I don't know that I need to justify anything, but I am sure that people will be curious, (and I have talked a lot of mess about Roman Catholicism in the past) so I have written this out. From the outset, my decision to become formally initiated into Catholicism was a practical one first, and foremost--so that I can teach Theology, so that I can do moral things like take care of my family, feed my daughter in the most expensive city (or one of the most) in the U.S. etc. There might be some question to why one would need to become Catholic in order to teach Theology/Religon, and that is a legitimate question for one outside the familiarity with the territory. Here is the main reason: If you want to teach Theology/Religion at some institution private-religious or public secular outside of Catholicism, then your only hope will be at an Evangelical private institution. And they all have extremely conservative "Statements of Faith" that you have to eliminate yourself on, by the conservative and fundamentalistic way they frame their application questions--or you can lie about the Bible having no errors, and then probably get eliminated later anyway. Another reason why, is because I am 5 classes away from a second MA from a Catholic University. (While one could focus on Hinduism, per se, and not do a whole lot of other things Catholic, Protestant Evangelical institutions will see the term "Catholic" and immediately toss out your application--although, they'd really freak out if they saw (hypothetically) what I primarily focused on what Hinduism ;). Another response to the "why?"-question, is because, here in Los Angeles, (probably not that unbelievable if you know anything about academia these days) Secondary Ed., High School Theology Teachers can actually make more money than I can annually working at three jobs: one University, a college, and a secondary education job--and that's just one job in comparison to my slaving away in the predatory Capitalist city of Los Angeles.
However, my initiation could be (and is also being) justified in other ways. I was not initiated into just Catholicism, I was initiated into Black Catholicism. There are several nuances in asserting that, including the fact that I have a daughter that is bi-racial (technically tri-racial: Black, White, and Thai), that will need to be connected (as it is my duty as a parent, and a white parent to do so) with the Black Liberation religious traditions of her ancestors. Although, because I was raised in white evangelical protestantism, rejected it, and became part of the Black protestant traditions of the South, Black Liberative Protestantism will always be a part of me, and to this day, I am still probably most influenced by and indebted to, the Protestant (and Father) of Black Liberation Theology, James Hal Cone.
That being said, as a philosopher, (a perennialist), an ecumenical theologian, there are a thousand and one ways to justify this type of decision based on Roman Catholicism's Lumen Gentium, their Gaudium et Spes, (which has implications for laity, and people outside the faith), their Nostra Aetate, which Thomas Rausch writes in his Systematic Theology: A Roman Catholic Approach that, it is "...the second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions..." (Rausch, 41). He also says about it, that, "It called Catholics to a new respect for religious pluralism, noting that other religions often reflect a ray of that truth that enlightens all people. And it encouraged Catholics to dialogue and cooperate with the followers of other religious traditions (NA2). Thus to enter into inter-religious dialogue is itself a religious act, seeking out the truth that may embodied in another religious tradition" (Rasuch, 41-42). So, for many examples like this, and there are a ton more, based on the progressive Comparative Theological efforts of Roman Catholicism, etc. and so forth, there is plenty of prima facie or conditional justification for this type path being one that facilitates harmony and progress via the institutions of Roman Catholicism, etc. and so forth.
On the other hand as a liberationist thinker/theologian, and a white person rooted in (and allied to) the Black Liberation, and Black Christian traditions, with honor, I can say that I have been accepted amidst the Black Catholics, and they have been very good to me.
Something noteworthy to discuss about Black Catholics, is that we typically associate Catholicism, with its imperial history (and rightfully so...) of conquest, and pillage, culture-stripping, etc. However, it remains the case, that Black Catholics *do indeed* have a rich history in Africa prior to European body snatching via the Mid-Atlantic Slave Trade, and the full effects of colonialism taking place in Africa.
As the scholar Albert J. Raboteau writes in his Slave Religion: The 'Invisible Instituion' in the Antebellum South that, "THE ENSLAVEMENT of an estimated ten million Africans over a period of almost four centuries in the Atlantic slave trade was a tragedy of such scope that it is difficult to imagine, much less comprehend. When these Africans were brought to slavery in the mines, plantations, and households of the New World, they were torn away from the political, social, and cultural systems that had ordered their lives" (Raboteau, 4). And this is true, no matter how morally atrocious we paint the historical picture, it will never do it justice to just how diabolically evil, immensely traumatizing, sadistically cruel, utterly repulsive, etc. and so on, that chattel slavery actually was, and is. However, despite these despicable and hard facts about the nature of chattel enslavement and the Atlantic Slave Trade, Raboteau continues to say that despite the broken customs, languages, families, and way of life in general, Something African, persisted onward. Raboteau writes, "In the New World slave control was based on the eradication of all forms of African culture because of their power to unify slaves and thus enable them to resist or rebel. Nevertheless, African beliefs and customs persisted and were transmitted by slaves to their descendants. Shaped and modified by a new environment, elements of African folklore, music, language, and religion were transplanted in the New World by the African diaspora" (Raboteau, 4). However, African to Afro-American religious and cultural graspings remained, and still remains a constant. Raboteau writes,
"One of the most durable and adaptable constituents of the slave's culture, linking African past with American present, was his religion" (4).
But note, "It is important to realize, however, that in the Americas the religions of Africa have not been merely preserved as static 'Africanisms' or as archaic 'retentions.' The fact is that they have continued to develop as living traditions putting down new roots in new soil, bearing new fruit as unique hybrids of American origin. African styles of worship, forms of ritual, systems of belief, and fundamental perspectives have remained vital on this side of the Atlantic, not because they were preserved in a 'pure' orthodoxy but because they were transformed" (4) Raboteau argues that the reason this happened was due to the African reverence for a spiritual world, and spiritual power. "Adaptability, based upon respect for spiritual power wherever it originated, accounted for the openness of African religions to syncretism with other religious traditions and for the continuity of a distinctively African religious consciousness" (4-5). Therefore, Raboteau concludes, "At least in some areas of the Americas, the gods of Africa continued to live--in exile" (5). I don't know of any thoughtful person that might say this, but a superficial person might very well say, "Show me the evidence! Where is the evidence for this?" Well, there is plenty of evidence just about everywhere, for this, so look around! And with something as widespread as the Atlantic Slave Trade, with the such sheer numbers of human beings, women, children, men, and elderly packed like sardines on ships, and with the Atlantic Slave Trade existing for so many years, it shouldn't be surprising that the evidence is not just in one place to point to. But, since this writing is about Black Catholicism rooted in Africa, it is the case that my focus will be on Black Catholicism as it relates to African religious syncretism, and African cultural roots (opposed to Islam, opposed to Protestantism, etc.).
Raboteau writes, "Common to many African societies was belief in a High God, or Supreme Creator of the world and everything in it" (8). Also worth mentioning, and perhaps more important in many African cultures, were the "lesser gods". The lesser deities/spirits/ancestors tended to be more involved in human affairs. As Raboteau states of these "lesser gods," and "ancestor-spirits"--that they "...were actively and constantly concerned with the daily life of the individual and the affairs of society as a whole" (8). Concerning the aggregate of African religion, according to Raboteau, "Occasionally individuals and communities did pray to the High God but sacrifice to [the High God] was rare; it was generally the other gods and the spirits of deceased ancestors who received the most attention, since they had been delegated to attend to 'the affairs of [hu]mankind'" (8-9). Raboteau continues, "Usually, in the traditional religions of West Africa the High God is the parent of the other and lesser gods, who are sometimes seen as mediators between man and God" (9). I could go on, and on about concrete examples of this from Yoruba, the Ibo, the Bakongo/Kongo/Bantu, etc. and so forth. But for now, the relevance between Roman Catholicism (in particular, Black Catholics) is the parallel between the lesser deities and the role in which they play for the individual subject, or ethical agent.
Raboteau writes, "Common to many African societies was belief in a High God, or Supreme Creator of the world and everything in it" (8). Also worth mentioning, and perhaps more important in many African cultures, were the "lesser gods". The lesser deities/spirits/ancestors tended to be more involved in human affairs. As Raboteau states of these "lesser gods," and "ancestor-spirits"--that they "...were actively and constantly concerned with the daily life of the individual and the affairs of society as a whole" (8). Concerning the aggregate of African religion, according to Raboteau, "Occasionally individuals and communities did pray to the High God but sacrifice to [the High God] was rare; it was generally the other gods and the spirits of deceased ancestors who received the most attention, since they had been delegated to attend to 'the affairs of [hu]mankind'" (8-9). Raboteau continues, "Usually, in the traditional religions of West Africa the High God is the parent of the other and lesser gods, who are sometimes seen as mediators between man and God" (9). I could go on, and on about concrete examples of this from Yoruba, the Ibo, the Bakongo/Kongo/Bantu, etc. and so forth. But for now, the relevance between Roman Catholicism (in particular, Black Catholics) is the parallel between the lesser deities and the role in which they play for the individual subject, or ethical agent.
Some noteworthy examples of this in caveats of Catholicism are: Candomblé, Santeria, Shango and Vaudou. As Raboteau notes, African religion indubitably underwent a shift, and evolution (as an effect of chattel slavery, and having your entire world and way of life stripped from you). Yet, "Still, much remained, and particularly in Latin America the gods lived on in the beliefs and rituals of the slaves' descendants. Candomblé in Brazil, [S]anteria in Cuba, [S]hango in Trinidad, and [V]audou in Haiti, all latest to the vitality and durability of African religious perspectives" (16). And in this, Raboteau, wants to emphasize the African-religious "continuity of perspective" which (among other elements) is one of the most important or noteworthy assertions to make about one of the main elements of African religion that remains. Why? Well, this is due to the "...fact that cults of particular African gods, such as Shango or Elena, have been transmitted to the New World" (16). As Raboteau astutely writes, "For new as well as old gods have come to be worshipped by Afro-Americans, but the new, like the old, have been perceived in traditionally African ways" (16).
The Widespread Salience of African Religious Syncretism with Catholicism
Also noteworthy about ethnic demographics, and the widespread salience of syncretism historically as it relates to Roman Catholicism, Raboteau writes referencing the periods 1888 through 1852,
"Over this period of three centuries slaves were brought at various times from he Western Sudan, Guinea, Angola, Congo, and Mozambique. The Yoruba, Fon, Fanti, Ahanti, Hausa, Tapa, Mandinke, Fulbe, and Bantu peoples were all represented on the slave ships sailing into the Bay of All Saints, Bahia, which for two centuries served as the main port entry. Among the slaves, traditional African beliefs (and, to a degree, Islam) continued to exist and were syncretized with Portuguese Catholic and Indian beliefs into new Afro-Brazilian forms, which came to be known as [C]andomblé in Bahia, as [M]acumba in Rio de Janeiro, and as [S]hango or [C]atimbo in northeastern Brazil" (18).
Many of these African forms of religion began to blend with Catholicism, while Africans in the diaspora began making it their own. [Although, it is important to note, that many aspects of early Christianity, particularly in Africa (e.g. St. Augustine, e.g. St. Monica) have an immensely African-Indigenous (pre-colonial) nature, or "feel" (for lack of a better word) to them. For more on this, see my most recent publication that is out titled Unearthing Evidence for St. Augustine's Racial Blackness and Paralleling...]. Nevertheless, in many cases these religions began to blend their deities with Catholic saints--or perhaps more strongly, as Raboteau writes of the process descriptively as, the "...identification of the gods with Catholic saints" (21). In support of this, some of the evidence supported here by Raboteau references Shango. "Many of the gods or 'powers' worshiped in [S]hango are not of African but of Trinidad origin. Eshu, Ogun, Yemanja, and Shango are worshiped but the myths attached to the gods in Africa have either disappeared or been replaced by Catholic hagiography in Trinidad" (21). Although an exception to this is rooted in a Yoruba legend. Raboteau notes, "There is an interesting trace of one Yoruba legend about the god Shango. Shango, it is said, has a sibling by the name of Oba Koso (identified with St. Anthony)" (21).
Also noteworthy to the ties between African religion and way of life to that of Roman Catholicism, is that there is also an African persistence made manifest within the "...Afro-cuban cult of [S]anteria" (21). Raboteau writes, "The most immediately apparent innovation that [S]anteria, [S]hango, and [C]andomblé have brought to African theological perspectives is the identification of African gods with Catholic saints. Initially, the veneration of saints must have provided the slaves with a convenient disguise for secret worship of African gods" (22). According to Raboteau, another factor lies in the flexibility within African religious culture to accept without hostility "...'foreign' gods of neighbors and of enemies" (22). Perhaps this likely also had to do with more fluid, and less rigid worldviews than Westerners have with our either/or thinking(?). And in support of the forgoing, "It has not been unusual for one people to integrate the gods of another into their own cult life especially when social changes, such as migration or conquest, required mythic and ritualistic legitimation" (22).
Here is another interesting point that Raboteau makes which is implicitly saying something about the diversity within Catholicism. He writes,
Furthermore, Catholic popular piety has long been open to syncretism with 'pagan' belief and practice. No fundamental contradiction existed between veneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints in Catholic piety, on the one hand, and devotion to the [O]risha and [V]odun in African religions, on the other. The Portuguese, Spanish, or French colonists appealed to the saints for succor, he lit candles to honor them, knelt before their images, observed their feast days, and trusted them as intermediaries between him and his God. And while, doctrinally, the Holy Trinity was most blessed and alone deserving of all worship, in practice the line between veneration and adoration was frequently crossed in popular devotion to the Virgin and the saints. Catholic notions about the role of Christ, Mary, guardian angels, and patron saints as intercessors with the Father in heaven for men on earth proved quite compatible with African ideas about the intervention of lesser gods in the day-to-day affairs of human life, while the supreme god remained benevolent and providential but distant (22-23).
Also worthy to mention is the consistency in logic, in making this "lesser deity" to Catholic saints leap (if we can call it that in relevant cases); or syncretism (in those cases); or all out replacement (in the other cases). "The logic of particular identifications between [O]risha and saint seems to have been based sometimes on the similarity of powers assigned to them" (23). Some of examples of this that Raboteau gives are of St. Barbara, St. Peter, St. George, St. Francis, St. Patrick, and many other Judeo-Christian religious or Biblical figures. Let's start with our first mention: "St. Barbara, for example, the protectress against thunder and lightning, was identified in Bahia with Shango, god of thunder and lighting, despite the difference in gender" (23). Another is that of St. Peter (but also correlates with the Judeo-Christain devil). "The malevolent aspect of Eshu-Elegba led to his identification with the devil at Bahia and Trinidad, while in Cuba his role as divine messenger, the 'opener of roads,' caused him to be matched with St. Peter, 'keeper of the keys' to the Kingdom of Heaven" (23). Another, that I didn't mention is St. Raphael. As Raboteau writes, "St. Raphael, the archangel who in the Bible heals Tobit, is known in [S]anteria as Osanyin, the god of healing, who dispenses cool medicinal leaves" (23).
Raboteau also notes other "iconographic" parallels between African deities and the Catholic saints. "For example, Oshossi, god of the hunt, is known as St George or as St. Michael the archangel, both traditionally depicted in Christian iconography as warriors with swords in hand. In Cuba, Orunmila, the god of divination, is also called St. Francis, perhaps because Francis is traditionally pictured wearing a rosary, which resembles the *opele* chain used in Ifa divination" (23). Another hugely significant syncretism, is that, of Virgin Mary and Yemoja. "Yemoja, mother of the gods and of the waters, has been syncretized with the Virgin Mary under several of her titles. Correlations are also made between Ogun and St. John the Baptist; Shun and the Virgin of Cobre (patroness of Cuba)..."(24). Furthermore, Raboteau notes that, "In Trinidad, according to herskovits, the names of gods and saints are hyphenated in common usage, e.g., 'Ogun-St. Michael,' and they are referred to interchangeably when, for instance, a picture of John the Baptist is identified as a picture of Shango" (24).
While that was not exhaustive, it does provide some potent examples, and also this is only one dimension of the religious syncretism between Catholicism and African religion or way of life. "Candles, crucifixes, and chromolithographs are blended with rituals associated with African gods. In Trinidadian [S]hango, for example, the annual ceremony of the shangoists, which lasts for four nights, 'begins with a prayer meeting in which an incense burner, lighted candles, Catholic prayers, original prayers, and the dismissal of Eshu-Satan are the important elements. Ogun-St. Michael is then summoned with one of his drum rhythms... Other male powers, followed by the female powers, are then invited.'"(24).
African Religious use of Godparents Converging with Roman Catholicism in African-Christian Religious Syncretism:
"In [C]andomblé the drums themselves are offered sacrifice and even baptized in the presence of godparents according to Catholic ritual" (24). This is interesting, as I was required two godparents in my baptism, and leading up to it in the process for around a year, with the Black Catholics, and their guidance, was very much a big part of the process.
More on African Religious Syncretism in Roman Catholicism and Christianity in General from Raboteau
Raboteau writes, "Syncretism arises from the fact that 'cult members are simultaneously worshipers of the African gods and communicants of the Catholic Church' and see nothing strange about being so" (24). However, on the other hand, Raboteau tries to drive home the point that syncretism might be too strong of a word in some cases, as it implies some sort of assimilation or giving in on the part of the African religious or cultural identity aspect. But, this is not always the case. "While African gods have been identified with Catholic saints, it is Ogun, for example, who possess, not St. Michael. And while Catholic liturgical calendars have replaced African ones, on the feast days of the saints the gods are fed with African-style sacrifice" (25) To further drive the point, Raboteau makes it clear,On the deepest levels the parish church and the cult house remain parallel and separate. Even with the addition of Catholic forms, the African provenience of worship in the cult houses is clear. As anthropologist Michel Laguerre has pointed out in reference to Haitan [V]audou, syncretism between Catholicism and Afro-American cults has largely been a syncretism of material and magic. Blessed objects (candles, pictures, holy water), gestures, and prayers have been appropriated from Catholicism for use in the cults because they are believed to posses magical power. To add the power of Christianity to that of African cults made sense, for 'it is better to reply upon two magics instead of one'" (25)
Another important event in Christianity and African Religion's Syncretism, was the use of it for a full fledged African religion. Legislation was passed, the Code Noir in 1685 which required that enslaved person must be taught and baptized within around a weeks time (eight days) after their arrival. In the context of this practice lived out, let's leap forward almost 40 years. "Thirty-seven years later, Fr. Jean Baptiste Labat objected that slaves used Christianity to disguise their African beliefs: 'The Negroes do without qualm, what the Philistines did; they put Dagon with the Ark and secretly preserve all the superstition of their ancient idolatrous cult alongside the ceremonies of Christianity'" (25). And also, other complaints were charged: "In a decree of the Conseil du cap of 1761 the clergy were still complaining that the slaves were guilty of mingling 'the Holy utensils of our religion with profane and idolatrous objects" and of altering 'the truths and dogmas of religion'" (25).
I say all of this, not to say, that the Black Catholics that I have recently been initiated into, fulfill every historical example of religious syncretism and/or persisted in every African way that dominates Catholicism. But, there is generally, a very clear difference between majority member Catholics, (usually white in the U.S. in our day) vs. minority member Catholics (in this case: Black Catholics). And, I am always happy to stand alongside my Black neighbors no matter the religion, no matter the denomination, and become one with the downtrodden and oppressed of society to be apart of the fight for justice and goodness.
Works Cited and Other Resources:
Works Cited and Other Resources:
Raboteau, Albert J. "Slave Religion: The 'Invisible Institution' in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Resources for your own research:
Candomblé: [https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/09/16/216890587/brazilian-believers-of-hidden-religion-step-out-of-shadows]
Santeria: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Santeria]
Shango: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shango]
Vaudou: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vodou].
Resources for your own research:
Candomblé: [https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/09/16/216890587/brazilian-believers-of-hidden-religion-step-out-of-shadows]
Santeria: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Santeria]
Shango: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shango]
Vaudou: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vodou].
