A Jungian perspective on the impact of African worldviews on African Roman Catholic Church priests’ life and work

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of African worldviews on African Roman Catholic Church (RCC) seminarians and priests’ life and work. This aim was achieved by firstly qualitatively exploring the experiences of African RCC priests in training (seminarians). Secondly the theory of Jung was analysed to ascertain its possible value in bridging the divide between African and Western worldviews. Thirdly African Roman Catholic priests’ experiences were explored and interpreted in the light of Jungian constructs. In the first article, the experiences of sixteen African RCC priests-in-training (seminarians) immersed in a predominantly Western oriented systems were explored, described and interpreted in terms of the contrast between the worldviews of Africa and the Western oriented RCC. This study was situated within African centred psychology. The seminarians’ experiences of their immersion in the RCC environments varied; however the difference was not in the essence of the experience rather in its intensity. From the outset the challenge for African seminarians was to merge their African way of being-in-the-world with the philosophy and values of the RCC in which they freely chose to serve. It was found that participants experienced difficulties in aligning cherished African collectivistic values such as the importance of family ties, procreation and sharing with family with the expectations placed on seminarians in terms of celibacy and functioning apart from their families of origin. In the second article, Jung’s theory was analysed with the view of its possible value as a conceptual bridge between African and Western worldviews. The focus was on Jungian theory in the context of cross-cultural psychology. It was reasoned that Jung’s theory could provide valuable insights regarding the deep psychic similarities between people of different cultures. The article argued that investigative scholarly work may constructively contribute to a dialogue in which African and Western worldviews are validated and not set up as incompatible. Jung’s theory provides a perspective on the shared ancestral patterns that are part of a common humanity. Jung’s four constructs discussed in this article provide insight into the deep structural similarities in worldviews, cultures, and religions. The third article investigated the impacts of African worldviews on the lives of fifteen African RCC priests as they navigate their position as priests in congregations dominated by African cultural and belief systems. Pertinent Jungian constructs were used as lens to interpret the experiences of participants. African RCC priests’ dissonant cognitions about African worldviews versus Western worldviews produce discomfort. The participants attempted to hold onto African worldviews and merge these with RCC dogma. The outcome of this challenge was shown to be that priests live persona lifestyles. Most African RCC priest participants seemed to have in practice adopted a priestly mask thus portraying a persona that is incongruent to their inner convictions. They therefore tended to live double lives in an attempt to cope with the clashes between their African worldview and RCC dogma. Finally it is concluded that appreciating the power of worldviews as frames of understanding in which people learn to make meaning of themselves and their world is important in the post-modern context where people of different cultures interact. It is important to acknowledge and accept that worldviews are different but equal in value. Jung’s theory is proposed as providing a possible bridge between African and Western philosophies and practices.