BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND LIVED EXPERIENCE IN FORMATION MTh IN PRACTICAL THEOLOGY SR. D. T. MAFUTA SUPERVISOR: JOHANN-ALBRECHT MEYLAHN UNIVERSITIY OF PRETORIA i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i DECLARATION ii SUMMARY iii KEY WORDS iv CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM SETTING 1 1.1 Problem field 1 1.1.1 Origins of Religious Orders 8 1.1.2 Research Questions 11 1.2 Epistemological paradigm of research 12 1.3 Methodology 14 1.4 Literary Survey 15 1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE 19 1.5.1 Chapter One 19 1.5.2 Chapter two – Theory of Religious Life 19 1.5.3 Chapter Three – Experiences of brothers and sisters In temporary vows 19 1.5.4 Chapter Four – Formation Programme 19 1.5.5 Chapter Five – Conclusion 20 1.6 Summary 20 CHAPTER 2: THEORY ON RELIGIOUS FORMATION 21 2.1 Introduction 21 ii 2.2 Background on the two Orders 21 2.3 The Contextual Realities of the two Orders 29 2.4 The Novitiate and Religious Formation 30 2.5 Life according to the vowed life. 33 2.5.1 The vow of Celibacy and Chastity 33 2.5.2 The vow of Poverty 37 2.5.3 The vow to listen – Obedience 43 2.5.4 Community Life 47 2.5.5 Prayer Life 52 2.6 Ministry and Mission 55 2.7 Summary 59 CHAPTER 3: EXPERIENCES OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN TEMPORARY VOWS 60 3.1 Introduction 60 3.2 Bridging Novitiate learning with the experiential Religious living 61 3.3 Confronting Expectations 70 3.4 Statistical Reference for the questionnaire 73 Fig 1: Responses to questions 1 – 4 73 Fig 2: Responses to questions 5 – 8 74 Fig 3: Responses to questions 9 – 10 75 3.5 Experiences of Formators 75 iii 3.6 Provincials 79 3.7 Conclusions 82 CHAPTER 4 : FORMATION PROGRAMME 86 4.1 Introduction 86 4.2 Towards profound Transformation 86 4.4 Collaborating with the family of origin 103 4.5 Proposed Formation Programme 104 4.5.1 Postulancy (1 – 2 years) 104 4.5.1.1 Recommended films to watch at this stage 106 4.5.2 Novitiate 108 4.5.2.1 First Year Novitiate 108 4.5.2.2 Second Year Novitiate 110 4.5.2.3 Third Year Novitiate 112 4.6 Summary 114 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUDING THE FINDINGS 116 5.1 Introduction 116 5.2 What factors influence the ministerial stresses and and strains that are usually viewed as lack of an integrated life within the post novitiate programmes of the Holy Cross Sisters and the Dominican Fathers and Brothers? 116 5.3 What is it about the transition from the novitiate to living community life and ministry that challenges iv the brothers and sisters in their faithfulness to the values of the vowed life? 117 5.4 Does the understanding of being autonomous and living the vow of obedience contribute anything to the problem of living religious life with convictions? 117 5.5 How can the novitiate training and post novitiate training and post novitiate support help them to live happily? 118 5.6 Theology of hope for the brothers and sisters. 119 5.7 Limitations 120 5.8 Recommendations 120 BIBLIOGRAPHY 121 APPENDECES 129 Appendix A: Introductory letter and informed consent 129 Informed Consent 131 Appendix B: Interview questions for sisters and brothers 132 Appendix C: Interview questions for formators 134 Appendix D: Interview questions for provincial leaders 135 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude to Sr. Monica Madyembwa and her team for allowing me to risk taking up studies during my work in Formation. It was a leap of faith I never thought will come to reality. Preceding Sr. Monica were Sisters Marie Michelle Venter and Francis Grogan. Sr. Marie Michelle instilled the love for theology in me when she insisted of my taking it up. During her leadership term, Sr. Francis sent me to do Religious Formation studies as well as to train as a Spiritual Director. I want to thank all my formators to Religious life; most of whom are late for giving me the passion for being a Holy Cross Religious. A hearty thank you to the entire group of participants of this research who were open to take part in this project. Many thanks to Rev. Fr. Mafusire for encouraging me not to give up when I arrived in Chivi. I want to thank Rev. Fr. Jude Nnorom who continued to check up on my studies and suggesting the latest books that were available. A million thanks to Dr. Edmore Dube, who has gone through this work painstakingly, editing and correcting English and sometimes challenging me towards clarity. He did not give up at my slowness. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Professor Johann Meylahn for being a dedicated supervisor and for not giving up on me. vi DECLARATION I declare that the dissertation, BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND LIVED EXPERIENCE IN FORMATION, which I hereby submit for the degree programme at the University of Pretoria, is my own work and has not previously been submitted by me for a degree at another university. Where secondary material is used, it has been carefully acknowledged and referenced in accordance with University requirements, I am aware of the University's policy and implications regarding plagiarism. vii SUMMARY This research, which lies in the area of Practical Theology, examines the gap between theory and praxis among Holy Cross sisters and Dominican priests and brothers of the Roman Catholic Church in Southern Africa, with special reference to Zimbabwe and South Africa. It proposes scaffolds for better synthesis of theory and practice for the purposes of bridging what is learnt in the academy and the praxis requirements of mission and ministry. The major strain noted by this research is that of the out of context theology. The experiences of the post-novitiate brothers and sisters have shown that there is need for doing contextual theology, which enables the members to adapt to new situations and contexts without imposing imported theology and ideas on the faithful. The second strain has been that of an inadequate formation programme, which has incapacitated nuns and members of the clergy from fully practising their spiritual maternity and paternity in their ministries. The chasm between the inadequate theoretical formation in novitiate and the practical life of ministry and mission creates abrupt and unnerving hurdles for those in temporary vows. Lack of Catholic grounding also impedes smooth transitions between stages, and concerted efforts have to be made to address this problem. Whilst the vow of obedience has a strong aspect of listening from both African and Latin roots, there are times when the interpretation of the vow may be highly influenced by cultural contexts. This is true with regards personal expenditure of allowances. The research has also discovered that proficiency in inculturation and the use of African languages, values and perspectives could bring about the joy of being an African religious. It is also important that from the time the novices are introduced to the formation programme, they are made aware that they are called to be prophets who reach out to those on the margins of society. The proposed formation programme in Chapter Four has recommended more time in the novitiate, as well as gradual and ritualised exit, to cater for those who believe they leave novitiate prematurely. It also recommends the introduction of theology of hope. viii Key words Celibacy, consecration, Dominican, Holy Cross, obedience, poverty, practical theology, religious life, religious orders, vows ix CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM SETTING 1.1 Problem field This research examines the gap between theory and praxis among Holy Cross sisters and Dominican priests and brothers of the Roman Catholic Church in Southern Africa, with special reference to Zimbabwe and South Africa. Theory is taught as part of the Religious Formation of the two Religious Orders (Holy Cross sisters and Dominican priests and brothers) and praxis is the resultant behavioural change as a consequence of training observable after the final profession of vows (graduation). Put differently, this research evaluates the effectiveness/short comings of Religious Formation of the selected Religious Orders, noticeable in their rapport or otherwise, within their living and working communities to which they are deployed after completion of training. This study can safely be termed „action research‟, because the motivation behind this undertaking emanates from the researcher‟s duties as a formator (accompanier) under the Order of the Holy Cross sisters, with exposure to Dominican formation. Etymologically, the term formation comes from the Latin word “formare” which means “to mould”. In its present use in religious Orders, the term “formation” is used to describe the process that brings about a transformation in a man or woman who presents himself for religious training. The term captures the internal personal integration that leads to organising, reorganising and restructuring of oneself; a kind of metamorphosis mitigated by various experiences resulting from events, happenings and relationships. It is an integral process of growth that needs to integrate the heart and the mind for the person to be transformed into the final product intended by God (AOSK 2019).Religious formation is a “planned, guided learning experience of religious life with the intended learning outcomes under the auspices of personnel suite to the task of aiding and evaluating a candidate‟s continuous growth, personal, social and spiritual competence” (AOSK 2019: 3). The author has worked for over twenty years in that capacity of a “personnel suite,” generally called a formator (trainer), of those who presented themselves with the hope of consecrating their lives to God.