A critical discernment of the image of God amongst the Black, urban, isiXhosa speaking Catholics within the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town, in relation to other sources of sacred power, in a context of on-going change.

Abstract

With view to a deeper appreciation of how the Xhosa Catholics within the Archdiocese of Cape Town have assimilated Catholicism, the thesis delimits this compound objective to the way in which the image of God has been appropriated by the urban amaXhosa, in relation to other sources of sacred power, a manageable scope for this paper. Pauw (1975) presents research on how the Xhosa have adopted Christianity, assisted by a substantial team of research assistants. Some Catholic researchers have contributed to religious-cultural analyses of indigenous Catholics in South Africa, but there is a research deficiency within the Cape Town environs due in part to the relatively smaller proportion of Black Catholics within this Archdiocese. These numbers have grown substantially with on-going migration from country to city. A qualitative questionnaire has been utilised as part of an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the image of God held by the Xhosa Catholics supplemented with a comprehensive literature review. The research discovers that there are a range of contenders for sacred power with which to cope with existential issues, not only ‘God’. Also, God exists no longer as a distant, awesome deity, represented as such in African Tradition. He now dominates the religious consciousness of the people. The ancestors have been displaced from their formerly dominant role but are still perceived as significant dispensers of sacred power. Christ’s image as God is overshadowed and he does not appear to command a pre-eminent, authoritative relationship with the congregants. The ancestors generally invite more deliberation than Christ. This depreciation of the Christ image critically undermines the Easter mystery, for the Catholic Church the pivotal episode of revelation. Catholic parishioners also patronise other sources of sacred power. The research results generally concur with literature, concluding that the qualitative impact of Christianity is found wanting. Lack of cultural awareness, and imperfect evangelization account for the partial realization of Christian mission. The Holy Spirit too has only been partially appropriated. Results highlight a significant Christological shortcoming, even crisis. Tlhagale (2018) adjudicates indigenous Christians to be closer to ATR than to Christianity. Strategies are proposed to address the challenges.