CHALLENGES OF AGGIORNAMENTO-OPENING THE WINDOWS IN AFRICA INN THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

This paper addresses the challenges of “opening the windows to modernity”in Africa in the 21st century. The Second Vatican Council urged dialogue between the Church and modernity. This implied that the modern world would also be challenged to open its windows to the Church. The 21st Century however, is a time that is very challenging for a two-way conversation between an ancient religious tradition built on the foundation of what it understood to be truths-with-consequences for all humanity, and an intellectual modern world, a brain child of positivism that was deeply skeptical that there is in fact, any such thing as “truth.” This opening of the windows poses serious challenges for the Church in Africa in the 21st century. This essay presents a brief overview of “opening the windows,” discusses the challenges the Catholic Church in Africa is facing in her attempt to open its windows to modern world and finally suggests possible way forward.