Book Review: Creation in “The Catechism of the Catholic Church”: A Basis for Catechesis in Post-Colonial Africa

Abstract

cultural view, the church reinforces it, teaching men that they are the sole authority in the home and instructing women to obey their husbands (84).Although the church has encouraged Africans to abandon their traditional religiosity and the government has ignored women's concerns, the Guild has established projects that speak for the voiceless (90). These include ministries to widows, orphans, the elderly, and the mentally ill. The Guild also offers counsel and advice to women of other churches. They strive to raise Christian awareness of the inequities of the status quo and seek to reestablish "the broken relationships in communities between men and women. So that we can have life in abundance" (96).Those activities of the Guild undergird Njoroge's constructive theology, which empowers women to move from victim to subject in Kenyan society. She builds that theology around a mindfulness of oppression, a growing solidarity among Christian women, and a willingness to speak and act. Upon these three prongs of resistance, the Guild encourages a transformation of society through group action. No longer seeing themselves as victims of societal and church oppression, women and men in the church move toward wholeness.This research into a woman's resistance movement in Kenya offers missiologists an example of the intricate interplay among societal problems, traditional religiosity, Christian mission influence, and gender issues. Exploring those connections and their impact on education, Christian theologies, and practices of resistance can suggest ways to overcome effects of cultural imperialism in other places where gender inequalities are supported by cultural norms and augmented by church practices.