of view and were no strangers to controversy. In this respect they resembled the Athenians who met at the Areopagus at the time of St. Paul and spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas, however controversial. The rival identities had negative tendencies, but they also fostered initiatives in social services such as modern education and medical work. Those working in the ministry of the church will also remember Fr. Waliggo, not only as a historical scholar, but also as an ecumenical theologian. Ecumenism means the search for the unity of the church. But this is no simple conformity but holding the integrity of your position while being open to learn from those with a different integrity. The word comes from the Greek word oukumene, which means 'of the same household', but it extended beyond religion to include the unity of all humankind. It translates as the common good or human flourishing. Some people considering Fr. Waliggo's work in the realm of human rights and search of empowerment for the marginalised might think that he put aside his religious faith and met with others on neutral ground. But that would be a mistake. Like the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Fr. Waliggo, stood within his Christian faith and interpreted it in a liberationist spirit. It is interesting to speculate whether Fr. Waliggo's freedom to engage in the work that he did outside of the Catholic Church was an indication of the openness and liberality of the Church in which he was ordained and served as a priest or whether he in fact challenged the Church to understand its mission in a much broader perspective. Whatever the case, it is to the credit of the Church that it did not put narrow strictures on him. Rev. Kasibante
is the co-ordinating chaplain, University of Leicester, UK. Testimonials Yesterday
we laid John to rest in Masaka, his home area, where he grew and studied.
There were very many people. At the time of his death, John wasmember
of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Chairman of the MediaCouncil
and Asst Executive Secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission. As
Dianenotes, that was a life well-lived. We were informed that John died
because of Kindest
regards It is a
great loss for the nation, the Church and the entire African continent.
We are also grateful for the great contribution he made in the area
of African theology, church history, democracy, human rights and constitutionalism.
May his soul rest in peace. Thank you for the communication of the death of fr. Waliggo. We were together speaking in a plenary session, and I remember him very vividly. My prayer for him, in the hope of speaking with him again in the light of the Lord. Enrico Chiavacci,
Italy Thank you
for your sending this sad report. We can join in gratitude before God
for John’s life and action. Thanks for
the information. We shall remember him in Thank you
for sending me this. I do truly mourn with and the whole church at the
untimely death of John Mary Waliggo. I remember him well from the Padua
conference. What a loss for the church, in Africa and world-wide. A tragic
loss. Thanks so
much for your message. I am so
sorry and saddened to learn of John Mary Waliggo's passing. He is truly
one of the most oustanding voices of reason, compassion and the justice
that we have had the privilige to have in Africa. He was a pioneering
theologian of liberation in Africa.. I will surely miss him and I am
glad I got to meet him (after many years) and hear him at Padua, where
he also chaired the adhoc meeting of African ethicists present in Padua
. I vividly hear him now, challenging us to organize us to organize
and network and get going (he issues to us a call to action!) to offer
a much needed prophetic and ethical voice for church and society in
Africa and beyond .... Walligo’s
death is truly a loss for African theology and the church. R.I.P. David Hollenbach,
US ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Linda Hogan at Trinity College Dublin and Sue Perry at Orbis Press Announce that the selected applied ethics papers from Padova will be published the last week of May Applied Ethics in a World Church: The Padua Conference Linda
Hogan, editor, Early reviews: “Applied Ethics and the World
Church is a unique collection of essays dealing with the burning issues
of today--social justice, the environment, gender and sexuality, HIV/AIDS,
and bioethics. Many people talk about globalization and its effects
on life and ethics, but in this book Catholic ethicists from five different
continents address the major issues facing the church and society in
the twenty-first century. There is no other book in print that even
tries to do what this book accomplishes for Catholic ethics.”–Charles
E. Curran, Southern Methodist University “This is a remarkable
collection of international and cross-cultural essays on urgent ethical
issues of today. It shows how important it is to hear voices from
around the world and, in this case, the voices of Catholic ethicists.
This book goes a long way in providing insight and wisdom not only for
moral theologians but for all the people of the church and the world.”--Margaret
A. Farley, Yale Divinity School you can order on-line www.maryknollmall.org/description.cfm?ISBN=978-1-57075-759-4
_____________________________________________________________ New Editions of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church James
F. Keenan, Editor On the Spanish edition, Andrés C. Telesca, Director General, Editorial San Benito, Argentina reports that it is due out in MAY e-mail: editorial@editorialsanbenito.com.ar On the Italian edition, Luigi Lorenzetti of Edizioni Dehoniane in Bologna will have it out in SEPTEMBER Watch their site http://www.dehoniane.it From the Philippines, Agnes
Brazal reports that the Ateneo de Manila will publish a Filipino edition
of the collection From India, Clement Campos
reports on talks with Asian Trading Corporation that they are interested
in printing an Indian edition. Let us listen for word from BRAZIL… next issue _____________________________________________________________________________ NEW BOOKS From Belgium From Johan Verstraeten Perhaps the following information
can be useful: I just published as _____________________________________________________ From France: Marie-Jo Thiel (dir.), Les rites autour du mourir. Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg, 2008 La mort demeure une des plus grandes énigmes de l’humanité. Elle séduit et fait trembler. Elle fait tomber dans l’oubli et passer les siècles à travers un art funéraire qui pourrait être le premier des arts. L’humanité s’est éveillée à elle-même par le culte rendu à ses morts. Le temps en offre des traces souvent gravées dans la pierre ou les livres. Toutes les sociétés ont ainsi investi matériellement et symboliquement. Elles ont mis en place des rites autour du mourir, des prescriptions et des précautions diverses, afin de répondre à l’angoisse de la mort, de réagir collectivement à l’irruption perturbante d’altérité, de réinscrire chacun(e) à sa place au cœur des groupes humains. Car si le départ de l’être cher est douloureux, il ne manque pas non plus d’inquiéter, d’angoisser, voire de paniquer ou de terrifier. Si aimé soit celui qui part, il finit par susciter méfiance et menace. Tous les rites autour de la mort doivent ainsi soutenir à la fois celui qui part et ceux qui restent. Et si la modernité s’appuie sur des rites anciens, liés en particulier aux grands monothéismes, elle en invente aussi de nouveaux, liés à de nouveaux modes de vie et d’expression (bouquets de fleurs au bord de la route) mais aussi des pratiques nouvelles. La crémation a ainsi pris une place inédite dans nos sociétés occidentales. Et cela n’est pas sans poser des questions nouvelles. L’être humain est
un être pour la mort autant que contre la mort. Et les rites sont un
moyen d’en faire mémoire. Ils sont un acte de mémoire assumant présentement
le passé pour ouvrir un futur. L’ouvrage réunit ainsi les contributions
de spécialistes de nombreuses disciplines : sociologie, éthique, anthropologie,
théologie, philosophie, mais aussi des praticiens de terrain, des politiques,
des religieux… Comme un vitrail, ils éclairent les nombreuses facettes
des rites mis en œuvre autour de cet événement à la fois unique,
singulier et universel qu’est le mourir. Yves de Gentil-Baichis, Xavier Thévenot, Passeur vers l’autre, passeur vers Dieu. Ed. DDB, collection Biographie, 2008. Mai 68 a contribué au passage de la morale à l’éthique. Et des déplacements analogues se sont produits dans d’autres disciplines comme la théologie morale. Certes, au moins dans la perspective catholique, la dénomination est en général restée la même. Dans la perspective protestante, on parlera plutôt d’éthique théologique. Cependant, ni la philosophie ni la théologie ne secrétèrent des spécialistes de l’éthique et la discipline connut dans les années 70 une vraie traversée du désert. L’on sait donc gré à Xavier Thévenot (1938-2004) d’avoir accepté cette charge. Salésien de Don Bosco, Professeur à l’Institut Catholique de Paris, l’auteur va, par son dynamisme, par les liens qu’il tisse entre théologie et sciences humaines (en particulier la psychanalyse), mais aussi par sa pédagogie, déplacer peu à peu la discipline, contribuer à la renouveler de l’intérieur et lui redonner ses lettres de noblesse. Sa longue maladie le retire prématurément de cette carrière enseignante, mais non de son activité d’écoute, de méditation, d’auteur nous livrant des textes d’une rare densité. Ses livres se vendent à des milliers d’exemplaires et sont souvent traduits dans plus de 20 langues à travers le monde. Yves de Gentil-Baichis
nous propose avec cet ouvrage la première biographie : instrument précieux
car ce journaliste qui a connu Xavier Thévenot, qui l’a interviewé
pour Une éthique au risque de l’Evangile, nous propose ici
bien plus que des dates ou des événements marquants. Il nous fait
entrer dans la profondeur d’une vie, il noue la gerbe des mots et
des pensées qui ont nourri tant d’histoires d’accompagnement, il
propose des clés de lecture pour entrer dans l’œuvre, il redessine
les traits d’un passeur d’humanité. _____________________________________________________ From Brazil From Nilo Ribeiro Nilo Ribeiro SJ, "Sabedoria da Paz. Ética e Teo-lógica em Emmanuel Levinas", Col. Theológica, Ed. Loyola, São Paulo, 2008 Trata-se de um estudo exegético-hermenêutico dos escritos de Levinas dos anos 70-90 acentuando o caráter a gênese do ético e teológico no pensamento do autor dando muita atenção ao caráter talmúdico de sua filosofia. ______________________________________________________ From Italy From Andrea Vicini Genetica umana e bene comune, (L'abside. Saggi di teologia: Strumenti 52), San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2008, pp. 578, € 38.00. _______________________________________ Bioethics PROJECT From Paraguay Saludos cordiales a todos, Mi nombre es José Manuel Silvero, paraguayo, docente de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción. Les escribo para contarles que estoy llevando adelante un modesto proyecto editorial titulado: “La bioética en un mundo globalizado”. Paraguay es un país sudamericano donde la globalización se hace sentir de manera dramática, digo esto por las asimetrías reinantes traducidas en exclusiones y degradaciones de las condiciones de vida. Por ello, un material académico podría ayudar a entender y comprender mejor este fenómeno tan complejo. La bioética como horma tiene la intención de devolver a nuestros discursos esa dignidad y humanidad que al parecer vamos perdiendo en este mundo interconectado-globalizado. Este proyecto podría ser financiado en parte por la Universidad Nacional de Asunción y por otros organismos. Mi pedido puntual pasa por invitarles a que participen con artículos, estudios, ensayos, etc., teniendo en cuenta las siguientes líneas: - La bioética como supervivencia
La compilación de los trabajos y la edición de los mismos estará a cargo del Centro Paraguayo de Bioética (C.P.B.). Un abrazo a todos. Regards to all,
______________________________________________________________________ The Ever-Growing Challenge of Medical Responsibility: French and European Responses, June 2-3, Strasbourg Conférence 2-3 juin - Deadline pour les inscriptions : 15 mai 2008 Le Conseil de l'Europe organise une Conférence de deux jours intitulée "Le défi toujours plus grand de la responsabilité médicale : réponses nationales et européennes ?" qui se déroulera les 2-3 juin 2008, dans les locaux du Conseil de l'Europe, Strasbourg (France). Cette Conférence découle d’une initiative jointe du Comité européen de Coopération Juridique du Conseil de l'Europe (CDCJ), du Comité directeur pour la Bioéthique (CDBI) et du Comité européen de la santé (CDSP). Le but de cet évènement est d'ouvrir le chemin aux activités futures de notre organisation dans ce domaine. Il sera l'occasion de rassembler des informations, de partager des expériences et d'identifier les moyens d'améliorer les standards juridiques liés à la responsabilité médicale dans les Etats membres du Conseil de l'Europe. Les bonnes pratiques seront examinées et des conclusions seront établies à l'attention du CDCJ en particulier. Contact : Mr. Oscar ALARCÓN - Tel: +33 (0)3 90 21 46 74 - Fax: +33 (0) 390 21 56 48 E-mail: oscar.alarcon@coe.int - Website: www.coe.int |