An Analysis of Participative Structures in Selected Particular Churches in Eastern Africa in Light of the 1983 Code of Canon Law

Abstract

This thesis analyses participative structures in selected particular Churches in the AMECEA region and proposes some concrete means through which active participation of the Christian faithful may be fostered in the participative structures of these Churches. Structures of participation are means whereby a communio ecclesiology finds expression. The 1983 Code provides for a greater number of participative structures in a particular Church in order to reflect communio. This study focuses on five of these participative structures: the diocesan synod, the diocesan finance council, the presbyteral council, the college of consultors, and the diocesan pastoral council, treating their nature, purpose, composition, functions, and cessation. Pope Francis emphasizes the principle of synodality, a constitutive element of the Church, as offering the most appropriate interpretative framework for understanding the Church. For synodality to be a reality, there is an urgent need for the renewal of participative structures. Areas of renewal include: the training of bishops, presbyters, and the laity in servant-leadership skills; intensification of ongoing formation of presbyters; revamped seminary formation programmes based on the Ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, 2016; a greater use of the deliberative vote in participative structures; identifying the purposes of the participative structures and making the best use of them.