Fraternity Among the Shona and in Carmelite Tradition: An Assessment of its Meaning and Practice

Abstract

The Carmelite Order (O.Carm.) has spread to seven African countries, namely, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of  Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The evangelization of the peoples of Africa raises issues of continuity and  discontinuity, that is, what needs to endure in African conception, understanding and practice on the one hand and what needs to  be changed or overhauled. This article looks at the concept, experience and practice of fraternity as understood in the Bantu culture  of the Shona people of Zimbabwe and how this concept be given a revolutionary new life in its meeting with the Christian  Carmelite concept and experience of brotherhood. The article begins by analysing the concept of fraternity among the Shona, its  communication through socialization. It spells out the positive influence it has exerted on the Shona imagination but also points out  that a myopic view of fraternity can be detrimental to the wellbeing of communities and nations. Drawing on the positive  aspects of fraternity understood in an African culture, the concept and system of fraternity is given a new thrust when it is  onceived  through the lenses of the Regula of the Christian Carmelite spirituality. As the Order is projected to grow in Africa, it is important to reflect on  African experiences in the context of the newfound African identity in the consecrated life. The article is an exercise in the inculturation  of what is true and holy among African people’s heritage as they seek to give expression to an African Christianity.