Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw
International Missiological Conference
9.06.2022 – online
Cycle title: Family in Africa yesterday and today
Leading theme: To Be Widow in Africa (Widowhood as Lost, Change of Status and Fatum)
The scale of widowhood in the world is enormous, as it is estimated that 8 to 13% of the population can be classified as such a condition. Furthermore, this condition in Africa mainly affects women, for example in South Africa 90% are widows and only 10% are widowers. This is explained by many factors. In countries where there are wars, mostly men die, leaving their wives with children. Most refugees in the world are women and children, including many widows. The custom of marrying older men to young girls causes the former to die leaving relatively young widows.
It turns out that widows are the most marginalized group in society. In addition to the loneliness and grief directly related to the death of her husband, they are gripped by a terrifying anxiety about the future. Her social status was based on the status of her husband. After his death, a woman has to fight for it all over again. She often loses the home that is occupied by her husband’s family, is deprived of custody of her children, and is sometimes sent back to her own family. Sometimes she is forced to remarry, accused of witchcraft, and deprived of the means of subsistence, she has to beg in order to survive.
There are stereotypes about Africa that are rarely true but are wishful myths. Most widows, it is said, are old women with grown-up children; they can receive financial and emotional support from the extended family because the system guarantees the widow access to family income; the children, mostly sons, provide financial security for the widowed mothers; and when widows remarry within the husband’s extended family, they need not worry about anything. Things, however, are not as simple as they seem. Each of these statements needs to be relativized and their conditions pointed out. In today’s Africa, more than half of the population lives in cities, where family ties are weakened and the precariat is unable to feed the extra people in the family.
The questions we want to discuss at the conference relate to the concept of widowhood in its broadest sense. First and foremost will be the various forms of mourning: rituals, prohibitions and orders, time, and the compulsion to follow traditions. What rituals must a widow go through in order to free herself from the danger of being tarnished by her deceased husband and to sanction her separation from him? Do these rituals also apply to city dwellers? How long does the mourning last and what ceremonies are provided for its conclusion?
Under this section related to rituals, a series of questions must be raised concerning the future of the widow. Here we will distinguish between older widows, i.e. those who have passed the menopausal period, and younger widows who can potentially still bear children. Is the so-called „levirate” system compulsory in the community? Are older widows isolated? Does the widow get to choose her future partner within the extended family? Who will support her children from her first marriage if she refuses to remarry? What will be her position among her future husband’s spouses? Is the widow entitled to inherit the house and land after her husband’s death? If she remains alone with her children, will her husband’s family support her? Is there a stigma attached to widowhood? Are there church institutions to support widows? To what extent do pastors come to the aid of widows in terms of material and spiritual assistance?
The issue of widowhood is rarely addressed. It would seem that in Africa, everything is regulated by tradition. However, when one looks closer, widowhood, especially in the cities, is a very painful loss associated with loneliness, lack of livelihood and an uncertain future.
11.30-13.00 Prowadzący/Chair: Ks. dr hab. Tomasz Szyszka, prof. UKSW
Ks. dr hab. Wojciech Kluj, prof. UKSW (President of International Association of Catholic Missiologists), Otwarcie konferencji / Opening of the conference
Ks. prof. dr hab. Kazimierz Lubowicki (PWT Wrocław), Biskupi afrykańscy na synodzie poświęconym rodzinie
Zdzisław Struzik (UKSW), Status wdowy i wdowieństwo w nauczaniu Jana Pawła II
Jarosław Różański (UKSW), Status wdowy i wdowieństwa w tradycji Kirdi (północny Kamerun)
13.15-14.45 Prowadzący/Chair: Bogusław Zero MA
Fr. Dr. Marcel Mukadi SDS (Jordan University College, Tanzania), Widowhood in the Church as Family in Africa: Shift of pastoral paradigm
Fr. Dr. Jacek Gorka OFM (Jordan University College, Tanzania), Widowhood in Tanzania: Element of a cultural stagnancy
Fr. Louis Mbuyeh (UKSW), Widowhood in Cameroon Yesterday and Today: The Impact of Church in the Alleviation of the Plight of Widows
15.00-16.30 Prowadzący/Chair: Ks. dr hab. Wojciech Kluj, prof. UKSW
Fr. Polycarp Opio (UKSW), The Concept of Widowhood and wife inheritance in the Lango Culture, Uganda.
Fr. Dr Constantine Rupiny (UKSW), The Plights of Widows in Alur (Lwo) Society of Uganda
Fr. Prof. Faustin Nyombayire (L’Université de Technologie et des Arts de Byumba – UTAB, Rwanda), Le lévirat dans la culture du Rwanda traditionnel : d’une pratique coutumière à une éthique de solidarité responsable