Inculturation within the catholic church: a case of cock rituals and cultural values of the Abamarachi of Busia County, Kenya

Abstract

In the African worldview, there is no clear distinction between the sacred and the profane while the Western Christian one clearly distinguishes the two. In the present African context, there is the dilemma of choosing between traditional African values and Christian ones in critical situations of life because they are usually in conflict. Often African Christians revert to traditional practices to address critical needs in their lives. The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of inculturation within the Catholic Church using cock rituals among the Abamarachi of Butula Sub-County, Busia County. A cock ritual is where a cock is identified for a social-sacred purpose often involving special persons, actions and utterances in specific places culminating in a symbolic feast. The study objectives were to: identify potential areas for integration of Christian teachings and practices in the cock rituals of the Abamarachi; identify the relationship between cultural practices involving the cock and Catholic teachings; and propose a model of inculturation that integrates positive elements of the Abamarachi culture and Catholic teachings and practices. The study adopted a descriptive research design to collect facts on cock rituals. The study used the Functionalist Theory as propounded by Bronislaw Malinowski and Emile Durkheim. The theory asserts that religion unites people around practices that have lasting values. Ethnographic survey was used as to identify positive Abamarachi cultural beliefs and practices associated with cock rituals and how they can be incorporated into Catholicism using the Vatican Council as a point of reference. Data was collected using interview schedule and questionnaires. The researcher observed and participated in some Abamarachi rituals where the cock featured. Eighty respondents were purposively sampled for the study, 40 from the Abamarachi traditional community and 40 from the Catholic Church. Descriptive statistics were used in data analysis and interpretation, presented in forms such as cultural anecdotes and case reports. Some quantitative data were presented using graphs, tables, pie charts and pictures in evaluating the impact of the Abamarachi culture and Catholicism on each other. The findings indicate that though the Abamarachi traditionalists and Catholics maintain their unique beliefs and practices, they show signs of willingness to accommodate each other. Thus, it was concluded that inculturation can assist in making the Abamarachi to “feel at home” within the Catholic Church and Catholicism will be aptly meaningful in its Marachi context. It is recommended that the Catholic Church could embrace Abamarachi worldview and borrow positive elements inherent in the worldview as proposed under the papal decree. Greater enculturation is possible were the Abamarachi traditionalists and Catholic faithful to open up more by inviting each other to celebrate their ritual ceremonies and embrace positive and beneficial norms and values in the spirit of ecumenism. The model of inculturation proposed in this study opines that the symbolism of the Abamarchi cock ritual sacrifice ought to be understood in the same vain as the Catholic understanding of Jesus as the lamb.