The Catholic Church’s perspective of Idumi Ritual among The Tiriki of Hamisi Sub – County

Abstract

The conflict between religion and culture is a common global phenomenon in the world taking different forms such as spiritual, cultural, doctrinal and practical. Therefore, despite the wide spread of Catholicism in Western Kenya, some anti – Christian male circumcision rituals have persisted in some of the Luhya subethnic communities. An example of such ritual is idumi that is practiced by the Tiriki people of Hamisi Sub – County. The purpose of this study was to explain the Catholic Church’s perspective of idumi ritual among the Tiriki people in Hamisi Sub – County. Specifically, this study had the following specific objectives; to examine the moral and normative foundation of idumi circumcision ritual; to investigate the Catholic Church’s perception of idumi rituals and to explore the Catholic Church’s response to the socio-religious and cultural aspects of idumi circumcision rituals as a foundation of evangelization. The study was guided by Stuart Hall’s Cultural Identity Theory to explain the persistence of idumi circumcision rituals. It adopted phenomenological design with cultural constructivism as a philosophical paradigm. The study utilized both primary and secondary sources of data. Purposive sampling was used to select twenty – six (26) respondents who included; priests, lay persons, Tiriki elders, initiation chiefs, initiates, school teachers, catechists, sub – chiefs, ritual leaders and counselors. Data was collected using survey method through interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). Twelve (12) Key informants were selected for interviews and fourteen (14) respondents for focus group discussions. The collected data was analyzed qualitatively using thematic method and presented in narrative form. The study revealed that, the Catholic Church has influenced the traditional idumi ritual. The study also ascertained that, there has been an effort of the Catholic Church to understand idumi by singling out the contested rituals that are incompatible with Christianity. The study also revealed that, there is cultural, social- political, moral and religious significance of idumi that explains its persistence. The study further established that, there has been an effort by the Catholic Church to respond to the socio – cultural aspects of idumi by identifying the agreeable aspects that can be compatible with the Catholic teachings. The study recommended that, for successful evangelization, Catholic agents of evangelization, must understand the significance of idumi for effective evangelizationof the people. The contribution of this research is the awareness that, although there is a conflict between the Church and culture, both can still coexist if ecumenical and interreligious approaches are adopted to ease the tension. In relation to the persistence of idumi, the research indicates that, the traditional way of induction of the young people is more convincing than the Christian message making people to leave the churches during idumi season. Therefore, the Church must wake up and adopt proper methods of catechesis. In conclusion, there are many socio – cultural aspects of idumi that are in agreement with the teachings of the church. However, the church has not taken enough initiative to convince the Tiriki on the contested aspects and their harmful effects to the community. On the other hand, the community has also been reluctant to let go some of these harmful aspect by not being open to dialogue, therefore, making it hard for inculturation to take place so as to bring about proper and effective evangelization in the region.