










































i 

Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 
 
 
 
 
 

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference 
Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria 

(March 18th – 20th, 2020) 
 
 
 
 

Editors 
Gregory OGBENIKA and Francis IKHIANOSIME 



ii 

Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century,  
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of the  
Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. 
Copyright © Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma, 2021 
 
 
Floreat Systems Publications 
 
 
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively 
licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is 
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of 
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms, or in any 
other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, 
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar 
methodology now known, or hereafter developed. 
 
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademark, service 
marks, etc., in this publication, does not imply, even in the absence of a 
specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective 
laws and regulations and, therefore, free for general use. 
 
The Publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the device 
and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date 
of publication. Neither the Publisher nor the authors nor the editor gives a 
warranty, express or implied, concerning the materials contained herein, or 
for any errors or omissions that have been made. 
 
The ideas contained herein are not necessarily those of the editor(s), but 
those of the author(s). 
 
ISBN 
 
 
 
Printed in Nigeria by:  
Floreat Systems,  
30 Airport Road, Benin City,  
Edo State. 
 
 
 



iii 

 

CONTENTS 
 

Acknowledgements viii 
 
Editorial Foreword x  
 
Welcome Address to all the Participants of the  
2nd International Conference 
Very Rev. Fr. Matthew Ihensekhien, Ph.D. xiii 
 
Opening Address:  Formation of the Human Person  
For Priestly Ministry in the 21st Century 
Most Rev. Dr. Francis Obafemi Adesina, Bishop of Ijebu-Ode xv 
 
Keynote Address: Priestly Formation in the 21st Century: New  
Trends and Perspectives 
Most Rev. Dr. Michael Odogwu Elue, Bishop of Issele-Uku xix 
 

Commissioned Papers 
 

1. Let the Real Feyerabend Please Stand: Interrogating the  
Ontological Basis for a Post-Modernist Epistemology of the  
Human Person 
Prof. Isaac E. Ukpokolo 1 
 
2. What Sayest Thou of Thyself? Some Remarks on the  
Entanglement of life and Narration and its Ethical Implications  
for the Philosophical Canon. 
Bjorn Freter, Ph.D 12 
 

Section 1: 

Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives 

and Seminary Formation 
 

3. Hermeneutic of Continuity and Theological Formation 
Francis ‘Kunle Adedara, STL, Ph.D 21 
 
4. Formation in Ritual Studies: Towards a Better Appreciation  
of Catholic Sacramental System 
Olumuyiwa Anthony Omodunbi 36 



iv Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

5. Priestly Vocation and Discernment: Espousing the  
Gamalian Approch in Spiritual Formation 
Peter Ajayi Wojuaye 57 
 
6. The Relevance of Experiential Knowledge of Jesus  
in Seminary Formation in the Light of John 14:1-14 
Vincent Ojo, Ph.D 74 
 
7. The Blindness of Material Wealth in Mark 10:17-27:  
A Lesson for the Seminarian of the 21st Century. 
Rex Osagie, MTH 86 
 
8. Discernment in the Formation of Future Priests in a  
Transition Period: An Examination of the Vocation of  
Samuel (1 Sam. 3: 1-10) 
Michael Sola Omojola, STD 98 
 
9. Faith, Formation, and Vocation- Any Link? 
Amuluche-Greg. Nnamani, Ph.D 121 
 
10. Priestly Identity and New Evangelization: Resolving  
Deficits in Priestly Identity through Authentic Patrology. 
Clement Ajibolade 136 
 
11. Harnessing our Resources for the Formation of Seminarians 
to the Priesthood in the Post-Modern Age 
Peter Egbe, Ph.D 148 
 
12. The Principles of Formation of Candidates for the  
Catholic Priesthood in Optatam Totius, Pastores Dabo Vobis, and  
Ratio Fundamentalis Institionis Sacerdotalis as Paradigmatic of  
Human Formation. 
Anthony O. Igbekele, SLS, SLD 165 
 
13. The Dialectics of Auto-Guided Formation: The  
Seminarian as an Agent of Formation 
Anselm K. Jimoh, Ph.D 183 
 
14. Formation to the Priesthood: Forming the Formators 
Edwin N.Omorogbe, Ph. D 194 
 
 



 Contents    v 

15. Promoting a Seminary Formation that is Continuous  
with the Priestly Ministry 
Idahosa Amadasu, Ph.D 207 
 
16. Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration and the  
Movement of Peoples 
Prof. Anthony Kanu, Mike Bazza, Ph.D and  
Immaculata Omojola, Ph.D. 219 
 
 

Section 2: 

Philosophical Perspectives and  

Human Formation 
 
17. Man, Religion and Philosophy: Towards a Normative  
Vision of the Human Person 
Anthony Ifechukwude Akalue 229 
 
18. Husserlian ‘Epoche’ and the Expansion of  
Human Knowledge 
Sylvester Idemudia Odia, Ph.D. 247 
 
19. An Ethical Appraisal of the Family as an Agent of  
Priestly Formation in Africa 
Gregory Ebalu Ogbenika, Ph.D and Gideon Adeniji 255 
 
20. Personhood and Formation: A Philosophical  
Insight from African Perspective 
Francis Fabidun 270 
 
21. A Philosophical Inquiry on the Place of Virtue  
Ethics in Human Formation for the Catholic Priesthood  
in the 21st Century. 
Williams Olorunfemi Aso, Ph.D. 284 
 
22. Sex Slavery as Dehumanisation: A contextual Appraisal  
in Martin Buber’s Dialogic Approach. 
Benedict Egbuchunam 298 
 
23. What Can a Woman Know? Epistemic Bias as  
Depersonalisation. 
Francis Eshemomoh Ikhianosime 312 



vi Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

24. The Human Person in Yoruba Culture and Philosophy 
Prof. Anthony Kanu, Immaculate Omojola, Ph.D and  
Mike Bazza, Ph.D 327 
 

Section 3:  

Religious/ Socio-cultural Perspectives and  

Human Formation. 
 
25. Religion and Human Values: An Inquisition of the  
Afro-centric Imperative 
Prof. John Afiagbokhai Onimhawo and  
Cyril Osilama Adamu, Ph.D 337 
 
26. Human Formation, Religion and Violence: A Critical  
Analysis of an Unholy Alliance 
John Segun Odeyemi, Ph.D 356 
 
27. Formation of the Christian Youth and its Implication  
on Integral Development in the Nigerian Society 
Prof. Felix Ehimare Enegho 370 
 
28. The Concept of Sacrifice in Yoruba Religion and Culture 
Prof. Anthony Kanu, Immaculata Omojola, Ph.D  
and Mike Bazza, Ph.D 383 
 
29. The Relevance of the Study of African Traditional  
Religion in the Theological Formation of Seminarians Today 
Chris Obi, Ph.D 391 
 
30. Islam and the Formation of Catholic Priests in Nigeria 
Emmanuel Ukpebor 407 
 
31. Impact of Migration on Women and Children 
Prof. Anthony Kanu, Immaculata Omojola, Ph.D  
and Mike Bazza, Ph.D 419 
 
32. Formation of the Youth and its Implication on National 
Development 
Christopher Osamede Osawaru 432 
 
 
 



 Contents    vii 

33. The Religious Roles on Youth Development in  
National Development 
Chikodi Josiah Wachukwu, Ph.D 451 
 
34. Impact of Religion on Societal Value Development 
Chikodi Josiah Wachukwu, Ph.D 463 
 
35. Formation of the Youth and its Implication for  
National Development. 
Praise Korie 475 
 
36. Seminary Formation and Modern Means of  
Communication: Issues and Possibilities 
Hilary Oseabulu Odenore, Ph.D 487 
 
37. Women in Yoruba Religion and Culture 
Prof. Anthony Kanu, Immaculata Omojola, Ph.D  
and Mike Bazza, Ph.D 504 
 
Communique of the Conference 511 
 
 
 



viii 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 

here are many people worthy of thanks both for the success of 
the 2nd International Conference held at the Seminary of All 
Saints Uhiele-Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria, as well as for the 

publication of this book. The Second International Conference of the 
Seminary was organized at an auspicious time of the 25th anniversary of 
the Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. Hence, we begin our 
appreciation to God Almighty for His sustenance and blessings for the 
past twenty-five years. We also thank God for the success of the 2nd 
International Conference which was held from March 18th- 20th, 2020. 
 We owe immense thanks to our Proprietors, the Archbishops and 
Bishops of the Lagos, Benin and Ibadan Ecclesiastical Provinces, for their 
overwhelming support and encouragement these past years. We are 
unreservedly thankful especially to Most Rev. Dr. Donatus Ogun, OSA, 
the Bishop of Uromi where our Seminary is domiciled. We thank him 
for declaring the Ceremony opened. We are similarly thankful to the 
Most Rev. Dr. Francis Adesina, the Bishop of Ijebu-Ode for his inspiring 
opening address at the Conference. In the same vein, we thank 
exceedingly, the Most Rev. Dr. Michael Odogwu Elue, the Bishop of 
Issele-Uku and Chairman of our Seminary’s Commission for giving the 
keynote address at the conference. 
 We also thank our dynamic Rector, the Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Matthew 
Ihensekhien, whose leadership has seen the realization of some of these 
great feats, especially this conference. The same goes to the cohesive 
community of Formators whose useful suggestions and collaboration 
were instrumental to the success of both the Conference and this book. 

We thank, in no small measure, the Commissioned Speakers: 
Prof. Isaac Ukpokolo of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Agatha Eguavoen 
of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and Dr. Bjorn Freter, an 
Independent Scholar from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of 
America for their informed contribution and participation at the 
conference. We also thank other participants, from within and outside 
Nigeria for their robust thoughts and informed contribution to the 
theme of the conference. We thank all the various professors from 
different institutions who helped to facilitate different sessions at the 
conference and who helped to moderate some of the papers which have 
been published in this volume.  

We are also thankful to the following for their roles towards 
putting this conference proceeding together, Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael 

T 



 Acknowledgements    ix 

Omojola, the Chairman of the Silver Jubilee, the Chairman and 
Secretary of the 2nd International Conference, Rev. Fr. Dr. Gregory 
Ogbenika and Rev. Fr. Francis Ikhianosime respectively. We also thank 
Mr. Fashanu Emmanuel for his immense assistance during the editorial 
process of this work.  To God be the glory for making the conference 
and this publication possible. 
 
Editors. 



x 

 
 

EDITORIAL FOREWORD 
 

he 21st Century is markedly identified by great discoveries in 
science and technology that it has christened as the age of 
information technology. Regardless of the advancement of 

knowledge in this century with mind-blowing discoveries like electric, 
driverless cars, cryptocurrency, 3D technologies and e-technologies like 
e-readers and e-cigarettes, the human person instead of advancing, is 
palpably and grossly undermined. While there is so much advancement 
in human reason which is meant to bring about a better place and dignity 
for the human person, paradoxically, the cost of the human person is 
more cheapened more than ever.  The scandal of technological 
advancement is that, the rise in human knowledge has not brought about 
a better quality of life and a more secured world of the human person. 
Rather, the world has become more perilous. More and more, the 
purpose of man is diminished. 

For instance, in Nigeria, we hear of harrowing experiences which 
not only diminish respect for human life, but also completely obliterate 
respect for the human dignity and person. There are daily orgies of 
violence and savagery brutality to the human person. Francis 
Ikhianosime captures the sad account and contempt for human life in 
Nigeria in the following words: “The human person has been pillaged 
from every side in Nigeria. The news of bloodbath occasioned from cult 
actions and restive youth violence, through to the chequered insurgency 
of Boko Haram insurgency and with its unbridled carnages, a 
smouldering band of herdsmen who maim and kill with reckless 
abandon and sometimes plunder an entire community without 
apprehension, broad-day marauding armed robbery and gory scenes of 
police brutality with heart-wrenching scenes and barbarity, sporadic 
mob-action of youths against perceived criminals, intermittent ethnic 
violence with sometimes unthinkable and profound bestiality on others, 
human life in Nigeria is simply brutish and short. The cost of human life 
is obviously on a deficit. Nigeria has become a charged zoned of 
violence. The respect for the human person and dignity is at a 
contemptible ebb in Nigeria” (Francis Ikhianosime, “The Word of God 
and the Sanctity of Human life in Nigeria”, Manual for National Laity 
Council, 2020).  These experiences mirror the overall challenges to the 
human person globally.  

T 



 Editorial Foreword    xi 

The consequent effect is that the human person today feels more 
disintegrated, claustrophobic and small. Man, more than ever before, is 
in need of meaning. The search for meaning has led many back to God 
through religion. While some have argued that part of the pillaging of the 
human person is the politicisation of religion, and so religion has no 
place in reclaiming the human person, others, think, religion remains a 
vehicle for reclaiming the place of man and his purpose in the world. 
Arguably, the cost and value of man has been lost, hence, there is the 
need to redefine what it means to be human in the 21st Century. The 
issues are axiological, philosophical and even theological. There is need 
for a reappreciation of the Human Person in the world of today and only 
a transvaluation of values can help. This task is imminent and onerous, 
hence, the focus on the Formation of the Human Person in the 21st 
Century in our conference.  

Why this topic is so important is because, at the centre of any 
authentic value or quality, would be human formation. In priestly 
formation, Human formation holds the pride of being the pivot for all 
other aspects of fomation. If the human person is not well formed, every 
other formation including, the spritual, pastoral or intellectual would be 
resting on a jaundiced foundation. Therefore, the need to have a 
thorough human formation not just for priestly formation, but for all 
human members of the society is at the heart of reclaiming the soul of 
the human person in the world of today. If there is a proper formation of 
the human person, the values of life, peace and a healthy environment 
would be sustained. Once, there is a proper formation of the human 
person, then, man can properly see all those ways that debases him in the 
society, and seek ways to reclaiming it. This is the attraction to the appeal 
for the formation of the Human person in the 21st Century. 

This volume covers contributions on the subject matter. The papers 
presented at the conference which largely have been edited and 
rearranged according to special sections cover ecclesiastical/theological 
perspectives and seminary formaton, philosophical perspectives and   
human formation and then, religious/socio-cultural perspective and 
human formation. The issues discussed generally oscillate on the need to 
reposition the human person to his rightful place in the world. They, 
generally seek to draw on normative views of the human person which 
will bring about right living and peaceful and cohesive existence amongst 
all humans. A large part of contributions have devoted attention to 
seminary formation, since the Seminary, being a formation house, aims 
to train people who would be leaders and leaven in a sin-sick world. The 
keynote address and opening addresses set the tone for the conversation, 
while, the commissioned papers also further inspired new insight for this 
conversation. Other contributions, have approach the subject matter 



xii Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

from different sides, bring about a beautiful tapestry of rich resources on 
the subject matter, which we have here handy in this volume. In all, 
these papers offer theoretical basis for a reclaiming of the place of man in 
the 21st Century. 

 
 
Gregory Ogbenika and Francis Ikhianosime. 
Editors 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



xiii 

RECTOR’S WELCOME ADDRESS TO THE 

PARTICIPANTS OF THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL 

CONFERENCE HELD AT THE SEMINARY OF ALL 

SAINTS, UHIELE-EKPOMA-NIGERIA, FROM 18TH–
20TH MARCH, 2020, WITH THE THEME 

“FORMATION OF THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE 

21ST CENTURY” 

n behalf of the All Saints family, I warmly and respectfully 
welcome our highly-esteemed Bishops, distinguished guests, 
participants, each and all of you, to our Seminary, the Seminary 

of All Saints in Uhiele-Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria and to this 2nd 
International Conference, which has as its theme “Formation of the 
Human Person in the 21st Century”. You are here at a time of joy and 
celebration in the Seminary. Indeed, we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of 
our existence (1995-2020) both as a religious and an academic 
institution. So relax, celebrate and rejoice with us.  

Now, why did the Seminary decide to celebrate and discuss at the 
same time an issue of great complexity like human formation? Why did 
the Seminary decide to reflect on the formation and moulding of the 
human person to become Christlike and Christocentric?  What are the 
nature, contents, challenges of the relations and roles that both the 
Church and the State play in human formation?  

We have noticed that despite the fact that the famous Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations 
General Assembly at its third session on 10th December 1948 and later 
signed into law, the human person remains threatened in the world of 
today. The geometrical advancement in science and technology, which 
ordinarily should have been at the service of man, seems to practically 
make the human person a slave, unsafe and satisfied with the erosion of 
standards. The free market economics which have grown triumphant 
with the demise of communism, poverty, etc. have contributed to the 
erosion of values and making people live an unbearable life that 
unceasingly chips away on their dignity. The human person is a 
psychosomatic, theoandric entity with infinite capabilities, yet limited 
and laced with inherent crises. Today, this human person is at a cross-
road on account of some emerging challenging trends like individualism, 

O 



xiv Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

post-modernism, relativism, materialism, loss of the sense of the sacred, 
etc. 

In the face of all these, there is the urgent need to evaluate the 
formation of the Human today, in our world, in our church. No wonder 
Gaudium et spes announced the need for a new birth of humanism: “A 
new humanism where man is defined before all else by his responsibility 
to his brothers and at the court of history” (GS 55). Truly the human 
person should be formed in such a way that all things on earth should be 
ordained to his centre and summit. In a sense, the human person is the 
pivot of history, the climax, the chief actor on the theatre of world 
history and the contact point between the past, present and the future. 
The human person is superior to the order of things, but remains their 
unifying factor and their crown 

So, this is one reason why, as the Seminary rejoices and celebrates 
25 years of existence as an ecclesiastical institution, she has chosen, also, 
to call together scholars of repute from Church, State and other 
institutions to reflect on the theme of the formation of the Human 
Person. It is my hope that this Conference would be able to address this 
theme and its attending questions in some significant ways. It is hoped 
that by the end of this International Conference, we would have 
enriched ourselves and acquired better views for Human Formation, 
which we can adopt, hopefully, in our various institutions, which we 
represent, and humanity will be better served as a result by all of us. I 
wish all of us exciting and purposeful deliberations. 

Once again, I welcome you to this 2nd International Conference in 
our Seminary and may God bless your stay here. Amen. 

 
Very Rev. Fr. Matthew IHENSEKHIEN, Ph.D. 
Rector 
March 18, 2020 
 
 

 



xv 

OPENING ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 

CONFERENCE, MOST REV. FRANCIS OBAFEMI 

ADESINA, BISHOP OF IJEBU-ODE DIOCESE.  

FORMATION OF THE HUMAN PERSON FOR PRIESTLY 
MINISTRY IN 21st CENTURY NIGERIA 

 
Historical Context 

he 21st Century is complex, sophisticated, ‘global’, ‘fast’ and 
amazingly interconnected. It is a world that questions: It is 
curious and challenges even age long traditional institutions, 

structures and beliefs. There seems to be an unrelenting battle by many 
forces, for the soul and heart of the 21st Century world. 

On one end of the spectrum are matters of technology, ecology, 
morality, and faith. On the other end are challenges of violence, crime, 
and extremism, all intricately parked at the core of the 21st Century. The 
tale of the world today is a paradox of two polar realities; of pain and 
progress. There is the reality of poverty, slavery, lack, disasters, terrorism, 
environmental collapse, religious fanaticism and the culture of death 
(abortion, suicide and assisted suicide). There is also the reality of 
populism, climate change, technological advancement, data revolution, 
rapacious interest in expanding communication, commerce, adventure, 
and high speed social-media interaction. 

The 21st century is a world where there is a widening gap between 
the rich and the poor, exponential population increase, discontent with 
traditional faith-structures (especially among young people), religious 
bigotry, political impasse, nepotism, corruption, issues of national unity 
(in the case of Nigeria, even after 106 years of amalgamation). A world of 
increasing craze for prosperity, intense love for material possessions, 
liberalism, subtle exclusion of God from social life, redefinition of 
human sexuality, radically changing family structures, economic and 
cyber warfare, multicultural expansionism, etc. 

It is in this polarized world that the Church continues to minister. It 
is in this ‘confused’ milieu that the Catholic priest is called to witness 
with unchanging values and graces of the gospel to the ever evolving, 
discontent and disparaging world. With all these happening, the 21st 
Century mindset poses a grave danger, if untamed, to traditional 
institutions including the Church. There is a possibility that the Church 
may become ‘5,000 miles wide in size, but only 5 inches deep in faith’. 

T 



xvi Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

There is a temptation to replace quality with quantity, to replace value 
with number, depth with size, and content with package. 

It is therefore pertinent and wise to review and evaluate the processes 
and overall mode of priestly formation in this Century in the face of 
global and local realities that have become part of society in the 21st 
Century. As Church with a unique mandate to witness to the gospel in 
Nigeria and beyond, it is even more apt for us to consider the realities of 
the 21st Century and the challenges that human formation for the priestly 
ministry faces or is bound to face. Constant prayerful evaluation of our 
processes and mode of training is necessary for us to respond to the 
needs of our time. It is also very important for formation of priests in 
Nigeria to be constantly juxtaposed with the standards the Church has 
set for priestly training. We need to ask and constantly confirm that what 
we are doing and how we are doing it, is what and how the Church 
wants it done. 

 
Human Formation of Candidates to the Sacred Priesthood 
According to the Church. 

From Optatam Totius and Prebyterorun Ordinis of Vatican II to Patores 
Dabo Vobis of St. John Paul II and to the New Ratio Fundamentalis 
Instutionis Sacerdotalis — “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation” of Pope 
Francis, the Council fathers and all Church documents emphasize the 
importance and centrality of Human formation. It is the foundation of all 
priestly formation. Human formation promotes the integral growth of 
the person and allows the integration of all its dimensions - physical, 
psychological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. The objective of 
human formation is to achieve a mature and balanced personality. To use 
the Word of Pope Francis, Human Formation is to transform “the uncut 
diamonds” of the formatees, patiently and carefully, respecting their 
conscience, so that they may shine among the People of God" 

As we all know that every human person grows within the context of 
a community. The family is the first place for the formation of the 
human person. Family bonds are very essential for reinforcing healthy 
self-esteem and balanced personality. It is within the context of a healthy 
family that a healthy priestly or religious vocation is being nurtured. 

The family referred to as the domestic Church is expected to 
inculcate earliest form of formation into every child. Simple acts of 
prayer, reverence for the sacred and respect for moral laws are first 
learned in the family. The child receives baptism from the Church and 
proceeds to further understand the faith through catechesis. Having 
completed the sacraments of initiation, a child who is called to the 
priesthood or religious life would begin the priestly training in the 
Seminary. 



 Opening Address by Most Rev. Francis Obafemi Adesina    xvii 

From my personal experience of being a formator in a major 
seminary, I have come to the conclusion that when the Christian family 
is healthy, good vocations emerge. After all, some of the deadly traits we 
notice in some seminarians are defects resulting from family set-up or 
societal backgrounds: Aversion for Truth telling; irresponsible life style; 
lack of commitment; sexual immaturity and abuses, mistrust of authority 
and disconnection from and discontent with the teaching, directive or 
spirituality of the Church, etc. 

 According to the 2nd Vatican Council, “Priestly training should aim 
at the development of a system of training for the proper degree of 
human maturity, stability of character, ability to make carefully weighted 
decisions, sound judgment of events and people, self control, strength of 
character and those good qualities proper to Christ's minister- sincerity, 
constant love of justice, fidelity to one’s promises, courtesy in deeds, 
modesty and charity in speech.” 

It is therefore required that the Seminary undertakes a careful, 
vigilant enquiry of every student with due consideration for age and 
development. The Seminary should discern the motive, freedom of 
choice, aptitude for undertaking the obligations of the priestly life 
(pastoral, ecclesial, canonical), as well as the spiritual, moral, and 
intellectual adequacy of every seminarian. Those not suited to the 
ministry are to be guided with fatherly kindness without derailing from 
the universal call to Christian Vocation. 

The priestly formation in the 21st century Nigeria must therefore 
take seriously the discernment of vocation of seminarians in order to 
ascertain that, their values and motivation for the priesthood are not 
identical with the average gospel peddler who simply wants to be 
prosperous. The Seminary and the Dioceses must do more to confirm 
that seminarians love only what the Church prescribes and follows what 
the Church teaches. 

The agenda for the priesthood has never been and will never be 
about owning exotic cars; clothes, shoes, I-phones; nor about comfort, or 
"lucrative places of assignment.” Rather, it is about service, prayer, 
penance, sacrifice and salvation of souls. The ultimate life sacrifice of 
Late Sr. Henrietta ALOKHA, SSH at the recent pipe-line explosion in 
Abule-Ado shows the courage c: a true shepherd, who would not 
abandon the flock in moment of danger. 

On 9th May, 2019, Pope Francis promulgated a Motu Proprio, Vos 
estis lux mundi (You are the Light of the World) which establishes new 
procedural norms to combat sexual abuse and to ensure that bishops and 
religious superiors are very well accountable for their attitude and 
approach to the handling of cases of sexual abuse. In the light of this new 
development, it will be a great disservice to the Church and a grave error, 



xviii Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

if seminarians are ill-prepared to respond and handle the broad scope of 
sexual abuse issues (including the attendant legal and ecclesiastical 
sanctions therewith). 

Priestly formation we offer in the 21st Century in our Seminaries 
should afford seminarians specific, direct, consistent, holistic and 
versatile education on the dangers and implication of sexual abuse. They 
should be guided to avoid it or any semblance of it. Furthermore, 
Seminarians should be educated on measures on protecting themselves 
even from possible allegations and to shun any kind of behaviour that 
may illicit concern on this matter, or that may question the integrity of 
the Church. It is foolhardy to think that Sexual abuse issues is a matter 
for Europe and not an African problem as some tend to think. 
Candidates for the priesthood should be aware of the dangers and 
complexities of sexual abuse; so they can dispose themselves to escape 
the damages that sexual abuse brings 

 
Conclusion 

The Church in Nigeria needs priests who can engage the world with 
the values of the Kingdom; priest who can transform the present order 
with the powerful message of Christ, We need priests who can preach 
the word of God with zeal and enthusiasm and conviction, priests who 
can meditate an the word of God, priests who can lead in vocal prayers 
with power from heaven. We need priests who can celebrate the 
Sacraments with faith and action, not with some mechanical, cold, and 
depressing demeanor. We need priests who can engage the people of 
God and make them believe they have all the answers in the Catholic 
Church, so that they do not need to look for answers elsewhere 

The Church m Nigeria needs priests, who know what they are 
doing, who can defend the faith. We need priests who can manage their 
emotions and sexuality. We need priests who are not ruled by anger, 
bitterness, or malice. We need priests who are not always on their "high-
horses’. We need priests who can relate with confidence and charity 
towards all men, Christians, Muslims, and Traditionalists alike. We need 
good, happy, efficient, holy, loyal, hardworking, and compassionate 
priests. We need priests like Christ. This is the task of the Seminary at 
this time in Nigeria, it is a great task but it is not impossible. All of us 
must do our part by giving our best to Christ and his Church We must 
pay more attention to every aspect of human formation, because the 
times are changing, demands are higher, and the stake is grave. 

 
+ Most Rev. Francis Obafemi ADESINA 
Bishop of Ijebu-Ode 



xix 

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY MOST. REV. DR. MICHAEL 

ODOGWU ELUE BISHOP OF ISSELE-UKU DIOCESE 

PRIESTLY FORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: 
NEW TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES 

 

Your Excellencies 
Monsignori 
Rev. Fathers 
Rev. Brothers and Sisters 
My dear Brothers and Sisters 
 

I stand before you as the representative of the Cardinal, the Archbishops 
and Bishops of the three Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lagos, Ibadan and 
Benin City, who are the proprietors of the Seminary of All Saints, the 
venue of this Jubilee International Conference on “PRIESTLY 
FORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: NEW TRENDS AND 
PERSPECTIVE”. In their names, I welcome you all very warmly to our 
Country, to our Provinces and particularly to the only Seminary in 
Nigeria, which has the whole host of Angels and Saints in heaven as her 
Patrons and Patronesses.  

On behalf of our Three Provinces, I express my gratitude to you all 
for having chosen this Seminary that is located in our Province and is 
marking her 25 years of existence here, as the venue for this all important 
gathering and to discuss this equally important topic and I hope that you 
will all experience the rare but real hospitality offered by the Community 
of Saints. As you know, while the Saints in heaven guide us, those of us 
here in this Seminary or those who have anything to do with it, have 
direct admission to the Community of Saints later in heaven. I also hope 
that the sharing of views and ideas and celebrations which will take place 
amongst us will not only be an expression of the solidarity which is 
characteristic of the Christian family, but also a significant step forward 
in our mission to function optimally and updatedly in the most 
important task of forming young men for the sacred Priesthood. 

The business of the Seminary is to form good Catholic men for the 
ministerial priesthood. The task of seminary Formators is to ensure that 
candidates were thoroughly grounded in theological truths and priestly 
spirituality with clear expectations in terms of doctrinal orthodoxy, 
liturgical celebration, pastoral ministry and priestly spirituality with an 
eye to the vicissitudes and vagaries of the time and place. The 



xx Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

preoccupation of the Formators in the Seminary is how to form the 
seminarians for optimum efficiency and pastoral effectiveness as priests. 
The zealous and dedicated Formators, therefore, are constantly in search 
of enhanced and updated software to carry out this duty satisfactorily.  

Such Conference as for which we are gathered and such themes as 
are to be considered, are some of those serious efforts that the Formators 
in the Seminary make to maintain their relevance and utility and to be 
sure that they are operating at the highest level with updated 
functionality. These efforts in the Seminary by Formators in the 
Seminary, whose conditions of service are not the best in the world, are 
what convince the Proprietors of the Seminary and the Church generally 
that the Formators in the Seminary are people who believe what they 
teach, namely, that the reward for every good work and even for every 
genuine effort, is in heaven.   

My opinion about how to proceed in this matter is to look at the 
topic of this Conference very well and relativize the concepts very well to 
put us face to face with what the crux of the matter is. While the 
formation of the Catholic Priests has the same objective, the context, 
time, and methods for doing it have continued to change. 

 Now, let me attempt a relativization of the concepts of New 
Trends and Perspectives. Every difficulty is relative to the person who 
has it. From the beginning of Christianity until now, there have always 
been Challenges which generations after generations of Christians have 
had to face. And as we all know, the time of their facing these challenges 
was their contemporary society, their 21st century. So, it is not really an 
excuse to appeal either to challenges or to contemporary society for our 
inability to carry out and carry on this important function of the 
formation of our seminarians and priests. 

Let me cite this example to buttress this relativity of challenges and 
contemporary society that I am talking about. My grandmother, who was 
born probably about 1887, has, as a name which she was given when she 
was 4days old “Uwa Ebihue” (the world has changed). If we were to judge 
them by our own standards now, we would ask “what would they have 
seen at that time to be giving that kind of name?” But in relation to their 
own time and space, they observed novelties that surprised them. They 
saw challenges in relation to what they used to know and what they used 
to see and so they gave the name and among us here names have 
meaning. 

My argument is that it is not more difficulty being a Christian now 
than it was for the Christians of Asia Minor whom, while Peter was 
addressing them, reminded them that they were not to be taken aback by 
the fiery ordeals that they were going through as though something 
strange was happening to them (ref. 1 Pet 4:12-14). And a little later, he 



 Keynote Address by Most Rev. Dr. Michael Odogwu Elue    xxi 

told them to bear in mind that their brothers all over the world are 
suffering the same thing (ref. 1 Pet 5:9). So, I believe, as St. Paul advises, 
that we should just work out our salvation within the context where we 
find ourselves (Phil 2:12). For, after all, even though this present age may 
be a wicked one, our lives should redeem it (ref. Eph 5:16; Col 4:5-6). 

And so while nobody could have imagined that the usage or non-
usage of the mobile phones and laptop computers were issues to be 
talked about in the formation team meeting during the time of Late 
MSGR Pedro Martins days in the Seminary, or even in the days of this 
young Bishop Elue in the Seminary, now, in this 21st century, not to take 
advantage of these updated software for priestly formation would cause 
injury to the integrity, comprehensiveness and the updated functionality 
of both the Seminary as an institution and Formators as conscientious 
labourers in it. 

I, who am an elder myself, according to St. Peter, have this duty to 
forewarn the Formators in the Seminary about two dangers or 
temptations which they must try not to fall into. The first one is: “I no go 
do for my pickin because my papa no do for me.” The only thing that can come 
from that mentality is retrogression and backwardness. The other one is 
to project and prescribe one’s personal spirituality as the norm for 
everybody. No. General principles and objectives are approachable from 
various and different angles. Again, we have the same aim, namely, for 
the good of priestly formation in our time. 

Along the same line, I am sure it will also be important to talk about 
how the maximization of the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity 
would enhance the updated functionality and utility of the collective 
efforts of both the Proprietors and the Formators at priestly formation in 
our time. If everybody does what he or she does best, the whole group 
would be the better for it in the end.  

It is my wish and prayer, therefore, that this Conference will offer 
sufficient enlightenment for the understanding of the topic of this 
conference and that the parties involved, that means all of us, would be 
able to see ourselves as partners in progress for the benefit of the best 
priestly formation in our time and for our Church.  

Now, I pass the word to you hoping that the input from the main 
speakers and from all participants in this Conference would be mutually 
enriching and particularly that it would equip us to handle the matters 
arising in the name of New Trends and Perspectives as far as priestly 
formation in the 21st Century is concerned. 
 

+ Most Rev. Dr. Michael O. ELUE, 
Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Issele-Uku, NIGERIA. 
19th March 2020 



xxii 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

COMMISSIONED PAPERS 
 

 



1 

1 

LET THE REAL FEYERABEND PLEASE 

STAND: INTERROGATING THE 

ONTOLOGICAL BASIS FOR A POST-
MODERNIST EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE 

HUMAN PERSON 
 

Prof. Isaac E. UKPOKOLO 
Department of Philosophy, 

Faculty of Arts, 
University of Ibadan. 

ie.ukpokolo@ui.edu.ng 
 

Introduction 
I consider it necessary to begin this interrogation of the ontological basis 
for a post-modernist epistemology of a human person with the 
assumption that there is a necessary relationship between metaphysics 
and epistemology. It is difficult to think of an epistemological stance 
without a corresponding metaphysics. By extension, it would be difficult 
to think of an epistemology of the human person without a given 
ontological stance. Ontology is the science of ‘being’ in general, covering 
such issues as the nature of existence and categorial structure of reality. 
As a term, ‘ontology’ has some additional special uses in philosophy. It is 
used to refer to the set of things whose existence is acknowledged by a 
particular theory or system of thought: it is in this sense that one speaks 
of ‘the ontology of a theory’.1  To this extent, the post-modernist 
epistemology of the human person must rests on a given ontological 
scheme, and interrogating this ontological scheme is the point of focus 
for this essay. The work, therefore, considers the metaphysical ground or 
justification of a post-modernist theory of cognition concerning the 
human person. In other words, the work raises the question, how does 
the postmodern condition influence our cognitive process concerning 
the nature of the human person?    
 
 



2 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The Received View of Rationality 
Since the 17th century, rationality has been understood through a matrix 
of relations between ‘truth’, ‘objectivity’, ‘certainty’ and ‘reality’. This has 
been identified with a certain unique framework of principles and 
methods with reference to which we are to secure truth and objective 
knowledge; an impartial stand point for meaningful discussion, appraisal, 
comparison, and judgment. The task of identifying and characterizing 
this framework is one of the starting point of human inquiry in general 
and philosophy in particular.  

The Cartesian epistemological program initiated in the 17th 
century, presents one of the attempts at developing a system of principles 
and methods for conducting human inquiry. Inspired by the desire for 
reliable knowledge, Descartes constructed a system which he bequeathed 
to modern thought of which he is often described as the father.2 This 
system had the background assumption that, the order of nature is fixed 
and stable, and that the human mind acquired mastery of it by operating 
in accordance with principles of understanding that are equally fixed and 
universal.3 To most seventeenth century thinkers, this assumption was 
beyond question. It did not only influence the understanding of 
rationality at the time, it also determined the type of epistemological 
question that could be raised.4  
 In addition to this assumption, there is a certain disposition of the 
mind – a certain anxiety5 expressed in the belief that in our 
understanding of reality and our interaction with it, only two options are 
open to us: either we are equipped with some permanent, historical 
framework to which we can ultimately appeal or we are ineluctably led to 
relativism, historicism, scepticism, and irrationalism. And so, we are 
always faced with a choice between a certain binding set of ideals and 
epistemological chaos.6  
 It was generally believed that to resolve this anxiety, we require a 
fixed framework of universal and foundational principles. Descartes saw 
this and embarked on a search for what he called an “Archimedean 
point” in his Meditations.7 Beginning with the first meditation, he says,  
It is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that 
I had from my earliest youth admitted as true, and doubtful was 
everything I had constructed on this basis: and … I was convinced that I 
must once, for all, seriously undertake to rid myself of all the opinions 
which I had formerly accepted, and commence to build anew from the 
foundation, if I want to establish any firm and permanent structure…8  

The need for this project of establishing a securely grounded 
thought system is compared to the vision Archimedes. Thus, in the 
second meditation Descartes writes:  



 Commissioned Papers       3 

Archimedes, in order that he might draw the terrestrial globe out of its 
place, demanded that one point be fixed and immovable. In the same 
way, I shall have the right to conceive high hopes if I am happy enough 
to discover one thing only which is certain and immutable.9  
 In Descartes’s view, the principles that guide our understanding of 
the world consists in the correspondence between “ideas” which the 
human mind found “distinct” and “clear” (such as the basic concepts of 
Euclid’s geometry) and aspects of the world. It is in this correspondence 
that we establish the foundations of knowledge as well as the standard of 
rationality. Thus, at the very base of knowledge is, according to 
Descartes, the neutral activity of reason.10  

An adequate analysis of the received view of rationality must 
consider the contribution of Descartes and Bacon to the development of 
ideas. In the 17th century, Aristotle’s science faced challenges in the light 
of new discoveries in physics, astronomy and anatomy. Francis Bacon is 
often taken to be the spokesman to the new spirit and new method of 
science. His idea about scientific method subsequently became known as 
Beaconian induction, and is expressed in his Novum Organum.11 In a 
general sense, Bacon’s contribution to modern thought can be discussed 
at two related levels. The first level concerns the classification of 
knowledge. This is laid out in book 1 of the Novum Organum. In it, he 
made what was probably the first systematic attempt to express a 
psychological motives and human interests that often lie behind various 
forms of philosophical outlooks. He discussed what he called “idols of 
the mind” which had up to his own time persistently stood in the way of 
objective knowledge, dominated and distorted men’s mind and delayed 
the acquisition of true knowledge.  The “idols of the tribe”, for instance, 
are tendencies to see things in relation to one’s own self, rather than as 
they are in themselves. In Bacons view, man is not the measure of all 
things and we unthinkingly tend to impose order on phenomena which 
is not there. If we would command nature, he says, we must first learn to 
obey her. There are “idols of the cave”, which are the predispositions of 
character and learning with which different individuals approach facts, 
rather than seeing them as there really are. The “idols of the market 
place” arise through the use of language, when we read back into nature, 
conceptions that have arisen through our using words, which actually 
stand for nothing. Bacon also identifies “idols of the theatre” which are 
due to the influence of philosophical system of our mind. In his view, we 
should not be misled by Aristotle’s talk of experimentation and 
observation. Someone in the grip of a philosophical system, he says, 
including Aristotle himself had come to his conclusion before he did his 
experiment. The second level has to do with a new method of 
investigation, set forth in the most empiricist form.  This consists in 



4 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

making experiments and drawing general conclusions from them. These 
conclusions are then tested in further experiments.12 Bacon’s position is 
primarily an attack against what he called the sterility of pure deductive 
logic, which is never really able to increase knowledge. He insisted that 
the traditional syllogism was not a means of discovery, but only an aid for 
exhibiting the deductive consequences of what is already known. He also 
attacked the older induction by simple enumeration which applies only 
when the class of “all” things referred to is finite and accessible, as in the 
statement: “the founding members of the Royal Society are all males and 
over the age of thirty years”.13 Bacon’s new method of induction was 
believed to go beyond this Aristotelian method because it is able to 
produce generalisations about “all” things, not simple about some 
property of members of a finite enumeration.  
 However, Bacon was not unaware of the fact that we cannot prove 
the truth of an induction in a general sense. The idea of “all”, he says, 
must always include the thought that there may be found an exception to 
the inductive generalisation, as this is always based on a finite number of 
instances. In this way, Bacon proposed that a single negative experience 
was all we needed to falsify an induction. Thus, although it was G.H. 
Von Wright and Karl R. Popper that expounded much later the principle 
that the laws of nature and theories are not verifiable, but only falsifiable, 
the credit of initial recognition of this principle should go to Francis 
Bacon.14 Science, he thought, would develop by compiling vast tables of 
actual data accumulated with the help of experiment and observation. Of 
course, he believed that the mere accumulation of facts would not 
necessarily yield knowledge. There must be, he argues, a selection whose 
establishment is also quite problematic.15 
 Nevertheless, many scientists are known to have expressed, in 
varying degree, their adherence to Baconnian philosophy. For instance, 
Isaac Newton in his Principia (1682), explored and extended the 
inductive method from qualities of bodies on which experiments can 
actually be performed to “qualities of all bodies universally” (Rule 3, Bk. 
3). In his words, 
The sum total facts, which are not only given in sense experience but 
also the experimental philosophical propositions gathered from 
phenomena by induction, should be considered either exactly or very 
nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypothesis, until yet other 
phenomena make such propositions either more exact or liable to 
exception.16  

Bacon’s writings inspired the concern by British philosophers for 
the analysis of the nature of inductive reasoning, a concern which 
culminated in J.S. Mill’s System of Logic (1843). Importantly, while 
Bacon’s classification of knowledge stands widely adopted, his 



 Commissioned Papers       5 

understanding of scientific methods presents an adequate framework. 
This is because he failed to appreciate the sense in which mathematics 
was already the language of science. He also underestimated the use of 
scientist need to make of imaginative hypotheses.17 On this, he was 
criticized memorably by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason 
(B.XII. 4).  

Yet, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Austrian 
philosopher and physicist, Ernst Mach (1838-1926) adopted Bacon’s 
epistemology in his The Science of Mechanics (1893) and The Analysis of 
Sensation (1914). In his view, science is no more than a conceptual 
reflection upon facts whose elements are contents of consciousness, and 
are given to us in sensation. This means that scientific statements or 
theoretical terms must be reducible to statements about sensations.18 
This is contained in his famous “Doctrine of Elements”. 

 
Science as the Paradigm of Rationality 
From the foregoing, we are presented with the idea of rationality as a 
privileged framework of principles and methods to which we can 
ultimately appeal in our understanding of reality. It was noted that the 
attempt to codify these principles and methods found its significant 
expression first in the programmes based on the (new inductive) method 
of inquiry advocated by Francis Bacon in combination with the analytic 
method of deductive reasoning emphasized by Rene Descartes.19 The 
concern of these men was mainly to establish a “theory of knowledge”, to 
discover a unique set of terms into which discourses may be reduced, or 
some privileged vocabulary by means of which discourses may be 
rendered commensurable. The programmes of inquiry initiated in the 
modern period were essentially attempts to establish our discourses on a 
secure foundation; that is, to justify our beliefs and actions, goals and 
policies with reference to a certain universal “tribunal of judgment”.20  
 The validity of this foundationalist task of epistemology was 
reiterated during the first half of the twentieth century in the works of 
philosophers in the analytic tradition who sought to ground human 
knowledge in, or reduce all discourses to, a certain system of formal 
language.21 Rooted in the works of Gottlob Frege, the analytic tradition 
influenced the works of Bertrand Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, 
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rudolf Carnap, Moritz Schlick and several others 
whose ultimate concern was how to make philosophy rigorous and 
scientific.22 They initiated a new tendency in philosophy, re-orienting 
epistemology towards an ideal system of propositions and methods; a 
complex of principles and rules. It is with reference to such a system that 
theories are to be constructed and corroborated.23 The general aim of the 
new tendency was to sustain an adequate analysis of the character of 



6 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

scientific investigations.24 And so, epistemology as a “transcendental” 
inquiry into the meaning and conditions of knowledge was gradually 
replaced by a methodology pursued with an understanding of science as 
the source of genuine knowledge and paradigm of rationality.25 

The first significant representation of science as the paradigm of 
rationality and model of genuine knowledge, came with the positivist 
orientation. Positivism, along with phenomenalism, pragmatism, 
operationalism, and empirico-criticism, belong to the empiricist 
tendency. For the positivist, an inquiry into the conditions of knowledge 
can be meaningfully pursued only as a methodological inquiry into the 
principles and methods for the construction and corroboration of 
scientific theories. Thus, at the heart of the positivist philosophy of 
science is the belief in the exclusive validity of science. 

In his contribution, Karl Popper argued that the problem of this 
age, which is the possibility and method of achieving progress in human 
knowledge, can be resolved only in the appreciating of the growth of 
scientific knowledge. In this regard, it is in following the principles and 
procedures of scientific inquiry that we are likely to arrive at a system 
that accurately depicts the world.26 Thus, researchers in various fields of 
inquiry, ranging from history to psychology and sociology, which have, 
with much vigour, engaged in the quest for laws and theories, usually felt 
apologetic whenever their discipline fell short of the ideas derived from 
physical science. In the field of education, curriculum theorists have 
often considered science to be one of the basics, and since the time of 
Herbert Spencer it has been regarded as an indispensable component of 
liberal education.27  
 The overwhelming popularity of this image of science arises, at least 
in part, from the great successes of recent science, particularly, physics.28 
In explaining this success, scientists argue that science has evolved some 
procedures of inquiry, and that the observed developments in science 
have been determined by acting on the basis of the outcome of the 
application of these procedures. These procedures constitute the 
scientific method, a privileged method in the hands of the scientific 
community, which disinterestedly and detachedly employs it to reach the 
scientific goals.29  
 
The Post-Modernist World View30 
In recent times, particularly since the second half of the twentieth-
century, the intellectual world has witnessed the emergence of a certain 
shift in attitude towards reality (metaphysics or ontology), rationality and 
truth; a rejection of what could be referred to as the ‘received view’, and 
accompanied by a neo-Protagorean relativism. The idea of the ‘received 
view’ of rationality is here identified with the idea of a universal, 



 Commissioned Papers       7 

foundational, permanent framework of thought and discourse developed 
in the 17th century. The programs of discourse that represents this shift 
include those developed by Thomas Kuhn, Peter Winch, Donald 
Davidson, Paul K. Feyerabend and a host of others.  

In his program, Paul Feyerabend proposed a pluralist conception 
of rationality, in particular, and worldview in general and meant to 
present this to stand in place of the enlightenment program characteristic 
of the modern period. For him, the modernist project has been shown to 
be sterile.31  

The present study identifies the positivist worldview that 
constitutes the climax of modernism as well as the pluralist orientations 
of the post-modern which ushered in a rather reckless relativism. The 
study then goes further to establish a rejection of both positivist and 
post-positivist projects for reasons to be stated, and presents an 
alternative epistemology of the human person founded on a given 
ontology, while employing the methodology of education and a given 
scepticism to enhance a robust representation of the human person.  
 
Feyerabend’s ‘Post’ in the Post-Modern 
In his representation, Paul K. Feyerabend sees the commitment to just 
one theoretical framework or cognitive scheme as ‘Monomania’. The 
clearest form of this criticism today is best identified with Paul 
Feyerabend’s postmodern orientation. A number of assumptions 
underscore his position. One such assumption is that, the theories, facts, 
and procedures that constitute the scientific knowledge of a particular 
time result from specific historical developments, and any such 
information cannot be about history-independent facts and laws – a 
rejection of the idea that tradition-independent points of view can 
overrule traditions. There are different points of view, ways of thinking 
and knowing. In the same vain, scientific theories branch out in different 
directions, use different and sometimes incommensurable concepts, and 
evaluate events in diverse ways. What counts as evidence or as an 
important or sound science or scientific procedure depends on time, 
profession and the research group. Nature can be and is indeed 
approached in many ways, and for every statement, theory or point of 
view believed to be true with good reasons, there exists conflicting 
arguments. Human experience, is not restricted to merely intellectual 
matters, but includes concrete human feelings, faiths and empathy, and 
involves more than just one single medium of discussion.  And so, Paul 
K. Feyerabend is opposed to a certain program or tendency which, for 
want of a better name, is referred to as “Methodism”, the idea of a 
method that contains fixed and binding principles for conducting the 



8 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

business of science, politics or ethics. For Feyerabend, science is not the 
paradigm of rationality. It is just a belief like any other. 

From the point of view of ethics, he privileges ethics without 
ontology. Furthermore, he proposes a movement from “boundaries 
without values to values without boundaries”.32 The core of Feyerabends 
moral philosophy is what he expressed in Killing Time, concerning the 
nature of moral character. For him, “A moral character cannot be created 
by arguments, education, or an act of will. It cannot be created by any 
kind of planned action, whether scientific, political, moral or religious”.33 
Here, Feyerabend indicates what should not be associated with moral 
character or where it does not derive from. Morality is not a product of 
education or any rational intentional, planned action. He compares moral 
character with what he calls “true love, which he says is a gift, not an 
achievement”. For him, the source or basis of morality or moral 
character is accidental, such as parental affection and friendship. These, 
he says, constitute the condition for some kind of stability or balance 
between what he refers to as “self-confidence” and “a concern for 
others”.34 According to him, it is possible for us to create these 
conditions: conditions that are meant to ensure the needed balance as we 
are never able to create the balance itself. It is only when the balance is 
enhanced, that the idea of guilt, responsibility, and obligation make real 
sense. But without the balance between self-confidence and concern for 
others, these ideas become not just empty words but obstacles.35 The idea 
of self-confidence of course, connotes a reliance on ones abilities – 
abilities to engage one’s experience, one’s environment and one’s reality. 
The product of employing this ability is to enhance the individual’s 
wellbeing. The need for the project of modernity, of establishing a 
securely grounded thought system is compared to the vision of 
Archimedes. Thus, in the Meditation II, Descartes writes; 

Archimedes, in order that he might draw the terrestrial globe out 
of it place, demanded that one point be fixed and immovable. In the 
same way I should have the right to conceive high hopes if I am happy 
enough to discover one thing only which is certain and immutable.36 

This immutable foundation – ontological reference is rejected by 
the post-modernist position of Paul K. Feyerabend and replaces it with 
Heterogeneity, chaos and pluralism.   
 
Post-modern Ontology 
At this point, it is pertinent to ask the question, is there any theory of 
ontology proposed by postmodern philosophy? In response to this 
question, it is to be borne in mind that Paul K. Feyerabend, presenting a 
prototype of the post-modern worldview, rejects any attempt to propose 
one singular general ground totalizing framework that could be a 



 Commissioned Papers       9 

reference point, and that could be a foundation for any inquiry. This is 
with regards to, not only a universal theory of truth, a fixed model of 
knowledge, a standard reference to method, but, indeed a foundation. 
And so, it presents a no-foundation epistemology as well as proposing an 
ontology that is not characterized by relativism, but a pluralism. What 
this means is that reality could be created, truth is formulated, knowledge 
is fabricated such that ontology which is the study of being, could only 
be said to be presented and created or formulated as need be. Reading 
Feyerabend therefore, one is tempted to raise the question, is it not the 
case that in proposing a no-universal foundational fixed theory of reality, 
by itself, proposes a universal theory? To this extent, the post-modernist 
proposal that there is no fixed theory of knowledge, truth and reality is 
itself a theory of truth, of knowledge and of reality – a philosophical dead 
end. Perhaps, an alternative reading of the post-modernist theory of the 
human person would reject any fixed set of principles, axioms and 
assumptions, claiming that the character of the human person is hydra-
headed and its features are not just pluralistic, but actually indeterminate. 
We are not to reduce the human person to any fixed model, be it 
scientific, legal, ethical, or social. Rather, it would be a combination of all 
these and more. The human person would then be seen as a mystery that 
can be comprehended only inadequately by anyone even the self.  
 
Thesis and Concluding Remarks  
Identifying, with Bernard Lonergan this paper posit that the essence of 
the human person has to do with the fact that humanity is to be 
recognized in four characteristics. These characteristics belong to the 
human nature representing a fundamental orientation in the human 
person. These are (i) Search for truth (ii) Search for the good (iii) Search 
for the absolute/infinite and, (iv) Search for love. The human person in 
relating with these realities that is, truth, good, absolute and love employs 
the capacity of the senses, of understanding and of judging. The actions 
of these variables and their relationship with the human person are so 
complex that they can only be understood imperfectly. The human 
person, therefore, is driven to the actualization of truth, the good and 
love. These efforts remain always in the state of progress towards 
actualization. To this extent, the human person remains an ongoing 
project.  
 
 
 
 
 
 



10 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Endnotes 
                                                      
1 Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 

2005), 671. 
2 R. P. Peerrenboom, “Reason, Rationales, and Relativism: What’s at Stake in the 

Conversation Over Scientific Rationality?,” Philosophy Today, Vol. 34, No.14. (1990), 

4. 
3 Toulmin, Human Understanding, 45. 
4 Toulmin, Human Understanding, 44. 
5 Bernstein, Beyond Objectivism and Relativism, 9. 
6 Fritjof Capra, The Turning Point: Science and the Rising Culture, (London: Fontana 

Paper Backs, 1984), 39, John Veith (Trans.) Descartes: A Discourse on Method and 

Meditation of First Philosophy, (London: Everyman’s Liberty Press, 1979), 120-121.   
7 Meditation I, In Elizabeth S. Haldane and G.R.T. Ross (Eds.), Philosophical Works of 

Descartes, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969), 114.   
8 Haldane & Ross (Eds.), Philosophical Works of Descartes, 114. 
9 Haldane & Ross (Eds.), Philosophical Works of Descartes, 6. 
10 Haldane & Ross (Eds.), Philosophical Works of Descartes, 149. 
11 Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, I, IX, In John M. Robertson ed., The 

Philosophical works of Bacon (London: University Press, 1965), 51-8. 
12 O’Hear, An Introduction to Philosophy of Science, 5. 
13 Toulmin, Human Understanding, 57. 
14 Putnam, Reason, Truth and History, 108-109. 
15 Isaac Newton, Principia Bk. I, Rule 4, In B.I. Cohen (Ed.), 150.  
16 Isaac Newton, Principia Bk. I, Rule 4, In B.I. Cohen (Ed.), 150.  
17 Cohen, Revolutions in Science, 150. 
18 Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World: A 3000 Year Adventure in Philosophy, (Ibadan, 

Spectrum Books, 1996), 181.  
19 Antiquity had its own system constructors in Plato and Aristotle. The Middle 

Ages have St. Thomas Aquinas who attempted to link Aristotle’s system with 

Christian ethics and theology. After this came the Renaissance with a welter of old 

and new beliefs about nature and science, God and man. But it was not until the 

seventeenth century that any significant attempt was made to assemble ideas into 

a coherent systematic whole.  
20 Randell, P. Peerenboom, ‘Reason, Rationales, and Relativism: What’s at Stake in 

the Conversation over Scientific Rationality?’ Philosophy Today, Vol. 34, No. 14. 

(November, 1990), 4.  
21 James L. Battersby, “Professionalism, Relativism and Rationality” In P.M.L.A. Vol. 

107, No. 1. (1992). 
22 Harre, The Philosophies of Science: An Introductory Survey, 18. Many of the 

germinal ideas of Frege’s philosophy are to be found in his Conceptual Notations 

(1879). His philosophy influenced Russell’s thought. In the preface to volume I of 

Russell and Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica (1910), the authors wrote, “In all 

questions of logical analysis our chief debt is to Frege”. In the same vein, 

Wittgenstein acknowledged Frege’s influence on his thought. In the preface to 



 Commissioned Papers       11 

                                                                                                                         
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein wrote, “I am indebted to Frege’s great 

works and to the writings of Mr. Russell for much of the stimulations of my 

thoughts”. Frege’s influence on Carnap was also acknowledged by Carnap who 

studied under him at the University of Jenna.  
23 Habermas, Knowledge and Human Interest, 65. 
24 William Bechtel, Philosophy of Science: An Overview of Cognitive Science, (New 

Jersey: Lawrence Eribaum, 1990), 1-15. 
25 Ted Benton, Philosophical Foundations of the Three Sociologies, (London: 

Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977), 21.  
26 Karl R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, (London: Hutchinson and Co. 

Publishers Ltd., 1975), 15. 
27 A.F. Chalmers, What is this Thing Called Science?: An Assessment of the Nature 

and Status of Science and its Methods, (London: Open University Press, 1990), 1. 
28 Newton-Smith, The Rationality of Science, (New York: Routledge, 1981), 1. 
29 D.C. Philips, Philosophy Science and Social Inquiry, (Oxford: Perganon Press, 

1988), 3.  
30 A system of beliefs that are interconnected: not merely a collection of separate, 

independent, unrelated beliefs, but an intertwined, interrelated and interconnected 

systems of beliefs. 
31 Paul k. Feyerabend presents his position most clearly in Against Method (London: 

Verso, 1987) and Farewell to Reason (London: Verso, 1993).   
32 Isaac Ukpokolo, “Navigating Feyerabend’s Moral Philosophy from Boundaries 

Without Values to Values Without Boundaries” In The Ethics of Subjectivity, Elvis 

Imafidon Ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 201.  
33 Paul K. Feyerabend, Killing Time (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1995), 

174. 
34 Feyerabend, Killing Time, 174. 
35 Feyerabend, Killing Time, 174. 
36 Elizabeth S. and G. R. T. Ross Eds. Philosophical Works of Descartes, (Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press, 1969), 149. 



12 

2 

WHAT SAYEST THOU OF THYSELF? SOME 

REMARKS ON THE ENTANGLEMENT OF 

LIFE AND NARRATION AND ITS ETHICAL 

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PHILOSOPHICAL 

CANON 
 

Björn FRETER, Ph.D 
Independent Scholar, 

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America 
bfreterb@gmail.com 

 
I. Life and Narration 
When we are asked who we are, we often answer in stories. Let us take a 
look at an example, namely at the answer given to that very question by 
John the Baptist as told to us by the John the Evangelist1. The Evangelist 
has the Baptist answer the question posed by the Jewish priests and 
Levites “Who art thou?” – “Σὺ τíς εἶ;” as follows: 

I am not the Christ [Ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ χριστóς] (John 1:20). 
The learned men do not understand this cryptic reply. They 

continue to interrogate John the Baptist:  
What then? Art thou Elias? (John 1:21) 
John the Baptist responds:  
I am not [Οὐκ εἰμί] (John 1:21). 
And a third question follows:  
Art thou that prophet? (John 1:21) 
John responds and, for the third time, only provides a negative 

confession: “No [Οὔ]” (John 1:21). The inquisitors become impatient:  
Who art thou? […] What sayest thou of thyself? (John 1:22) 
“What sayest thou of thyself?” – “τí λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ;” That is a 

wonderful explication of the initial question “Who art thou?”. Who John 
the Baptist is, είναι, is what he has to say, λέγειν, about himself. One 
could argue that at times the same can hold true for us: Who we are is 
what we have to say about ourselves and, of course, what others have to 
say about us. We are our stories. We can express who we are by telling – 



 Commissioned Papers    13 

even, as John does, in a highly condensed way – our story. In fact, it 
seems we have to express ourselves in stories, it seems to be a specific 
and rather necessary way of being alive as a human being, in other words, 
using Odo Marquard’s phrase, “narrare necesse est” – “to narrate is 
necessary” (Marquard 2003, 56, 60, 64, 71). 

Let us turn back to the Evangelists’ narration. After his negative 
confession to Christ John the Baptist eventually determines himself 
positively: 

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way 
of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias (John 1:23).2 

The inquisition is still not over. Now the Pharisees proceed to 
question why John baptizes, if he is not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the 
Prophet. John replies: 

I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye 
know not; 

He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's 
latchet I am not worthy to unloose (John 1:26-27). 

This is what John the Baptist wanted and had –  narrare necesse est (to 
narrate is necessary) – to say about himself – “τí λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ” 
(John 1:22): Initially it is vital to him to make his story distinguishable 
from the story of the one who is of the foremost importance. He is not 
the prophet; he is not Elias and – most notably – he is not Jesus. “Οὐκ 
εἰμί” – “I am not” is stated by John the Evangelist in strict opposition to 
the many times he records Jesus saying: “ἐγώ εἰμι …“ – “I am …”3.  

Eventually John the Baptist declares who he is positively: He is the 
one who announces Jesus. Even this positive confession is a conscious 
redirection from himself and towards Jesus, the one who is coming after 
– “ὀπίσω” – him. John is the “voice of one crying” – “φωνὴ βοῶντος”, 
he is announcing the one “whom ye know not;” – “μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει 
ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε”. This story is who John the Baptist is. The story of 
John the herald of Jesus Christ is John. This story, John is convinced, is 
precisely what any person who wishes to know who he is must learn 
about him. John encounters himself through his story and he tells this 
story to those who wish to know him. Thus those – be it the Jewish 
priests, Levites, Pharisees or the reader of the story in the present day – 
need this story to understand him as the human being he understood 
himself as to be. “To comprehend anything human”, Spanish 
philosopher Ortega y Gasset observed, “be it personal or collective, one 
must tell its history” (Gasset 1941, 214) – “Para comprender algo 
humano, personal o colectivo, es preciso contar una historia” (Gasset 
1970, 49). And that means nothing else but: one must make accessible 
our stories.  



14 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Human beings attempting to comprehend other human beings need 
to learn about the other’s life stories. Here we see that life and narration 
are, as Edmund Husserl’s earliest disciples, Wilhelm Schapp described, 
entangled (Schapp 1953). 

Not only are our histories vital for comprehending the other and that 
our lives and the stories we tell inextricable, even the stories tell do not 
necessarily have to be factual. Returning to our example, it does not even 
matter if we consider John the Baptist to be a factual or fictious person, 
the real herald of Christ or not. As Paul Ricœur states, “fiction is quasi-
historical, just as much as history is quasi-fictive” (Ricœur 1990, 190). 
German novelist Siegfried Lenz notes we have to learn that even those 
experiences ‘made’ by fictious personal still hold relevance for us. Our 
being or vitality is very much alive in the fictitious experience. Lenz 
explains: 

“Experiences made by the invented person do not only 
concern them; they are transferable experiences. Novel 
characters would never challenge our interest in this way 
if we did not feel that our matter was being negotiated; 
we stop and say: that is how it will be. […] At such 
moments it becomes clear that we need the invented 
person if we want to give expression to the general or to 
find the hidden law that underlies human existence.” 
(Lenz 1981, 437-438)4 

From this we expand the essential nature of stories from being 
necessary for understanding others and a fundamental part of our lives to 
incorporate stories of both fact and fiction that bring vitality to our 
experiences and our understanding of ourselves and others. We could 
say, narration is being alive. It seems we would not be able to eradicate our 
aliveness out of narration, even if we wanted to. When the human being 
narrates it inevitably add its humanity or vitality into the narration. When 
the human being narrates it implicitly speaks – λέγειν – of the human 
being – ἄνθρωπος – in general. Conversely, narrating – λέγειν – implies 
to tell about the human - ἄνθρωπος. Anthropology implies narration as 
narration implies anthropology. Our aliveness remains alive when it is 
spoken, written, or sung, in any the narrative form. Indeed, we 
encounter narration as a form extracorporal human vitality. 

Not only are we able to convey this vitality, we are in need of this 
vitality. It allows us to understand our story, it allows us to be 
understood and furthermore to understand other human beings. 
Interconnected human life itself comes to reality in stories just as stories 
come to reality in human life. Schapp even insisted, that access to the 
human being is “only possible through stories, only possible through his 
[her/their] stories” (Schapp 1953, 100)5.  



 Commissioned Papers    15 

Being alive is narrative. The telling of stories at all, is possible, because we 
are alive in a narrative sense. It can be said that stories enable our existence, 
and our existence enables stories. Maybe we can even say that the telling of 
stories enables the living of stories, and the living of stories enables the telling of 
stories. Life is always life’s story and life’s story is always something living, 
something living in which we see our vitality reflected back to us. 
Returning to John the Baptist we see he is who he is, and he can tell his 
story because he is his story and he is his story because he can tell it. Life 
is narration and narration is alive. 

This makes the story of John the Baptist being asked who he is a 
story that can affect us all, whether we understand him to be a herald of 
Christ or something entirely different. Certainly, we hear the story of the 
herald of Christ, but we find a human being narratively self-determining 
himself. This self-determination can speak to any human being. And 
here the significance of our telling the stories of ourselves takes on 
crucial importance: The question of “Who am I?” is connected at the 
very foundations of our existence with the question of “What ought I 
do?”. These questions converge so dramatically at the foundations of 
existence that they seem to form only one single question: work on the 
question “Who am I?” seems to be the same work as that concerning the 
question “What should I do?”. Martin Luther understood the Baptist in 
precisely this sense in a sermon on the Gospel according to John. He has 
John the Baptist say: 

I know neither how to help nor how to advise you [scil. the 
inquiring scholars], nor indeed myself; but I know of one who can help 
me and you alike. […] [F]ollow [Christ], I and will do so as well 
(Luther 2002, 31).6 

Follow Christ – that is what is to be done here. While we may know 
the story of John only in its outline, we know not only his actions, his 
being, but also his “Why?”, his practical answer to the question “What 
ought I do?”. We know John’s ought-to-be: to be a follower – or a 
precursor – of Christ. This connection between being and ought, 
between what I am and what I ought to be is present in John’s story in 
concreto, but it is present in abstracto, as the fight for self-determination, for 
anyone who comes across this narration.  

When we hear the story of John, we also hear – without this having 
to be expressly spoken of – his normative narrative. A story, as we would 
like to put it, thus concerns the genesis of action and the reasons for it, 
or, put into philosophical terminology, is and ought and the connection 
between the two at the foundations of existence. Our biographical 
narrative is not an objective narration. In the biographical narrative, in 
the understanding of the world and oneself according to this biographical 
narrative, our normative understanding of the world is also reflected. 



16 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The biographical narrative tells not only of our being, but also of who we 
are, and this self-determination necessarily includes the ought to which 
we subject this being. 

Let us summarize our findings: We are our stories. Being alive 
implies being entangled in stories, implies tell one’s story – or at least 
desiring to have a story – and to deal with stories of other human beings. 
A hermeneutic of human life needs cannot be complete without taking 
into account that being alive happens qua narration. An epistemology of 
human understanding that disregards stories, as far as we can tell, will 
necessarily be an ignorant reductive epistemology. We have to take 
stories seriously as a part of the expressivity of human life. Ricœur 
remarked that “the novel occupied a still vacant place in the realm of 
human sciences” (Ricœur 1990, 191) – “le roman occupait ici une place 
encore vacante dans l'empire des sciences humaines” (Ricœur 1985, 
278). We agree with Ricœur. However, we would like to broaden his 
understanding and insist that this holds true not only for the novel, but 
for stories in the broadest sense as we can find it in Schapp when he 
observed that even the “corporeal appearance” of a human being is 
actually “an appearance of his [her/their] stories” (Schapp 1953, 100)7. 
With stories, the narratives of life, we possess a reservoir of testimonies 
of human self-understanding that has thus far, despite the works of 
Schapp, Ricœur and others – been widely underestimated. We must 
finally and fully accept narrations as, in the words of Austrian thinker 
Robert Musil, “contributions to the intellectual dealing with the world” 
(Musil 1978, 942)8. 

 
II. Consequences 

We have to tried to show the mutual implication of life and 
narration. Our hypothesis may seem prima facie deceptively simple, but 
there are some surprisingly powerful ethical consequences to it.  

If it is true that stories – in the broadest sense – and human life are 
inextricably entangled then the disregard of some stories as irrelevant, 
beyond the canon, or primitive equals the disregard of those people who 
listen to and tell these stories. The western humanities have 
hegemonically determined for centuries what stories are of relevance. 
Those stories were mostly written by white, heterosexual men and those 
stories were mostly written down – even though some foundational 
figures of the western culture, most notably Socrates and Jesus, never 
wrote a single line of their own teachings. The African culture, for 
example, was and continues to be for its many people who continue to 
hand down their stories orally deemed ‘primitive’, pre-Western, of less 
relevance, inferior. However, if we take the entanglement of life and 
narrative seriously, we might have to give up the idea of a narrow canon. 



 Commissioned Papers    17 

Of course, can establish different parameters of, for example, the impact 
of different stories. The story of Jesus Christ has certainly had a great 
impact, but that does hardly make the stories of the Yoruba or Akan any 
less relevant. It is a still prevailing predominantly western 
misunderstanding that impact – often advanced by subsequent 
domination and subordination – is the parameter of relevance. We have to 
give up the idea of canonical stories as story of superior relevance, of a 
canon that one has to read to become a human being, of a canon that 
determines that only those who think within these given stories are truly 
thinking and thus entitled to speak their thoughts. We have to give up 
the idea of a general canon, because a general canon is necessarily an anti-
inclusive and superiorist tool of domination that is compiled by those in 
power. However, power is not a philosophical argument. There is, if we 
agree to the interconnectedness of life and narration, no philosophical 
argument for a canon. Any argument for a general canon is an argument 
against the relevance of all human beings.  

When we accept life and stories and stories and life as what they are 
by their blending, we have to understand that ignoring, disregarding, 
suppressing stories means to ignore, disregard and suppress human life. 
Africa was during the colonial era not allowed to have a story, was not 
allowed to continue her story. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel famously 
claimed that Africa is “no historical part of the world; it shows no 
movement or development” (Hegel 1986, 129)9, and anything one might 
of relevance there is actually part of Europe’s or Asia’s history. Africa, in 
Hegel’s opinion, which was highly impactful for the development of 
what is to be considered part of the philosophical canon and what not, 
has no story to tell and – and the colonial reality shows the transition of 
this philosophical assessment into tangible reality – thus there are no 
living beings to considered as fully human. This practice has to be 
discontinued. Philosophy has to desuperiorized, i.e. philosophy has to 
understand and dismantle the – implicit or explicit – assumptions of 
superiority in all its iterations. All must be able to determine who they 
are so that they can determine how they should act. Thus everyone is 
included in the ethical conversations of our times and we can 
collaboratively broaden our epistemological understanding and 
desuperiorize the philosophical canon by making it inclusive so that 
philosophy as a discipline can be a vital part of our coming history.  

 
 
 
 
 

 



18 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Endnotes 
                                                      
1  We will use the King James Version to cite the English text of the New 

Testament and the Aland & Aland 26th edition for the Greek text. 
2 See Esaias 40:3. 
3 See for example John 6:20, 7:9, 10:11 and many more, furthermore see Thyen 

2005, 112. 
4 This is my translation. The German text reads: “Erfahrungen, die die erfundene 

Person macht, betreffen nicht nur sie; es sind übertragbare Erfahrungen. Niemals 

würden Romanfiguren unser Interesse derart herausfordern, wenn wir nicht 

spürten, daß an ihnen auch unsere Sache verhandelt wird; wir stutzen und sagen: 

so ist es, so wird es sein. […] In solchen Augenblicken wird deutlich, daß wir auf die 

erfundene Person angewiesen sind, wenn wir dem Allgemeinen Ausdruck 

verschaffen oder die verborgene Gesetzmäßigkeit auffinden wollen, die dem 

menschlichen Dasein zugrundeliegt“. 
5 This is my translation. The full German passage reads: “Wir meinen auch, daß 

der Zugang zu dem Mann, zu dem Menschen, nur über Geschichten, nur über seine 

Geschichten erfolgt“. 
6 This is my translation. The German text reads: „Ich weiß euch [scil. den 

Gelehrten] nicht zu helfen noch zu raten, auch mir selbst nicht; sondern ich weiß 

und kenne einen, der mir und euch helfen kann. […] [H]änget euch an [Christus], ich 

wills auch tun”. 
7 This is my translation. The German text reads: “das leibliche Auftauchen des 

Menschen [ist] nur ein Auftauchen seiner Geschichten ist“. 
8 This is my translation. The German text reads: “Beiträge zur geistigen 

Bewältigung der Welt”. Musil refers here only to the novel. 
9  This is my translation. The full German passage reads: “[Afrika] ist kein 

geschichtlicher Weltteil, er hat keine Bewegung und Entwicklung aufzuweisen, und 

was etwa in ihm, das heißt in seinem Norden geschehen ist, gehört der asiatischen 

und europäischen Welt zu“. 



19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SECTION 1 
 

ECCLESIASTICAL/THEOLOGICAL 

PERSPECTIVES AND SEMINARY 

FORMATION 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



20 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

 

 



21 

3 

HERMENEUTIC OF CONTINUITY AND 

THEOLOGICAL FORMATION 
 

Francis ‘Kunle ADEDARA, STL, Ph.D 
Seminary of Ss. Peter and Paul 

P.M.B. 5171, Secretariat P.O., Ibadan, Oyo State 
fradedara@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The foundation of theology is Scripture.  In an attempt to give a 
necessary clarification of this statement, I allude to the words of Anthony 
Akinwale: “The Bible contains the word of God.  But the word of God is 
not contained by the Bible…”  Since theology is fundamentally a speech 
about God, that speech has to be first of all ‘a speech from God’ before it 
can be ‘a speech about God’.  In other words, theology is a reflection on 
God who speaks (Word – Logos) and about his word that he speaks in 
Scripture and Tradition.  This is the sense in which one understands 
Akinwale’s statement, and how one ought to understand the basis of 
theology in Scripture.  Hermeneutics is the branch of theology that deals 
with the principles of Biblical interpretation.  Correct hermeneutical 
approach is therefore essential to a proper understanding of the truth 
revealed by God.  For example, it is essential to the full understanding of 
the OT to employ a hermeneutic that many OT texts are types or 
prefigurements of Christ and his fulfilment of Scripture in the NT.  One 
very important interpretive principle that Augustine enunciates in his De 
Doctrina Christiana is that one text of Scripture cannot be preferred to 
another or played off against another.  The real truth conforms to 
everything that has been revealed.  What this paper attempts to do is to 
apply this same principle of interpretation to how theology is done.  In 
this understanding, Scripture cannot be reflected upon to the exclusion 
of the Magisterium and the tradition of the Christian faith, rooted in the 
Apostles and reflected upon by the Fathers of the Church. 
 
Keywords: Hermeneutic, Magisterium, Apostolic Faith, Fathers of the 
Church, Continuity 
 



22 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Introduction 
It is important to note that one cannot sufficiently discuss the subject of 
theological formation without also broaching the subject of theological 
method.  In this sense, theological formation is formation in method.  In 
his epic work, Method in Theology, which reflects on the operations 
theologians perform as they do theology, Bernard Lonergan says: “A 
Theology mediates between a cultural matrix and the significance and 
role of a religion in that matrix.”1  Two things stand out in this 
statement: firstly, ‘a cultural matrix’, which is loosely interpreted as that 
from which a culture originates, develops, or takes form, and secondly, 
‘role of a religion’, which can be here understood as the function of 
religion in the process of forming, shaping, and developing a culture.  In 
this regard, religion plays a significant role in shaping a culture.  What 
Lonergan proposes in his statement shows that theology mediates the 
role a religion plays in shaping a culture.  The question is, with what 
special tool does theology carry out this mediation?  Theology mediates 
as a speech about God.  Therefore, how religion shapes a culture must 
necessarily relate a people and their cultural terrains to God as their 
beginning and their end.  And since theology is fundamentally a speech 
about God, that speech has to be first of all ‘a speech from God’ before it 
can be ‘a speech about God’.  In other words, in theology we seek 
explanation and understanding of what God has revealed.  In this context 
of mediation, theology sheds light on how religion shapes culture, so that 
in forming and shaping culture, the practice of religion is a response to 
what God has revealed.  Consequently, every religious speech is a speech 
about God because it is a response to the word of God. 

In laying out the framework for speaking about method in 
theology, Lonergan says: “Method is not a set of rules to be followed 
meticulously by a dolt.  It is a framework for collaborative creativity. It 
would outline the various clusters of operations to be performed by 
theologians when they go about their various tasks.”2  He highlights eight 
distinct tasks for contemporary theology: research, interpretation, 
history, dialectic, foundations, doctrines, systematics, and 
communications.  What he refers to as functional specialties explains 
how he arrives at this list of eight distinct tasks.  Again, when Lonergan 
speaks of method, he is not referring to a set of rules to be followed 
blindly but a framework for creativity.  Within such dynamism, what is 
underscored is not ‘writing theology’ but ‘method in theology’.  
According to him, the task of writing method in theology is not 
concerned with objects that theologians expound but with the operations 
that theologians perform.  One must, however, avoid a hasty 
interpretation of Lonergan that opposes object of theology to theological 
method.  No matter the method, there is always the fundamental object 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    23 

of theology that method must not detract from, namely, the First Truth.  
Whatever the operation of the theologian, his task is denominated by the 
First Truth.  In this way, theological method is not opposed to the object 
of theology, because the object determines the operation.  As a matter of 
fact, God is not the object but subject of theology, and he determines the 
operation of the theologian. 

For the purpose of this paper, we shall attempt to transpose the 
idea of Lonergan on how method works generally to how ‘hermeneutic 
of continuity’ functions in theological method and formation.  According 
to Lonergan, “A method is a normative pattern of recurrent and related 
operations yielding cumulative and progressive results.”3  Two things are 
fundamental in this assertion: ‘distinct operations’ and ‘relatedness of the 
operations.’  From these two, Lonergan describes the function of method 
in such a way that shows the integrity and continuity of operations, 
yielding cumulative and progressive results.  He says: 
There is a method, then, where there are distinct operations, where each 
operation is related to the others, where the set of relations forms a 
pattern, where the pattern is described as the right way of doing the job, 
where operations in accord with the pattern may be repeated indefinitely, 
and where the fruits of such repetition are, not repetitious, but 
cumulative and progressive.4 

What Lonergan states here gives the broad framework for 
speaking about hermeneutic of continuity and method in theology.  
Every authentic theological method must explore the interrelatedness of 
the distinct approaches to understanding the reality that is revealed and 
proposed for belief.  This paper aims to show that hermeneutic of 
continuity in theological method and formation entails proper 
interpretation of scripture, tradition of the faith, and ecclesiastical texts, 
in order to emphasize their unity.  The task of theology is to work for 
this unity rather than the too prevalent “hermeneutic of rupture.”  In this 
understanding, “Sacred tradition and sacred Scripture make up a single 
sacred deposit of the Word of God,”5 and its authentic interpretation has 
been entrusted to the teaching office of the Church.  For this reason, 
“sacred tradition, sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church 
are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without 
the others.”6 Thus, interpretation of the word of God is a task of the 
Magisterium of the Church: it is a task it carries out in fidelity to the 
tradition of the Christian faith; in fidelity to the sensus fidei of the whole 
people of God; with fidelity to the apostolic origins of Christianity; and 
with profound reference to the reflections upon the Christian faith by 
the Fathers of the Church. 

 
 



24 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The Function of Hermeneutics in Theological Method 
The fact that Scripture is the foundation of theology shows that every 
theological enterprise is a reflection on the Word of God.  It means 
theology is a reflection on God who speaks (Word – Logos), and about his 
word that he speaks in Scripture and Tradition.  Hermeneutics is the 
branch of theology that deals with the principles of Biblical 
interpretation.  Correct hermeneutical approach is therefore essential to a 
proper understanding of the truth revealed by God.  This approach 
underscores the integrity of the whole of Scripture, and how theological 
interpretation functions in fidelity to the unity of the truth that is 
revealed.  It is along this line that St. Augustine, in his On the Christian 
Doctrine7, recommends that when interpreting Scripture, one text cannot 
be preferred to another or played off against another. Since everything 
the Holy Spirit intends to teach in Scripture is true, all texts which relate 
to a given problem must be examined for what they say about it, and the 
correct understanding will necessarily be an understanding which 
permits every text to retain its full force—that is, the real truth will 
conform to everything that has been revealed. Working against this 
“hermeneutic” is any tendency to interpret Scripture according to the 
“plain meaning” of a favorite text, while ignoring other texts which 
provide additional light on the same subject.  This is the practice of 
quoting the scripture in isolation, and it is tantamount to “hermeneutic 
of rupture.” 

In order to highlight the function of hermeneutics in theological 
method, the correct principle of interpretation does not only apply to 
Scripture, but also to everything that God has revealed in the Christian 
tradition.  Describing the interrelatedness of different scriptural passages, 
and the relation of scripture to magisterial texts, Jeff Mirus says: 
Because the Magisterium of the Church teaches with the same authority 
as Sacred Scripture (after all, the same Holy Spirit inspires and 
guarantees both), a Catholic can properly understand a Christian 
teaching only if he takes into account everything that both Scripture and 
the Magisterium have said on a subject. Any understanding which fastens 
on what Scripture says to the exclusion of the Magisterium (as 
Protestants typically do) or which fastens on this or that statement of the 
Magisterium in preference to others (as Traditionalists typically do) is 
doomed to be incorrect. The proper interpretation will always be the one 
which allows for the truth of all the relevant Scriptural and Magisterial 
texts.8 

What the statement of Jeff Mirus attests to is the unity of 
scripture, tradition and the magisterium.  In chapter II of the Dogmatic 
Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, where it discusses 
Transmission of Divine Revelation, the document states that all that God 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    25 

had revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their 
entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.9  
“Therefore, Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most 
high God is summed up (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20; 3:16; 4:6) commanded the 
apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by 
the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated 
with his own lips.”10  The apostles transmitted what they received from 
the Lord to succeeding generations.  In order to preserve the living and 
full Gospel in the Church, the apostles left bishops as their successors.  
They gave them “their own position of teaching authority.”11  The 
transmission of the faith from the apostles is the characteristic feature of 
the apostolicity of origin, since the Church was first organized by the 
apostles chosen by Christ; it is the feature of apostolicity of teaching, because 
what the Church teaches now is essentially what was taught by the 
Apostles; and it is the feature of apostolicity of succession in office, since there 
has been an unbroken historical transmission of episcopal powers, 
through ordination, from the Apostles to all the Bishops in communion 
with the Bishop of Rome today.  This does not only guarantee 
faithfulness to revelation, but also to its continuity.  Theology, which is a 
speech about God, because it is a reflection on God’s word, must 
therefore employ, in its method, the principle of interpretation that 
functions on the unity and continuity of the Christian faith tradition.  
According to the fathers of the Second Vatican Council, “This sacred 
Tradition, then, and the sacred Scripture of both Testaments, are like a 
mirror, in which the Church, during its pilgrim journey here on earth, 
contemplates God from whom she receives everything, until such time 
as she is brought to see him face to face as he really is (cf. Jn 3:2).”12  In 
this regard, Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture are bound closely 
together, and communicate one with the other; they make up a single 
sacred deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the Church.13   

The Council fathers further state that the task of giving an 
authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form 
or in the form of Tradition,14 has been entrusted to the living teaching 
office of the Church alone.15  The authority of the magisterium in this 
matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.  It is not superior to the 
Word of God, but is its servant.  It teaches only what has been handed on 
to it.  The document Dei Verbum concludes the section on the 
“Transmission of Divine Revelation” with the profound statement of 
unity of Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium: “It is clear, 
therefore, that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred 
tradition, sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so 
connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the 
others.  Working together, each in its own way under the action of the 



26 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”16  
Theologians have important task to perform in giving authentic 
interpretation of the Word of God.  Since theirs is a service of the truth, 
whatever method they adopt must always work for the continuity of 
what God has revealed in Christ, which is rooted in the apostolic faith, 
and which is correctly interpreted and taught by the Magisterium.  
Therefore, the theologian does not engage in reckless scholarship that 
emphasizes his subjective views over the inherent truth of the Christian 
tradition; rather, he functions within the hermeneutic environment that 
is subservient to the teaching office of the Bishops.  It must be noted 
here that “Both the teaching office of the Bishop and the teaching office 
of the theologian are at the service of the truth.  For this reason, they are 
not at variance.   However, the teaching office of the theologian is at the 
service of the teaching office of the Bishop.”17  A more specific scrutiny 
of the mission of the theologian is necessary to see how his service of the 
truth works for continuity rather than rupture. 

 
Mission of the Theologian and Formation in Method18 
The profound mission of the theologian is silence and contemplation.  
This seems both strange and paradoxical, since theology is fundamentally 
a speech.  Yet, this is the primary mission of the theologian, because the 
purpose of silence and contemplation, as Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, 
once said, is that “they serve, in the distractions of daily life, to preserve 
permanent union with God.”19  He stressed further that the purpose is so 
that “that union with God may always be present in our souls and may 
transform our entire being.”20  The theologian is one who is first and 
foremost called to a union with God.  In contemplating God who is the 
First Truth, the theologian is transformed by the truth that he seeks to 
understand.  It is only in this way that he can relate the fruits of his 
contemplation to others.  Silence and contemplation are therefore the 
essential mission of the theologian.  This is his mission if, in the 
loquacity of his every day, in the plethora of words, he makes the 
essential words heard.  Through words, he makes present the fruits of 
his contemplation; he makes present the Word, the Logos who comes 
from God, the Word who is God.  The theologian lives in a world where 
there is the possibility of the distractions that come from so many words.  
If he is to make the Word who comes from God present, it has to be 
through a process of purification of his thoughts, which in addition must 
be above all a process of purification of his words. 

John the Evangelist says of the Word of God that was coming 
into the world that he was the true light that enlightens every man.  “He 
was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world 
knew him not” (Jn 1:10).  The world did not know him because the 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    27 

world did not enter that silence in which John was privileged to know 
the Logos of God and made him known.  We cannot open the world and, 
indeed ourselves, to the Word without entering into the silence of God 
from which his Word proceeds.  And as Benedict XVI says: “For the 
purification of our words, hence, also for the purification of the words of 
the world, we need that silence which becomes contemplation, which 
introduces us into God's silence and brings us to the point where the 
Word, the redeeming Word, is born.”21  To enter into silence and 
contemplation always means to hear something, to hear a speech.  The 
one who enters into this silence is not the one who speaks, but he listens.  
In this regard St Thomas Aquinas, with a long tradition, says that in 
theology God is not the object of which we speak.  This is our own 
normal conception.  God, in reality, is not the object but the subject of 
theology.  The one who speaks through theology, the speaking subject, 
must be God himself.  And our speech and thoughts must always serve 
to ensure that what God says, the Word of God, is listened to and finds 
room in the world.  For this reason, the practice of true theology cannot 
be the substitution of our words for the Word of God.  In theology God 
speaks, and in the process the theologian must learn to forfeit his own 
words, so that through this process of purification his words may be 
nothing but the instrument through which God can speak, and, hence, 
that God may truly be the subject and not the object of theology. 

When the theologian enters the silence in which God alone 
speaks, he must be attentive and seek the true word of God.  A phrase 
from the first chapter of the First Letter of St. Peter easily comes to 
mind: “Animas vestras castificantes in oboedientia veritatis” (1 Pet 1:22).  Here 
Peter speaks of the purification of the soul that comes from obedience to 
the truth.  Obedience to the truth must "purify" our souls and thus guide 
us to upright speech and upright action.  The lesson in this, as it relates 
to the mission of the theologian, is that when there is obedience to the 
truth, the theologian will avoid what Benedict XVI calls prostitution of 
words and of the soul.  According to the Pope Emeritus, “speaking in the 
hope of being applauded, governed by what people want to hear out of 
obedience to the dictatorship of current opinion, is considered to be a 
sort of prostitution: of words and of the soul.”22  He explains further that 
the "purity" to which the Apostle Peter is referring means not submitting 
to these standards, not seeking applause, but rather, seeking obedience to 
the truth.  In other words, the theologian must not only learn to forfeit 
his own words, but he must also constantly seek to be at the service of 
the true word of God.  Such service to the word of God is only authentic 
when opinions are not substituted for the truth.  This can sometimes be 
the danger in the theological enterprise.  This is why the mission of the 



28 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

theologian should draw its proper life and derive its impetus from the 
obedience to the truth.   

The words of Benedict XVI aptly convey the authentic content 
and method of the theological enterprise when he says: 

And I think that this is the fundamental virtue for the 
theologian, this discipline of obedience to the truth, 
which makes us, although it may be hard, collaborators 
of the truth, mouthpieces of truth, for it is not we who 
speak in today's river of words, but it is the truth which 
speaks in us, who are really purified and made chaste by 
obedience to the truth. So it is that we can truly be 
harbingers of the truth.23 

The same message is communicated in the words of St. Ignatius of 
Antioch: "Those who have understood the Lord's words understand his 
silence, for the Lord should be recognized in his silence."24  We grasp the 
true significance and depth of the words of Jesus only when we attain 
that silence of the Lord, his being with the Father from which words 
come.  The words of Jesus are born in silence on the Mountain, as is 
often said that he withdrew to the mountain to pray.  The theologian, 
who has the mission to convey the words of Jesus, must also take his 
instance from this communion of the Son with the Father.  Indeed, 
“words are born from this silence of communion with the Father, from 
being immersed in the Father, and only on reaching this point, on 
starting from this point, do we arrive at the real depth of the Word and 
can ourselves be authentic interpreters of the Word.  The Lord invites us 
verbally to climb the Mountain with him and thus, in his silence, to learn 
anew the true meaning of words.”25  It is when the words of the 
theologian are born from the silence of communion with the Father and 
with Christ, the Logos of the Father, that it can be truly said of him: 
“Anyone who hears you hears me” (Lk 10:16).  The content and context 
of Evangelization is the Word of God.  If it is therefore true that those 
who hear us hear the Lord, then the task of evangelization already has its 
true force and its assurance of success, since the word of God stands for 
ever, and it accomplishes the purpose for which it is spoken (Cf. Is 48:8; 
55:11).  It is the word that is born from the silence of communion with 
the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit that is the force of 
Evangelization.  The theologian must always enter this silence and 
contemplation. 

However, the nature of authentic theology is that it is both a 
quest and a speech.  Hence, it is the mission of a theologian that he 
searches and that he speaks.  The quest and speech is primarily about 
God, and also about every creature in its relation to God as its first 
beginning and its last end.26  In proposing what the nature and task of 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    29 

theology is, I allude to the words of Anthony Akinwale: “This search and 
this speech can only be undertaken by one who encounters God, human 
beings, and the universe in an attentive, intelligent, reasonable and 
responsible manner.  Each and all of these four levels of conscious 
intentionality must be sustained in prayer such that, in this encounter, 
the theologian is prayerfully attentive, prayerfully intelligent, prayerfully 
reasonable, and prayerfully responsible.”27  It follows that in its method, 
theology must always apply the principle of fides quaerens intellectum, 
where faith both informs and sustains the task of theology, and where 
the theologian does not yield to the recklessness of relativism. 

We have considered how silence and contemplation are 
profoundly the mission of the theologian.  Yet, because theology is also 
authentically a speech, the mission of the theologian is also essentially to 
speak about God.  However, the one who endeavours to speak about 
God must also have a profound desire for God.  Here is the meeting 
point of theology as speech and quest, because there can be no speech 
about God where there is no quest for God.  Thus, in the larger picture 
of the mission of the theologian, as he speaks about God, his speech 
must be grounded in the silence and contemplation that we have talked 
about.  The God who has placed in every human being the natural desire 
for him (desiderium naturale in Deum)28 is at the heart of the quest that 
theology is.  The quest is not a blind quest, but one that is born out of a 
sincere desire for God.  In Athens the Greeks erected an altar “to an 
unknown God” (cf. Acts 17:23).  As it were, they had a desire for what 
was unknown; and this is absurd.  In Book VIII of his De Trinitate, St. 
Augustine establishes the principle that no one loves what he does not 
know.  Thus, we do not love the unknown, but love to know the 
unknown.  Here is how Augustine puts it: 

For, since ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ [2 Cor 5:7], we 
certainly do not yet see God, as the same one has said: 
‘face to face’ [1 Cor 13:12].  Unless we love him now, 
we shall never see Him.  But who loves that which he 
does not know?  For something can be known and not 
loved; but what I am asking is, whether something can 
be loved that is not known?  If that is impossible, then no 
one loves God before he knows Him.  And what does it 
mean to love God, except to see Him and to perceive 
him steadfastly with our mind?  For He is not a body to 
be sought for with bodily eyes.29 

It follows that to speak about God is to have a desire for God; and 
one cannot have a desire for what one does not known.  Hence, we speak 
of the task of theology as a speech and a quest.  And since one speaks 
about a person or thing to the extent that one knows the person or thing, 



30 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

then the validity of what the theologian says about God must come from 
his deep knowledge of God.  Such knowledge comes from the silence 
and contemplation into with the theologian enters.  As a result, the 
knowledge is the fruit of both faith and reason.   

The Church teaches that “God, the first principle and last end of 
all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the 
natural light of human reason.”30  The Catechism of the Catholic Church 
states further: “In the historical condition in which he finds himself, 
however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by 
the light of reason alone.”31  Consequently, the knowledge of God that 
comes from reason must be from reason that is ennobled, enlightened, 
empowered and elevated by faith.  What the Church teaches in the two 
instances is true and valid.  In the first instance, from the things that have 
been made (cf. Rom 1:20), any reasonable and intelligent person can 
come to the conclusion that God exists.  On the other hand, there are 
reasonable and intelligent people who have not been able to come to the 
conclusion that God exists.  For the latter group, what is missing is faith.  
That God exists is self-evident in itself since the predicate is included in 
the essence of the subject.  But it is not self-evident to us because we do 
not know the essence of God.  It is for this reason that the proposition 
needs to be demonstrated by the things that are more known to us, 
though less known in their nature – namely, by effects.32  From what we 
have said, it is true and valid that God can be known by the natural light 
of human reason from the created world.  But because God is Mystery – 
not in the sense that God is unintelligible, but in the sense that who God 
is cannot be exhausted – to attempt to know God by the light of reason 
alone is fraught with so many difficulties.  Reason must be enlightened 
and elevated by faith.  The God whom the theologian seeks to speak 
about is a mystery, so the theologian must recognize that the created 
intellect cannot know God perfectly.  God is knowable, and he is 
knowable infinitely.  Yet the infinitely knowable God cannot be known 
infinitely by the finite intellect of the creature.  And because the 
theologian cannot exhaust the meaning of who God is, he must fall in 
love with the mystery that God is, so that he may be purified, and so that 
his speech may truly be about God whom he has fallen in love with.  He 
is called to live a holy life by constant conversion to God.         

Furthermore, when the theologian speaks about God out of 
desire for God, it means “God is the subject matter of the speech that 
takes its inspiration from the natural desire for God and the God who 
fulfills that desire by revealing himself, and who gives the Church’s 
Magisterium as a gift to ensure that what is revealed is rightly 
interpreted.”33  Theology is, therefore, a quest to understand God and 
what God has revealed about himself, and it is also a speech about God 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    31 

who reveals himself.  In this regard, “It is a search for understanding and 
a speech about the search, a speech in which the speaker seeks to 
understand for himself and seeks to explain to his audience the One he 
has found, or rather, the One who has found him.”34  If in the task and 
mission of theology, quest, speech and desire are interwoven, the 
mission of the theologian, vis-à-vis the task of interpretation and 
evangelization, must flow from a profound encounter with the God 
whom he has found and whom he loves, and his attempt to make this 
God known to others so that they too may love him.  His speech will 
always be about the God of love so that those who listen to his 
explanation of the true word of God may also come to the knowledge 
and love of the God who speaks and is spoken about. 
 It must be noted that though theology is a speech about God, it is 
also a speech about creatures.  However, theology cannot be reduced to 
discourse about creatures.  As a matter of fact, when it is said that 
theology is a speech about creatures, that speech cannot be isolated from 
the speech about God.  For this reason Thomas Aquinas teaches that 
theology is not concerned with creatures in se, but only as they are related 
to God as their beginning and end.35  Thus, when the theologian speaks 
about creatures he is not to use the methods of the natural or social 
sciences – though he does not ignore the findings of these other branches 
of knowledge – he must speak about them as a theologian.  In other 
words, it is in his speech about God that he must speak about creatures.  
As much as other branches of knowledge can be of help to theology, the 
office of theology must not be usurped by these other branches of 
knowledge.  The implication of this is that the theologian must engage in 
the task of interpretation and evangelization as one who primarily and 
essentially speaks about God.  What he does in his speech about God is 
seek to understand the God who has created all things, and this desire to 
understand the mystery of God gives theology its character as a quest.   
St. Anselm of Canterbury speaks of this effort of the human mind to 
understand the mystery of God when he wrote:  

I am not trying, O Lord, to penetrate thy loftiness, for I 
cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I 
desire in some measure to understand thy truth, which 
my heart believes and loves.  For I do not seek to 
understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to 
understand.  For this too I believe, that “unless I believe, 
I shall not understand.”36 

 It is clear then that, in his speech about God, the theologian does not 
first seek to understand before he believes, but he believes so as to 
understand (credo ut intelligam).  These words of Anselm have given 
theology the classical character of “faith seeking understanding” (fides 



32 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

quaerens intellectum).  Long before Anselm, the Fathers of the Church, 
especially Augustine, demonstrated the truth in these statements.  From 
the outset of his most profound theological work, De Trinitate, Augustine 
impressed on his reader that the starting point of his quest for the 
immaterial imago Dei was faith in the Trinity, and that throughout the 
quest he was going to be guided by faith.  “The De Trinitate is a search, an 
inquisitio, as Augustine puts it.  It is the embodiment of a principle of 
Catholic theology that Augustine constantly invoked and that St. Anselm 
later formulated: fides quaerens intellectum.  Faith is, therefore, the starting 
point for Augustine.  We cannot come to an understanding of the 
mystery of the trinity without the initium fidei.37  The theologian who 
speaks about God must always have this initium fidei.  The initium fidei of 
the theologian is not an isolated private revelation, nor is it a rupture 
from what the Christian community believes to be revealed through 
Jesus Christ, which the Apostles taught and passed on to succeeding 
generations of Christian disciples, the deposit of faith (depositum fidei).  
Thus, the mission of the theologian, in his task of interpretation, is to 
constantly work hermeneutic of continuity in the understanding and 
explanation of the Christian faith.  His mission as theologian is one that 
he undertakes personally but on behalf of the believing community.  In 
his regard, “The task of theology is to show that the act of faith and the 
act of good use of the human intellect are not incompatible.”38  And to 
have great impact in the task of interpretation, the theologian must be a 
man of faith, he must be intelligent and he must be reasonable.   
 
Conclusion 
This paper examined hermeneutic of continuity as the proper principle 
of interpretation, in which the unity and integrity of the faith tradition is 
the task of theology.  Theological formation must therefore consist in the 
proper formation of theological method, so that the one who is thus 
formed recognizes his mission and his teaching office to be at the service 
of the truth and in obedience to the truth.  For the theologian to be at the 
service of the truth is for him to work for continuity rather than rupture 
in the tradition of the Christian faith.  As principle of interpretation, 
hermeneutic of continuity allows for the truth of the relevant scriptural 
and magisterial texts, mediated by the faith tradition that goes back to the 
apostles.  This principle is opposed to any interpretive technique which 
severs one or more Magisterial texts, or one or more passages of 
Scripture, from other texts.  Such a technique is a “hermeneutic of 
rupture”.  The right principle is a “hermeneutic of continuity”, and this 
principle lies in the heart of true theological formation and theological 
method.  For over two centuries now, “Western intellectual life, with the 
deep influence of modernism, has been dominated increasingly by a 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    33 

“hermeneutic of rupture”, a broad principle of interpretation of the 
Good which dismisses tradition and opts instead for the latest ideas, as if 
by the very fact of coming later in time, these ideas must be superior—a 
misconception arising largely from the Western notion of “progress”.”39  
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this hermeneutic of rupture was 
imported into Catholic theology by those who fell victim to Modernism.  
Modernism essentially finds religious truth in the current lived 
experience of Christians.  As a remedy, this paper proposes proper 
theological formation that is rooted in “hermeneutic of continuity”, and 
in which the theologian sees his task as that of service to the integral 
truth of Scripture, sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium.  The study of 
the Fathers of the Church must be an integral part of this theological 
formation.   
 
Endnotes  
 
                                                      
1 Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 

1971), xi 
2 Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology, xi 
3 Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology, 4 
4 Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology, 4 
5 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 10 
6 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 10 
7 The following insight is an explanation of the thoughts of St. Augustine provided 

by Jeff Mirus in his article “Benedict’s Hermeneutic of Continuity”, written and 

uploaded for CatholicCulture.org, January 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org 

/commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. Retrieved on December 30, 2019.   
8 Jeff Mirus in his article “Benedict’s Hermeneutic of Continuity”, written and 

uploaded for CatholicCulture.org, January 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org 

/commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. Retrieved on December 30, 2019. 
9 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 7 
10 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 7 
11 St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, III, 3, 1 
12 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 7 
13 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 9, 10 
14 Cf. First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, c. 3 (on 

Faith): Denz. 1972 (3011). 
15 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 10. Cf. Pius 

XII, Encyclical Humani Generis, 12 August 1950: Denz. 1972 (3886). 
16 Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 10 
17 Francis Adedara, “Marriage and Family Life in Service of Truth: Theological 

Perspectives on Reception of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia” in Abuja 

Journal of Philosophy and Theology, 7 (2017) 80-81.  



34 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
18 What I discuss in this section is the variation of a section of the paper I read at a 

Conference of the Southwest Association of Nigerian Catholic Theologians.  See 

Francis Adedara, “The Mission of the Theologian and the Task of Evangelization: A 

Reflection on the Nigerian Context”, in The Theologian and the New Evangelization 

in the South-West of Nigeria, Conference Proceedings, vol. I (Ibadan: A Publication of 

Southwest Association of Nigerian Catholic Theologians, 2014).  The section on 

Mission of the Theologian is adopted and adapted for the purpose of this paper.  
19 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Eucharistic Celebration with the members of the 

International Theological Commission, Redemptoris Mater Chapel, Apostolic 

Palace, October 6 2006 
20 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Eucharistic Celebration with the members of the 

International Theological Commission. 
21 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Eucharistic Celebration with the members of the 

International Theological Commission. 
22 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Eucharistic Celebration with the members of the 

International Theological Commission. 
23 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Eucharistic Celebration with the members of the 

International Theological Commission. 
24 Ignatius of Antioch, Letter the Ephesians, XV, 2 (Sources Chrétiennes 10, pp. 84-

85). 
25 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Eucharistic Celebration with the members of the 

International Theological Commission. 
26 See Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia I, q. 1, a. 7 
27 Anthony Akinwale, “Catholic Theology and the Church in Nigeria,” a paper 

presented at Graduate Theology Students; Colloquium, Ave Maria University, FL, 

September 14, 2007, p. 4 
28 The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “The desire for God is written in 

the human heart, because man is created by God for God; and God never ceases to 

draw man to himself.  Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never 

stops searching for” (n. 27).  The Second Vatican Council says in this regard: “The 

dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God.  

This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into 

being.  For if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and 

through love continues to hold him in existence.  He cannot live fully according to 

truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator” 

(GS 19).  
29 Augustine, De Trinitate, VIII.6 
30 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 36. See Vatican Council I, Dei Filius 2: DS 3004; 

cf. 3026; see also Vatican II, Dei Verbum 6 
31 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 37; see Pius XII, Humani Generis, 561, where 

this historical condition is rooted in the consequences of original sin. 
32 See Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, q. 1, a. 1 for a discussion of whether 

the existence of God is self-evident. 
33 Anthony Akinwale, “Catholic Theology and the Church in Nigeria,” p. 4 
34 Anthony Akinwale, “Catholic Theology and the Church in Nigeria,” p. 4 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    35 

                                                                                                                         
35 Cf. Summa Theologiae I, q. 2, prol.: “principalis intentio huius sacrae doctrinae est 

Dei cognitionem tradere, et non solum secundum quod in se est, sed etiam secundum 

quod est principium rerum et finis earum, et specialiter rationalis creaturae.” 
36 Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion, Ch. 1 in A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to 

Ockham, edited by Eugene Fairweather (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1956). 

Cf. Is 7:9, as read by Augustine in the Old Latin version, and frequently quoted by 

him, for example, Epist. 120:1 (CSEL, 34, 706); Sermo 89:4 (PL, 38, 556). 
37 Francis Adedara, “The Image of God in Man and Original Sin in Augustine’s De 

Trinitate” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, 2011), see pp. 4-5 
38 Anthony Akinwale, “Catholic Theology and the Church in Nigeria,” p. 7 
39 Jeff Mirus in his article “Benedict’s Hermeneutic of Continuity”, written and 

uploaded for CatholicCulture.org, January 30, 2009. https://www.catholicculture.org 

/commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/. Retrieved on December 30, 2019. 



36 

4 

FORMATION IN RITUAL STUDIES: 
TOWARDS A BETTER APPRECIATION OF 

CATHOLIC SACRAMENTAL SYSTEM 
 

Olumuyiwa Anthony OMODUNBI 
Catholic Diocese of Oshogbo 

thonyiwa@gmail.com 
 

Abstract  
For a long while, the Roman Catholic sacramental understanding has 
been built upon Thomistic philosophy that is foundational on 
Aristotelian metaphysics. This approach to sacraments and sacramentality 
often obscures seeing sacraments as what they really are: rituals. More 
than ever before, there is need, both in understanding and in practice, to 
have recourse to ritual dimensions of sacraments. Liturgical acts are 
essentially ritual actions and as such deserves such a consideration. 
However, In the wake of the post Vatican II liturgical reforms, Romano 
Guardini (one of the fathers of modern liturgical movement), in his 
open letter to a German conference on liturgy in 1964 made an apt 
remark that worths considering in the formation of 21st century priests.  
He remarked that despite the ritual and textual problems that come with 
the reform, “the central problem seems to me to be something else; the 
problem of the cult act or, to be more precise, the liturgical act. As I see 
it, typical nineteenth-century man was no longer able to perform this act; 
in fact he was unaware of its existence.” This essay therefore argues for 
the need of incorporating ritual studies into the formation of 
contemporary seminarians for a better understanding and practice of 
liturgical acts. The essay argues that ritual studies posits an invitation to a 
renewed understanding of sacrament and sacramentality. The ministers 
of the Word and Sacraments must be aware of the rituals they make, the 
inherent symbols, and how the symbols speak to the assembly that 
partake in the ritual actions. Also, needless to say that liturgical catechesis 
will become more common and effective, only if the teachers understand 
deeply the rituals they make, since nemo dat quod non habet. 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    37 

Keywords: Sacrament, sacramentality, rituals, ex opere operato, symbols, 
ritual studies, 
 
Introduction 
One of the major lasting effects of the Second Vatican Council is the call 
for the revision of the rites of celebrating various sacraments in the 
Church. The entire reform of the liturgy – especially the celebration of 
the sacraments - is to emphasise the reality that liturgical acts are ritual 
actions.1  As such the theology of the different sacraments should at the 
same time be directly drawn and inferred from the ritual practice.  Little 
wonder that each general instruction to the various rites establishes the 
significance of the various liturgical celebrations upon the rite with 
which they are practiced.  This is a deliberate move away from the 
scholastic approach to liturgical practices (prior to the Vatican II 
Council) which prioritizes the juridical implications of liturgical 
celebrations.  

However, the reality on ground attests that the development that 
the reform of the liturgy by the conciliar fathers envisaged is still far from 
actualization in many quarters. In many places, the scholastic approach 
(using Thomistic philosophy built on Aristotelian metaphysics) to the 
sacramental system of the Church is still prevalent, and in many cases, 
the only way of understanding sacramental reality.  The purpose of this 
presentation is to argue for another way of looking at the Catholic 
sacramental system – basically the meaning of sacraments and 
sacramental efficacy.  It proposes that formation in ritual studies will 
enhance a better understanding and the practice of liturgy. The need for 
this formation in ritual studies was underscored by Romano Guardini, in 
his open letter to a German conference on liturgy in 1964 (few months 
after the call for revision of various rites) when he remarked that:  

A mass of ritual and textual problems will present 
themselves and long experience has shown how much 
scope there is for a right and a wrong approach.  But the 
central problem seems to me to be something else; the 
problem of the cult act or, to be more precise, the 
liturgical act. As I see it, typical nineteenth-century man 
(sic) was no longer able to perform this act; in fact, he 
was unaware of its existence. Religious conduct was to 
him an individual inward matter which in the “liturgy” 
took on the character of an official, public ceremonial. 
But the sense of the liturgical action was thereby lost. 
The faithful did not perform a proper liturgical act at all, 
it was simply a private and inward act, surrounded by 
ceremonial and not infrequently accompanied by a 



38 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

feeling that the ceremonial was really a disturbing factor. 
From that point of view the efforts of those who 
concerned themselves with the liturgy must have 
appeared as peculiarities of aesthetes who lacked 
Christian sincerity.2 

Guardini did not hesitate to acknowledge the importance of seeing 
liturgical acts as actions performed by sociological entities who are both 
human and spirit. He also pin-points the importance of the various 
elements – the time, place and things - involved in the external action 
called ritual. In these, one can deduce the inevitable call for formation in 
what will later be known as ritual studies for the better appreciation of 
the liturgical reform and the liturgy itself. He argues that the opportunity 
that the reform brings is the opportunity ‘to relearn forgotten way of 
doing things and recapture lost attitudes.’3  This is the same prospect that 
ritual studies offers. 

This presentation will therefore proceed to highlight some 
justifications for the claim that ‘there is a forgotten way’ and ‘lost 
attitude’ to relearn and recapture respectively through formation in ritual 
studies.  This will explore the patristic way of understanding sacramental 
reality vis a vis the renewed understanding of sacramentality today. 
Afterwards, the work will argue for the potency of ritual studies to 
illuminate catholic sacramental system. 
 
Re-learning the Forgotten Way: Sacramentality Renewed 
Before requesting for the revision of the various rites for celebration of 
the sacraments, the conciliar fathers acknowledged that there is a 
problem of a ‘forgotten way’ because ‘with the passage of time, 
(however), there have crept into the rites of the sacramentals and 
sacraments certain features which have rendered their nature and 
purpose far from clear to the people of today.’4 This reality calls for a 
reflection on the history and development of sacramental practice in 
order to highlight what was wrong and at what point.5 While this work 
cannot cover the scope, let it suffice to note that the understanding of 
sacrament and sacramental efficacy in the Church has not been the same 
all through the history of the Church.  Recent scholarship now favours 
the patristic understanding over the rigid and strict scholastic meaning. 

The Second Vatican Council brought with it a new way of 
understanding Sacramental Theology. More than ever before, the 
council emphasised that creation has the capacity to reveal God who is 
both transcendent and immanent. Therefore, the fathers assert that 
‘there is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot thus be 
directed towards the sanctification of men and the praise of God.’6 This 
teaching ignited a revolution in Sacramental Theology, and ‘Christian 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    39 

theology today recognises that the ability of all creation to reveal the 
transcendent God is first and foremost through the initiative of God and 
then also because of the willingness of an immanent God to 
communicate that desire and allow it to be known in human heart.’7 
David Brown underscores these two attributes of God – transcendence 
and immanence – as unique ways of mediating divine presence through 
the material world.  For him, transcendence does not mean absence; 
rather it stresses the otherness of God, while immanence makes possible 
his closeness.8 

Sacramentality does not mean that God is in all things, but that 
all things are capable of revealing God (or at least something about 
God).9  It was Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, 
who remarked that ‘sacramentality is not a general principle that the 
world is full of “sacredness”: it is the very specific conviction that the 
world is full of the life of God whose nature is known in Christ and the 
Spirit.’10  Since all of creation is the handiwork of God, creation possesses 
a bit of ‘God’ in them and are so enabled to ‘reflect’ God. Sacramentality 
thus ‘acts as a prism, a theological lens through which we view creation 
and all that is in this good earth as revelations of God’s presence and 
action among us here and now.’11 Hence, sacramentality is a theological 
concept covering a vast sphere of reality and cannot be narrowed down 
to the ecclesial (seven) sacraments. In the words of Larson-Miller, ‘the 
elusive nature of the term “sacramentality” is its strength, in that it can 
lure Christians beyond the narrowness of ecclesial sacramental 
terminology to a broad context in which other terms can find a home, 
both contextualized and rational and capable of development.’12 

The elusive nature of the term, ‘sacramentality’ recognised by 
Larson-Miller is not a new discovery. From the earlier usage of the term 
sacrament (from which sacramentality is derived), it has always carried a 
variety of meanings.  Though Augustine refers to sacrament as ‘a sign of a 
sacred thing’ it was applied to a variety of realities.13  True to its 
etymological meaning, the Latin word for sacrament, sacramentum is 
derived from the word sacrare meaning ‘to make or be holy.’ It can refer 
to ‘a person or thing constituted holy by divine right, a function reserved 
for public authority to “consecrate,” the one who performs the 
consecration, the consecration itself, the person or thing consecrated, and 
the means used to effect it.’14 Also the word sacrament has a traceable root 
in the Greek term mysterion. In the New Testament, Paul uses mysterion to 
refer to the hidden plan of God (cf. Rom. 16:25-26). Also, in this Greek 
sense, mysterion means something unfathomable, something so 
extraordinary and overwhelming that it cannot be comprehended.15 It is 
in this light that Joseph Martos noted that ‘any ritual or object, person or 



40 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

place, can be considered sacramental if it is taken to be a symbol of 
something that is sacred or mysterious.’16 

Furthermore, Augustine used the term ‘sacrament for three 
classes of things: (1) the religious rites of both the Old and New 
Testaments and rites of paganism, (2) symbols and figures, and (3) 
revealed teaching of the Christian religion.17 These include imposition of 
hands, blessed ashes, holy water, sign of the cross, ordination, religious 
profession, the Lord’s prayer, feasts, and the word Amen among many 
others.  

While the term ‘sacraments’ in the Roman Catholic Church is 
often associated with the seven sacraments as defined by the Council of 
Trent (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme-
unction[now Anointing of the sick], Holy Orders and Matrimony), the 
renewed understanding of sacramentality has opened up deeper ways of 
understanding sacraments.  Contemporary theology incorporates the 
patristic notion of sacraments into how sacraments should be understood 
today. Hence, we speak today of primordial sacraments – first to describe 
Christ and, second the Church18 -, the seven ecclesial sacraments and 
other sacramentals.19 Indeed, according to Paul Tillich, ‘any object or 
event is sacramental in which the transcendent is perceived to be 
present.’20 

Moreover, the theological principle of sacramentality justifies the 
use of earthly materials as sacred signs in the liturgy. Creation does not 
only reveal God, but also praises God in itself and through the works of 
human hands.  Sacramentality is therefore based on the belief that 
everything God created is good and they can be used in the worship of 
God and the sanctification of humans. According to Irwin, 
‘sacramentality is a worldview that invites us to be immersed fully in the 
here and now, on this good earth, and not to shun matter or avoid the 
challenges that such earthiness will require of us, even as we pray 
through liturgy and sacraments (and other means) to enter into heaven 
when this earthly pilgrimage has ended.’21 The engagement of humans 
with creation in its goodness continues the purpose of God in creation, 
reveals his presence among us and manifest his actions in and on us. 
Hence, ‘holiness, salvation, and redemption are given to us in the 
sacraments because of the principle of sacramentality and mediation.’22 

The fundamental means of mediation of the experience of the 
divine is through the human body.  In recent times theologians pay more 
attention to the role of the human body in sacramental theology, perhaps 
partly because the body is ‘the physical channel of meaning.’23  This 
attention is mainly due to ‘the recognition of the human being, 
inseparable from his or her context-dependence on the living organism 
of the earth, as the conduit through which any and all theology is 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    41 

constructed.’24 In a sense, ‘sacramental theology is explicably a prayer of 
the body.’25 This centrality of the human body in mediated liturgical 
experience is however not new as Tertullian had earlier asserted that the 
body is the instrument of salvation. For Tertullian, this is linked to the 
mystery of Incarnation.  At the incarnation, the eternal Word of the 
Father took flesh and by so doing, he saved us and we in turn can come 
to worship God through our bodies with which we encounter all of 
creation. Narrating how the mediation works, the comment of 
Tertullian on the Resurrection of the flesh is enlightening:  

The flesh is the hinge on which salvation depends.  As a 
result, when the soul is dedicated to God, it is the flesh 
which actually makes it capable of such dedication. For 
surely the flesh is washed, that the soul may be cleansed; 
the flesh is anointed that the soul may be consecrated; 
the flesh is sealed, so that the soul may be fortified; the 
flesh is shadowed by the imposition of hand, that the 
soul too may be illumined by the Spirit; the flesh feeds 
on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul as well 
may fatten on God.26 
Though the actions Tertullian spoke of are specific to the 

sacraments of initiation, his assertion captures adequately what 
sacramental realities do. In this way, sacraments are seen first and 
foremost as ritual events and not a metaphysical reality. 
 
Recapturing Lost Attitude: The Ritual Studies 
This section of the presentation argues that through a formation in ritual 
studies, the faithful can develop the proper attitude towards the 
sacraments and its celebration. But what does ritual studies entail? In the 
words of Ronald Grimes: 
there is a broad and narrow use of the term “ritual studies.”  On the one 
hand, it means simply “the study of ritual” regardless of discipline and 
regardless of the status, professional or amateur, of those who carry it 
out.  On the other hand, it refers to the study of ritual by scholars who 
devote most of their research time and energy to doing it.  In the former 
sense, many engage in it; in the latter, few.27  

In this work, we shall consider ritual studies from the broad 
dimension. While many liturgical theologians are not schooled in this 
field (ritual studies), the works of experts in this field have been highly 
beneficial to the understanding of Christian rituals and liturgy in general.  
Their works give prominence to the various elements of rituals and that 
the elements are fundamental to understanding the belief of the people 
and their expression of such belief.  Prominent among these are the 
works of Catherine Bell and Ronald Grimes, on which I will largely 



42 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

depend in this section. Our aim here is to show in bits how ritual studies 
can illuminate our understanding of sacrament and sacramental efficacy 
through the interplay of the ritual elements.   

But what is Ritual Studies? Ritual studies is ‘a unified, 
interdisciplinary approach which aims to avoid false conflicts and 
excessively narrow definitions of ritualistic phenomena.’28 It is an 
interdisciplinary field that engages sociology, psychology and cultural 
anthropology. Since sacraments are for people (sacramentum propter 
hominem) who belong to a society (faith community), psychological, 
sociological and anthropological investigation (through ritual studies) 
into sacraments is apt in understanding sacramental efficacy. Michael G. 
Lawler rightly captures this interconnection between ritual studies and 
sacrament when he says: ‘an investigation of human behaviour and 
existence throws light on sacraments, just as sacraments are disclosive of 
the human experience and existence.’29 Understanding what people do 
when they come together and how they make a meaning of what they do 
is key in understanding how what they do works by effecting what they 
intend. According to Louis Bouyer, ‘[I]ndeed, the more perfectly we 
know the human aspects of Christianity, the more perfectly we shall 
understand the part of it which is the result of divine intervention.  This 
is not to say that the human and the divine should be found in it 
separated from one another. It is rather that the divine reveals itself in the 
transformation it effects in what is human.’30 

Every animal – rational, social or irrational – ritualizes. Ritual 
actions range from the actions carried out almost instinctively and 
without any consciousness to those that are planned for and even 
transcend our present situation.31 Ritual is basic to human activities like 
eating, drinking, exchanging pleasantries through handshake, moving 
about, mating, giving birth, dying, praying, celebrating anniversaries and 
so on. We engage in ritualizing to give ‘stability to our behaviours and to serve 
as vehicle of communication.’32 For this reason, Tom F. Driver concludes 
that ‘ritualization is our first language, not our “mother”, but our 
“grandmother” tongue, as such it is something we do not outgrow.’33 

Though rituals are generally human activities, in its technical 
usage, the term is considered to be ‘more fittingly applied to forms of 
religious behaviours associated with social transitions.’34 In this sense, the 
behaviours - events, prayers, gestures and materials - involved in the 
celebration of sacraments fall within the scope of ritual activities. Despite 
the attempt to define ritual, one would admit that ritual is wider in scope 
than the descriptions. Because of this diffuse nature of rituals, scholars 
prefer to speak of family characteristics of rituals rather than giving a 
water-tight definition.  In other words, there are some basic 
characteristics that a particular action should meet before it can be said to 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    43 

be a ritual action.35 Ronald Grimes highlighted different ways by which 
actions can be ritualized. These include by: 
 Traditionalizing them, for instance, by claiming that they originated 

a long time ago or with the ancestors 
 Elevating them by associating them with sacredly held values, those 

that make people who they are and that display either how things 
really are or how they ought to be 

 Repeating them – over and over, in the same way – thus inscribing 
them in community and/or self 

 Singularizing them, that is, offering them as rare or even one-time 
events 

 Prescribing their details so they are performed in the proper way 
 Stylizing them, so they are carried out with flair 
 Entering them with a non-ordinary attitude or in a special state of 

mind, for example contemplatively or in trance 
 Invoking powers to whom respect or reverence is due – gods, 

royalty, and spirits, for example 
 Attributing to them special powers or influence 
 Situating them in special places and/or times 
 Being performed by specially qualified persons.36 

The celebration of the sacraments (and indeed all liturgy) can 
adequately be regarded as a ritual activity as it meets the characteristics 
laid out above. They are communal events developed over time by the 
Christian community, and are celebrated at particular times to enter into 
a hierophany. They are carried out at specific places by designated 
persons following the prescribed way of doing them. In carrying out 
these actions, meaning and communication become more important than 
mere function.  As Grimes noted, when this happens, ritualization has 
begun to occur.37 

Liturgy, as human and divine action, cannot be spoken of except 
within the context of rituals. Little wonder Lawrence Hoffman considers 
liturgy as ‘acted-out rituals involving prescribed texts, actions, timing, 
persons and things, all coming together in a shared statement of 
communal identity by those who live with, through and by them.’38 
Liturgy, as a ritual event, is also underscored by the principle of 
sacramentality expressed above. To escape ritualization, we will have to 
escape our bodies, which is impossible.39 The body that grounds the 
principle of sacramentality and mediation also makes ritualization an 
inevitable human activity. The reality of our lives is that ritual actions are 
always around us and are unavoidable.  Despite all efforts of modern 
men and women to move away from rituals, we cannot do without 
them.40 



44 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Kinds/Genres of Rituals 
As pointed out, it is obvious that ritual actions are inevitably numerous 
since different ritual actions perform different roles at different 
moments. However, attempts have been made by scholars in the field to 
categorize the different kind of rituals in their study. For the purpose of 
our work, we shall focus on the six categories of ritual actions proposed 
by Catherine Bell.41 These are: rites of passage, calendrical rites, rites of 
exchange and communion, rites of affliction, feasting, fasting and 
festival; and political rites. 
a) Rites of Passage: These are the ceremonies that accompany and 

dramatize such events as birth, coming-of-age initiation for boys and 
girls, marriage, and death.42 These celebrate both biological and 
socio-cultural changes. These rites celebrate and facilitate real 
changes that take place in people’s lives. In Christian liturgy, the 
celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation (Baptism, 
Confirmation and Eucharist), matrimony, and holy Orders fall 
within this category, as do the rites of Christian funerals.  

b) Calendrical Rites: These are the ‘rites that give socially meaningful 
definitions to the passage of time, creating an ever-renewing cycle of 
days, months and years.’43 Some occasions are calculated with the 
solar calendar (like Christmas day on December 25 and New Year 
Day on January 1), while others are marked by the lunar calendar 
(e.g. Easter Sunday). The rites are celebrated periodically – annually 
or sometimes weekly (like the Sunday liturgy). 

c) Rites of Exchange and Communion: These are the rituals of 
making offering (often to a divine being) in order to receive a 
blessing in return.  The process of making offering and receiving 
blessing also involves a communion, when there is a union of the 
human and divine worlds.44 To some extent, the seven sacraments of 
the Roman Catholic Church are rites of exchange and communion 
as in them prayers are offered to God who in turn grants his 
blessings (or graces). 

d) Rites of Affliction (Healing and purification): These are ‘the 
rituals that attempt to rectify a state of affairs that has been disturbed 
or disordered.’45 Hence, they are also called rites of healing and 
purification.  In the Christian liturgy, the sacraments of 
Reconciliation and Anointing of the sick readily comes to mind as 
healing rites.  Also, the RCIA contains a number of rites that fall 
under this genre, among which are the anointings, laying on of 
hands, ephphetha, exorcisms and scrutinies. 

e) Rites of Fasting, Feasting and Festivals: These are ‘rituals people 
often use to publicly express – to themselves, each other, and 
sometimes outsiders – their commitment and adherence to basic 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    45 

religious values.’46 In feasting, sharing of food is involved as a sign of 
solidarity and charity, and in fasting, adherents abstain from food 
often as sign of contrition.  In Roman Catholicism, the seasons of 
Advent and Lent are seasons of fasting.  They are periods of 
preparation for festivals of the birth of the Lords on Christmas day 
and resurrection of Jesus on Easter day respectively. Though none of 
the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church fall under this ritual, 
the ritual fast is often recommended for the reception of the 
sacraments, especially Eucharist.47 

f) Political Rites: ‘These rituals can be said to comprise those 
ceremonial practices that specifically construct, display and promote 
power of political institutions (such as kings, state, the village elders) 
or the political interests of distinct constituencies and subgroups.’48 
The rites are also called rites of power because they do not only give 
form to power and invest people with power; they also create power 
in the tangible exercise of it.49 The rites by their very nature make 
power both tangible and effective.50 The sacrament of Holy Orders 
celebrates a political rite where men are invested with the power of 
governance, and lay persons can also cooperate with the power of 
governance by the virtue of their baptism.51 

The explanations of the different kinds of rites reveal that there 
are no strict rules demarcating the various rituals or restricting them to 
only a genre.  For instance, the celebration of the sacrament of baptism 
or orders can at the same time reflect the aspect of rites of passage, of 
exchange and communion, of feast, and of power (political).   
 
Elements of Rituals 
In all the genre or kinds of rites discussed above, there are some 
fundamental elements that cut across them and are essential for the 
efficacy of the rites. As such, it is expedient that we analyse the elements 
of ritual in our process of understanding how they work. Ronald Grimes 
underscores the importance of this analysis for two other reasons.52 
Firstly, such analysis guards one against oversimplification of ritual 
process and exposes how each of the elements contribute to or detract 
from the whole process. Secondly, it assists in noticing ritual 
transformation, recognising how the process develops or unfolds. 

Grimes identified seven elements of ritual; viz: ritual actions, 
ritual actors, ritual places, ritual times, ritual objects, ritual language and 
ritual groups. He noted that there are no rigid rules about them or how 
the categories are named. Rather, what matters is how they interact; an 
interaction which is not predetermined by a theory but from observing 
specific ritual events. 



46 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

a) Ritual Actions: Though one can begin analysing a ritual with any 
element, ‘choosing ritual action as a default starting point is both 
pragmatic and a reminder to focus on ritual.’53 It emphasises the fact 
that rituals are, foremost, actions of persons - human or divine. 
Ritual actions are different from mere movements in the sense that 
they are characterized by intention. ‘Things move but people 
act.’54Ritual actions carry with them the force of enacting through 
inter-actions. It is noteworthy that the aim of ritual action is not 
merely to entertain (even though sometimes it does), rather, they are 
designed to achieve an effect. Hence, we can say that ‘people enact 
rituals, especially when a rite seems capable of accomplishing a deed 
or bringing about an effect.’55  Ritual actions do not speak for 
themselves in isolation, but in their interaction with other actions 
that precede or follow them. As such, the meaning of a particular 
action can be modified by the action that precedes or follows it. 

In the context of Christian sacramental rituals of the RCIA, there 
are several ritual actions like kneeling, standing, laying on of hand, 
anointing with oil, profession of faith, movement to the font and 
signing of the senses. All these gestures and postures are not just to 
show something; but work in the ritual system to have a desired 
effect. 

b)  Ritual Actors: Foremost, we must note that ritual actors are 
different from stage actors in that when the term ‘perform’ is used 
for both, they do not mean the same thing. The term ‘perform’ is 
only used for a ritual actor to underscore that his actions are done in 
the presence of people.  In the case of a stage actor, he performs in 
the presence of people and he is supposed to be pretending (although 
they may in fact be).56  Though the ritual actor may or may not be 
aware that he/she is being observed, his ‘performance’ is intended to 
effect something.   

Ritual actors, like actions, do not act alone. As social agents, they 
also interact with other actors either as objects or subjects of various 
actions. Their actions are done among and with other people. 
Though ritual actors are distinguished as leaders or followers, 
ministers or candidates, every participant in a ritual event is 
important irrespective of the role they play. Even those who simply 
show up without ‘doing’ anything, other than observing, contribute 
to the ritual performance. 

In Christian initiation, there are various actors at different stages. 
Prominent among these are the ministers (often the priest and 
catechists), catechumens, sponsors, and the entire congregation.  The 
presence (and sometimes absence) of any of these actors play 
important role(s) at the various celebrations.  



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    47 

c) Ritual Place/Space: Rituals always take place. Rituals are always 
sited in a location, even when ritual actors do not value the location.  
The spatial rootedness of the human life is key to understanding 
ritual places despite the claim that ritual sometimes involves the 
divine and trance experiences.  The human body which makes 
human activities possible is spatio-temporal and cannot be conceived 
without a location, earthly or heavenly. Thus, a ritual place is any 
place where a ritual occurs. It is that ritual environment that 
‘encompasses the totality of what surrounds it and interacts with it.’57 
In this sense, some rituals can only take place at some particular 
places, while others can take place anywhere.  If some rituals are not 
done in the particular places demanded by their rite, they often lose 
their force. 

Ritual space is basically marked by boundaries ‘implied by ritual 
actions, generating a centre and a circumference, both of which can 
fluctuate, the centre receding and advancing or momentarily 
disappearing altogether as subgroups disperse and recongeal.’58 
However, this boundary marks are often delineated by walls forming 
the space into a building like a church or mosque. Ritual places 
should not be confused with sacred places. Grimes cautions that 
‘even though ritual happen in places and make them ritual spaces, 
not all ritual spaces are sacred spaces, and not all sacred spaces are 
permanently so. The sense of a place can change, and a single person 
can hold conflicting attitudes towards a place.’59 

Ritual space/place both speak and act. A baptistry, for instance is 
capable of speaking of the history of salvation through its shape and 
the painting projected on the walls.60 When the ritual place speaks, 
sometimes the meanings are to be inferred from the actions taking 
place there and sometimes it ‘speaks more clearly to those who have 
ears trained to hear what it says.’61 Rituals places can be shaped by 
ritual actions and at the same time they shape ritual actions. When 
people come into a ritual space for a ritual action, they leave with 
feelings, images and impressions of the space. The place gives 
meaning to what they do while what they do also gives meaning to 
the place. 

d) Ritual Time: Ritual actions, like every human activity has its 
starting point as well as its terminating point. Likened to performing 
arts, ‘rituals “eventuate.” They arise, persist for a while, and then 
disappear, perhaps leaving the traces on the environment, in memory 
or in text.’62 Ritual time can be spoken of in various ways. The ritual 
duration (length of a ritual performance measured by clock, bodily 
tiredness or position of the sun) is not always evident. Ritual 
endurance refers to how long a ritual last historically. Ritual timing 



48 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

denotes ‘when’ – the day, hour, week, month, or season- of ritual 
occurrence. The timing of some rituals is fixed while some vary. 
Ritual timing serves various purposes and can affect what is being 
done.  For instance, the same action performed at sunrise and 
midnight impacts the body differently and speaks different meanings. 
Ritual timing is purposeful, and this is evident in the case of Easter 
Vigil emphasising the darkness/light theme very evident in the 
service of the light, the exsultet, the readings and the baptismal 
liturgy. Ritual regularity refers to how often a ritual occurs in terms of 
the evenness of intervals between enactments.63 Ritual phases are 
chronological subunits and can be mechanically marked by sounds or 
even without dividers.  It often demarcates time for various actors to 
start or stop particular actions. 

All these dimensions of ritual time are applicable to Christian 
rituals especially the rites of the Christian initiation.  There are times 
for the different periods and stages of the catechumenate. The days 
for some rites - like acceptance into catechumenate, 
enrolment/election and scrutinies - are spelt out in the RCIA. The 
time for different actions like kneeling, laying on of hands and 
sending out after the liturgy of the Word are also marked. The Easter 
Vigil is the preferred night for the actual celebration of the sacrament 
when candidates journey from darkness into light.  

e) Ritual Objects: These are materials actively used in rituals. An 
object, irrespective of its material, content, beauty or conditions of its 
production, becomes a ritual object when it is used in ritual action or 
ritual space. Regarding the distinction between ritual object and 
sacred object therefore, Grimes noted that ‘“sacred” is about value; 
“ritual” is about use.’64  Among the ritual objects in the RCIA are 
water, oil, white cloth, and candle. 

f) Ritual Language: This includes ritual words, ritual sounds and 
ritual texts. Through these, rituals declare facts, convey meaning and ‘do 
things.’ Like place and actions, words and music have the capacity to 
do work. They are capable to do so because in ritual (by extension in 
liturgy), words are used in symbolic context.65 As symbolic language, 
words are used in ritual as performative utterances. Words, in this 
sense, do not just declare facts and convey meaning, but also 
accomplish tasks.66 In the words of John L. Austin, under the 
necessary conditions, ‘saying it makes it so!’67 For instance, ‘I 
pronounce you husband and wife’ in marriage, is not a mere 
declaration or the description of an action, ‘but the performance of a 
deed.’ In the same way, ‘I baptize you in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ goes beyond a narration of an 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    49 

article of faith, but the performance of the action that cleanses the 
soul from sin and brings rebirth. 

Regarding ritual texts (which are words, put in writing), Grimes 
opines that they function to facilitate ritual performance at least in 
two ways. Firstly, texts serve as mnemonic device as an alternative to 
memorization, and secondly, they function as ritual objects when in 
ritual performance they are ‘read aloud by leaders, tracked silently by 
followers, touched, fanned, elevated or revered.’68 While ritual texts 
perform these dual function, it should be noted that performance do 
not always mirror the text, even when the leader is being prompted 
by or claims to be reading from the text. When performance and text 
do not tally, there are spectrums of possibilities of the meaning 
intended and meaning communicated. 

g) Ritual Groups: Rituals are built on affiliations.69  People involved in 
ritual actions do not only do so as individuals but in interaction with 
other actors. Rituals always belong to a cultural home as they are 
created by a cultural group and enshrines the values of the group.70 
The group designs the ritual to meet the immediate and further 
needs of the group. As such, the general outlook of a group is 
reflected in its rituals.  It is in this light that we can speak of the 
sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church or how the Eucharistic 
liturgy of the Roman rite can be distinguished from the Orthodox 
rite. 

 
Ritual Process: How Rituals Work 
In defining what rituals are, Grimes noted that they are ‘designed 
assemblages.’71  They are ‘designed’ because they are planned and 
constructed in a way that enables form and dynamic to flow to one 
another; and they are assemblages because there exist a sculptural 
technique of composing a group of unrelated, fragmentary or discarded 
objects into a work of art.72 The ritual elements create meaningful 
patterns when they overlap and interact with one another.  Taking the 
case of performative utterances (ritual language) for instance, Austin 
noted that to claim ‘saying it makes it so,’ ‘it is always necessary that the 
circumstances in which the words are uttered should be in some way, or 
ways, appropriate, and it is very commonly necessary that either the 
speaker himself or the other persons should also perform certain other 
actions, whether ‘physical’ or ‘mental’ actions or even act of uttering 
further words.’73 In other words, ‘ritual words’ actually work, not on 
their own but within the framework of the ritual process, the interaction 
of the ritual elements. 

A deeper understanding of how ritual works is to consider ritual 
performance as symbolic events.  This is possible because the elements 



50 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

of ritual, (not just ritual language) are capable of being symbolic. Ritual 
actions, places, actors, objects, time, and group, act as symbols when 
interacting in a ritual process.  As such, when we speak about ritual 
performance, we are at the same time speaking of symbolic events. 
 
Symbols and Meaning 
Symbols must be differentiated from signs even though the distinction is 
not clear-cut as it often seems. While a sign is just as much a reference to 
another reality, a symbol in one way or the other refers to itself, because 
it participates in the reality to which it refers.74  While signs makes 
reference through a rational process and thus a product of agreement, 
symbols are perceived intuitively and touches the whole person at the 
level of feeling and the senses, and as such do not rest on agreements.75 
Consequently, while signs can be altered by agreement when its meaning 
is no longer clear, symbols call us to stop, ponder and meditate since it is 
‘the thing without being the thing, and yet is the thing.’76 More 
importantly, signs have one clear meaning while symbols have multiple 
meanings.  Symbols refer to deeper reality, a farther horizon, a wider 
landscape.77 

As an example, the red colour of the traffic light is a sign calling 
road users to stop.  It simply calls them to stop and nothing more.  The 
meaning of this sign is learned and that is why it is expected that all 
drivers should be able to know road signs and these signs are presumed 
to mean the same thing for every road user. To think of another 
meaning, no matter how little it differs, other than a call to stop, is to 
break traffic rule and perhaps cause accidents.  If at a later time, the red 
sign no longer refers to ‘stop,’ it only needs to be changed by agreement. 
On the other hand, water being used in the sacrament of baptism carries 
a polyvalent meaning. It first partakes in the reality of washing which it 
symbolises. It could make reference to the baptism of Jesus and his 
mandate to his apostles to go and make disciples of all nations by 
baptizing in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (cf.  
Matthew 28:20). It may refer to the deluge in the time of Noah, or the 
exodus experience when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and River 
Jordan. The immersion in the water could symbolise dying and rising, 
death and rebirth, movement of darkness and light (as the one being 
baptized could not see when immersed in water until he comes out), and 
even becoming a new creature coming out from dirts already washed. 
The sprinkling of holy water at celebrations could bring together all 
these meaning, and the meanings are endless.  Because of its polysemic 
nature, if a symbol seems not to communicate a particular meaning (or 
the meaning is inaccessible to the observer or the observers are unable to 
decode the meaning), it does not call for a change through an agreement.  



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    51 

Rather, it calls us to pause and ponder on the reality unfolding before our 
senses. In relation to the sacramental symbols, ritual s will facilitate the 
ability to ‘pause and ponder’ 

Moreover, it is noteworthy to reiterate that the distinctions made 
between sign and symbol are not always clear as they might seem. Signs 
can become symbols and symbols can be reduced to signs. According to 
Susanne Langer ‘it is the human operation that makes the difference 
between sign(al) and symbol… rather than words and images in 
themselves.’78 Every word, image, object and action has the potential of 
multiple significance and multiple reference of language.  The context in 
which they are employed and the interaction they have with other 
objects, words, image or actions provides the ground for their possibility 
of multiple meanings. The danger for observers or participants in a ritual 
performance (liturgy inclusive) is the temptation to reduce symbols to 
signs.  Symbols are reduced to signs when we tend to restrict them to a 
particular meaning and not beyond that.79 In Christian parlance, we 
should not think that the meaning of a ritual event consists of or is tied 
to the thoughts of a theologian, pastor or the Christian community that 
designed them. Rather, ‘ritual meaning consists just as surely of the 
random thoughts and gestures that occur during the ritual.’80 There is no 
doubt that official meaning provided by the Christian community or 
theologians can aid in giving insight to what is being done at liturgy.  
However, as David Power warns, ‘any effort to tie down the meaning of 
liturgical symbols to a single or preconceived meaning thwarts their 
efficacy.’81 Rather, we are to allow other meanings to complement the 
other predominant meaning(s). 

Sometimes, symbolic actions perform the mediation role. In this 
sense, the ritual process creates the atmosphere for the divine to work.  
The creation of the atmosphere consists in the overlapping of the 
meaning of the ritual space, the actions, objects and/or the performative 
language used. The rituals in the words of Joseph Martos works as ‘doors 
to the sacred’82 leading the participants into an hierophany. Through the 
symbols therefore, we enter into the experience of sacred meaning. 

The other way we can speak of how ritual works is in the light of 
means-end context. While this context may not be applicable to all 
rituals, Grimes argues that some rituals essentially work that way.  
Among these are the rituals of healing and fertility.83 The sacrament of 
Anointing of the sick falls under this category.  The prayers and the 
action of laying on of hands (symbolic action) and actual anointing with 
sacred oil (symbolic object) accompanied with prayers (symbolic words) 
serve the healing purpose through the means-end reasoning.  However, 
this does not exempt the working of the divine agent (God), nor does it 
exclude the assertion that it also creates the atmosphere for the divine 



52 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

work of healing or strengthening (among other meanings) that is 
intended and/or expected. Thus, Grimes says ‘rituals itself is sometimes 
considered a spiritual ecological technology.’84 
 
Conclusion 
With these few tips on some aspects of ritual studies, it is evident that the 
formation of seminarians in ritual studies will go a long way in 
appreciating the Catholic sacramental system. The studies undertaken in 
Sociology, Cultural Anthropology and Psychology can be better directed 
to include how these sciences relate to the celebration of the sacramental 
mysteries. This will inevitably enhance the full, conscious and active 
participation that the Vatican II fathers advocated. In the same way, it 
opens a new way of considering the inculturation project that was 
encouraged by the council.  Also, formation in ritual studies no doubt is 
a formation of the human person, enabling the person to appreciate signs 
and symbols in his environment and in worship. It sharpens one’s sense 
of the sacred and leads one to a hierophany. 
 
Endnotes 
 
                                                      
1 See Vatican Council II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum 

Concilium no.63. 
2 See Romano Guadini, ‘Open Letter’ in Foundation in Ritual Studies: A Reader for 

Students of Christian Worship, eds. Paul Bradshaw & John Melloh, (London: SPCK, 

2007), 4. 
3 Ibid. 
4  Sacrosanctum Concilium, no.62. 
5 For a comprehensive treatment of the topic see Kevin W. Irwin, The Sacraments: 

Historical Foundations and Liturgical Theology, (New York: Paulist Press, 2016), 1 -

116; Joseph Martos, Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to the Sacrament 

in the Catholic Church (Missouri: Ligouri Publications, 2014) 
6 Sacrosanctum Concilium, no.61. 
7 Lizette Larson-Miller, Sacramentality Renewed: Contemporary Conversations in 

Sacramental Theology, (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2016), 6. 
8 David Brown, God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience 

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 40. 
9 Far from equating this notion of sacramentality with pantheism, created materials 

are used in worship in relation to words and texts.  It is only within the context of 

the words and texts that we speak of materials as used in the liturgy being means 

of speaking of God, experiencing God and worshipping God. See Kevin W. Irwin, 

The Sacraments: Historical Foundations and Liturgical Theology (New York: Paulist 

Press, 2016), 211-212.  



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    53 

                                                                                                                         
10 Rowan Williams, Foreword to The Gestures of God: Explorations in Sacramentality, 

ed. Geoffrey Rowell and Christian Hall (London: Continuum, 2004), xiii. 
11 Irwin, 210. 
12 Larson-Miller, Sacramentality Renewed, 9. 
13 See Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Book II, 1:1 (NPNF Vol. II, p. 535) 
14 Irwin, 11. 
15Ibid. 
16 Joseph Martos, Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to the Sacrament in 

the Catholic Church (Missouri: Ligouri Publications, 2014), 4. 
17 See Irwin, 53. 
18 See Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God, 

(London: Sheed & Ward, 1963); Avery Dulles, Models of the Church, (New York: 

Image Books, 2002), 55 -67. 
19 Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC no. 1667) says: Holy Mother Church has, 

moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a 

resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual 

nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men 

(sic) are disposed to receive the chief effects of the sacraments. And various 

occasions in life rendered holy. (See also Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 60). 
20Martos, 3. Quoting Paul Tillich. 
21 Irwin, 210. 
22 Ibid., 214. 
23 Mary Douglas, Implicit Meaning: Essays in Anthropology, (London: Routledge & 

Kegan Paul, 1975), 85. 
24 Siobhan Garrigan, Beyond Ritual: Sacramental Theology After Habermas, 

(Hampshire: Ashgate, 2014), 41. 
25 Nathan D. Mitchell, Meeting Mystery: Liturgy, Worship, Sacrament (New York: 

Orbis Books, 2006), 153. 
26 Tertullian, On Resurrection of the Flesh, Ch. 8. (ANF Vol. III p. 551). 
27 Ronald L. Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies (Oxford: University Press, 2014), 7. 
28 Ronald L. Grimes, ‘Modes of Ritual Necessity’ Worship 53, no 2 (1979): 126. 
29 Michael G. Lawler, The Symbol and Sacrament: A Contemporary Sacramental 

Theology (New York: Paulist Press, 1987), 1. 
30 Louis Bouyer, The Rite and Man, Trans. M. Joseph Costelloe (Notre Dame: 

University of Notre Dame Press, 1963), 2. 
31 Ronald L. Grimes refers to them as different modes of ritual sensibilities.  These 

are the attitudes that seem to predominate in a ritual performance. These are 

ritualization, decorum, ceremony, magic, liturgy and celebration. See Ronald L 

Grimes, Beginnings in Ritual Studies, 3rd ed. (Waterloo, ON: Ritual Studies 

International, 2013), 35-50. 
32 Tom F. Driver, The Magic of Ritual: Our Need for Liberating Rites that Transform 

Our Lives and Communities (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), 23. 
33 Ibid., 13. 
34 Victor W. Turner, The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (Ithaca, NY: 

Cornell University Press, 1967), 95. 



54 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
35 See Catherine Bell, Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions, (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1997), 138-169.  Here, Catherine Bell identified six characteristics 

or ritual-like actions as: formalism, traditionalism, disciplined invariance, rule-

governance, sacral symbolism and performance. 
36 Ronald L. Grimes, ‘Religion Ritual and Performance’ in Religion, Theatre and 

Performance: Acts of Faith, ed. Lance Gharavi (New York: Routledge, 2012), 39. Cited 

in Ronald L. Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 194. 
37 Grimes, ‘Modes of Ritual Necessity,’ 127. 
38 Lawrence Hoffman, Beyond The Text: A Holistic Approach to Liturgy, 

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), 3. 
39 Grimes, ‘Modes of Ritual Necessity,’ 127. 
40 See Leonel L. Mitchel, The Meaning of Ritual, (New York: Paulist Press, 1977), xii -

xv.  Here, Mitchel argues about the impoverishment of our age that only looks at 

the natural world and sees only a collection of physical phenomena, and as such 

claims that we can do without ritualization.  For Mitchel, the question is not about if 

we can do without ritualization, but how do we understand religious rituals today. 

See also Mary Douglas, Natural Symbols: Exploration in Cosmology, 2nd ed. (London: 

Barrie & Jenkins, 1973), 19-39. 
41 See Bell, Ritual: Perspective and Dimension, 93-137. Ronald L Grimes highlighted 

twelve categories: rites of passage, funerary rites, marriage rites, festivals, 

pilgrimage, purification, civil ceremonies, rituals of exchange, sacrifice, worship, 

magic, healing rites, interaction rites, meditation rites, rites of inversion, and ritual 

drama. See Ronal L. Grimes, Research in Ritual Studies (Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow 

Press, 1985), 68 -116. The categories given by Bell are more relevant to our work 

because they usually associated with clearly defined religious traditions, and have 

long been dominant examples and primary data for ritual studies. (Bell, 93). 
42 Bell, 94. 
43 Ibid., 102. 
44 Ibid., 112. 
45 Ibid., 115. 
46 Bell, 120. 
47 Code of Canon Law, no. 919: “One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to 

abstain from food and drink, with the exception of water and medicine, for at least 

the period of one hour before communion.” 
48 Bell, 128. 
49 Ibid., 136. 
50 Ibid., 129 citing Clifford Geertz, Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century 

Bali (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980), 102, 104, 131. 
51 See Code of Canon Law, no. 129. 
52 See Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 234-5. 
53 Ibid., 242. 
54 Ibid. 
55 Ibid., 243. 
56 Ibid., 249. 
57 Ibid., 259. 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    55 

                                                                                                                         
58 Ibid., 256. 
59 Ibid., 257. 
60 For further reading on symbolism of baptistries see Robin M. Jensen, Baptismal 

Imagery in Early Christianity: Ritual, Visual, and Theological Dimensions (Grand 

Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012). 
61 Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 258. 
62 Ibid., 263. 
63 Ibid., 266. 
64 Ibid., 267. 
65 See David N. Power, Unsearchable Riches: The Symbolic Nature of Language, 

(New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1984) 64-65. David Power noted that 

words/language can be used in three different contexts. He wrote: ‘There are three 

contexts in which the lexical significance of words, or the primary nature of things 

and actions, receives determination of meaning and designation. The first context 

is the ordinary, everyday affairs.  Here the people are concerned to deal with 

situations and interact among themselves in common sense, practical fashion, and 

so eliminate ambiguity as far as possible.  In this world, it is preferable for words, 

things and actions to have clear purpose and meaning. A jug is meant to hold 

liquids, a knife to cut, announcement of time to eat is clearly an invitation …. In the 

second context, the world of science, meanings are more abstract in character, but 

they are still clearly and technically defined.  Equivocity or polysemy is not 

considered a virtue.  Mathematical symbols, the naming of chemical elements, 

types of experiments, the forms of logical reasoning, all eradicate the multiplicity of 

meanings as far as possible, because the world ruled by science and technology 

runs better when meanings and uses are fixed. In contrast to both the uses of sign 

and language, the world of the symbol, the third context, intentionally deploys the 

multiple possibilities of meaning.  A flag flying on top of a building recalls past 

history, evokes in the passer-by a sense of national pride, and reveals the 

parliament is in session, all at once. In this case, although the immediate obvious 

functional indication is that the country’s legislators have not gone home, the 

whole setting is symbolic in intent.’ 
66 Grime, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 276. 
67 John L. Austin, How To Do Things With Words (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 

1962), 8. 
68 Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 278. 
69 Ibid., 279. 
70 Ibid., 282.  See also Ronald L. Grimes, Deeply Into the Bone: Re-Inventing Rites of 

Passage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 3-4. 
71 Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 232. 
72 Ibid. 
73 Austin, How to Do Things With Words, 8. 
74 See Gerard Lukken, Ritual in Abundance: Critical Reflection on the Place, Form and 

Identity of Christian Ritual in Our Culture (Leuven: Peeters, 2005), 19 -20. 
75 Ibid. 
76 Ibid., citing T. Todorov, Théories au symbole (Paris: Le Seuil, 1977), 239. 



56 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
77 Ibid., 18. 
78 David N. Power, Unsearchable Riches, 69. Citing Susanne Langer, Feeling and 

Form: A Theory of Art (New York: Scribner’s, 1957), 26. 
79 For further readings on the fields of meaning, see Lawrence Hoffman, “How 

Ritual Means: Ritual Circumcision in Rabbinic Culture and Today” Studia Liturgica 

23 (1993): 79-84. 
80 Grimes, ‘Mode of Ritual Necessity,’ 140. 
81 Power, Unsearchable Riches, 67. 
82 Martos, 8. 
83 Grimes, The Craft of Ritual Studies, 298. 
84 Ibid. 

 

 



57 

5 

PRIESTLY VOCATION AND DISCERNMENT: 
ESPOUSING THE GAMALIAN APPROACH IN 

SPIRITUAL FORMATION. 
 

Peter Ajayi WOJUAYE 
Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele,  

Ekpoma, Edo State 
deogratiaswoju@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The priestly vocation is a mystery and its discernment is metaphysical 
because the reality of the call to the Roman Catholic priesthood is 
ultimately divine, therefore it calls for proper discernment from both the 
formandee and the formators. The Letter to the Hebrews Chapter Five 
makes it clear that “no one takes the honour upon himself”. Vocation to 
the Priesthood which is a call as well as a precious gift from God “is the 
love of the heart of Jesus” as congregation for the Clergy reminds us in 
June 7, 2013, the World Day of prayer for the sanctification of Priests. In 
this light, Gamalian Spirituality is born out of the way of life, the 
reputation and the way in which Gamaliel; a Pharisee approached the 
issue of the conflict between the Sanhedrin and the persecutions of the 
early Church when Peter and John were persecuted cf. Act 5:34-40. 
Gamaliel said, “so in the present case I tell you, keep away from these 
men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it 
will fall; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrown them. You 
might even be found opposing God!” To this effect, in the formation and 
the discernment of priestly vocation, Gamalian spirituality is very 
important. 
 
Keywords: Priestly Vocation, Seminary Formation, Spirituality, 
Gamalian Spirituality, Discernment  
 
Introduction  
Priestly vocation is a mystery, life itself is a mystery and the task of 
discernment of the call itself is indeed a mystery. Francis Cardinal Arinze 

mailto:deogratiaswoju@gmail.com


58 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

was once asked to explain his vocation to the priesthood he however, 
gave a brief history of his life how he was influenced by Blessed Michael 
I. Tansi (his former parish priest who is now a Blessed). Cardinal Arinze 
said, “Only God can finally analyze the reason a person is attracted to the 
Catholic priesthood.” In the book titled “SAINT JOHN PAUL II THE 
STORY OF MY LIFE Gift and Mystery”, our loving Saint Pope John 
Paul II gives the reality of this mystery!1 Vocation to the Catholic 
priesthood is a mystery. How can one know that he is called? How could 
this call be discerned by those in charge of forming candidates for the 
priesthood? In fact, formation could be defined as ‘deciding for God’ 
those whom he has chosen. This tells us that formation as a process or 
art is not an easy task. How can formators despite human limitations 
recommend young men whom “they may not know in totality” for the 
priesthood? This is also a mystery. To further this mysterious nature of 
this vocation we are led back to its discernment. The story of the way 
David was anointed readily comes to mind. Before Samuel could 
discerned that David was the one chosen by God after God rejected 
seven sons of Jesse tells us the difficult task of discernment cf. I Sam 
16:1-13.2 It is on this note we shall look at some terms that need 
clarification as follows: Priestly Vocation, Seminary’s Formation, 
Spirituality, Gamalian Spirituality, and Discernment.  
 
Priestly Vocation 
The priestly vocation, is a mystery, it is a call to become another Christ. 
Vocation is from the Latin word vocare which means to call. In the Latin 
Rite, it is to be a celibate. By the laying on of hands and the prayer of 
consecration the man that was in the seminary becomes another Christ. 
This means that priestly vocation is a called to discipleship. In fact, the 
Holy Orders is a sacrament of service. In the Latin rite, we have seven 
sacraments, three of these are sacrament of initiation while two are 
sacrament of healing, and the other two are sacrament of service namely: 
Holy Orders and Matrimony. The priestly vocation as the sacrament of 
service, is a call to become another Christ and a mystery. To this effect, 
because of who the priest is, the Church as laid down through 
experiences ways in which young men are admitted to the seminary so 
that they could be formed and their calling to this great ministry 
discerned; this is why formation in the seminary is necessary.   
 
Seminary’s Formation 
The Council of Trent in the sixteenth century instituted Seminary 
formation. The seminaries were given directive for the formation of men 
for the priesthood. It is imperative to know what is a Seminary before 
going to the seminary’s formation. Seminary is a nursery ground for the 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    59 

training of those preparing for the Catholic Priesthood. It is reserved 
to schools instituted, in accordance with a decree of the Council of 
Trent, for the training of the Catholic priests.3 A theological seminary 
(grand séminaire) provides courses in Holy Scripture, philosophy, 
theology and so on to give young men immediate preparation for 
ordination.4 A priest is the representative of Christ among men: his 
mission is to carry on Christ's work for the salvation of souls; 
in Christ's name and by His power, he teaches men what they ought to 
believe and what they ought to do: he forgives sins, and offers sacrifice of 
the Body and Blood of Christ. He is another Christ (sacerdos alter 
Christus). His training, therefore, must be in harmony with this high 
office and consequently different in many ways from the preparation for 
secular professions. He must possess not only a liberal education, but 
also professional knowledge, and moreover, like an army or navy officer, 
he needs to acquire the manners and personal habits becoming his 
calling. To teach candidates for the priesthood what a priest ought 
to know and to make them what a priest ought to be is the purpose of 
seminary formation.5  

It is to this effect that the Seminary’s formation is divided into 
four major parts as it had been laid down by the church from experiences 
through the inspiration of the ‘finger of God’, the Holy Spirit who is 
going to lead the Church to the complete truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and in 
Pastores Dabo Vobis of Pope John Paul II numbers 42 to 59 the four areas 
of Priestly Formation as follows: (1) Human Formation, the Basis of All 
Priestly Formation, (2) Spiritual Formation, in communion with God 
and Search of Christ, (3) Intellectual Formation, Understanding the 
Faith, and (4) Pastoral Formation, Communion with the Charity of 
Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd.6 These areas of formation is indeed 
good and useful for forming candidates for the priesthood in its synthesis 
and none of this parts should be neglected as if it were unimportant. For 
Christ to be formed in an individual candidate, these areas of formation 
must as a matter fact, be united. In fact, I would like to call it “an 
indispensable tetra-formative process” and in parts they cannot formed 
but in their unity we see another Christ, who is human, spiritual, a 
scholar and a pastor as well. To this end, we look at the spiritual 
formation of a candidate by examine Spirituality. As noted by the fathers 
of the Second Vatican Council, spiritual formation is a necessity for 
priestly formation. And just as religious institutes use the period of 
novitiate to introduce their candidates to their spiritualities, that is, (to 
the way in which connection with God is sought and established in their 
particular traditions) the spiritual year is a duration set apart for initial 
spiritual formation in view of the priestly life and ministry.7 And this 

../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/13554b.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/04670a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/15030c.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/15030c.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/03449a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/11279a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12406a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/08374c.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/13407a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/14153a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/08374c.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/14004b.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/05295b.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/08673a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12409a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12406a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/08673a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12406a.htm


60 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

spiritual formation continues in major Seminary or theological 
Seminary. 
 
Spirituality 
In order that the term spirituality might be understood in its entire 
dimension, it is necessary to explain what is meant by the term spirit. 
Spirit is from the Latin word, spiritus meaning breath,  Spirare to blow, 
breathe which is an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical 
organisms, a supernatural being or essence.8 Spirit is mysterious in 
nature and it is ascribed to a divine origin.9 In the Bible, the Spirit is 
called the creative, animating power or divine influence of God (cf. Joel 
2:28).10  So when we are talking about spirit, we refer to the activating or 
essential principle influencing a person, an inclination, impulse, or 
tendency of a specific kind and a special attitude or frame of 
mind.11However, in as much as there are different kinds of definition of 
spirituality this paper uses the definition provided by Fagun when he was 
asked the meaning of Spirituality. He says, 

Spirituality is a core aspect of religion though some non-
conformists try to create some spirituality in the air.  
Spirituality is essentially based on religious practices. In 
fact it leads to the height of religious experience. It 
consists of a particular experience of what is divine. I say 
a particular experience because there are many sides to 
spirituality based on one’s faith and character. For 
according to my slogan, "A kìí ṣe ìgbàgbọ́ kọjá ìwà ẹni" - 
one’s character is basic to one’s spiritual life, because 
character would dictate the level of cooperation with 
divine grace. Authentic faith is a gift of God, and it is 
grace that inspired the spiritual person who freely 
cooperates.12  
So, the context in which this paper shall adopt as regard 

spirituality is the influence of the Spirit of God in an individual 
irrespective of the person involved and how this stimulus reflects in the 
individual day-today living and most importantly, noticing the Spirit of 
God at work in a certain person or in a given situation most especially a 
particular way of experiencing the divine as noted by Fagun. In the aspect 
of spirituality, spirituality means being spiritual, relating to, consisting of, 
or affecting the spirit, incorporeal, connected with religious values, 
related or join in spirit.13Relating to or affecting the human spirit as 
opposed to material or physical things, relating to religious belief.14 What 
then is spirituality? Spirituality, therefore, means sensitivity or 
attachment to religious values, the quality of being spiritual.15 That is, a 
soul is acted upon by the Holy Spirit.16 The basic truism from this 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    61 

definition is that spirituality has a transcendental dimension which goes 
beyond physical reality for it is a religious term. This implies that 
spirituality, as a concept is a broad concept. That is why we have different 
kinds of spirituality like African traditional Spirituality, Buddhist 
Spirituality and Christian spirituality. In Christian Spirituality, there are 
many kinds of Spirituality.  

Some words associated with spirituality are piety, devotion, 
godliness and holiness.17 The word “Spirituality” and “mysticism” are 
somewhat used in an equivalent way.18  Spirituality etymologically 
suggests “life”, and “dynamism” and “breathing”. And that is what the 
spiritual life aims to be: coming to life in all one’s dimensions.19 The 
word “Spirituality” a word obviously “contaminated” by the 
“spirit”20often refers to a way of living in line with a particular way of life.  
To further this example, let us examine what Donald Dorr has to say 
about Spirituality. 

Now I prefer to begin at the other end to accept that the most 
privileged ‘place’ in which God speaks to me is my own spirituality. This 
means that I can no longer think of a person’s spirituality as something 
that comes from outside. Rather it is that which is most deeply personal. 
My spirituality is me. Not the ‘me’ that so often is distracted, scattered, 
and inauthentic; but the most genuine and profound ‘me’ that exists.21 

This tells us how spirituality is personal and entails a 
communication of the divine to the human person. It is the sum total of 
religious or ethical values that govern a person’s life. Spirituality is that 
which determines and directs one’s life.22 Christian spirituality is 
therefore, a participation in the mystery of Christ through the interior 
life of grace, actuated by faith, charity, and the other Christian virtues. 
The life that the individual receives through participation in Christ is the 
same life that animated the God-man, the life that the incarnate Word 
shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit; it is, therefore, the life of God 
in the august mystery of the Trinity. Through Christ, the spiritual life of 
the Christian is eminently Trinitarian23   

The difficulty in constructing a theology of the spiritual life 
consists in the fact that the spiritual life is at once a mystery and a problem. 
It is a mystery specifically since it is life, indeed divine life, a sharing in 
the Christ-life. Although one may experience this life in the depths of his 
being as a life of union with God, it is nevertheless ineffable because the 
supernatural and transcends human comprehension.24 However, living 
well is at the heart of all serious spirituality.25 This implies that no matter 
how secularized the word spirituality is we cannot remove religiosity 
from it if it is to be authentic.  It is on this note we have different kinds 
of spirituality: like Islamic Spirituality, African Traditional Spirituality 
and Christian Spirituality which follows a doctrine or a way of life of a 



62 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

particular religious figure. For example, Jesus for the Christians and 
Muhammad for the Islam and the practices with different gods in 
African Traditional Religion in relation to the Supreme Being (God). As 
noted earlier that spirituality is a broad term, and that its definition in 
particularity might be very difficult. This same difficulty is also apparent 
in Christian Spirituality that sometimes becomes difficult to define it 
with any specificity. In other words, Christian Spirituality manifests in 
different forms, and so, it is difficult to find one common form of 
Christian Spirituality.26 However, in the heart of any Christian 
spirituality is Jesus Christ and the working of his Spirit. Fagun defines 
Christian spirituality as imitation of Christ when he was asked in an 
interview the question: “What is Christian Spirituality”? 
Christian spirituality is a life of spiritual perfection in the imitation of the 
lifestyle of Jesus Christ as he taught his followers to be perfect (Matthew 
5:48). And this perfection requires placing spiritual values over and above 
the material in practice (cf. Matthew 19:16-29).27  
Let us examine the definition of Spirituality according to Balthasar. The 
notion of spirituality is a modern one, found neither in the tradition of 
religious philosophy nor of biblical theology. It is therefore important to 
determine its content and bearing. In General (negative speaking) it may 
be said that there is no reason for the Christian to limit spirituality to the 
context of Christianity; just as Christians speak of a “medieval” or a 
“Carmelite”  or a “lay” spirituality, so can we speak analogously of 
“Buddhist” or a “Sufi” spirituality. On the basis of the same common 
understanding of the idea, spirituality may be approximately defined as 
that basic practical or existential attitude of man which is the 
consequence of expression of the way in which he understands his 
religious or more generally, his ethically committed existence; the way in 
which he acts and reacts habitually throughout his life according to his 
objective and ultimate insights and decisions.28 
 
Gamalian Spirituality 
The Pharisees are one of the Jewish religious sects in Jesus’ time. This 
particular sect was always at loggerheads with Jesus. In fact, Jesus Christ 
had confronted them with statements like: “woe to you Pharisees”, “you 
hypocrites” and so many others unkind statements. In fact, there is no 
less than six woes for the Pharisees and scribes in the gospel according to 
St. Matthew (cf. 23:13-39) this is because of the ways in which the 
Pharisees presented themselves and ultimately the way they organized 
and practiced the Jewish religion. This statement by Jesus to the 
Pharisees was because of their external observance of law and religious 
practices that were not truly internalized or even practiced with the spirit 
of the law. Hence, they followed the law (Torah) to the latter as against 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    63 

the spirit behind the law. Another aspect of this pharisaic way of life is 
the trait of self-righteousness, which Jesus Christ was totally against 
when he gave the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee who were 
in the temple for prayer and the Pharisee’s prayer was rejected because of 
the lack of humility which is an essential element of an authentic prayer 
to God (cf. Lk 18:9-14).  
 Be that as it may, there exist questions that could be raised from the 
above and which need careful consideration. Firstly, is everything wrong 
in being a Pharisee on one hand? If this is yes, why would Jesus Christ 
recommended that people should observe and practice everything that 
the Pharisees tell them? (cf. Mt 23:3). But then, this recommendation 
has a clause and that is “what they do”. In other words, this 
recommendation by Jesus excludes “what they do”. Secondly, can 
anything good come from a Pharisee? Or are the Pharisees totally bad? 
These are basic questions which this paper tries to address that despite 
the disputes that existed between Jesus Christ and the Pharisees in the 
gospel we can have a spirituality that could be useful for Christians 
which is named after the Pharisee called Gamaliel. The aim and objective 
of this work is to examine and expose Gamalian Spirituality and show 
how a Christian Spirituality may be gotten from a Pharisee namely: 
Gamaliel and how it can be applied to the discernment of priestly 
vocation. 
 
Discernment 
Discernment is the process of gaining insight into a situation in order to 
arrive at appropriate judgment, often times in view of taking or not 
taking a certain action. In spiritual direction, one analyzes how a person’s 
spirit is moved to determine whether or not the movement comes from 
the Holy Spirit. It is quite possible, even in what appears to be favorable 
inspiration that comes from the evil spirit or from the person himself.29 
But in priestly vocation it means the process of recommending a 
candidate for the priesthood. Of Course, in the major Seminary or the 
theological seminary it is the sole responsibility of the rector in 
conjunction with other formators to decide whether or not a candidate is 
suitable for the priesthood. The management of the seminary is in the 
hands of the rector, who alone under the bishop governs the seminary, 
calls to orders, admits and dismisses the students; a treasurer has full 
charge of temporal matters, while to a spiritual director is entrusted with 
the formation of the students in piety(which is the Spiritual formation). 
The professors are merely teachers. However, all the formators have a 
share in the administration of the seminary; and all important matters are 
decided by a vote of the faculty. The spiritual directors and confessors of 
the students have no voice in the faculty meetings when one of their 

../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12676c.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/02581b.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/05024a.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12748a.htm


64 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

penitents is concerned.30 To this end, discernment in spiritual matters as 
well as priestly vocation is not an easy task. Since vocation to priesthood 
is a mystery so it discernment is demanding. For example, a Seminarian 
was expelled in a minor seminary in view of priestly vocation upon the 
issue he honestly did not know anything about. But has providence 
would have it, this same rejected stone by the builder became the 
cornerstone not just a cornerstone but “a special-cornerstone”. It will 
interest you to know he became a deacon, a priest and a bishop who has 
‘the fullness of priesthood’, ‘the successor of the Apostles’ who was 
raised to the higher level greater than those who expelled him.31 When it 
comes to issue of vocation one need to trend with caution and that is 
why Gamalian Spirituality is paramount in this case. St. Pope John Paul 
II in Pastores Dabo Vobis No. 2 was aware of the difficulty in the 
discernment of priestly vocation when said: 

For this reason, the total trust in God's unconditional 
faithfulness to his promise is accompanied in the Church 
by the grave responsibility to cooperate in the action of 
God who calls, and to contribute toward creating and 
preserving the conditions in which the good seed, sown 
by God, can take root and bring forth abundant fruit. 
The Church must never cease to pray to the Lord of the 
harvest that he send laborers into his harvest, (cf. Mt. 
9:38). She must propose clearly and courageously to each 
new generation the vocational call, help people to discern 
the authenticity of their call from God and to respond to 
it generously, and give particular care to the formation of 
candidates for the priesthood. The formation of future 
priests, both diocesan and religious, and lifelong 
assiduous care for their personal sanctification in the 
ministry and for the constant updating of their pastoral 
commitment is considered by the Church one of the 
most demanding and important tasks for the future of 
the evangelization of humanity. The Church's work of 
formation is a continuation in time of Christ's own work, 
which the evangelist Mark illustrates in these words: 
"And he went up on the mountain, and called to him 
those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he 
appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to 
preach and have authority to cast out demons" (Mk. 3:13-
15).32 

 
 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    65 

Gamaliel to Gamalian: A Christian Spirituality  
To this end, the major concern of this aspect most especially the 
different kinds of spirituality we have apart from Christian Spirituality 
and the Christian (Catholic) Spirituality in particular had been exposed. 
This aspect is to attribute Christian spirituality after Gamaliel and that is, 
Gamalian Spirituality. It is a way of life lived after Gamaliel, a Pharisee, 
as recorded in Acts of the Apostles chapter five. Hence, “Gamaliel to 
Gamalian” is the transposition of Gamaliel’s way of life to a Christian 
way of life in all its good aspects. 

Furthermore, Gamaliel, as a person belonged to a particular 
religious sect called the Pharisees. So for better understanding of the 
background to which Gamaliel belonged to at that time, it is very 
important to examine the spirituality of some religious sects of Judaism. 
The working definition of spirituality that this paper adopts is the 
definition by Fagun that had been cited earlier. In it, Fagun gives 
credence to the fact that religion and spirituality are closely related when 
he says: “Spirituality is essentially based on religious practices.”33 The 
sect we are going to examine is the Pharisees since it is to this sect that 
Gamaliel belongs. 
 
The Pharisees  
The word Pharisee is from the Hebrew word 34ים רּושִׁ  perusim meaningפְּ
separated, separated ones, separators.35 They are called Hasidim;36 as a 
continuation and development of Hasidaeans the Hebrew word pɞrûšίm; 
Aram. pɞrίšayyā, from which the Greek word Φαρισαίοι is derived means 
those who had “separated themselves”37. The Pharisee, ‘separate’ or 
‘detach’ as the name connotes. In this regard, from whom did the 
Pharisees separate themselves? From those, particularly priests or clerics, 
who interpreted the Law in a different way than they; from the common 
people of the land or people of the earth am-ha-ares (Cf. John 7:49 ); 
from Gentiles or Jews who embraced the Hellenistic culture: from 
certain political groups? All these groups of people the Pharisees would 
have been determined to avoid in their decision to separate themselves 
from any type of impurity proscribed by the Levitical law — or, more 
specifically, their strict interpretation of it.38 They were an active, vocal 
religious Jewish sect in the centuries before and after Christ appeared on 
earth. They represented by and large the intellectual sector of their 
people, because they were passionate, continuous students and teachers 
of Jewish religious law. Their intensity and single-mindedness resulted 
in a harsh and uncharitable emphasis on the legal aspects of religion at 
the expense of charity and loving concern. Jesus represented a threat to 
their intellectual security and leadership. They tempted him at every 
opportunity. They tried to trap him into wrong answers (Mat 22:15-22). 

http://www.biblestudytools.com/john/7-49.html


66 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

They opposed questions, hoping to prove contradictions (Mat 22:34-40). 
They criticized the company he kept. They objected to his Sabbath 
activities (Mk 2:15-17).39 These appellations were given to describe what 
the Pharisees stood for at that time. But then, this does not mean that the 
Pharisee do not have spirituality on which their religious practices are 
based. It is on this note that their spirituality shall be examined. 
 
The Spirituality of the Pharisees  
The teaching of the sect was based on the oral tradition as well as on the 
written Law. The Pharisees held such religious truths as the resurrection 
of the body and the existence of angels. Since these doctrines were not 
clearly taught in the Pentateuch (the only Scripture accepted by the 
Sadducees), the Pharisees founded their belief in them upon later 
writings and oral traditions. In the field of morals, the Pharisees taught a 
rigorous observance of the Sabbath and insisted on legal purity and the 
payment of tithes. They offered various opinions on observance of these 
and other precepts degenerating into rigorism and casuistry. The result 
was frequently a sterile externalism destructive of a real religious spirit. 
After the destruction of the Temple, and the overthrow of the Jewish 
state, the Pharisees, became practically the only influential group among 
the Jews. They held the Jewish people together. Later rabbinical schools 
looked back with admiration upon the Pharisees as the true upholders of 
Israel’s Law and traditions. The rabbis of the Talmud40 were their 
spiritual descendants.41In order to join this spiritual association and be 
called a Pharisee, it was necessary to have an exact knowledge of the 
Mosaic commandments (the written Torah) and the Traditions of the 
ancients (the oral Torah), to adhere with mind and heart to the teachings 
of the doctors of the party, and to distinguish oneself by the exact 
fulfillment of all their precepts. As Josephus Flavius points out, the 
Pharisees concerned themselves with the strict interpretation and 
observance of the Torah, and spared themselves no efforts to fulfill the 
Law in every detail, earnestly and consistently striving to practice the 
ideal propounded by the Torah scholars. In that sense, they were the 
classic representatives of the course adopted by Judaism in its inner 
developments during the post-exilic period. Juridical science of the 
Pharisaic rabbis manifested itself particularly in three points: the 
observance of the Sabbath, legal purity, and the payment of the sacred 
taxes.42Many of the Pharisees, like the Essenes, believed in doctrines such 
as resurrection of the body, Day of Judgment, apocalyptic holy war and 
life in the world to come, while Sadducees disagree with Essenes and 
Pharisees, over these doctrines. The Pharisees hold only the written 
Torah as authoritative 43 and they agree that the Torah admitted of 
variation in applications, but Jesus pressed the variation further than they 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    67 

did.44With regards to the Sabbath rest, they had multiplied prohibitions, 
going into even the smallest details. On the question of impurities, the 
most minute prescriptions had been added to the Mosaic legislation 
regarding foods, diseases, corpses, apparatus in daily use, ablutions and 
purifying baths, contact with persons and things considered impure, and 
so on. As to the tithes to be paid to the priests and Levites, the list of 
goods, revenues, and products affected had been considerably 
lengthened.45The rabbinical writings show that the problems raised by 
the observance of these traditions suggested refined casuistry. Thus, with 
respect to the Sabbath: was it permissible to eat an egg laid on such a day, 
or fruit plucked from the tree on that day? With regards to ablutions: 
which kind of water purified best, and how far must one throw one’s 
hands into that water? Regarding taxes: was it lawful to eat vegetables or 
fruits bought at the market without knowing for certain whether the 
tithe had been paid on those products.46This is the religious sect which 
Gamaliel belongs. To this effect, who is this Gamaliel? 
 
A Biography of Gamaliel  
Gamaliel, Rabban Gamaliel I, so called, to distinguish him from his 
grandson Gamaliel II who lived around 100 A. D. Gamaliel is also called 
‘the Great’. He was a Pharisee and a member of Sanhedrin which judged 
Peter and John. Gamaliel intervened in favour of the apostles with 
prudent reasons. He intervened in their judgment noting that if the 
Christian movement were merely human, it would of itself break-up but 
if it were from God then it would endure. He then admonished his 
colleagues to exercise caution (Acts 5:34-39). In his address to the Jews in 
Jerusalem, Paul claimed that he had studied under Gamaliel (Acts 
22:3).47The word, Gamaliel, is a Greek form of the Hebrew name 
meaning ‘reward of God’.48He had a son named Simeon. He was of the 
city of Jerusalem, and a noble family, of the sect of the Pharisee, which 
were above others in the accurate knowledge of the laws of their 
country.49But it seems that he took a special interest in social reform, 
particularly in bettering the legal status of women.50 Base on who 
Gamaliel is, Fagun has this to say when he was asked the question “Do 
you know anything about Gamaliel of Acts 5:34-40?” 
Gamaliel was a rabbinic scholar of the school of Hillel, the liberal 
minded, as against the school of Shammai, the far right in Israel. He was 
one of the chief judges in the Sanhedrin court at the time of the Apostles 
of Jesus Christ, and Paul would later boast of being his student (Acts 
22:23), because he was a highly esteemed and popular scholar (Acts 
5:34).51  

From the above, we see clearly the personality of Gamaliel and 
his reputation. His name designates in the New Testament a Pharisee 

../../../../../../Windows.old/Users/iCentre/Desktop/AfricaEbooks/cathen/05393a.htm
../../../../../../Windows.old/Users/iCentre/Desktop/AfricaEbooks/cathen/14530a.htm
../../../../../../Windows.old/Users/iCentre/Desktop/AfricaEbooks/cathen/11789b.htm


68 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

and celebrated doctor of the Law. Gamaliel is represented in Act 5:34ff as 
advising his fellow-members of the Sanhedrin not to put to death St. 
Peter and the Apostles, who, notwithstanding the prohibition of the 
Jewish authorities, had continued to preach to the people. His advice, 
however unwelcome, was acted upon. So great was his authority with his 
contemporaries.  
 
Gamalian Spirituality: Theological Look at Acts 5:34:40  
In order that we may better understand Acts 5:34-40 which shows 
Gamaliel’s intervention or advocacy for the apostles during the 
persecutions in the early Church at Jerusalem, it is very important to 
recall what happened in the previous chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Acts of 
the Apostles in order to understand what led to Gamaliel’s intervention 
of which Gamalian Spirituality is solidly based. The Holy Spirit had just 
descended upon the apostles (cf. Acts 2ff) and the apostles were able to 
preach with confidence without fear of the Jews (cf. Jn 20:19). As a result 
of Sadducean jealousy at the apostles’ reputation for the healing of a man 
lame from birth (cf. Acts 3:2) and many other signs and wonders, they 
had been arrested and put to jail, only to be released by an angel (cf. Acts 
5:12-20). When the Sanhedrin convened, their captain and officers 
eventually tracked the apostles down in the Temple, and brought them 
before the council (vv. 21-27). The high priest demanded to know why 
the apostles persisted, in spite of prior threatening, to teach in Jesus’ 
name. They replied thus: “we must obey God rather than men.” They 
also accused the Sanhedrin of murdering the saviour (vv 27-32). 
Condemnation of death at that moment seemed certain (v 33).52 It is in 
this certainty that Gamaliel gave the following admonitions to the 
council which is the foundation of Gamalian Spirituality:  

So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these 
men and let them alone; for if this plan or this 
undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you 
will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be 
found opposing God! (Act 5:38-39) 

Gamaliel intervened and cautioned against imprisonment and further 
persecutions. His standing in the Sanhedrin is assumed to be great, in 
that he commands the apostles to be put outside for brief time (v 34). 
He, then, urges caution, and gave instances of Theudas and Judas the 
Galilean which had come to nothing. The apostles also will fail, if their 
movement is of men (vv 35-38). If their movement is of God, Gamaliel 
argues that the Sanhedrin would be unable to prevail, and it will even be 
a fight against God (v 39). Having been convinced by Gamaliel’s 
arguments, the Sanhedrin released the apostles after flogging them and 
repeated the old command, not to speak in Jesus’ name (v 40, cf. 4:17). 

../../../../../../Windows.old/Users/iCentre/Desktop/AfricaEbooks/cathen/13444a.htm
../../../../../../Windows.old/Users/iCentre/Desktop/AfricaEbooks/cathen/12565a.htm


Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    69 

However, the apostles were very happy to suffer for the sake of Christ 
and they did not cease to talk about Jesus. The second and last mention 
of Gamaliel occurs in Acts 22:3, during a speech of Paul, in which the 
apostle claims to have been instructed at the feet of Gamaliel with an 
exact knowledge of the ancestral law.53These passages give credence to 
the fact that Gamaliel is a person with high integrity. To this end, 
Gamaliel’s counsel to the council is the bases for the Gamalian 
spirituality which calls all to a life of tolerance, respect for human dignity 
and being sensitive to the action of the Holy Spirit. Gamaliel was able to 
be sensitive to the signs of time and his expression testifies truly he was a 
man of high repute as earlier described by the evangelist (cf. Acts 5:34). 
 
An Application of Gamalian Spirituality to Priestly Vocation and 
its Discernment   
The priestly vocation is indeed a spiritual thing and through the 
application of Gamalian Spirituality to the spiritual formation and the 
entire process of formation there will definitely be a proper judgment, 
helping the seminarian to better appreciate his call, give him another 
opportunity this will definitely makes him to value the mystery of his 
call, a mystery that goes beyond the one who is called the letter to the 
Hebrews 5:4 tells us: “And one does not take the honour upon himself, 
but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.”Pope John Paul II gives 
credence to this point in Pastores Dabo Vobis when he says:  

The absolute primacy of grace in vocation is most 
perfectly proclaimed in the word of Jesus: “You did not 
choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you 
should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide 
(Jn 15:16). If the priestly vocation bears unequivocal 
witness to the primacy of grace, God’s free and sovereign 
decision to call man calls for total respect. It cannot be 
forced in the slightest by any human ambition, and it 
cannot be replaced by any human decision. Vocation is a 
gift of God’s grace and never a human right, such that 
“one can never consider priestly life as a simply human 
affair, nor the mission of the minister as a simply 
personal project” Every claim or presumption on the part 
of those called is thus radically excluded (cf. Heb 5:4ff). 
Their entire heart and spirit should be filled with an 
amazed and deeply felt gratitude, an unshakeable trust 
and hope; because those who have been called know that 
they are rooted not in their own strength but in the 
unconditional faithfulness of God who calls.54 

 



70 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Conclusion 
To end, the fact that priestly vocation is a mystery calls for a careful 
discernment of which Gamalian Spirituality is very important. Fr. 
Michael Bunmi Olofinlade, in his book “Mystery of God’s Call: A Reflection 
on Discipleship” reflecting on the mystery of vocation and the choice of 
the twelve by Jesus out of many that he had called says: “Thus, Jesus 
Christ is the one who determines the choice of his disciples, it is not a 
human choice despite human instrumentality in its discernment.”55This, 
therefore, is a pointer to the reality that seminarians are not to give up. If 
they do not become Catholic priests they can still be useful in the 
church. They must not use it to alienate themselves from the church or 
become anti-Catholics. If one becomes a Catholic priest after one’s 
seminary training, we can only attribute it to the grace of God. The 
Letter to the Hebrews tells us, ‘no one takes this honour upon himself’. That 
is why vocation is a gift as well as mystery, says St. Pope John Paul II.56 
Pope Francis reminds us in his message for 2018 World day of Vocation 
that: “the Lord’s call – let it be said at the outset – is not as clear – cut as 
any of those things we hear, see or touch in our daily experience…”57. 
This tells us that both the formed and the formators are to tread with 
caution in this discernment there must not be harsh judgments base on 
sentiments. In fact, Gamalian spirituality gives credence to probation by 
which the formators gives second chance to a given seminarian. As 
regards vocation, all that can be expected is not indeed certainty, but 
probability.58 And this is why the formators recommend candidates for 
the priesthood while dismissal from the seminary means no more than 
that the student is not considered fit for the priesthood. But then, 
Gamalian Spirituality will plead to give more chance(s) because if they 
have the call they will definitely be. Just has the Bishop who ordained me 
into Catholic priesthood was expelled in the minor seminary but he later 
became a Bishop! Can we say the judgment was wrong or that was the 
path that God wants for him? But history proves he was expelled but 
later exalted.  Prof.  Plo Lumumba says: “history is a fair judge, it is a 
judge that is able to identify the things that speak for themselves”. And if 
Gamalian Spirituality is applied in formation it will save many fruitful 
vocations. But then, Gamalian spirtuality is not an advocate of seminary 
where anything goes! It is about a careful discernment. 
 
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1 Cf. Saint John Paull II, The Story of My Life: Gift and Mystery, (Vatican; Libreria 

Editrice Vaticana: 1996, In Paulines Publications Africa, 2014 with a new title: The 

Story of my life on the occasion of the canonization of Pope John Paul II) It must be 

../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/03539b.htm
../../../../../DELL/Desktop/E-Africa/cathen/12409a.htm


Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    71 

                                                                                                                         
noted that the title that was given to this Book when it was first published in 1996 

by Libreria Editrice Vaticana was “Grace and Mystery” But on the Occasion of his 

Canonization in 2014 the Paulines Publication added the title “The Story of my 

Life”. 
2The Holy Bible Revised Standard Version, 1 Samuel 16:1(RSV) Says “ The Lord said to 

Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king 

over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehmite, for I 

have provided for myself a king among his sons” This explains that even before David 

was anointed had already been chosen by God. Applying this to formation one could 

say that before a seminary formation a seminarian had been called by God himself. For 

example in the life of David, he was already a Shepherd and the qualities of a leader has 

been inculcated one could say his formation was on the field he was called on the field. 

This could be applied to the story told by Francis Cardinal Arinze that he was influenced 

by his former parish priest Blessed Michael I. Tansi the influence that Blessed Tansi had 

on the lad, Francis Arinze provided a suitable ground for his seminary formation. This 

too is a mystery!   
3 Viéban, A. (1912). Ecclesiastical Seminary. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: 

Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from New 

Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm. 
4 Ibid. 
5 Ibid. 
6 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation ‘Pastores Dabo Vobis’ I Will Give you 

shepherd,  (Vatican: St Paul Publications Africa, 1992)  42-59 
7“The Spiritual Year” in Ikenna Henry Okoroji, Catholic Seminaries Directory Nigeria, 

1st Edition (Abuja: Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Abuja, 2011) 67. 
8 Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th 

Edition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) 1391. 
9 “Spirit” in The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of The 

English Language (USA: Deluxe Encyclopedic Edition, Trident Press, 1977) 1210. 
10Ibid. 
11 Fredrick C. Mish (et.al.), Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, 

(USA: 2004) 1203. 
12Michael, Fagun, “A Theological Appraisal of Gamalian Spirituality in Acts 5:34-40.” 

An Interview, Ado-Ekiti: September 23, 2018. It worth noting that Fagun is Emeritus 

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, He was ordained as a Bishop on October 10, 

1971 he is an Historian and he had authored many books. 
13 Fredrick C. Mish (et.al.), Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, 

(USA: 2004) 1203-1204 
14 Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th 

Edition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) 1391. 
15 Fredrick C. Mish (et.al.), Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, 

(USA: 2004) 1204. 
16The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of The English 

Language (USA: Deluxe Encyclopedic Edition, Trident Press, 1977) 1210. 



72 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
17William M. Thompson, Christology and Spirituality, (New York: Crossroad 

Publication, 1991)  4. 
18 Ibid, 5. 
19Ibid., 4. 
20Ibid., 5. 
21Donald Dorr, Spirituality and Justice, (New York: Macmillan, 1984) 19-20. 
22Abraham Kadaplackal, The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest, (Bandra: St Paul’s 

Publication, 2010) 15.  
23 Jordan Aumann, Spiritual Theology, (London; Sheed and Ward Stagbooks; 1980) 

18. 
24 Ibid. 
25Richard S. Briggs in Kevin J. Vanhoozer (et.al), Dictionary for Theological Interpretation 

of the Bible, (USA: Baker Academic Publisher, 2001) 768. 
26Obi Oguejiofor, “The World As Summum Bonum: Impact of African Idea of Ultimate 

Reality on Christian Spirituality” in MarySylvia Nwachukwu and Augustine Oburota, 

Theological Perspectives on Spirituality and Piety In Nigeria, Proceedings of the 19th 

Conference of CATHAN(The Catholic  Theological Association of Nigeria) Held at St. 

Augustine’s Major Seminary, Jos 14-16th April, 2004,( Enugu: 2005) 101.   
27“What is Christian Spirituality?” Michael, Fagun, “A Theological Appraisal of Gamalian 

Spirituality in Acts 5:34-40.” An Interview, Ado-Ekiti: September 23, 2018. 
28 Hans Urs Von Balthasar, “The Gospel as Norms and Test of All Spirituality”, In Christian 

Duquoc and Claude Geffré et al, Spirituality in Church and World, Vol. 9 (New York; 

Concilium Paulist Press, 1965 ) 7. 
29 Theodore W. Walters, A Guide For Spiritual Direction (Kenya: Paulines Publication 

Africa, 2015) 48. 
30 Viéban, A. (1912). Ecclesiastical Seminary. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: 

Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from New 

Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm 
31 It worth noting that this is a life Story of the Bishop Who ordained me into Catholic 

Priesthood. Cf. Portrait of A Servant of God: Biography of Bishop Ayo-Maria Atoyebi, O.P. 

@ 70 (Ilorin: Published by Catholic Diocese of Ilorin 70th Birthday Committee, 2014) 
32 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation ‘Pastores Dabo Vobis’ I Will Give you shepherd, 

(Vatican: St Paul Publications Africa, 1992)  2. 
33 “What is Spirituality?”  Michael, Fagun, “A Theological Appraisal of Gamalian 

Spirituality in Acts 5:34-40.” An Interview, Ado-Ekiti: September 23, 2018. 
34 Hebrew word for Pharisees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees Accessed on 3 

March, 2019   9:35 pm 
35John A. Hardon, Pocket Catholic Dictionary: Abridged edition of Modern Catholic 

Dictionary, (New York: Doubleday, 1985) 326-327. 
36William Bridgewater (et al.,) The Columbia-Viking Desk Encyclopedia, (London: 

Macdonald, 1968) 843. 
37New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XI (USA: Catholic University of America, 1967) 

252. 
38“Pharisees”https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/pharisees/(3/3/2019) 
39 John A. Hardon, Pocket Catholic Dictionary: Abridged edition of Modern Catholic 

Dictionary, (New York: Doubleday, 1985) 326-327. 

https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/pharisees/


Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    73 

                                                                                                                         
40The Talmud (/ˈtɑːlmʊd, -məd, ˈtæl-/; Hebrew: ְלמּוד  talmūd) is the central text ofתַּ

Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and 

Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, 

the Talmud was the centrepiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to ‘all 

Jewish thought and aspirations’, serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of 

Jews. Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud (7/3/2019). 
41New Catholic Encyclopedia, (London: Catholic University of America, 1969) 252. 
42 Francis Pereira,Gripped by God in Christ: the Mind and Heart of St. Paul, 

(Bangalore: St. Paul Publications, 1993) 24. 
43 John T. Pawlikowski and James A. Wilde, When Catholics Speak About Jews, (New 

York: Liturgical Training Publications, 1987)24. 
44 Ibid.., 25 
45Francis Pereira,Gripped by God in Christ: the Mind and Heart of St. Paul, 

(Bangalore: St. Paul Publications, 1993) 24.  
46Francis Pereira, Gripped by God in Christ: the Mind and Heart of St. Paul, 

(Bangalore: St. Paul Publications, 1993) 25. 
47The New World Dictionary Concordance to the New American Bible, (USA: Catholic 

World Press, s.d,) 2000. 
48 Gigot, Francis. "Gamaliel."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 6. New York: Robert 

Appleton Company, 1909. 26 Apr. 2010 

<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06374b.htm>. 
49Josephus Flavius, The Works of Josephus, (USA: Hendrickson Publication, Transl. by 

William Whiston, 2006) 12. 
50New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VI, (USA: Catholic University of America, 1967)  

275. 
51Michael, Fagun, “A Theological Appraisal of Gamalian Spirituality in Acts 5:34-40.” 

An Interview, Ado-Ekiti: September 23, 2018. 
52Bruce Chilton in David Freedman, Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 2 (London: Yale 

University Press, 2008) 904. 
53Ibid. 
54 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation ‘Pastores Dabo Vobis’ I Will Give you 

shepherd,  (Vatican: St Paul Publications Africa, 1992)  No. 36 
55 Michael B. Olofinlade, The Mystery of God’s Call: A Reflection on Discipleship, 

(Ado-Ekiti: AFUSCO Printing Press, 2001, ) 24-25. 
56 Cf. St. John Paul II The Story of My Life: Gift and Mystery, (Libreria Editrice 

Vaticana: 1969 in Paulines Publications Africa 2014) 
57 Pope France Message for the 2018 World Day of Vocation, Vatican:  3 December, 

2017. 
58 Viéban, A. (1912). Ecclesiastical Seminary. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New 

York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from New 

Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13694a.htm 



74 

6 

THE RELEVANCE OF EXPERIENTIAL 

KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS IN SEMINARY 

FORMATION IN THE LIGHT OF               

JOHN 14:1-14 
 

Vincent OJO, Ph.D 
Head, Department of Theology, 

Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma 
ovbpres@yahoo.com 

 
Abstract 
The formation of the human person has always been a herculean labour 
as a result of the complex nature of human beings. The human specie 
has similarities with other animal species but some other features 
radically distinguish human beings from other living beings. 
Outstanding of these features is the power of reasoning and freewill. The 
human person can make decisions based on the level of reasoning and 
disposition. The formation of the human person can never be imposed as 
a result of the freewill. This means the human person can be impervious 
to formation passing through the person. John 14:1-14 presents a 
conversation between Jesus and his disciples about his imminent return 
to his father. In this pericope, Jesus takes up both Thomas and Philip 
over their shallow knowledge of him in spite of their closeness to him. 
Thomas did not know that Jesus is the way and Philip failed to see God 
in Jesus. Their familiarity with Jesus did not simply afford them this 
experiential knowledge. This paper opines that it is a possibility for 
seminarians to spend years in the seminary learning about Jesus without 
actually knowing him. Experiential knowledge of Jesus is different from 
academic knowledge. Academic knowledge is necessary in as much as it 
leads to the experiential knowledge. The danger, however, comes when 
the knowledge the seminarian has of Jesus during his seminary 
formation is limited to the academic knowledge. This can hamper his 
effectiveness as a priest in the 21st century. 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    75 

Keywords: Experiential knowledge, Jesus, Seminary Formation, John 
  
Introduction 
Seminary formation is the process young men aspiring to become 
Catholic priests pass through in order to become priests in the Catholic 
Church. Seminary formation affords the candidates for the priesthood to 
acquaint themselves with the essential doctrines of the Church which 
have their basis in the scriptures. Seminarians, in the course of their 
seminary training, are given formation in four crucial areas namely 
human, pastoral, spiritual and academic. They are to be well-grounded in 
these four areas so as to be effective ministers of both the word and 
sacraments after their ordination. These areas are integral to the wholistic 
formation of candidates for the priesthood. They are thus to immerse 
themselves in formation and not lag behind in any of these four areas. 
However, experiences have shown that it is possible to go through the 
entire seminary formation without necessarily allowing the formation to 
permeate one’s life. In other words, one may pass through the seminary 
without the seminary passing through the person. We may, therefore, 
have intelligent and hard- working priests who act only like 
functionaries. They know a lot about Jesus and can talk so much about 
him too. However, in all their dealings as priests, something still seems 
to be missing. They lack that inner touch that only someone with a 
personal knowledge of Jesus and an intimate relationship with him can 
have. This is what this write-up is all about- experiential knowledge of 
Jesus. The bone of contention is: how can the academic knowledge of 
Jesus be transformed into experiential knowledge? It is the stance of this 
writer that if the candidates for the priesthood are able to have the 
experiential knowledge of Jesus before leaving the seminary, they would 
be in a better position to “bring all to Christ and Christ to all”. 
 
Definition of Terms 
For an easy understanding of this work, some terms that are operational 
are clarified and their use explained. The words are experiential 
knowledge and seminary formation. 
 
Experiential Knowledge 
According to The New International Webster”s Comprehensive 
Dictionary of the English Language, experience is “knowledge derived 
from one’s own action, practice, perception, enjoyment, or suffering”1. 
This means that experience is something personal to the individual and 
must come from one’s perception of reality. Experiential too has been 
defined as “pertaining to or acquired by experience; empirical”2.  This 
also suggests that experiential emanates from experience. It is empirical 



76 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

and not abstract. Knowledge on the other hand is defined as “a result or 
product of knowing; information or understanding acquired through 
experience”.3 There is another aspect of knowledge which the Dictionary 
points out namely that it is “information; learning; specifically, the 
cumulative culture of the human race”.4 Knowledge, therefore, is the 
accumulation of all that is learnt either through learning or experience. 
Bearing the foregoing in mind, experiential knowledge as used in this 
work refers to that knowledge that is gotten from experience rather than 
one that is gotten from mere learning through academics. 
 
Seminary Formation 
Seminary formation refers to that process whereby young and interested 
men are trained towards becoming priests in the Catholic Church. They 
undergo some rigorous training in both philosophy and theology and 
thus become mature intellectually and otherwise to be able to proceed to 
the priesthood. Seminary formation spans some few years of aspirancy, 
spiritual year, philosophical studies, pastoral year and theological studies. 
It also involves the work of discernment on the part of the formators 
who together with the rector have the responsibility to recommend 
candidates to the bishops for ordination at the end of their training. 
Seminary formation, therefore, as used in this paper refers to the training 
of young men for the Catholic celibate priesthood. 
 
John 14:1-14: The conversation between Jesus and his disciples 
In this passage, Jesus engages hi disciples in a conversation during which 
he tells them that he is about to leave them and return to his father. He 
assures them that he would not abandon them but would go and prepare 
a place for them so that where he is going, they too would follow later. 
This is because they know the way to the place. It was at this point that 
the first scandal occurred. Thomas, one of the disciples listening to Jesus 
betrayed his ignorance about the way. He says: “Lord, we do not know 
where you are going. How can we know the way?” (v.5). At this culpable 
ignorance of Thomas, Jesus does not hide his disappointment. However, 
he seizes the opportunity to teach them that he is the way (ego eimi he 
hodos), the truth (kai he aletheia) and the life (kai he zoe) (v.6). He 
continues by saying “no one comes to the Father except through me”. 
This means that the knowledge of the Father is in the Son and that of the 
Son is in the Father. So, if the disciples truly know Jesus, they have 
known his Father as well (v.7). In the words of Teresa Okure, “A most 
consoling message for the disciples is that they know the way to where 
Jesus is going (v. 6). Jesus is the way to God: they need to walk along it 
and have no fear of stumbling. He is the truth:  they need to hold on to 
him and rely on him without fear of being failed by him. He is the life: 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    77 

they need to live it, live in him, and have no fear of death.”5 This 
knowledge is necessary for a continued relationship between Jesus and 
his disciples. Jesus reveals the identity of the Father to the disciples and 
through this revelation, they are able to sustain a relationship with 
Jesus. “The link between Jesus’ words and those of the Father who sent 
him”, says Pheme Perkins, “is grounded in the picture of Jesus as the 
agent of the Father (e,g. 3:34; 7:17-18; 8:28,47; 12:47-49)”6 

Jesus makes the knowledge of him and his father a joint one so 
that anyone who has the knowledge of one also has the knowledge of the 
other. There are two key words used in this passage to express this 
namely  and . These two verbs denote knowing with  
and  meaning “I know”.   means to perceive, gain 
knowledge of, know, learn, understand, judge, determine, decide, think 
and to resolve.7 It follows from this that   has a wider meaning 
than . These two words are key in this passage. The use of 
in the perfect here means knowledge already 
attained.8However, this knowledge is not perfect yet as it becomes 
obvious from the question Philip asked afterwards.  

In v. 8, Philip cuts in to the discourse of Jesus by asking Jesus to 
show them the Father so as to quench their doubt, ignorance and 
curiosity. Jesus is once again taken aback by this display of ignorance by 
Philip. What Philip is actually asking for here is not that clear. Is it like 
one of the great theophanies that Moses and Elijah enjoyed or the visions 
of the heavenly court enjoyed by the prophets? Hence, Brown concludes 
thus: “In the context of the evangelist’s own time, perhaps Philip is made 
the innocent spokesman of those heretical Christians who seek after or 
claim a mystical vision of God.”9 Jesus reprimands him and continues his 
teaching regarding the unity that exists between the Father and himself. 
This knowledge is open to only those who are close to Jesus. They are 
the ones expected to have a first-hand knowledge of who Jesus is and 
what he stands for. However, in spite of their close affinity to Jesus, the 
disciples, Thomas and Philip, could not fathom the real personality of 
their master. Thus, “the disciples are ignorant of truths that are 
fundamental for an understanding of who Jesus is, what he is doing, and 
where he is going.”10It must be noted that this reprimand was not meant 
for only Thomas and Philip but for all the disciples as it is evident in the 
use of the plurals in v. 7 ,   and  
and in v. 11 with the use of  and  . These plural verbs 
suggest that even though Thomas and Philip were the disciples who 
displayed publicly this ignorance about Jesus, the teaching that followed 
was not meant just for the two of them but for all the disciples.11 



78 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

This discourse regarding the relationship between Jesus and his 
Father continues till v. 14. Here, Jesus makes it abundantly clear to his 
disciples that he is God’s representation on earth. To have seen him is to 
have seen his Father too. Seeing and knowing Jesus is tantamount to 
seeing and knowing the Father. The fact that the disciples have not yet 
arrived at this level in their knowledge does not make them a failure but 
in the words of Moloney, “The disciples have not failed completely to 
know Jesus (as “the Jews” had done: viii 19); yet their questions indicate 
that they do not know him perfectly.”12 Jesus seizes this opportunity to 
enlighten and educate them on his real identity, where he comes from 
and where he is returning to. He also tells them that even if they do not 
believe on account of his words to them, his works are there as outward 
manifestations of his personality and his relationship with God the 
Father. “Real belief in the works”, according to Moloney, “involves the 
ability to understand their role as signs- the ability to see through them 
to what they reveal, namely, that they are the work both of the Father 
and of the Son who are one, and thus that the Father is in Jesus and Jesus 
is in the Father.”13 The discourse ends with the invitation to the disciples 
to ask for anything in the name of Jesus which he would grant (v. 14). 

The point at issue in this pericope is not so much the discourse 
of Jesus with his disciples as the interventions of the disciples to Jesus’ 
words. The betrayal of their shallow knowledge of him and his Father 
points to the fact that it is possible to know many things about someone 
without really knowing the person. This fact is made clearer by the 
immediate response of Jesus to the request of Philip (“Lord, show us the 
Father, and we shall be satisfied.” v. 8) namely, “Have I been with you all 
this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? (v. 9). This response 
must have been worsened because of the ignorance displayed earlier on 
by Thomas who did not know that Jesus was the way to the Father. It 
was as if the disciples of Jesus did not actually know the true identity of 
their master even though they were very close to him listening to his 
words and seeing his marvelous deeds. The truth of the matter is that if 
his disciples did not know him well enough, how would they be able to 
make him known to the people around them who were not close to him, 
that is, the pagan world? Nevertheless, the point must be made that this 
is not an indictment on the part of the two disciples, Thomas and Philip, 
as their requests were not ridiculous or outrageous. It only shows how 
imperfect they were in their understanding of the person and mission of 
Jesus on earth. 
 
Seminary Formation in perspective 
The task of the seminary is to train and form men who would be 
ordained as priests to minister to the needs of the church. To facilitate 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    79 

this task, priests are chosen and sent as formators to the seminary to 
accompany the candidates on their journey to the priesthood. Seminary 
formation is thus divided into different stages with studies in philosophy 
and theology. There are four major areas of seminary formation which 
are spiritual, pastoral, intellectual and human. These run through the 
different stages of seminary formation. The seminarians are expected to 
develop in the four areas of formation without leaving any one behind. 
To achieve this end, auto formation is highly encouraged but with the 
formators accompanying the seminarians to be able to reach the requisite 
maturity for ordination. The formators by their words and examples 
accompany them to respond positively to God’s call. 
 
Philosophical Studies 
As part of the prerequisites for ordination, seminarians are to undergo 
studies in philosophy to sharpen their power of reasoning and enable 
them to make mature decisions resulting from critical analysis. Through 
the study of ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary philosophical 
thoughts of philosophers, they arrive at a moment when they are 
disposed to receiving different thoughts and opinions with the aim of 
sifting out the truth. Philosophy enables the candidates to have an open 
mind towards the opinions of others and to approach issues with 
equanimity. With the aid of studies in logic, metaphysics and 
epistemology and other related disciplines, they learn to articulate their 
thoughts in a convincing way to win people over and are also 
circumspect regarding what they hear. The knowledge acquired in 
philosophy serves as a preparatory ground for theology which is “faith 
seeking understanding”. Also within the years in philosophy some 
theological courses are taken by the candidates to balance up their study 
in philosophy before they proceed on the pastoral year. 
 
Theological Studies 
On the return of the seminarians from their one year pastoral year, they 
begin their theological studies in earnest. In the course of the years in 
theology, they undergo studies in scriptures, dogma, canon law, liturgy 
and morality. It must be noted that the essence of these courses is to 
acquaint the candidates with the knowledge of Jesus Christ as revealed to 
us in the Old and New Testaments, in the Fathers of the Church and in 
the Teaching Office of the Church. With this requisite knowledge it is 
believed that the seminarians have reached an appreciable level of 
maturity to advance to ordination. The rector and the entire formation 
team do not come to this conclusion without first examining and 
assessing the candidates. This process is called evaluation. First, they are 
assessed on the basis of their academic performance which the various 



80 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

examinations they do reveal. Before the reception of any ministry, the 
candidates are also tested and evaluated to ascertain their readiness to 
advance towards the priesthood. In the final year of their priestly 
formation, candidates who have been judged worthy and suitable are 
recommended to their bishops for diaconate ordination. Those who are 
ordained serve as deacons for six months till the close of the session. 
They are then further recommended for priestly ordination after a 
thorough evaluation has been done by the rector and the formators. 
 
Lack of in-depth knowledge of Christ by the seminarian 
It has been observed by many people that there seems to be a great 
dichotomy between the seminary and the parish. The seminary is the 
house of formation for future priests while the parish is where the 
ordained minister functions. Due to the nature and function of the 
seminary, seminarians do all in their power to abide by the rules and 
regulations of the seminary. This, more often than not, is as a result of 
the saying that “if you keep the seminary rules, the seminary would keep 
you”. Therefore, seminarians often put on their best behaviour while in 
the seminary so as not to be expelled but to be recommended for 
ordination in due course. Sometimes, this attitude leads to a lot of 
pretence such that the true colour of seminarians does not come out 
until after ordination. The seminarians in this category pass through the 
seminary formation and even excel in the various aspects. To the 
formators these seminarians have met the requirements to be admitted to 
ordination into the Catholic priesthood. However and quite 
unfortunately, immediately after ordination, the newly ordained priest 
begins to act in a way that is incongruous with the training he has just 
received. He begins to behave in a way that is at variance with the 
examples of Jesus Christ whose herald he has now become according to 
the words of ordination. He feels and acts as being on top of the world 
with the whole world answerable to him forgetting Christ who says: 
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 
9:33). 

One finds some situations in the parishes that make people to ask 
if a particular priest ever passed through a seminary. They do things in 
ways that show that they only passed through a seminary without the 
seminary passing through them. There seems to be a general belief that 
there is a contradiction between seminary life and parish life. This 
perhaps accounts for words like “Do you think I’m still a seminarian? Do 
you think we are still in the seminary? I am no longer a seminarian etc. 
Some believe that there is no consensus between the theory in the 
seminary and the practical in the parish. Therefore, for such priests, once 
the seminary formation is ended, so also is anything that has to do with 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    81 

it. As such, some practices in the seminary are the immediate victims of 
this kind of attitude like praying the Office of the Hours, doing adoration 
and benediction, praying the Rosary and so on. The pertinent question is 
this: why is there such a dichotomy between the life of the seminarian 
while in the seminary and the life of the priest after ordination? It is the 
opinion of this writer that the lack of an in-depth knowledge of Jesus is 
responsible for this dichotomy. 
 
The Relevance of Experiential Knowledge of Jesus for the 
seminarian in the 21st century 
Experience, they say, is the best teacher. The Dictionary defines 
experience as “Knowledge derived from one’s one action, practice, 
perception, enjoyment or suffering.”14  Experiential I also defined as 
“Pertaining to or acquired by experience.”15 Experiential knowledge, 
therefore, refers to the knowledge acquired through experience. It is 
quite different from mere theoretical knowledge which is a knowledge 
acquired through learning alone. With theoretical knowledge one learns 
with the head alone without necessarily involving the heart. This is why 
one can learn something and forget it thereafter. It is not the case with 
experiential knowledge. More often than not, whatever one learns 
through experience does not depart from the person. It rather becomes 
part and parcel of that person. 

In the episode of John 14:1-14 discussed earlier in this piece, 
Thomas and Philip were among the disciples of Jesus who have been 
with him for some time listening to him and learning from him. They 
seem to know so much about their master except his real identity as the 
visible image of God on earth. This accounts for their questions to Jesus 
while he was discussing with them. Thomas asked for the way Jesus was 
going while Philip asked to see the Father so as to be satisfied. The 
amazement of Jesus at these questions reflected in his response tells the 
whole story. As his close friends and companions, they were expected to 
have known him through and through having listened to him and seen 
all his marvelous deeds. However, their lack of this in-depth knowledge 
of him surprised him and he seized the opportunity to educate all the 
disciples on his real nature and personality. This does not in any way put 
these disciples in a bad light but only exposes their imperfection. They 
still had so much to learn from Jesus who even after his death and 
resurrection promised to send them the Holy Spirit who would lead 
them to the complete truth (John 16:13). 

The seminarian in the 21st century, in order to be true to his 
calling to be a priest after the heart of Jesus, must not only have the 
theoretical knowledge of Jesus but also the experiential knowledge. This 
will enable him to live out more concretely the values of the priesthood 



82 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

in a world that is hostile to the gospel. This experiential knowledge is 
relevant today because it helps the seminarian to see continuity between 
life in the seminary and life in the parish. The seminary training is to 
enable the seminarian when ordained to become a good and holy priest. 
He must not see the discipline he received in the seminary only as a 
means to become a priest but as a discipline for life. This is one of the 
benefits of experiential knowledge that the seminarian is able to see the 
seminary formation not just as a means to an end but a way of life that 
must be lived out in the priesthood. 

Another way that experiential knowledge can impart positively 
the life of the 21st century seminarian is that having embraced the life of 
Christ as his own, the things of this world are not his immediate priority 
after ordination but to do the will of God just as Jesus said in John 4:34, 
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his 
work”. This is quite different from what we observe today among newly 
ordained priests. Even before ordination, the preoccupation of the 
deacon preparing for ordination is on the material acquisition like the 
kind of car(s), latest gadgets in town, large sum of money in his bank 
account and a host of others. This is not to suggest by any means that 
these things are not necessary for the ministry. It is rather the inordinate 
desire for them at any cost that calls our preparedness for service to 
question. After all, the master, Jesus, when he was sending out his 
disciples on their mission said: “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The 
kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse 
the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without 
payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your 
journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or staff; for laborers deserve their 
food” (Matt. 10:7-10). Hardly can we find today disciples who are ready 
to plunge themselves into the ministry without first looking for comfort 
and conveniences. I once heard of a deacon preparing for his priestly 
ordination who came up with a list of things needed for the ordination 
and commencement of priestly service. The total cost of all the items on 
the list runs into several millions of naira. It is not a bad thing for the 
disciples to be comfortable in the course of their work but the truth of 
the matter is that comfort and conveniences should not be the conditio 
sine qua non for service or what the disciples would be pursuing. 
Otherwise, these things could act as encumbrances to the carrying out of 
our duties as priests. An experiential knowledge of Jesus who had 
nowhere to lay his head would help achieve this (Matt. 8:20). 
 
 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    83 

The Difference between mere Functionaries and real Pastors of 
souls 
There is a vast difference between functionaries and ministers of the 
gospel. Functionaries can be likened to hirelings who feel nothing for the 
sheep but only carrying out the task they are being paid for. These are 
the people Jesus refers to in John 10:11-13 when he says “I am the good 
shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired 
hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf 
coming and leaves the sheep and runs away- and the wolf snatches them 
and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does 
not care for the sheep”. It can be said then that any minister of the word 
and sacraments who pursues only his own interest and not that of the 
sheep entrusted to him is only a hireling. Such a person does not possess 
the experiential knowledge of Jesus. We find so many of such hirelings in 
the ministry today. They are not ready to dive into the deep for a catch of 
fish but are busy pursuing their own selfish interests and ambitions and 
whenever and wherever these are not satisfied, there is trouble and 
discontentment. Thus, they could be referred to as mere functionaries, 
performers and artistes. 

Real pastors, on the other hand, having experienced Jesus as one 
who has come to serve and not to be served, are always ready to go in 
search of souls to be won for Christ. They are prepared to be sent 
anywhere to minister to people as long as human beings are there. They 
do not pick and choose where they are going to work. Wherever their 
bishop or superior sends them, they are happy to go there. On resuming 
there, they do not put their own needs first. Rather, their preoccupation 
is to elevate the life of the people and make them better than they met 
them. They try to imitate the Good Shepherd himself who knows his 
sheep just as his sheep know him too (John 10:14). They identify with 
the people not only when things are going on well for them but also and 
more importantly in their moments of crisis and suffering. 
 
The Role of the Seminary and Diocese in imparting experiential 
knowledge to the Seminarians 
There is no gainsaying the fact that both the seminary and the diocese 
play important roles in the formation of seminarians. Theirs, therefore, is 
a collaborative ministry and to succeed in this, all hands must be on deck. 
The seminary. among all the other functions that it performs, must 
ensure that seminarians are given sufficient time and space to really 
discover themselves. While in the seminary, everything must not be 
subjected to a matter of horarium. If everything is about horarium the 
seminarians would always abide by it and participate in all the programs 
of the seminary even when they are not convinced or disposed towards 



84 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

it. However, if some of the programs in the seminary are presented as 
private which by no means indicates optional, they are better able to 
make up their minds on what to attend and for how long. Though this 
idea may seem to subject seminary formation to the whims and caprices 
of the seminarians, the intention behind it is to prevent the mechanical 
obedience to seminary programs. In this way seminarians would be 
better known and those having challenges can be better helped. 

The diocese of the seminarians has a role to play too in giving to 
them the experiential knowledge of Jesus. Seminarians go on pastoral 
work every year and they are sent to work in parishes. It must be ensured 
that they are well guided to carry out real pastoral works and not just 
some menial or domestic assignments in the parish or rectory. Besides, 
since examples are better than precepts, priests must always show them 
good examples for them to emulate. It is often counter- productive when 
they hear one thing from priests and yet observe another. Also, more 
often than not, people learn bad things faster than good ones. 
Seminarians must see priests do the right things so that they can learn 
them and be able to put them into practice when they eventually become 
priests themselves. 
 
Conclusion 
The encounter of Jesus with his disciples, Thomas and Philip, as 
enunciated in this work has opened up the discussion on the meaning of 
experiential knowledge as distinct from mere theoretical knowledge. 
These disciples as well as others have been with Jesus for a while and yet 
their knowledge of him has been somewhat shallow. They know him 
well in the flesh but their knowledge of him as a divine being is 
inadequate. They still had doubts regarding his divinity. That accounts 
for why these disciples questioned Jesus the way they did. F. Moloney’s 
words are apt here when he says “To know Jesus is to know the Father, 
and Philip is exasperatingly ignorant in asking Jesus to show the Father 
(v.9). The problem lies in the disciples’ lack of faith.”16 It is the opinion 
of this piece that the same thing happens to seminarians who only have 
theoretical knowledge of Jesus without advancing to the experiential 
knowledge. They know so much about Jesus but Jesus himself they do 
not know. This is a clarion call on all those responsible for the formation 
of future priests and the seminarians themselves to interiorize whatever 
theoretical knowledge they have about Jesus so as to make Jesus more 
real to the 21st century world. 
 
 
 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    85 

Endnote 
 
                                                      
1 The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English 

Language. Typhoon Media Corporation, 2010. P.447. 
2  Ibid 
3 Ibid 706 
4 Ibid 
5 Teresa Okure, “John” in The International Bible Dictionary. Bangalore: Theological 

Publications in India, 2004. P. 1562 
6 Pheme Perkins, “The Gospel According to John” in The New Jerome Biblical 

Commentary. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 1995. P. 974 
7 James Morwood, John Taylor (eds), Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary. New 

York: Oxford University Press, 2002. P. 70. 
8 Max Zerwick, Mary Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New 

Testament. Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1996. P. 330 
9 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John X111-XX1. New York: 

Doubleday, 1970. P. 632 
10 Francis Moloney Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of John. Minnesota: The Liturgical 

Press, 1998. Pp 395-396 
11 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John X111-XX1. New York: 

Doubleday, 1970. PP. 621-622 
12 Ibid p. 631 
13 Ibid 633 
14 The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English 

Language. P. 447 
15 Ibid. P. 447 
16 Francis Moloney, Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of John. P. 396 



86 

7 

THE BLINDNESS OF MATERIAL WEALTH IN 

MARK 10:17-27: A LESSON FOR THE 

SEMINARIAN OF 21ST CENTURY 
 

Rex OSAGIE, STL, MTH 
St. Gregory Catholic Church, Ekpoma 

rexosajie12@gmail.com 
 

Abstract 
The seminarian of the 21st century lives in an era characterized by grave 
political instability, insecurity and economic crises laden with a high cost of 
living. Thus, to forestall this unbearable situation, many youths have 
abandoned their schools, trades, towns, families to embark on various crude 
and evil means of survival.  Some have taken to prostitution, seeking greener 
pastures via the crude Libyan route, kidnapping, advance free fraud etc. The 
consequence of this enormous, the streets, shops and craft workshops are 
deserted without apprentices and families are in pains and tears at the death 
of their children who have lost their lives. Again, the insufficient manpower 
in various communities has heightened the level of suffering and poverty in 
the land. Apart from that, it is really difficult to convince the few youths left 
at home not to embark on such venture since the few who are acclaimed 
‘successful’ display their flirts of cars and material wealth in a fascinating 
manner for all to see. However, the encounter between Jesus and the young 
rich man in the text of Mk10:17-27 reveals the essence of human life and its 
destiny and the blindness of material wealth. The tragic decision to turn 
down the invitation of Christ reflects a greater love for his material 
possessions than for the everlasting bliss of eternal life offered by Christ 
Jesus. This brings to mind the basic question what is the essence of life? And 
what is the meaning of success and the source of happiness? How can a disciple of 
Christ define his identity in this situation? Thus, this paper hopes to undertake a 
detailed exegesis of the text, its theological functions in its immediate and 
wider context and its theological significance for the seminarian of the 21st 
century. It will also proffer a number of recommendations to strengthen the 
discourse on the authentic formation of the seminarian of the 21st century. 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    87 

Keyword: Blindness, Wealth, Seminarian, Youth, Human life, 
Formation 
 
Introduction  
The 21st century is an epoch of immense human, economic, scientific, 
social, and political expansions and prospects but loaded with grave 
crises, challenges and failures. The struggle to make the world a global 
village aided with information and communication technology has 
enhance the identity, values, proficiency, productivity and needs of the 
human person within the globe. On the other hand, this era is typified by 
grave unstable political climate, insecurity, unemployment, climate 
change, health issues, economic crisis e.t.c. These crises have great effects 
on the life style, creativity and identity of the human person in a society 
where economic power is the centre of gravity. Consequently, the 
human person is tempted to mislay its values and ultimate goal in the bid 
to survival.  Here, material wealth becomes a vital tool of continued 
existence and happiness.  
 So, to avert these unbearable circumstances, many youths have 
abandoned their schools, trades, towns, families to embark on various 
crude and evil means of survival.  Some have taken to prostitution, 
seeking greener pastures via the crude Libyan route, kidnapping, advance 
free fraud etc. The consequence of this is enormous on the true 
realization of human dignity. The streets, shops and craft workshops are 
deserted without apprentices and families are in pains and tears at the 
death of their children who have lost their lives. Again, the insufficient 
manpower in various communities has heightened the level of suffering 
and poverty in the land. Apart from that, it is really difficult to convince 
the few youths left at home not to embark on such venture since the few 
who are acclaimed ‘successful’ display their flirts of cars and material 
wealth in a fascinating manner for all to see. 
 However, the encounter between Jesus and the young rich man in 
the text of Mk10:17-31 reveals the essence of the true dignity of the 
human life and its destiny against the blindness of material wealth. The 
tragic decision to turn down the invitation of Christ reflects a greater 
love for his material possessions than for the everlasting bliss of eternal 
life offered by Christ Jesus to bring mankind to its fullness of human 
dignity. This brings to mind the basic question what is the essence of life? 
And what is the meaning of success and the source of   happiness? How can the 
person of the 21st century define his Christian identity and dignity as disciple of 
Christ in this situation? Thus, this paper undertakes a detailed exegesis of 
the text, its theological functions in its immediate and wider context and 
its theological significance for the person of the 21st century. It will also 



88 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

proffer a number of recommendations to strengthen the discourse on the 
authentic formation of the human person of the 21st century.   
 

The Text of Mark 10:17-31 
a. The Text 
17 Καὶ ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ εἰς ὁδὸν προσδραμὼν εἷς καὶ 
γονυπετήσας αὐτὸν ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν· διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, τί ποιήσω ἵνα 
ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; 18 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί με λέγεις 
ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός.19 τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας· μὴ 
φονεύσῃς, μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, μὴ κλέψῃς, μὴ ψευδομαρτυρήσῃς, μὴ 
ἀποστερήσῃς, τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα. 20  ὁ δὲ ἔφη 
αὐτῷ· διδάσκαλε, ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην ἐκ νεότητός μου. 21 ὁ δὲ 
Ἰησοῦς ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἕν σε 
ὑστερεῖ· ὕπαγε, ὅσα ἔχεις πώλησον καὶ δὸς [τοῖς] πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις 
θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι. 22  ὁ δὲ στυγνάσας ἐπὶ 
τῷ λόγῳ ἀπῆλθεν λυπούμενος· ἦν γὰρ ἔχων κτήματα πολλά. 23  Καὶ 
περιβλεψάμενος ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· πῶς δυσκόλως 
οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελεύσονται. 24  
οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ ἐθαμβοῦντο ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς πάλιν 
ἀποκριθεὶς λέγει αὐτοῖς· τέκνα, πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν 
τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. 25 εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ [τῆς] 
τρυμαλιᾶς [τῆς] ῥαφίδος διελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ 
θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. 26 οἱ δὲ περισσῶς ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες πρὸς 
ἑαυτούς· καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι; 27 ἐμβλέψας αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει· 
παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ παρὰ θεῷ· πάντα γὰρ δυνατὰ 
παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. 28 Ἤρξατο λέγειν ὁ Πέτρος αὐτῷ· ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν 
πάντα καὶ ἠκολουθήκαμέν σοι. 29  ἔφη ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, 
οὐδείς ἐστιν ὃς ἀφῆκεν οἰκίαν ἢ ἀδελφοὺς ἢ ἀδελφὰς ἢ μητέρα ἢ 
πατέρα ἢ τέκνα ἢ ἀγροὺς ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ καὶ ἕνεκεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. 30 
ἐὰν μὴ λάβῃ ἑκατονταπλασίονα νῦν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ οἰκίας καὶ 
ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἀδελφὰς καὶ μητέρας καὶ τέκνα καὶ ἀγροὺς μετὰ 
διωγμῶν, καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. 31 πολλοὶ δὲ 
ἔσονται πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι καὶ [οἱ] ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι. 
 

b. Translation of Mark 10:17-31 
17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before 
him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal 
life?” 18And Jesus said to him “why do you call me good? No one is good 
but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: `Do not kill, Do not 
commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not 
defraud, Honor your father and mother.'“ 20And he said to him, 
“Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” 21And Jesus looking 
upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    89 

you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and 
come, follow me.”  22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went 
away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23And Jesus looked around 
and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have riches 
to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his 
words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter 
the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they 
were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 
27 Peter began to say to him, “Lo, we have left everything and followed 
you.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “Lo, we have left everything and 
followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has 
left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, 
for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold 
now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and 
children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 
31 But many that are first will be last, and the last first.” 
 

The Background of the Text of Mark 10:17-31 
The text of Mark 10:17-31 is situated within the larger corpus of the 
journey outside Galilee and movement towards Jerusalem. Here Mark 
appears to regard this text as a single unit which expresses the true 
meaning of discipleship and presents the necessary condition for 
entrance into the kingdom of God. Thus, he places it after chapter 10:13-
16 which defines the entrance into the kingdom and encloses it by the 
third major prophecy of the passion of Christ in 10:32-34.  

This is based on the purpose of projecting the Christian faith in a 
climate of uncertainty where martyrdom poses a grave danger to the faith 
of the people.1  In view of that, the Marcan Christ continues to speak and 
act meaningfully in the context of crisis. In order to achieve this, the 
evangelist employs vivid narrative style characterized by simple sentence 
structure, parataxis, direct speech and historical present in order to make 
Jesus the contemporary of those who hear or read the account.2 

Consequently, the text serves as caveat to the audience of the 
Gospel and post Marcan audience on the dangers and blindness of the 
love for material wealth against the forfeiture of the eternal life offered 
by Christ.   
 

Content Analysis of the Text of Mk 10:17-31 
 Vv. 17-22 -- The Rich Young Man (10:17-22) 
The setting of the amazing encounter between Christ and a young man 
in the text of Mark 10:17-31 is indicated by the verb ἐκπορευομένου, (as 
he was setting out) which is the present genitive middle masculine 



90 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

participle of ἐκπορευομαι in v. 17. The eager approach of the man while 
Jesus was setting out on a journey characterized with his kneeling 
posture, the formal address and the weighty value of his question suggest 
a deep respect for Jesus and the genuine sincerity of the man. He did not 
insist upon a private conference with Jesus by night like Nicodemus.  He 
came to consult Jesus as a distinguished rabbi and showed him the 
deference reserved for revered teachers of the law.3 

 The designation of Jesus as διδασκαλε agaqe (good teacher) in 
the masculine vocative is a sincere tribute to the impression Jesus had 
made upon him. Though in the OT and Judaism, only God is 
characteristically called “good” but can be used in derived sense of “the 
good man”.4  However, Christ would have him looked upon him to be 
God, since none is good but God. Again the question of the young man 
τί ποιήσω ἵνα ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; (what must I do so that I 
may inherit eternal life?) places the discussion which follows in an 
eschatological perspective. Ἳνα (so that) here signifies a purpose clause 
defining the function of τί ποιήσω (what must i). Also, the use 
κληρονομήσω (I may inherit) in proleptic aorist stresses the certainty of 
ζωὴν αἰώνιον (eternal life) to the young rich man.5  In addition, the form 
of the question implies a piety of achievement which stands in contrast 
to Jesus’ teaching that man must receive the kingdom as a gift from God 
in his helplessness like a child in 10: 15. Thus in v. 20 the man thought 
that there were other conditions beyond those written in the torah.  

However, Jesus’ appeal to the commandments serves to re-echo 
the old OT teaching that the man who obeys the law will live (Deut. 
30:15, Ezek. 33:15). He mentions the six commandments of the second 
table, which prescribe our duty to our neighbor, but puts the fourth 
commandment last, as that which must be remembered and observed. 
While the tenth commandment is put as “Do not defraud” showing that 
it is a rule of justice not to advance or enrich ourselves by doing wrong 
or injury to any other.6 These commandments clearly and incisively 
focus upon relationship with others as the discernible measures of a 
man’s reverence for God and obedience to his mandate.7  Here, Jesus 
does not accept as good any other will than the will of God revealed in 
the law. Hence his affirmation of the commandments is a demand for 
obedient action which recognizes both the sovereignty of God and the 
existence of neighbor.     
 In v. 20, the impulsive reply of the man ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην 
(all these I have kept) with the verb φυλάσσω in global aorist indicative 
middle reveals that he had made the law the norm of his entire life and 
had confidently fulfilled its demands perfectly. The reference to ἐκ 
νεότητός μου (from my youth) indicates a boy of twelve years who 
assume the yoke of the commandments and was held responsible for 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    91 

their performance.8 In this sense, Mark presents the inquirer’s idea of 
goodness as defined by human achievement, which has a sense of 
confidence that he had fulfilled the commandments from time but seeks 
to discover from another ‘good’ man what he can do to assure eternal 
life. But the referral of the question to God puts Jesus’ response within 
the context of the lordship of God. 

 Nevertheless, the response of Jesus to the young man in v. 21 is 
not designed to shame him by exposing the real depth of the 
commandments but is an expression of genuine love for him and to set 
in correct perspective the honor of God.9 Thus, Jesus discovers the one 
thing he lacks, is the self- sacrificing devotion which characterizes every 
true follower of Christ.  Thus, Jesus invites him to follow him now and 
experience the demands of life and the kingdom with the twelve 
disciples. This brings to fore that the keeping of the individual 
commandments is no substitute for the readiness of self –surrender to 
the absolute claim of God imposed through the call of the gospel.10 In 
this context obedience to the law is rendered ultimately in discipleship. 
Self- surrender means a renunciation of his achievement and the 
reception of messianic forgiveness through which man is released to 
stand under the law and to offer the obedience of love.11 Therefore, the 
command to sell his property and to distribute the proceeds to the poor 
was appropriate to this particular situation. Since the promised treasure 
signifies the gift of eternal life at the revelation of the kingdom of God. 
 However the true answer to the question in v. 17 lays not so much 
on the command to sell all but as a necessary condition to answer the call 
to follow Jesus.12 In this sense, the Marcan Christ clearly defines the cost 
of discipleship. Consequently, Mark in this text shows that Jesus 
separated persons from their normal historical existence as showed also 
in 1:16-20, 2:14, 3:13, in order to introduce them to a new quality of 
existence based upon fellowship with him. Jesus demand is radical. He 
claims the man utterly and completely, and removes anything that could 
interfere with an unconditional obedience. So following Jesus implies 
that Jesus himself is the answer to humankind’s quest for life and 
authentic realization of true human dignity.   
 The grave disappointing and sorrowful response of the young man in 
v. 22 to the invitation of Christ in v. 21 is described by two verbs; 
στυγνάσας aorist participle active nominative masculine singular of 
stugnάzw and ἀπῆλθεν 3rd person aorist indicative active singular 
άπέρχομαι.  The verb ‘stugnάzw’ occurs only twice in the New 
Testament in the text of Matt 16:3 and Mk 10:22. It means “become gloomy 
or dark, be shocked or appalled” but with ἀπῆλθεν in the aorist indicative 
active signifies temporal adverbial participle demonstrating two 
simultaneous actions of the young man of  being ‘shocked and went 



92 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

away’. So, his tragic decision to turn away reflects a greater love for his 
possessions than for his life as Jesus states in Mark 4:19. Again it shows 
the depth of the demand of discipleship and the uniqueness of the twelve 
who abandoned everything in order to follow Jesus. Another crucial 
finding of mark in this text is that the law had not yet fulfilled its 
function of bring man’s satisfaction with this world to an end and 
energized the thirst for righteousness and life.13 Consequently, Mark 
indicates for the first time that the man was rich in v. 22. 
 

Vv. 23-27 -- The Danger of Riches (10:23-27)  
The gesture of Jesus in v. 23 to look round depicted by the verb 
περιβλεψάμενος  in aorist participle middle nominative masculine 
singular demonstrates the contrast of the running and kneeling approach 
in v. 17 and the slow retreat that ends the amazing encounter in v. 22. 
Thus, it became imperative for Jesus to turn and catechize those who 
have abandoned everything to follow Jesus. The comment of Jesus in v. 
23b reaffirms the danger of attachment to wealth to the rejection of an 
infinitively important everlasting life that leads to the fullness of human 
dignity. This danger lies in the effects of wealth on the spiritual life, 
which claims the total dependence on God and develops a false sense of 
security. Material abundance therefore, is an enemy to the ‘abundant of 
life’ offered by Christ.14  

Surprisingly, this response of Jesus meets with great amazement 
from the disciples. Mark expresses this ‘shocked or amazement’ of the 
disciples with another verb ἐθαμβοῦντο in an ingressive imperfect 
describing the shock that ended with the teaching of Christ as distinct 
from the amazement of the young man that did not allow for catechesis. 
The amazement of the disciples probably stems from the belief that 
prosperity is the blessing and favor from God for righteousness.15  

However, Jesus did not fail to repeat his solemn warning of v. 23 
in an absolute form in v. 24b , saying how hard it is to enter the kingdom of 
God, which is calculated to provoke careful reflection on the part of those 
confronted with the call of the Gospel. Consequently, he addresses his 
audience as τέκνα (children) in the vocative neuter plural, not in the 
sense of biological growth but in terms of understanding the divine 
principles of the kingdom of God. The hyperbolic comparative between 
the largest animal (camel) and the smallest opening (eye of a needle) 
used by Jesus with the verb εὐκοπώτερόν (easier) in the comparative 
adjective in v. 24b is the only existing comparative found in the NT.16  
And it expresses what, humanly speaking, is impossible or absurd.17  

Consequently, Jesus’ response to the total rejection of his 
invitation leaves an exceeding astonishment in the face of the disciples 
which led to an inquiry; καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι; (Then who can be 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    93 

saved?). Accordingly, the response of Jesus in v. 27 to the query of the 
disciples in v. 26 places salvation beyond the spheres of human 
possibilities into the hands of God as his gift to humankind. 
 

Vv. 28-31 -- The Reward of Discipleship  
In v. 28 Peter acts as the spokesman for the disciples and shows an 
absolute understanding of v. 21. His affirmation which seems to be a 
note of self-congratulation is in positive contrast to the refusal of Jesus’ 
invitation in v. 21 of a man who prices material wealth than the invitation 
of the divine and supreme Creator.18 This is based on the fact that the 
disciples have fulfilled the two requirements of complete renunciation 
and of following Jesus.19 

 Conversely, the response of Jesus in vv. 29-31 to peter 
declaration in v. 28 defines Christianity in terms of promise and 
persecution, and history as the interplay of blessedness and suffering. 
This is pivoted on the divine principle that God takes nothing from a 
man without restoring it to him in a new and glorious form.  So, 
whatever is lost in one society in v.29 will be regained a hundredfold in 
the new society created by the dynamics of the Gospel in v.30.20  In this 
sense, the promise of eternal life in the age to come looks beyond the 
conflict of history to the glorious triumph assured through radical of 
obedience of anyone to the will of God. The discourse ends in a caveat 
couched in antithetical parallelism in v. 31, in which Jesus demands a 
total and radical commitment sustained only in the act of following him 
faithfully. 
 

Theology of Mk 10:17-31 
The vivid narrative style of Mk 10:17-31couched in simple sentence 
structure, parataxis, direct speech and often intersected with historical 
present is knitted with various theological themes. They are:  
 

The Prophetic Mission of Christ Jesus 
The actual encounter of Jesus with the rich man in Mk 10:17-31 clearly 
defines the prophetic identity of Jesus as the true Messiah who teaches 
and saves.  Jesus’ identification as διδασκαλε agaqe is based on the 
impression of his distinctive teachings, exercise of authority over demons 
and miracles on the mind of the people. (Mk 1:22, 27). Jesus’ exclusive 
declaration of the attributive adjective agaqe to God is a self-revelation of 
his Christology and divinity. Indeed God only can be acclaimed perfectly 
good and not man.  Since, God is all goodness and there is no evil in his 
nature. In this sense, only God has the authentic prophet mandate that 
can truly teach, sustain and lead humanity to its goal and fullness of 
dignity as destined by God. This is in line with the Lucan manifestos of 



94 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Christ in 4:18-19 “the spirit of the lord is upon me, because he has 
anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to 
proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set 
at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the 
lord”. Similarly, the Marcan Christ who consistently speaks and acts 
meaningfully in the context of crisis has the prophetic role to set 
humanity aright at all times. The implication is that humanity must 
realize its need to depend on God and do his will in order to fulfill its 
destiny and dignity. Thus, the imperative is that humankind must listen 
to him. (Mk 9:7b).  
 

Material Wealth in Mark’s Theology 
A closer survey of the Gospel of Mark reveals that he does not totally 
condemn wealth but does not seem to attach much importance to it in 
relation to the gospel message.21 Accordingly, the disciple of Christ is 
called to totally depend on divine providence and not on the temporary 
false security which wealth seems to provide. As a result, to follow Christ 
demands the adoption of the simplest way of life and subordination the 
comfort of life to the mission of Christ Jesus.22  Consequently, following 
and listening to Jesus without the distraction of material wealth is a 
source of abundant divine blessings, since the heavenly treasures offered 
by Christ is supremely greater than material wealth. 

 However, the young man’s tragic decision to turn down the 
invitation of Christ to an everlasting and abundant life is a reflection of 
an absolute foolishness. This unique rejection of divine bliss is based on 
the lack of the authentic understanding of the true identity of the self and 
its divine goals. The alignment and total dependence of the human 
person upon the securities and pleasures which material wealth offers is 
deluding and destructive blindness to the nature of the human spirit and 
its end. Hence, for Jesus the human person who is enslaved by material 
wealth has made external bliss impossibility like the head of a Carmel 
going through the eye of the needle. (Mk 10:25). This invitation of 
Christ is typified by consistent sharing and self-giving of one’s self and 
material wealth to others. 

Consequently, the young rich man lost Christ’s offer to a great 
friendship, development and great adventure to be God’s fellow worker 
in shaping the world. He fails to see the danger of material wealth to 
spiritual life and true dignity. This hazard of wealth lies in the fact that 
the means have a subtle way of becoming ends. Indeed, “wealth can 
imprison a man in a world of illusion and thus develop a false sense of 
security. In this sense the centre of gravity moves from personality to 
power, and such personality shrinks in the process.”23 Thus, the gospel 
becomes an enemy to the abundant life which material wealth offers.   



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    95 

The Law and the Gospel of Christ 
The invitation to follow Christ for Mark requires self-sacrificing 
devotion, self- surrender and sacrificial love which cannot be achieved 
through the observance of the torah alone. This radical demand of the 
gospel is the litmus test of discipleship. Indeed, this is the fulfillment of 
the law and the prophets as set out by Jesus in Matthew 5:17. The 
walking away of the young man is an indication that the observance of 
the law only did not fulfill the demand of the gospel of sacrificial love of 
the new covenant and the required dignity. So, dependence on wealth 
and earthly desires are antithetical to the good news proffer by Christ 
Jesus. Thus entrance into the kingdom of God in this sense requires total 
self-surrender to the person of Christ. This cannot be attained through 
the observance of the law alone but via total dependence on God. This 
self-surrender to Christ brings the divine justice and love of God 
towards those who accepts the Christ’s invitation but not without 
suffering and persecution.   
 
The Lesson of Mark 10:17-31 for the 21st Century 
The human person of the 21st century is called to witnessing and 
discipleship of Christ Jesus like the Apostles, who left everything and 
followed Christ (Mark 10:28). He has the unique mission to continue 
the ministry of Jesus handed down by the apostle.  As a disciple of 
Christ, he/she is offered like the young rich man to adopt the itinerant 
and simplest lifestyle of Jesus and his first followers in order to save souls 
and shape the world.24  Accordingly, being with Jesus and sharing in his 
mission of teaching and healing entails the adoption of the simplest 
possible way of life and subordinating one’s personal comfort to the 
mission. Thus, as a witness and disciple of Christ, he is faced with the 
choice of spending his life in Christ or embracing a world that celebrates 
material possession. In wise manner, the human person of the 21st 
century should make a fundamental option to witness to Christ and 
share in the divine blessedness of the elect. 

Similarly, the rich young man’s rejection of Jesus’ invitation 
arises from his unwillingness to adopt the simple lifestyle required for 
the ministry of Jesus. His great love for possessions hindered him from 
participating in the mission of Christ. This demand of Christ’s disciples 
is antithetical to the dependence and false security material possessions 
offers. The excessive crave for wealth to the detriment of the salvation of 
the soul will completely and totally separate one from eternal happiness. 
Again, the use of dubious means in acquiring wealth like fraud and 
robbery, selling of body parts, kidnapping, prostitution e.t.c is totally 
unbecoming of a Christian lifestyle laid down by the Gospel of Christ. 



96 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The imperative is to seek eternal life offered by Christ Jesus and not 
transient happiness offered by material wealth.  

Another basic issue that this text of mark10:17-31 seeks to 
address is the essence of life and the source of the ultimate happiness. It 
completely rejects material wealth as the essence of life and the ultimate 
source of happiness. Also it teaches that being rich can prevent one from 
entering the kingdom of God. The joy and security of life is not based on 
what one owns but total surrender and dependence on the God the 
creator (luke12:15). Thus the life created by God cannot derive its true 
meaning and fulfillment from the created things except from the creator 
alone. The rich young man lost the blessedness of the spirit because he 
was shaded with the dark lenses of wealth. Jesus challenges the rich 
young man to admit that there are even greater blessings than being rich 
in life and playing the benefactor (Mark10:21).  

Again, the text teaches that life must be lived as a gift from God 
and used as an instrument for pleasing God the creator. The rejection of 
the invitation to share his wealth with the poor and store up treasure in 
heaven (Mark10:21), is a pointer that the rich young man lack this basic 
understanding of life. This same mindset is common in the 21st century 
of those who take to various dubious means to amass wealth and pursue 
it as the ultimate goal of life. Life must not be lived in a competitive and 
self-centered manner but rather with the disposition to share and live for 
others. This Jesus did by climbing the cross. Thus, the authentic 
realization of the human dignity in the 21st century must entail a good 
disposition to sacrificial love, total dependence on God and the 
consistent attitude of sharing with others. This is the unique identity of 
the first century Christians that shaped and transformed the world. (Acts 
2:45) 

The text of Mark10:17-31 also teaches in vv. 28-31 that there is 
reward for those who take up poverty in the service of Jesus’ mission of 
proclaiming the kingdom of God. The reward will both present and 
future. Indeed there is a better reward for those who accept the simple 
and poor life of Jesus Christ, with the promise of a new family and new 
possessions, and eternal life in the age to come (Mark10:30). In this 
sense, the person of the 21st century should live his life for eternal bliss 
than for transient material wealth.  
 
Conclusion 
This study critically examines the text of Mark 10:17-31 and reveals its 
theological functions and values on the cost of the discipleship and the 
use of material wealth.  It argues that the ultimate goal of Christ for the 
rich young man is his salvation. The imperative to share his material 
wealth with the poor is an invitation to share in the life style of Jesus 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    97 

Christ and enjoy eternal happiness. The gospel of Christ teaches that 
human life and material wealth should be lived and shared with others. 
This is essential to the authentic realization of the dignity mankind the 
21st century who lives in a world that celebrates and adores material 
wealth, even when it is acquired via dubious means. This will help to 
strengthen the faith and build life style on the person of Christ who is 
the ultimate source of life and happiness. 
 
Endnote 
 
                                                      
1  William Lane, The Gospel According to Mark. (Michigan: Eerdmans, 1974) 25. 
2  William Lane, 26. 
3  Heinrich Rengstorf, Theological Work in the New Testament, Vol 2. (Germany: 

kohlhammer.  1990) 157. 
4  Henry Matthew, Commentary on the Whole Bible. (U.S.A: Hendrickson, 1991) 1800 
5  Daniel Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax. ( Michigan: Grand rapids, 

2000) 242. 
6  Henry Matthew, 1800. 
7  John Calvin, Commentary on a harmony of the Evangelist; Matthew, Mark and 

Luke.( Grand Rapids: Christian classics Ethereal Library, 1949) 1060. 
8  William Lane, 366. 
9  Brenkinridge Warfield, Studies in Theology. (Princeton: Banner of Truth Trust, 

1988)15. 
10  Daniel Harrington & John Donahue, Mark. Sacra pagina. (Minnesota: Michael 

Glazier  Book, 2002) 302.  
11  Henry Matthew, 1081. 
12  Daniel Harrington & John Donahue, 303.  
13  William Lane, 369. 

Halford Luccock, “The Gospel According to ST. Mark: Exposition” in The Interpreter’s 

Bible, Vol, 7. Eds. George Arthur Buttrick, George et al .(New York: Abingdon, 1951) 

806. 
15  Halford Loccock, 806. 
16  Bibleworks9: Mk 10:24 
17  William Lane, 369. 
18  William Lane, 371.  

Frederick Grant, “The Gospel According to ST. Mark: Introduction and Exegesis” in 

The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol, 7. Eds. George Arthur Buttrick, George et al.(New York: 

Abingdon, 1951) 808. 
20  William Lane, 372.  

Leslie J. Hoppe, Being Poor: A Biblical Study (Good News Studies 20) (Delaware: 

Michael Glazier, 1987) 150. 
22  Daniel Harrington & John Donahue, 307. 
23  Frederick Grant, 806. 
24  Daniel Harrington & John Donahue, 303. 



98 

8 

DISCERNMENT IN THE FORMATION OF 

FUTURE PRIESTS IN A TRANSISTION 

PERIOD: AN EXAMINATION OF THE 

VOCATION OF SAMUEL (1 SAM. 3.1-10). 
 

Michael Sola OMOJOLA, STD 
Department of Theology, 

Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma 
solajjola@yahoo.com 

 
Abstracts 
The passage of our consideration narrates the ‘call of Samuel’ and how 
the priest Eli guided him to properly decipher the voice of Yahweh and 
disposed him to the vocation and mission that Yahweh would assign to 
him and how he on his part made a final and definitive response to his 
Vocation in a transition period in the life of the Jewish people (1 Sam. 
3.1-10). His formation has an enduring implication for the Jewish nation 
by providing a necessary guidance and needed unique identity in the 
Ancient world upon which successive generation continue to build on. 
This passage is still relevant today as we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of 
our seminary and examine the theological relevance of priestly formation 
in this third millennium, prospects and challenges. Therefore, a proper 
examination of this passage will help candidates to the sacred priesthood 
present themselves for proper formation that has a transforming effect 
for the work of evangelization to which God is calling them. However, 
without proper disposition and opening of self to true discernment 
which is the action of the Holy Spirit, in the humble efforts of the 
Formators, who like Eli, should help the candidates to decipher and 
discern the true voice of God calling; it will be difficult to achieve the 
desired result, which is furthering the kingdom of God on earth. 
 
Keywords: Discernment, Formation, Vocation, Formators, Holy Spirit 
 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    99 

Introduction 
There are so many concerns about the books of Samuel among scholars 
but some areas that constantly receive scholarly attention include the 
composition of the book itself, the source and the question of its 
authorship. These areas continue to re-appear in biblical scholarship and 
they often generate and shape the direction of the discussion among 
scholars. That this is nearly so can be seen in the work of Moshe 
Garsiel.1 In his work, he notes that the book of Samuel appears at the 
most “crucial period in the history of the Israelites…The book, as is seen 
even at first sight, is a unique combination of historiography, literary 
poetics and ethical and theological perception.”2 However, other scholars 
have also contributed to the discussion by raising the relevance and the 
novelties of the different narratives, the characters, their social and 
theological innovations for social and religious transformation, the 
geographical settings and their importance for the future of the 
covenantal relationship between Yahweh and his Chosen People.3  

Making a comprehensive excursus into the different debates will 
be too cumbersome for this paper. Therefore, the scope of this paper 
shall be limited to the Character of Samuel and his involvement in the 
different transitions that led to the stability of the Chosen People and 
gave a unique identity to them as a nation and see how it can be a guide 
for a nation like Nigeria in her identity crisis. The approach to be 
employed will be synchronic and canonical, as such, the textual criticism 
of the pericope may not be necessary.  

This passage reflects the final stage as it were in the formative 
period of the life of the young Samuel who was dedicated to the service 
of Yahweh immediately after he had been weaned by his mother.4 “And 
when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old 
bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the 
LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young….Therefore I have lent him to the 
LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD." And he worshiped the 
LORD there.” (1 Sam 1.24-28).  

When Samuel was given to Eli, the best the mother could have 
hoped for, was to assist the old priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, because 
priesthood in those days was tribal and hereditary, of which his family 
was not a part of (Num 18.1; 1 Sam 2. 28, 30). Thus, the young Samuel’s 
works would have consisted of, looking after the person of the priest, Eli 
and the place of worship, taking charge of the work connected to the 
place of worship. The proper sacrifice and the sacred vessels shall be 
handled by the priests of Aaronic lineage (Num 18.2-4). It is for this 
reason that the Chroniclers in their short genealogical tree of the workers 
at the Temple named his grandson Heman among those who were listed 
as choirs of the temple by King David (1 Chron 6.18). While doing this, 



100 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the boy Samuel was growing physically and inwardly as he also found 
‘favour with God and man’ (1 Sam.2.26). This terminology is found only 
once again in the whole of the Bible in the Gospel of Luke when the boy 
Jesus was found in Temple teaching elders and later followed his parents 
home (Luke 2.52). 

However, the historical context of his call showed a nation in 
transition and the need for a strong, God fearing, committed and faithful 
leader, who would help to direct and midwife the various institutions 
necessary for its continued existence as a nation and as the Chosen 
People of God (I Sam. 2.26).5 He was called particularly to guide and to 
take a leading role in this transition, so that, this plans of God would not 
be truncated. Giving a summary of the life of Samuel, the author of the 
book of Sirach notes that he “was the beloved of his Lord; prophet of the Lord, 
he instituted the kingdom, and anointed rulers over his people. By the Law of the 
Lord he judged the assembly, and the Lord watched over Jacob. By his loyalty he 
was recognized as a prophet, by his words he was known to be a trustworthy seer” 
(Sir. 46.13-15). This alo corresponds to the Deuteronomic summary of 
his life (1 Sam. 3.19-20).  
 
The Literary Classification 1 sam 3.1-10. 
Every piece of literature can be classified according to its literary genre. 
While many scholars classify this pericope as ‘the call of Samuel’, they do 
not assign a special literary structure to it or at best they compare it with 
other prophetic commission narratives especially that of Moses.6  

A commission narrative is usually the last process of a call 
narrative and as such they are two different things. There are so many 
commission narratives in which nothing are known about their birth 
such as those of the prophets and the apostles yet God called and sent 
them on mission. Some others see the passage as that of the Birth 
narrative like other birth narratives of great people in the bible.7  It 
should be noted that birth narrative is a prelude to the story of a great 
personage of historical importance; it may not necessarily lead to a special 
vocation. Others see it as a divine revelation or a theophany of Yahweh to 
the young Samuel.8 In another respects some compares it to the dreams 
in the Ancient Near East.9 

It is true that this passage has some characteristics of theophanic 
revelatory call and dream like commission narratives; it is the opinion of 
this work that it best fits into the literary pattern of the vocation 
narratives. Vocation as a literary type or genre has its own form in both 
the Old and the New Testament. An examination of a few examples will 
show the pattern of this literary structure as a unique genre for this 
pericope.10  
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    101 

Call of Moses: Ex. 3 
Initiative of the Deity: Natural State: Moses was tendering the Flock of 
Jethro Ex. 3.1  
Apparition of the Deity: The angel of the Lord appeared Ex. 3.2 
Sacred Location; The Burning Bush Ex. 3.2,5b 
Call by Name: Moses, Moses Ex. 3.4b  
Challenges of Certainty: Moses turned around to look Ex. 3.3-5a 
Confirmation of the Call: Ex.3.6 
The Reason for the Call: I have seen the affliction of my people Ex.3. 7-9 
The Commission- I will send you to Pharaoh Ex.3.10 
Time for Maturity and Assurance: Discussion between the Deity and the 
person, Ex. 3.11-4.17 
Positive Response: He returned to Jethro. Ex. 4.18 
 
Call of Samuel I Sam. 3. 
Initiative of the Deity. Samuel was sleeping; 1 Sam 3.3 
Apparition of the Deity: The Lord stood by him; 1 Sam. 3.10a 
Sacred Location: The Temple and the Ark of God 1 Sam. 3.3 
Call by Name:  The Lord Called Samuel; 1 Sam. 3.4,6,8,10b 
Challenges of Certainty: The boy Samuel went to meet with Eli thrice; 1 
Sam. 3.5-8  
Confirmation of the Call: The Boy Samuel answered; 1 Sam. 3.4,10c 
The reason for the Call: God wants to do a terrifying thing in Israel; 1 
Sam 3.14 
Time for Maturity: Discussion between the deity and the person; 1 Sam. 
3.11-15 
The Commission: I will judge the house of Eli; 1 Sam.3.13  
Positive Response: lay down and sleep over the words; 1 Sam. 3.15 
 
The Call of the First Disciples (Luke 5.3-11 
Initiative: He went into one of the boats; Luke 5.3 
Sacred Place: After teaching people; Luke 5.3 
Call by Name: He Called Simon to thrown into the deep; Luke 5.4 
Challenge of Certainty: We had toiled all night Luke 5. 5-7 
Confirmation of the Call: Simon fell on his feet; Luke 5.8  
Reason for the Call: not applicable 
Time for Maturity: They dragged their catch to the shore; Luke 5.9-10a 
The Commission: Hence you will catch men; Luke 5.10b 
Positive response: They left everything and followed him; Luke 5.11   
 
The Call of Paul of Tarsis (ACTS 9.3-20) 
Initiative: He was on a journey; Acts 9.3a 
Sacred Place: A light from Heaven; Acts 9.3b  



102 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Call by Name: God called Saul, Saul; Acts 9.4 
Challenge of Certainty: Who are you? Acts 9.5a 
Confirmation of the call: What do you want me to do; Acts 9.6 
Reason for the Call: It is hard to kick against the pricks; Acts 9.5b,    
Time for Maturity: between the incidents and Brother Ananias; Acts 9. 
6b,9-14 
The Commission: He will be told what to Do as a Chosen vessel unto 
the Lord; Acts 9.6c 
Positive Response: They brought him to Damascus, Acts 9.8 
 
Call Literary Structure: 

i. Initiative of the Deity: Natural State 
ii. Apparition of God, An Angel of God, The word of God 
iii. Sacred Location- A description of the location; Temple, Burning 

Bush11 
iv. Call by name- call is given to individual/ vocation is person 
v. Challenges of certainty, Doubt and Assurance 
vi. Confirmation of the Call- Giving Sign 
vii. The reason for the Call- Description of the situation 
viii. Commission- brings about a lasting Change 
ix. Time for Maturity: preparation for the mission  
x. Positive Response  

 
The Characteristics of Vocation Genre 
The first consideration about the genre of Vocation is that, it is not the 
individual that calls himself to the service of God rather the initiative is 
always from God. As noted by Fretheim, “the emphasis throughout is on 
the divine initiative. It is God who confronts Moses and calls him to a 
task. Moses does not prepare for the encounter, nor does he seek it.”12  
Hence, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews notes ‘No one takes this 
honour on himself except he is called as Aaron was’ (Heb. 5.4). Since the 
initiative is from God, the recipient of such a privilege calls, is presented 
in his natural state. It is not a reward for a good done or a prize won for a 
previous action. Hence, it is always related to a divine revelation or a 
vision of the divine.13 

Such vocation is always an invitation to participate in a 
transformation that will have a universal implication of great importance 
rather than a personal glorification or a prize, or a reward, given for what 
one has done in the past.14 The manner and pattern of each vocation 
narrative depends on the nature of the mission to be accomplished. For 
instance, Abraham was called to leave his father’s house for a Promised 
Land (Gen. 12.ff). Moses was called to lead the people from slavery into 
the Promised Land (Ex. 3.1ff). Samuel was to help them make necessary 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    103 

transition from a loose Tribal Amphitony to a United Kingdom under 
one leader in the Promised Land (1 Sam. 3.1ff). Hence, because the 
mission God is entrusting to this individual is enormous, He also 
prepares them for it. 

One other characteristic of this literary genre is the mentioning 
of the recipients’ personal name by God before revealing to them his 
purpose of calling them. This name calling shows the personal 
relationship with the divine who knows his messengers by name (Is. 
49.1). In the case of Moses, Samuel and Paul, their names were repeated 
twice by God as a sign of “endearment” to authenticate their vocation.15 
Even in some other instances, God gave new names to those He called 
which would correspond to their mission. God calls individual for 
particular mission. It is therefore God’s knowledge of the individual as 
well as a reminder to the individual’s response to God’s invitation (Hos. 
11.1). It is from this name calling, that the literary genre as it were, bears 
its special character of ‘Vocation’. 

Another important aspect of the vocation genre is the centrality 
of the word of God. According to Zimmerli, “the particular significance 
of the account of Jeremiah’s call’s to be seen in the firm subordination of 
all its features to the Word of Yahweh.”16 This word of God is central to 
all the prophetic vocation. In the case of Samuel, there is an emphasis 
from the beginning that the word of God was not common. At the end 
of this narrative, God does not allow the word to fall to the ground 
without being fulfilled. This also puts him in the same position like that 
of the prophets of old because “the messages are more important than 
their experiences”.17 

In all of these examples of Vocation literary genre given above, 
the recipients, Moses, Samuel, the Apostles and Paul in a special way, 
were called to be involved in a transition that will have a lasting and more 
enduring effect. Thus, the “account of Samuel’s vocation is a good 
example of a divine calling to perform a special mission, it shows both 
the attitudes that the person called should have and the demands that the 
divine call implies.”18 This is also reflected in the manner of their 
vocation to set up a special people for God through their own person 
charisma and formation. Moses formation was God himself through the 
different dialogue. Samuel had the old priest to help him, the apostles 
and Paul had Jesus as their teacher (Matt. 23.8; Mark. 3.13-14; Gal. 1 15-
16). Furthermore, the resemblance between Moses and Samuel is telling 
because the circumstances of their birth and the relationship of their 
parents, were involved in their narratives (Ex. 2.1ff; 1Sam. 3.1ff).  
 
 
 



104 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Examination of the Narrative of Samuel’s Vocation 
Samuel is described as one who “stands at the intersection of a cephalous 
clan culture and the hierarchy of the nascent monarchy he inaugurates. 
He is charged with preserving the conservative values of the past while 
also plotting out the future during a period of national transition.”19 His 
contributions and actions are pivotal to the eventual emergence of the 
people both as geographical entity and in their self-religious group. 
Indeed, the book could be called Book of Transition of which Samuel 
enjoyed not only a luminal figure but also, has consistently shown him as 
a leading figure.  

According to some authors, Samuel’s vocation was necessary 
because of both the physical and spiritual weakening of Eli’s strength and 
Yahweh has found himself a strong man in the young Samuel. This 
passage of our consideration is the centre of the story which began in 
Chapter one with Hannah’s prayer. It is the summit and the beginning of 
the great Israelitic institutions of the vocation to the special priesthood, 
the distinctive prophetic ministry and the Yahwistic monarchical 
election.20 For this reason, some scholars note that to “Samuel’s is the 
credit for one of the greatest contributions ever made to the political 
thought of man.”21 

Thus, this call was necessitated by the “historical and moral 
limitations” that created a crisis point in Israel and needed divine 
intervention before it becomes catastrophic. God called Samuel to cart a 
new cause of direction for the leadership of the people that might 
eventually restore the people to the right path through the word of 
God.22 However, by helping him to answer this call, the old man, Eli, 
shows that Yahweh has a special assignment for the boy as indeed 
indicated in the narrative of his infancy. Yet he must not only consult 
and seek the guidance of the old priest Eli, but also complete the period 
of his formation. 

 Consequently, the call of the boy Samuel begins a new personal 
relationship between Yahweh and his Chosen People.23 Samuel is in the 
vanguard because he must instruct the new leaders including himself 
that leadership in “Israel were not allowed to do whatever they fancied. 
They were subjects to a higher power and to the rule of law and 
morality, upheld by the prophets.”24  Hence, “as has now been addressed 
directly by Yahweh, and the significance of this fact extends beyond the 
immediate circumstances, for the closing verses of the account make it 
clear that Samuel is henceforward to be the medium through which 
Yahweh will address his people.”25   

Therefore, this passage is a bridge between the old order as it 
were and the new things that Yahweh wants to do. This is the nature of 
God that time and again, in different circumstances, he intervened and 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    105 

gets involved directly in the affairs of his Chosen People. In doing this, 
he calls individuals to partner with him in bringing about this radical 
change. Samuel will now be called a prophet. A term which in its 
Akkadian root means to be called or summoned by the gods “one called 
to duty by a god.”26    

If Samuel was courageous and successful in his ministry as a 
prophet and a judge (1Sam. 3.19-20), it was because he has disposed 
himself favourably through obedience under his master Eli. Thus, he 
became a model of obedience as he listened to what Eli taught him to say 
if he should hear the voice of God calling him again (1 Sam. 3.9).27 He 
repeated the words just as Eli told him. Eli also showed by his own 
example of life, how to submit to the will of God, when Samuel narrated 
to him the message of God which he has just received. Although, 
challenging and difficult, Samuel told him what God had threatened to 
do to his two sons Hophni and Phinehas and his family. Eli responded, 
He is the Lord, let him do what seems good to him (1 Sam. 3.18b). 
Bowing to the will of God is a sign of true vocation, Mary (Luke 1.38) 
and Jesus (Matt. 6.10; 7.21;26.42) would later give us models by the 
examples of their lives.    

However, the vocation of Samuel needed a special period of 
discernment because of the theological implication it would have for the 
future of the People of God. Hence, the place of Eli in this discernment 
was of great significance because helped the young Samuel during this 
formative period so to say, to learn by every call experience, the voice of 
God in the many deceptive voices that could be speaking to him  (1 Sam. 
3.5). Two caveats that are significant here in the beginning of the 
narrative of the vocation are: (a) the description of Samuel as a ‘young 
boy’ or a child and (b) that the ‘word of God’ was not common in those 
days (1 Sam. 3.1).   

Having completed his period of formation, he was able, through 
the discernment of Eli, to make appropriate response that guided him 
throughout his life. He learnt that he was a Servant-leader between God 
and his Chosen People. This becomes very obvious in the words of his 
response to the call of God as directed by his master Eli; ‘speak Lord your 
servant is listening’ (1 Sam. 3.9). Therefore, he must listen to the rb;d" 
‘Word of God’ and act accordingly before the people and that makes his a 
prophet like Moses. To underscore the importance of the Word in the 
life of Samuel, his mission was summarized in the following words 
‘Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did not let none of his 
words fall to the ground’ and from Dan to Beersheba, he was recognized 
as aybiiÞn" a prophet (1 Sam. 3.19-20).28 This was evident when he was 
to chide Saul for his disobedience “and Samuel said unto Saul, I will not 
return with thee for you have rejected the word of God: (1 Sam. 15.16). 



106 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Implications of Samuel’s Vocation for Israel as a Nation 
There is no doubt that the theology of the Books of Samuel shows that 
the narrators/redactors re-worked the different historical traditions at 
their disposal to give appropriate place to God’s intervention in the 
unfolding of events in the pre monarchical period. Mark Leuchter, notes 
that this was the major concern of the Deuteronomic Historian who 
constructed “a theoretical narrative of Israel’s landed experience …for 
the purpose of establishing a vision of society where sacral leadership and 
old covenantal ideals formed the basis for evaluating righteousness, 
theological fidelity, and social responsibility.”29 In spite of this, the 
importance of a visionary and dedicated leader in a transition period 
cannot be over emphasized. This is where the person of a Priest leader 
like Samuel becomes inevitable. 

In these twin books, the combine efforts of the Deuteronomic 
and Priestly traditions, both of which are steeped in the theological 
ideologies of the Chosen People are openly manifested. This theological 
outlook particularly reflects the “religion of a people deeply rooted in the 
life of a people settled on their land and leading a natural agricultural and 
political existence.”30 It is therefore reasonable to assume that they have 
placed the different characters in these books at some special junctures in 
the history of the Chosen People of God as a nation, to give credence to 
their assumptions. The character of Samuel as a dedicated man of God 
who received the Word that was very rare and the vision that was 
uncommon, yet that would eventually shape the history of the people 
along the traditions received, bearing in mind their relationship with 
Yahweh as his covenanted people, at the beginning of this journey, was 
inevitable.  

The narrative of the vocation of Samuel presents him as the 
personage that bears this new theological vision on his shoulder and thus 
incorporates other narratives that have implication not just for the 
immediate moment but also for the exilic period and even beyond.  
Samuel thus functions within a work that was not always a single 
narrative, but which was always part of a textual curriculum with an 
interconnected vision. His diverse roles as priest, prophet, and judge are 
the end result of careful hermeneutical creativity on the part of the 
redactors who recognized Samuel’s liminality and its potential as an 
interface between tradition.31   

In order to do this properly, he had to undergo tutelage and 
formation under an experienced priestly figure like of Eli. This period 
helped him not only to respond properly to God’s call as he should, but 
also, it helped him to navigate the different contours of transitions even 
without an already worked-out road map, to guide him. Thus, “the 
narrative of 1 Samuel could be described as a narrative of transitions. It 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    107 

details the transitional phase from the era of the judges to the era of the 
monarchy; its transitions from one failed dynasty (saulide) to one 
successful dynasty (Davidide)”.32  
It must be mentioned that all the primary characters in this book “stand 
in transitional relationship to each other so that the narrative tells of the 
transition from one leader to another: from Eli to Samuel, from Samuel 
to Saul, from Saul to David.”33 However, the character, Samuel, that 
concerns this work, has at least four different accounts of transitions 
recorded in which he played major roles. He became intuitive and 
creative as he responded to the exigencies of his vocation right from the 
beginning of his ministry to the end and endeared himself to the heart of 
the people. He did this very well as he made the uncommon transition 
from one leadership institution to another, until till Kingdom was 
securely established in David, the man after God’s heart.  

On the person of Samuel, his identification has been difficult 
because he has been described with various epithets: A seer, a priest, a 
prophet and a judge.34 These roles singled him out as a man with special 
character in the development of Judaism and Jewish history. Little 
wonder, it was said that he had favour with God and with men (1 Sam. 2. 
26). The ‘Word and the Vision’ he received from God continued to be 
the major instruments of his vocation and the guide of the Chosen 
People afterwards.35 These institutions though common to the people of 
Ancient Near East, gave the Israelites a unique identity among their 
neighbors because of what Samuel did.36 It is necessary to examine some 
of these transitions and how he had contributed to the establishment of 
the theological focus on the one hand and how such focus had helped to 
establish, stabilize and give an enduring identity to the people in later 
Judaism. 
 
Priest 
Priesthood until the time of Eli was tribal and hereditary. This was in 
accordance with the plan of God when He gave the nations their 
inheritance. God speaking through his Servant Moses says,  “the Levitical 
priests, the whole tribe of Levi will be without share or heritage of their 
own in Israel… For Yahweh your God has chosen him from all your 
tribes to stand before Yahweh your God, to do the duties of the sacred 
ministry, and to bless in Yahweh's name -- him and his sons for all time” 
(Deut. 18. 1a, 5). According to the introductory words of the First book 
of Samuel, he was an Ephraimite from Ramathaim the place of his father 
as such he is not of the priestly linage (1 Sam. 1.1).37  This passage 
presented his parents as faithful Israelites who went to perform their 
religious duty at Shiloh regularly.  



108 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Through his association with Eli, “he is depicted as to a point, 
the heir to the functions and authority of exercise by the Elide 
priesthood”.38 Thus, the institutions of the priesthood which hitherto 
belonged to the Aaronic and Levitican family, began a new order in him. 
Hence, Samuel grew up to occupy the priestly position in Shiloh because 
the sons of Eli dishonor Yahweh while He too vowed to take this 
privilege from their house. Samuel brought a new candor to the priestly 
office through the restoration of the true worship of God rather than 
idols of the nations (1. Sam. 7.3ff).  
In him also the office of priesthood and prophecy were held together 
under one person that constituted another turning point in the history of 
God’s relationship with his people. This would be followed by many 
other priests after him (cf Ahimelek: 1 Sam. 22.10; Abiathar 1 Sam. 23.9-
12). As a priest he carried out his duty throughout their cities, blessing 
the people, their food and offering their sacrifices (1 Sam 9.12-13). He 
also anointed the first and the second kings of Israel: Saul (1 Sam. 9.14-
27) and David (1 Sam 16.12-13). The narratives of Samuel’s life record 
his various activities in carrying out his priestly duty throughout the 
towns and villages of Israel and the people deferred to him after the 
death of Eli without any constraint. Through him, a new line of 
priesthood was open to those who were not Aaronic or Levitical lineage 
which will eventually pave way for a universal priesthood in the future. 
 
Prophet 
Another area of transition that occurred under the guide of Samuel was 
the introduction of the prophetic institution.39 Although the 
Deuteronomic historians concluded that Moses was the prototype, the 
model and the standard of prophetic vocation (Deut 34.10), yet, it can be 
said that classical prophecy began with Samuel. In fact, in Judaism, the 
Books of Samuel with that of Kings are parts of the corpus called Earlier 
Prophets. Under his guidance and direction, the institution grew to a 
major and pivotal one in Israel and became formalized. This is evident in 
the narratives of his vocation, the summary of his life even from the 
beginning of his ministry (1 Sam. 3.20) and through the various 
prophetic activities he carried out (1 Sam. 9.15).  

His importance was such that the author of the book of Samuel 
credited him with this assertion that, “Formerly in Israel, anyone who 
went to inquire of God would say, "Come, let us go to the seer"; for the 
one who is now called a (‘aybiN") prophet, was formerly called a 
(ha,(roh') seer” (1 Sam. 9.9). A seer (ha,(roh') known as the ‘man of God’ 
‘~yhil{a/-vyai was consulted by the people like a divine and to inquire 
about what the Lord wants (1 Sam. 9.6). He was a precursor of the 
classical prophetism (‘aybiN") of a sort in Israel who spoke the word of 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    109 

God to the people (1 Sam. 4.1) It is noted by scholars that “it was 
principally as a prophet that Samuel’s memory was preserved in the 
tradition, so much so that, as an exponent of prophetic intercession he 
takes his place in later literature alongside Moses.”40  
Like Moses, he combined in himself the role of offering sacrifices and 
intercession on behalf of the people (Jer. 15.1, Ps. 99.6). Eventually, 
some of the prophets after him would combine these roles; Gad (1 Sam 
22.5); Nathan (1 Sam. 7.3). Hence, he was credited as the one who made 
the transition from the various visionary movements to the prophetic 
institution initiated by the so-called bands of prophets, to the eventual 
classical prophets of which the writing prophets represented fully (1 Sam 
9.9; 19.18-20).41  

As a prophet, he guided the leaders to make the right decisions 
that will help the people to remain faithful to the covenant relationship 
with Yahweh. He was fearless in admonishing and speaking against the 
evil of the leaders in order to correct and to guide them in the right part 
(1 Sam. 15.10ff). He made the will of God known to the people by 
telling them the words of God as revealed to him just as he told Eli his 
master (1Sam. 10.17ff; 12.1ff). All these contributed to the strong and 
solid foundation of the Monarchy, the United Kingdom and the 
prophetic ministry after him. He was acknowledged as one of the 
greatest prophets in Israelitic history if not on the same level with Moses 
but also very close. For this reason, the prophet Jeremiah sees him as a 
credible and powerful intercessory figure before God in company of 
Moses (Jer. 15.1).  
 
Monarchy 
In the opinion of some scholars, “it is with the rise of the monarchy that 
we can truly speak of Israel as a nation.”42 If this is true, Samuel can then 
be credited as the architect of the foundation of the monarchical 
institution in Israel because it was to him that the people turned in their 
quest for a king (1Sam. 8.5). His efforts to guide and administer the 
people after the demise of the Charismatic leaders of the book of Judges, 
whom we could classify as the Classical Judges, until they had and built 
the sense of a United people and instituted and enthroned their own 
king is remarkable and noteworthy (1 Sam. 12.1-24). Samuel appointed 
so to say, a transitory leader dygIn" nagid in Saul (1 Sam. 9. 16; 10.1b) and 
then appointed a king %l,m,( melek in David (1 Sam. 16.1).43  

In their quest for a king, he did not appoint a leader who would 
lord it over the people (1 Sam 8.11ff) but the one, who would have the 
‘heart of God’ and would try to do the will of God (Acts 13.22). He 
warned them about the abuses that might come from such a blind quest 
for a king as they wanted and so directed their yearnings lest they had 



110 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

tyrants reign over them (1 Sam. 8.9-22). He approved this leader only 
when he had given them a constitution that defined the roles, the rights 
and the powers of the king (1Sam. 10. 25).44  This transition into 
monarchical leadership was well instituted by the change of baton from 
one a priest-Judge which was himself, to a leader, nagid in Saul and 
eventually to a king, melek in David. 

It must be mentioned that the transitions were not as smooth as 
they seem, rather, they had their own attendant intrigues and challenges, 
yet, by discerning the will of God, he was able to manage it through. 
Thus, he made an uncommon transition from the Charismatic leadership 
to an organized form of leadership which found resonance in the 
monarchical institution. To sustain this momentum, he built a special 
relationship between the monarchy and the prophetic leadership that 
would eventually characterize successive monarchical periods till the 
dissolution of the United Kingdom (1 Sam 15-16; 18.8-19.24; 23.25-23). 

The importance of the monarchy cannot be over-emphasized in 
the self consciousness of the people of Israel. This gave them identity 
and the unity they needed as a people. The monarchy helped them to 
realize how related they were as a nation under Yahweh’ rule. It also 
helped them especially through the efforts of David in uniting the entire 
kingdom a territory and establishing a Capital where they all could call 
their own (2 Sam. 5.7-12). It gave them security from the marauding 
enemies who hitherto were pillaging them at will. It became their 
identity throughout ages (2 Sam. 5.17-25; 7.1). 

Therefore, the cry for a monarch to lead and rule over them like 
some of the nations roundabout so that they too could be an organized 
state having their own military and form of government to lead them 
seem justified (1 Sam. 8). The monarchy gave birth to the so-called 
Davidic Berith which introduced the messianic expectation as the 
fulfillment of the promise made by Yahweh (2 Sam 7.14). It became a 
model for the kingship of Yahweh and a foundational influence to the 
establishment of the reign of God now termed Kingdom of God. The 
preparation and the constitution made by Samuel with the people at 
Mizpah concerning their request were integral to the stability of the 
monarchy in the heart of people even after the destruction and the exile 
(1 Sam. 10.17ff). 
 
Judge 
When they were just members of the tribal league and led by charismatic 
leaders such as Samson, Gideon etc. they were plagued by all sorts of 
invasion from the neighboring nations who were best organized than 
themselves. This perhaps happened because the foreign nations 
manipulated their disunity and unleashed terror on them. Eventually, he 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    111 

became their Judge and appointed his children as Judges over the people. 
As a judge, he arbitrated between the people and Yahweh, among the 
people and between the king and the people, between the king and God. 
Although, he still saw the need for the person of a Judge to hold the 
people responsible in the ethical demands of the covenant and so he 
appointed his own children as judges but because they were not like him 
and did not follow his ways, the people rejected them (1 Sam. 8.1-5). 
That was the end of the institution even in his own life time as the 
people clamored for a king who would double as the judge (1 Sam. 8.5, 
20). 

Although his role as a judge was not so much highlighted, yet he 
was considered a reputable, incorruptible and the last of the Judges in 
Israel even by his own account at the farewell speech (1 Sam. 12.3-4). He 
assumed the office of a judge at Mizpah after the death of Eli (1 Sam 
7.6). He composed law concerning the monarchy and explained them to 
the people (1 Sam 10.25). He judged Israel as long as he lived and even 
appointed his sons to judge as well (1 Sam 7.15-17; 8.1). As a judge, he 
counseled the people as to the appropriateness of having a king and its 
implication; he reminded them of their sacred duty to Yahweh and 
judged King Saul about his failure to carry out the order of the Lord (1 
Sam 15.16-19, 28-29).  

The three institutions of the Monarchy, Priesthood, and 
Prophetism, gave the Jews their special identity among the people of 
Ancient times and even till today. The uniqueness of each of these 
institutions to the preservation of the religion of YHWH cannot be 
overemphasized. Each of the institution is seen as having a special 
relationship with the God of Israel as such they become messianic 
institution. The efforts of Samuel in giving this special identity to these 
institutions are noteworthy and remarkable because even after the 
dissolution of the kingdom and the subsequent exiles, a new rejuvenated 
Judaism arose from the remnants. This foundation is still the force 
behind the many dreams of the people till today. 
 
The Nigerian Situation Today 
The socio-political, religious context of Nigeria today is similar to that of 
the time of Samuel in many respects. For this reason, a number of 
challenges are confronting our nation begging for definitive intervention 
to chart a way from the quagmire that beset our country, Nigeria. There 
is the political clamour for a leader to lead us so that we can participate in 
the comity of nations. This is compounded by all sorts of religious 
aberrations and syncretism that lay heavily on the shoulders of the people 
like the sons of Eli. On the social level, there are the daily threats and 
insecurities to lives and properties in every part of the country. Moral 



112 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

decadence and anti social activities run unabated from the old to the 
young, no one is left behind (Is.1.6). In all of these, priests and prophets 
ply their trade without any clue (Jer. 14.18b). There is a grave need for a 
someone who can be a moral compass to our nation; one will grow in 
favour with God and people (Luke. 2. 52). 

There is no doubt that the books of Samuel and in indeed the 
person of Samuel have a deep implication for formation today as the 
world gradually settled into the Third Millennium. It is more so for a 
country like Nigeria where its corporate identity is a mirage of a sort. 
There are more than three hundred ethnic nationalities and 3 major 
tribal groups, different in language, cultural and religious values, political 
and social worldviews. The country was born out of a colonial 
amalgamation and given a name that makes no sense to all its component 
parts together. Incidentally, there were some charismatic leaders as 
founding fathers. After their death like Israel of the Judges era, everyone 
does whatever the heart dictates.  

From the foregoing, it is very clear that we are grappling with 
various transition programs ranging from cultural, tribal, clan and 
societal perceived forced amalgamation to a state that must participate in 
a globalization program. As a young fledging nation like Israel of the 
Samuel era, there is also the leadership struggles of transition in the 
political arena with the nascent democracy wrestled from the military 
rule being led by already militarized minds in all tiers of government. We 
live in a country and times where democratic principles are subverted 
and manipulated for person ideologies and gain. We live in the times 
where elections are held and the results are sometimes declared to the 
amazements of the electorates.  

The religious atmosphere is similar to that of the Idolatrous 
society of pre Samuel era where everybody did what pleased him 
(Judg.21.25). Therefore, we live in times of perennial religious transition 
from Traditional religious worldview to embracing a Judeo-Christian/ 
Islamic religious worldview. We live in the country where any religious 
novelty finds a breeding ground from among the so-called Christians, 
where orthodoxy easily bows to various forms of aberrations and 
syncretism; where voodooism and paganism are gaining ascendancy.  
The worship of idolatry in various forms and shades are constantly in the 
increase with everyone bringing his own novelty to bear. Scandalously 
sometimes, we live in the times where Church leadership that was once 
seen as a sacred precinct, where the Holy Spirit chose the one he wanted, 
are now fraught with manipulations, acrimonies, defamation, intrigues 
and libels, very unfortunately. 

On the social level, the society seems to be on a loose spree in all 
sorts of anti social behaviours without any control or qualm. There is no 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    113 

sense of any moral value in the mind of many citizens in the name of 
civilization and development. Individual has become the measure of all 
things an relativism as an ideological concept is enthroned over the 
collective and shared values. All the traditional and religious checks and 
balances are eroded and lost without any replacement or hope of 
replacement. All of these have created crises of unimaginable proportion 
in the society and often created setbacks and social tensions that 
threatened the cooperate existence of the nation. Many have often called 
to question the necessity of the corporate existence all together as if it 
was a malediction.  

The socio-political and religious situation was similar to the 
bankruptcy that Samuel inherited at the time of his calling. Samuel was 
called to save and stabilize the covenant relationship hitherto promised to 
Abraham and inherited by his descendants so that the kingdom promised 
by God for which Moses led the liberation from slavery may survive. In 
response to his vocation, he remained focused and faithful to the God of 
the covenant. He constantly visited the religious sites to hear God 
instruct him on how to handle particular situation. The word of God 
which was rare before his call became common because he listened to 
God spoke to him time and again. He did not manipulate or subvert the 
word of God to please the leaders but corrected and chided them as 
occasion demanded. He was frank and sincere with the people in the 
discharge of his duties (1 Sam. 10.17-26). For all these reason, when he 
gave his farewell speech, he challenged the people to his conduct and 
behavior among them (1 Sam.12. 23-24).   

Therefore, like Samuel of old, those who are responding to 
God’s call must prepare themselves to respond appropriately to the 
exigencies of their vocation for the continued establishment of the reign 
of God and the good of the conglomerate called Nigeria. They should 
not be oblivious of the reality in which they are living in rather they 
should confront and transform it. They should not be overwhelmed by 
the enormity of the challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation but study 
it in the light of revelation and respond appropriately its demands. This 
can only happen if the formation which is the foundation of the future 
ministry is solidly laid. 

In the opening words of the New Ratio, it is noted that “the gift of 
the priestly vocation placed in the hearts of some men obliges the 
Church to propose to them a serious journey of formation.”45 If the New 
Ratio describes the formation of the future priest as journey in 
discipleship, Samuel then gives a concrete example of this journey in the 
Old Testament. His type of formation was a novelty and typology in the 
Old Testament of what will eventually take place in the New Testament 



114 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

when Jesus will begin to call disciples to form them into a universal 
instrument of salvation. 

Many cynics have profited themselves in various ways in the 
ensue imbroglio. They continue to take advantage of the confusion, 
ignorance, the fears, the anxieties and the vulnerability of the individual 
to despoil them of a qualitative life.  Yet in all of these, we seem not to 
have our feet properly firm and steady on the ground. What can we 
contribute or rather how do we make impact through our vocation. In a 
prophetic manner, Karl Rhaner has this to say about the priest of 
tomorrow:  

He will be a man to whom mature people find their way 
even though the society does not drive children to him. 
He will be a man who truly endures the grievous 
darkness of existence together with all his brothers and 
sisters, knowing that its first source and its blessed 
fulfillment are found in the mystery of love which 
conquers by the incomprehensibility of the cross… will 
not have power drawn from the social power of the 
church, but will have courage to do without that 
power…46 

 
Challenges and Implication for Formation 
The Call of Samuel has offered us a new perspective in responding to the 
call of God in a trying and transition period. Through the examination of 
this pericope some salient point that can help in discernment and give 
focus to minister of God can be underlined. The following are some of 
the recommendations that may be fruitful for formation of the future 
priest. 
 
1. National Identity  
The problem of identity is a major one for any entity because if one does 
not know who one is, such cannot respond to its situation appropriately. 
This is one of the greatest challenges that is facing a country like Nigeria. 
For a country like Nigeria to move forward and develop, the citizens 
must cultivate and have the sense of identity that will breed patriotism in 
them. This is where the work of Samuel as a leader in transition period 
becomes more appreciable. He rallied the people around the worship of a 
YHWH who is morally interested in the social affairs of his people and 
that gave them a sense of unity. Even when the geographical unity was 
undermined by the division of the kingdom, an identity has been created 
in the hearts of the citizens. Nigeria needs a leader who will give her a 
united identity and a moral compass under which all members can rally. 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    115 

Until this is achieved, development and the social transformation that is 
craved for will remain elusive. 
 
2. Vocation is a Gift of God 
The choice of who leads the people finally falls on God. If this is a 
correct reading then, it is not only that Yahweh is the guidance of history, 
but that the call of Samuel shows that it is He that chooses whom he 
wants and empower such for the task he wants him to accomplish 
because he will not let any of his words fall without being fulfilled (1 
Sam. 3.19). This recalls what Jesus told his disciples, you did not choose 
me no, I chose you and sent you to bear fruit that will last (John 15.16). 
Therefore, vocation is a gift that God give for the benefit of others not a 
prize won for a good act. If it is a gift, it should be preserved jealously 
and carefully not to be misused or misplaced by carelessness on the part 
of the recipients. 
 
3. Necessity of Formation and Discernment for Leaders 
Although, vocation is a gift of God, yet it needs to be checked and 
controlled as it may be that it is really from God and for which purpose. 
Therefore, a period of formation is necessary for the recipients of such 
gifts so that it may be put to proper use. By his stay with Eli, Samuel has 
been properly formed and schooled in the religious tradition that will 
shape the theological future of the people. This is still the work of 
theology today in a constant changing situation of life. It is appropriate to 
show that in the unfolding of the daily events of a people, the place of 
God is not relegated to the background or allow cynics to control the 
interpretation of such events. Rather, it is right and fitting to show and 
acknowledge the guiding but unseen hands of God in directing the 
affairs of the universe both in the case of the individual and that of the 
nations within the universe. He did it in the case of Samuel through the 
old priest Eli, he did it even the more in the case of the disciples of Jesus, 
whom he called and formed for a number of years both in wrds and 
example of his life before he commissioned them to go and continue the 
same mission of making disciples f all nations (Matt. 26.1; 28.19-20). In 
the call of Samuel, we see the need to prepare those that have been 
chosen for special assignment so that they might be able to give credible 
and lasting witness to their vocation. 
 
4. A Faithful Minister in the Sanctuary of God  
The priest should realize always that he is called by God and not 
responding to a profession or a job opportunity. Therefore, he should 
remain faithful to God and his Church to the end in good and bad times. 
Samuel remained faithful to his vocation, he was visiting the sanctuaries 



116 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

of God to seek the will of God as he met the challenges of his vocation (1 
Sam. 8.6, 21). It was this that made him a model and hero not because he 
appointed kings or leaders (1 Sam. 3.20-21). 
 
5. Lover of the Word of God. 
At the beginning of the call of Samuel, it is said that the word of God was 
rare in those days. This word of God became common in the time of 
Samuel because it was the light and guide in his mission, for the book 
notes time and again, ‘the word of God came to Samuel’ (1 Sam. 15.10). 
In another summary about his life, the author notes “and, for all Israel, 
the word of Samuel was as the word of Yahweh” (1 Sam. 4.1). In his 
recent  document motu proprio, on invitation to have a special Sunday 
marking the importance of the Word of God in  pope Francis, notes that 
“those called to be ministers of the word must feel an urgent need to 
make it accessible to their community” (Aperuit Illis No.5). Foremost 
among these are the priests and especially the priests to be who are in 
formation, they should love to hear and read the Word of God because in 
it is their salvation. In his final exhortation to Joshua, Moses exhorts that 
this word should not depart from his mouth, meditating on it day and 
night so that he may succeed in all his ways (Jos. 1.8). 
 
6. A Dispassionate Leader/Judge of the Nations 
A priest is always the leader of the community not just the Christ faithful 
but everyone. In Samuel, we found a leader who is dispassionate in 
dealing with the situation at hand. When the people demanded for a 
king, a request he did not support, he chided them for their wrong 
motive (1 Sam. 8. 10-18). When Saul disobeyed the word of God, he 
scolded him without mincing words (1 Sam. 15. 22-23). When there was 
the need to change even his own children from being the leader of the 
people he did not hesitate. He tried to expiate for Saul when God 
rejected him but when God said he has fund a replacement, he worked 
with the new leader. In the same way, a priest should see himself as the 
leader of all the people especially in our generation when people are 
building fences and blockages to keep others away, the priest should 
build bridges. He can intercede for the people but he should not be seen 
to be partial or biased in his relationship with the rich and the poor, with 
the leaders and the led. Far from him to even take side in leadership 
tussle but should seek the will of God and accept the outcome of God.  
 
7. A Voice of the Voiceless 
A priest is the voice of the people within the community. He should not 
be afraid to call the leaders to account and be responsible for their 
actions. Samuel gave a lead in this regard when he confronted Saul about 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    117 

his mission to Amalekites. He spoke and interceded on behalf of the 
people before God also. It is primary duty of the priest to offer sacrifices 
for sin and intercede for the people. Samuel was offering sacrifices for 
the people and available for their spiritual growth. He went round the 
sanctuaries to offer sacrifices. A priest should be available for the people 
even when it seems not convenient for him.  
 
Conclusion 
In conclusion, the examination of the call of Samuel then shows that 
God is always interested in the affairs of his people and he does not leave 
them alone in time of crisis and challenges. He tries to give them 
necessary guide that will help them find stability only if they listen to 
him and can discern his voice amidst the many conflicting voices they 
hear. It is true that the onus of a vocation belongs to God and he calls 
whom he loves (John 15.16; Heb. 5.4) just as he called Samuel and other 
people at some crucial moments in the life of the Jewish nation. Yet, the 
cooperation of those called is always necessary to realize the vision that 
God has for such people.  

Through the dedication of Samuel, he was able to help the 
people to have a personal encounter with their God because he too kept a 
personal relationship with the God who called him. Eli helped him to 
shape this relationship into maturity and guide him to know the will of 
God and how to respond to it in obedience. Moreover, this knowledge of 
God helped him to give a national identity to the Chosen people and to 
navigate through the political, social and religious waters of his time. 

This same God is still concerned with the affairs of his people 
today and will intervene through the vocation he gives to the individual. 
Nigerian is indeed in need of leaders who can help her create a unified 
identity where the feels belong, a leader who can help her to navigate 
through the political, social and religious crises she finds herself. She 
needs a leader with the prophetic voice and message that will heal the 
wounds of the past in these challenging times like that of Samuel. Our 
growth in priestly vocation and formation should help us to read the 
signs of the time and attend adequately as the prophet of old.  

Formators cannot remain silent or unconcerned as charlatans 
take control of the people and we keep pouring out from the seminary 
those who cannot make the needed difference. It is the time to discern 
properly those who rightly hear the voice of God and help them to 
respond appropriately. Formators should accompany with the right 
disposition, be more astute and be more involved in the process of 
discerning and the formation of the priest to be. Like the old priest, Eli, 
formators should have the proper knowledge of who God is and teach 



118 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the same to those who are discerning their vocation that He is God, He 
does whatever he will and that obedience to him is better than sacrifice. 
In the words of St Gregory the Great, “a religious leader should be 
careful in deciding when to remain silent and be sure to say something 
useful when deciding to speak. In this way he will avoid saying thing that 
would be better not said, or leaving unsaid things that ought to be said.” 
It is our duty as future priest to listen attentively to the voice of God and 
respond appropriately. However, how can you guide when you have not 
gathered, how can you discern when you have not listened and how can 
you lead when you have never followed? 
 
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1 Moshe Garsiel, “The Book of Samuel: Its, Composition, Structure and Significance 

as a Historiograhical Source,” in Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures Vii Ehud Ben Zvi 

ed. Gorgia Press, 2011, 131-173. 
2 M. Garsiel; “The Book of Samuel”, p.131. 
3 “The book also deals with the transfer of government from old leaders to the 

new….The transfer was effected smoothly in the case of Eli and Samuel, with 

difficulty in the case of Samuel and Saul, and with bitter conflict in the case of Saul 

and David, culminating in Saul’s recurring attempts to kill David.” S. Bar-Efrat. “1 

Samuel” in The Jewish Study Bible, (JPS), A. Berlin and M.C. Brettler eds, OUP, 

Oxford, 2004  P.559. 
4 B. C. Birch, “the First and Second Books of Samuel: Introduction, Commentary and 

Reflections”  in the NIB: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes; Vol.II, Abingdon Press, 

Nashville ,,1998;  p.991, 947-1383. 
5 The book of Judges, which actually precedes the book of Samuel in Jewish Canon; 

ends with these words, ‘in those days when there was no king in Israel, everyone 

did whatever seem right in one eyes’ (Jug. 21.25). The children of Eli also did not 

listen to the counsel of their father. Hence, Samuel was said to have found favour 

with God and man’, as a sign of his readiness to assume this responsibility 

according to human reckoning. 
6 There is no doubt that with the emphasis on the Word of God and the eventual 

institution of the Prophetic league, Samuel was seen as a prophet, yet the narrative 

is different from that of the prophetic vocation because the prophets narrate their 

commission rather than vocation. Samuel and Moses especially narrated their 

calling which eventually involved their commissioning. Cfr. B. O. Long, “Prophetic 

Call Tradition and Reports of Visions”, ZAW (84), 1972, 494-500; G. Robinson, A 

Commentary on the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel: Let us be like the Nations, W. 

Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1993,22.  
7 The birth of Samuel reflects a special literary genre that some scholars classified 

as a ‘Birth Narrative Genre. This is the 5th of such narrative in both the Old and New 

Testament (cf. R.H. Jarrell, “The Birth Narrative as Female Counterpart of Covenant”, 

JSOT, Vol. 26 (3); 2002, pp.3-18, 5. 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    119 

                                                                                                                         
8 R.W. Klein, 1 Samuel WBC, Vol. 10, Texas, Word Books, 1983, 30 
9 R. Gnuse, “A Reconsideration of the Form-Critical Structure in 1 Samuel 3; A n 

Ancient Near Eastern Dream Theophany” ZAW (94) 1982, 379-390, 388.  
10 For a more comprehensive treatment of this structure see T. Tsumura, The First 

Book of Samuel, W. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007, 171-184 and W. 

Watson, “The Structure of 1 Samuel 3” BZ (29), 1985, 90-93  
11 “Unusual fire or light frequently announces the presence of God”, G. Ashby,  Go 

Out and Meet God: A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, Eerdmans Pub., Grand 

Rapids, 1998 p.19 
12 T.E. Freitheim, Exodus, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and 

Preaching, John Knox Press, Louisville, 1991 p.56 
13  
14 God is not asking those he called to go all alone but they should cooperate with 

him to carrying out his mission, as contained in the structure of major calls. J.K. 

Bruckner,  Exodus,  Bakerbooks, Grand Rapids, 2018, p.41 
15 “In Semitic culture, addressing someone by saying his or her name twice was a 

way of expressing endearment, that is, affection and friendship.” D.K. Stuart, Exodus, 

The New American Commentary, E.R Clendenen  et al ed. Vol 2, B&H Publishing, 

2006 p. 113  
16 W. Zimmerli, A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapters 1-24; 

Hermeneia, Fortres Press, Philadelphia,1979. See also, G. Robinson, 1 & 2 Samuel, 

23. 
17 T. Tsumura, The First Book of Samuel,184 
18 The Navare Bible: Joshua-Kings, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2002, 223 
19 M. Leuchter, Samuel and the Shaping of Tradition, OUP, Oxford 2013. p. 6 
20 R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel, p.35. 
21 I. Epstein, Judaism: A Historical Presentation, Penguin Books, Middlesex, England, 

1987, p.35.  
22 The narrative of Samuel’s vocation look forward to a future that God’s 

transforming initiatives will make possible for Israel in the midst of crisis.”  B.C. 

Birch, First and Second Samuel, p.970. 
23 “The book also deals with the transfer of government from old leaders to the 

new….The transfer was effected smoothly in the case of Eli and Samuel, with 

difficulty in the case of Samuel and Saul, and with bitter conflict in the case of Saul 

and David, culminating in Saul’s recurring attempts to kill David.” S. Bar-Efrat. “1 

Samuel” in The Jewish Study Bible, (JPS), A. Berlin and M.C. Brettler eds, OUP, 

Oxford, 2004  P.559. 
24 S. Bar-Efrat, “1 Samuel” The Jewish Study Bible, p. 599. 
25 P.K. McCarter Jnr., 1 Samuel: A New Translation with Introduction and 

Commentary, in Anchor Bible, W. F. Albright & D.N. Freedman (eds) Vol. VIII,  

Double day & Co. New York 1980, p.100. 
26 Ibid. p.99. 
27 According to St. Gregory the great, the boy Samuel was an example in obedience 

of what a disciple should be. 



120 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
28 Samuel became “the only source of God’s Word during the oncoming period of 

radical dislocation and transformation in Israel.” B.C. Birch, 991.  
29 M. Leuchter, Samuel and the Shaping…, p.20. 
30 M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, OUP, Oxford, 1972, 

p.179. 
31 M. Leuchter, Samuel and the Shaping….p.21. 
32 Although, he is making reference to the rejection of one Yahweh’s agent in 

favour of another who has the right heart of Yahweh, Benjamin Johnson, notes that 

the book of first “Samuel could be described as a narrative of transitions. It details 

the transitional phrase from the era of the judges to the era of the monarchy; it 

transitions from one failed dynasty (saulide) to one successful dynasty (Davidide). 

“The Heart of YHWH’S Chosen One in 1 Samuel,” in JBL Vol. 131(3), 455-466, 465.  
33  “The Heart of YHWH’S Chosen One in 1 Samuel,” in JBL Vol. 131(3), , 2012 p.465. 
34 Walter Brueggemann, “Samuel” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol 5, David N 

Freedman ed., Doubleday New York, 1992, Pp.954-973, 954. 
35 All the major prophets after him begin their ministry either with Vision or the 

Word of God (Is.1.1; Jer.1.1, Ezk. 1.2; Hos. 1.1) and whenever they delivered the 

message of God to the people, they end with the prophetic formula, “thus says the 

Lord or Oracle of the Lord” (Amos 1.6).  
36 I. Epstein, Judaism, p.34-35. 
37 L, Grabbe, Priest: A Socio-Historical Study of Religious Specialist, Diviners in 

Ancient Israel Sages, Trinity Press International, Valley Enge, Pennsylvania, 1995, 

p.44. 
38 R.P. GORDON, 1 & 2 SAMUEL, JSOT Press, 26; R. Gnuse, “ A Reconsideration, 

ZAW, (94), 1982 
39 According to Blenkinsopp, “the call of Samuel at Shiloh (1 Sam.3-4.1) marked the 

beginning or at least a new beginning, of prophetic activity.” J. Blenkinsopp, A 

History of Prophecy In Israel, Louisville, Kentucky, Westminster John Knox press P. 

47.  
40 R.P. Gordon, 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 27. 
41 After him came other prophets such as Gad (1 Sam. 22.5; Nathan (2 Sam. 7.2), 

Elijah (1 kgs. 18.; Elisha,  who ministered at the palace to the king or independently 

from the king but very close them in decision and guidance of the course of Israel. 
42 R.P. Gordon, 1 & 2 Samuel, p.40 
43 The exact meaning of the word dygIn"  nagid is not ascertained because it could 

mean, a leader, a king, a prince, perhaps it means a military leader but the word 

%l,m, melek means a king, Cfr. La Bibbia TOB: Nuova Traduzione CEI, p. 507. 
44 I. Epstein, Judaism, p.35. 
45 The New Ratio Fundamentalis, pg. 1 
46 K. Rahner, Servant of the Lord ,Herder & Herder, New York, 1968, 112. 

 



121 

9 

FAITH, FORMATION, AND VOCATION – 

ANY LINK? 
 

Amuluche-Greg. NNAMANI, Ph.D 
St. Peter’s Chaplaincy, 

University of Nigeria, Nsukka 
gregluche@gmail.com 

Abstract 
There is an apparent disconnection between formation processes and the 
acquisition of faith today. Looking at some candidates for formation in 
our seminaries and formation houses, and at some young priests and 
consecrated persons who have passed through our seminaries and 
formation houses in recent history, one would wonder whether 
formation impacts or impacted positively on their faith respectively. After 
years of formation, many still suffer from bouts of crises of faith. 
Ordinarily, formation is expected to improve candidates’ level of faith. 
After all, formation is majorly about faith formation. Unfortunately, 
however, many candidates enthusiastically embrace a feeling of vocation 
and go in for formation, but come out with less zest and overgrown self-
doubt. This raises questions. Does formation really increase faith? Or 
does it merely decrease it?  Are we just training in apologetic rhetoric and 
lifestyle, in acquisitive elitism and survival tactics? This paper seeks to 
enquire into the relationship between vocation, formation and faith and 
to explain the role of formation in the advancement of faith especially in 
the lives of priests and consecrated persons. Finally, it suggests what 
should be done to make formation lead to transformation. 
 
Introduction – Faith and Character Formation 
Human formation begins with faith formation. Faith or belief is the first 
character a child acquires. According to Eric Erikson, an American 
psychologist, basic trust is the first thing a child learns in life (Erikson, 
1950, 1963, p. 247ff). Faith, as basic trust forms the foundation of all later 
forms of faith, defines all stages of character formation and determines 
the development of the entire human person.  

By way of clarification, we must differentiate between natural faith 
and supernatural faith. As children, we begin to learn to trust and believe 



122 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

our parents and other people, based on what they say and do to us. 
Depending on what the child experiences from the people in close 
contact with it, it may begin to acquire basic trust and form basic belief 
about the people and environment. If the child is treated fairly, it learns 
to trust; if not, it acquires distrust. All this happens at the level of natural 
faith. Then as we grow and mature, and seek to understand the meaning 
of reality, we begin to believe what we are being told about God, and 
what we experience about him. This is religious or supernatural faith – 
belief at a spiritual supernatural level.  

Supernatural faith differs from natural faith, but both are 
mutually related (CCC 153ff). A sound natural faith is the stepping stone 
towards the acquisition of authentic religious faith.  So, crisis in natural 
faith can lead to crisis in religious faith. Faith has thus natural and 
supernatural dimensions. It is to the extent somebody trusts people that 
he or she can trust God and develop an authentic faith in Him. While 
natural faith can be learnt overtime across the length and breadth of the 
development of the human person, supernatural faith is a gift from God, 
a grace that we are called upon to embrace. 

Though every human being is a religious being, equipped to 
relate to God, not every person has the privilege to recognize God as the 
trustworthy author of life. Faith is a supernatural gift of God that enables 
us to trust Him completely. Faith in God occurs when one hears God’s 
call (either through direct personal experience or through the historical 
and biblical revelations) and then responds to it with total conviction and 
trust. When the trust cannot be totally because of certain distractions and 
personal interests, crisis of faith ensues. Essentially, faith is firm 
confidence in God and total self-surrender to him.  
 
Challenges to Faith in Modern Time 
All through history distractions to authentic Christian faith abound, 
paganism, persecutions etc. But the modern time seems to have a lion 
share of threats to faith. In addition to wrestling with the historical 
enemies of faith, the modern person has secularism/relativism, 
materialism/consumerism and globalization to contend with. As a result, 
the candidate for formation is hemmed in between the negative 
influences from the global world and from our own local environment. 
The modern person is a subject of the Western Cultural Revolution, 
which has not only practically edged God out of the stage of reality, but 
has also, in His place, declared science, technology, freedom and pleasure 
new gods. As the Western persons try to dethrone God and strip him of 
his absolute authority, they position “liberty” as the god everybody must 
now worship. For the Western mind, God has become a relative 
instance, and freedom an absolute reality, a dogma which supersedes 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    123 

every other value. This is pure relativism, which Joseph Ratzinger, Pope 
Benedict XVI, severally identified as the major crisis of faith and religion 
in the modern world (Ratzinger, 2006 p. 34 ff). 

The problem of secularism and relativism is compounded by 
globalization, which now, empowered by Information Technology and 
all the sundry social networks, exposes the rest of the world to the 
negative impact of the Western Cultural Revolution. The entire world is 
now globalized and subsequently shrinking into a single global village 
with virtually no boundaries. Distances have become negligible, since the 
farthest part of the world can just be but a goggle search away from us. 
The repercussion is that good and bad ideas, tricks and fashion are 
pushed around across the globe influencing the rest negatively or 
positively. The ongoing covid-19 pandemic corroborates this point.  

The tragedy of globalization is that traditional and religious 
values, as well as indigenous cultures lose out in the encounter with the 
more dominant pop culture from the Western world. Traditional 
morality, sacredness of creation and sense of sin are now considered 
archaic in the face of rampaging consumerist, individualist and 
materialistic culture from the Western world. As a result of the 
overwhelming influence of the Western pop culture on our society, our 
values are now in flux and our taste almost insatiable; nothing (including 
products) seems to have lasting values anymore. We are out seeking “the 
latest (fashion, gadgets, mobile phones, and best things in the market), and 
quickly discarding ‘old’ ones even when they can still be used” (Chima, 
2010). This has much impact on the young people. 

Another major threat to faith, spirituality and morality is the so 
called new global ethic (Peters, 2007), which seeks to legitimize all sorts of 
consumerism and bestiality. This new ethic equally proposes a type of 
gender ideology that tends to determine the right to life based on human 
conscience and pleasure. For the proponents of this view, it is not God, 
but hedonism that decides who has the right to live. The aim of such a 
gender ideology coming from the Western feminists is to neutralize 
society, make it asexual, without masculinity and femininity, and make it 
open to irresponsible libido propagated by homosexual and lesbian 
interest groups. Men now marry men, women marry women; very soon 
people will begin to marry their dogs and pussies cats and demand the 
status of marriage. 

The combination of relativism and consumerism looks like a 
conspiracy against the spiritual dimension of the human life. Apparently, 
the faster technology moves, the more materialistic and consumerist we 
become, and the less spiritual and moral we become too. The major 
problem here is that the new ethic encourages technology without a 
sense of responsibility and sustainability (Ratzinger, 2006, p. 27). Since, 



124 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

technology is naturally poised towards achieving all that man can do, not 
what man ought to do, it follows then that if we do all we can do, then we 
will destroy ourselves one day, because we possess the power and skill to 
kill ourselves in the most sophisticated manner. Hence, globalization, 
relativism and consumerism are modern threats to faith emanating from 
the Western world and culture. 

There are also threats within our ranks, arising from our socio-
cultural context, African Traditional Religion and African brand of 
Pentecostalism. Under the influence of our own African socio-cultural 
context, the average African believer ends up living in ambivalence in 
matters of faith – adopting a half Christian, half pagan mentality. Our 
socio-cultural context exerts much pressure on the practice of faith and 
especially on the formation process of young men and women who feel 
called to consecrate themselves to the Lord. As the Archbishop Ignatius 
Kaigama, once rightly observed, “the environment in which the 
seminarian grows plays a determining factor in what he becomes later – a 
good priest or a bad priest” (Kaigama, 2005, 6). The Nigerian society, 
from where most candidates come for formation, has lots of socio-
cultural problems. Much corruption, cheating, duplicity, dishonesty and 
sundry crimes characterize our societal landscape. No matter the side 
you face in our society, dishonesty is the order of the day – in the family 
lives, in education, in business, in the government, and even in religion 
the story is the same. There is something like an erosion of values in our 
society, such that many people no longer know what is virtuous and 
what is vice. The candidates who come for formation have been under 
the influence of our corrupt society.  
In a 1995 publication, Fr. Emmanuel Obuna paints a gloomy image of 
the societal background of most of the seminarians and aspirants who 
come to us for formation. According to him, the candidate who comes 
for formation today  

“is most likely to have passed through a primary school where 
teachers come to school once or twice a week and spend the remaining 
days of the week attending private businesses at home, in the farm, or 
in their shops – buying and selling; where pupils in primary schools 
are pressurized into paying illegal levies to their teachers in order to be 
allowed to stay in class; where teachers who are also parents bring in 
outsiders to sit the final examination for their own son or daughter 
who is not intelligent enough to pass, etc.” 
“Having passed out of this primary school (of primary corruption), 
our candidate then goes on to secondary school (of secondary 
corruption) where question papers are on sale a week or two before 
the final exams; where students themselves collect levies to pay off 
principals, teachers, invigilators and even the policemen sent to 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    125 

maintain law and order during the examination; where some 
teachers make …(almost the equivalent of their annual salary) from 
bribes paid by students on the spot to persuade them to solve questions 
in the examination hall. 
“From this secondary school of corruption our candidate now moves 
up to the University for a Bachelor’s Degree in corruption. If the 
testimony of our undergraduates is anything to go by…the situation 
in our universities today is such that you can personally negotiate 
with the lecturer for any grade you want in any 
examination…depending on how much you are able to pay in cash 
or kind.”(Obuna, 1995,58-59) 

What this suggests is that the environment from where 
candidates come is saturated with corruption – a corrupt environment 
produces corrupt candidates. Such candidates are likely to be problematic 
in the process of formation; they may even wriggle safe through the 
entire system and get ordained or professed. With such a background, it 
should not be surprising when a large number of formandi do not show 
signs of authentic faith. 

Similarly, many candidates for formation come into the 
formation houses with a backload of many elements of the African 
Traditional Religion. Many of them have the traditionalist’s values, 
expectations and tenets stored in their subconscious, irrespective of the 
fact that most of them are not new converts, but children of the first and 
second generation Christians. At points of deep emotions of sadness and 
joy, challenges and leisure, most Africans act out pagan fears and fancies. 
The one obvious effect is unintended syncretism – the subtle mixture of 
Christian values and the African traditional habits. A candidate with such 
a background may find it difficult to internalize the culture of Christ, 
such as total trust in God and dependence on him, sacrificial love and 
acceptance of one’s daily cross. In that case, formation may become an 
impossible task. 

The impact of African Traditional Religion on some candidates 
for formation shows up in the type of Pentecostalism they aspire to 
practice. Many candidates have gone Pentecostal and Charismatic, and 
are frantically in search of miracles. They have become so gullible that 
they suspect the devil in everything and practice a magico-religious type 
of spirituality. Even the materialistic tendency evident in the African 
Traditional Religious worldview, with all its this-worldly eschatology, is 
imbibed and allowed to flourish in the consciousness of a number of 
candidates. This certainly makes them focus attention on worldly, rather 
than transcendent values. Rather than encouraging a good, moral and 
sacrificial life, prosperity is preached as the only type of God’s blessing. 
Moreover, some of them come into the seminary in a triumphal mood, 



126 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

believing either that they have already gotten all it takes to be successful 
priests or that they know it better than the seminary authorities. The 
result is that they close themselves to formation, disregarding what is 
delivered in the lecture halls, but rather organizing their own private 
group classes on the homiletics of influential Pentecostal pastors. These 
candidates buy their books and listen to their videos and disregard 
classical Catholic spirituality and theology. By implication, candidates 
who had been under the influence of modern Pentecostalism before 
entering the formation houses are often closed to formation processes; 
they are very likely going to be stubborn with regard to respecting 
authorities, rules and regulations.  

 

The Tasks of Formation 
Simply put, formation is about subjecting candidates to training and 
discipline that would help them acquire the basic values of Jesus Christ, 
his culture, which consists essentially of the disposition for self-emptying 
love. Like clay in the hands of a potter, candidates are to be molded in 
the formation houses to become water-tight personalities, able to 
transmit the message of Jesus Christ without adulteration and 
misrepresentation. Apart from the primordial selfishness, which begins 
from the cradle, persons accumulate lots of harmful habits as they grow 
up in dysfunctional families and societies. The project of formation is to 
prune such personalities and purify their intentions, to make them 
worthy Disciples of Christ. In the post-Synodal Exhortation, Vita 
Consecrata, dedicated to the issues of religious life, the object of formation 
has been defined as “the preparation for total consecration of oneself to 
God in the footsteps of Christ, at the service of the mission” (John Paul 
II, 1996, 65-71) In other words, formation is all about getting ready to 
place one’s entire self at the service of God in the style of Jesus. 

The consecration of oneself to God demands complete 
submission of all our human faculties to him. To that effect, authentic 
formation is a holistic venture, which tries to engage all aspects of our 
being; it is not done with partial or cosmetic changes, but with a total 
remolding of one’s entire personality. The body, the spirit, the intellect 
and one’s commitment to service are subjected to formation. Attractions, 
sentiments, emotions, dreams, strength, weaknesses, feelings, needs and 
desires are submitted for purification, integration and transformation in 
the houses of formation.  

The Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata, understands 
formation primarily as preparation and insists therefore that “Preparation 
has to be human, cultural, spiritual and pastoral, paying special attention 
to integrating the various aspects” (John Paul II, 1996, 65). Earlier, the 
post-Synod Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis (1992), outlined 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    127 

four various forms of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. 
For want of space, it may not be necessary to elaborate on each of these 
forms of formation here. It suffices to say, not just that all the four areas 
of formation are intertwined, but also that the successes of the spiritual, 
intellectual and pastoral formations depend on the accomplishment of 
the human formation. The goal of all forms of formation is to effect 
growth in faith, intimacy with God and Jesus Christ. Formation involves 
changes, but not all changes imply formation.  

We can only begin to talk about effective formation, when the 
changes effected in our lives lead to growth in faith. Growth of authentic 
and informed faith, balanced in act and content, is the measure of true 
formation. In other words, true formation must lead to growth in 
virtues, in intimacy with Jesus Christ, in the understanding of divine 
wisdom, and in the effective application of our faith in the day to day 
interaction with people. Formation must be holistic, ensuring growth in 
the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral spheres of the candidate’s 
life. Growth is to be understood here, not just as the unfolding of our life 
and personality, but primarily as the break with our negative past, and the 
onward consolidation and integration of the positive values we have been 
able to pick from our past experiences. 

This is akin to what Bernard Lonergan calls conversion, the 
process that removes blockages in our life (Lonergan, 1972, 237ff, & 
Mueller, 1984, 13ff). Consequently, formation works on our past 
experiences. According to A. Cencini, it touches upon the past, the 
present and the future of both the person and the institution (Cencini, 
1999, 9). Formation can succeed or fail, depending on what we carry 
along from our past experiences and environment. If the candidate 
comes to the house of formation with a genuine desire, openness to the 
truth and with some level of flexibility, suppleness and adaptability, there 
is the chance that he or she can experience conversion – a movement 
from an enthusiastic but less informed faith to a more reasoned and 
internalized faith. If however, the candidate is hardened and closed up, 
he or she remains impervious to the impact of formation. When we 
encounter consecrated persons or priests who do not measure up to the 
demands of discipleship, one begins to wonder what went wrong in the 
formation program, the method or the candidate. 
 

How successful is the Formation Process in Nigeria Today? 
Without intending to sound as an alarmist, the quality of life lived by 
many priests and consecrated persons passing out of our seminaries and 
formation houses today leaves much to be desired. People are beginning 
to wonder whether formation has any positive impact on the priests and 
religious of our contemporary time, whether formation increases or 



128 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

decreases faith of the candidates. Those who argue that it decreases faith 
give instances of people who went into the seminary very pious and 
apparently very innocent, coming out later as priests and religious who 
have lost all sense of the sacred and the horror of sin. 

Many of our seminaries and formation houses paint an ugly 
picture of the conduct of candidates in formation, who are now capable 
of committing worse crimes than their counterparts in the tertiary 
institutions. Lack of openness to formation, growing signs of deep-seated 
dishonesty, dubious motivations abound; a conformist attitude to the 
rules and the seeming focus on being seen to be doing the right thing 
with the sole purpose of avoiding sanctions are on the increase. The 
simple fact is that dishonesty, pretenses, aggression and even theft are on 
the increase in houses of formation today. Some go as far as forming 
cliques, shielding partners in crime, to subvert the authorities and 
regulations 

The situation becomes even more worrisome, when we look at 
the conduct of many religious men and women trained in our seminaries 
and vocation houses. There have been cases where priests and even male 
and female religious resorted to physical violence in order to settle their 
differences. Some others have been caught stealing or misappropriating 
funds meant for projects. Some flout every regulation in their diocese or 
congregations and break all the vows of evangelical counsels with 
impunity. There is a noticeable increase in the chase for money and 
wealth, even among the religious who have vowed poverty. Materialism 
has become the order of the day for many priests; they use sacraments 
and sacramentals, prayer houses and ministries to accumulate wealth for 
themselves. Pentecostalism and the prosperity Gospel have special appeal 
for many priests and religious, who have an insatiable appetite for 
miracles and cross-less Christianity that denies the salvific dimension of 
suffering in our lives. Added to this is the sexual indiscretion that is today 
common among priests and religious, seminarians and other candidates 
in formation. 

Evidently, these are all signs of grave loss of faith, rooted in 
selfishness – the lack of readiness for selfless service, self-renunciation 
and total surrender to the will of God on which radical discipleship can 
be built. Where radical surrender is lacking, the vow of poverty, chastity 
and obedience turn to empty promises – a sure sign of hypocrisy. It is 
evident that selfishness and self-seeking abound amongst the clergy and 
religious today. This raises doubts about the effectiveness of our 
formation programs.  
 
 
 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    129 

Possible Reasons for Failures in the Formation Programs Today 
The fact that the products of our seminaries and formation houses are 
not up to the standard expected suggests that something is wrong 
somewhere. Something is wrong, not just with the formation method, 
but also with the formators and formandi. Let us first consider the 
candidates for formation 
The Formandi: The young men and women pursing vocation today in 
our formation houses are definitely different from their counterparts 
about seventy years ago. Then it was clear that the candidates were 
already groomed in faith before entering the seminary and had lesser 
distractions from the society. But the candidates of today are under 
pressure from the demands of modern time, ranging from technological 
and liberal cultures, materialism, secularism to Pentecostalism. Many 
come from a socio-cultural background saturated with corruption and 
consumerism, from dysfunctional families and societies prone to 
competitive life-style. People from such backgrounds are likely to have 
problem discerning their vocations and might even seek formation for a 
very wrong motivation.  
 In fact, many candidates have other motives, different from what 
they gave as reasons for seeking admission into the religious houses or 
seminaries. Some may consciously hide their real motivation and declare 
as reason that they wish “to serve God and humanity”, when, in truth, 
they have come for the benefits and privileges attached to religious 
vocation, and would want to be served rather than serve. Some others 
may be unconscious of what motivates them to enter the seminary. They 
may honestly desire to serve God and humanity, but deep within them 
they are driven by some undisclosed desires about making life better for 
themselves. Both groups of persons may be excellent seminarians or 
novices in the formation houses, ready to comply to the rules and 
identify with the authorities in order to remain in formation, but they are 
rarely able to internalize their experiences in the formation houses. 
However, as soon as they get ordained or professed, they begin to show 
their true colours. It has often been humorously said that some 
seminarians fear God while they are in the seminary; but when they 
become priests God begins to fear them. This is particularly true of 
persons with mixed or falsified motivations, whether male or female. 
One would certainly need a more rigorous formation program, other 
than the conventional one, in order to be able to access such candidates, 
to unlock their pretenses and help them discern their vocation early 
enough. 
 Another obstacle to formation with regard (Akubeze, 2010,1) to 
candidates is the issue of number. While in the Western World there is a 
record of decline in religious vocations, here in Nigeria, we experience 



130 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

surplus number of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. 
Since about the past sixty years, there has been a steady increase in 
vocations and a multiplication of seminaries and religious houses. 
Nobody seems to know the exact number of young men and women 
being formed in our seminaries and houses of formation. Many of these 
institutes are merely coping with, what has often been termed, the 
“tyranny of number”. As a result, many formandi live in anonymity till 
they pass out of the seminaries and houses of formation. If this situation 
is to be arrested, not only must the population of the formandi be 
drastically scaled down to a manageable size, but also that a more 
rigorous selection and discernment program must be put in place. 
 
The Formators: The high failure rate of formation process in Nigeria has 
often been correctly attributed to the insufficiency of the number of 
formators in the formation houses and also to the incompetence of the 
available ones (Okeke, 2011, 26). There is hardly any seminary in Eastern 
Nigeria, for instance, that is not understaffed in terms of the number of 
formators on the ground. The few available ones are intelligent teachers 
and lecturers, but no formators, who are noted for their didactic 
presentation of materials, but not for mentoring. Spiritual directors are 
often too few and poorly empowered to take adequate care of the 
candidates. A good number of the so called formators have neither 
pastoral experience to their credit, nor good enough signs of faith in their 
lifestyle and utterances that would make them stand as models to the 
formandi. Some simply parrot off their lessons without any sign of 
internalization, others merely treat Church views and Roman documents 
with disdain in the attempt to sound academic. As a result the candidates 
receive lots of confusing signals (Okeke, 2011, 26; this leaves them 
undecided as to what to believe. 
 Moreover, bishops and religious superiors have a penchant for 
appointing young and inexperienced priests and sisters as formators and 
vocation directors. To compound the problem, a number of them have 
never had any training or formation as formators (Iperu, 1995, 58). Many 
have not been able to manage themselves, and as such cannot really 
contribute much in the formation of the candidates. Such ones are 
terribly ill-equipped to take into their own hands, the formation of the 
contemporary candidates as described above. This is contrary to the 
specifications of the Synod Fathers, echoed by Pope John Paul II in 
Pastores Dabo Vobis:  
The Task of formation of candidates for the priesthood requires not only 
a certain special preparation of those to whom this work is entrusted, one 
that is professional, pedagogical, spiritual, human and theological… For 
this ministry, priests of exemplary life should be chosen, men with a 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    131 

number of qualities: human and spiritual, maturity, pastoral experience, 
professional competence, stability in their own vocation, a capacity to 
work with others, serious preparation in those human sciences 
(psychology especially) which relate to their office, a knowledge of how 
to work in groups (John Paul II, 1992, 66). 
 Similar things are required for formators in the formation houses. 
To make the matter worse, despite the much talked about ongoing 
formation and formation of the formators (Nwabeke, sine datum), not 
much is being done in this regard. In the view of the challenges facing 
formation today, it is grossly inadequate for somebody to act as a 
formator without any formal training. Again due to poor funding of the 
seminaries and formation houses, poor remuneration of the formators, 
many able priests and sisters who would otherwise have liked to be 
absorbed into the formation apostolate, refuse to get involved. 
 
Formation Method: Most seminaries and formation houses are still using 
the traditional formation method, whose justification has been overtaken 
by the demand of contemporary modern culture. The culture of 
establishing seminaries and formation houses took a centre stage in the 
period between the 17th and 20th centuries when the primary concern of 
the Church was to train men and women who would be able to give an 
apologetic response to the threat of Reformation and Modernism. 
Seminaries and formation houses concentrated on apologetics, 
emphasizing academic ability and the capacity to study and store 
information. The passing of examinations and collection of certificates 
counted more than strength of character.  Moreover, due to the emphasis 
on the hierarchical nature of the Church, “Unquestioning obedience and 
compliance with the orders of the day were the primary obligations of 
priests and religious. They were not expected to think and reflect much 
beyond this. They did not have to make many choices for themselves and 
develop their initiative … Discipline, not maturity, was what counted 
here.” (Iperu, 1995, 13) The method of formation then was more of 
lectures and conferences, and of course ongoing supervision of the 
candidates to see whether they comply with the rules and regulations. As 
a result, students learn how to comply and identify, even when they are 
not convinced, all in the attempt to avoid expulsion. The internalization 
of the program is hardly achieved. 
 This traditional model paid more attention to intellectual formation, 
which mainly took the form of passing information about doctrines and 
morals. It had little or no provision for the human development. People 
grew dissatisfied with the traditional method, particularly because it was 
one-dimensional and devoid of holistic integration. The Second Vatican 
Council, Decree on the Training of Priests, OptatamTotius, specifically 



132 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

called for a radical change. It emphasized Spiritual and Pastoral training 
(Vat II, nos 8-16,19-21). Then, in 1988, the entire Catholic world 
together with Pope John Paul II deliberated on new methods of 
formation. The result is what we find in the Apostolic Exhortation, 
PastoresDaboVobis, which not only identifies the four main forms of 
formation, but also pleaded for a holistic integral formation. 
 For some seminaries and formation houses, these recommendations 
remain mere theories. Their formation method is still business as usual: 
study, lectures or spiritual conferences, and little or no exercises in 
human development. Given the numerous challenges to formation 
today, the traditional model can hardly meet the demands of the 
contemporary time. Didactic approach is grossly inadequate; one must 
supplement it with something near “therapeutic” approach, so that the 
candidates can be helped to attain maturity. We dare not forget, as the 
Iperu Formation Team puts it, that “The general stance of the Church in 
its relationship to the modern world and to other religions has shifted 
from that of defensive vigilance and suspicion to that of openness and 
dialogue.” (Iperu, 1995,13) 
 
The Shift We Must Make If Formation Should Succeed 
Though the Church has made a lot of recommendations with regard to 
changing our formation method to the better, bishops and major 
superiors, seminaries and formation houses continue, in practice, to pay 
more attention to academic qualifications rather than maturation 
processes; as a result intellectually bright but psychologically weak 
candidates and formators are chosen for the formation process. (Iperu, 
1995,13) The major concern of formation houses today should be how 
to achieve human maturity, not just on the part of the candidate, but also 
on the side of the formators, because, as PastoresDaboVobis affirms, the 
success of every form of formation depends on the proper formation of 
the human personality.  

We need to focus on human maturity, as that aspect of human 
beings that ensures the harmony of elements and the integration of all 
tendencies and values in the human person. The Sacred Congregation 
for the Catholic Education recognizes the role human maturity plays in a 
healthy spirituality and appreciates its complexity and 
comprehensiveness in the following words:  
Maturity is a complex reality which cannot be easily or fully defined. In 
general, however, one can judge a man mature when he has brought to 
reality his vocation as a man; in other words, a person who has acquired a 
ready and habitual capacity to act freely; a man who has integrated his 
developed human potential with habits of virtue; a man who has 
acquired an easy and habitual emotional self-control by integrating his 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    133 

emotional drives and placing them at the service of his reason; a man 
who enjoys community living because of his willingness to give himself 
to serve others; one who devotes himself to his profession steadily and 
calmly; one whose conduct obviously follows his conscience; a man who 
uses freedom to explore, investigate, and develop; who can mould events 
and bring them to future fruition; finally, a man who has succeeded in 
bringing all his specifically human possibilities and potentialities to their 
due development. (The Sacred Congregation, 2002,18) 

If the crisis of faith is to be avoided in the lives of the candidates, 
the future priests and consecrated persons should be made to grow in 
vocational maturity. This means that there should be a shift from the 
didactic and defensive approach – which merely transmits information – 
to the therapeutic, dialogue and more comprehensive approach – which 
aims at transformation and growth in maturity. Only the latter approach 
can handle the complex issue of formation in the contemporary world. 
Ultimately, the task of formation is not just to in-form, but primarily to 
trans-form, so that the candidates can per-form better in their vocation. In 
other words, the project of formation, should not just aim at delivering 
information, but basically on effecting transformation in the candidate, 
so that he or she should be able to put up a nice performance in the 
ministry, in the discipleship. 
The drive towards maturity is a motivation towards transformation and 
“conversion of heart” (CCC 1206). As St Paul was telling the Ephesians, 
it is only at a high level of human maturity that we can attain the “unity 
of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God” and form the community 
necessary for the body of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Similarly, only with 
maturity can the formators create a formation community, provide the 
accompaniment on the road to discipleship, so that the candidate 
themselves can grow in vocational maturity. 

If the candidates are to acquire vocational maturity, they need 
training in the three areas of the psyche – the cognitive, the affective, and 
the volitional.  
 Formation should aim at making candidates develop cognitive maturity, 

that is, the ability to grasp truth in a more dynamic way. This would 
entail, not just gaining knowledge of things, but also knowledge of 
the truth about themselves, the knowing subjects – about the 
development of their minds and moral conscience. Much could be 
learnt from the advancements in human science, especially from Jean 
Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, who have proven beyond doubt that 
moral reasoning is not a static possession, but something that must 
be acquired through a developmental procedure. 

 Formation should equally lead candidates to the growth in emotional 
maturity. This should make them be aware of their feelings and how 



134 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

these feelings, whether conscious or unconscious, influence their 
actions. The regular pious admonitions from lectures and conference 
would certainly not be enough. It would rather require the 
involvement of a competent formator and a huge investment of time 
and energy both on the part of the candidate and the formator, for 
one to grow in awareness of what type of feelings and how such 
feelings motivate one’s actions. It should be an attempt to expose the 
defense mechanisms and replace them with much more mature and 
purposeful skills in rechanneling emotions to positive use.  

 Candidates should equally learn how to grow in volitional maturity, i.e. 
the ability to delay or deny the gratification of certain desires 
inconsistent with the core values of one’s vocation. This would entail 
teaching them how to engage in responsible freedom: allowing them 
to be free in making their choices, but at the same time take 
responsibility for the result of their choice or actions. 

When all these are in place, candidates would be better prepared 
to attain competence in ministry; live a life that is an expression of 
authentic faith, rather than disbelief. With a mature personality, the 
religious or priest becomes a bridge that connects people to Jesus 
Christ. And when all these rigorous formation processes are in place, 
it will become easy for the formators to identify those candidates 
who do not qualify for the ministry, and redirect them elsewhere 
before ordination or profession.  

 
Conclusion 
In the contemporary time, secularism and atheistic culture exert a lot of 
influence on life. This has its root in the Western Cultural Revolution, 
which propagates relativism – the trend of thought that denies God and the 
Supernatural absolute authority in the interpretation of reality – and makes 
human right to freedom and pleasure the criteria for moral judgment. This, 
no doubt, introduces crises in Religion and in the life of faith, which, with 
the help of globalization, is tossed around in the world.  
The youth, more than any other group, is exposed to the current wave of 
religious and faith crises, which is compounded by other negative influences 
from the contemporary Nigeria society saturated with materialism, 
corruption, superstition and sundry vices. As a result, candidates coming for 
formation today have a troubled background, which compromises their 
faith, and places much pressure on the traditional methods of formation.  

Though formation should transform the candidates, it is being observed 
that many pass through the formation houses, and come out with lesser 
signs of authentic faith. The thrust of this reflection has been that if 
formation is to help in confronting and solving the problem of crises of 
faith, a more holistic and integral form of formation must be followed, not 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    135 

just in principle, but in practice, aiming not just at information, but at 
transformation. 
 
References 
1. Cencini, Amedeo,Spiritual and Emotional Maturity. Guiding Young People in 

Religious and Priestly Formation, Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa, 1999. 

2. Erikson, Erik H., Childhood and Society, New York: W.W. Norton &Company, 

1950, 1963. 

3. Holy See, A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, London: Catholic Truth 

Society,1971, nr. 9. 

4. Holy See, Cathechism of the Catholic Church,  Vatican City, 1992 

5. Iperu Formation Team, A Guidebook for Formators (Formators Handbook), 

Iperu:Ambassador Publication, 1995. 

6. Kaigama, Ignatius A., The Pastoral Care of Seminarians in the Parish, Abuja: 

Gaudium et Spes Institute, 2005 

7. Lonergan, Bernard, Methods in Theology, Minneapolis, Minnesotsa: The 

Seabury Press, 1972. 

8. Mueller, J J. What are they saying about theological method?, New York, 

Ramsey: Paulist Press 

9. Nnamani, Amuluche-Greg, “The Influence of the Past on the Present with 

Reference to Formation and Growth”, in Bigard Theological Studies, Dec-June 

2013, Vol 33, no 1, p. 83. 

10. Nwabeke, Aloysius A., The Formation of the Formators, Enugu: Bigard Memorial 

Seminary, sine datum. 

11. Obuna, Emmanuel, Psychology and Priestly Formation (A Nigerian Experience), 

Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, 1995, 58-59 

12. O’Connell,  Laurence J., “Vocation”, in The New Dictionary of Catholic 

Spirituality, edited by Michael Downey, Banglore: Theological Publicaions in 

India, 2003. 

13. Okeke, Cornelius Uche, “Contemporary Pressures on Priestly Formation:  A 

Formator’s Perspective”, in The Challenges of Seminary Formation in Our Time, 

edited by Victor Onwukeme, Gwagwalada Abuja: 2011. 

14. Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata, on the 

Consecrated Life and its Mission in the Church and in the World, Vatican City, 

1996. 

15. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, 1992 

16. Ratzinger, Joseph, (Pope Benedict XVI), Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures, 

San Francisco: Ignatius Press, p.34 ff. 

17. Peters, Marguerite A.,The New Global Ethic: Challenges for the Church, 2006, 

and Marguerite A. Peters, The Globalization of the Western Cultural Revolution, 

2007. 

18. Shorter, A., Religious Obedience in Africa, Nairobi: St. Paul 

Communications/Daughters of St. Paul, 2000. 

19. The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Celibacy, A Guide to Formation in 

Priestly Celibacy, Nairobi: Paulines Publication Africa, 2002. 



136 

10 

PRIESTLY IDENTITY AND NEW 

EVANGELIZATION: RESOLVING DEFICITS 

IN PRIESTLY IDENTITY THROUGH 

AUTHENTIC PATROLOGY. 
 

Clement AJIBOLADE 
Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele- Ekpoma 

ajiboladeclement@gmail.com 
 

Abstract 
The catholic priesthood has got a character with which the priests are 
easily marked out, even since antiquity. No matter the historical 
development of the priesthood, this character remains substantially 
intact. The consciousness of the character is also a source of great 
impetus for enthusiastic evangelization. However, one of the major 
challenges bedeviling the catholic priesthood in Nigeria is the crisis of 
identity. This plays out strongly in the minimal level of zeal displayed in 
the pastoral ministry, witnessing to Christ. It has been a clog in the wheel 
of the new evangelization, which remains almost only in theory and the 
fruit of its practice is elusive. What explains this crisis of identity? Is it 
really because we are product of our society?  Is it the change in outlook 
in the course of history? Could it be because the priesthood has had 
some development? Does the historical development cause essential 
change leading to loss of identity today? This paper sets out to reveal yet 
another nuance to the issue of crisis of identity among priests in Nigeria, 
which is the seed-bed of the problems limiting ‘catholic evangelization’ 
on the Nigerian soil. This is because; the growth of any of the Church’s 
agenda relies to a large extent on her priests, who are the close pastors of 
the people. We shall submit that authentic patrological formation would 
help to ameliorate this menace, if not eradicating it totally. To achieve 
this, the method of exposition is employed. 
 
Keywords: Patrology, Identity, Crisis, Evangelization and Formation. 
 

mailto:ajiboladeclement@gmail.com


Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    137 

Preliminary and Useful Insight 
We are aware that the only antidote to the endemic poison of our society 
that has held people hostage and put them in fetters of ignorance is the 
communication of truth. That is why Jesus Christ says that you shall 
know the truth and the truth shall set you free (Jn 8:12). The reality of 
the level of ignorance and deception concerning the meaning of human 
body resulting to the perversion of the truth of sex and sexuality, the 
intelligent understanding of human origin and summit of human 
existence and unnecessary mistaken mentality of the essentiality of 
human life are arbiter of the aspiration and thirst of men of this age for 
the teaching of the truth. No one can really know the truth unless he is 
taught, no one can be taught unless there is a teacher (Rom. 10:14ff). 
The task of announcing the gospel truth in an evangelizing manner and 
missionary disposition has become emergent than ever before, in the age 
of relativism and the desire for unguided freedom and this is a loud and 
laudable awakening from clerical slumber. 

The congregation for the clergy puts this in a particular 
perspective saying: “We are aware that no missionary activity can be 
realistically undertaken without the enthusiastic support of priests, who 
are the first and most valued collaborators of the Order of Bishops.”1 
And so, “All priests are called to become aware how especially urgent it is 
for them to receive formation at the present time: The new 
evangelization needs new evangelizers, and these are the priests who are 
serious about living their priesthood as a specific path toward holiness.”2 
We can say, relying on the aforementioned documents that the Church 
relies so much on priests for the task of new evangelization. This is 
because they are evangelizers by their own right and virtue of their 
ordination and they are also supposed to be trainers of evangelizers and 
personnel for evangelization because, the word evangelization captures 
concisely the entire missionary activity of the followers of Christ. 

Evangelization has to be understood then as the announcement 
and transmission of the message of Christ that is “the power of God for 
the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). 
The term evangelization has a very rich meaning. In the broad sense, it 
sums up the Church’s entire mission: her whole life consists in 
accomplishing the traditio Evangelii, the proclamation and handing on of 
the Gospel, which is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone 
who believes” (Rom 1:16) and which, in the final essence, is identified 
with Jesus Christ himself (cf. 1 Cor 1:24). Understood in this way, 
evangelization is aimed at all of humanity. In any case, to evangelize does 
not mean simply to teach a doctrine, but to proclaim Jesus Christ by 
one’s words and actions, that is, to make oneself an instrument of his 
presence and action in the world.3 



138 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Paul VI says: “Evangelization means bringing the good news into 
all the strata of humanity and through its influence transforming 
humanity from within and making it new”4 Ronald says: “evangelization, 
of course, comes from the Greek root ‘to proclaim good news’, and it has 
been particularly used by Christians in every age to speak of the missions 
ad gentes, that is, outreach to all peoples the world to bring them to 
Christ.”5 That is why the Pauline ambition is “to preach the good news 
not where Christ has already been known …but as scripture says: those 
not told about him will see and those who have not heard will 
understand.” This does not only mean going to a geographical location 
that was not accessible for the past missionaries, but entails the 
inculcation, appropriation and internalization of “the mind of Christ” (I 
Cor. 2:16). So, Joseph Okojie writes: “Evangelization aims at penetrating 
and uplifting a given culture by the word of God. It is the acceptance of 
Christ’s call and a deep response to the invitation of the Trinity to the 
work of love and a commitment to continue this work in everyday life.”6 

Evangelization then, is crucial and irreplaceable. It is central to 
the life of the Church and all her activities since antiquity. In this recent 
age7 particularly, the pontificate of Pope St. John Paul II reawakens the 
consciousness of evangelization in our own age when he was speaking of 
New Evangelization. “What was new about evangelization?”8 The new 
evangelization is not the announcement of a new message, but a new way 
of the announcement – a new way that is characterized with a new 
disposition of vigorous resilience. Will this be possible without great 
recourse to tradition of the Church? 

Those who are familiar with wine and all that concerns it have 
convincingly argued that the longer it stayed the better. In like terms the 
longer the catholic tradition, having experienced several cultures, people 
and time, the better for evangelization of peoples. St. Paul speaks of the 
credence of the sacred tradition in the context of the liturgical celebration 
of the Eucharist in his first letter to the Corinthians chapter 11: “this is 
the tradition of the Lord that I received… (I Cor. 11:23). The author of 
the letter to the Hebrews urges: “remember your leaders who taught you 
the word of God. Consider the end result of their lives and imitate their 
faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be 
led astray by all kinds of strange teachings.” (Heb. 13:7-9). the 
consideration of the end result of the lives of our past leaders in faith is 
aided by the study of the fathers, which is technically referred to as 
patrology. Patrology like patristics is used to mean the study of the 
Fathers.9 The word patrology was synonymous with patristics, which is 
used to designate the works of ancient Christian writers. In recent times, 
it refers to an organized manual on the patristic literature.10 Here, we 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    139 

want to use the term patrology to refer to the whole life and works of the 
Fathers. 
 
The Gist of the Problem of Priestly Identity Crisis 
We have said earlier that priests are supposed to be at the fore front of the 
Evangelization. More deeply, let us say that young priests are believed to 
be the protagonists of the new evangelization. The employment of the 
youthful hue and vigour is appropriate especially in the areas described as 
young Churches. However, what is experienced in some instances is 
perturbing, concerning the disposition of some priests. To this effect, 
Charles Hammawa laments:  

Some young priests are bereft of a proper sense of 
mission. Their concept of priestly ministry is limited to 
the works assigned and Masses allocated to them. They 
are not interested in the total well-being or the temporal 
good of the Church. The ecclesiology is so deformed 
that their comfort is the primary issue to them.11 
The resultant effect of this is that the announcement of the 

gospel suffers and the people continue to be in want. That is why 
Ambrose Agu retorts: 

“…unfortunately, today, in many places, the Gospel is 
not proclaimed with due force and veracity. It is not 
exposed level of its radical and disturbing implications. 
When this is done, the pastor or minister of the Gospel is 
excoriated as being conservative, unnecessarily strict or 
not in touch with present realities. The tendency for 
many pastors is to shield the people from the disturbing 
and pungent truth of the Gospel message. They tell the 
people what they would want to hear and dilute the force 
of the message handed on to them. Sometimes, a 
message is avoided entirely if it is considered a 
contradiction of the spirit of the time.12 

Corroborating this, Anselm Jimoh calls the prevalent menace a lack of 
pastoral commitment. He also offered the effect of this disposition of 
some young priests. He says: 

The observed lack of pastoral commitment, moral 
probity, inordinate materialistic tendencies, over-
socialization of matters of faith and spirituality, frequent 
display of disobedience to Local Ordinaries/Superiors on 
the part of the priests, and other observable 
misdemeanors which coincidentally are more common 
among the younger generation of priests is disturbing…13 



140 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

 Today, instead of yearning to win the whole of the world for Christ, 
the happenings in our society appears to be overtaking us and exerting 
much influence on us. The spirit of avarice, which may be seen as the sin 
of the old, is now common among the young. This we must say beclouds 
the vision of evangelization and pastoral initiative that is greatly 
missionary. There is no other better time to shun the empty promises of 
the world so that we may purify it. “Yet increasing it appears that more 
and more young priests are taken up with buying cars the day after their 
ordination…”14 and “pastors and priests are getting swallowed en mass 
and the virtue of comportment and decency no longer has a place in our 
life.”15 

It is an understatement to say that some priests do not evangelize, 
they even disturb the mission. John Aniagwu says: “Many priests are 
giving counter witness.”16 Substantiating this, Hassan Kukah writes: 
“given the poverty of our society, it seems that materialism on the part of 
many priests and religious has become the greatest threat to our 
mission.”17 Particularly of young priests, who should “spear head” new 
evangelization because of the gift of youthful strength, it is advised: 
“formators need to take account of what happens in parishes when young 
priests get there… an exalted and glamourous priest will weigh too 
heavily on the mission of the Church. The young priest must not be 
gullible to think that the one who endorses his every whim is the one 
who supports his ministry.”18 

Relying on the impetus created by St. Paul, Oredipe calls for new 
missionary drive when he wrote: “surely then, the memory of St. Paul 
will inspire a new missionary drive in the Church for the benefit of the 
whole of humanity.”19 In like manner, Ambrose Agu speaks of new 
pastoral courage in the following terms: “this concern must be seen in 
his zeal to reach out to the people outside the Church. This concern calls 
for the special attention of the pastors and ministers of the Church.”20 He 
continued: “the duty of a pastor does not end with leading the flock to 
pasture and protecting it. He has also the onerous task of going out in 
search of the straying and the lost sheep and bringing it back to where it 
belongs … and this requires special pastoral courage and zeal, which of 
course is the only way the pastor can foster faith and call to faith in the 
world of today.”21 And so, Aniagwu complains: “there is proclamation by 
written word…But many do not do it. They simply do not write. They 
are either too timid to do so or they do not have the time.”22 

It is true that the general theme of this conference focuses on the 
formation to the priesthood, let us speak commonly at this moment so 
that other young persons may have the issue to ponder on, since the task 
of evangelization per se, is of all who are “baptized and sent.”23 Dwight 
Longenecker underscored the fact that our disposition towards 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    141 

evangelization is too minimal. He has this to say: “We Catholics skate 
around this one muttering catchphrases like “The New Evangelization’ 
and we trumpet the few evangelization enterprises that are going on, and 
we self-righteously quote St. Francis (who never actually said it), ‘Preach 
the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.’”24 He did not fail to 
enumerate some of the reasons for such disposition generally by 
catholics which include; cultural Catholicism, over-sacramentalism, 
ignorance, social gospel and professional catholicism.25  
 Catholics tend to be shy about evangelizing. And, it shows. The 
decline in Sunday Mass attendance is best described as a plummet. 
Seventy-five percent of Catholics went to Mass weekly in 1955 Gallup 
reported. That dropped to about 39 percent according to data collected 
between 2014 and 2017; which was down from 45 percent between 2005 
and 2008. It’s a disturbing trend and one that Msgr. Thomas Richter, 
pastor of Queen of Peace Church in Dickinson, wants Catholics to do 
something about. He addressed this issue as the featured speaker last 
month at the University of Mary’s St. Hildegard Lecture series, 
explaining that evangelizing is primarily the job of laity.26 

In 2013, the Barna Group did a large survey on the importance 
of Christians who share their faith. The group which had the lowest 
number of people who actively shared their faith was Catholics. Here is 
the truly sad part. They only polled those they designated as ‘people who 
said they have made ‘a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still 
important in their life today’ and who also indicated they believe that 
when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their 
sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.’ This means they 
polled the best and most engaged Catholics who have had an encounter 
with Jesus. They found that only 1 out of every 3 Catholics agreed with 
the statement, ‘I, personally, have a responsibility to tell other people 
about my religious beliefs.’ Additionally, only 1/3 of Catholics who have 
encountered Jesus and chosen to follow him agreed with the statement, 
‘During the past 12 months, I explained my religious beliefs to someone 
who had different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept Jesus Christ 
as their Savior.’ This means we Catholics in the USA are TERRIBLE at 
evangelization - the core mission of the Church! We aren't Christians to 
merely get ourselves to heaven. We are Christians to get others.’27 

Notwithstanding, the urgency of evangelization today cannot be 
overemphasized. The perversion in the world today has made those who 
learn not to understand and possession has constantly led to 
impoverishment. The announcement and the encounter with the truth 
are evermore demanded. Thus, the urgency of evangelization today is as 
prevalent as at the time of Jesus, when they were advised not to even 
salute anyone on the road. Cardinal Dulles made this observation 



142 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

concerning the disposition for evangelization even after the Second 
Vatican Council: “The commentaries on Vatican II published in the first 
decade after the council generally overlooked the centrality of 
evangelization. They focused attention on collegiality, ecumenism, 
dialogue and social teaching.”28 But now is the acceptable time to wake 
up with great enthusiasm for the work of new evangelization. 
 
Resolving Deficits in Priestly Identity through Authentic 
Patrology. 
We speak of the apostolic foundation in the Church not just from mere 
human calculations or wisdom, but because the Lord built the Church 
on the apostle that He named Peter, the rock. Therefore, the faith of the 
Church is foundational and this permeates her activities. The proper 
understanding of the missionary mandate and evangelization requires 
that we get in touch concretely with those to whom the message is 
handed over on behalf of the generation that will come to believe Christ 
through their teaching (Jn 17:20). Chinua Achebe wrote: “a man who 
does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he 
dried his body.”29 Here, we have to present the lasting values of patrology 
through which we encounter the Fathers and even learn from them in 
order to prepare candidates in formation for the all important task ahead. 
The Congregation for Catholic Education instructs: 
Observation of the present condition of the Church reveals how the 
needs of the church’s pastoral mission and the emergence of new 
currents of spirituality call for healthy nourishment and reliable source of 
inspiration. So many efforts seem sterile, but there is a fresh breath of 
true wisdom and Christian authenticity that flowed from the patristic 
works. It is a breath which contributed recently to the resolution of 
numerous liturgical, ecumenical, missionary and pastoral phenomena, 
which were noted by the Second Vatican Council and which are 
considered a source of encouragement and light by the church today.30  

In a letter to Fulton Sheen, a priest wrote: “I am convinced that 
many of our people are searching for many of the old devotions which 
many of the parishes have done away with, and this is very often because 
we priests cannot be bordered putting ourselves out.”31 These old 
devotions motivate the faithful for the missionary activities. Patrology 
helps us to encounter the depth of these devotions, some of which are 
handed down by the apostles themselves and are inspired by the Lord 
and His Spirit. A good example of such devotions is the elongated 
Lenten spiritual practices of the Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults 
and other prayerful pedagogy that accompany the rites. This is also not 
common again in our Churches. Another is the adoration of the Lord in 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    143 

the Blessed Sacrament, which some parishes have also done away with. 
But these and many others enliven our soul. 

The inspiration they (the Fathers) offer in terms reflection, and 
contribution to the explanation of the mysteries communicated through 
the Scriptures is lasting. To this effect, Pope Benedict XVI in his Verbum 
Domini advised that pastoral or missionary activities be inspired by the 
Scriptures.32 The understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, just as the 
familiarity with it, is in no little measure germane to the work of 
evangelization. As a matter of fact, the Scripture is the code for every 
missionary activity. In it we find the example of the Lord Himself being 
on mission to evangelize and also learn his principles and strategies 
which can never fail us.  But without the proper understanding, we can 
do little or nothing humanly speaking. Thus authentic patrology helps us 
to have better understanding of the Scriptures, when we encounter the 
insight offered by the apostles and the Fathers, such that they continue to 
challenge and spur us for missionary actions. “The living Tradition is 
essential for enabling the Church to grow through time in the 
understanding of the truth revealed in the scriptures…”33 The second 
Vatican Council Fathers offer immense insight:  

Hence there exists a close connection and 
communication between sacred tradition and Sacred 
Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same 
divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and 
tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the 
word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing 
under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred 
tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the 
Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on 
to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the 
light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it 
preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make 
it more widely known. Consequently it is not from 
Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her 
certainty about everything which has been revealed. 
Therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are 
to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of 
loyalty and reverence.34 

As important as the Scriptures may be, our knowledge is equally 
nourished by the study of the Holy Fathers and other Doctors and 
monuments or Tradition. In order, moreover, that they may give apt 
answers to questions posed by men of this age, it is necessary for priests 
to know well the doctrines of the magisterium and the councils and 



144 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

documents of the Roman pontiffs and to consult the best of prudent 
writers of theological science.35 

Evangelization is intrinsically traditional since, evangelization 
entails the handing over of the faith. To hand over is traceable to the 
Latin word tradere, meaning to handover. It is therefore, historical and 
traditional.   “The new head of a worldwide federation of traditional 
Catholics has stressed that if the New Evangelization is to be effective, 
it’s vital that the faithful know and understand the Church’s roots, 
history and tradition.”36  “In our Christian mind, the Fathers are always 
linked to tradition having been both its protagonist and witnesses. They 
are closer to its source in their purity… the Fathers are therefore 
witnesses and guarantor of authentic catholic tradition.”37 Just like we 
have written earlier, no Christian evangelizer is going to announce a new 
gospel as St. Paul wrote to the people of Corinth (I Cor. 3:11), the 
primordial message of Christ but with a new style, dedication and 
vigour. Patrology then helps us to understand that primordial message of 
Christ as we study the works and life of those who were with them from 
John’s baptism till when the Lord was taken up (Acts 1:22).  
Therefore, it is clear that (for) seminarians regular familiarity with the 
work of the Fathers can only strengthen their spiritual and liturgical life 
by shedding particular light on their vocation by rooting it in the long 
tradition of the Church bringing it to a direct communication with its 
origins in their wealth and purity.38 

Another important reason for patrology is that the Fathers have 
bequeathed to us the authentic method of grafting the faith into cultures. 
They grappled with the heresies of the pagan cultures and were able to 
impress the faith in the heart of these cultures, although not without 
difficulty. They were successful. If inculturation that we clamour for 
today must be successful, we have to consider the Fathers who have done 
it in the past. The Fathers have helped to answer the question of how the 
faith can be explained in the “wisdom and philosophy of people.”39 

There is yet another pivotal point to be mentioned concerning 
the rich patrimony that patrology introduces us to that we may be helped 
in our mission of evangelization. This is the arena of Catholic Christian 
spirituality. “… Given this lively spiritual sense, the image of themselves 
that the Fathers offer us is that of men who are not only learning but 
above all are experiencing divine things. Most of the time, they are 
specialists in supernatural life who communicate what they have seen 
and experienced in their contemplation of divine things, what they have 
known through the path of love.”40 Any evangelizer who does not learn 
from the spirituality of the Fathers may not be faithful and successful. 
The Fathers are to be our spiritual models after the mind of Christ. St. 
Paul says; imitate me as I imitate Christ. Due to the intellectual poverty 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    145 

that some young persons have concerning the lives and works of the 
Fathers, they have come to choose other spiritual models of this age. It 
shows in the liturgical assembly that they lead. Yet, the Fathers have 
more to offer in spirituality than the Pentecostal pastors of this age. 
Authentic patrology will help in resolving this lacuna. 
 
Conclusion  
This paper calls for an urgent appreciation of spiritual mentorship, father 
figure and role modeling. This paper is also a clarion call for renewal 
towards enthusiastic evangelization. As Paul VI says: “to make the 
Church of the twentieth century ever better fitted for proclaiming the 
Gospel to the people of the twentieth century”41, this paper aims at 
making the Church in the twenty-first century better active for the 
proclamation of the gospel to the people of the twenty-first century. “As 
in early times, today too Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice 
themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St. Paul.”42 To actualize 
this desire of Christ we need to be constantly be inspired by the Fathers, 
who were the first recipient of the message of Christ and served it in its 
purity. Thus, in the training of a candidate to the priesthood, authentic 
patrology should be an epicenter of their formation. This will continue 
to reinvigorate these young evangelizers, buoyed their spirituality and 
boost their evangelical morale through pastoral outreach. We wish to 
submit therefore, that with authentic patrology, the misplacement of 
priority that has led to a kind of identity crisis, being a clog in the wheel 
of new evangelization, will be reduced to bearable decimal, if not totally 
eradicated. 
 
 
Endnotes  
                                                      
1Congregation for the Clergy, the Priest and the Third Christian Millennium: Teacher 

of the Word, Minister of the Sacraments and Leader of the Community, 1999. 
2John Paul II, Pastores Dabor Vobis no. 82. 
3Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of 

Evangelization, no. 2, 2007. 
4Quoted in Frank P. DeSiano, Kenneth Boyack, Creating the Evangelizing Parish, 

New York: Paulist Press, 1993, p. 23. 
5Ronald D. Witherup, Saint Paul and the New Evangelization, p. 10. 
6Joseph Okojie, The Eucharistic Celebration as an act of Evangelization, Benin City: 

Floreat Systems, 2014, p. 25. 
7Post Second Vatican Council. 
8Ronald D. Witherup, Saint Paul and the New Evangelization, Minnesota: Liturgical 

Press, 2013, p. 2. 



146 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
9Joseph A. Komonchak, Mary Collins (eds.) et. al., the New Dictionary of Theology, 

Bangalore: Theological Publications in England, 2011, p. 387. 
10Michael Glazier and Monika Hellwig (eds.), The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia, 

Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2004, pp. 625-626. 
11Charles M. Hammawa (ed.), New Techniques in formation, Educating Seminarians 

for Healthy Sexuality and Celibate Living and Materialism and Priestly Life in 

Nigeria”; Proceedings of the National Seminaries Committee Workshops, Makurdi 

2002, Ekpoma 2003 and Ibadan 2005, no 2, Benin City, Floreat Systems, 2007, p. 

183 
12Ambrose C. Agu, Responding to the Divine Call, Bombay: St. Pauls, 2009, pp. 158-

159. 
13Ibid  
14B. Itsueli, “Materialism and Personal witnessing in Priestly Life” in Charles M. 

Hammawa (ed.), New Techniques in formation, Educating Seminarians for Healthy 

Sexuality and Celibate Living and Materialism and Priestly Life in Nigeria”; p. 186. 
15Ibi S. Ajayi, “Materialism and the Nigerian Society” in Charles M. Hammawa (ed.), 

New Techniques in formation, Educating Seminarians for Healthy Sexuality and 

Celibate Living and Materialism and Priestly Life in Nigeria”; P. 155. 
16John Aniagwu, quoted by B. Itsueli, “Materialism and Personal witnessing in 

Priestly Life” in Charles M. Hammawa (ed.), New Techniques in formation, Educating 

Seminarians for Healthy Sexuality and Celibate Living and Materialism and Priestly 

Life in Nigeria”; p. 186. 
17Hassan Kukah quoted by B. Itsueli, “Materialism and Personal witnessing in 

Priestly Life” in Charles M. Hammawa (ed.), New Techniques in formation, Educating 

Seminarians for Healthy Sexuality and Celibate Living and Materialism and Priestly 

Life in Nigeria”; p. 187. 
18B. Itsueli, “Materialism and Personal witnessing in Priestly Life” pp. 188-189.  
19Paul K. Oredipe, St. Paul and Priestly Formation: Impetus for Today, Benin City: 

Floreat Systems, 2018, p. 13. 
20Ambrose C. Agu, Responding to the Divine Call, Bombay: St. Pauls, 2009, p. 157. 
21Ibid  
22John Aniagwu, Called to Act In Persona Christi: Reflections on Priestly Life and 

Ministry, Ibadan: Daily Graphics, 2014, p. 46. 
23Pope Francis, Message on the Mission Sunday, 2019. 
24Dwight Longenecker, “10 Reasons Why Catholics Don’t Evangelize” in Natioal 

Catholic Register, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/longenecker/10-reasons-why-

catholics-dont-evangelize (accessed 2/3/2020 10:40 pm) 
25Ibid 
26Patti Armstrong, “Evangelizing is the Job of the Laity”, 2019 

https://bismarckdiocese.com/news/evangelizing-is-the-job-of-the-laity (accessed 

3/3/2020 12:08 am) 
27Marcel LeJeune, “5 Reasons Why Catholics Don't Evangelize” in Catholic 

Missionary Disciples, https://catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/reasons-why-

catholics-dont-evangelize (accessed 2/3/2020 11:16 pm) 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    147 

                                                                                                                         
28Avery Cardinal Dulles, Evangelization for the Third Millennium, New York: Paulist 

Press, 2009, p. 14. 
29Chinua Achebe, There was a Country, USA: Penguin Books, 2012, P. 1. 
30Congregation for Catholic Education, Instruction on the Study of the Fathers in the 

Formation of Priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 
31Fulton J. Sheen, Treasure in Clay, Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 1980, p. 

204. 
32Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, p. 88.  
33Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, p. 25. 
34Dei Verbum no. 9 
35Presbyterorum ordinis no. 19. 
36Edward Pentin, “New Evangelization Needs Tradition and History to be Effective” 

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/new-evangelization-needs-

tradition-history (accessed 3/2/2020 5:14pm). 
37Congregation for Catholic Education, “Instruction on the Study of the Fathers in 

the Formation of Priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 
38Ibid  
39Ad Gentes no. 22. 
40Congregation for Catholic Education, “Instruction on the Study of the Fathers in 

the Formation of Priests, pdf (accessed 27/2/2020 7:50 pm) 
41Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 2. 
42Benedict XVI’s Homily at Vespers for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, at the 

Basilica of St. Paul the walls on June 28, 2007. 



148 

11 

HARNESSING OUR RESOURCES FOR THE 

FORMATION OF SEMINARIANS TO THE 

PRIESTHOOD IN THE POST-MODERN AGE 
 

Peter EGBE, Ph.D 
St. Albert the Great Major Seminary, Idowu-Offonran 

Abeokuta, Ogun State. 
revfrabu2003@yahoo.co.uk 

 
Abstract 
Formation is a divine assignment and those involved in it must be 
conscious of the gravity of its demands. No one forms another whosale 
and no one forms himself all alone. Education is a systematic effort 
between a superior and an inferior, between a mentor and a mentored. 
Education environment is an academy of individuals with at least a 
vision. It is a mission to give birth to another through the process of 
intellectual midwifery to use the words of Plato. Its content is a heritage 
based on set values that humanise and imbued the individual with the 
character adequate and noble for a set goal. It is harnessing available 
resources to realise a personality immersed in a world that is 
experiencing exponential growth in technology, but with less capacity of 
an authentic integration of the true and needed values. 
The human person is entangled in the drive to know and improve the 
self, even unconsciously so as to be able to rule one’s life and possibly 
dominate others. But since culture regulates this drive and direct human 
affairs; information becomes both a possession and a heritage. It is about 
character building and a journey of an entire life of a person in society in 
diverse engagements. 
This project seeks to draw attention to the fact that the present 
circumstance requires a re-evaluation of the system of formation; not 
just in the seminary but a far-reaching endeavour in the light of a world 
that is redefining anthropology. It calls for a more rigorous incarnation of 
the ever-relevant resources of the church and especially the recent 
document on the formation of candidates to the catholic priesthood. 
 

mailto:revfrabu2003@yahoo.co.uk


Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    149 

Keywords: Formation, Seminarian, Priesthood, Education, Information, 
Seminary. 
 
Introduction 
I am constrained to say that no one forms another whosale and no one 
forms himself all alone. Education is a systematic effort between a 
superior and an inferior, between a mentor and a mentored. Education 
environment is an academy of individuals with at least a vision. It is a 
mission to give birth to another through the process of intellectual 
“midwifery” to use the word of Plato. In the words of Edith Stein, 
“Education is not an external possession of learning but rather the gestalt 
which the human personality assumes under the influence of manifold external 
forces,…”1 In relation to this claim she further opined that: 
The first fundamental formation happens in the soul. Just as an inner form 
resides in the seed of plants, an invisible force making the fir tree shoot up 
here and beech there, there is in this way an inner mold set in human 
beings which urges the evolution into a certain direction and works 
towards a certain gestalt in blind singleness of purpose, that of personality 
which is mature, fully developed, and uniquely individual.2 

The drive to know and improve oneself is one that the human 
person is entangled with and even unconsciously so as to be able to rule 
one’s life and possibly dominate others. But since culture regulates this 
drive and direct human affairs, information becomes both a possession 
and a heritage. It is about character building and a journey of an entire 
life of a person in society in diverse engagements. 
 
The Theoretical Foundation of the Choice of Topic 
The theoretical background to this presentation is the latest official 
document released by the Vatican for the formation of candidates to the 
celibate Catholic priesthood. In the mind of the Church; “The 
intellectual formation of candidates for the priesthood finds its specific 
justification in the very nature of the ordained ministry, and the 
challenge of the ‘new evangelization’ to which our lord is calling the 
Church …”3 Added to this is the overall formation activities ranging 
from academic and cultural dimensions. 

Moreover, it should be emphasised that the intellectual 
dimension, with the prescribed study of philosophy and theology, is not 
the only factor to be considered when evaluating the journey completed 
by the seminarian in each stage, and the progress that has been made. 
Rather the overall discernment by the formators regarding all aspects of 
formation will allow only those seminarians to pass on to the next stage 
who, in addition to having passed the necessary exams, have reached the 
level of the human and vocational maturity required for each stage.4 



150 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The above citations summarize the aim of this paper as the 
human, spiritual, intellectual and cultural formation of seminarian in the 
Western region and elsewhere in Nigeria. I will try as much as possible 
to pay attention to the new document on formation and harness the 
possibility of a daring audacity for credible reasons. I wish to, in 
particular, emphasise the integral link between our various disciplines 
and then ask for a concerted effort among all to pursue a synthetic 
formation. This will demand a lot of sacrifice from all of us formators, to 
create a harmony of knowledge in view of a wholistic education that 
makes gentlemen and men of the church. 

The simple rationale for this approach can be stated thus: “To 
ensure adequate intellectual formation of future priests, all disciplines 
must be taught in such a way as to make their intimate connection stand 
out clearly, avoiding fragmentation.”5 This poses a challenge to all 
formators who should see their duty as a sacred function and 
humanitarian service to the world in the church. Humans learn by 
fragments, but care must be taken not to yield to the modern tendency to 
fragmentation. “Philosophy [and indeed all disciplines] can reflect the 
fragment nature of the human ability to acquire knowledge; but when it 
leads to fragmentation of knowledge it becomes inimical to its well-
being…”6, and might not augur well for evangelization. 

The last two quotes are not just good for the envisaged purpose 
of priestly formation of seminarians to the Catholic Celibate priesthood; 
it is also recommended in my opinion as the quintessential requirement 
for training in any well-founded society of human dignity. It is also 
crucial to the success and failure of any future endeavour that merits 
integrity not only in a religious institution in the 21st century. Is it 
possible to attain such a system in our world today? The answer is no 
and yes. No because, if things continue the way they are now, this will be 
a mirage. Yes because, the only thing it takes is a conscious and honest 
decision by all stake-holders to make a difference. 
 
The State of Things at the Moment: 
Everything that is known about order, prognosis and prognostications is 
giving way to chaos, irascibility, uncertainty, rashness and populism. 
There is a new world order that is emerging in the history of humanity. 
The world is at a crossroad. Capitalism in my opinion has not satisfied 
the yearnings created at its advent. So, it is becoming more compelling to 
agree with those who claim that capitalism has failed and there is no 
certainty of what comes next. The western world is labouring under the 
yoke of self-imposed scourge that is inflicted by liberalism, unrestrained 
licentiousness and over-ambitious hedonism. The East block is surging 
and a new partitioning of the world is crystallizing. Here Africa is 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    151 

experiencing a metamorphosis that is not clear-cut (this is an issue for 
another research). A region that has been and represented as a figure of 
endless battle ground for new and potential powers. All known 
symptoms of a revolution are whimsically present and what emerges 
from this new interregnum is the problematic that researchers have to 
deal with and all well-meaning institutions have to follow with keen 
interest. The world is hungry and confused, but there is no political fore-
sight to the direction that will lead to a more cohesive globe and a safer 
life. 

Mechanical development is taking a Dionysian trend in 
technological and digital advancements, but the sophistication needed by 
the human mind to handle the teleological complexity that it requires is 
not equipageous. There is a lop-sidedness that calls for attention. 
“At…times we have our talks and end up not implementing anything to 
the disappointment of millions and millions of people around the world 
who look up to this body to provide leadership in a world that is 
constantly oscillating between advancement and doom.”7 This statement 
reveals a hypocrisy that is discernible in global politics and its 
complication in an already exacerbated world. 
 
Stating the Problem of the Present 
Why is this paper a product of curiosity and concern about the reality of 
the moment? Your guesses can be as good as and even sometimes better 
than my own. The reason this is true is that there is a subtle but obvious 
fact of mediocrity and indolence in the world today. The human capacity 
to know has been broadened in all ramifications. There are great 
achievements in infrastructural development in terms of technologies for 
industrial and food productions, but the quality of integral life has not 
been attained comparatively in its welfare and safety. 

We live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. Breakthrough in 
science, technology, and medicine are curing illnesses and solving 
problems that prior generations thought impossible to solve. But each 
day also brings news of growing dangers that threaten everything we 
cherish and value. Terrorists and extremists have gathered strength and 
spread to every region of the planet. Rogue regimes represented in this 
body not only support terrorists but threaten other nations and their own 
people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.8 

There are so many meanings one can draw from such statement 
above and many other presentations during the same assembly. But the 
question is, if every leader is aware of the difficulty and threat of the time 
and knows how inimical it is to human progress and the crucial peace 
that has become more of illusion than a mirage; what is missing? One 



152 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

can imagine that there is need for honest dialogue among leaders and 
leaders among their people. 

 
The Seminary and Seminarians 
To state this problem and its extension one needs to look at the 
problematic from various points of reference. Since our focus is the 
formation of young men for the purpose of ministerial priestly life; it 
will be right to be specific. The problems highlighted above are not just 
reverberating only in the political arena, but they are widely diffused in 
all facets of human life. The seminary is not exempt in this beleaguering 
and odious world order paradoxically orchestrated by science. 
Science provides the foundation and marks the development of 
hierarchic power. Science is but one of the forms of knowledge, yet it 
exists today in a manner that makes all other forms of knowledge look 
insignificant, of little value or even harmful. One of the features of 
today’s science is the possibility to obtain high-level knowledge in 
universities. What you can’t learn at the university is not scientific; at best 
– it can be made scientific.9 

Today, there is so much information that no one bothers about 
retention of information. There is hardly any need for profundity. This 
is a scourge of Secularism aided by pragmatism which has made depth 
and rigour of inquiry anachronistic and abhorrent to the vast majority. 
The seminary and seminarians are not insulated against such pretexts. 

The word “seminary” is from the Latin word Seminarium, which 
means plots where plants are raised from seeds. A garden where seeds are 
nurtured and nourished to grow, become strong and bear fruits. It means 
breeding ground. When this is used in reference to the priesthood, it 
means breeding ground for priests. It means in my opinion an academy 
as in the most ancient available record of the Socratic peripatetic school 
and the rabbinic school of discipleship. A seminarian is usually a male 
member of the faithful (who ought to be baptized and confirmed), who 
feels called and presents himself or is presented for training as priest. He 
is then accompanied by those with requisite competence. 

And so pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere 
apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral 
techniques. The seminary which educates must seek really and truly to 
initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the 
conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior 
habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for 
solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the 
theological demands inherent in pastoral work. Thanks to an initial and 
gradual experience of ministry, future priests will be able to be inserted 
into the living pastoral tradition of their particular church. They will 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    153 

learn to open the horizon of their mind and heart to the missionary 
dimension of the Church's life. They will get practice in some initial 
forms of cooperation with one another and with the priests alongside 
whom they will be sent to work. These priests have a considerably 
important role, in union with the seminary program, in showing the 
candidates how they should go about pastoral work.10 

The critical nature of the programme of formation is outlined in 
the above citation and one can only call the attention of all concerned to 
reflect sincerely on them so as to be able to truly fulfil the task of 
formation. 

One major issue that constitute and could continue to be a 
problem in formation is the apathy of Seminarians. The apathy of 
Seminarians here means a general attitude prevalent among seminarians 
towards the various levels of formation. In retrospect, I am forced most 
of the time to question myself about motive when I see the rate of 
shallowness among young men who present themselves for formation to 
the priesthood. One is further concerned by a disposition of 
dismissiveness. Here seminarians rather than pay attention to the critical 
parts of formation; that is aspiration to heroism, they settle for 
mediocrity and materialism. What is more? In many cases, rather than 
take instructions and obey them by executing them, there is a general 
attitude of negotiation of what seminarians choose to do rather than obey 
and carry out instructions. To cap it all, what seminarians in the major 
part engage in nowadays is to resort to what they refer to as “psyching” 
the formators and priests in their Dioceses to make their way to the 
priesthood. Many have succeeded in this and they are in the field of 
ministry. These are disturbing trends. 
 
Concerns from the Above/Tendency 
One of the gravest concerns of today is the fact that for the majority of 
those trained in the seminary probably believe that the priesthood is the 
point of arrival. In the ordinary sense, the seminary is the nursery where 
the seed of the vocation is nurtured and come to maturity. The actual 
application of the self to the work only begins at ordination. In the major 
part, from parish experience and the opportunity of having to teach in 
two seminaries, it is a strong opinion of this paper that many seminarians 
get retired as soon as they are ordained. From personal experience and 
from pastors of souls, one can only conclude that personal entertainment 
in seeking pleasure most of the time take the energy or attention of many 
young priests. This is because for such people, the priesthood is the point 
of arrival instead of the beginning of the call to service. For the 
seminarian, the seminary ought to be a place of dreams and aspiration to 
self-immersion in the work of saving souls. Instead, the seminarian sees 



154 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the ordination as the end of suffering and sacrifice and the beginning of 
enjoyment having conquered. Here ordination becomes an achievement 
rather than an opportunity. At the end of the day, there is a suspicion that 
the aim of the church is contrived from the beginning. 

Each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation...and is 
called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, 
intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into account of his own personal 
and family background. Seminarians are likewise responsible for 
establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent 
with the values of the Gospels11 

Very often the problems that arise can be numerous: in common 
experience, we have candidates who seem to respond and present 
themselves for formation who do not really wholeheartedly submit to 
formation. Some also come into the seminary with a disposition that 
make it impossible for the process of the formation to be authentic and 
fruitful. Cases abound in parishes and dioceses where seminarians who 
were highly esteemed in the seminary for discipline and maturity turn to 
have pretended all through their formation process only to reveal their 
true colours after ordination. Some seminarians are also caught in the 
web of the confusion between the principles of their life in the seminary 
and the remarkable difference it comes to experience in the parish 
setting. What could be done to bridge the gaps between the authentic life 
that the call of the gospel demands on the individual and the reality of 
the personal experience and his environmental influences? The answer is 
a structural one. All stake holders are to be diligent in the discharge of 
their duties from the family to the parish community and the seminary. 
It will be the responsibility of the individual seminarian to be honest in 
the search for God and the direction of such a hunger for God in the 
right direction 
 
Educational System 
Another problematic that I wish to highlight here is the educational 
systems world-over. Technology with all its beautiful results ought to be 
at the service of the human person. This is visible in many instances of 
our world events. But it is also true that technological advancement has 
led to a laziness that makes rigorous engagement of the human mind a 
waste of time and obsolete practice as we now have technological 
elements that can live our lives for us. At the same time and ironically 
too, we witness how different groups are organizing different 
programmes of natural brain engagement in complex calculus and 
rewards awarded to those who distinguish themselves. These, point to 
serious issues of confusion as a result of a misguided use of human 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    155 

capacity in technological investigations. Do we have to make people lazy 
by relying on robots even when they are not needed to lives? 
 
The Nigerian experience? 
In the ordinary sense the above problem is true, but as if it were not 
enough; the decadence of such technological obscurity is further 
compounded by the inept tradition of penury in the Nigerian society. 
The statement of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria after their 
second plenary session in a Communiqué, has the following: “The 
inability of Government to address the inequitable situation in the 
country has provided breeding ground for violent reactions, protest and 
agitations, which exploit the grievances of different segments of the 
country.”12 As member of the comity of nations and actors in a world 
that is becoming more and more a village, we are left with the refuse of 
technological advancement at the ‘admiration’ of those who reap the 
dividends of the victory of the human spirit over the natural world. The 
major part of ills like the one highlighted here is the lack of targeted 
educational programme, be it in the theoretical background and in its 
practical implementation. 

There is a challenge here and it is again global. In the theoretical 
world today, science and its method tend to redirect “technology” in a 
way that the aim of every human endeavour rather than seek the 
Supreme Good which is the hallmark of every particular goal now 
descends to seeking exclusive individual fragments. The negligence of a 
broader inquiry either by way of induction or deduction becomes the 
bane of illusive contentment and empty happiness. Utility and 
immediate satisfaction and the empty pragmatic dogmatism have driven 
the taste of the majority of people. This in itself is transgression of 
science that has led to the yarning gap between the Dionysian progress in 
mechanical science and the poverty of the fruitfulness of human 
satisfaction in the midst of the blessings of the earth. “The headlong 
development of the world and a keener awareness of existing inequalities 
make for the creation and aggravation of differences and imbalances.”13 
This imbalance is the result of an increasing fragmenting bifurcation of 
reality into scientific and metaphysical. This is a condition that arises 
from the deep-seated crisis in the human person. “The dichotomy 
affecting the modern world is, in fact, a symptom of the deeper 
dichotomy that is in the human person himself. He is the meeting point 
of many conflicting forces.”14 

 
Consequences 
The symptoms of the above depravity of the human spirit are obvious to 
a reasonable mind. Today more than ever before, human hunger for 



156 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

peace and fulfilment is plenty and the helplessness of institutions as a 
result of this failure is aplenty. All these point to the fact of failure in the 
society. One basic fact that plagues the globe today is instability. 

The next point about the problems the world face is the failure 
of Capitalism. This is linked with the political exigencies of our time. 
The political terrain is volatile and chaotic. The result of all these 
encumbrances and the role they play in human psychology is clear. 
There is a high degree of fear and vulnerability which has given rise to 
pseudo-populism. What can one hold? We can conveniently assert that 
the utopic promise of inexistent paradise appeals easily to the 
malnourished and disgruntled populace. The level of unpredictability of 
the world politics that our world has known is a clear case of the rot in 
the human mind that manifests itself in the various ways of our present 
predicament. 

The above analysis is simply a red signal in our society today. 
The least consequence of indifference is only a compound of 
accumulated disaster. Among them are some of the current world affairs. 
In the world today, terrorism is a part of every household preoccupation 
and the scourge of civil society. Since human wants are “insatiable” as the 
economic principle states, to use Adams Smith resources. The world is 
only at an elementary stage of wickedness and eventually nihilism. What 
substantiates this position is the fact that because man is naturally proud 
and power driven, he can descend low to bestiality to prove his capacity. 
Today we are grappling with a nuclearized North Korea. We have the 
power and exotic ego-driven president in the oval office in the United 
States of America. Europe is going through a new metamorphosis with 
Brexit. The middle East is only becoming more and more unreachable 
and the hope of a solution of a better region with Arab-spring is only so 
far, a mirage. What about communist China? With its new infiltration 
and ubiquity in the globe. Where will Africa be left at the end of the 
current new order? 
 
What can be done? 
These are worrisome indices and to the fickle mind a sign of 
hopelessness. But the choice we have to make is inescapable. If we refuse 
to take the necessary though radical decision, we will be worse of. The 
decision we need to take is to be well equipped to face a new world order 
and become active players in a post-modern world. The Church has and 
continues to make available opportunities and resources to her members 
to be well-equipped to engage the world for the good of the human 
person and the good of the universe. 

The Church as a mother is under an obligation, therefore, to 
provide for its children an education by virtue of which their whole lives 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    157 

may be inspired by the spirit of Christ. At the same time it will offer its 
assistance to all people for the promotion of a well-balanced perfection of 
the human personality, for the good of society in this world and for the 
development of a world more worthy of man.15 

To stress this further, the Pope in his Encyclical Laudato Si, emphasises 
that: 

We are always capable of going out of ourselves towards 
the other. Unless we do this, other creature will not be 
recognized for their true worth; we are unconcerned 
about caring for things for the sake of others; we fail to 
set limits on ourselves in order to avoid the suffering of 
others or the deterioration of our surroundings. 
Disinterested concern for others, and the rejection of 
every form of self-centredness and self-absorption, are 
essential if we truly wish to care for our brothers and 
sisters and for the natural environment…16 
The problem most of the time is that it is one thing to have the 

opportunity and another to know and make responsible use of it. Here 
the words of Etienne Gilson become crucial. 
As knowing being, man is able to distinguish between things, to be 
acquainted with their specific natures, and consequently to determine his 
own attitude toward things after his own knowledge of what they are. 
Now to be not determined by things but regulated by one’s own 
knowledge of things is precisely what we call to be free.”17 

This is not a task that seminarians by themselves can achieve 
alone. The need then arises for commitment that promotes a robust 
response from those who are undergoing formation and the willingness 
on the part of the formators to be selfless in responding to the demands 
of the human mind to be equipped for mission. It is the view of the new 
ration that; 

The task of the agents of formation can be defined as 
interior openness, rooted in an intense spiritual 
experience. It is aimed at constant discernment, which 
allows one to learn from life and from different 
circumstances, and to discover in them the providential 
actions of God in his Christian or priestly journey. The 
quality of the service rendered to seminarians can be 
measured from the depth of this openness, and, at the 
same time, a calm formative atmosphere in the Seminary 
depends on it18 

The extent to which the formator is open to this task will go a long way 
to enrich his own life and lead to proficiency in his task as formator. This 
is so because: 



158 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

While carrying out that mission, the formator has an 
opportunity for growth, and can discover the specific 
charism of vocational accompaniment and of priestly life 
as a call that belongs to him personally. In this way, the 
Seminary can become a school that prepares those who 
will be responsible for ongoing formation. That is to say, 
he who has been a Seminary formator acquires a 
particular sensitivity and a rich experience to be able, 
later, to assist in the ongoing formation of the Clergy.19 

There are many ways in which this programme can nurture the 
present for a future turn-around that helps to avert the impending crisis 
that the current situation of the direction of world event is moving. 
There are few things that this paper will elaborate as suggestions to help 
improve the present situation. Those in training must seek ways to apply 
themselves to the current curriculum of their formation to the extent 
that the desired ‘personal-centred’ formation (auto-formation) can be 
realized. If Seminarians can open up to the programme as it is at the 
moment; a lot can be achieved in the interim. But even at that there will 
still be a lot to be done. The new manual that the congregation 
responsible for the formation to the priesthood recently reviewed and 
distributed to houses of formation signal a need to overhaul formation 
outfit to respond to the present moment. “Whenever it may prove 
necessary to make changes to the previously approved Ratio Nationalis, 
due to new or unexpected developments, the text may be amended by 
seeking the further approval of the Congregation for the Clergy.”20 We 
have to, in the spirit of this new terrain of world events; prepare 
ourselves to play our noble roles in rescuing the world that is 
beleaguered by avoidable crisis. The crisis in the world is only a 
reflection of the potential of the deep-seated depravity and corruption of 
the human person. To be able to address the problem is to renew the 
vigour to heroism and turn around the present disposition of self-
enslavement to technology and make science serve the need of man and 
not make man a puppet to the work of his hands. 
 
Review of the Present Programme 
Since it is the conviction of this paper that the present programme needs 
a review and in consonance with the requirement of the Congregation 
for the formation of Clergy; there is so much to be done. Besides the 
need to respond to the universal Church, there is also another need as a 
Local Church. “Each Ratio Nationalis must also specify the stages of 
formation and the programme of studies, the objectives and their length, 
respecting the norms of universal law.”21 That means that Nigerian 
Church must quickly realise and respond now to this dual perspective: 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    159 

her immediate local needs as well as her effort at missionary activities. In 
one of my recent vacations besides the Conference that took me out of 
the Seminary before closing down for the 2017/2018 Session, I 
participated in two other conferences: one was organized by Association 
of Black Catholics in America from 6th to 9th of July. The other was 
organized by African Conference of Priests and Religious working in 
United States (ACCRUS). It was obvious that the Nigerian Church is 
ahead in the population of priests and religious among other African 
countries who are missionaries. What fascinated me is the fact that the 
American Bishops had prepared a document of integration for such 
priests and religious when they come into their country. 
 
Recommendations 
The Need to Emphasise our Values 
The world under our watch has gone more individualistic and populistic. 
Whatever interest such promote, one imagines that the dynamics of the 
present cannot be served by populism. But there is something that is 
crucial that needs to be emphasised; that is the fact of value. Value is an 
accent to the commonality of a people and the heritage they make to the 
gamut of global civilization. Although it is peculiar, it does not 
disintegrate the coalition of global alliance when it has to do with human 
solidarity. The task that humanity faces is to be conscious of and realise 
the importance of heritage and the endurance of a common experience 
even when they have to be looked at from different perspectives. This is 
a position that even some of the most fervent critics of objectivity in 
values will confirm. 

The issue is clearer now than of old, because we now have a 
more explicit standard whereby to decide what ontology a given theory 
or form of discourse is committed to: a theory is committed to those and 
only those entities to which the bound variables of the theory must be 
capable of referring in order that the affirmation made in the theory be 
true. … But utility need not imply significance, in any literal linguistic 
sense.22 

We have a common experience in which everyone is immersed. 
But our relation with the objective becomes a matter of our own 
exclusive lived-experience that colour our worldview.23 

 
1. The Value of Family and Social Ties 
One can still claim today that in Nigeria and I believe in most part of 
Africa that notwithstanding the consequence of globalization and 
western isolationism, there still exists a reasonable social bond. This is 
not just a family value, but it extends to the society. The importance of 
this point is to be able to harness this social opportunity in the selection 



160 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

of candidates to the Seminary for training as priest. The dioceses, 
Parishes and vocations directors are to emphasise ties with people and 
employ such as instrument in the process of recruitment for seminary 
training. The knowledge of the family background for instance can go a 
long way to assist the diocese in making a well-informed decision on 
who to admit or otherwise. This is a method that some congregations 
have used and it has proven to be very helpful. The tendency is to say 
those values are disappearing in our time and no one really bothers. We 
can activate such values and let the civil society learn from us. It will not 
be a novel idea, but a return to the role of the church to the society. In 
the traditional system, the formator and the formed live out a very 
intensely close relationship. Can we boast of such commitment from our 
system today? 
 
2. Document prepared or received by Local Church for 
Formation 
I am aware that there has been a document on formation in the category 
of Ratio Fundamentalis by the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference. But as I 
stand here, I have not set my eyes on such document despite all my 
efforts to acquire it. This is not the way we should go about our 
formation. What I am proposing is that, the Nigerian Church should 
prepare a document or update what is there to reflect the cruciality of 
present circumstances in the universal church and its relevance to local 
needs. 

The one and only Catholic Church subsists in the particular 
Churches. Even if formation for priesthood will normally take place in 
the context of a Diocese, or in the institutions to which the candidates 
belongs, the priestly ministry is open to the universality of the Church 
and, thus, carries within it an openness to the more pressing needs of 
other Dioceses24 

In the wake of the engagements of the Nigerian church in 
providing missionary activities to the rest, efforts should be made to 
make allowance in the formation of Seminarians who will eventually go 
for mission. This will from onset prepare everyone for the task ahead. 

 
3.  Review of Academic Programme towards Master’s Degree 
Another proposal that I am putting forward here is that our students be 
allowed to do professional courses in the relevant areas while they 
journey within these nine years only to earn first degrees. For instance, 
the University of Benin which All Saints and St. Albert are affiliated to 
has and granted opportunity to Ph.D programme in the last 
accreditation, should be a welcomed news to the Church of this region. 
The robustness of the relationship between the Seminary of All Saints 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    161 

and now St. Albert contributed to the credit-worthiness that made the 
request pass for the University. Our students can receive Masters in 
relevant areas within their time in the seminary. In fact, the former 
HOD of the Department of Philosophy in Uniben has also discussed 
this possibility with me as he guaranteed that our materials are sufficient 
with a bit of adjustment at different levels. Let us be audacious here and 
make history for the progress of the Church of our region. For instance, 
in Europe and North America candidates for the priesthood spend less 
time but graduate with a master’s degree. An upgrade of the academic 
programme will certainly be a great step forward. Besides, the new world 
order makes it mandatory even to have such a review in the programme. 
 
4. Preparation of Seminarians towards Mission outside Nigerian 
shores 
Just as I talk about the documents above, I believe our seminaries need 
some more professional touch to the training we give to Seminarians 
who become priests in our time and most of the time without any other 
training they go for missions outside the country. This will also help 
prospective formators who will come back to the seminary to teach 
others. I feel it is better to harvest when the grains are still very healthy 
and viable than to wait for them to lose all their sap. The principle of 
human formation will be enhanced if we pay more attention to particular 
area of interest and expose our seminarians to them while still in the 
seminary. The thinking might be ‘do not give them too much’ before 
they are ordained. It could even be that some might elope with such 
opportunity and the church is the looser. I think the time has come 
when we do not allow the fear of taking risk determine our decision that 
will lead to a vicious circle. We should take courageous risks and who 
knows the fruits that may come could be the solution to our problems. 
 
How to Achieve these Goals 
All these proposals need so much groundwork to be done and it will call 
for heavy financial commitment. Here, there are at least three groups 
that must be battle-ready: The people of God– lay-faithful, the formators 
and the Bishops who are proprietors of the seminary. The people of God 
are already doing a lot. But it is not possible to reach the state of 
equilibrium when it comes to commitment to the training of 
seminarians to the priesthood. It is also my conviction that if there were 
laudable project by the Nigerian church, the likelihood is there that our 
people will be up to the task of rising to the occasion.25 

On the part of the formators, we must be ready to step-up our 
effort to give more so as to be able to meet the need of the requirement 
that this new programme as proposed will be successful. In the same 



162 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

vein, I address myself to those who collaborate with us in this task to 
help us with suggestions and resources needed to make this a reality and 
a pride to them. I am pleased that our Mother Institution on the 
academic part of formation is here represented. Furthermore, all our 
lecturers from the different institutions including the University of 
Benin also will agree with me that our students put in so much that our 
proposal is not overambitious. 

The next is the proprietors; our Bishops need to constantly keep 
in view and respond consequently to the new world order. Seminarians 
today must be well prepared to face the challenges of the new 
evangelization which the pope refers to and required the bishops to do 
something urgently to address the issue. “While safeguarding the 
authority of the Diocesan Bishop, the Ratio Nationalis seeks to harmonise 
the priestly formation across the country, in this way facilitating dialogue 
between bishops and formators, to the benefit of both seminarians and 
seminaries.”26 This is the rationale behind the Joint Seminaries 
Commission meetings and the various Governing Councils. These are 
veritable organs, but there is need to give them more lease of life in the 
wake of present circumstances. The Pope further stresses this point. 

Seminarians should receive a more extensive interdisciplinary, 
and not merely doctrinal, formation in the areas of engagement and 
marriage. Their training does not always allow them to explore their own 
psychological and affective background and experiences. Some come 
from troubled families, with absent parents and a lack of emotional 
stability. There is a need to ensure that the formation process can enable 
them to attain the maturity and psychological balance needed for their 
future ministry. Family bonds are essential for reinforcing healthy self-
esteem. It is important for families to be part of the seminary process and 
priestly life, since they help to reaffirm these and to keep them well 
grounded in reality. It is helpful for seminarians to combine time in the 
seminary with time spent in parishes. There they can have greater 
contact with the concrete realities of family life, since in their future 
ministry they will largely be dealing with families. “The presence of lay 
people, families and especially the presence of women in priestly 
formation, promotes an appreciation of the diversity and 
complementarity of the different vocations in the Church27 

There is also need for a National body to coordinate the activities 
of the seminaries on a regular and active basis. 
 
Prospects 
Nigerians are already making the nation and church proud abroad. My 
visit to US and participation in the conferences referred to above give me 
a first-hand experience to testify to the wealth of our Nation. 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    163 

Maximizing the gains of what we have and adding a bit of flavour to our 
present system will only put us at a comfortable position. This I believe 
because, as good and interesting the stories I heard during my sojourn in 
America, it was clear too that there are cases of casualties as a result of 
adjustment problems. A review of what is there and a conscious creation 
of a column for such programmes in the Seminary will go a long way to 
bettering the chances of good adjustment experience for our seminarians 
and their readiness to face the work of evangelization at home and abroad 
as missionaries. There is already a programme of re-entering after a 
period of missionary activities by Nigerian priests and religious. It will be 
appropriate to also have a programme of exit for such prospective 
missionaries. What might be useful is teaching the candidates for the 
priesthood the need to understand the various cultures of people in 
different continents and cultural experiences. 
 
Conclusion 
Permit me take a clue from the words of Pastores Dabo Vobis once again. 
… that in the face of crisis of priestly vocations ‘the first answer which 
the Church gives lies in a total act of faith in the Holy Spirit. We are 
deeply convinced that this trusting abandonment will not disappoint if 
we remain faithful to the graces we have received.’ To remain faithful to 
the grace received! This gift of God does not cancel human freedom; 
instead it gives rise to freedom, develops freedom and demands 
freedom.28 
Besides, therefore, all of us need to open our hearts to decision that will 
help build on the progress the Church has made in the training of her 
candidates to the priesthood 
 
Endnotes 
1. Edith Stein, Collected Works; Woman 2. P. 130 

2. Ibid, 130. 

3. Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 51…. 

4. New Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacredotalis P. 10 

5. New Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacredotalis P. 97 

6. Peter EGBE, Harmony A Philosophical Investigation, From Phenomenology to 

Metaphysics, Rome, 2008. 26. 

7. UNO President Muhammadu Buhari’s Speech at the UN General Assembly, 

8. Citymirrornews.com/index.php2017/09/19; consulted on the 3rd of October, 

2017. 
9. Remarks by President Trump to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General 

Assembly. United Nations New York, www.whitehouse.gove/the-press-

office/2017/09/19; consulted on the 3rd of October, 2017. 



164 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

10. Maija Kule et.al., ed. Dilema of Values and Contemporary Life-world, Latvia-Riga, 

2007. 37 

11. Pastores Dabo Vobis. 58 

12. New Ratio Fungamentalis, no. 130 

13. A Communique issued at the End of Second Plenary Meeting of the Catholic 

Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria 

14. (CBCN) at St. Charles Borromeo Pastoral Centre, Jalingo, Taraba State, 7-15 

September, 2017 
15. Gaudium et Spes, 7 December, 1965. No. 8. 

16. Gaudium et Spes, 7 December, 1965. No. 10 

17. Vat. II., Gravissimum Educationis, 28th Oct. 1965. No. 3 

18. Laudato Sí 

19. Etienne Gilson, God and Philosophy, Yale Nota Bene Copy, 2002, P.21]. 

20. The New Ratio, no. 152. 

21. Ibid. 

22. Ibid no. 3 & 8. 

23. Ratio Fundamentalis no 7 

24. Willard Van Orman Quine, From a Logical Point of View, Harvard University 

Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2003. 13-15. 

25. Donald Davidson, Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective, Oxford University Press, 

New York, 2009. 84-88. 

26. Ratio Fundamentalis no. 126 

27. Pastores Dabo Vobis. No. 68. 

28. New Ratio, p. 16. No. 6. 

29. Amoris Laetitia 203. 

30. Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 1 

 



165 

12 

THE PRINCIPLES OF FORMATION OF 

CANDIDATES FOR THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD 

IN OPTATAM TOTIUS, PASTORES DABO VOBIS AND 

RATIO FUNDAMENTALIS INSTITUTIONIS 

SACERDOTALIS AS PARADIGMATIC OF HUMAN 

FORMATION 
 

Anthony O. IGBEKELE, SLS, SLD 
Department of Theology, 

Ss. Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija Ibadan. 
aoigbekele@hotmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The Catholic Church has always considered the formation of candidates 
for the priesthood and the ongoing formation of her clergy among its 
greatest priorities and concerns, knowing that her overall good and the 
success of her mission are contingent on a well-formed clergy. 
Consequently, the Church has invested time and efforts to fashion out 
time tested principles that guide the formation of her candidates. The 
position of this paper is that these principles, stated in conciliar and post-
conciliar documents, because of the breadth and reach of their 
formulations, are paradigmatic of and applicable to the formation of the 
Christian person. These principles, summarized as human, intellectual, 
spiritual and pastoral, when faithfully domesticated and applied, could 
also be validly utilized for the formation of any Christian person for the 
mission of the Church and the good of the society.  
 
Keywords: Church, Human Formation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, Ratio 
Fundamentalis 
 
Introduction 
The crisis in the Christian life and in the society today is occasioned by 
the crisis in the formation of the human person for the important roles 
that are to be assumed in life. In terms of the priesthood, such crisis can 



166 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

be traced to the absence of sound formation or the presence of a faulty 
formation. The priest is fundamentally a man of sacrifice; a man for 
sacrifice; a man by sacrifice. The sacrifice motif is fundamental to his 
essence and nature. Priesthood is therefore without soul if sacrifice is 
removed from it. Sacrifice is the heart of worship and cult. It is the heart 
of liturgy. If sacrifice is the heart of the priesthood because to talk of the 
priesthood without it is to completely misunderstand the fundamental 
essence of what the priesthood is all about, then it stands to reason that 
the fundament of all formation to the priesthood is to form the human 
person to become a man of cult or worship. Formation of a Catholic 
priest is therefore formation for sacrifice. Sacrifice here intended is the 
sacrifice that found its fullest accomplishment by Christ Jesus in his 
Paschal Mystery – that is, the Passion, death, resurrection and ascension 
into glory of Jesus Christ. 

The crisis of the priesthood is therefore the crisis of authentic 
human formation for the roles that are meant to be assumed as priests. 
The most effective counter measure to this crisis therefore lies in quality 
of formation of the candidates for the priesthood. The structure of such 
formation, with some contextualizations and adaptations, are also valid 
propositions for the authentic formation of the human person in every 
age, time, season, generation, language, culture. This is because 
fundamentally, the priest is first of all called to be fully human before he 
can be fully priestly. The human substratum of his personhood is 
therefore of fundamental significance, import and relevance to the entire 
edifice of his formation. If this human edifice is faulty, corrupt, vitiated, 
corrupted at its fundament, the construction of any formative structure 
upon this sub-structure cannot therefore but be faulty. 

The insights and content of formation of candidates for the 
priesthood can also be seen to be paradigmatic1 of human formation 
because the Church has experience in the formation of the human 
person. The Church can lay claim to the experience of two millenia in 
which she has consistently and courageously been in the forefront of the 
formation and promotion of the good of the human person. On the basis 
of this experience, the Church can rightly arrogate to herself the 
competence of not just formulating the fundamental principles of 
human formation, that is, the basis on which the formation of the 
human person should rest, but even more importantly, on the strength 
of her collective experience, the Church is in a position to propose 
veritable enduring principles that can constitute into the kernel of a 
program of action for the wholistic formation of the human person in 
every age, generation, culture, time. 

The formation must be human, that is, it must proceed from the 
fundamentals of what constitutes into our humanity, be based on our 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    167 

being as persons created in the image and likeness of God, with all our 
compositions and essence and what makes us who we are as persons. 
Formation must also have a Christian character, that is, be based on 
Christian principles and values, ethos, norms. Formation must have 
didactic or instructional character. The didactic aspect of human 
formation does not and is not circumscribed to the formal classroom 
environment or situation. It is the experience that a greater and more 
efficient aspect of the instructional character of human formation takes 
place in the non-formal sector, especially in the home. Within the 
context of formation for the priesthood, a large aspect of the human 
formation of the candidates for the priesthood takes place in the 
substratum: that is, in the non-formal sector, among the candidates 
themselves. This is especially the locus for auto or self-formation, which 
is fundamental and indispensable to the overall realization of authentic 
priestly formation. The didactic nature of human formation makes 
especial use of the experience of the Church in this regard. That 
experience is founded on the catechetical principles that are foundational 
to instruction in the faith.  
 
What is Human Formation? 
Formation is from the latin word, formo-formare, which means “form, 
shape, fashion, model”2 formation, from the Latin noun formatio, mean 
“something possessing structure or form“; “the act of assembling a group 
or structure.”3 ”an act of giving form or shape to something or of taking 
form: development.”4 In a general sense, human formation refers to the 
beginnings of man as homo sapiens, that is, when man came to be made 
or fashioned or evolve. Formation is the entire process in which the 
human person is moulded, shaped, configured. Human formation has to 
do with all the entire process, procedures, motivations, that are put to 
bear in the grooming of a human person. It is concerned with a part of 
human development that takes the entire human person, body, soul, 
affective self as the point of departure and point of arrival, with a view to 
promoting the emergence of right character, vision, attitudes, view on 
life.  

Human formation has to do with the configuration of the 
human person to a way of life, an ideal, a standard, and well tested 
patterns; a growth that is gradual, consistent, insistent, practical, effective, 
based on nature and founded on grace. Human formation is therefore a 
consistent development and cultivation of authentic human values. 

Christian human formation assumes the basics of human 
formation. Taking these basics as its point of departure, Christian human 
formation is the configuration of the human person to the Person and 
life of Christ. Christian human formation therefore has Christ as the 

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/structure
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/form


168 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

fundamental referent, and therefore does not proceed ab nihilo, that is, 
from nothing. Human formation makes use of objective referents that, 
over time, and with constant and consistent positive usage, have attained 
universal significance and import and have crystallized into objective 
norms, ethos and practices. Christian human formation is therefore the 
conformation of the life of each individual Christian to that of Christ. 
 
The Importance of Formation of Priests  
The priesthood, in the words of Pastores Dabo Vobis 8, [henceforth PDV] 

5 is best viewed as a “special witness to the primacy of “being” over 
“having,” and as a recognition that the significance of life consists in a 
free and responsible giving of oneself to others, a willingness to place 
oneself entirely at the Service of the Gospel and the kingdom of 
God….”6 Furthermore, “the priestly ministry in the life of the Church 
and in the world knows no substitute.”7 The importance and necessity of 
priests are also stressed, since “Without priests the Church would not be 
able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her 
existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the 
command of Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” 
(Mt. 28:19) and “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk. 22:19; cf. 1 Cor. 
11.24), i.e:, an obedience to the command to announce the Gospel and to 
renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his 
blood for the life of the world.”8 PDV emphasized that “The priest is a 
living and transparent image of Christ the priest. The priesthood of 
Christ, the expression of his absolute “newness” in salvation history, 
constitutes the one source and essential model of the priesthood shared 
by all Christians and the priest in particular. Reference to Christ is thus 
the absolutely necessary key for understanding the reality of 
priesthood.”9 

The documents we shall examine individuate four areas that are 
fundamental to formation of the candidates for the priesthood. These 
four areas are: Human, Intellectual, Spiritual and Pastoral. When any of 
these is lacking in the formation of any human person, that person 
becomes defective in his formative character. 

 
The Content of Formation in Pastores Dabo Vobis 
The overall aim of Pastores Dabo Vobis is pastoral: the commitment to the 
realization of the promise of Christ not to leave His Church without 
shepherds. It is dedicated to the formulation of principles that would 
guide the formation of pastoral persons for the mission of Christ and His 
Church in the world. Formation in the Church and Christian formation 
is imitation of Christ: Christ formed those He called and gathered 
around Himself. Christian Formation is therefore nothing but a 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    169 

continuation of the work of Christ and in imitation of Christ who 
gathered disciples around Himself, taught them and sent them out to 
preach and cast out demons (Mk3,13-15)10 

The context, environment and basis of every human formation is 
the human society. This is because every person who is called to 
formation comes from the womb of a human society or community and 
from particular contexts and circumstances.11 Formation must have the 
capacity to confront and provide solutions to the problems, 
contradictions and potentialities of the society. The situation and 
condition of man in the world, especially with regards to rationalism, 
individualism, materialism, secularism, human sexuality and the family, 
inhuman capitalism, subjectivism, multi-racialism and multi-culturalism, 
demand that there be a robust and well-articulated formation of the 
priest for today’s world. Formation must lead to the confrontation of 
values that are detrimental to the gospel and to Christian life. For 
instance, it should confront modern problems identified as wrong 
interpretation of human existence; consumerism; subjectivism of the 
faith; a rejection of sacrifice and religious and spiritual values; a distorted 
sense of freedom that leads to a rejection of God and religious 
indifference; a debased and degraded interpretation of sexuality, in which 
sexuality becomes a turning inward to oneself of this precious gift, which 
results in exploitation and the reduction of this gift to “a consumer good” 
and is a caricature of a balanced view of sexuality that should lead to 
affective maturity and “growth in personality”.12  

Every form of formation of the human Christian person must 
have the ideals of the Christian life as its goal and aspiration. These ideals 
are enumerated as true and genuine freedom; the value of the human 
person; love for authenticity and sincerity; a new understanding of the 
reciprocal rapport between men and women; a move towards a just and 
sympathetic world; openness and dialogue; commitment to peace; the 
resurgence of ideals voluntary service can help youth and young men to 
follow the path of complete consecration to God as a priest.13 
 
The Fundamental Characters and Foundation of Formation of 
the Christian Person 
The formation of the human person, for it to be Christian, must have 
three indispensable and fundamental characters and foundations: 
Christocentric and Christological, Trinitarian and Ecclesiological. In 
terms of its Christocentric and Christological foundation, it must be 
based on the contemplation of Christ, the high priest, in whose 
priesthood the ministerial priesthood is a participation. The entire 
ministerial priesthood is a participation in the life of Christ Himself.14 



170 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Christian formation of the human person must have a Trinitarian 
foundation, origin and source. This is more so for the life of the priest: 
“the priest, by virtue of the consecration which he receives in the 
sacrament of orders, is sent forth by the Father through the mediatorship 
of Jesus Christ, to whom he is configured in a special way as head and 
shepherd of his people, in order to live and work by the power of the 
Holy Spirit in service of the Church and for the salvation of the world.”15 
The missionary and relational dimensions of priestly formation16, 
ministry and life are brought out through and in this Trinitarian 
foundation 

Lastly, the Christian formation of the human person must have 
an Ecclesiological foundation. The church is mystery, communion and 
mission. 17 The human person is a mystery based on the connection with 
God who is mystery in Himself. The human person is called to relational 
communion relationship with others, that is, the communion and 
sharing of life. The human persons who discover themselves in mystery 
and communion are the same persons called to express these dimensions 
in mission, that is, taking the good news out and witnessing to the world. 
 
Human Formation 
In its discussion of human formation, the Ratio Fundamentalis (henceforth 
RF) concentrates on four principal and indispensable dimensions: 
psychological formation which “focuses on the constitution of a stable 
personality, characterized by emotional balance, self control and a well 
integrated sexuality”;18 moral formation which entails the formation of a 
good conscience, that is, the formation of “responsible persons able to 
make the right decisions, gifted with right judgement and able to have an 
objective perception of person and events”19; aesthetic formation which 
indicates capacity to relate with the environment and appreciation of 
beauty and goodness; historical formation which involves the personal 
history of the persons for formation, their socializations prior to entrance 
into formation and how this has affected the growth of their personality. 
Formation is to help them to guard against attachment or preferences of 
certain persons over and above others; to be inclusive rather than 
exclusive in their social and relational preferences and choices. Human 
formation also exposes them to the dynamics of self-formation, that is, a 
formation of the self that is guided and accompanied by trained 
formators and experts. In this regard, there must be openness to the 
formative contributions of women “who, by their witness of their lives, 
give an example of prayer and pastoral service, a spirit of sacrifice and 
self-denial, of care and tender closeness to their neighbours”20 

Human formation is fundamental to and is the first of the 
dimensions of formation. Everything a human person wants to be is built 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    171 

upon the human substratum or the humanity of that person. Holiness 
perfects humanity, and does not replace or diminish it. “The whole work 
of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it 
lacked a suitable human formation”21. The foundation of all human 
Christian formation is configuration to Christ. Human formation 
determines Christian and priestly identity. The qualities acquired in 
human formation are important for candidates to the priesthood if they 
are to be balanced, strong, free, with the capacity to bear the weight 
pastoral responsibilities.22 

Human formation is therefore to be understood as ontological 
configuration to Christ. The priest is called by God. He is chosen by 
God for a special mission. His human formation therefore has to be 
Christic and Christo-centric. His vocation is a gift, and not merited. He 
therefore has to cooperate with the Giver of the gift for the gift to 
blossom and arrive at its fullest maturity and realization. As a person 
called to serve the people, the priest needs to “sharpen his human 
sensitivity so as to understand more clearly their needs, respond to their 
demands, perceive their unvoiced questions and share the hopes and 
expectations, the joys and burdens which are part of life: thus he will be 
able to meet and enter into dialogue with all people.”23 

The human aspect of formation has to do with the ability of the 
person in formation to be at home with his humanity, personal history 
and limitations and rise above all of these limiting and militating 
situations. The person to be formed has a fundamental role to play in his 
formation. Consequently, “each seminarian is the protagonist of his own 
formation … and is called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, 
spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into count his own 
personal and family background. Seminarians are likewise responsible for 
establishing and maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent 
with the values of the Gospel”24. 

Formation helps candidates preparing for the priesthood to be 
“balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of 
pastoral responsibilities, to be educated to love truth, to be loyal, to 
respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, 
to have genuine compassion, to be men of integrity and especially to be 
balanced in judgement and behavior.”25 Human formation is formation 
in essential good attributes: courage, magnanimity, humility, common 
sense, discretion, transparency, right judgement, honesty, love of truth26 
Both PDV and RF are agreed that the foundation of formation would be 
faulty if the human dimension of it is not properly taken care of.27 
Human formation is formation of the humanity of the person, the 
radical transformation of the core of a human person. 



172 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The person to be formed is taken from a human community, has 
a human personality. In terms of the formation of a priest, the humanity 
of the priest should be a bridge and not an obstacle.28 
Consequently, human formation should lead to personal maturity, in 
their spiritual, emotional, physical, sexual, intellectual, psychological and 
social dimensions. Human formation must lead to the perfection of the 
image of Christ in the person being formed and reflect the perfection 
found in the humanity of Christ, the perfect man. A solid human 
formation makes the relational, relatedness and interactive dimensions of 
the human person possible. It leads to the development of solid human 
qualities.  

Human formation should lead to affective maturity, the ability to 
love and to receive love. This love takes the whole person as its point of 
departure and forms the candidates in responsible love and the authentic 
meaning of sexuality, which will also include education to true meaning 
of friendship and “fraternal affection”. Human formation, that leads to 
human maturity, must also concentrate its creative energy and attention 
on formation to the responsible use of freedom. This responsible 
freedom will help the candidates to overcome the problematics of 
selfishness and individualism and advance the education of the moral 
conscience.29  

Human formation should lead to commitment to the truth, 
respect for others, justice, truth telling, compassion, integrity, balance in 
judgement, self-control, strength of character, development of a high 
sense of responsibility.30 It should also focus on self-determination and 
responsibility for one’s actions, which translates into a balance in 
relationships. Consequently, the entire life history, the ability of the 
person to be reconciled to and integrate that personal history, family 
influences, awareness of personal weakness, are very important for 
human formation. Human formation of the candidates for the 
priesthood should also take into cognizance the importance of 
interpersonal relationship and relationship with the environment31; 
relationship with women; the ability to take responsibility; self-
determination; awareness of personal weakness; the care for physical 
well-being; cultivation of good habits; emotional stability; development 
of leadership skills; cultivation of interactive skills; capacity for dialogue; 
openness; respect; affective maturity; understanding of self and others 
and sympathy; compassion; patience; tolerance; love of the truth; 
honesty; moral excellence; transparency. 
 
Spiritual Formation 
The second important dimension of formation which human formation 
leads to and in which it finds its completion is spiritual formation. There 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    173 

is in every human person the religious “character” or dimension: the 
openness to transcendence and the absolute.32 Spiritual formation has to 
do with communion with God, with Christ, submission of life to the 
Spirit, “in a filial attitude toward the Father and a trustful attachment to 
the Church. Spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the 
cross, which in deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal 
mystery.”33 Spiritual formation is the core “which gives life” to the being 
of the priest and to his activities in the world. It should lead to union 
with the Trinity, drawing close to and living in intimate union and 
communion with Christ, living out the paschal mystery, seeking Christ 
through meditation on God’s word, participating in the divine mysteries 
of worship, in filial obedience to the Bishop and in veneration of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary.34  

Spiritual formation opens candidates to the mystery that the 
Christian religion is: “the gift, of a personal covenant of love and life 
between God and human beings.”35 It is communion with Christ, that is 
expressed in the deepest act of love and friendship with Him. It is search 
for Jesus which if assiduously carried out, will lead to finding Him, 
following Him and being in communion with Him.36 This seeking or 
search for Jesus would be achieved if three important steps or paths are 
covered: “a faithful meditation on the word of God, active participation 
in the Church's holy mysteries and the service of charity to the “little 
ones.”“37 The fundamental and primal way of responding to the word of 
God is prayer,38 which is nothing but that deep intimacy with God, 
which expresses itself in a total gift of self “to Christ and through Christ 
to the Father.”39 Formation for prayer will include formation for the 
appreciation of silence. Formation for Christian commitment to prayer 
finds its highest expression in the Eucharist, the “‘summit and source’ of 
the sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours.”40 Spiritual formation will 
also include formation for the liturgy of the Church, the expression and 
continuation of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. It will include 
formation and appreciation for the other sacraments, especially penance, 
the cultivation of the practices of asceticism and self-sacrifice; the 
understanding of the meaning and centrality of the cross, the heart of the 
paschal mystery, in the life of every believer and identification with 
Christ crucified.41 Spiritual formation will also teach the candidate to 
seek Christ in people, to offer himself as a gift to others, to be a man of 
charity and to teach others what the commandment of love truly 
entails,42 and to understand the core spiritual values inherent in the 
evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience as the free 
expression of the total gift of self in imitation of the charity of Christ.43 
 
 



174 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Intellectual Formation 
This aspect of formation of the human person has to do with the 
formation of the mind, and the scientific acquisition of knowledge, 
which is not intended to be a mere acquisition of knowledge but a 
knowledge that is directed towards knowing and adhering to God. 
Intellectual formation is important because of the nature of the ministry 
to which the candidates will be called to share in, the need for 
evangelization and the necessity to defend the faith.44 Being called to 
collaborate with Christ in the salvation of their brothers and sisters, they 
have the responsibility “to seek an ever deeper knowledge of the divine 
mysteries.” Owing to the challenges of modernity and post modernity, 
the formation of candidates must equip them intellectually to have the 
capacity to proclaim “the changeless Gospel of Christ.”45 This formation 
needs a stable institution and a formal atmosphere for it to take place. In 
the formal environment in which the formation of candidates to the 
priesthood takes place, there is need for a corp of persons who by virtue 
of their preparation and training, are equipped to carry out the duties and 
responsibilities of the intellectual formation of the candidates for the 
priesthood. Intellectual formation must take place in a suitable 
environment.  

Formation candidates must demonstrate commitment to 
intellectual formation, 46 which must have focus and content. This 
intellectual formation is carried out through the study of Philosophy and 
Theology, two disciplines that must be coordinated effectively “so that 
they supplement one another in revealing to the minds of students with 
ever increasing clarity the Mystery of Christ, which affects the whole 
course of human history.”47 This dimension formation must not be 
simple expression of rarified truths but equally pastoral application of 
same and concern for the challenges and preoccupations of the times. 
With a firm intellectual formation, formation candidates are equipped to 
thoroughly assess the negative teachings and philosophies that are 
bandied about in the modern world and proffer solution to counteract 
them, based on the truths of the gospel. Intellectual formation must also 
focus on the “unity of the educational process in its diverse aspects.”48 
Consequently, the “commitment to study, which takes up no small part 
of the time of those preparing for the priesthood, is not in fact an 
external and secondary dimension of their human, Christian, spiritual 
and vocational growth. In reality, through study, especially the study of 
theology, the future priest assents to the word of God, grows in his 
spiritual life and prepares himself to fulfill his pastoral ministry.”49 What 
this implies is that intellectual formation must not be carried out as if it is 
an end in itself, as pure abstract knowledge that has no bearing with real 
life, but must be “integrated with a spirituality marked by a personal 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    175 

experience of God. In this way a purely abstract approach to knowledge 
is overcome in favor of that intelligence of heart which knows how 'to 
look beyond,' and then is in a position to communicate the mystery of 
God to the people.”50  

The study of Philosophy will lead to a “deeper understanding 
and interpretation of the person, and of the person’s freedom and 
relationship with the world and with God.”51 It will also lead “the 
students gradually to a solid and consistent knowledge of man, the world 
and God.”52 It is also vital because of the links that exist between the 
great themes studied in Philosophy that find expression in theology. 
Philosophical studies will also help to dethrone “subjectivism as a 
criterion and measure of truth…”53 and lead candidates to appreciate the 
truth that can never be given by man but is a gift from God Himself. The 
second part of intellectual formation of the candidates is theology, the 
discourse on God. Theological studies must have the true faith as its 
point of departure and point of arrival.54 This faith is one about which 
questions are asked and answers are given, on the basis of divine 
revelation, tradition and the living magisterium of the Church, in order 
to arrive at its deeper understanding. This faith is faith in Jesus Christ, 
which is expressed and exercised in the Church. Thus, the faith has 
Christological, Ecclesiological and Ecclesial foundation, implication and 
dimension. These dimensions should help the candidate to develop a 
deep love for Christ and His Body, the Church. Intellectual formation 
must be integrated with spiritual formation and the prayer life, otherwise 
it regresses into pure abstraction and theological gymnastics and 
sophistry. The aim of theological formation should be the arrival at “a 
complete and unified vision of the truths which God has revealed in 
Jesus Christ and of the Church’s experience of faith.”55 It should 
integrate the scientific study of theology with its pastoral aim and seek 
the inculturation of revealed truths within the cultural expressions that 
the Church is called upon to preach the message of salvation.56 
 
Pastoral Formation 
The last aspect of formation of the human person for the priesthood is 
Pastoral Formation. Pastoral formation has to do with the configuration 
of the candidate to become shepherds after the image of Christ, the 
Good Shepherd. This is stated so well in Optatam Totius that 
recommends that candidates should be trained for the ministry of the 
word, of worship and sanctification, of the shepherd. The other three 
dimensions of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual should be 
directed to “a specific pastoral end.”57 Pastoral formation should consist 
of “mature reflection and practical application”58 and taking cue from 
Pastoral Theology, must not be seen just as an art, but as “a scientific 



176 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

reflection on the Church as she is built up daily, by the power of the 
Spirit, in history; on the Church as the “universal sacrament of salvation, 
as a living sign and instrument of the salvation wrought by Christ 
through the word, the sacraments and the service of charity.”59 It must 
concern itself with the practical application of the principles encountered 
and acquired during the scientific intellectual formation that the 
candidate has to undergo. These principles are to be put into practice in 
the various pastoral trainings, experiences and services that are to be 
carried out during the formative years. Pastoral formation should lead 
the candidates to “deeper communion with the pastoral charity of Jesus 
Christ”60  

Pastoral formation is therefore “a type of formation meant not 
only to ensure scientific, pastoral competence and practical skill, but also 
and especially a way of being in communion with the very sentiments 
and behavior of Christ the good shepherd: “Have this mind among 
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).”61 Pastoral 
formation, which is not mere apprenticeship, should “seek really and 
truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in 
the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the 
interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and 
looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and 
according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work.”62 It 
should expose the candidates to living out the charity of Christ in terms 
of the care for the less fortunate, the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the 
normads, and to various forms of social works, all with the intention of 
expressing the closeness and the love of Christ to those who are most in 
need of it. It should teach the candidate to defend the rights and dignity 
of man, created in the image and likeness of God, wherever such appear 
to be jeopardized, and inculcate in the candidate the capacity to live out 
his mission as a service in the community.63 It should help the candidate 
to understand and see the Church as mystery (work and presence of the 
Trinity), communion (community, collaboration, cooperation) and 
mission (the missionary dimension of the life of the Church).64 
 
The Formation for the Priesthood as Paradigmatic of Formation 
of the Human Person 
The four principal areas that are foundational and fundamental to the 
formation of candidates for the priesthood could also be validly 
contextualized and utilized as paradigms and directional principles for 
the formation of any human person in order to arrive at fullest Christian 
maturity and attain the deployment of their latent potentials and the 
realization of their possibilities. 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    177 

Human Formation 
The insights gained in the documents studied can be validly proposed for 
the formation of any human person, and especially of a Christian, in any 
circumstance. The documents proposed that human formation is the 
bedrock of all formation. The formation of any person is fundamentally 
based on human formation. Human formation is the formation of the 
humanity of the person, the radical transformation of who a person is. 
This human formation has the ontological configuration to Christ as its 
principal point of departure and arrival. It involves sensitivity to the 
needs of others, ability to be at home with one’s humanity and rise above 
personal history and limitations. Human formation has to do with 
formation to be balanced persons, to love truth, justice, be loyal, 
respectful, compassionate, to be persons of integrity and be balanced in 
judgment and behaviour. Human formation will therefore include 
formation in affective maturity, self-responsibility, self-determination, 
development of leadership skills, cultivation of interactive skills, moral 
excellence and transparency. These are foundational principles that 
should form the bedrock of the formation of human persons for the 
good of society and humanity in general. Consequently, the insights of 
the documents are very valid in this regard for the authentic formation of 
persons. 
 
Spiritual Formation in the Formation of the Human Person 
The important insights and guiding principles used in the spiritual 
formation of candidates for the priesthood are equally of valid 
importance in the formation of the human person. The documents 
describe spiritual formation as predisposition to transcendence and the 
absolute, communion with God and with Jesus Christ, the good 
shepherd and submission of life to the Holy Spirit,65 and that it is central 
to the life of the faithful and “unifies their being and living as Christians, 
that is, as new creatures in Christ who walk in the Spirit...”66 It consists 
in living the life of Christ, living in union and communion with Christ, 
communion with Christ, search for Jesus, meditation on God’s word, 
participation in the mysteries of worship, and dedication to the service of 
charity. These ideals of the spiritual formation of candidates for the 
priesthood are also important in the overall formation of the human 
person in terms of cultivation of the ideals of self-sacrificial love, love of 
the cross, dedication and commitment to the paschal mystery, 
participation in the liturgy of the Church, living out ascetical practices 
that help in the promotion of the life of man in the world. The insights 
in these documents clarify the fact that man’s push towards 
transcendence can be validly assisted through authentic formation in 
spiritual values that are cognate to his nature. 



178 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Intellectual formation 
The documents studied emphasized the formation of the mind and the 
indispensability of the scientific acquisition of knowledge, which should, 
however, not be for the sake of mere acquisition but a knowledge that is 
God-centred and directed towards knowledge of God and the good of 
others. The formation of the mind is important in today’s world. This 
need is especially seen in the propagation of the culture of death, moral 
relativism, flight from commitments; consumerism; hedonism and 
pleasure seeking. Intellectual formation will equip the human person to 
make differential judgment and determine in a personal, informed way, 
the course of action to take. We are aware and are living witnesses today 
to the power and influence of the modern means of communication in 
the shaping of behaviour and conduct. A well-integrated, well informed, 
balanced and systematic presentation of truths within the programme of 
intellectual formation, will help every human person to make the right 
decisions about the course of actions to pursue. 
 
Pastoral Formation  
Every human person, to arrive at full maturity, needs the important 
insights on the formation of the pastoral person as enunciated in the 
documents and teachings of the Church. The person and character of the 
Church through history, the lessons the Church has learnt, will be of 
invaluable aid in the pursuit of such a pastoral endeavour. Pastoral 
formation principles could be used in the development of certain values 
in the human person: the charity of Christ in the care for others; 
commitment to social work; work for the promotion of human dignity 
with Christian principles; living out one’s Christian mission as a form of 
service that benefits other people; recognition of one’s identity and that 
of others; capacity for communion, collaboration, cooperation, co-
responsibility; understanding; trust and love for the Church. The 
principles of pastoral formation could also be validly deployed in the 
search and actualization of the different vocations, for instance, 
“marriage, social services, apostolate, ministries and other responsibilities 
in pastoral activity, the consecrated life, involvement in political and 
social leadership, scientific research, teaching.”67 The fruits of Pastoral 
formation will be valuable in teaching the lay faithful “in their vocation 
to be present in and to transform the world with the light of the Gospel, 
by recognizing this task of their and showing respect for it.”68 The 
principles of pastoral formation of the candidates for the priesthood are 
equally important in the area of the missionary content of the life of 
every baptized and of every human person. Every human person should 
live with the self-recognition that life has a mission. In the context of the 
Christian person, that mission is Christ Himself, the way and the truth 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    179 

and the life. That mission of Christ is prolonged and carried on in the 
activities of the Church, called upon to continue and carry on the 
mission of the Saviour until the end of time. That mission includes 
living out and proclaiming the gospel of Christ in the events of life and 
even sometimes as lay missionaries, witnessing to the truths of the 
gospel, in cooperation and collaboration with the ministerial priests. 
 
Conclusion  
The four formative principles, pillars or dimensions: human, spiritual, 
intellectual and pastoral, formulated and stated in conciliar and post-
conciliar documents on the formation of the candidates for the sacred 
priesthood, especially Optatam Totius, Pastores Dabo Vobis and the New 
Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis and used for the training of 
candidates in preparation for the assumption of responsibilities as 
Catholic priests, are valid instruments that could also be used for the 
formation of any human person. The underlying strength of these time-
tested formative principles lies in the fact that they would ensure, in a 
wholistic way, the configuration of the human person, to the Person of 
Christ, the perfect Model of formation. The reasonability of these 
principles reveals the Church as that great teacher that strives to make 
disciples for Christ, since everyone who encounters the Church, cannot 
but be formed after the image of Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church. 
However, as consistently maintained in this paper, the wholistic 
formation of the human person gives absolute premium to the humanity 
of the human person who is called to witness to Jesus Christ. The 
humanity of every individual sets the fulcrum or pivot around which the 
other dimensions turn. Thus, a faulty human formation cannot produce 
a formed individual in the wholistic sense. The dependability of the 
other dimensions of formation on human formation is clearly cut. The 
point of divergence between the dimensions of the formative processes 
under the jurisdictions of human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral 
indicates the various cardinal aspects of the human person; the point of 
convergence is largely the integration of these aspects of the human 
person, to be formed in the image of Christ, thus, becoming another 
Christ in the society. These formative principles, though insufficient in 
themselves, when taken together, become sufficient in building up the 
candidates for the sacred priesthood and the human person called to live 
out their mission in the society. Hence, there must a successful 
synergizing of the results of the various dimensions of formation to 
attain holistic formation of the human person.    
 
 
 



180 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Endnotes 
                                                      
1 The word paradigma is originally a Greek (and later Latin) word. Etymologically, 

the word paradigma is from two Greek words, ‘para’ meaning ‘beside’ and 

‘deiknynai’ meaning ‘to display or show’” and these two words “were combined to 

form ‘paradeiknyai’, which possessed the literal meaning ‘to display side by side’”. 

The word “was used to refer to 'a model or pattern',” [“Paradigm” in 

https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/paradigm, accessed 08.03.21, 08.45 am]. 

It could also mean a method, a well-tested and proven to be reliable form that 

could be replicated. Paradigm is thus “a standard, perspective, or set of ideas” 

[“Paradigm” in https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=paradigma 

&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8, accessed 08.03.21, 09.16 am.] 

Paradigmatic is the adjectival form of paradigma and it means “serving as a typical 

example of something” and “of or denoting the relationship between a set of 

linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.” It 

is also “a fancy word for describing something that is an ideal or standard. ... You'll 

come across it if you study the subject of linguistics, where "paradigmatic analysis" 

is one way of analyzing a text, by examining patterns within it.” “Paradigmatic” in 

https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=V8Y&ei=a9pFYLWOLbHO1fAPkI

mnyA8&q=paradigmatic+meaning&oq=paradigmatic&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAE

YATIKCAAQkQIQRhD5ATIFCAAQkQIyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAgg

AMgIIADoHCAAQRxCwA1DmhQNYqooDYJDVA2gBcAJ4AYABwwOIAdMIkgEJMC4x

LjIuMC4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz, accessed 

08.03.21, 9.34 a.m 
2 “Latin definition for: formo, formare, formavi, formatus” in https://latindictionary 

.net/definition/20903/formo-formare-formavi-formatus, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.31 

p.m 
3 “Formation”, in https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/formation, accessed 20.02.2020, 

18.39 
4“Definition of formation”, in https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/forma 

tion, accessed 20.02.2020, 18.15pm 
5 Pastores Dabo Vobis is the post synodal Apostolic Exhortation written by Pope 

John Paul II at the conclusion of the Eighth Ordinary General Assembly of the 

Synod of Bishops, from 30 September to 28 October, 1990, dedicated to “The 

Formation of Priests in Circumstances of the Present Day. This post synodal 

apostolic exhortation has as its focus the formation of priests for the modern age 

and time. Formation must know the present situation of the world full of 

ambivalence and contradictions, difficulties and potentialities, and have genuine 

courage to discern, interpret and find solutions to it [Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 10] 

Formation of persons for the priesthood must therefore have gospel discernment 

at its heart: the ability to discern and interpret the situation of the world in the light 

of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is, in the light of Christ Himself [cf. Pastores Dabo 

Vobis 10] 
6 Pastores Dabo Vobis 8 
7 Pastores Dabo Vobis 10 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    181 

                                                                                                                         
8 Pastores Dabo Vobis 1 
9 Pastores Dabo Vobis 12 
10 Pastores Dabo Vobis 2 
11 Pastores Dabo Vobis 5 
12 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 8 
13 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 9 
14 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 11H 
15 Pastores Dabo Vobis 12 
16 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 12 
17 “As a mystery, the Church is essentially related to Jesus Christ. She is his fullness, 

his body, his spouse. She is the "sign" and living "memorial" of his permanent 

presence and activity in our midst and on our behalf. The priest finds the full truth 

of his identity in being a derivation, a specific participation in and continuation of 

Christ himself, the one high priest of the new and eternal covenant.” Pastores Dabo 

Vobis 12 
18Congregation for the Clergy, The Gift of the Priestly Vocation- Ratio 

Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, Liberia Editrice Vaticana, Vatican (2016), n. 

94 
19 Ibid. n. 94 
20 Ibid. n. 95 
21 Pastores Dabo Vobis 43 
22 Optatam Totius 11 
23 Pastores Dabo Vobis n. 72  
24 Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, 130 
25 OptatamTotius 11 
26 Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, no: 93. 
27 Pastores Dabo Vobis, no: 43. 
28 Pastores Dabo Vobis, no: 43. 
29 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 44 
30 Cf. Optatam Totius, no: 11. 
31 Cf. Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, no: 94. 
32 Pastores Dabo Vobis 45 
33  Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 45 
34 Cf. Optatam Totius 8 
35 Pastores Dabo Vobis 46 
36 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 46 
37 Pastores Dabo Vobis 46 
38 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 47 
39 Pastores Dabo Vobis 47 
40 Pastores Dabo Vobis 48 
41 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 48 
42 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 49 
43 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 50 
44 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 51 
45 Pastores Dabo Vobis 51 



182 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
46 Congregation for the Clergy, Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, n.141 
47 The Second Vatican Council, Optatam Totius 14. 
48 Pastores Dabo Vobis 51 
49 Pastores Dabo Vobis 51 
50 Pastores Dabo Vobis 51 
51 Pastores Dabo Vobis 52 
52 Optatam Totius 15 
53 Pastores Dabo Vobis 52 
54 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 53 
55 Pastores Dabo Vobis 54 
56 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 55 
57 Optatam Totius 4; Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 57 
58 Pastores Dabo Vobis 57 
59 Pastores Dabo Vobis 57 
60 Pastores Dabo Vobis 57 
61 Pastores Dabo Vobis 57 
62 Pastores Dabo Vobis 58 
63 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 58 
64 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 59 
65 Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis 45 
66 Pastores Dabo Vobis 45 
67 Pastores Dabo Vobis 59 
68 Pastores Dabo Vobis 59 



183 

13 

THE DIALECTICS OF “AUTO-GUIDED” 

FORMATION: THE SEMINARIAN AS AN 

AGENT OF FORMATION 
 

Anselm K. JIMOH Ph.D. 
Department of Philosophy 

SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Major Seminary 
P.M.B. 5171, Bodija, Ibadan. 

jimohanselm@gmail.com 
  
Abstract 
Formation is an intricate phenomenon involving the interaction of the 
different agents of formation. At the centre of this interaction is the 
formandi/seminarian who is, himself, an agent of his own formation. 
The input of the formandi is fundamental to the overall output of the 
formative process since the output of the formative process is a synthesis 
of the inputs of all the different agents of formation. Understood in this 
sense, formation is a dialectics. The formandi, being the central focus of 
formation, and at the same time an agent of his own formation, his 
response and/or disposition to formation either compliments or negates 
the inputs of the other agents of formation. Therefore, the formandi can 
single-handedly make or mar the formative process. The dialectical 
dynamics of formation is not just between the other agents of formation 
and the formandi (external), it also internal, as the formandi struggles to 
resolve his personal ideas with the quadruple requirements of priestly 
formation. This paper adopts the method of critical analysis to evaluate 
the dialectics of auto-guided formation, it investigates how the formandi 
interacts with the agents of formation towards achieving the character of 
another Christ, and concludes that the extent to which the formandi is 
properly formed depends on the extent to which he positively disposes 
himself to formation. The aim of the paper is to encourage the formandi 
to dispose himself appropriately towards formation and get the 
maximum output from his programme of formation. 
 

mailto:jimohanselm@gmail.com


184 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Keywords: Agent of formation, Auto-guided, Dialectics, Formandi, 
Formation.  
 
Introduction 
Priestly formation is meant to equip a candidate aspiring towards the 
Catholic priesthood through a continuing conversion of heart, mind and 
soul that would enable him carry on an effective ministry in serving God 
and the people. It is a demanding and intensive programme of human, 
spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation that requires the interaction 
of different agents of formation, viz: the formators, the fomandi, the 
environment and the curriculum of formation. These agents interact 
continually to shape the fomandi into the character of a priest as an Alter 
Christus; one who acts in persona Christi capitis and in nomine ecclesia. The 
central focus in the formation process is the candidate who is undergoing 
formation – the seminarian or formandi. His disposition towards 
formation, which involves his docility or indocility, is key to how he is 
formed because formation is a “give and take” phenomenon. When the 
given is not taken, there would be no formation and the way and manner 
the given is taken determines the extent to which the formandi is 
formed. Herein lies the dialectics of auto-guided formation. 

The present paper relies on existing literature on the subject and 
adopts the critical analytic, conceptual and hermeneutic approach to 
examine the dialectics of auto-guided formation. That is, how the 
formandi interacts with the agents and factors of formation, which 
includes himself, towards achieving the character of another Christ. The 
paper elucidates the idea of priestly formation as a basis to examine the 
concept of auto-guided formation. It carefully but critically interrogates 
the role of the formandi in his self-formation. Based on the analysis 
herein, it concludes that whether a formandi is appropriately formed or 
not depends on how his docility. The primary aim of the paper is to 
encourage the seminarian to positively dispose himself towards 
formation and get the optimal from his programme of formation. 

 
Priestly Formation 
Even though priestly formation is not the primary focus of this paper, it 
is nonetheless, important to expound the concept of priestly formation 
because the concept of auto-guided formation, which is the primary 
focus of this paper, takes its meaning and modus operandi within that of 
priestly formation. Priestly formation is a very important and demanding 
task aimed at developing the priestly character. It is a holistic, integral, 
and inclusive process that involves the human, spiritual, intellectual and 
pastoral development of the candidate in formation.1 It requires the 
seminarian to open up for a personal encounter with the Lord and be 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    185 

transformed by the Lord.2 The new Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis 
Sacedotalis (RFIS) n. 35 describes it as a process that implies the 
configuration of the seminarian to Christ, who is the head, the shepherd, 
the servant and the spouse; bringing the seminarian into a mystical 
identification with the person of Christ as described in the gospels. 
According to Carlos Wong, Archbishop Emeritus of Papantla and 
Secretary for Seminaries, Congregation for the Clergy, it is “the process 
of internalisation, in the proper sense, a priestly lifestyle, which aims to 
ingrain the values that are proper to life and to priestly ministry in the 
personality of the candidates for the priesthood.”3 Paraphrasing Evangelica 
Testificatio n. 32, Bishop Donatus Ogun of the Diocese of Uromi, 
describes formation as “the honest confrontation with the self of the way 
of life of Jesus Christ, His teaching and example. It is about building up 
of the inner man, it is the care you have for the inner man which will 
help you to recognise, in the midst of so many different and attractive 
possibilities, the most suitable way to live your vocation.”4 

The Second Vatican Council’s (VC II) Decree on Priestly 
Formation: Optatam Totius (OT), clearly identified the basic principles of 
priestly formation, and the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores 
Dabo Vobis (PDV) by Pope St. John Paul II provides a blue print for 
priestly formation in the circumstances of a fast-paced digital world.5 A 
simple summary of PDV, in the words of John Anaigwu would be: 
priests need to be “balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing 
the weight of pastoral responsibilities.”6 Specifically, PDV n. 43 states 
that, 
They [seminarians] need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to 
respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, 
to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to 
be balanced in judgement and behaviour. 
PDV nos. 43 – 45 identify the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral 
aspects as the four basic components of priestly formation. And further 
emphasised that the human formation is the basis of all priestly 
formation because it is the human person that becomes the priest. The 
spiritual formation is the centre that holds and provides life to the being 
of the priest and his function as a priest. Intellectual formation, which is 
apparently the most visible, transcends the acquisition of degrees in 
Philosophy and Theology to include educating the priest to be 
“knowledgeable in all human sciences and even the history and culture 
of the nations within which they are expected to minister.”7 Such a 
holistic education recognises the positive development of the IQ and 
aptitude of the seminarian and equip him to respond appropriately to 
enquiries from the faithful who seek guidance and counsel to resolve 
their faith and moral crisis in the face of new scientific and technological 



186 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

discoveries that tend always to remove God from the picture.8 According 
to OT n. 4, the trifold of human, spiritual, and intellectual formation 
aims at making the priest a pastor. One who is a true shepherd of souls 
after the example of Jesus Christ; trained in the ministries of the word, 
worship and sanctification, and shepherding just like Christ who did not 
come to be served but to serve (Mt. 10:45 and Jn. 13: 12-17) and win 
souls by becoming servants of all (1 Cor. 9:19). The pastoral formation 
has both the theoretical and practical aspects. The former is acquired in 
the classroom in the seminary, and the latter is acquired on the field 
(dioceses) during apostolic work and pastoral year. The apostolic work 
and pastoral year periods provide the opportunity for seminarians to 
learn the praxis of the ministry through exposure to parish life and 
setting. Needless to say, as Anaigwu impressively analysed, that the 
practical aspect of pastoral formation seems to be riddled with abuses 
these days judging from the way it is handled by priests in the dioceses. It 
has been misconstrued as a time for probing the seminarian, getting a 
wage-free houseboy, and at times, considered an unnecessary burden on 
the priest or parish.9 

Priestly formation takes place essentially in a seminary, therefore, 
it can also be described as seminary formation. It differs from the regular 
secular education, schooling or job training, hence it is not called 
seminary education but seminary formation. “It is an activity of 
cooperation with the grace of God where by God Himself works in the 
man to form him into Christian man and sharer in the Priesthood of 
Jesus Christ.”10 In the seminary, the formation of the seminarian is 
integrated with the wider ecclesia understanding of the Church. Thus, 
Bishop Ogun says, “it is in the discovery of who the church says He 
[Christ] is you [the seminarian] are then able to meet him and say ‘here 
I am, send me.’ This is the purpose of Catholic formation in our 
seminaries.”11 Based on the foregoing, it behoves on the seminarian to 
open-up and entrust himself to the Church in his formation while he 
recognises the fact that he is primarily responsible for his own 
formation.12 This last point introduces the core of this paper; the 
seminarian as an agent of formation, which is to be properly understood 
within the notion of auto-guided formation. 

 
Auto-Guided Formation 
The concept of “auto-guided” is compounded from the dual concepts of 
“auto” with the prefix (auto-) and “guide.” The former (auto-), from its 
Greek root translates as “self” and often used in the formation of 
compound words like autograph, autobiography, automatic, etc. The 
latter (guide), as a verb means to indicate the way, and as a noun, it 
describes someone who shows the way to others. Literarily therefore, 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    187 

“auto-guided” would be self-guidance or to guide oneself, which implies 
that the seminarian guides himself in his formation. The way it has been 
applied in seminary formation since its evolution a little over two 
decades ago, implies more than just self-guidance or to guide oneself. It 
means that the seminarian forms himself following the guidance of 
others. These others are his formators and the other agents of formation. 

The Holy Spirit is principally the agent of formation and all 
other agents of formation are mediators through whom the Holy Spirit 
forms the seminarian. The other agents of formation include the 
following: (i) The Bishop, who is ultimately responsible for the entire 
formative process. (ii) The diocesan community and the presbyterate, 
which constitute the privileged environment for the transmission of 
priestly values. (iii) The educational community of the seminary, which 
consists of the formators, lecturers and employees. (iv) Diocesan priests 
who play a vital role in the interactions with the seminarians during the 
latter’s apostolic work and pastoral year experience. Even though it is not 
usually stressed, the laity and women play special roles in the 
seminarian’s discernment of his priestly vocation, so they are also agents 
of formation. These human agents of formation should help the 
seminarian to open himself up personally and profoundly to the 
sanctifying action of the Spirit by helping the seminarian to take his 
formation seriously and assist in sustaining him to make his ‘Yes’ 
response to the Lord every day.13 

The role of the formators and lecturers in the seminary as agents 
of formation within the context of auto-guided formation is 
ineliminable. Therefore, it is important to emphasise it, even if just 
briefly. They constitute the “guidance” aspect in the process of 
formation, for by their way of life, instructions, and lectures, they guide 
the seminarian. In this wise, the seminary must be adequately staffed. To 
be adequately staffed does not just mean quantity in terms of the number 
of priests on the formation team or lecturers in the various departments. 
Neither does it just mean academically intelligent formators and 
lecturers. It means having qualitative formators and lecturers. Qualitative 
here describes priests who in the honest judgement of their Bishops are 
tested and trusted; “priests whom their Bishops can vouch for in terms of 
commitment to responsibilities, sound doctrine, spiritual, moral and 
social maturity, priestly decorum, intellectual soundness, economic and 
financial discipline, with ecclesiastical personality.”14 The same applies at 
its own degree to the lecturers employed to teach the seminarians. They 
must be of good moral standing and ideas, matured and disciplined in 
their choice of expressions, dress code, and should have respect for the 
Church’s teachings and hierarchy, as well as be able to keep their 



188 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

personal opinions to themselves when they deliver their lectures. 
Inappropriate guidance would lead the seminarian to malformation. 

All said, the seminarian is the first person responsible for his own 
formation. PDV n. 69 asserts that, “we must not forget that the candidate 
himself is a necessary and irreplaceable agent in his own formation: All 
formation, priestly formation included, is ultimately a self-formation. No 
one can replace us in the responsible freedom we have as individual 
persons.” In the same wise, the new RFIS n. 130 emphasises that: 
Each seminarian is the protagonist of his own formation, …and is called 
to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, spiritual, intellectual and 
pastoral areas, taking into account his own personal and family 
background. Seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing and 
maintaining a climate of formation that is consistent with the values of 
the gospels. 

In the above statement, the new RFIS directs attention to the 
formative attitude of the seminarian, which is the personal input or self-
guidance inclusive in the notion of auto-guided formation. The personal 
input of the seminarian requires that he must be “available and docile to 
learn from the various circumstances of his life, in all the dimensions of 
his personality.”15 The concepts of “availability” and “docility” are 
imperative here. A seminarian who lacks availability just goes to the 
chapel, the class, the play field, the refectory and the library because he 
should be there according to the horarium but does not personally and 
actively participate in what goes on at these places. Consequently, he just 
goes through the activities without the activities going though him. In 
other words, even though the seminarian is guided, he refuses to apply 
himself to guidance – he has been given formation by the design of the 
horarium but he has not taken formation. It is one thing to be guided 
and another thing to apply oneself to guidance. A seminarian’s 
unavailability implies his lack of formation because he refuses, ipso facto, 
to be formed. 

Availability and docility are complementary. To be docile is to 
open oneself to learn. A seminarian who goes to class with his mind 
already closed to whatever the lecturer would say cannot learn. Such a 
seminarian sits in positions where he cannot be noticed, stares at the 
lecturer all through the lecture with the grimace that may be translated 
into “finish and leave joor,” he takes no notes in class, asks no questions 
and avoids been noticed to be asked a question. Sometimes, he is reading 
through some other materials of interest to him that have no relevance to 
the lecture going on. Such a seminarian is not docile and he is lacking in 
the aspect of self-formation. Even when the aspect of the guidance is 
there, the seminarian would be malformed. 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    189 

The availability and docility of the seminarian enables him to 
achieve the fundamental openness required to advance the necessary 
freedom to allow oneself to be accompanied and to receive positively the 
help of his formators. Seminarians that are selective of the formator they 
want to listen to are doing harm to their self-formation. In the same vein, 
formators that play to the gallery with seminarians; who would overlook 
formative issues because they do not want to disturb the seminarians or 
make them think they (formators) are “wicked” (to use the common 
term of seminarians), are not only obstructing the self-formation of the 
seminarians but also neglecting their role in the dialectics of auto-guided 
formation. 

 
Dialectics of Auto-Guided Formation 
Dialectics refers to “a method of philosophical argument that involves 
some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides.”16 It is a form 
of reasoning that involves a dialogue of arguments and counter-
arguments that results in a synthesis of advocating propositions and 
counter-propositions. It is an inquiry into the truth of opinions with the 
aim of seeking a resolution or reconciliation. As a philosophical method, 
it is a discourse between two or more discussants who hold different 
opinions, but aim at establishing the truth of their positions through 
reasoned arguments. Within Hegelianism – Georg W. F. Hegel’s system 
of thought, with which dialectics is mostly associated – dialectics has a 
specialised connotation; it describes the contradiction between ideas that 
ultimately determines the relationship between the ideas. It consists of 
three stages of development. The first stage is the thesis or statement of 
an idea, it gives rise to the second stage, which is a reaction or antithesis. 
The antithesis negates the thesis. To resolve the negation of the thesis by 
the antithesis, the third stage, which is the synthesis is produced, thus, 
the synthesis resolves the differences between the thesis and the 
antitheses. It is in this sense that dialectics is understood as “the tendency 
of a notion to pass over into its own negation as the result of conflict 
between its inherent contradictory aspects.”17 This is exactly the sense in 
which Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels popularised it in their social and 
economic analysis referred to as dialectical materialism. It is characterised 
by the interaction between the thesis and antithesis in the production of 
the synthesis. 

By the dialectics of auto-guided formation therefore, I mean the 
interaction between the formation-given, which constitute the thesis of 
the dialectics, and the formation-received, which is the antithesis, in the 
production of the formed – that is, the output of the resolution between 
the thesis and antithesis – is the synthesis. The formation-given is the 
input of all the agents of formation, moderated by the formators, in the 



190 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

formation of the formandi. The formation-received is the way and 
manner the formandi receives the inputs of all the other agents of 
formation. In particular, it describes the formandi’s positive or negative 
disposition (availability and docility) towards formation. The formed is 
what the formandi turns out to be at the end of his formation. The thesis 
alone (formation given) cannot constitute the synthesis; the way and 
manner it is received, which is either favourably or nonchalantly or 
rejected (antithesis) determines the end-product of the formed, which 
would be either properly formed, malformed or not formed at all 
(synthesis).  

In the dialectics of auto-guided formation, the seminarian’s role 
as an agent of his own formation is crucial to how he is formed. If the 
seminarian is positively disposed, he will be open to the inputs of the 
other agents of formation and he would allow himself be guided by such 
inputs. He would mould himself; intellectually, spiritually, pastorally and 
humanly, into the character and person of Christ, following the template 
of the formation-given. With determination and commitment to be 
properly formed, he would courageously confront the negativities that 
constitute antithesis to the formation-given. These negativities include: 
not wanting to be told what to do, wanting to be like other young men 
outside the seminary, wanting to sleep a little longer in the early hours of 
the morning rather than having to get up for morning prayers, 
questioning the rationale for manual work and the necessities for the 
mandatory lectures, dress code, etc. On the hand, the seminarian that is 
not positively disposed, would not only lack the determination and 
commitment required to confront these negativities, but would 
rationalise and justify them. Consequently, he would react, in one way or 
another, against the inputs of the other agents of formation. Even though 
formation is given, the seminarian would be malformed because of his 
negative disposition and lack of openness to accept the inputs of the 
other agents of formation. Because he disagrees within himself with the 
manner of formation, he would not be properly formed. 

It is germane at this point to consider some of the possible 
attitudes towards formation by seminarians. There are, at least, four 
easily discernible possible attitudes that a seminarian can have towards 
formation. 
i. Lack of interest towards formation. 
ii. Pretentious interest towards formation. 
iii. Uncommitted interest towards formation. 
iv. Genuine interest towards formation. 

For those in group one, there is nothing about the seminary that 
interests them; they grudgingly do everything, from going to the chapel 
for prayers to going out for games. They are interested in such things 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    191 

that give them pleasure or make them free, for example, outing and 
lecture free days. Whatever the formators say does not make sense to 
them, they just stare at the formators and say “Thank you Fr” when the 
formator is done talking to them. Deep in their heart, they mean “Leave 
me alone.” Their minds are made on what they want to do and how they 
want to be priests, they are in the seminary to count the years as they roll 
by and get out there for ordination. From the day they finish their oral 
B.Th. exams, chapel is a no-no for them. They go around with an air of 
freedom thereafter. Seminarians like these cannot be properly formed 
because they lack the basic fundamental disposition of availability and 
docility. 

For group two, they are of the same category in terms of 
disposition as those in group one but sneaky and more dangerous. They 
are very good seminarians in the presence of their formators and anyone 
who matters as far as their seminary formation is concerned. When no 
one is looking they do everything they should not do but which is 
actually what they desire to do. They can have a very strong negative 
influence on their fellow seminarians, which makes them dangerous. 
They are like the biblical wolves in sheep’s clothing. 

The third group have the genuine interest in being formed, but 
on their own terms. They listen and participate in formation activities 
and programmes as it is convenient for them. When it is not convenient 
for them, they participate all the same but without any attention at all just 
to be counted as present. Seminarians in this category have a fair idea 
what the priesthood should be, but more often than not, their idea is 
orientated towards their “ideal priest” who is usually not Jesus Christ as 
it should be but one priest somewhere that they admire so much, for 
whatever reasons. If their ideal priest is one of those striving to do the 
right thing, those in this category have chances of being well formed, but 
if he is one of those doing his own thing in the priesthood, they are not 
likely to be well formed. 

The fourth group involves seminarians who are wholeheartedly 
positively disposed towards formation. They actively participate in 
formation activities and programmes with the genuine intention of 
getting the maximum results in terms of acquiring knowledge and the 
priestly character after the mind of Christ and the Church. They are 
attentive in class and eager to learn. They do not hide in the crowd 
because they have no intention to break the rules and regulations of 
formation. They feel free with their formators and share their worries 
with the hope of being assisted to overcome their difficulties. Those in 
this category are, unfortunately not many. 

Those in groups one to three would hardly ever see themselves 
to be wrong, they always consider themselves victimised and would 



192 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

always justify themselves. If they are accused of any wrong doing, 
especially those in groups one and two, they are quick to tender and 
apology – “I am sorry Fr”, what they are sorry for, you do not even know 
because they have not accepted that they were wrong. It is usually an 
indication of seminarians who are not ready to learn or improve. If for 
any reason, they are expelled from the seminary, they consider 
themselves as victims of injustice. Those in group four are, at times 
unfortunate to be expelled but even then, they never hold grudges 
against the seminary or any of their formators. 
 
Conclusion  
The aim of this paper is to analyse the dialectics of auto-guided 
formation and emphasise the fundamental role of the 
formandi/seminarian as an agent in his own formation. No matter the 
formation given and the wholesome role of all other agents of formation, 
the seminarian is only formed to what extent he makes himself available 
for formation. Where he lacks the requisite docility towards learning and 
polishing his character to conform or configure himself to the person of 
Christ, the activities of the other agents of formation will have no 
positive impact in his formation. Aniagwu avers that we should always 
note the contradistinction between “formation given” and “formation 
received.” He asserts that it is not always the case that the formation 
received corresponds to the formation given and the reason for this lies 
in the quality of the response of the seminarian to formation.18 I am not 
unaware of the claim by some liberalists that we are in an age where 
youths have a high tendency towards unrestrained freedom and would 
want to do what they want, when they want and how they want. Based 
on the excessively permissive nature of today’s society, they argue that 
seminarians should be allowed some latitude. I am not taking a position 
on this in this paper, however, I insist that allowing seminarians latitude 
or not is not a primary issue, what is primary is the disposition of the 
seminarian towards formation. Irrespective of societal and environmental 
influences, a seminarian that does not make himself available with the 
required docility for formation would not be properly formed. 
Therefore, the seminarian should evaluate how he forms himself under 
the guidance of the other agents of formation. The measure a seminarian 
puts into his own formation determines the effectiveness of the measure 
his formators and other agents of formation put into his (seminarian) 
formation. PDV n. 69 affirms this with the words, “the actions of the 
different teachers become truly and fully effective only if the future 
priest offers his own convinced and heartfelt cooperation to this work of 
formation.” 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    193 

Endnotes
                                                      
1 John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992), 

43ff. 
2 T. H. Akaabiam, “Seminary Formation,” The Aquinas’ Journal 5 (June 2012), 1. 
3 Jorge Carlos Patrón Wong, “Foundations of Priestly Formation,” 

www.clerus.va>clerus>Dox, PDF, 1. (Accessed 2/9/2019). 
4 Donatus Ogun, “Being True Disciples in a Changing World,” Homily delivered at 

the SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan on the Occasion of 

the Celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and Installation of the 

Ministries of Lector and Acolyte (June 28, 2019). 
5 John K. Aniagwu, Faith and Social Action: Perspectives on the Church and Society 

(Iperu Remo: Ambassador Publications, 2011), 214. 
6 Aniagwu, Faith and Social Action, 213. 
7 Anselm Jimoh, “Priestly Formation in the Face of Contemporary Challenges in 

Nigeria: Lessons for Consideration in Auchi Diocese,” in Diocese of Auchi at 10: 

History, Growth and Perspectives edited by J. A. Onimhawo and F. E. Ikhianosime, 31 

- 53 (Ibadan: Safmos Publishers, 2013), 44. 
8 Jimoh, “Priestly Formation,” 44 – 45. 
9 Anaigwu, Faith and Social Action, 222-223 and Jimoh, “Priestly Formation,” 46. 
10 “What is Seminary Formation?”, https://vocationsboston.org, 2. (Accessed 

2/9/2019). 
11 Ogun, “Being True Disciples in a Changing World.” 
12 “What is Seminary Formation?”, 3. 
13 Wong, “Foundations of Priestly Formation,” 3. 
14 Jimoh, “Priestly Formation,” 48-49. 
15 Wong, “Foundations of Priestly Formation,” 2. 
16 Julie E. Maybee, “Hegel’s Dialectics,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 

https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegel-

dialectics. (Accessed 29/2/2020) 
17 “Dialectics” in http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectics. (Accessed 3/9/2019). 
18 Aniagwu, Faith and Social Action, 211. 

 

https://vocationsboston.org/
https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegel-dialectics
https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=hegel-dialectics
http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialectics


194 

14 

FORMATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD: 
FORMING THE FORMATORS 

 
Edwin N. OMOROGBE, Ph.D 

Parish Priest of St. Paul Catholic Church Benin City and 
Adjunct Lecturer, Department of philosophy, University of Benin, Benin City 

eddyomorogbe@yahoo.com 
 
 
Abstract 
There have rightly been so much emphasis on formation to the 
priesthood Whenever a priest performs his pastoral duties properly, the 
formators in the seminary are applauded. But when a priest fails in his 
pastoral ministry, formators in the seminary are queried for why they did 
not identify the flaw in the process of formation. Formators of candidates 
to the priesthood are very instrumental to healthiness of the faith of the 
people. How is it possible that a seminarian who was always faithful to 
the Church’s teaching in the seminary suddenly becomes a priest who is 
almost like a “soothsayer” in the name of prophecy? How is it possible 
that this priest no longer sees the needs to observe the liturgical rubrics? 
From ‘alter Christus’ to an ecclesiastical entertainer. How is it possible 
that the priest trained to form others in the faith is almost becoming an 
instrument of deformation of the faith others. This is precisely why our 
paper wants to examine the formation of those responsible for the 
formation of these candidates. If the formators must discern and help in 
the conscience formation of the candidates to the priesthood, the 
formators also must be engaged in on-going formation to keep abreast 
with the new challenges facing priests in pastoral ministry. What are 
some of the areas of on-going formation that may be helpful to formators 
to enhance their efficiency? This research will draw insights from 
magisterial documents and psychological findings on the need to form 
the formators. Failure to form the formators leads to deformation of the 
candidates for the priesthood.  
 
Keywords: Formation, Formator, Priesthood 
 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    195 

Introduction 
Every profession requires ongoing formation in order to acquire 
knowledge and expertise that will make the persons more efficient in 
their various disciplines. It is even more important in the disciplines that 
have to do with human formation. The vocation to the Sacred 
Priesthood in the Catholic Church requires lengthen years of human, 
intellectual, spiritual and pastoral formation. In all these areas of 
formation, the human formation is considered the bedrock upon which 
all other aspects of formations are to be built upon.  

The Church holds that she has the exclusive right and duty to 
form those who are designated for the sacred ministries.1 Every diocese is 
to have a Major Seminary and where it is not possible an inter-diocesan 
seminary is to be established. The establishment of inter-diocesan 
seminary requires the approval of the Episcopal Conference and the 
approval of the Holy See.2 Since the formation of priests is intrinsically 
connected to the proclamation of the Gospel of the Lord, the Church 
claims the innate right to establish program for the formation of the 
candidates for the priesthood. Each nation is expected to established its 
own program of formation but it must follow the template provided in 
the RATIO FUNDAMENTALIS of the Holy See.3 

Anyone involved in the formation of candidates to the 
priesthood must be familiar with all four areas of formation. The person 
must have the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to assist the 
students to develop the necessary virtues and to drop the unhealthy 
incompatible vices with the ministerial priesthood.4 The changes in the 
method of the proclamation of the Gospel, the introduction of revised 
rituals for the sacraments and sacramentals, the evolution of the pastoral 
needs of the people of God, and the contemporary doctrinal challenges 
are just some of the few areas that require ongoing formation for the 
formators. Formators who are not familiar with the sociological changes 
and the “new mindsets” of the people of God towards reception of the 
proclamation of the Gospel will not be very effective in the art of 
formation.  
 
Objective of the Paper 
This paper will therefore, attempt to show that it is as important to train 
the formators as much as it is important to train the candidates for the 
sacred priesthood. The possible areas of ongoing formation of formators 
will be examined. The entire presupposition of this research is anchored 
on the fact that there is no fullness of knowledge in any human creature. 
Growth in knowledge is continuous until death. The Gospel of Luke 
2.52 says Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. If Christ who is divine can 
because of his human nature be subjected to growth in wisdom, all those 



196 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

who are incorporated into Christ by baptism also have the obligation to 
seek ways to grow in wisdom and knowledge. For those who train 
candidates for the sacred priesthood, the ways to grow in wisdom and 
knowledge is through formation of the formator. Let us now briefly 
examine some possible obstacles to ongoing formation of formators. 
 
Forming the Formator 
It is important to always keep in mind that every human being requires 
ongoing formation. This ongoing formation comes in two ways. First, it 
comes through practical knowledge acquired from years of experience. 
The second way is through a formal or an organised program for the 
formator. The two should normally co-exist. The law established that all 
Christ faithful do have the obligation to ensure that the message of 
salvation is spread to every part of the world.5 The direct implication of 
this is the fact that the Church must provide the means and the 
opportunity for the message of salvation to reach the entire world. Priests 
do have important functions in the fulfilment of this obligation of Christ 
entrusted to the Church. This is the context in which we must 
understand the great importance of the process of forming those who 
provide the leadership in the field of evangelization. Those responsible 
for the formation of priests take up a very important tasks that is at the 
heart of the mission of the Church. Making provision for the ongoing 
formation of seminary formators should therefore be rightly seen as 
ecclesiastical obligation that flows from the mandate of Christ to the 
Church to go into the world and make disciples.  

In a recent Symposium on the Gift of Priestly Vocation for 
Formators in English speaking Canadian Seminaries, The Archbishop 
Secretary of Seminaries for the Congregation for Clergy underscored the 
need for formators to be engaged in ongoing formation.6 He noted that 
formation involves gradual and progressive stages as outlined in the Ratio 
Fundamentalis. This gradual and progressive formation requires formators 
to be well prepared to assist the candidates.7 In the same Symposium, 
Carlos presented a paper on how formators are to accompany and help 
seminarians discern their vocation.8 In this paper, Carlos writes: “The 
high quality formation of formators (with ongoing formation and of 
all priests, makes possible the integral formation of seminarians).  (Initial 
formation) who are in the initial stages of their journey and gives it a sure 
footing.”9 The integral formation of seminarians will depend upon the 
quality of the formators. The quality of the formators improves based 
on-going formation. Carlos explained thus: “The degree of growth 
achieved by the formator is what allows him to help the young 
seminarians in their own growth process.”10 Any seminary that has no 
program for on-going formation of the formators is doing a great 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    197 

disservice to the Church because of the quality of priests that will come 
out of the seminary.  

Two specific areas that formators must focus ongoing formation 
are accompaniment and discernment. In the area of accompaniment, the 
formator must improve on establishing a true bond with God by 
listening to his Word. The formator must also have a systematic bond 
with the one who accompanies us in God’s name.11 Engaging in 
programs that enhances the listening capacity of the formator will help to 
make the formator more efficient in his work.  
 
Priestly Formation 
There have been several magisterial documents on priestly formation.12 
Our research will only deal with a few that we consider relevant to the 
area of our study. Priestly formation in this research refers to the 
preparation of candidates for the priesthood. Although, such preparation 
requires multiple intervention from the family to the parish, to the lay 
apostolate group the person may belong to, to the diocesan program of 
formation through pastoral work or other forms of formation, our 
research will however, be primarily based upon the seminary aspects of 
formation. It will be concerned about the four areas of priestly formation 
and how specifically formators are trained to be competent to help 
candidates in these areas of formation. Therefore, in dealing with priestly 
formation our attention will not such much be on the candidates for 
formation but on forming the formators.  
 
The Second Vatican Council 
On 28 October 1965 Pope Paul VI published the Decree Optatam Totius, 
on Priestly Formation. The Decree stated that program of priestly 
training should be set up by Episcopal Conferences but always keeping 
in mind the Universal Law on priestly training.13 The Major Seminaries 
are the places where candidates to the priesthood are trained to be 
shepherds of souls after the model of Christ the Chief Shepherd. All the 
forms of the training in the seminary are to be ordered towards the 
pastoral end.14 The intellectual and spiritual training are for pastoral 
effectiveness. In order to be successful in the formation of candidates, 
seminary formators are to be obedient to their bishops.15 
Given the high primum place on the formation of candidates to the 
sacred priesthood, the Fathers of the Council stated: 

Since the training of students depends both on wise laws 
and, most of all, on qualified educators, the 
administrators and teachers of seminaries are to be 
selected from the best men, and are to be carefully 
prepared in sound doctrine, suitable pastoral experience 



198 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

and special spiritual and pedagogical training. Institutes, 
therefore, should be set up to attain this end. Or at least 
courses are to be arranged with a proper program, and 
the meetings of seminary directors are to take place at 
specified times. 

Administrators, however, and teachers must be keenly aware of how 
much the success of the students' formation depends on their manner of 
thinking and acting. Under the rector's leadership they are to form a very 
closely knit community both in spirit and in activity and they are to 
constitute among themselves and with the students that kind of family 
that will answer to the Lord's prayer "That they be one" (cf. John 17:11) 
and that will develop in the students a deep joy in their own vocation. 
The bishop, on the other hand, should, with a constant and loving 
solicitude, encourage those who labor in the seminary and prove himself 
a true father in Christ to the students themselves. Finally, all priests are 
to look on the seminary as the heart of the diocese and are to offer 
willingly their own helpful service.16 

The Fathers of the Council took ongoing formation of formators 
seriously enough to decree that Institutes for forming formators be set 
up. Such Institutes will help to keep formators abreast in the new 
pedagogical ways of discerning and accompanying a candidate towards 
the priesthood. The regular meetings of Rectors and other formators are 
to be focused on improving ways of on-going formation of the 
formators.  

The Decree makes an important point by stating the strong 
connection between the success of the priests in the ministry and the 
nature of formation received in the seminary. It will also mean that to 
some extent, the failure of the priest in the ministry can be traced to the 
nature of the formation and discernment received at the seminary. This 
further underpin the argument for ensuring proper on-going formation 
of the formators.  

Another essential element expressed by the Council Fathers is 
the community in which the seminarians are formed. Formators are to 
establish a closely-knit community in which they work in solidarity 
under the leadership of the Rector. Formators must keep in mind that 
the seminary environment is a community. One of the distinguishing 
factors of a community is a shared goal and a shared means of achieving 
it. The Rector is expected to help guide the formators to use a common 
means to achieve the common goal of forming candidates for the 
priesthood in the Church. Programs that will enhance community living 
should be provided from time to time for formators to access. This is one 
way of forming the formators to enable them provide and sustain 
conducive atmosphere for the formation of candidates for the 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    199 

priesthood. A formator who is manifestly unable to live in a closely-knit 
community should be assisted to develop the capacity to live in a 
community with shared goals. In the unfortunate situation where the 
formator is still unable to abide by community life, a pastoral solution 
that will strongly include the possibility of exiting the seminary 
formation system should be explored. 
 
Pastores Dabo Vobis on Forming the Formators 
John Paul II in this famous Apostolic Exhortation stated that without 
priests the Church will not be able to fulfil the fundamental obligation 
Christ entrusted to the Church, which is to go out and preach the 
Gospel to the entire world:  

Without priests the Church would not be able to live that 
fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her 
existence and her mission in history, an obedience in 
response to the command of Christ: "Go therefore and 
make disciples of all nations" (Mt. 28:19) and "Do this in 
remembrance of me" (Lk. 22:19; cf. 1 Cor. 11.24), i.e, an 
obedience to the command to announce the Gospel and 
to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and 
the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.17 

The Church must therefore place great importance on those who form 
candidates to the priesthood because they are participating in the core of 
the mission of the Church. The formation of the formators is therefore 
part of the essential mandate of Christ to the Church. PDV describes the 
work of the formators as follows: 

The Church's work of formation is a continuation in 
time of Christ's own work, which the evangelist Mark 
illustrates in these words: "And he went up on the 
mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and 
they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with 
him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to 
cast out demons" (Mk. 3:13-15).18 

The seminary community constitutes a sort of mountain place. It is a 
place of prayer and discernment. The process of identifying those who 
are suitable for the priestly ministry is one that should be done with all 
the seriousness it deserves. The formators in the seminary must have the 
necessary knowledge and skills to assist in the four areas of formation 
mentioned in PDV. The Document stated that the entire work of 
priestly formation rests on a solid human formation:  

“The whole work of priestly formation would be 
deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable 
human formation. […]. Future priests should therefore 



200 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of 
proper and due growth and realization of self, but also 
with a view to the ministry. These qualities are needed 
for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable 
of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. They 
need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to 
respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to 
be true to their word, to be genuinely 
compassionate, to be men of integrity and, 
especially, to be balanced in judgment and 
behaviour.19 
Formators must first of all possess these qualities in themselves 

in order to be able to discern them in the candidates for priesthood. On-
going formation of formators should consider helping in the area of 
developing personal self-respect for the truth and respect for dignity of 
the human person and the diversities of opinions. A rigid approach to 
every aspect of human life is unhealthy. To have balance judgment, a 
formator will have to be capable of making assessment that are not 
influenced by their ethnicity. On-going formation of formators should 
also focus on how to work in a multi-ethnic diverse society.  

The candidates for the priesthood are expected to display a great 
sense of affective maturity and sound human sexuality. This will enable 
the person to be able to minister as a celibate priest to everyone in the 
pastoral field. The life style of formators most times constitute the model 
upon which seminarians build their future upon. Formators should be 
role models in the area of affective maturity. The formation of the 
conscience of the candidates should be sound.20 

Spiritual formation requires that the candidates have a deeper 
communion with Christ who is inviting them to work in his vineyard. 
“Spiritual formation has its roots in the experience of the cross, which in 
deep communion leads to the totality of the paschal mystery.”21 
Formators are to be concerned with the spiritual life of the candidates for 
the priesthood. A spirituality that is devoid of communion with the 
suffering Christ must not be promoted. The current trend of seeking 
miraculous healings in almost every case of illness point to an unhealthy 
spirituality especially by priests who promote such beliefs. Although, 
Spiritual Directors are primarily responsible for the spiritual formation 
of the seminarian, all other formators must have some rudimentary 
knowledge on spiritual formation. The provisions of Optatam Totius 
should be observed in the area of spiritual formation: 

Spiritual formation should be conducted in such a way that the 
students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with God the 
Father through his Son Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Those who are 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    201 

to take on the likeness of Christ the priest by sacred ordination should 
form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their 
lives. They should live his paschal mystery in such a way that they will 
know how to initiate into it the people committed to their charge. They 
should be taught to seek Christ in faithful meditation on the word of 
God and in active participation in the sacred mysteries of the Church, 
especially the Eucharist and the Divine Office, to seek him in the bishop 
by whom they are sent and in the people to whom they are sent, 
especially the poor, little children, the weak, sinners and unbelievers. 
With the confidence of sons they should love and reverence the most 
blessed Virgin Mary, who was given as a mother to the disciple by Jesus 
Christ as he was dying on the cross."22 

The intellectual formation of candidates to the priesthood is 
rooted in the fact that human beings are called to participate in the Light 
of God’s mind.23 Through this way, the human being is able to confront 
the new challenges that comes up in evangelization. The educational 
formation of the formators is essential in the area of intellectual 
formation. It is expected that formators continue to engage in further 
researches in their respective area of discipline. Attending conferences, 
seminars, symposiums etc are some of the ways of ensuring on-going 
formation of the formator as it relates to intellectual formation. There 
should be reasonable financial budget to encourage formators to seek on-
going formation in their respective disciplines. In this way, they will be 
able to proffer new solutions to contemporary pastoral challenges in an 
intellectual manner to the students.  

In the area of intellectual formation, formators should be able to 
help with a balanced sense of inculturation of the faith. Christianity 
should not be presented as foreign to any culture.24 The resurgence of 
many superstitious beliefs within the Christian community is a sign of 
lack of proper intellectual formation. The growing trend of exorcising 
none possessed persons, the preaching of prosperity gospel in order to 
raise fund to complete some projects that in some cases are not even 
essential to the life of the Church, and the personalization of sacramental 
celebrations are just a few indicators that the intellectual formation is 
deficient in these priests. Formators must engage rigorously the culture 
of the people and identify unhealthy elements and promote healthy 
elements as tools of evangelization.  

Pastoral Formation is the goal of the entire formation. The 
formators must seek ways to truly prepare the candidate to be able to 
work effectively in the pastoral field:  
pastoral formation certainly cannot be reduced to a mere apprenticeship, 
aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques. 
The seminary which educates must seek really and truly to initiate the 



202 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and 
mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of 
evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions 
on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the 
theological demands inherent in pastoral work25 

Whenever there is a disconnect with pastoral theology and 
practical experience, the faithful are confused. Whenever there is a 
disconnect between magisterial teaching and the practices promoted by 
priests the faithful are confused. The parish life presents the faithful with 
various challenges regarding the faith. There are so many contradictory 
doctrines promoted outside the Church and unfortunately now even 
within the Church. The Churches moral teaching rooted in Humanae 
Vitae, the observance of well-formed conscience and spirituality that are 
in line with the traditional teachings of the Church are often being 
tactically discarded and replaced by new trends in doctrine. These new 
trends preach a life that is empty of the cross and one filled with 
abundant material blessings with a robust health. The new trend 
promotes spiritual destruction of ones’ human enemies, with selective 
scriptural citations from the Old Testament.  

Giving the constant fluctuation of life styles in behaviour, in 
taste, in fashion, and modes of living, the question has always been raised 
as to whether the formators should also change some essentials in the 
area of formations. The Nigerian society today is greatly saturated with 
prosperity gospel, proliferation of healing ministries and diverse style of 
programs. Wide publicity through the various social media and banners 
where the pictures of the ministers dots every nukes and crannies of the 
city. The opinion of some Catholics have been; will the Church not 
change the method of training priests so that they can at least acquire the 
skills of these Pentecostal preachers. For such persons this is an 
existential question for the Church. They often argue that there is a 
constant migration of Catholics to the new ecclesial communities or 
churches because they provide them with the kind of spirituality that 
they like. Although, there is hardly any convincing statistics to back up 
such claims, the fact that they are constantly being made, demands 
attention of every well-meaning Catholic.  

Formators in the Seminary must be conversant with on-going 
pastoral dimension. The seminary should not be so cloistered that the 
formators are completely unaware of the new development in parish life. 
The goal of the formation process is to prepare candidates to becoming 
priests and who will work in the ministry. It will therefore be necessary 
that strict observance of the policy that require formators to spend some 
time in parish ministry during the long period of seminary vacation be 
adhered to. It is perhaps relevant to note the emphasis Pope Francis 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    203 

places on pastoral experience of members of the Vatican Diplomatic 
Corp. Pope Francis recently directed that those who are to become Papal 
Nuncio are to undergo at least one year of pastoral ministry. In this way, 
they will have personal experience of pastoral life. The same principle 
should be applied to formators in the seminary. At least a period of one-
year pastoral work as a priest should be required before a formator 
assumes office in the seminary.  
 
Obstacles to Forming the Formators 
This research to a great extent assume that seminary formators are 
priests. Although, this assumption is not absolutely true, because there 
are very good religious sisters involved in formation as well as well-
educated lay faithful. But our research will be primarily concerned about 
formators who are priests. Let us briefly highlight some of the challenges 
or obstacles to ongoing formation of formators.  
 
The “Final Goal” Syndrome 
Many professions that have long years of training do have ongoing 
education fatigue. When there is no financial remuneration for 
embarking on further education in the area of specialty, the person is 
further less motivated. Priests who are formators in the seminary have all 
gone through close to ten years of seminary formation and pastoral work. 
Many of them have also completed several post-graduate studies. 
Although, there are no well-known publications of the numbers of 
seminary formators with Doctorate Degree, but a cursory look at the 
number of formators in most of the seminaries in Nigeria will indicate 
that close to 90 percent of these formators do have doctorate degrees. 
Those without it are in most cases in the process of obtaining the degree. 
This is expected in every academic community and the seminary should 
not be an exception.  

However, the need for ongoing formation still remains even after 
obtaining a doctorate degree in the various relevant disciplines. There is a 
general believe born out of perception that once a person is ordained a 
priest, the person has “arrived.” This arrival mindset can impede 
openness to further education and formation. For any priest to consider 
the priesthood as end in itself can become a challenge towards growing 
in wisdom and knowledge as it was reported by the Gospel of Luke 2:52 
regarding Christ human nature. The anti-dote to the final goal syndrome 
is to imitate Christ who grew in wisdom. There is no final goal for any 
human being on this earth.  
 
 
 



204 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Lack of Mandatory Ongoing Formation of Formators 
There is hardly any well-articulated demand for ongoing formation of 
formators. The knowledge of the formators in their respective disciplines 
such as Scripture, Systematic Study or Dogma, Moral Theology, Pastoral 
Theology, Liturgy, Philosophy, Psychology, Spirituality, Canon Law and 
other relevant secular disciplines is not sufficient to be effective 
formators. These disciplines do not in themselves provide the priests 
formators with all the necessary skills to accompany and discern the 
vocation of the seminarian. There should be mandatory ongoing 
formation in the area of discernment and accompanying of the candidate 
towards the priesthood. We had earlier pointed this out when we 
discoursed the presentation of Jorge Carlos Patrong Wong.  
 
Lack of Proper Enforcement of Promotion Based on Publication 
and Research 
In the academic community, the people are concerned about researches 
and publications. Promotion is based upon publication of well 
researched papers on reputable Journal that enjoy blind rigorous peer 
review. Participation at international Conferences and regular ongoing 
research are all taken seriously. In fact, it is sometimes put in sayings like: 
“publish or perish.” This goes to underscore the value placed upon 
ongoing formation of lecturers. However, with a somewhat equal 
priestly status that the sacramental order establishes, there is less 
motivation to publish. The perception of a priest with several 
publications and one who has no publication is not different in the eyes 
of many faithful. It may be time to review establishing merit-based 
promotion following the NUC regulation. Formators with more 
publication should have their papers assessed and the Appointment and 
Promotion Board of the Seminary should help to ensure that there is 
reward for such efforts of formators. The proper academic hierarchy 
should be well entrenched. The template provided by the Institutions 
that the seminary is affiliated to will help in this area. In other words, a 
formator who has enough publications to move from Lecturer II to 
Lecturer I, to Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor (Reader) and to full 
professor should be observed with corresponding financial 
remuneration. Although, priests are expected to live out the promise of 
poverty, it is nonetheless desirable to enhance their capacity to do charity 
to others from their legitimately earned income.  
 
Performance Review 
Most establishments do have performance review system. Performance 
indicators or indices are established to be used in the evaluation of 
persons. Some establishments will have indices such as productivity, 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    205 

punctuality, impact on the live of the people, compatibility with fellow 
workers, health condition, mental fitness etc. It is true that all these 
indices may not be applicable to formators in the seminary, but it will be 
of great service towards helping to form formators if a general template 
that could be adopted is established. Performance indices such as 
openness to pastoral availability, accessibility of a formator by students, 
readiness to comply with seminary statutes, moral uprightness of the 
formator, the psychological mindset, the physical health etc. It may also 
be of help if students are allowed to make objective impute in the process 
of this assessment.  
 
Conclusion 
The pastoral ministry of the priest is very essential to the fulfilment of 
the mission of Christ to the Church. Therefore, the formation of 
candidates to the priesthood is of great importance to the vitality of the 
Church. The quality of formators in the seminary greatly influences the 
quality of candidates for the priesthood that the seminary trains. The 
ongoing formation of formators becomes essential to the faith formation 
of the faithful. If the formators impact knowledge that are relevant to the 
pastoral challenges the seminarians will face in the priestly ministry, the 
latter will be able to render effective pastoral services to the faithful. 
Forming the formator is part of the call to go out and make disciples of 
all nations. Part of the response of the Church to the mission of Christ 
therefore includes making provisions for ongoing formation of 
formators.  
 
 
Endnotes
                                                      
1 Canon 232. All citations from the 1983 Code of Canon Law are taken from, Codex 

iuris canonici, auctoritate Ioannis Pauli II promulgatus, fontium asnnotatione et 

indice analyticoalphabetico auctus, Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1989, English 

translation Code of Canon Law: Latin-English Edition, prepared under the auspices 

of the CANON LAW SOCIETY OF AMERICA, Washington, Canon Law Society of 

America, 1999. 
2 Canon 237. 
3 See canon 247. 
4 For a comprehensive reading on formation of virtues during seminary formation, 

see, Mercitta Kannampuzha, “The Role of Virtues in Formation Programmes: 

Seminaries and Religious Houses,” in The Living Word, 124/3 (2018), pp. 123-142. 
5 Canon 211. 
6 See Carlos Patron Wong, “The Gift of Priestly Vocation,” Symposium for 

Formation Teams English-Speaking Seminaries of Canada 4-7 April 2019. 
7 Ibid. 



206 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
8 8 See Carlos Patron Wong, “Accompaniment and Discernment of Priestly 

Vocation,” Symposium for Formation Teams English-Speaking Seminaries of 

Canada 4-7 April 2019 
9 Ibid. 
10 Ibid. 
11 See Ibid. 
12 See, Rajakumar Joseph, “Ministerial Priesthood and Integral Formation. Revisiting 

Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (The Gift of Priestly Vocation),” in 

Vidyajyoti, 83 1/18, (2020), pp. 24-47;  John McAreavey, “The Formation of a 

Celibate Clergy.” In ITQ 64 (1999), 261-275; Antony Valungal, “Spiritual Formation 

to Become a Missionary Disciple and Pastor in the Document of the Gift of the 

Priestly Vocation,” in The Living Word, 122/6 (2016), pp. 334-352;James J. Conn, 

“Reflections on some recent norms on priestly formation,” in Periodical 98 (2009), 

pp. 1-32; Gordon Read, “Seminary Formation and the Discernment of Priestly 

Vocations,” in Canon Law Society Newsletter, (2011), pp., 35-40; Rajesh Pollayil, 

“Psychological Dimensions of Priestly Formation,” in The Living Word, (2017), pp. 

30-48; Mylo Hubert C. Vergara, “Pastoral Charity: Goal of Priestly Formation in the 

Light of Deus Caritas Est,” in Immaculate Conception School of Theology Journal, 9 

(2007), pp. 5-15; Orlando B. Quevedo, “Notes on the Human Formation of Priests,” 

in Philippine Canonical Forum IX (2007), pp. 251-257; Michael Nobel, “Academic 

Aspects of Priestly Formation in the 1983 Code of Canon Law,” in Studia canonical, 

42 (2008), pp. 437-471; J. Ponnore, “Spiritual Formation of the Diocesan Priest,” in 

Vidyajyoti,, 68 (2005),pp.  595-605; Jobi Thomas Thurackal, “Role of Values in 

Personality and Spiritual Development of Catholic Seminarians in India,” in The 

Living Word 124/3 (2018), pp. 95-122; Mercitta Kannampuzha, “The Role of Virtues 

in Formation Programmes: Seminaries and Religious Houses,” in The Living Word, 

124/3 (2018), pp. 123-142. 
13 OP, no. 1. All citation of Optatam Totius Decree on the Training of Priests are 

taken from www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-

ii_decree_19651028_optatam-totius_en.html.  
14 OP, no.4.  
15 OP, no. 4. 
16 OP, no. 5.  
17 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 1, from 

www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-

ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html (=PDV) 
18 PDV, no. 2. 
19 PDV, no. 43. 
20 PDV, no. 44. 
21 PDV, no. 45. 
22 Op, no. 8. 
23 PDV, no. 51 
24 PDV, no. 55. 
25 PDV, no. 58. 

http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html
http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html
http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis.html


207 

15 

PROMOTING A SEMINARY FORMATION 

THAT IS CONTINUOUS WITH THE 

PRIESTLY MINISTRY 
 

Idahosa AMADASU, Ph. D 
Department of Theology, 

Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele, Ekpoma. 
idahosaamadasu37@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Pastores Dabo Vobis, is most renowned for 
the four areas of priestly formation it proposes. But one who picks up 
this document and intends to immediately read about these areas might 
by disappointed. The document first examines the current situation of 
the priest today and the nature of the priesthood. Only in the fifth of the 
six chapter work did the work discuss the areas of formation of 
candidates for the priesthood. The loud message of the structure of this 
document is that formation of future priests must be attentive to the 
nature of the priestly ministry and the context where it is to be exercised. 
Considering the challenges facing the priestly ministry in Nigeria today, 
especially a religious context characterised by an aggressive 
pentecostalism and a militant Islam, this paper wishes to show that a 
sound theological formation, a spirituality that is informed by the great 
masters of the Catholic tradition motivated by a strong pastoral zeal, 
marked by sincerity and openness and imbibed in a way that is 
continuous and not discontinuous with Seminary formation is 
indispensable for a sound priestly formation today. 
 
Keywords: Seminary, Formation, Ministry, Priesthood, Pentecostalism 

 
Introduction 
Pope John Paul II’s Pastores dabo vobis is well known for the four areas of 
priestly formation it outlines. With this vision, the post-synodal apostolic 
exhortation wishes to state that the seminary formation of the future 
priest should be anchored on human formation, spiritual formation, 



208 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

intellectual formation, and pastoral formation. But one who picks up the 
document and hopes to immediately read these four areas of formation 
might be disappointed. It is only in the fifth of the six-chapter work that 
these areas of priestly formation are enumerated and discussed. The 
earlier chapters of the text are focused on the contemporary context 
where the priest would work today, and on the nature and mission of the 
priestly vocation. The clear message of the structure of the document is 
that the meaning of the priesthood and the contemporary context of the 
priestly ministry must inform the formation of candidates for the 
priesthood.1 

This message also implies that the candidate for the priesthood 
should be trained in a way that seminary formation flows into priestly 
ministry. But the pontiff writes with an awareness of certain hindrances 
that might militate against this continuity when he states about the on-
going formation of priests: “With priests who have just come out of the 
seminary, a certain sense of "having had enough is quite understandable 
when faced with new times of study and meeting. But the idea that 
priestly formation ends on the day one leaves the seminary is false and 
dangerous and needs to be totally rejected.”2 What the pope identifies 
here is not a passing problem confronting the priestly ministry. In our 
own Nigerian context, this problem resonates in the mentality of ‘I have 
arrived’ that often characterises how some view their priestly ordination. 
This mentality frequently promotes a certain rupture with seminary 
formation. We therefore often have the exhibition of certain characters in 
the priesthood whose modes of priestly ministry and service are alien to 
the formative program of the seminary. An example of this is the mad 
rush of many newly ordained priests to take up healing and deliverance 
ministries and to exhibit styles and patterns of preaching and the 
celebration of the liturgy that are inconsistent with their seminary 
formation. Religious figures far from the practice and tradition of the 
Catholic Church are easily taken up by these priests as models. It is not 
books on the lives of saints and their teachings, Church documents, 
classical Catholic books, sound theological texts that dot their shelves; 
rather, the books and religious materials they consume are works of 
popular pentecostal pastors.  

While stating that the discontinuity between the way some 
priests exercise their ministry and their seminary formation expresses the 
heart of our problem, it however does not tell it all. It should be asked: 
what is responsible for this discontinuity between the way some exercise 
their priestly ministry and their seminary formation? If the seminary 
formation ought to have had the necessary formative ingredients that 
should help the priest exercise his ministry with integrity, then why has 
it failed to follow the priest into his ministry? Or more concretely, one 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    209 

may ask, is there something lacking in the seminary formation that 
facilitates its easy discontinuity with the priestly ministry?  Might we also 
ask if there are other causes beyond the seminary formation that 
contribute to this discontinuity?  

This paper wishes to respond to these problems by first 
examining the current style of priestly formation with special attention to 
the Nigerian context. After a discussion of the problems inherent in the 
formation of priests, we shall proceed to propose a way forward on how 
this discontinuity can be overcome in order to have a credible seminary 
formation that is continuous with the priestly ministry.  
 
Seminary Formation of Future Priests 
The institutionalisation of priestly formation began in the Middle Ages, 
specifically, with the Council of Trent. It was precipitated by the 
problems that plagued the priesthood at that time, especially as it 
concerned the moral life of the clergy. There was, therefore, a certain 
vision of forming the future priest in a way that protects him from the 
dangers of the world. The idea of the seminary was thus envisaged with 
the model of a monastery. But with the pastoral renewal that Vatican II 
called for, while retaining the classical model of formation, there was a 
shift to a more pastoral style of formation. What this means is that while 
the enclosed system of seminary formation remains, there is also the 
need to form the candidate in a way that would make him equipped for 
the challenges of the priestly ministry in today’s world.3 

Pastores dabo vobis’ (PVD) outline of the four areas of priestly 
formation shows this post-conciliar emphasis that significantly builds 
upon the conciliar document on the training of priests, Optatam totius 
(OT). It should be noted that in the decades before the council, as 
Katarina Schuth recalls from most published articles of seminary 
formators, the formation of seminarians was perceived to be too isolated 
and they were, therefore, not equipped to face the world and its 
challenges. One of such authors, Stafford Poole, a Vincentian, 
recommended that “if the seminary is to keep abreast of the modern 
world, it is going to have to be reunited organically with lay education.”4  

It was therefore not surprising that OT saw pastoral formation as 
the framework for all other aspects of formation.5 Spiritual formation 
“should be closely connected with the doctrinal and pastoral.”6 The study 
of philosophy and theology should be taught in a way that their 
connection with the mysteries of Christ and the faith and life should be 
evident.7 There is, however, no specific mention of human formation in 
OT. Nevertheless, elements of human formation are present when it 
asks for the need to ascertain the freedom of the candidate, his ability to 



210 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

bear the burden of the priesthood and also the maturity needed to 
undertake the obligation of celibacy.8  

It is instructive to note that human formation, which was not 
clearly explicit in OT, was taken as the basis for all other areas of 
formation: spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral in PVD. While OT 
presents pastoral formation as the framework for all other aspects of 
formation, in PVD, human formation is taken as the foundation of all 
other aspects of formation. In fact, citing the synod fathers, PVD notes 
that “[t]he whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its 
necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.”9 PVD 
believes that a thorough human formation that is open to the truth 
comes to completion in spiritual formation.10 It shows how human 
formation is at the foundation of intellectual formation when it notes 
that the latter is a fundamental demand of the human intelligence by 
which one participates in the light of God’s mind.11 Here one could read 
the intimate link between philosophy and theology. After affirming how 
human formation leads to spiritual and intellectual formation, PVD then 
shows how these form the content of pastoral formation, which “cannot 
be reduced to mere apprenticeship aiming to make the candidates 
familiar with pastoral techniques.”12 

One can say that OT and PVD sought to harmonise the classical 
seminary training of monastic model with helping the future priests face 
the challenges of the contemporary world. OT shows how this is to be 
achieved by proposing that pastoral formation should be the framework 
of all other areas of formation. PVD seems to shift this framework to 
human formation, while at the same time giving more substance to 
pastoral formation. This did not however, concretely remove the tension 
between the monastic model and facing the challenge of the world that 
was already present in the introductory pages of OT.13 Perhaps it is for 
this reason, that despite its clear vision of how priestly formation should 
go, OT asks that each bishop or episcopal conference should domesticate 
or inculturate its proposal on priestly formation.14    

Some countries and dioceses have attempted this domestication 
of the vision of the council by the periodic publication of a program for 
priestly formation.15 In Nigeria, what is mainly obtainable in this regard 
are the handbooks/rules and regulations of the seminaries.16 They are 
usually anchored around the seminary horarium, content of courses, 
social behaviour of seminarians, and a brief philosophy of formation. 
The presentation of the four areas of priestly formation usually defines 
the seminary’s philosophy of formation. This presentation also tends to 
be elaborate in showing the formative principle behind each rule. Here, 
one could find the tension between the monastic model of formation 
and training the candidate for the world. For example, one of the rules 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    211 

and regulations published by SS. Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, 
Ibadan, states: “To avoid a diminution of their fervour for the interior 
life, and the distraction of their attention from sacred studies, 
Seminarians shall not go out except at set times for outings, and in 
exceptional cases for a grave reason and with the approval of the Dean of 
Students. However, after Christmas break, the Year VII Students have a 
general permission daily after lectures.”17 The seeming opposition that 
this rule reflects between the residency of the seminarian in the seminary 
and his outings is revealing. When this is put bluntly, it can be said that 
the seminarian who goes out often risks losing the fervour of his interior 
life and distracting himself from his seminary studies. Anyone who has 
been to the seminary or is familiar with seminary formation would know 
that there is some truth in this rule. The ordinary horarium of the 
seminary is quite tight. So, if a seminarian goes out often or 
indiscriminately, then he may not properly apply himself to the seminary 
program. While this is a given fact, the way the rule is worded presumes 
some inability of the seminarian to make use of his discretion in going 
out, hence he is advised to only go out on outing days or with permission 
for a grave reason. Only those seminarians in the final year, and after the 
Christmas break, when they must have been promoted as deacons or 
deemed fit to be ordained deacons, can enjoy some general permission in 
going out.  

However, one could argue that since only adults are admitted to 
the seminary, that is, students presumed to be qualified for a university 
education, should they not be given more discretion in deciding when to 
go out, and thereby facilitate growth in training in freedom that OT and 
PVD speak about? Here, one who is familiar with how some seminarians 
perceive the seminary as a prison yard would see how this impression 
resonates in the tension between the monastic model of formation and 
openness to the world. It can be said that this impression, justified or 
not, is what gradually grows to facilitate the discontinuity that manifests 
itself between seminary formation and priestly life.  

Just as the tension between outing and residence in the seminary 
resonates the difficulty in harmonising the monastic model of formation 
and openness to the world, another area that reflects this challenge is the 
ban on the possession and use of private mobile phones by seminarians. 
Like the presupposition on the rule on outings above, it is reasoned that 
the possession of a personal cell phone would greatly distract students 
from applying themselves to their program of formation. One thing clear 
about the ban on personal cell phones is that despite the strict 
punishments that go with possessing one, such as a probation or 
expulsion, some seminarians still keep their personal phones. There 
seems to be a deep lack of inner conviction about why they should not 



212 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

have a personal cell phone. The consequence of this is that it could 
promote a subculture where the seminarian hides certain aspects of 
himself so that the whole self is not brought out for formation. Such 
subculture could promote a general lack of sincerity towards formation. 
At this point, beyond the ban or permission of private cell phones, we 
could anchor a major reason why there is often a discontinuity between 
seminary formation and priestly life in the existence of a subculture in 
the seminarian that does not make the candidate fully open to formation. 
The lack of realization of the harmony that should exist between the 
monastic model of formation and openness to the world is the context 
for the growth of this subculture.  

Generally, one could describe a subculture as the presence of 
some beliefs and practices that are at variance with the belief of the larger 
group. In this case, it means the existence of certain beliefs and practices 
in the seminarian that are at variance with the practices and expectations 
of elements of his priestly formation and priestly ministry. It could be 
credibly said that it is this subculture that comes into the open at 
ordination and manifests itself as a rupture between priestly life and 
seminary training. For example, what is also at stake in a seminarian 
possessing cell phones against a clearly stated ban by the seminary’s rules 
and regulations is the grooming of a subculture of disobedience. If the 
candidate is to be formed in learning how to obey for supernatural 
reasons, he should be ready to obey a law that is not sinful, even though 
he is not personally convinced about the reasonableness or validity of 
that law. No one can practice ecclesiastical obedience if he only wants to 
obey what he is convinced about.  

But it is one thing to state a problem and its consequences, while 
it remains a task to confront the root cause of a problem and work 
towards a solution.  Let us now move towards more effective ways to 
find a continuity between seminary formation and priestly life.  
 
Continuity between Seminary Formation & Priestly Life 
The major cause of the discontinuity between seminary formation and 
priestly ministry that we have identified is the tension between the 
monastic model and facing the challenges of the world. This can also be 
described as the context of the problem. But it is not a context that is 
detached from the substance of the problem. There is need to harmonise 
the strength of the monastic model and the relevance of openness to the 
world. This is indispensable for domesticating a credible formative 
program that would be well assimilated and lasting. A significant point of 
departure here is that the monastic model or the isolated seminary 
environment should not be considered as existing against the world, the 
way the aforementioned rule of SS. Peter and Paul on outing seem to 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    213 

have been phrased.  One central message that the future priest would 
have to teach the people is how lay persons in the middle of the world 
can have an interior life. The interior life is not something that should 
exist outside the world, but it must form how we live the world. This 
fact can be explained by the way Joseph Ratzinger understands the model 
of an open Church. He first notes that there should not be opposition 
between the Church and the world, because the Church is not world-
less (Weltlos). The world is not a place that exists besides the Church, just 
as it does not exist for itself because its history and development is 
closely tied to the history of humanity. The biblical picture, however, 
shows that the history of human relationships exists in ambiguity 
because of the goodness and the evil present in human history. For this 
reason, Ratzinger notes that the dialogue between the Church and the 
world should reject a one-sided demonisation of the world, and a one-
sided glorification of science and technology. The crucial element of this 
dialogue is not a matter of the degree of the Church’s openness to the 
world, but how the Church is open to the world.18  

In the same vein, the enclosed set up of seminary formation 
should not be conceived as a place designed in opposition to the world. 
Rather, it should be viewed as a place to prepare the future priests for the 
world they will live and exercise their priestly ministry in. When this is 
concretely understood, it would be easy to see that for example, it is 
more profitable that the seminary environment teaches the seminarian 
how to use and keep a personal cell phone than to have a ban on keeping 
one because of perceived abuses. In this way, a vital aspect of the self, that 
is, the use and possession of a personal handset, is made open to 
formation. Such efforts at formation would be directed to drawing out 
formative ethics on the use and ownership of cell phones rather than 
disciplinary measures to ban them. In this way, one would be able to 
avoid the growth of a subculture that is at odds with the formative 
culture of the seminarian.  

What this example of the cell phone points to is that the more 
seminarians are made to be open, the better they can be formed. The 
affirmation of PVD that human formation is the basis of all other areas of 
formation can be interpreted along this line: only when the seminarian is 
open or the enabling environment is created for him to be open, can he 
be formed in all areas of priestly formation. When PVD states that 
human formation entails the capacity to relate with others, it implies that 
only one that can relate with others can also relate with God. If God is 
personal, without a capacity to form personal relationships the candidate 
will not be able to deal with God as a person. It is for this reason that the 
Ratio Fundamentalis says that a well-structured humanity is indispensable 
for a true spirituality.19  When a true openness leads to the development 



214 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

of a sound spiritual life, the seminarians’ intellectual formation will be 
driven by love for the truth. It is a love for the truth that is founded on a 
genuine human inquiry and faith. In this case, fidelity to the Church’s 
teachings or orthodoxy will not be viewed as a mere adherence to some 
prescriptions. Rather, they will be a motivation of the human inquiry for 
the truth. Just as being critical does not turn one to being sceptical, so 
being faithful to the Church’s teachings does not make one uncritical or 
unable to ask Mary’s question to Archangel Gabriel’s message: “How 
shall this be done, since I do not know man.” (Lk. 1:34). 

In this respect, the seminarian will not see the expectations of his 
state and the priestly ministry as mere rules and regulations to keep. 
Rather, they will be seen as truths to live out. He will not see himself as 
doing something extraordinary in taking up the obligation of celibacy. 
Rather, when celibacy is understood and accepted with formation in the 
four areas, it will first be seen as a specific way to live out the virtue of 
chastity. The well-formed seminarian knows that every Christian, 
including married persons are called to live that chastity. It is in this 
respect that celibacy will be understood as a joyful renunciation of what 
one considers great and beautiful. This frame of mind makes its easy to 
exercise vigilance and avoid any occasion of sin or compromising 
situations out of a firm conviction, and not simply to put up some 
external appearance.  

It is precisely for this reason that PVD identifies the formation of 
conscience and maturity as indispensable for human formation. This 
formation is the best guarantee for exercising authentic freedom and 
responsibility. The emphasis on formation must seek to address the 
conscience of seminarians, make them always recognise their freedom to 
be priests, and how that freedom could also make them to properly 
discern a choice for a different state of life. With such a mindset, just as 
the seminarian could in freedom decide not to continue in the seminary, 
so does the seminarian that looks towards the priesthood prepare himself 
beyond priestly ordination. The seminary horarium would be seen as a 
means for that formation, an aid to developing a plan of life. One 
significant fact of the horarium is the daily recitation of the divine office, 
which only clerics and religious are obliged to recite. Seminarians recite 
it daily as a way of helping them to form the habit that would enable 
them to take up this future obligation. But on certain days in the week, 
like their free days and outing days where the regular horarium does not 
apply, seminarians are asked to say these prayers privately. This, I believe, 
is one of the best ways to gauge whether seminarians are imbibing a 
prayer life that will lead them into the priestly ministry. There are slim 
chances that the seminarian who does not say his prayers on those free 
days will do so in the priestly ministry.  



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    215 

Such days that seminarians are asked to do their prayers privately 
cannot be assessed by external disciplinary measures. This is where a 
good culture of spiritual direction is indispensable in the seminary. Here, 
many seminaries in Nigeria would need to do better. Some don’t have 
sufficient number of spiritual directors compared to the number of their 
seminarians, and quite often, most spiritual directors do not have the 
training that is comparable to that of their other colleagues. It is not so 
common to find spiritual directors who have studied up to doctoral level 
as we have in those who teach other courses in philosophy and theology. 
There is need for more time, personnel, and resources to be invested in 
spiritual direction in our seminaries. A good culture of spiritual direction 
will help the seminarian assimilate the elements of his formation in 
greater depth. A seminarian who does not go for spiritual direction often, 
or who lacks a good culture of spiritual direction, will also not be able to 
give spiritual direction to others. Little wonder that there are frequent 
complaints that most priests are not disposed for spiritual direction. What 
we often have are problem centered counseling sessions. A systematic 
culture of spiritual direction, where the Christian is led to live a balanced 
interior life with the goal of holiness of life is frequently lacking for 
many lay persons. The root cause of this problem might be traceable to 
how seminarians have been formed in the culture of spiritual direction. 

This point on spiritual direction already draws our attention to 
how a good human and spiritual formation also leads to a good pastoral 
formation. This pastoral formation will be supported with clear ideas that 
are informed by a sound intellectual formation. Philosophical studies 
must prepare the mind to think clearly; to appreciate the foundation of 
objective truth and knowledge and the subjective dimensions in which 
these have been expressed throughout history. Such an opening creates 
the enabling environment for a theological formation that is orthodox 
and at the same time critical. With the guidance of Scripture and the 
Church’s teachings, in critical dialogue with other human disciplines, the 
seminarian will be equipped with the content of his pastoral ministry. 
Such content cannot be a mere acquisition of knowledge to be dispensed, 
but it must always have depth in the candidate’s personal conviction and 
way of life.  

It is for this reason that the seminarian’s intellectual and spiritual 
formation must be sufficiently exposed to Catholic tradition in a way that 
every seminarian would adopt models from the great spiritual masters 
and saints. This exposure, which should already begin in the spiritual 
year program, would help the seminarian to have tested guides and their 
rich experiences to draw from. When this is lacking, as people always 
look for models, in their craze for relevance, the seminarian or priest 
easily picks up models that are at variance with his formation as we see in 



216 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the corrupt pentecostalism that is afflicting the priestly ministry of some 
today. This lack of having true models is not helped by the fact that 
many of these practices that are contrary to a sound priestly ministry as 
we find in the preponderance of healing and deliverance ministries, seem 
to be tolerated in the dioceses. The seminarian could therefore grow 
with a mentality that certain practices not in tandem with his seminary 
formation could be practiced as priests. Little wonder that one often 
hears that seminary formation is not practical for the pastoral ministry. 
But the fact is that it is a seminary formation that has not been well 
imbibed and the existence of a certain subculture groomed within and 
outside the seminary that is ultimately responsible for the rupture 
between seminary formation and priestly ministry. 

Finally, one cannot rule out the role of formators in helping 
seminarians inculcate the seminary formation. It is a time-honoured 
recommendation of the Church that only the best of priests or those 
who exercise their priestly ministry with integrity should be sent to be 
seminary formators.20 This must be followed religiously. While on-going 
formation of formators is important, the seminary system should have an 
internal system of accountability where formators can always have 
personal and communal review of their participation in the formation 
program. For example, at the end of every course, there should be a way 
of evaluating or getting feedbacks about how the course has been taught 
by the formator or lecturer. This helps to maintain a certain standard 
among formators.  
 
Conclusion 
In this paper we have shown that the discontinuity that exists between 
seminary formation and the priestly ministry can be traced to the tension 
between the monastic or enclosed seminary set up and openness to the 
world. Both dimensions have strengths that can be harmonised when 
they are not seen in opposition: the enclosed seminary set up is to 
prepare the seminarian for the world he is going to serve. Therefore, 
rather than seeing the world as something to protect the seminarian 
from, he should be prepared to live in the world. As advised by PVD, 
human formation should be taken as the basis of this formation. Here 
the emphasis on formation in conscience and openness would allow the 
seminarian grow in a maturity that would enable him to exercise his 
freedom responsibly. This would avoid the growth of any subculture, 
within and outside the seminary, that leads to hiding aspects of the self 
that become manifest after ordination to create a rupture between 
seminary formation and priestly ministry. With such a strong human 
formation, the candidate is disposed to having a personal relationship 
with God which makes him imbibe his prayer life beyond the mere 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    217 

observance of routine or seminary horarium. The prayer life should be 
founded on an interior life that is open to the truth and founded on an 
intellectual formation that is orthodox and critical. This helps to shape a 
pastoral formation which flows from a deep interior life. The role of 
spiritual direction in helping the seminarian grow in this interior life 
cannot be overemphasized. The seminary must always be equipped with 
well formed spiritual directors, just as it should be for other formators 
who must have a systematic program of on-going formation. It is hoped 
that when the right environment is created for the seminarian to open up 
himself for formation with an exposure to the tested models of Catholic 
spiritual and intellectual traditions, the seminary formation will find a 
continuity in the priestly ministry.   
 
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1 John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis [Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the 

Formation of Priests], Vatican Website, March 25, 1992, accessed February 23, 2020. 
2 Ibid, 76. (sic) 
3 Cf. Katarina Schuth, Seminary Formation: Recent History— Current 

Circumstances— New Directions (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2016), 11, John 

W. O’Malley, Trent: What Happened at the Council (Cambridge, MA: Harvard 

University Press), 201 
4 Poole, Seminary in Crisis, 14, 28–29; also as quoted in White, The Diocesan 

Seminary in the United States, 413. All cited in Katarina Schuth, Seminary 

Formation: Recent History, 23 
5 Vatican II, Optatam totius, 1 
6 Ibid, 8 
7 Ibid, 16-18 
8 Ibid, 4 
9 John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, 43; Synod Proposition, 21 
10 Ibid, 45 
11 Ibid, 51 
12 Ibid, 58 
13 Katarina Schuth notes how this tension was expressed: “From the first paragraph 

onward considerable disagreement is evidenced between the traditional and the 

progressive council fathers about the direction OT should take. In the introduction, 

the document first acknowledges the “supreme importance of priestly formation” 

and in the same sentence goes on to assure the more traditional bishops that it 

would strengthen the regulations that had long been in use and shown to be 

sound. At the same time, it promises those who see the need for a new kind of 

seminary that it has added new elements that “correspond with the constitutions 

and decrees of this council and with the changed conditions of our time” (OT 

Introduction). The prescriptions of the decree directly concerned the training of 



218 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
diocesan clergy but were to be appropriately adapted to all clerical training, 

including religious and monastic priests.” Katarina Schuth, Seminary Formation: 

Recent History, 14 
14 Vatican II, Optatam totius, 2. 
15 For an example of such programs in the United States, for example, see Katarina 

Schuth, Seminary Formation: Recent History, 19-32. 
16 See for example, Catholic Major Seminary of All Saints, Handbook of the Seminary 

of All Saints (Benin City: Floreat Systems, 2014); Seminary of SS. Peter & Paul, Rules 

& Regulations (Bodija, Ibadan: Claverium Press, 1987); Seminary of SS. Peter & Paul 

and Seminary of All Saints, Handbook on the Social Behaviour of Seminarians (Benin 

City: Floreats Systems, 2015) 
17 Seminary of SS. Peter & Paul, Rules & Regulations, 44 
18 Joseph Ratzinger, “Der Christ und die Welt von Heute.” In Dogma und 

Verkündigung, (Donauwörth: Eroch Wewel Verlag, 1973, Reprint 2005), 179-189 
19 Congregation for the Clergy, The Gift of the Priestly Vocation: Ratio 

Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, Vatican Website, December 8, 2016, 

accessed February 28, 2020, 93 
20 John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, 67 

 



219 

16 

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING ON 

IMMIGRATION AND THE MOVEMENT OF 

PEOPLES 
 

Prof. Ikechukwu Anthony KANU 
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies 

Tansian University, Umunya 
Anambra State 

ikee_mario@yahoo.com 
& 

Mike Boni BAZZA, Ph.D 
Department of History and International Relations 

Veritas University Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria) 
danbazza68@gmail.com 

& 
Immaculata Olu OMOJOLA (SSMA), Ph.D 

Department of Business Administration and Management 
Villanova Polytechnic 
Imesi Ile, Osun State 

omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 
 

Abstract 
This paper interrogates the Catholic social teaching on immigration and 
the movements of peoples. The discourse does this, by first of all stating 
that, the rights of migrants (refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, 
migrant workers, and internally displaced persons-IDPs) begin with the 
foundation of Catholic Social Teaching, namely, the dignity and sanctity 
of the human person. The paper submits that right to life and 
the conditions worthy of life, when threatened by poverty, injustice, 
religious intolerance, armed conflict, and other root causes, give rise to 
the right to migrate. It argues that unity in diversity is firmly grounded in 
the Church's social teaching and understanding and appreciating this 
helps us to put our faith into action. This paper, further evaluates the 
principles of Catholic social teaching using specific quotes from Church 
documents that address the most common misperceptions about Church 
teachings. The purpose of this discussion therefore, is to provide a brief, 

mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com
mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com
mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk


220 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

concise, and useful compilation of information on authentic Roman 
Catholic teaching regarding the areas of immigration and the movements 
of peoples that currently concern most Christians. The body of this work 
consists of quotes from documents and statements originating only from 
those men who are authorized to speak for the Catholic Church, namely, 
the Popes and those Bishops and theologians in union with them. Thus, 
following this methodology, these quotes are extracted from encyclicals, 
pastoral letters, and addresses by these representatives of the 
Magisterium (teaching authority) of the Catholic Church. 
 
Keywords: Migration, Catholic Social Teaching, Magisterium, Church 
Documents           
 
Introduction 
In advocating on behalf of migrants, immigrants, and refugees, it is 
important to understand that the Catholic position is based on Catholic 
social teaching, which is derived from the Gospels and the words of 
Christ; statements and encyclicals of the Popes; and statements and 
pastoral letters of bishops around the world. The rights of migrants 
(refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, migrant workers, and internally 
displaced persons-IDPs) begin with the foundation of Catholic Social 
Teaching, namely, the dignity and sanctity of the human person. The 
right to life and the conditions worthy of life, when threatened by 
poverty, injustice, religious intolerance, armed conflict, and other root 
causes, give rise to the right to migrate.1 As Pope John XXIII explained: 

Every human being has the right to freedom of 
movement and of residence within the confines of his 
own country; and, when there are just reasons for it, the 
right to emigrate to other countries and take up residence 
there. The fact that one is a citizen of a particular state 
does not detract in any way from his membership in the 
human family as a whole, nor from his citizenship in the 
world community.2 

This is a right to both emigrate from one’s own country and 
immigrate into another country. In 2003 for example, the Catholic 
bishops of the United States and Mexico named five principles3 that have 
emerged from the “rich tradition of church teachings with regard to 
migration”:  
 
First Principle: Persons have a right to find opportunities in their 
own homeland 
This principle reflects the responsibilities of all citizens and governments 
for the common good, creating the political, economic, and social 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    221 

conditions for persons to live in dignity, raise their families, use their 
God-given gifts, and find employment that provides a living family wage 
- a fundamental principle of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) dating back 
to the 19th century. Wealthy and powerful nations are obliged to assist 
less developed nations in creating the conditions for people to live 
dignified lives. 
 
Second Principle: Persons have the right to migrate to support 
themselves and their families 
Pope Pius XII declared in 1952 that both natural law and devotion to 
humanity required that international migration be opened to people 
forced from their countries by revolutions, unemployment, or hunger. 
He explained: “For the Creator of the universe made all good things 
primarily for the good of all.”4 When people cannot find adequate work, 
they have a natural right to work elsewhere to attain the means of 
survival for themselves and their families. 
 
Third Principle: Sovereign nations have the right to control their 
borders 
Our tradition recognizes the right of nations to control their territories, a 
right arising from their responsibility for the common good. However, as 
Pope Pius indicated, this right is not absolute. State sovereignty “cannot 
be exaggerated to the point that access to this land is, for inadequate or 
unjustified reasons, denied to needy and decent people from other 
nations….” Balancing rights then becomes critical. In fact, according to 
the bishops, individual rights and state responsibility for the common 
good are complementary. 

While the sovereign state may impose reasonable limits on 
immigration, the common good is not served when the basic human 
rights of the individual are violated. In the current condition of the 
world, in which global poverty and persecution are rampant, the 
presumption is that persons must migrate in order to support and protect 
themselves and that nations who are able to receive them should do so 
whenever possible.5 

In 2000, the bishops, reflecting on the tension between border 
control and the individual right to fundamental dignity, declared the 
latter to “give rise to a more compelling claim to the conditions worthy 
of human life.”6 
 
Fourth Principle: Refugees and asylum seekers should be 
afforded protection 
Those who flee wars and persecution have a greater claim for protection 
from the global community. As the fathers of the church would urge: 



222 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

“This requires, at a minimum, that migrants have a right to claim refugee 
status without incarceration and to have their claims fully considered by 
a competent authority.”7 
 
Fifth Principle: The human dignity and human rights of 
undocumented migrants should be                 respected 
According to the bishops, it is noteworthy that: “Regardless of their legal 
status, migrants, like all persons, possess inherent dignity that should be 
respected.”8 This applies to punitive laws, enforcement practices, 
detention conditions, abuse and neglect, and policies that tear families 
apart. Even undocumented workers, often subject to inadequate wages 
and demeaning conditions in a shadow economy, are entitled to basic 
human rights in terms of wages and working conditions. Immigrant 
workers, even ones without documents, do not lose their status as 
human persons made in God’s image. Demeaning wages, inhuman 
conditions, and the denial of workers’ natural rights assault the dignity 
and sanctity of the human person. 
 
Biblical Vision of Love for Strangers 
Both the Old and New Testaments tell compelling stories of refugees 
forced to flee because of oppression. Exodus tells the story of the Chosen 
People, Israel, who were victims of bitter slavery in Egypt. They were 
utterly helpless by themselves, but with God's powerful intervention 
they were able to escape and take refuge in the desert. For forty years 
they lived as wanderers with no homeland of their own. Finally, God 
fulfilled his ancient promise and settled them on the land that they could 
finally call home. The Israelites' experience of living as homeless aliens 
was so painful and frightening that God ordered his people for all time to 
have special care for the alien: "You shall treat the alien who resides with 
you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love 
for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt” 
(Lv. 19:33-34). 
 The New Testament begins with Matthew's story of Joseph and 
Mary's escape to Egypt with their newborn son, Jesus, because the 
paranoid and jealous King Herod wanted to kill the infant. Our Savior 
himself lived as a refugee because his own land was not safe. Jesus 
reiterates the Old Testament command to love and care for the stranger, 
a criterion by which we shall be judged: “For I was hungry and you gave 
me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you 
welcomed me” (Mt. 25:35). 

The Apostle Paul asserts the absolute equality of all people before 
God: "There is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for you are all one in Christ 
Jesus" (Gal 3:28). In Christ, the human race is one before God, equal in 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    223 

dignity and rights. In addition to the five principles articulated by the 
Catholic bishops of the United States and Mexico in 2003 as mentioned 
above, three other basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching on 
Immigration is given due attention here. Although Catholic theology has 
always promoted human rights rooted in natural law and God's 
revelation, it was the encyclical Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of 
Labor) in 1891 that developed a systematic presentation of principles of 
the rights and responsibilities of people.9 Rerum Novarum commented on 
the situation of immigrants; in later documents, popes and bishops' 
conferences have synthesized the Catholic theological tradition to 
articulate three basic principles on immigration.   
 
First Principle: People have the right to migrate to sustain their lives 
and the lives of their families. At the end of World War II, with the fall of 
the Nazi empire and the subsequent creation of the Soviet "Iron 
Curtain," Europe faced an unprecedented migration of millions of people 
seeking safety, food, and freedom. At that time, Pope Pius XII 
wrote Exsul Familia (The Emigre Family), placing the Church squarely on 
the side of those seeking a better life by fleeing their homes. When there 
is a massive movement of people such as during a war, natural disaster, 
or famine, the lands that receive these displaced people may be 
threatened. The influx may make it impossible for the native population 
to live securely, as the land may not have enough resources to support 
both. Even in more orderly migrations, such as in the United States, 
citizens and residents of the land may fear that newcomers will take jobs, 
land, and resources, impoverishing the people already present.10 Because 
of the belief that newcomers compete for scarce resources, immigrants 
and refugees are at times driven away, resented, or despised. 
Nevertheless, the first principle of Catholic social teaching regarding 
immigrants is that people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives 
and the lives of their families. This is based on biblical and ancient 
Christian teaching that the goods of the earth belong to all people. While 
the right to private property is defended in Catholic social teaching, 
individuals do not have the right to use private property without regard 
for common good. Every person has an equal right to receive from the 
earth what is necessary for life: food, clothing, shelter. Moreover, every 
person has the right to education, medical care, religion, and the 
expression of one's culture. In many places people live in fear, danger, or 
dehumanizing poverty. Clearly, it is not God's will that some of his 
children live in luxury while others have nothing. In Luke’s Gospel, the 
rich man was condemned for living well while the poor man starved at 
his doorstep (Lk. 16:19-31). The native does not have superior rights 
over the immigrant. Before God all are equal; the earth was given by God 



224 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

to all. When a person cannot achieve a meaningful life in his or her own 
land, that person has the right to move.  
 
Second Principle: A country has the right to regulate its borders and to 
control immigration. The overriding principle of all Catholic social 
teaching is that individuals must make economic, political, and social 
decisions not out of shortsighted self-interest, but with regard for the 
common good. That means that a moral person cannot consider only 
what is good for his or her own self and family, but must act with the 
good of all people as his or her guiding principle. While individuals have 
the right to move in search of a safe and humane life, no country is 
bound to accept all those who wish to resettle there.11By this principle 
the Church recognizes that most immigration is ultimately not 
something to celebrate. Ordinarily, people do not leave the security of 
their own land and culture just to seek adventure in a new place or 
merely to enhance their standard of living. Instead, they migrate because 
they are desperate and the opportunity for a safe and secure life does not 
exist in their own land. Immigrants and refugees endure many hardships 
and often long for the homes they left behind. As human beings, we 
should cherish and celebrate the contributions of immigrants and their 
cultures; however, we should work to make it unnecessary for people to 
leave their own land. Because there seems to be no end to poverty, war, 
and misery in the world, developed nations will continue to experience 
pressure from many peoples who desire to resettle in their lands.12The 
Catholic social teaching is realistic, thus, while people have the right to 
move, no country has the duty to receive so many immigrants that its 
social and economic life is jeopardized. For this reason, Catholics should 
not view the work of the federal government and its immigration control 
as negative or evil. Those who work to enforce our nation's immigration 
laws often do so out of a sense of loyalty to the common good and 
compassion for poor people seeking a better life. In an ideal world, there 
would be no need for immigration control. The Church recognizes that 
this ideal world has not yet been achieved.  
 
Third Principle: A country must regulate its borders with justice and 
mercy.  
The second principle of Catholic social teaching may seem to negate the 
first principle. However, principles one and two must be understood in 
the context of principle three. And all Catholic social teaching must be 
understood in light of absolute equality of all people and the 
commitment to common good.13 

A country's regulation of borders and control of immigration 
must be governed by concern for all people and by mercy and justice. A 



Section 1: Ecclesiastical/Theological Perspectives And Seminary Formation    225 

nation may not simply decide that it wants to provide for its own people 
and no others. A sincere commitment to the needs of all must prevail. In 
our modern world where communication and travel are much easier, the 
burden of emergencies cannot be placed solely on nations immediately 
adjacent to the crises. Justice dictates that the world community 
contributes resources toward shelter, food, medical services and basic 
welfare. Even in the case of less urgent migrations, a developed nation's 
right to limit immigration must be based on justice, mercy, and the 
common good, not on self-interest. Moreover, immigration policy ought 
to take into account other important values such as the right of families 
to live together.14A merciful immigration policy will not force married 
couples or children to live separated from their families for long periods. 

Undocumented immigrants present a special concern. Often 
their presence is considered criminal since they arrive without legal 
permission. Under the harshest view, undocumented people may be 
regarded as undeserving of rights or services. This is not the view of 
Catholic social teaching. The Catholic Church teaches that every person 
has basic human rights and is entitled to have basic human needs met: 
food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care. Undocumented 
persons are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by employers, and they 
are not able to complain because of the fear of discovery and deportation. 
Current immigration policy that criminalizes the mere attempt to 
immigrate and imprisons immigrants who have committed no crime or 
who have already served a just sentence for a crime is immoral. In the 
Bible, God promises that our judgment will be based on our treatment of 
the most vulnerable. Before God we cannot excuse inhumane treatment 
of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them 
of rights given by the creator. 
 
Conclusion 
Finally, immigration policy that allows people to live here and contribute 
to society for years but refuses to offer them the opportunity to achieve 
legal status does not serve the common good. The presence of millions 
of people living without easy access to basic human rights and necessities 
is a great injustice. It is the position of the Catholic Church that pastoral, 
educational, medical, and social services provided by the Church are 
never conditioned on legal status. All persons are invited to participate in 
their parishes, attend our schools, and receive other services offered by 
their institutions and programs.  

In the course of this discourse thus far, this paper has 
successfully interrogated, examined and evaluated the principles of 
Catholic social teaching on migration and movements of peoples. Using 
specific quotes from Church documents that address the most common 



226 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

misperceptions about Church teachings in areas immigration, it was 
noted that the excerpts quoted in this work focus on the dignity of 
human person. As such, they are most suited for use to educate those 
who are ignorant of the Church’s social teachings on the movements of 
people as a whole. In order to comprehend the beauty, richness, and 
wisdom of the quoted Church documents, we conclude by saying: it is 
necessary for the reader to take the time to sit down, read them, and 
contemplate their messages. 
 
Endnotes 
1. Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States, Strangers No Longer: 

Together on the Journey of Hope, joint pastoral letter concerning migration, 

January 2003, Nos. 28-29. 

2. Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, 1963, No. 25. 

3.  Strangers No Longer, op. cit., Nos. 33-39. 

4.  Pope Pius XII, Exsul Familia, Apostolic Constitution, Vatican City, 1952. 

5.  Strangers No Longer, op. cit., No. 39. 

6.  U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity 

in Diversity, Washington, D.C., 2000, p. 11. 

7. Strangers No Longer, op. cit., No. 37. 

8.  Ibid., No. 38. 

9. This resource was written by Fr. Thomas Betz, OFC, Director of Immigration 

and Refugee Services for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and is used with 

permission. Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the New American 

Bible, copyright © 1991, 1986, and 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian 

Doctrine, Washington, D.C. 20017, and are used by permission of copyright 

owner. All rights reserved. 

10. Pope Pius XI, Acta Apostilicae Sedis, XLIII, 1951, p. 843. 

11. Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra No. 193, May 15, 1961. 

12. Fr. Thomas Betz, OFC, op. cit. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Pope John Paul II in his Address on Responsible Procreation, September 17, 

1983. " The Wanderer, September 29, 1983, pp. 1-3. 



227 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SECTION 2 
 
 

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES 

AND HUMAN FORMATION 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



228 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 



229 

17 

MAN, RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY: 
TOWARDS A NORMATIVE VISION OF THE 

HUMAN PERSON 
 

Anthony Ifechukwude AKALUE 
Department of Philosophy, 

Seminary of All Saints, 
Uhiele-Ekpoma, Edo State 
ifechukwuderev@yahoo.com 

   
Abstract 
This paper seeks to give a formidable normative structure that is geared 
towards human development. This is premised on the fact that the 
human person has a composite nature. That is, man, having a material 
and a spiritual nature. These natures cum dimensions in the human 
person does not in any way reduce the religio-cultural and social 
dimension of the human person. In fact, they enhance it the more. This 
paper argues that man is yet to fully realize some level of satisfaction in 
the way it relates with its fellow human being as a social being; this is 
evident in the different crimes against humanity that are perpetuated 
everyday for instance, abuse of minors, rape, robbery and other sexist 
practices. These anomalies are still very much evident in the religious 
palace wherein religion that ought to give a kind of solace to humanity, is 
being used as a tool for exploitation thereby creating an unhealthy 
religious belief system in the way religious beliefs are being handled. The 
paper further argues that the human person will only progress if there is 
a perfect use of reason to actualize his belief system, and further 
enhances the best way to relate well with his fellow human being. This is 
where the irreplaceable tools of philosophy come in as it will help in no 
small measure in sharpening the belief system of the human person on 
how to leave a sound life in the society and to get rid of the unhealthy 
sexist tendencies, abuses of minor and other atrocities. 
 
Keywords: Man, Religion, Society, Philosophy, Ethics, Interactionism 
 

mailto:ifechukwuderev@yahoo.com


230 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Introduction 
The different theories on the origin of mankind like that of Charles 
Darwin, Big Bang, Creation story of the Semitic tradition as recorded in 
the Holy Bible and a host of others, have presented an aspect of the 
human person that cannot be denied by any successive theories. This 
aspect is the fact that the human person is a social being that interacts. 
Many social institutions like the family, school, age grade, political party 
and so on, have laid credence to this fact. In other words, the different 
evolutionary theories have further proven that the human person is a 
relational being. As the human person continues to evolve, this 
relationship continues to spread also; both from the vertical perspective 
and the horizontal perspective. This simply means that man who is a 
social being is also a religious being; this is where his vertical relationship 
with the Supreme Being is also a cause for concern. This is so because it 
is believed that the Supreme Being has strong influence in the daily 
growth of the human person and as such, an effective relationship with 
him becomes expedient. 

Be that as it may, there are certain actions and activities that have 
posited threats to the sincerity of these interactions and relationships 
judging from the fact of negative socio-religious trends: where the 
human person no longer values the sanctity of their relationship with the 
Supreme Being; where people use the name of the Supreme Being to 
cajole and deceive people; where human beings no longer have fear of 
the sacred and of sacred places; where humanity no longer appreciates 
the uniqueness of their interaction and relationship with their fellow 
beings. While some have tailored these disappointing acts to modernism, 
some others have said that all of these atrocities have long been there and 
as such there is no remedy.  

The question now is, is it really true there is no remedy to the 
atrocities that have threatened peaceful coexistence? Can there be a 
remedy to the way people are easily deceived to do things in the name of 
the Supreme? Can human relationship ever improve in the light of 
modernism? Or is it the case that the older the crime, the somewhat 
impossibility of a solution? Now, this work does not intend to dwell on 
what has been in the past and in the present but to suggest that there is a 
remedy in view. This remedy is borne out by the rich tools of philosophy 
as a normative discipline that helps in interrogating certain anomalies in 
the society. 

 The method to be adopted in this work is speculative, 
prescriptive and critical. A close look at the methods that will be 
employed in this work shows that they are methods that are sole 
exclusive of philosophy.  



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    231 

However, let it be known here that the use of the term ‘man’ is 
for both sexes. It means human kind or human being as the case may be. 
These are names that are all inclusive, in embracing both sexes-male and 
female of this species of organisms, known by the biological name of 
Homo Sapiens1. Following, the descriptive dimension of man, dualists 
holds that man is a composite being that is made of matter and spirit. 
This means that man is believed to have a material body and a non-
material soul. While, the dualists are of the view that both dimension of 
man are parallel, the integrationists say that both dimension constitute 
one substance, man. Be that as it may, the underlining truth is that man 
who has a material aspect, is known to have a vital force that is non-
material.  
 
Man and the Society: 
Three sociological theories will help present the path through which this 
aspect will be taken. The sociological theories are structural 
functionalism, symbolic interactionism and conflict theory. There is no 
doubt these theories have their shortcomings because of their adherence 
to scientific principles and methods. However, attention will be paid to 
their sociological principles and how they apply to societal interactions. 

Structural functionalism depicts the society as a social system 
consisting of various structures, organizations and institutions, 
influencing each other and affecting the whole system. It focuses on the 
function of the institutions and their contribution to the continuity of 
the social system.2 This theory is suggestive of the function or the role an 
organization play in the growth of a society.  

Symbolic Interactionism is interested to know how an individual 
acquires personal and social characteristics, in particular, self-identity. 
The theory concludes its assertion that people were not born with the 
sense of the self. They acquire it through interaction that takes place 
between them in the society3. There is no doubt, therefore, that this 
places primacy on the indispensable role of the society as it is the one 
that is responsible in forming the self-identity of the human person 

Conflict Theory presents society as an arena of widespread 
conflict and struggle at every level of it. Thus, conflict theory sees society 
to be structured on the patterns that retain the discriminatory status quo. It 
favours some sides and side-lines others. However, the aspect of conflict 
theory that will be of utmost concern here, is the one that is open to 
reconciliation in the area of conflict resolution; wherein parties disagree 
to agree. 

A close look at all of these theories, show the reality of 
interaction and how the society is necessary for the growth and 
development of the human person. It shows the strength to which every 



232 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

institution is built. These theories carries with them a normative 
character in that the society or if you like the community has a strong 
influence in determining the integrity of the human person.  

Man we all know is a social animal. The reality of this assertion is 
in its ability to be able to interact with its fellow peers. The different 
areas of socialization are fully suggestive of this reality in the human 
person. Primarily, man learns cultural discipline and societal norms from 
the family community which is very important for influencing the 
human person. 

Sociologists have postulated different theories of society. This 
ranges from the fact that the society is a structurally built system that 
helps to empower the human person in ascertaining his set goals. A close 
look at most of the theories of societal development, will help discover 
that it is centered on the human person. A. Spirkin itemized collective 
interactions that further strengthens man’s existence in the society. 
According to him, they include the family, the play or instruction 
groups, the production team and other types of formal and informal 
collectivity.4 It is important to note that the family plays an important 
role in the psychological development of the human person. The family 
is a crucial instrument for the development of personality. This is 
because it is here that the child first comes to know about the basics of 
existence. In other words, it is here that the child first becomes involved 
in social life, absorbs its values and standards of behavior, it ways of 
thought, language and certain value orientations. From the family, the 
child finds itself in some other association as he grows older.  

Apart from the family, other groups and institutions play 
significant roles in the social development of the human person. These 
groups or associations have a way of influencing an individual’s 
personality whether for good or for bad but one thing that is sure, is the 
fact of an influence. Such a group can be the school institution or peer 
group. All these are societal institution that the human person cannot shy 
away from because they produce a kind of interaction that is needed in 
human development. In the different schools for instance, they meet 
another level of interaction under the influence of non-family members. 
This is not to say the family level of socialization is in sharp contrast to 
this institution’s form of socialization rather, both run concurrently in 
that the child while in school realizes that they are judged by their 
performance and no longer being accepted unconditionally. This is 
where a partial level of independence emerges from the human person. 
This is so because they learn a new culture that extends beyond their 
narrow family culture. This new culture requires a high level of efforts in 
learning outside the scope of a family but to the wider community. 
Upon finishing from this institution, are lunched into a more intense 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    233 

level of socialization that sees them responsible for forming and building 
the interaction of younger generation. Here most of them are lunched 
into the life of full adulthood in marriages, work and even colleges. Here 
they take full responsibilities for all their actions.  

The human person is a being that is always in touch with his 
environment or society as the case may be. This is why it is impossible to 
separate an individual from the society; because the individual is a 
product of the society. Their relationship is very cordial. The individual 
lives and acts within the society. Man is biologically and psychologically 
equipped to live in the society. This is where the social life of the 
individual is formed; F.M Anayet Hossain & M. D. Korban Ali note that 
“social life are dependent on the following such as  political life, 
economic life, voluntary associations, educational associations, method of 
communications and family 5. This is why man is at the center of every 
political system like the unitary or parliamentary system. This same also 
holds way in the economic palace where man is at the center of every 
economic policies like socialism, capitalism, communism and 
communalism. Man is said to have survived all of these economic 
systems in their own uniqueness. 

Man, who is a social being, is said to be religious too. In fact, 
some scholars refer to man as a religious animal. Some traditions and 
culture have opined that you cannot separate religion from their 
ontology. For instance, the Africans see themselves as notoriously 
religious. The question now is what is this religious dimension of man 
all about? This will bring to bare another important aspect of this work.  
 
Religion and Man  
Since the main thrust of this work is to build up a healthy religio-social 
dimension of the human person, it is fitting that having discussed man 
and his place in the society, man and the notion of religion be also 
explicated. 

The word religion means different things to different people 
since there is no universally accepted definition of religion. However, 
from its etymology, the word religion according to Bernard Haring is 
derived from three Latin words as its root namely, ligare which means ‘to 
bind’ relegare which means to unite, or to link and religio which means 
relationship”6. From the etymology, one can immediately see that the 
underlining truth about the term religion is that it has to do with 
interaction that fosters relationship in order to bind and to link people 
together. However, the link or relationship here is one that exist between 
a person and a supreme being that is believed to exist. This divine 
Supreme Being that is transcendent is an object of worship by the human 



234 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

person. This is what truly constitutes the essence of religion as Joseph 
Omoregbe argues: 
Religion is essentially a bi-polar phenomenon. On the one end is man 
(religious man) while on the other end is the transcendent being, the 
deity he believes to exist and which he worships. Whether such a deity 
really exists or simply the figment of his imagination of the religious man 
is not important to the concept of religion, as long as the deity is really 
believed by the religious man to actually exist. For him, the deity is a 
reality. The concept of deity is essential to the concept of religion. 
Hence, where a belief in a deity is lacking, there can be no religion since 
religion, as we have said, is essentially a relationship established between 
man and a deity, that is, a transcendent personal being, believed to exist.7 

The point therefore is that religion carries with it a relationship 
between man and the Supreme. This simply means that the truth of 
religion is centred on the existence of a Supreme Being that is 
transcendent. This Supreme Being is said to be very powerful in that it 
can determine the life of man to a very large extent. Since this is possible, 
man is supposed to have good rapport with the Him by a sincere worship 
of Him. This is where some persons also feel that religion is also a 
human activity. This is because religion also affects the human person. 
The belief and reliance on the Supreme Being is an indication of the 
limitations and weaknesses of the human person. This worship and 
appeal done to the Supreme Being further shows man’s dependence. 
This is where Gallowaay’s definition of religion becomes necessary. 
According to him, “religion is man’s faith in a power beyond himself 
whereby he seeks to satisfy emotional needs and gains stability of life, 
and where he expresses in acts of worship and service”8 

Religion is likened to a law that is inseparable from man’s nature 
just as the laws of physics and life are inseparable from matter and living 
beings. This is because the Supreme Being who is believed to be the 
creator of the world (as evident in many traditions), has given man the 
longing for his creator and directed man towards him. Ever since the 
history of mankind began, man has been practicing different forms of 
worship and piety. In fact, some scholars say there was no nation on the 
earth that was unattached to a religion and performing its rites in one-
way or another. This is because piety is an instinct, a natural feeling 
deeply rooted in man’s being. It can neither be hushed, nor muted in an 
individual’s conscience, nor can the human conscience be prevented 
from sensing it, or going towards it9 

Different theories have been postulated for the evolution of 
religion. We have the sociological, psychological theories of religion and 
anthropological theories of religion. The Anthropological theory of 
Religion is propagated by Ludwig Feuerbach in his work, The Essence of 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    235 

Christianity. Here, he states that religion is the creation of man and 
worship of a projected human self. This projection of himself is a 
product of the mystery of religion where one seeks help from a higher 
being. For Feuerbach, the higher being that is projected is man himself 
whose good deeds or evil deeds are not indifferent to God. He argues 
thus: 
Man- this is the mystery of religion- projects his being into objectivity, 
and then again makes himself an object to this projected image of himself 
thus converted into a subject; he thinks of himself, but as the object of an 
object, of another being than himself. Thus, here, man is an object to 
God. That man is good or evil is not indifferent to God.10 
 

The Psychological theory of Religion is advocated by Sigmund 
Freud in his works, Totem and Taboo (1913), The Future of an Illusion 
(1927), and Moses and Monotheism  (1939). In all of these works, Freud 
argues that religion is a projection of man's childhood neurosis, the 
continual need of a Father and a reflection of infantile mentality. This 
simply means that for Freud, religion projects man's inability to grow up; 
it is like a puerile fixation and stagnancy where man depends on his 
parents for everything and this have so affected him that he has extended 
this dependency to an unknown Supreme Being for help.  
 There exist different sociological theories of religion, but the most 
prominent of them is in the works of E. B. Tylor tiltled, Primitive Culture 
(1871) and Emile Durkheim's, Elementary forms of Religion (1912). Tylor 
concludes that religion evolves from ancestor worship. He says: "using 
the phrase ancestor worship in its broadest sense, as comprehending all 
worship of the dead, be the of the same blood or not, we conclude that 
ancestor worship is the root of every religion"11. Joseph Omoregbe states 
that religion for Emile Durkheim, is a principle of control by the society 
to continually dominate her citizens. It is the principle of influence, 
which personified social forces of control in society into a god with all 
the attributes of society as its qualities12.   

Giving the fact that these three theories of religion are of 
different perspectives, yet one striking thing is that they have the reality 
of man as their subject matter.  
 
Religion and its Role in the Society 

Religion plays an important role on culture of a society. Every 
religion is the product of a particular culture within which it grew13. It is 
hard to comprehend any religion without understanding the culture 
from which it developed. Every culture would certainly have impact in 
the methods of religion. Certain trends in history will help accelerate this 
view. For instance, Christian religion grew from the Jewish culture and 



236 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

one can understand why there is somewhat interrelatedness in both 
religion notwithstanding some differences though. This is because every 
society is unique in her cultural displays. 

 Religion is said to play very vital aspect in the human society 
where human person interacts in the different institutions whether 
domestic, economic and political institution. In fact, Shanjendu Nath 
gave some instances on how religion affect the social structure of the 
human person. They are in the realm of internal feelings, an external 
form of social control, and to help in the character formation of the 
human person.14 According to him, an important aspect of religion is 
prayer and different classes of people belonging to different castes of 
society assemble in religious institutions for performing prayer and 
worship15. This praying and fellowshipping together has a way of 
building the sentiments among themselves and this further influence 
what they do as a group in the building of the different social 
institutions. 

Religion also has a form of social control following the second 
aspect of Nath’s bifurcation of the roles of religion to society. This is 
because according to him, the different activities and their different 
spheres of social life are still influenced by religious rites and ceremonies; 
such that it becomes possible for people to express their religious feelings 
through rituals and ceremonies. This is evident in the different occasions 
of social life like marriages, birth, harvesting, hunting, death and so on. 
Here, you see the reality of ritual and other ceremonies performed in 
these occasions. This same rite can be extended to the economic aspect 
of the society and even in the aspect of the inauguration of a building 
structure and oath taking. All of these points to the fact that religion plays 
an important role in the further structuring of the society and its 
institutions. 

Nath went on to state that religion also help to shape the 
character of an individual16. According to him, religion brings a sense of 
social value in the mind of people. This will enable the human person to 
work in tandem with the norm of society that coheres with basic 
religious belief. He expresses this thus “in obeying the social laws or to 
respect the elders and to show sympathy towards the feelings of others, 
or to discharge the social obligations faithfully, the role of religion is 
immense”.17 This further proves the indispensable role of religion to the 
character formation of man wherein he is able to show civility in the 
ethical dictates of social life.  

This view can be liken Loyal Rue’s description of the function of 
religion. He sees the function of religion in the achievement of personal 
wholeness and social coherence18. For him, the mythical and the ancillary 
strategies of religions, shape the emotions and motivations of individuals 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    237 

in a way that allows them to overrule the innate intuitive morality of 
their biological heritage in favour of the culturally defined values 
encoded in myths. This is premised upon the notion that religious myths 
actually do promote a morality that induces behavior leading to personal 
wholeness and social cohesion. 

 Looking at the above roles of religion within the context of 
human interrelationship, one can see that the role of religion to human 
society is to lead to a healthy humanity. Be that as it may, there exist 
some maladies that threatens this strength of humanity. The next session 
of this work will deal with some challenges that posit threat to human 
interrelationship. 
 
Factors Militating Against Human Interrelatedness in the Society 
This aspect will bring to bear the different ills that are in the society and 
religious institution that further proved that man is yet to attain the full 
realization of socio-religious essence. A close look at society, one will 
notice certain mishap which can be translated as man’s inhumanity to man, 
the ‘survival of the fittest’ instinct and certain corrupt practices, that have 
tied down man’s destiny from the will of progress. It is in the 
identification of all of these deficiencies that we now ascertain the role of 
philosophy in enhancing a formidable structure for the formation of the 
human person. The assessment of these maladies will be taken from 
different perspectives. 
 
Sexist practices. There is no doubt that the society in which we live is 
characteristics of different agents, agencies and institution. However, 
outside this reality is the fact of gender awareness. According Sandra 
Bem, a psychologist “one cognitive process that seems nearly inevitable 
in humans is to divide people into groups. We can partition these groups 
on the basis of race, age, religion, and so on. However, most of the times 
we split humanity on the basis of gender. The first thing we instantly 
determine when meeting someone new, is their gender”19. This view 
shows the reality of gender consciousness, where people make a great 
divide of humanity on the basis of gender. With this in mind one is 
tempted to say this gender realization at people to be done is almost 
habitual and automatic as Issabela Crespi puts it “this process of 
categorizing others in terms of gender is both habitual and automatic. It’s 
nearly impossible to suppress the tendency to split the world in half, 
using gender as the great divider”20.  It is interesting to note that this 
great divide is not bad it in itself since nature has made it so. But the part 
that seem problematic is the reality of subjugation and denigration. 
Where a particular sex claims to be superior than the other; where a 
particular sex sees itself as the only qualified sex to attain a particular 



238 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

height. This has led to the contention between what I call feminism and 
masculinism. 

In a society where the reality of sexist practices abound, one can 
lay claim to the sad scenario of denigration. This is evident in burial rites, 
ownership of properties, domestic chores, political position, naming 
ceremonies and the likes. Ceremonies like these in some cultures are 
avenues for such sexist tendencies to be shown.  
 
Rape: This is another act of man’s inhumanity to man. It is a violent and 
forceful sexual act on another. Some to adult, while some others to 
minors. A. S Hornby defines rape as the crime of forcing somebody to 
have sex with one especially with violence”21. This means that rape 
involves the use of force. In other words, it is against the will of the 
person who is under compulsion to do so. In the same vein, Briganeti 
and Egbonimali see rape as an act of sexual violence that involves 
intercourse without consent or against someone being willing to engage 
in the act22. Samuel Okafor-Udah brought about another dimension of 
rape that occurs. According to him, this does not have to do with 
physical violence as such but a deception of a kind with the use of gift. 
He argues thus “an adult of any age range tactfully seduces a child of a 
tender age for either marriage or sex with an enticing gift and the child 
after collecting same willingly gives in for it with the adult, it is said to be 
rape as well23. He also went further to state that this form rape is viewed 
as “a sex crime carried out by pathological men or women who were 
unable to control their own sexual desires24. In a nut shell, rape is an 
unlawful sexual intercourse with someone with or without the use of 
force inorder to achieve sexual gratification. Different countries and 
societies have had a share of this anomaly. Samuel Okafor gave the 
Nigerian situation on rape when he noted: 

Rape is a global problem with women and children being mostly 
vulnerable. They are the ones bearing the brunt of this evil in every 
society of the world … there are several cases, which are very irritating. 
Now and then, it is reported that a teacher has raped a student. A 
religious leader his flock. Robbers have raped their victim. A man has 
raped a sister-in-law or daughter –in-law. A master has raped a 
housemaid. A security man has raped his master’s wife. A boss has raped 
his staff. A father has raped his daughter. A young man has raped his 
grandmother. A minor has raped a fellow minor. A traditional ruler has 
raped a subject. An 80 year old man has raped an 8 year old girl.25 
A close look at the above shows that the case of rape has crossed through 
different sections of a society, ranging from the political, religious, social, 
traditional sphere. Such exploitation have eaten deep into the fabric of 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    239 

the system. Thus the progression of the percentage over the cause of 
years has always been in the increase.  
 
Child Abuse: This another anomaly that has threatened societal 
cohesion. A child is one who has not attained the status of an adult. The 
child is often judged as one between the age brackets of 7 to 14. Any 
harm done to persons of this age bracket is termed child abuse; however, 
it is interesting to note that the society have been guilty of this over time. 
According to Slavka Michancova, research reveals that about twenty 
percent of women and five to ten percent of men worldwide were 
victims of child sexual abuse (CSA)26. Beauty, following the Scope of 
Child Abuse Problem U.S. 2005 Data, asserts that: 

Child abuse is a worldwide problem which is carried out 
by the strong on the weak, affecting children from birth 
to 18 years plus of age. The most recent US data on the 
scope of child abuse problem dates from 2005, during 
which 3.3 million reports of abuse and neglect were 
filled. About 60 percent of these reports warranted 
investigation with one-half of these allegations 
substantiated. It further stated, that these data indicate 
the incidence of child abuse and neglect to be 12.1 per 
1,000 children; 1,460 children (four percent per day) 
died in 2005 as a result of inflicting trauma with  more 
than 77 percent of these deaths in children less than 4 
years of age.27 

From the above, it shows that child abuse cuts across different states of 
the world giving the fact that it is a worldwide affair. This act is often 
done by the strong to inflict pain on the weak. It should also be noted 
that parents are also part of those who abuse their children. They do this 
on the ground that they have absolute control over the affairs of their 
children as such, their biddings must be obeyed. Care must be taken 
because this act is a crime that is punishable by law. Thus, Michancova 
states that child sexual abuse is a serious crime that represent massive 
violation of human rights and generates long-term negative impact in 
various aspects of victims’ lives.28 
 
Violence: Religious and social violence have become the order of the 
day - where conflicts between people of different religions and social 
sects reigns and where the different religions try to prove the supremacy 
of their religion via violence. For example, in some areas of Nigeria, 
Muslims cannot live peacefully with Christians. Commenting on the 
bane of ethno-religious crisis, George Asadu says: 



240 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Though religion has played vital role in the society, and has contributed 
immensely to the national development of this country, it has also been 
wrongly used by some ethnic groups to afflict this country severally with 
conflicts leading to wanton destruction of properties and loss of human 
lives. Obviously, there has been too much blood letting in this country 
resulting from ethnic and religious conflict which is threatening the very 
foundation of Nigeria’s corporate existence as a nation. The menance of 
ethno-religious conflict in Nigeria is fast eroding the core socio-cultural 
and religious value which forbids murder, coverteousness … this has 
hampered the economic growth of this country to such a great extent 
that poverty has engulfed the majority of the citizen. Worst still, the 
mayhems have produced many disabled persons, orphans and widows 
and (widowers) …29 

The same is true of the political sphere of the state, where 
political actors do not really understand what political rivalry is all about. 
People see the differences in party alliances as differences of humanity 
and as a result all forms of violence are being perpetrated to pull the 
other person down. The same is true of the educational and social 
sectors. This is evident where members of a particular schools resort to 
violence to prove the supremacy of their school. Where some School 
Proprietors resort to blackmail and give negative and unfounded reasons 
why students should not be enrolled in another school due to unhealthy 
competition.  

 
Racial Discrimination/Tribalism: Racism and ethnic bigotry are 
another forms of malady that has affected the society. This is almost 
synonymous with religious and social violence. This is where people gets 
what and how due to cultural affiliation. Where a black man feels 
comfortable with his fellow blacks and does not want to associate with 
the white. On the other hand, when a white man sees himself as superior 
to the blacks. This is also evident in a multicultural state like Nigeria for 
instance. In a situation when there is social hegemony and nepotism 
about who get a particular position. Where a Yoruba man feels 
comfortable with Yoruba people alone, or Hausa people do same with 
their fellow Hausa. Or the Igbo the same with theirs. This racist cum 
ethnic biases further strengthens the wrong use of son of the soil 
syndrome. Such a myopic view about life has a way of playing negatively 
in the normative vision of the human person 
 
Other maladies include Deception and exploitation by some 
religious ministers on their subjects. This is evident when so called 
ministers of God blackmail the conscience of their faithful in order to get 
something material from them. Where the sacrilegious acts have become 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    241 

the order of the day. The sin of simony have so rocked some religious 
institutions that you now begin to ask the way forward about authentic 
worship. Is it the case of the parading of a white man in Kenya whom 
they claim is Jesus? Or the one who asks his believers to eat grass and 
serpent? Or the religious leaders who ask his followers to kill in the 
name religion? All of these threaten societal cohesion.  

Even the different Corruption practices in the different states 
are not left out. This ranges from stealing, robbery, kidnapping, electoral 
fraud; academic fraud and other social menaces. All of these menaces 
serves as clogs in the will of progress in any given state. 
 
Philosophical Principles and Religio-Cultural Relationship: 
Towards a Normative Vision of the Human Person 
Here, the irreplaceable tool of philosophy will be harnessed. Philosophy 
as a normative discipline is from two Greek words, philos and Sophia, 
meaning love of wisdom. A close look at the nature of philosophy will 
show that man is placed at the center of it all. This is as a result of man’s 
quest to know more about reality. Williams Aso captures this clearly 
when he says “man as the subject of philosophy has unquenchable thirst 
for knowledge not only for empirical realities alone but also phenomenal 
realities and everything that concern human experience and the universe 
in general”.30 It is in this quest for the normative vision of the human 
person that the ethical principles of philosophy will be harnessed. 

The ethical principles will help in carving out a normative vision 
of the human person; this is because ethics which is a core branch of 
philosophy is one that permeates virtually all aspect of life. It is a 
descriptive, prescriptive and normative discipline. Its normative vision 
will see to the formulation of the moral order of actions that are not 
adjudged by personal feelings or emotions, but within the overall ground 
of moral values and norms. Morality is not ruled by what a person feels 
alone or think alone. There must be an objective way of looking at 
morality that will help get rid of socio-religious maladies. In doing this, 
there must be a consideration for others. This is where the moral 
justification of ‘otherness’ comes in. In Paul Ricoeur’s work titled Oneself 
as Another, ‘otherness’ is tied to the self and this self has a responsibility of 
preserving ‘others’31. Martin Buber’s intersubjectivity philosophy of 
dialogue, came up with the I and Thou interaction that presents the 
human person that is always in constant interaction with themselves 
giving the fact that all are of one substance. Edmund Hurssel gave a 
phenomenological approach to this normative vision when he came up 
with the theory of experiencing ‘others’ as myself32. Here, the 
consideration of the well being of others must first be considered. 



242 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Anyone who thinks of this will not rape, or cajole people in the name of 
religion.  

Even the case of unhealthy sexist practices is not left out in the 
struggle to build a normative vision of the human person. Thus, in 
Simeone de Beauvoir’s work The Second Sex, it clearly stated that she was 
out rightly against patriarchy supremacy and labeling of women. In this 
work, Simeone argues that women is the other. It is from this notion, 
othering as a philosophical term takes on the notion of prejudice, 
inequality, marginality33. This is so because while othering is used to 
describe those who belong to a subordinate social category, otherness on 
the other hand, refers to the characteristics of the other that is not to be 
stereotype as inferior. 

As for the case of racial discrimination and ethnic bigotry, our 
knowledge of substance and accidents in metaphysics (a branch of 
philosophy) shows that every human person shares one substance – the 
humanity of the human person. The humanness of the white man or the 
black man or as evident in the different ethnic groups in Nigeria, the 
Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Efik or Ijaw is not lesser or higher than the 
humanness of the Fulani, Tiv, Idoma, Esan or Egede as the case may be. 
We all share one humanity. The fact that one is a white man or a black 
man or Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa is simply accidental to the being of the 
individual person.34 

Emmanuel Levinas theory of alterity and otherness is not out of 
place. The French philosopher highlighted the need to think of the other. 
His alteririty expresses yet again a normative vision of the human person. 
This means considering the wellbeing of others. It is in doing this 
Francis Ikhianosime says that Levinas in his alterity is “trying to 
safeguard the other from violation, oppression and inferiorization, hence, 
his use of Alterity begins with a sense of responsibility to the other”.35 
Levinas preoccupation here is in the case of having a responsibility 
towards the well being of others and not for the other to be 
discriminated upon all subjected to all forms of denigration. 

A furtherance to this normative formation of the human person 
can be assessed from Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative. “Act only 
according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it 
should become a universal law”36. This formulation seeks an objective 
method of doing things in the society and in religious palace. The second 
formulation of his categorical imperative “Act so that you treat humanity, 
whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and 
never as a means only”37 Since we live in a society, the wellbeing of 
others must be considered. None should let his non-challant attitude or 
negligence to cause harm to another as Richard Wollheim says argues 
“every action that occurs within a society and rises at all above the level 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    243 

of triviality is bound to impinge upon other members of that society”38 
this simply means that any act of neglect done by one is capable of 
causing damage to everyone. Wollheim went further to state that “ the 
only actions that are unconditionally exempt from the jurisdiction of the 
state are of the order of brushing one’s teeth”39 however, I beg to disagree 
here that not brushing a teeth affect the individual alone, it also affect 
those he communicate with; that is, those of low immune system.  

John. S. Mill’s philosophical influence is evident in his defense 
of utilitarianism and liberalism. Mill’s utilitarianism assesses actions and 
institutions in terms of their effects on human happiness and enjoins us 
to perform actions and design institutions so that they promote in one 
formulation, maximize human happiness40 this further shows that Mill’s 
utilitarianism is a progressive theory for human development. Although, 
Mill’s Utilitarianism has its own shortcoming, yet his principle on 
liberty, individuality and solidarity has much to say on the dignity of 
others. 

It should be noted that human freedom is not meant to be an 
impediment to authentic relationship between persons rather it should 
be a bridge to aid human advancement and foster morality. It is painful 
to note that people use freedom in the wrong way. For some the freedom 
of the will is an avenue for them to be violent and as a result see their 
views as the most superiror. The normative vision of the human person 
here calls for a proper harnessing the rational ethics of freedom. This 
means the kind of freedom that is guided by rationality. It therefore 
means that the human person must continually live in a manner that 
justifies rationality. This is because, if man does not take advantage of his 
rationality, he may be steeped on a path of self-annihilation”41 
Philosophers down the ages have been passionate about doing a defence 
for an authentic relationship of the human person. They do this because 
of the belief that the human person is a relational being. 

Even the African traditional society recognizes this interaction of 
the human person. This is because Africans conceive of the human 
person from the descriptive point of view and the normative point of 
view. While the descriptive point of view refers to the biological frame 
work of the human person; but the normative aspect of the human 
person draws strength from the sense of the community. In order words, 
Africans holds that for one to truly realize himself, he must be a part of 
the community. African ontology is communalistic; it is part of the 
unique identity of Africans thus Frank Ndubuisi says “in African 
metaphysics, the self is conceived essentially towards others; that is, a 
‘being-with-others’. The African is not just a human being but essentially 
a ‘being-with’. Consequently it is the community who makes the 
individuals, because of his relationship with others in the community’42. 



244 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Jack Aigbodioh on his part holds that, .African traditional (i.e. 
indigenous) cultures are noted by anthropological and sociological 
scholars alike for their communalistic form of life, which emphasizes the 
humanistic values of the co-dependency ethos with its universalistic 
appeal to equality and intersubjective recognition43. In fact, in African 
ontology, the human person fully realizes itself in the community. When 
Mbiti says that, the African says to himself, "I am because we are, the 
“we” referred to here is not an additive 'we' but a thoroughly fused 
collective 'we'44. To further buttress this, Aigbodioh concludes that 
communalism, or its cognate communitarianism (from community), is a 
term used to express the peculiar cohesive and integrative character of 
African traditional society45. 

It becomes pertinent to state that man relates as long as he exists 
and keeping with the norms of authentic relationship will help make the 
society a better place 

 
Conclusion 
In this work, we have succeeded in making an exposition of the notion of 
man and how he cannot be separated from the activities of the society. 
This is translatable from the perspective of the domestic interaction that 
exist in the family, the school and other social institutions. All of these 
sociological strata depicts the reality of interaction. 
The work also made an assessment of religion from its etymology to the 
different theories that are associated with it. In fact the sociological 
theory as exposed by Emile Durkheim, the Anthropological as espoused 
by Ludwig Feuerbach and the psychological as espoused by Freud shows 
that the religion has man as its subject matter and this man in in constant 
relationship whether with his fellow men or with the supreme. 

The work also argues that although man is seen as a being that is 
in constant relationship, yet this relationship has not be fully realized 
judging from the fact that different ills are perpetrated daily in our world. 
Ills like rape, sexist practices, ethnicism, violence, nepotism and the likes. 

Be that as it may the paper concludes that only the principles of 
philosophy can provide a normative tools from the enhancement of the 
relationship and interrelatedness of the human person. To achieve this, 
there must be a proper adoption of some ethical moral principles that 
helps to foster cohesion in all strata of humanity. This principle is the 
need to consider one’s good and the good of the ‘others’. This means 
seeing others as having the same essence with set goals. 
 
 
 
 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    245 

Endnotes  
                                                      
1 Ayo Fatubarin & Olusegun Alokan, “Religion, Man and his Environment” British 

Journal of Education Vol. 1, No.2 2013 pp48-61 
2 Hayatullah Laluddin “A Review of three Major Sociological Theories and an Islamic 

Perspective”. International Journal of Islamic Thought Vol. 10: 2016 8-26 
3 Bryjak & Soroka in Hayatullah Laluddin “A Review of three Major Sociological 

Theories and an Islamic Perspective”  1992 ibid p. 24 
4 Alexander Spirkin Dialectical Materialis. Moscow. Progress Pub. 1983 p.88 
5 F.M Anayet Hossain & M. D. Korban Ali “Relation between Individual and Society” 

Open Journal of Social Sciences. Vol. 2 N. 8 2014 
6 Bernard Haring, The Laws of Christ, (New York: Newman Press, Vol III, 1964 p.119 
7 Joseph Omoregbe: A Philosophical our look of religion Lagos: Joja Educational 

Research and Publishers Limited, 2000 p.3 
8 Geroge Galloway: The Philosophy of Religion, New York Charles Scribner’s Sons 

1914 p.184 
9 http://www.ezsoftech.com/Akram/manandreligion.asp lassed assesed 21st 

January, 2020 
10 Ludwig, FeuerbachThe Essence of Christianity, Trans. By George Eliot, New York: 

Harper Touchbooks, 1956 pp 29-30 
11 Henning, Charles. "On the Origin of Religion" in American Anthropologist, 11(12), 

1898. 374 
12 Joseph Omoregbe. A Philosophical look at Religion Opcit p.10 
13 Ibid p.300 
14 Shanjendu Nath. Religion and its Role in Society”. IOSR Journal of Humanities 

and Social Sciences Vol. 20 2015 pp 82-85 
15 Ibid 83 
16 ibid 
17 ibid 
18 Michael Stausberg, Contemporary Theories of Religion: A Critical Companion. 

London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group London and New York 2009 p.233 
19 Sandra Bem. The Lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. 

New Haven: Yale Univerity Press 1993 p.9 
20 Issabella Crespi “ Socialization and Gender Roles Within the Family: A Study on 

Adolescents and their Parents in Great Britain” http://www.mariecurie.org 

/annals/volume3/crespi.pdf 
21 Hornby, A. S. 2006 Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current Emglish, 7th 

Edition, New York: Oxford University Press p.2 
22 Brigneti, P & Egbonimali, S. 2002 “Rape in Nigeria: Theory & Reality Retrived from: 

http://www.Quardian.co.uk/world/2002/auQ/20/Qanda.islam on July 4, 2013. P.4 
23 Samuel Okafor-Udah “ Ethical Problems of Rape as a social Cnkerworm in our 

present Day Society” Retrived from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jrhr/article/ 

viewFile/119696/109156 p. 161 
24 ibid 
25 Ibid 162 



246 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
26 Slavka Michancova “ Ethical Dilemmas in Dealing with Cases of Child Sexual 

Abuse” in Sorbye, L. W. (ed) Ethical Challenges in Professional Praxis: experiences 

from Slovakia Pressov: 2011 pp 119-137 
27 Beauty O. Biokoro. “The Bane of Child Abuse and the Rights of the Nigeria Child to 

Education” Journal of Resourcefulness and Distinction, Volume 8 No. 1, August, 2014  p. 

2 
28 Slavka Michancova “ Ethical Dilemmas in Dealing with Cases of Child Sexual 

Abuse” in Sorbye, L. W. (ed) Ethical Challenges in Professional Praxis: Opcit  p.135 
29 George Asadu. “Ethno-Religious Conflict: The Bane of Nigeria Unity” Hofa: 

African Journal of Multidisciplinary Research HAJMR. Vol. 3, No.1, 2018, p. 38-51 

(38) 
30 William Aso. Rudiments of Philosophy for Undergraduate; Lagos. Fropiel 

International Ltd 2018 p. 3 
31 Paul Ricoeur, Oneself as Another, trans. K. Blamey (Chicago & London: The 

University of Chicago Press, 1992 p.26 
32 Moran Dermot, Introduction to Phenomenology, London: Routledge Taylor and 

Francis Group, 2000. pp 337-338 
33 Jimoh Anselm “Justice and the othered Minority Lessons from Africa 

Communalism” in Elvis Imafidon (ed), Handbook of African Philosophy of 

Difference: Switzerland: Springer, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04941-

6_12-1 
34 J. O. Ndubuisi ‘The Role of Philosophy in Contemporary Society: The Nigerian 

Experience’ 

Humanity & Social Sciences Journal 10 (1): 40-46, 2015 
35 Francis Ikhianosime, “Levinas’ Theory of Alterity and the Sketching of an 

Epistemology of Otherness”. Ekpoma Review Vol 5 N. 1 2019 p.128 
36 Immanuel Kant, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, translated by Lewis 

White Beck, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merill, Library of Liberal Arts, 1959 p.39 
37 Ibid  
38 Richard Wollheim “John Stuart Mill and the Limits of State Action” Social 

Research Vol. 40 p. 1-30 
39 ibid 
40 David Brink. “Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy” https://plato.stanford.edu 

/entries/mill-moral-political/.lassed assessed 1/03/2020 
41 Francis Ikhianosime: “Fundamentals on Ethics and their Consequential 

Imperative” Unpub 2019 p.14 
42 Frank Ndubuisi “The Philosophical paradigm of African Identity and 

Development,” Open Journal of Philosophy  Vol.3, No. 1A, 2013 p.224 
43 Jack Aigbodioh. “Stigmatization in African Communalistic Societies”. Cultura: 

International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology. VIII . 1 (2011): p. 27. 
44 Menkiti, J.‘‘Person and Community in African Traditional Thought,’’ in R. Wright (ed.), 

African Philosophy: An Introduction (Lanham, MD: University Press of America). 1984 p. 1 
45 Jack Aigbodioh “Stigmatization Paradigm of African Identity and Development” 

Opcit p.28 

 



247 

18 

HUSSERLIAN ‘EPOCHE’ AND THE 

EXPANSION OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE 
 

Sylvester Idemudia ODIA, Ph.D 
Senior Lecturer, Dept. Of Philosophy, University of Benin 

sylvester.odia@uniben.edu; slyodia2002@yahoo.com 
Website: https://sylvesterodia.com 

 
Abstract 
Husserlian ‘epoche’ requires the researcher to intentionally set aside 
prejudices, biases, presumptions and presuppositions previously acquired 
from culture, religion, and society. This 'epoche' will enable the 
individual to have his or her own personal unbiased or unprejudiced 
assessment of the phenomena – objects, persons, events. Most, if not all 
cultures, religions, and society seem rigid and dogmatic in imparting 
knowledge to younger generations. Most persons who can reproduce the 
knowledge imparted to them are often celebrated as intelligent persons 
even when they may not have expanded the knowledge in question; thus 
ignoring those who may produce an unbiased or unprejudiced 
assessment of the phenomena – persons who may contribute to and 
expand knowledge. While the reproduction of cultural or communal 
knowledge by a given generation has historical values, it limits the 
generation in question to the limits of the knowledge community. This 
paper, using the analytical and phenomenological methods, argues for the 
expansion of human knowledge by encouraging researchers to have their 
encounter with the phenomena using the Husserlian ‘epoche’. Such 
knowledge acquired by the individual should be seen as an expansion of 
or additional knowledge to that of the knowledge community. 
 
Keywords: Epoche, Knowledge, Proposition, Phenomenology, Testimony 
 
Introduction 
Knowledge is essential to human survival. What to do or not do, what to 
eat and drink, the best environment to live in towards enhancing human 
life, the extent of what we know of other persons, objects, places and 
things, and so on are essential to human survival. 

mailto:sylvester.odia@uniben.edu
mailto:slyodia2002@yahoo.com
https://sylvesterodia.com/


248 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Now, nature seems to be evolving. And humans, as part of 
nature, seems to be acquiring more skills by the day which enable 
humans to have a better knowledge of nature as well as other persons. 
Thus the knowledge we currently possess of the nature of the person and 
reality, in general, seems to be the best of all knowledge hitherto 
produced by the human race because we have further expanded, via our 
own experiences, the knowledge we acquired from our predecessors. 
With all sense of sincerity and commitment to the survival of the human 
race, the knowledge we possess today we will also pass on to other 
persons (scholars or researchers inclusive).   

However, despite our genuine commitment to the survival of the 
human race, humans are still plagued with viruses, natural and man-
made disasters, famine and hunger, poverty and premature death, 
terrorism and wars due to our inability to manage ourselves as 
temperamental and sensual beings who, more often than not, are prone 
to be irrational than rational. 

Finding solutions to the above challenges require handing over 
or transmitting knowledge from one generation to another. This is often 
done through the propositional knowledge of scholars or researchers. 
Such knowledge helps the scholar or researcher to be up to date with the 
historical development of the knowledge in question. But if all that the 
scholar or researcher does is to memorise and reproduce the knowledge 
imparted to him or her, then meeting the challenges of the seemingly 
changing nature and human behavioural patterns may be difficult. 

There is, therefore, the urgent need to impart knowledge to 
scholars or researchers at all levels in such a way that they will be able to 
have their own experiences of the phenomena. Such experiences of 
theirs will be their contribution to the knowledge community and 
expand their knowledge of reality. To adequately expand human 
knowledge and resolve now challenges that threaten human existence, 
the phenomenological method of Husserl, especially his epoche is of great 
importance. 

Thus, this paper will expose the phenomenological method of 
Husserl as captured in his epoche towards revealing how it can help 
expand human knowledge. Before doing this, it will expose what 
knowledge is and argue that knowledge, as taught in schools, are 
fundamentally propositional, historical and ultimately testimonial in 
nature. Testimonial knowledge attests to the need for epoche in expanding 
knowledge for the survival of the human race. 
 
What Knowledge Is 
To the epistemologist, the knowledge that is of importance is 
propositional knowledge, which is often in the form of ‘I know that...” 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    249 

Such knowledge presupposes that the knower has experienced 
phenomena – persons, objects, things, events and state-of-affairs. From a 
phenomenological point of view, especially as espoused by Husserl, such 
knowledge also include things like universals or essences, numbers, 
values, and so on. Knowledge here is an expression of the knower’s 
experience (directly or indirectly) with a phenomenon via sense 
perception, rational or cognitive inference or judgment, testimony 
(knowledge from other persons’ experiences), revelation, authority or 
experts, memory, and so on. 

Traditionally, knowledge has been defined as ‘justified true belief ’ 
(Plato, Theaetetus, 201 c-d). The main challenge with this definition, 
especially as captured by Gettier's counterexamples (Gettier, 1963: 123), 
is how to justify knowledge claims. It is not enough to claim to know 
something, to claim to have an experience of something, to claim to have 
come in contact with something or to claim to have reflected on 
something and, thus, have an idea of it without providing a satisfactory 
and reasonable explanation for one’s knowledge claim. 

Attempts to justify knowledge claims have led to different criteria 
of justification which largely depend on the school of thought of the 
knower. Materialists are likely to limit themselves to that which is 
perceptible to the senses and, if they are scientists, they are generous 
enough to include the conclusions reached by the senses with the aid of 
scientific instruments that help to meliorate the limits of sense 
perception. 

Idealists seek the certainty of knowledge beyond the limits of 
sense perceptions. They are likely to place more trust in reason or 
inferential knowledge in their search for essences or universal qualities 
that can endure through time. If they are religiously inclined, certainty in 
knowledge will be sought for in the relationship they have with the 
divine or supernatural being who is believed to have created all things 
that can be known, and who infuses into the human mind the lacuna in 
sensual and cognitive knowledge via revelation, intuition, dreams and 
feelings. 

For instance, as it concerns an idealistic conception of 
knowledge, Abanaku (2018: 52) is of the view that the ultimate reality 
(the One or the Supreme Being) is the sole criterion of truth for the One 
is truth itself. The most humans can know of reality is to some certain 
degree of certainty. Thus “human knowledge could be described as 
characterized by degrees of clarity, distinctness and truth as it deepens 
from individual through communal to ultimate knowledge.” (Abanaku, 
2018: 53) 

But Teichman and Evans (1991: 65) negate the idealistic notion 
of knowledge because it seems to ignore the notion of propositional 



250 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

knowledge. Propositional knowledge is seen by them as the testimony of 
a knower about an event that took place at a time in history, and the event 
is about nature that seems to be evolving. 

However, irrespective of the school of thought one may adhere 
to, once the subject of knowledge (a knower) believes that he or she 
knows anything, the knowledge acquired becomes propositional at the 
point of communicating or transmitting it to others. 
 
Propositional Knowledge as Testimonial Knowledge 
The subject of knowledge (the knower or epistemic agent) believes that 
he or she knows when there is some reasonable degree of conviction. 
This reasonable degree of conviction is put to the test when the knower 
presents the knowledge he or she claims to have to another person or 
group of persons. This presentation of a knowledge claim is in the form 
of a proposition, that is, the knowledge claim is presented as a claim that 
can be true or false, even though the knower presents it with the 
conviction that the claim he or she makes is true. 

On propositional knowledge, Hegel (1892: 144) is of the view 
that it gives us a partial picture of reality; partial idea from the perspective 
of the knower. While a full knowledge of reality can be attained at the 
level of 'Absolute Knowledge', before attaining absolute knowledge via 
dialectic, the knower produces propositional knowledge from a given 
perspective and groups things into different classes. 

Now, propositional knowledge allows other epistemic agents 
(who are being presented with the knowledge claim of the knower) to 
verify whether or not the knowledge claim of the knower is true or false. 
It also brings to the awareness of epistemic agents that the knowledge in 
question is as understood and expressed by the knower; that is, it is the 
testimony of the knower concerning the knowledge claim. 

Propositional knowledge, therefore, becomes the testimony of 
the knower at the point of dissemination. If epistemic agents (hearers) 
are convinced of the veracity of the knowledge claim or are reasonably 
satisfied with the justification provided by the knower, then it becomes 
knowledge for the epistemic agents based on the testimony of the 
knower. But if epistemic agents doubt the knowledge claim of the 
knower, then the knowledge claim becomes probable. 

Furthermore, testimonial knowledge is historical in the sense 
that it is the proposition of a knower containing a knowledge claim of 
phenomena or state-of-affairs acquired in some distant or immediate 
past. Since reality is interpreted differently from the experiences of 
different epistemic agents, and what we claim to know seems to 
constantly evolve, then there is a need to constantly keep track of what 
we can know of the phenomena or present state-of-affairs. But if we 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    251 

bring into our experience of the phenomena or present state-of-affairs 
the previous conclusions we deduced from our past experiences or 
previous conclusions reached by culture, religion, society, other 
researchers and epistemic agents from previous phenomena or similar 
state-of-affairs, then we may fail to detect what the present phenomena 
or present state-of-affairs is revealing or has evolved into. These previous 
experiences of ours or conclusions reached by culture, religion, society, 
other researchers and epistemic agents are what Husserl referred to as 
biases, prejudices, presuppositions, etc. To experience phenomena or a 
present state-of-affairs as it currently is or as it is currently revealing itself 
without bias, prejudice or presuppositions requires one to practice 
Husserl's epoche. The practice of Husserl’s epoche will lead to a meaningful 
growth of knowledge. 
 
Husserlian Epoche and the Growth of Human Knowledge 
For Husserl, viewing the world from the opinions and conclusions of 
others is the “natural standpoint”. The natural standpoint is the 
conventional way of learning or imparting knowledge to others. Also, 
this conventional way of perceiving reality limits reality to sense 
perception and trivializes our ability to know things inferred by reason – 
the idea of the mind, universals or essences. 

To attain knowledge of things as they are (which is not possible 
for Plato and Kant), Husserl developed a method that requires the 
bracketing away of the opinion, bias, prejudice, and presuppositions of 
the natural standpoint to be able to experience the phenomena as it is. 
This method is known as epoche or the “phenomenological reduction”. It 
is the reduction of experience to the level of not being influence by the 
judgments and conclusions of previous epistemic agents. This 
"phenomenological reduction" also known as "transcendental reduction" 
leads to the experience of the pure act of consciousness about the 
phenomena or state-of-affairs. 

According to Lawhead (2002: 530 footnote) "Epoche was the 
term used by the Greek sceptics when they recommended we withhold 
our commitment and suspend judgment about things that were 
uncertain." Thus, we can say that Husserl is challenging us to suspend all 
previous judgments, conclusions, opinions, and presuppositions about a 
phenomenon or state-of-affairs. We should approach the phenomenon or 
state-of-affairs with the mindset of allowing the phenomenon or state-
of-affairs to reveal itself to us. With the revelation we have experienced 
we can form our judgment about the phenomenon. The phenomenon is 
explicated from one’s own experience without the bias or influence of 
any philosophizing (Husserl, 1960: 151). Such an experience of the 
phenomenon is pure and will help us know things as they are in 



252 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

themselves because it brackets away biases and attitude acquired at the 
level of the natural standpoint. 

This method of epoche also known as ‘bracketing’ is an intuitive 
process similar to Descartes methodic doubt. Descartes, armed with 
experience, doubted the knowledge of reality he previously had on the 
bases that the sources of such knowledge had limitations. During this 
process, he could not doubt that he was doubting or thinking. Thus he 
concluded that essentially he was a thinking being that exists. This idea 
of a thinking being that exists was something he could not doubt and he 
believed that the sceptics, no matter how much they try to doubt it, will 
not be able to doubt it (Descartes, 1912: 26 – 27). 

Descartes method of doubting everything he used to believe to 
be knowledgeable to be able to arrive at the "thinking being" with all 
clarity and certainty is similar to Husserl's epoche. Husserl believes that 
with the method of epoche he can arrive at the knowledge of things as 
they are. 

Looking at the limitations of the senses and reason as sources of 
knowledge, and given that propositional knowledge is dated for they are 
about past experiences, in order not to live in the shadows of the past 
(especially if we want to know things as they are today), we must bracket 
away from the knowledge of the past. Ojong and Ibrahim (2011: 185) 
have both stated the problems with some sources and theories of 
knowledge and, taking a clue from the works of Kant and Kuhn they 
opined that today's knowledge claims are a product of the experience of 
the knower with interpretation arrived at by the workings of the mind of 
the knower. And, given that reality changes, the interpretation arrived at 
when reality changes produce new paradigms that "make us see the 
world from a different perspective." 

Besides, Ojong (2010: 39, 44) encourages any epistemologist 
who is experiencing "epistemic loneliness" (egocentric predicament) over 
false ideas, to overcome his or her fears and scepticism by engaging in 
epistemic discourse with other epistemologists. He or she will effectively 
engage the external world using the tool of language to avoid the 
challenge of 'private' language. 

But given that the idea of the epistemologist is relative to some 
degree, the researcher or scholar need not bother too much about 
objectivity or truth as defined or presented to him or her by the 
epistemic community. His or her main concern is to explain reality as 
currently experienced or as it currently presents itself. 
 Furthermore, from Kant and Kuhn's idea of a paradigm shift, one can 
infer that if indeed, reality undergoes changes, each major change will 
produce a new paradigm. Every new paradigm will produce new 
knowledge. Thus the researcher or scholar needs to bracket away 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    253 

previous paradigms to enable him or her detect possible new changes of 
reality to be able to acquire knowledge current to the reality of his or her 
time. Such knowledge acquired becomes a contribution to the 
knowledge of the epistemic community. Knowledge, as collectively 
owned, has thereby expanded or grown. 
 
Glorifying the Past 
Husserl does not condemn the past. He did not play down the 
importance of customs and traditions. He also did not condemn the 
knowledge of our past experiences or from experts. He was, however, 
against dogmatising or canonising the experience of the past to the 
detriment of what the phenomena or state-of-affairs is currently 
revealing. Thus, if we are to find new patterns in the phenomena or 
state-of-affairs, if we are to solve today’s emerging problems and 
challenges, and if we want to expand the frontiers of knowledge then we 
need to include our own unique experiences through the practice of 
Husserl’s epoche.   
 
Conclusion 
Humans are communal beings. We live in communities and share things 
in common with members of the community in which we live. 
Knowledge is one major thing we share in common especially as it is 
essential to the survival of the human race. 

However, as beautiful and essential the knowledge we acquire 
from the epistemic community is, it is dated. If the researcher or scholar 
is to contribute meaningfully to the epistemic community he or she 
belongs to, he or she should practice the Husserlian epoche especially 
since the world in which we live seems to be evolving. Whatever the 
pure act of consciousness intuitively deduces or produces from epoche is, 
according to Husserl, the way the phenomena or state-of-affairs is. This 
knowledge from the pure act of consciousness will further be 
implemented by reason and senses in our everyday experiences. Such 
knowledge, if different from what was previously thought about the 
phenomena or state-of-affairs, will be a genuine contribution to 
knowledge. It will be an advancement of knowledge. But then, it will not 
be proper to dogmatise it or to canonize it as the ultimate truth as far as 
the phenomena or state-of-affairs is. To dogmatise or canonize will 
amount to using this conclusion to assess subsequent or similar 
phenomena or state-of-affairs, and this will be against the principle of 
Husserl’s epoche. 
 In other words, each time we approach familiar or strange 
phenomena or state-of-affairs we should apply epoche so that the pure 
state of consciousness can intuitively know the phenomena or state-of-



254 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

affairs as it is. If the phenomena or state-of-affairs has evolved, the 
subject of knowledge that is investigating it phenomenologically will 
detect it and add the experience to that of the knowledge community. If 
the phenomena or state-of-affairs has not evolved, it will reveal itself as it 
did the previous time it was experienced. 
 However, as difficult as it is for many to practice epoche or 
“Transcendental reduction,” it produces and expands the frontiers of 
knowledge, conquers new challenges, and keeps humanity surviving. 
 
 
References 
Abanaku, B., 2018. Fundamentals of Human Knowledge: Echoes of Reality and 

Individuation and other Writings, Onitsha: Spiritan Publications. 

Descartes, Rene 1912. A Discourse on Method, Meditations on the First Philosophy, 

Principles of Philosophy, trans. J. Veitch, London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. 

Gettier, E. L. 1963. “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”, Analysis, 23, June, p. 123 

Hegel, G. W. F., 1892. The Logic of  Hegel, translated from the Encyclopaedia of the 

Philosophical Science by W. Wallace. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

Husserl, Edmund, 1960. Cartesian Meditations, trans. D. Cairns, Netherlands: The 

Hague. 

Lawhead, William F., 2002. The Voyage of Discovery: A Historical Introduction to 

Philosophy, 2nd Ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 

Ojong, K. Ayiba, 2010. The Story of Epistemology, Calabar: Jochrisam Publishers. 

Ojong, K. Ayiba and Adekunle A. Ibrahim, 2011. Fundamental Problems of 

Epistemology, Calabar: Jochrisam Publishers. 

Plato, Theaetetus, 201, c – d. 

Teichman, J. and Evans, K. C., 1991. Philosophy: A Beginner’s Guide, Oxford: Basil 

blackwell Ltd, p. 65. 

 



255 

19 

AN ETHICAL APPRAISAL OF THE FAMILY 

AS AN AGENT OF PRIESTLY FORMATION 

IN AFRICA 
 

Gregory Ebalu OGBENIKA Ph.D 
Lecturer, Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele - Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. 

oshokwe67@gmail.com 
& 

Mr Gideon ADENIJI (Ph.D Cand.) 
University of Benin, Benin City 

Etrophodon17@gmail.com 
 
Abstract 
The family is the first unit of human formation among the various units 
of formation in every age. It is a unit that is indispensable in 
the grooming of the child. The way a child was brought up within a 
particular family can go a long way to influence his general attitude 
towards life. If the child was exposed to a good and favorable formation 
within family, the child is bound to be positively disposed toward others, 
because the child would not only have passed through the system, the 
system would have passed through the child. If it is the other way round, 
then it will manifest in the child’s general attitude towards life as a 
whole. It has been discovered that with the disengagement of moral and 
religious education in schools, the moral fabric of societal life is 
progressively depreciating at an alarming rate. A lot of children and 
young people are now living without the basic and rudimentary 
knowledge of morals and religion. The only emphasis on education in 
many developed countries is intellectual knowledge, devoid of human 
formation. Most modern societies depend so much on the positive laws 
of the state to groom children and direct the affairs of their lives. This is 
having a toll on products of post primary schools, which are the raw 
materials for formation at the level of the Seminary. It is against this 
backdrop that this paper attempts an ethical appraisal of the role of the 
family in the formation of the candidates for the priesthood. This paper 
adopts the analytical and hermeneutical methods of analysis. It concludes 

mailto:oshokwe67@gmail.com
mailto:trophodon17@gmail.com


256 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

that a proper attention to the role of the family, will produce better 
candidates for formation and reduce incidences of behavioural 
dysfunctions in priestly ministry within the society. 
 
Keywords: Family, Formation, Agent, Seminary Formation, and Africa 
 
Conceptual Elucidation. 
Family: The concept ‘family’ depicts a group of persons united by the 
ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and 
interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually 
those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.1 The family plays the 
role of development with the relationship of the parents and the 
Children; it is basically the “original cell of social life”2, where values are 
transmitted, and the basic level of socialization from which the human 
person gets the first bits of education. The family is the key and basic 
unit of development, a key aspect of the family is the role of formation, 
the family serves to form the members of this social unit, a place or ideal 
situation where the more experienced members, the parents and over 
time, elder siblings pass on the necessary basic values and ideas that 
require proper and adequate cultivation. The family passes on the first 
form of education to the young ones,3 helping them form their primary 
and basic conceptions of the human life. “It is the most basic unit of the 
Church”4 
 
Formation: The concept of ‘formation’ basically references 
development, in context, the process of shaping a person. Further, 
formation basically is a series of holistic developmental strategies aimed 
at improving the human person in different and basic facets of life, as the 
Advanced English Dictionary would refer to formation as fabrication into 
a particular shape, this is the basis of the formation of the human person, 
forming the person into a particular and certain shape, a shape of 
primarily, all round brilliance. Formation, as implicitly stated earlier is an 
all-round activity which implies that it covers varying aspects of the 
personality be it emotional, physical, moral, social, cognitive, behavioural 
etc. Also, the instruments of formation are diverse, there are varying 
social groups that have a role to play in the formation of the human 
person, the Family being the basic unit that helps forms the perception 
of the human person, that presents the lenses by which the person sees 
the world, it is as though the grassroots, as though the background from 
which the development process takes its root, the human person would 
always have other instruments and factors, the peer groups and other 
social institution but a pivotal agent would always remain the family. 
 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    257 

The Seminary Formation: The formation in the seminary is one that 
is structured to meet all areas that are necessary for a holistic human 
formation. The four cardinal areas of formation in the seminary are the 
human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. These are areas that 
are sacrosanct and intrinsic to ensure a balanced and full grown man, 
ready for the priestly vocation. These areas of formation are very integral 
to the actualization of the goal of an authentic formation.  
 
The Human Formation: According to the Synod fathers, “the whole 
work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation 
if it lacked a suitable human formation.5 “This therefore reveals the 
importance of human formation, as it represents the foundation upon 
which every other formation is built. The young men are first human 
beings, and would in their vocation deal with human beings. The letter 
to the Hebrews notes that “every high priest chosen from among men is 
appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God” (Heb. 5:1). In 
order that his ministry may be humanly as credible and acceptable as 
possible, it is important that the priest should mold his human 
personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for 
others in their meeting with Jesus Christ the redeemer of man.6 Future 
priests should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only 
out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view 
to the ministry3. The seminary hand book adds that maturity in human 
formation entails a two-fold demand, namely, increasing knowledge of 
oneself in all humanness as a creature, with particular strengths and 
weaknesses and understanding this within the framework of the 
relationships which forms the context of the priests life.4 An 
understanding of humanity of an individual, and a conscious acceptance 
of the human nature, towards a conscious effort to be better, and to grow 
helps in undergoing a human formation devoid of pretense and 
hypocrisy, one that is open to learning.  As the priest grows both in the 
knowledge of himself and in his relationship with others, he will be 
more deeply formed into his priesthood. The seminarian is therefore 
formed to work on himself and mold himself better into the image of 
Christ, and by extension, work on his relations with men, so as to 
become a healthy and lovable conduit of God’s mercy and love for 
humanity. 

 In Pastores Dabo Vobis the Holy Father, St. John Paul II of 
blessed memory talks about “affective maturity”, which for him, is the 
result of an education in true and responsible love, and notes that it is a 
significant, and decisive factor in the formation of candidates to the 
priesthood.5 Affective maturity presuppose an awareness that love has a 
central role in human life.6 In his encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, St. Pope 



258 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

John Paul II notes that Man cannot leave without love. He remains a 
being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is meaningless if love 
is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not 
experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate innately in 
it.7 This therefore implies that the seminarian is groomed and grows in 
love in all its entirety, physical, psychic and spiritual, with a human 
maturity subsumed in clear training in freedom, expressed in heartfelt 
obedience to the truth of one’s own being, and to the meaning of one’s 
own existence.8 

 
Spiritual Formation: The formation of the human person, finds its 
fullest expression in spiritual formation. When it is carried out in the 
context of an anthropology which is open to the full truth regarding the 
human person, it leads to and finds its completion in spiritual 
formation.9 The hand book of the Seminary of all Saints adds that 
spiritual formation sets the foundation for the attitudes, habits and 
practices of the spiritual life in a lifetime of priestly ministry especially as 
regards priestly celibacy.10 As a result of this, the New Ratio Fundamentalis 
Institutionis Sarcedotalis, notes that initial admission to the seminary should 
be preceded by a spiritual and ecclesial programme, in which a serious 
discernment of the motivation in responding to a vocation can be 
undertaken.11 This programme which is referred to as the Spiritual Year 
is a programme that is set aside for the spiritual formation of aspirants to 
the priestly vocation. For one year, the aspirant is engaged in spiritual 
exercises that also help in his discernment of his vocation. The major 
seminary, however, continues in this spiritual grooming as the daily 
schedules of the seminary contain different spiritual activities that are a 
necessary ingredient of his vocation.  

The seminarian also has access to a spiritual director to whom he 
meets for guidance and counseling, on spiritual matters. The essential 
content of spiritual formation specifically leading towards the priesthood 
is well expressed in the Vatican Council’s Decree Optatam Totius: 
Spiritual formation (…) should be conducted in such a way that the 
students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with God the 
Father through his son, Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.12 Those who are 
to take on the likeness of Christ, priest by sacred ordination should form 
the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives.13 
Prayers and study of the word of God and the attendance of Holy Mass 
are core spiritual activities for all seminarians and priests in formation.  
 
Pastoral Formation: The whole formation imparted to candidates for 
the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the 
charity of Christ the good shepherd. Hence their formation in its 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    259 

different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character.14 This 
means that one major aspect of formation in the seminary is the pastoral 
formation, where students are trained to be true shepherds of soul after 
the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore seminarians are engaged 
in evangelical activities and are also posted to parishes.  

The Handbook of the Seminary of All Saints notes that seminarians 
are introduced to the apostolic life by hands-on-experience in areas such 
as parish and campus ministry, counseling, parish religious education 
programmes, diocesan tribunals, vocation offices, hospital ministry, serial 
ministry to the poor and the disadvantaged etc.15 Through these field 
experiences the seminary is helped to understand the apostolate, and is 
prepared to make a more matured commitment to the priesthood of 
Christ.  
 
Intellectual Formation: This aspect of formation is, perhaps, central to 
the whole project of formation in the Church. This is a very vital aspect 
of the priestly formation that cannot be overemphasized. In Pastores Dabo 
Vobis, St. Pope John Paul II of blessed memory notes that “Intellectual 
formation has its own characteristics but it is also deeply connected with, 
and indeed can be seen as a necessary expression of, both human and 
spiritual formation: it is a fundamental demand of human intelligence by 
which he participate in the light of God’s mind and seeks to acquire 
wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed towards knowing and 
adhering to God.16 The challenges of the rapidly developing world and 
the intellectual demand of a highly knowledgeable society makes it 
important for the Priest to be a man of great intellectual fecundity and 
knowledge to meet the challenges of evangelism to highly intellectual 
people. The synod fathers notes that “if we expect every Christian to be 
prepared to make a defense of the faith, and to account for the hope that 
is in us (Cf 1 Pet. 3:15), then all the more should candidates for the 
priesthood and priests have diligent care of the quality of their 
intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity. For the 
salvation of their brethren and sisters, they should seek an even deeper 
knowledge of the divine mysteries.17  
 The seminary is not only a place for spiritual and human formation, 
but also a place where there is a rich investment in intellectual rigor and 
exercises. The peculiarity of the priestly vocation is one that demands 
that the seminarian is equipped with philosophical and theological 
knowledge.  The young man in formation is exposed to the different 
schools and areas in philosophy that helps him delve into existential 
questions and rationalizations about the world and creation in general. 
The seminarian is exposed to a high level of education and academic 
activity befitting of every higher institution of learning, to learn 



260 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

undergraduate courses in philosophy, so as to come out a philosopher of 
refinement, knowledge and understanding, balanced intrinsically by 
studies in theology, (knowledge of God) which is in fact the goal of his 
philosophical endeavor. Therefore, like all other young men and women 
undergoing undergraduate studies in philosophy, the seminarian 
undergoes rigorous intellectual exercise in philosophy, but this rime with 
a purpose and a goal to be able to wither the storm that comes from a 
proliferation of knowledge that could pose a challenge to faith and 
learning in the knowledge of God.   

The Holy Father, John Paul II of blessed memory explains this 
further when he notes that “the theologian is first and foremost a man of 
faith. But he is a believer who asks himself question about his own faith 
(fides quarens intellectum), with the aim of reaching a deeper understanding 
of the faith itself.18 This is what philosophy helps to do, as it asks so 
many questions on existence and God. The need for philosophical 
studies geared and channeled towards a better understanding of the 
Christ is of the essence, as the philosophical traditions of the seminary 
are studied up to the point of supplementing theology, through the 
inclusion of various Christian philosophers and their philosophy that 
possesses a theological touch.  

Theological formation is therefore very vital as it is the 
destination of all philosophical studies and the focal point of the 
intellectual studies of a seminarian. For John Paul II, theological 
formation is both complex and demanding. It should lead the candidate 
for the priesthood to a complete and united vision of the truths which 
God has revealed in Jesus Christ and of the church’s experience of 
faith.19    
 
Who are the Agents of Priestly Formation? 
Throughout the course of the formation of an intending Priest, there are 
various persons, structures and institutions he comes in contact with 
which shape his personality and necessary qualities that place him in a 
better position to exercise his clerical responsibilities. The role of these 
agents cannot be treated with levity because in the long run, the impact 
of these agents go a long way to influence the candidate’s conception of 
what the Priestly Ministry entails and how he is to go about the exercise 
of the ministry. There are so many people involved in the work of 
formation. But for the purpose of this paper, we would like to identify 
the main agents or units involved in the work of priestly formation. They 
are the key instruments being used by the God and Church to ensure the 
formation of future priests for the Church. We shall examine some of 
these salient agents which shape and influence Priestly formation and 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    261 

their respective roles in the whole formation process. These are as 
follows: 
 
The Family 
As stated earlier, the family plays a pivotal role in the early upbringing of 
the child. It is the primary or primordial unit or agent of formation of the 
child. The attention paid by the family to the upbringing at the early 
stage of the growth of a child makes a lot of difference in the maturity of 
the child. The more attention given, the better for the child, the less 
attention given, goes a long way to affect the development of the child. 
This does not apply to the early stage alone, but at every stage of the 
development of the child. The whole gamut of formation should be 
wholistic. There is this tendency for some families to pay attention one 
or some aspect(s) of the child’s formation to the detriment of the others. 
A lot of parents pay particular attention to the intellectual formation at 
the expense of human and spiritual formation, which is so important in 
the life of the child. They do this by sending their wards to the best 
school that are famous for academic prowess in the society without 
minding what they are able to offer in the areas of values and their 
relationship with the creator. 
 It is of paramount importance for the family to give priority to the 
wholistic formation of the child till the child attains the age of fending 
for himself or herself, which is the age of reason, the age at which they 
can now take complete responsibility for their actions: 
The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the 
procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and 
their spiritual formation. The role of parents is of such importance that it 
is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute. The right and the 
duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable20. 

Having enjoyed tutelage under the guidance of their parents in a 
wholistic manner, it is most likely that the child would take the path for 
which he has been brought up while growing up. This also applies to the 
seminarian who is in formation. While on holidays with the family, the 
onus is on the family to guide and support him as he undergoes 
formation. In the most of numerous distractions that could arise while 
on holidays, it behooves of parents to ensure that attention is paid to the 
seminarian’s well-being so that he may not be swallowed by the negative 
influences that abound all over our contemporary African  society. 
 
The Diocesan Bishop/Presbyterate: The Diocesan Bishop is first and 
foremost the one who discerns the vocation to the Priesthood of any 
candidate. He is responsible for the seminarian from the beginning to the 
end of the formative process and ultimately decides if the candidate is fit 



262 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

enough to be ordained and to exercise the Priestly Ministry.21 Although, 
he may not directly carryout these functions, the Bishop puts the 
necessary personnel and mechanisms in place to help him carryout this 
responsibility and that is where the role of the Diocesan Presbyterate 
(especially the Vocations Director) comes in. During the course of the 
seminarian’s formation, he is bound to come in contact with various 
Priests in the Diocese who through such encounters help to shape the 
personality of such seminarian.22  

The Vocations Director is primarily saddled with the 
responsibility of formation of seminarians in the Diocese whenever they 
are away from school (the seminary). Under the overall supervision of 
the Bishop, he monitors the growth of priestly qualities in aspiring 
candidates and inspires the blossoming of these necessary qualities. As an 
illustration, here in our Nigerian clime, it is the practice to send 
seminarians on pastoral work during their holidays or break from the 
seminary in which the Priests in question are required to observe the 
seminarian and write a report of what has been observed during the 
period of his work. It is also the responsibility of the Priest to guide and 
direct the seminarian on what it entails to possess the necessary priestly 
qualities. This shows in no small measure the great responsibility placed 
on the shoulders of the Diocesan Presbyterate in the formation of 
candidates. The Bishop also intervenes from time to time to examine the 
progress candidates are making in their formation in all aspects of their 
formative life. 

 
The Seminary: The seminary, which is a place where seminarians are 
trained, plays a very crucial role in the formative process as an agent.23 
The seminary which is not only an educational institution for the 
intellectual formation of Priests also coordinates the various elements 
which culminate in a holistic priestly personality. In this sense, this 
means that even if the seminary is an educational institution where 
seminarians bag degrees in Philosophy and Divinity, it is not just all 
about that. If not, it would not be different from the secular institutions 
where people study for degrees. Apart from the intellectual formation, 
the seminary also takes into cognizance, the spiritual, human and pastoral 
aspects of the candidate’s formation which are geared towards the 
effective exercise of the Priestly ministry24  

The seminary carries out its function through the 
instrumentality of Formators (basically Priests) and other lay members of 
the community, including the Lecturers and other relevant persons who 
contribute to the day to day activities of the seminary. The Formators, 
though, play a very crucial role as through their actions and encounter 
with the seminarians, ideas and conceptions about what the priesthood 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    263 

entails are formed in the minds of the candidates. This is not exclusive of 
their encounter with other Priests, such as those in their respective 
Dioceses. 
 
The Laity: The Laity of the Diocese from where the seminarians come 
also play a crucial role in the discernment process. During his formative 
years, the seminarian will be privileged to work with various segments of 
the Laity in his Diocese and beyond. He will be actively involved in the 
affairs of Pious Societies, Associations, Lay ministers and other lay 
ministries in the Church. His encounter with these various categories of 
persons go a long way to help him stand better prepared to relate with 
these various segments of Christ’s faithful by furnishing him with 
experience and concrete problem solving tools that will help him in the 
exercise of the ministry in the future.  
On the other hand, the Laity also helps the seminarian to sustain himself 
and give an appropriate assent to the call of God’s work.25 They also serve 
as guardians and can be helpful in helping the seminarians to focus on 
their call. They can serve as advisers, dialogue partners and counselors to 
the seminarians which in the long run go a long way to shape the 
candidate’s disposition towards the Priesthood. 
 
The Subject of Formation: Apart from the aforementioned, kit is 
pertinent to note that the candidate is primarily responsible for his own 
formation, as other attempts to form him will result in futility if the 
candidate remains closed-in to himself and wrongly disposed to the 
whole process. This point is well expressed in where it states that:  

Each seminarian is the protagonist of his own 
formation, as he has already been mentioned and is 
called to a journey of ongoing growth in the human, 
spiritual, intellectual and pastoral areas, taking into 
account his own personal and family background. 
Seminarians are likewise responsible for establishing 
and maintaining a climate of formation that is 
consistent with the values of the Gospel.26 
Hence, the seminarian should develop what is referred to as 

“formative attitudes” such as availability, openness and docility to learn 
from the different circumstances he comes across in life and in various 
dimensions of his personality.27 The communitarian climate of the 
seminary also plays a crucial role in helping the candidate to internalize 
vocational values interwoven in inter-personal relationships.     
 
The Family: The family’s role, which is sometimes downplayed, is of 
utmost importance in the shaping of a candidate’s personality. The 



264 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

family serves as the foundation on which every other attempt at building 
a formidable priestly character springs. A Christian family can truly assist 
candidates to discover and nurture a call to priestly vocation in the 
candidate.28 The spirituality of the family could either foster or mar a 
candidate’s desire for priestly service while a dysfunctional family or a 
family which pays little or no attention to spiritual matters can create a 
warped mindset in the consciousness of the candidate which further 
influences his disposition and openness to formation. While it is true that 
through the extra-ordinary grace of God, genuine vocation to the 
priesthood can spring from even the most despicable situations, we 
cannot overlook the influence of environment and family on character 
formation. If the foundation of the family is shaky, all other agents or 
institutions of formation will have a hell of a time molding the candidate 
to suite his call. The all important role of the family will be discussed in 
subsequent sessions. 
 
The Holy Spirit: While discussing the various inputs of human agents 
in the formation of a candidate, we must not leave out the necessity of 
grace and God’s intervention because the whole enterprise of Priestly 
formation is controlled by God Himself who chooses. This fact is all 
exemplified in Christ’s admonition to His Apostles “You did not choose 
me; I chose you…” (Jn 15:16). Hence, it is the Holy Spirit who forms 
the candidate through the instrumentality of these various mediators 
(Patron Wong, 2014). As a result, it is very necessary that all requisite 
agents of formation should teach the candidate the importance of 
openness and docility to the actions of the Spirit which inflames the 
heart with sincerity and clarity of purpose. 
 
An Assessment of the Family as an Agent of Formation 
As earlier stated, the role of the family as an agent of priestly formation 
cannot be over-emphasized. This fact is re-echoed in prominent Church 
documents on Priestly formation. Emphasizing the foundation-laying 
responsibility which accrues to the family, a Second Vatican Document 
says:  
Since the reality of the Christian Family is endangered nowadays, much 
importance should be given to pastoral work on behalf of the family, in 
order that the families themselves, generously accepting the gift of 
human life, may be ‘as it was a first seminary.29  

In line with the above stand, and in consideration of all necessary 
elements which promote priestly vocation, another salient document on 
Priestly formation states:  
A very special responsibility falls upon the Christian Family, which by 
virtue of the Sacrament of Matrimony, shares its own unique way in the 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    265 

educational mission of the Church, Teacher and Mother. Families can 
become a first seminary in which children can acquire from the 
beginning, an awareness of piety and prayer and love for the Church.30  

The above statements from the Church’s Magisterium accentuate 
the importance of the family as an agent of Priestly Formation. The life 
of piety, the consciousness of the importance of prayer, the ability to 
learn submissiveness to God’s will and respect for the Church and 
authorities all spring forth from the spiritual tradition of a family. If the 
father and mother in the home develop a culture of family prayers and 
devotion, the children do not need to be told of the importance of 
prayers in their lives as Christians. Other salient points that need to be 
examined are the vocation-friendly nature of the family, how they 
encourage members to open themselves to a life of service and tolerance 
by listening to the cares and needs of each member of the family, how 
much support members get from the family in pursuing a career or 
vocation which is in view of the happiness of such individual.31 All these 
elements combine to either foster or discourage the sprouting of the 
vocational seed in the hearts of aspiring candidates to the Priesthood. 

As a way of diversion, it is pertinent to assess the concept of the 
family in our Traditional African culture. The average African is always 
concerned with inculcating certain societal values and morals in 
members of his or her family basically for the preservation of the family’s 
integrity in the society which in turn fosters respect among society 
members for such family. African families do not joke with the moral 
formation of their wards which are often tied to the religious practices of 
the family and the communities at large because they recognize that such 
persons will someday go out as an ambassador of the family or cultural 
heritage. It is a common African saying to their wards that ‘they should 
know the child of whom they are wherever they go’. This goes a long 
way to demonstrate the importance attached by Africans to the 
preservation of the family name which is only possible if the members of 
such family have a sound moral foundation. Each individual in the 
family is considered as an ambassador of the family. Hence, the family 
takes the duty upon itself to embark on extensive social, religious and 
cultural education of its members so as to avoid the situation where 
members become deviant in the society as a result of poor education. 

If families generally hold forth to this African model of the 
family, the task of formation of candidates to the Priesthood will be 
much easier. Not only will they be good Priests but good Christians and 
patriotic citizens for those who may eventually not make it to the 
Priesthood. 
Another important consideration is that the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary 
and Joseph should continue to serve as a reference point to all families. 



266 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Fathers and Mothers should look up to Joseph and Mary in the 
upbringing of their wards. Jesus Christ, in His sovereignty, subjected 
Himself to the Headship of Joseph his foster father and learned the 
dignity of labour as a carpenter. From his foster father, Christ must have 
experienced how hardworking his foster father was, who provided for his 
family and lived in accordance with the commandments of God. In His 
human nature, Christ learned the relevant skills and the use of the 
necessary tools in carrying out manual labour.32 As a result, St. Joseph 
and his wife, Mary should be honoured and invoked in the attempt to 
plant and cultivate the seed of vocation to the Priesthood as he can truly 
become the head of our domestic Churches which are ‘the family’. 
 
The Role of the Family in the Formation of Future Priests 
It is worthy of note that the role of the family in the training and 
molding of a child’s character is un-negotiable irrespective of the 
vocation such child wishes to embrace. Hence, we shall examine certain 
duties and responsibilities of the family in the training of their wards 
which could in the long run sow the seed of the vocation to the 
priesthood in their minds. 
 
Religious Education of Children: The Church’s teaching since the 
commencement of the Second Vatican Council explicitly states that the 
duty of religious education of children is a shared responsibility between 
the Ministers and Parents. According to the Code of Canon Law, the 
right and obligation of parents to procreate and educate their wards arise 
from the meaning and significance of marital union itself.33   

Since they have given life to their children, parents have a most 
grave obligation and possess the right to educate them. Therefore, it is 
for Christian parents particularly to take care of the Christian Education 
of their children according to the doctrine handed on by the Church.  
The Second Vatican Document, Gaudium et Spes, also emphasizes this 
point when it states that “parents are consecrated by the sacrament of 
marriage to a specific function: they are active co-workers in the salvific 
and evangelizing mission of the Church, a service they perform by their 
educational duties towards their children.”34 

These following documents all add up to the point that parents 
are responsible for the moral upbringing of their children which serve as 
foundations for their views about life and principles. A faulty moral 
upbringing will surely lead to a faulty personality so will a faulty 
personality lead to a faulty formation of the necessary priestly qualities in 
a candidate. The Formators can hardly work on a candidate with a faulty 
personality due to a faulty moral foundation except by the extra-ordinary 
intervention of the Holy Spirit. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    267 

Assist in the Process of Discernment: It is the role of the family to 
‘assist’ the candidate in the process of discernment and not to determine 
or enforce the vocation to the priesthood on the candidate or discourage 
him from embarking on such a journey. With prayer, advice, mentoring 
and counseling, the family can play a very important role of formation of 
the candidate’s attitude towards the priesthood. By the very fact that the 
candidate grew up in the midst of his family, it is expected that the 
parents, guardians and siblings understand his character, disposition, 
principles and attitudes better. This fact places the family in a very good 
position to help the candidate discern if truly the vocation to the 
priesthood is his calling. In the whole process, the family must be wary 
of imposing their wishes on the candidate as this in itself could backfire. 

It is common knowledge in Nigeria that some candidates are 
answering the call of their parents or guardians and not their own call. In 
some places where the priesthood is regarded as a status symbol or some 
kind of reputation which brings dignity to the family, some candidates 
can be placed under unnecessary pressure to become priests without the 
family members bothering to understand the candidate’s true disposition 
towards the whole process. On the other hand, some families do not 
want some candidates to embrace the call to the priesthood and regard it 
as a wasted life. These perspectives are a misconception of the role of the 
family in the process of discernment. 
 
Collaboration with Other Agents of Formation: It is the 
responsibility of parents who have candidates aspiring towards the 
priesthood to cooperate and collaborate with other agents of formation 
such as the Bishop, Vocations Director, Seminary, Parish Priest, among 
others. This collaboration could be in form of material or spiritual 
support. It is the practice in many Dioceses that the Bishops are in charge 
of the financial responsibilities of the candidates. However, it is not out 
of place for parents of seminarians to come together once in a while and 
donate towards the training of seminarians in order to ease the burden 
on the Diocese, especially in developing regions like ours in Nigeria. 
Apart from the material support, it is the duty of parents to pray for the 
candidates and all those in charge of their formation that the Holy Spirit 
will guide them in making the right decisions. 

In conclusion, parents can also play a crucial role in the 
encouragement of others, even if not their own children, who have 
expressed interest in the vocation or call to the priesthood, to embrace 
the vocation by being sources of testimony to others of the beauty and 
the dignity which comes with the service of God and his Church. In 
Nigeria where we have Vocations Committees saddled with the 
responsibility of fostering vocations in the Diocese, parents of aspiring 



268 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

candidates can volunteer to be a part of such initiatives, which in itself 
can be a sign of encouragement to others. 

 
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1 The New Encyclopaedia Brittannica ,Vol 14, 15th edition, 1988, S,V, “Family” 
2 Catechism of the Catholic Church, London, Geoffrey Chapman,1994, no. 2207 
3 Vatican Council II, Decree on the Apostolate of Lay Persons, Apostolicam 

Actuositatem, no. 11 
4 Mitch Finley, “Family” in Richard MCBrien, ed,, Encyclopedia of Catholicism, 1st 

edition, New York, Harper Collins Publishers, 1966, 
5 Message of the Synod Fathers to the People of God at VIII Ordinary General 

Assembly on the “Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day” 

(September 30th - 28 October, 1990) 
6 I Will Give You Shepherd, Apostolic Exhortation Pastorers Dabo Vabis of John Paul 

II, No. 43, 1992, pp. 69. 
7Ibid.  
8 Handbook of the Seminary of All Saints, 2005, Benin City: Ava Printers, p. 6. 
9 I Will Give You Shepherds, Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis of John Paul 

II, No. 43, 1992, pp. 70. 
10 Ibid. No. 44, 1992, p. 70. 
11 Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis (4th March 1979), 10:AAS71 (1979), 274. 
12 I Will Give You Shepherds, Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis of John 

Paul II, No. 44, 1992, pp. 70-71. 
13 Ibid, No. 45, p. 72. 
14 Handbook of the Seminary of All Saints. 2005, p. 6 
15 The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, New Ratio Fundamentalist Institutions 

Sacerdotalis, Paulines Publications African Daughters of St. Paul, Nairobi, 2017, P. 

27. 
16 I Will Give You Shepherds, Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis of John 

Paul II, No. 45, 1992, pp. 73. 
17Ibid., p. 73. 
18 Ibid. No 57, p. 88.  
19Handbook of the Seminary of All Saints 2005 – 2008, Ava Printers, Benin City, p. 8.  
20 Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2221 
21Patron Wong J.C. (2014) “Foundations of Priestly Formation” Conference on 

Priestly Vocation Organized by the Congregation for the Clergy http://www.clerus.va 

(retrieved 18th March, 2020). 
22 Ibid, 
23Szczesny, W., (2015) Families Play Important Role in Vocation, (Article) 

http://www.wnycatholic.org/news/article/featured/2015/02/26/100511/families-

play-important-role-in-vocation. 
24 Patron Wong, 2014. 
25Patron Wong, 2014.   



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    269 

                                                                                                                         
26 Ratio Fundamentalis In Sacerdotalis, No. 130. 
27 Patron Wong, 2014). 
28 Szczesny,  2015. 
29 Optatam Totius No. 2 
30Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 41.  
31Szczesny, 2015.   
32Fr. Aytona, J., (2018) Family Life: The First Seminary, (Article) http://fathersof 

mercy.com/family-life-first-seminary/    
33The Code of Canon Law, No 226 ⸹2.  
34 Gaudium et Spes No. 6 



270 

20 

PERSONHOOD AND FORMATION: A 

PHILOSOPHICAL INSIGHT FROM AFRICAN 

PERSPECTIVE 
 

Francis FABIDUN 
Department of Philosophy, 

St. Albert the Great Major Seminary, Idowu-Offonran 
francisfabidun@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The paper identified a direct link between the concepts of personhood 
and formation. The establishment of this link is warranted by the 
interdependency in their functionality analogous of the metaphysical 
theory of matter and form. Formation does not take place in vacuum; 
human beings are the ones formed for the office of the shepherds of 
souls in the Church. It follows necessarily, therefore, that the person of 
the seminarian avails the formation program the bedrock for its 
functionality. The paper acknowledged the importance of formation as it 
is obvious in the plenitude of documents from the Church at different 
levels and epochs emphasizing that the seminarian be formed after the 
mind of Christ. Moreover, it noted that such documents are very often 
grounded on various perspectives and theories on the human person 
from philosophy and theology. Nevertheless, the paper argued strongly 
from the African purview on the human person that understands the 
human person as a being ontologically connected and in a relational 
existence with other realities. Recognizing this in the formation process 
will go a long way in enhancing the formation program of Seminarians. 
To achieve its aim, the paper consequently employed the tools of critical, 
analytical and comparative methods of inquiry. This revealed that with a 
philosophical insight from an African perspective, there exists an 
understanding of the similarity between personhood and formation, the 
latter being a series of conscious activities which an individual is not born 
with, but something one sets out intentionally to achieve.  
 

mailto:francisfabidun@gmail.com


Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    271 

Keywords: Personhood, Formation, Matter and Form, African 
Perspective, Christ-like shepherds 
 
Introduction 
An individual is usually considered in African culture in relationship 
with others in the community. The relational consideration among 
Africans always emphasizes the need to consider others. Mbiti’s 
philosophy of inclusiveness rightly captures this communal orientation 
in the expression – ‘I am because we are’. This constitutes an underlining 
factor in African postulation on personhood. This paper considers the 
African notions along different perspectives on personhood and 
formation noting that the African consideration on the issues of 
personhood and formation of an individual might prove to be more 
insightful and fruitful when applied to the formation of African 
Seminarians than what is bequeathed to us in Western philosophy. 
Furthermore, the paper uses the Aristotelian theory of form and matter 
to show the connection on how African consideration of an individual 
person informs the nature of the formation given to him. 
  
Personhood 
In the general parlance, the term, person is considered as an individual. It 
is a term which is employed to give a comprehensive name to man’s 
being – a name expressing itss entire reality in an unequivocal way. It 
never refers to animals or plant but only man.1It is a term that describes 
man in a unique manner, and as possessing abilities which are exclusive 
to the human race. Such abilities include reason, morality/freedom, 
consciousness and personal identity among others. This is in line with 
the philosophical consideration of man as a being characterized by 
consciousness, rationality, and a moral sense, and traditionally thought of 
as consisting of both a body and a mind or soul.2 Aristotle aptly captures 
this that among animals “endowed with sense” humans were distinct in 
that “the human race exists by means of art also and the powers of 
reasoning”. 

Batista Mondin traces the origin of the concept of personhood to 
Christianity where man is understood as a being with his singularity, 
unique and unrepeatable, with substantial equality and dignity - one 
created in the image of God (imago Dei).3 This “image and likeness” of 
God in man is understood as be a man’s soul. The Christian notion 
explains what is generally held in Greek philosophy that there exists in 
personhood is a manifestation of the combination of the spiritual and the 
no-spiritual. The Greek and Latin cultures existed before Christianity 
but do not recognize the absolute value of the individual, rather absolute 
value depend essentially on class, ranks, wealth and race.4 Hence race 



272 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

superiority was common before the Christian era when personhood 
attained an important position as against race because of the effect of the 
salvific events of Christ's paschal mystery on the salvation of the soul of 
an individual regardless of race, colour or tribe. 
 Interestingly, early Greeks philosophers have a long history of 
postulations on the human person. For instance, Plato presents a 
dualistic theory on the human person as comprising of the body and the 
soul. He goes to say that the soul is the principle of life and movement – 
the essential core of the human person, while the body is inanimate and 
therefore susceptible to physical actions by this principle of life.5 
Furthermore, Plato holds that the soul is not completely unified, because 
there are competing forces warring within the human person which are 
known by personal inner experience. Consequently, he divides the soul 
into three factions: the appetitive soul which pulls man to the direction of 
physical gratification and material acquisition; the rational soul which is 
the voice of reason; and the spirited soul which is the willful and dynamic 
faculty within the soul.6 Plato found intelligence as “the most divine 
thing in man, the most essentially human attribute because (it is) the 
only part of himself which he does not share with the animal kingdom.7 
 Augustine, in line with the Platonic understanding of the human 
person, holds that the human person is composite of the body and soul. 
He also further attributes specific roles to the soul such as the self on 
which the highest truth can be attained. It is the soul alone that can attain 
communion with God – the highest truth. It is the image of God and is 
immaterial.8 This was the beginning of using Philosophical principles for 
Christian postulation on imago Dei that which Augustine defined as “that 
principle within us by which we are like God, and which is rightly said in 
Scripture to be made ‘after God's image”’9 
 Rene Descartes, the father of Modern Western Philosophy, also 
argues along the dualistic conception of man, namely that the human 
person is a composite of soul (mind) and body. The body for him is 
made up of physical substances that interact with the physical world, 
while the soul is a spiritual substance; it is the “I” (ego), the thinking self, 
the seat of pure thought that generates ideas.10 This power of the soul 
enables man to be conscious of himself without at the same time being 
conscious of the world. This view will be rejected later on by the 
existentialist philosophers of the 20th century, particularly Martin 
Heidegger who conceives man as a-being-in-the-world.11 
  Battista Mondin broadened the understanding on the human person 
beyond issues of man's composition, noting that the human person can 
be understood on the ontological, dialogical and psychological levels. 
The ontological understanding entails the person as an individual of the 
human species; a unique individual substance with a rational nature. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    273 

This involves the “I” in my being that can neither be represented by 
another nor inhibited in another – the person as he remains in himself. 
On the psychological level, the person is the fact of consciousness, which 
is being aware of reality pertaining the existence of the ‘’I’’. On the 
dialogical level, the person is understood as a relational being that 
interacts with the world and other beings.12 
 Mounier supports Mondin’s claim on the dialogical person by 
introducing the concepts; vocation, action and communication. For 
Mounier, the person has a meaning that cannot be substituted, his place 
in the universe of persons cannot be occupied – this is his vocation. 
Action explains that the life of a person is a research until death, an 
anticipated unity that cannot be actualized – a person is an incessant 
action. He further points out that communication explains that the 
person is a being that encounters others, a being who interests himself 
with another in such a manner that he respects his “I”.13 
 Furthermore, Martin Buber in contributing to the discussion on 
man proposes that the meaning of the person lies in his relational ability 
with things other than himself. In other words, man derives meaning 
through the rapport man has with things. This is because man lives on 
the shoulder of things; he alters them, uses them, and governs them14. In 
a nutshell, the person is the “I” – the individual that is composed of body 
and soul and constantly interacts with other beings and with world. 
 
Formation 
Formation is a common practice in human communities. It consists of 
series of activities geared toward making an individual or communities 
imbibe certain knowledge, tradition, morals and value system. In the 
earliest times, formation was mostly meant for those to be charged with 
leadership responsibilities to prepare them for governance. In the ancient 
Egyptian civilization, for instance, princes were given special and 
exclusive education by the priests serving at Pharaoh’s palace. Amedeo 
Cencini posits that formation has three dynamisms which are the 
educative, formative and the accompaniment. The educative dynamism 
seeks to draw out the level of awareness of what the person is, so that the 
person gets the maximum fulfillment of his potentialities; this leads to 
self-awareness and self-fulfillment. The individual is assisted to develop 
his natural potentials and encouraged to perfect them for the 
enhancement of his personality. The formative action implies that the 
subject is trained to acquire a new identity – formation becomes a 
discovery of the new and truer self, molded with the truth of the ideal.15 
This is the result of a process marked with shelling of certain aspects of 
the individual and acquiring positive qualities of the task in view.    



274 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

            A consideration of how the Church views formation will enhance 
this discuss; the Second Vatican Council emphasizes the importance of 
formation in its remark that the renewal of the Church depends in great 
deal upon the priestly ministry animated by the spirit of Christ; hence 
priestly formation is of critical importance to the Church.16  
Furthermore, formation is not a private affair or instantaneous; it does 
not take place at a particular moment, like a season. Rather, it touches 
upon the past, present and future of the individual as a pedagogical, 
theological, initial and permanent process that prepares one to consecrate 
oneself to God. Formation is offered to whoever has discovered a plan 
from on high for the self. This is because it is a mystery and divine action 
which shapes the image of Christ in the heart of those called by God.17 
This entails being accompanied in a journey of transformation. 
Accompanying means a journey of faith; formation then entails helping 
the subject to journey towards God and to experience God18 
 Furthermore, Pope John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis highlighted 
four areas of formation; human formation, intellectual formation, 
spiritual formation and pastoral formation. Human formation helps the 
individual to attain affective maturity, form his moral conscience, attain 
series of good human qualities, balanced personality, and good use of 
freedom. This is the bedrock for other aspects of formation. According 
to the document, “The whole work of priestly formation would be 
deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human 
formation.”19 A balanced human formation cannot be substituted for or 
with anything.  

Spiritual formation helps the seminarian to share in the holiness 
of Christ by entering into an intimate relationship with Christ. Along 
with other faithful, the candidate to the priesthood strive towards deeper 
communion with God. According to the Holy Father, the educational 
process of a spiritual life, seen as a relationship and communion with 
God, derives and develops from this fundamental and irrepressible 
religious need.20 
Spiritual formation, as we have just seen, is applicable to all the faithful. 
Nevertheless, it should be structured according to the meanings and 
connotations which derive from the identity of the priest and his 
ministry.21 

An integral part of the spiritual formation is prayerful 
contemplation of the Word of God (Lectio Divina) through which the 
seminary is familiar with the God whom he humbly listens to, and he 
response to him in prayer. This will be his guide as he seeks Christ in the 
people. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    275 

Next is the intellectual formation which seeks to help the 
individual acquire academic knowledge; it requires proper training in 
Philosophy and Theology. According to the Pope,  
Intellectual formation is deeply connected with, and indeed can be seen 
as a necessary expression of, both human and spiritual formation: It is a 
fundamental demand of the human intelligence by which one 
"participates in the light of God's mind" and seeks to acquire a wisdom 
which in turn opens to and is directed toward knowing and adhering to 
God.22  

These three areas of formation are geared towards pastoral 
formation which seeks to build the candidate into a priest – shepherd of 
souls, after the example of Christ, the good shepherd.23  
The whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at 
preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of Christ the 
good shepherd. Hence their formation in its different aspects must have 
a fundamentally pastoral character.24 

This is the most practical aspect of formation. It is the most vivid 
expression of how well other aspects are properly integrated in the 
individual. It will be the manifestation of an inner disposition to make 
Christ in a way that is peculiar to the people he pastors. 
 
Hylomorphism 
This section is important because it provides the theoretical framework 
for this discuss. Aristotle developed the concept of Hylomorphism as he 
completed issues connected to the process of “changing” and 
“becoming”. While rejecting the atomist conception that everything is 
made up of tiny fundamental building blocks of matter, and that change 
is a rearrangement of these fundamental units, Aristotle holds that all 
things in nature are composed of form and matter – they are intrinsic 
principles that make a body come to be as what it is understood to be.25 
Put succinctly, hylomorphism is the theory that all physical things are 
composed of two principles of being: the prime matter which is an 
undefined primitive, and a substantial form, which is a definite mode of 
existence.26 
 For Aristotle, all material things are characterized by two elements of 
mutability and the different individuals of a species. Form also called 
formal cause is the essence which accounts for the actual existence of a 
thing. It is that which determines matter – it defines matter to a 
particular individual substance. It is also conceived as the design or 
arrangement of a body in nature. Matter – material cause, indicates the 
material constituents of a body. It is substance by which a body is made. 
Matter is indeterminate in itself but determined by form. It is a principle 
that makes form physical.27 These two principles are co-dependent and 



276 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

intrinsically necessary to the existence of a natural body. They share a key 
relationship simply expressed in the position that form actualizes 
matter.28 
 As regards the human person, the soul or the mind; which is the 
principle of life, is regarded as the form, that is, the essence of the human 
person. The body is understood as the material cause of the human 
person. This is because the body is the substance or material aspect of the 
human person and the soul is the principle of individuation that defines 
what it means to be human; it is that which primarily makes the human 
different from other natural bodies.29 
  
The Formation Process Vis-À-Vis Aristotle’s Hylomorphism 
It is with this understanding of the complexity of the human person that 
formation is discussed here. Formation is aimed at the salvation of souls, 
but this salvation is achieved through the discipline of the body (1Cor. 9: 
27). Hence the body serves as a necessary and indispensable channel to 
the salvation of the soul. As regards the person to be formed, this 
principle of form and matter helps the understanding that the body is 
intrinsically connected with the soul. So, the final point of formation is 
the mind of the individual – it is formation of the mind. The mind holds 
the basic principles that inform the voluntary operations – human 
actions, of the rational man. This emphasizes the position that the body 
is not the end point of formation but the soul that bears the rational 
capacity of the human person. All the elements of formation are 
internalized in the nonphysical aspects of an individual. 
 
The Priest – Shepherd of Souls 
The goal of priestly formation can be expressed in the phrase “until 
Christ is formed in you”. The Church expresses this as being formed 
into another Christ – Alter Christus and even in the exercise of the 
sacraments, the Priest is not only another Christ but Ipse Christus- Christ 
himself. The various activities in the years of formation prepare the 
candidate for the Catholic priesthood, a position that places him at the 
service of God’s people to humbly and carefully guide them to attain the 
salvation of their soul. This explains why formation necessarily 
concentrates on providing the human, spiritual, academic and pastoral 
development required to enable the ordained priest to respond faithfully 
and effectively to both God’s call and the needs of the Church 
represented in the pastoral demands of his flock.  
 Priestly formation must provide the spiritual and personal growth 
guidance that elicits from the candidate for Priesthood, a prayerful and 
mature commitment to the way of Christ. This is so that he may speak 
from the context of the church tradition; fully and authentically 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    277 

articulate the gospel of Christ; and appreciate God’s word and the 
efficacy of the sacramental life of the Church.30 

The emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, however sounds a note of 
warning on the tendencies of being drawn away from focusing on these 
when, in his homily at a priestly ordination on the 3rd of May 2009 in 
Rome, commented that the priest is in the world, but runs the risk of 
also being “of the world”. This emphasizes also that formation must 
instill in the priest the discipline of detachment from the material things 
of the world. 
 An essential element of the priestly formation is clearly pointed by 
Pope Benedict XVI in his remark that Catholic priests appear to spend 
most of their days serving Catholics, but the role and mission of the 
priest includes the service of all of humanity. According to him, the 
priest works to translate the elements of the faith into a language that is 
accessible to all in the society; he dialogues with and expresses the truth 
of God, that the human consciousness may be nourished with the 
fullness of life only attainable through Christ. By preaching Christ, the 
priest is called to be a peaceful, uniting and joyful presence among 
Christians and all people of goodwill. And in living the mission of 
Christ, he further participates and serves in Christ's threefold office as 
Priest, Prophet and King, already shared through baptism.31  
 There are further insights from the present Pope who opines that 
priests must be deeply involved in the daily experience of the flock. For 
Pope Francis, the priest being a shepherd must ‘smell like the sheep’. 
This means that he is to be out amongst the flock entrusted to him – he 
should be personally close to them. He is not to just available for the 
office of celebrating the sacraments alone as central and primary to the 
priesthood that might be, but be engaged in the lives of parishioners and 
others in the community entrusted to him.32 The Pope further 
emphasizes that a priest is not ordained for his sake but for the sake of 
God’s people. Following the example of Christ the true Shepherd, the 
priest must be a shepherd ready to lay his life for the flock through 
selfless service; he must not only feed the flocks with spiritual food but 
be sensitive enough to their physical needs. By this the gospel message of 
love will make more sense; in practice and not just spoken words.33 
 A priest is a good shepherd when his motivation is the salvation of 
the people. Hence, he makes the doctrines of the church available and 
teaches the true faith. Pope Saint John Paul II had emphasized this saying 
that the supreme act of a priest is the direction of souls: he must be 
available to his flock; impart the faith; and be humble to the prompting 
of the Holy Spirit that he may transmit fruits of love and peace.34 Finally, 
Federico Suarez puts this in another way when he says that the success of 



278 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the priestly ministry is not judged based on its efficiency but on the 
impact it has on the lives of people.35 
 
The African Perspective on Personhood and Formation 
Personhood 
The African understanding of the person has two dimensions; the 
normative-social and descriptive-metaphysical. The descriptive-
metaphysical dimension explains that the human person is made up of a 
material aspect (body) and an immaterial aspect (soul) which are 
inseparable while on earth.36 This is exemplified in the Igbo conception 
where man is made of ahu (body) and Mmuo (spirit).37 From the Yoruba 
perspective, man is a composition of at least three elements namely the 
soul, the spirit and the body. The body is material while the other two 
elements are non-material. Furthermore, in their metaphysical 
postulation, man is a composition of body (ara), soul (emi) and inner-
head (ori), the last being the metaphysical symbol of human destiny 
which is externally represented by the physical head.38 The normative-
social dimension explains the person in relation to the community – it is 
the communitarian perspective. Here, the person draws his identity and 
essence from the already existing values of the society; this has a social 
and moral derivation.39 This goes with both social and moral 
commitments as an individual within a community. Hence, Ifeanyi 
Menkiti opines that a person can only be explained with reference to the 
environing community.  
As far as Africans are concerned, the reality of the community takes 
precedence over the individual world and history. It is in an ongoing 
human community that the individual comes to see himself as a man; it 
is in first knowing his community as a fact of the psycho-physical world 
that the individual comes to know himself as a durable, more or less 
permanent fact of this world. The sense of identity of an individual only 
makes sense with reference to the community.40 
 From the above it is clear that human relationship is a primary 
element in the determination of the personhood of an individual. This 
goes a long way to emphasize and show that the human person in 
African thought system is one that is inherently and intrinsically 
connected to other individuals in the society – founded on community. 
This is also built on the belief that the physical is inherently connected to 
the spiritual in the African worldview. The activities of traditional or 
native doctors will make this vivid. Even when he lives in isolation and 
far from the main community settlement, the native doctor is kept 
abreast with the happenings in the community and constantly intervenes 
as situations warrant. He is dutiful and maintains a sense of the sacred in 
an appreciable distance, and yet very close to the people as an 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    279 

intermediary and a check to the community. Above all, he does not 
neglect the people in their need or fail to provide prompt directives.  
 
Formation 
Formation in Africa is centered on how personhood is achieved. This is 
because personhood is not something that is given but shown by the 
society and accepted by the individual. An African has to go through 
processes of incorporation or initiation. Through initiation an individual 
is transformed from what he was into who he ought to be. According to 
Ifeanyi Menkiti, to attain personhood, the individual must undergo a 
long process and ritual transformation until he or she attains the full 
complement of excellence seen as truly definitive of man. 
 During this long process of attainment, the community plays a vital 
role as catalyst and as a prescriber of norms. As far as Africans are 
concerned, personhood is something the individual could fail to attain.41 
This implies that the individual must take the ritual of incorporation 
serious in order to learn the social rules by which the community lives 
and then attain the necessary excellence in character. Formation is not 
just about growth in wisdom as one ages, it is in gathering of the traits 
considered to be definitive of full personhood which necessarily affect 
the very core of one’s being. In other words, for Africans, formation is 
internalization of traditional or societal virtues to the decree ascertainable 
that one is qualifies for the appropriate rite in the process of initiation.   
Hence, Dominic Umoh writes that in Africa, initiatory rites constitute a 
crucial mechanism which guarantees the authentic growth and 
development of individuals in their communal settings.42 
 Moreover, Augustine Nwoye puts it that formation of the person in 
Africa is influenced by a number of cultural groups. According to him, 
socialization occurs through dance, songs, story-telling and heroic 
recitation. These are avenues through which Africans are taught 
individually to reflect high level of emotional maturity as projected by 
the community. The formation program in an African setting include 
teaching of virtues like, verbal sobriety, diligence, perseverance, patience, 
moderation among others. These virtues help young Africans to be active 
and responsible members of the society. The agents of this formation 
include older adults, school leaders, and social models. Hence, there is a 
saying among the Yoruba that oju meji li n b’imo, igba ojo lo n wo d’agba (It 
takes two pairs of eyes to bear a child i.e Father and Mother, but two 
hundred eyes are required to train him). This expresses the traditional 
belief and practice that a child is not just the child of the parents, but he 
is the child of the community. Therefore, the upbringing and training is 
the responsibility of all.  



280 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

 In line with this, Dama Mosweunyane holds that formation in Africa 
is done within the platform of communalism; children are formed 
within the community, their wellbeing seen in the welfare of the group 
and society. Children are trained to participate in the culture and work 
for the sake of common good. Formation is characterized by 
transmission of skills and attitudes from generation to generation by 
words of mouth and the mode of apprenticeship. The Teachers are 
individuals with lifelong learning and experience. Hence, the children 
learn from their Teachers by listening to them and imitating their actions 
in the society.43 Formation in African Traditional Society is done within 
the community and for the good of the community. The individuals 
learn the values that are necessary for active participation, sustenance and 
growth of the Society. Formation is seen as initiation into the society to 
attain personhood. It is pertinent to note that personhood is possible 
through dialogue because it through dialogue that the moral vision of 
culture is transmitted44 in the community. 
 
An Insights from African insight into the Formation of the 
Catholic Priest 
Through the varied activities that complimented the seed of faith sown 
by the early missionaries characterized by unceasing evangelization, 
Catholicism has grown and has reached many lands of the earth with a 
variety of cultures. Africa is one of these lands that have received the 
Catholic faith despite having a culture that is uniquely different from the 
Jewish and Roman culture in which it grew. Many Africans have 
imbibed the culture of the Catholic faith in their African societies.  
 For the Catholic priest to get to the heart of the African society, it is 
necessary to have a proper understanding of the peculiarity of his flock– 
its philosophy, methods of socialization and the ideology that feeds its 
actions. This community orientation would help the priest to better 
understand his role in the society as one sent to work for the growth of 
the immediate society he finds himself and the community of the 
Church at large, after all, every high priest is chosen from among men to 
represent men in their relationship with God. (Hebrews 5:1) 
 Being aware that he is intrinsically a being connected with others will 
help him to acknowledge that he is equal with others in the sight of God 
and still a man like others. This help the priest to consider himself as a 
servant and not a king or master over his flock. This will enhance his 
interaction with the people even outside the celebration of the 
sacraments. The emphasis here is that the priest needs to be one among 
the people – like Christ, participating in their life, constantly 
communicating with them in preaching the gospel and leading all to 
God. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    281 

 Furthermore, African traditional practice of formation is largely be 
imitation - “watch and do-as-I-do”. The entails that apprentice focus on 
the master to understand and be able to do what he has seen the master 
do. This type of formation is not based on theories. In the same way, the 
African paradigm suggest that priestly formation should can go beyond 
theories but lived principles applied in practically lead the people to God. 
 Another way to consider formation is I regards to how Africans see 
reality as a whole and ultimately sacred; there is an ontological 
connection between the visible and the invisible. This understanding 
when put into formation would help the seminarian develop a deeper 
understanding of the sacred. This understanding would also inform a 
deeper understanding of communal existence through which he learns to 
share in the community life respecting the customs, traditions, ethics and 
social boundaries of the people.  
 
Conclusion 
The various perspectives of examined in the paper show a connection 
between personhood and formation. In this paper, personhood refers to 
what it means to be a human person, while formation can rightly be 
referred as a conscious activity to fortify personhood, which can simply 
be expressed as the nature and nurturing of an individual. From the 
African perspective, it is emphasized that priestly formation, like 
initiation rites, always focus on grooming priests to be human, insightful, 
mature, instructed, developed and community oriented persons. This is 
line with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria’s advocacy that 
“seminary formation should enable priests to lead a truly priestly life and 
at the same to be men of their people. It is in the bid to achieve this that 
the paper posited that formation should be taken to the hearts and 
custom of our people to enable the priest/seminarian to adhere to beliefs 
and practices that, in spirit of the Gospel, help him to maintain a 
communal-oriented individuality as entrenched in traditional African 
heritage. 
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1Battista Mondin, Philosophical Anthropology, Bangalore: Theological 

Publications,1985, p. 243. 
2 "Person (philosophical)." The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition. 1970-1979. 

The Gale Group, Inc. 23 Mar. 2020 https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictiona 

ry.com/Person+(philosophical) 
3Battista Mondin, History of Medieval Philosphy, Bangalore: Theological Publications 

in India, 1991, p. 7. 
4Ibid,p. 244. 



282 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
5 Samuel Stumpf& James Fresier, Philosophy: History and Problem, New York: Mc-

Graw High Education, 2003, p. 59. 
6William F. Lawhead, The Voyage Of Discovery, A Historical Introduction To 

Philosophy, 4th Ed, USA: Cengage Learning, 2015, p. 65. 
7 G. M. Grube, Plato's Thought, Boston: Beacon Press, 1958, p. 121. 
8Samuel Stumpf and James Fresier, Op.Cit., p. 130. 
9  Augustine ca. 397/2002. 
10William Lawhead, Op. Cit., p. 257. 
11Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, New York: 1962, p. 25. 
12 Battista Mondin, Philosophical Anthropology,p. 255. 
13 Battista Mondin, Philosophical Anthropology,p. 255. 
14 Battista Mondin, Philosophical Anthropology, p. 255. 
15Amedeo Cencini, Spiritual and Emotional Maturity: Guiding Young People in 

Religious and Priestly Formation, Nairobi: Paulines Publication Africa, 2004, p. 9. 
16 “Presbytorum Ordinis”, Austin Flannery, O. P., Vatican Council II, vol, I, USA: 

Ambassadors Publications, 1988, p. 863. 
17Amedeo Cencini, Spiritual and Emotional Maturity, p. 9. 
18Ibid,p. 11. 
19 Pastores Dabo Vobis. No. 43. 
20 Pastores Dabo Vobis, No. 45. 
21 Ibid. 
22 Pastores Dabo Vobis, No. 51. 
23Pope John Paul II, I will give you Shepherds: Apostolic Exhortation: Pastores Dabo 

Vobis, Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa,2004, pp. 67-88. 
24 Pastores Dabo Vobis, No. 57. 
25S. V. Aristotle, Robert Audi, The Cambridge Dictionary Of Philosophy, Second 

Edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 
26www.CatholicCulture.org 18/03/2020. 
27William F. Lawhead, The Voyage Of Discovery, A Historical Introduction To 

Philosophy, 4th Ed, USA: Cengage Learning, 2015, pp. 82-84. 
28Block, Irving. “The Order of Aristotle's Psychological Writings.” The American 

Journal of Philology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1961, pp. 50–77. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/ 

292006. Accessed 11 Mar. 2020. 
29Block, Irving. “The Order of Aristotle's Psychological Writings.” The American 

Journal of Philology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1961, pp. 50–77. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable 

/292006. Accessed 11 Mar. 2020. 
30Paul Kehinde Oredipe, Saint Paul and Priestly Formation: Impetus for Today, Benin 

City, Floreat Publication, 2018, p. 17. 
31https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/priest-as-pastor-servant-and- 

shepherd-9183, accessed on the 10th March 2020. 
32Dennis Coday, Pope Quotes: The Smell of Sheep, http://www.ncronline.org 

/6l0gsfrancischronicles,pope-s-quotes-smell-sheep, october 29, 2013. (8/3/2020) 
33Paul KehindeOredipe, Op.Cit., p. 59. 
34JohnPaul II, Novo IncipenteNostro, 6th April 1979 in Austin Flannery OP, Vatican 

II,vol II, Mumbai: Saint Paul,p. 377. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    283 

                                                                                                                         
35 Federico Suarez, About Being A Priest, London, Scepter Publication, 2005, p. 18. 
36Ikuenobe, Polycarp. “Relational Autonomy, Personhood, And African 

Traditions.” Philosophy East and West, vol. 65, no. 4, 2015, pp. 1005–1029., 

www.jstor.org/stable/43831225. Accessed 12 Mar. 2020. 
37Isiguzo, Andrew I., et al. “THE IGBO CONCEPT OF A PERSON.” Africa: 

RivistaTrimestrale Di Studi e DocumentazioneDell’IstitutoItaliano per l’Africa e 

l’Oriente, vol. 59, no. 2, 2004, pp. 231–243. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40761740. 

Accessed 12 Mar. 2020. 
38 Samuel Ade Ali, Human Destiny, Reincarnation and Personal Identity 
39.Ikuenobe, Polycarp. Op. Cit. 
40Ifeanyi Menkiti, Person and Community in African Traditional Thought, in Richard 

Wright (ed), African  Philosophy; An Introduction, 3rd Edition, Lanham: University 

Press of America,1984,p. 172. 
41 Ibid., p. 173. 
42 Dominic Umor, Rites of Passage and Priestly Formation (A Compendium for 

Theologians, Philosophers and the Lay Faithful), Akwa Ibom: Akwa Ibom University, 

2016, p. xi. 
43DamaMosweunyane, The African Educational Evolution: Traditional Training to 

Formal Education,Bostwana: Department of Adult Education: University of 

Botswana, 2013. 
44 Scielo.org.za/pdf/pins/n54/o4.pdf accessed on 10/03/2020. 



284 

21 

A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY ON THE 

PLACE OF VIRTUE ETHICS IN HUMAN 

FORMATION FOR THE CATHOLIC 

PRIESTHOOD IN THE 21ST CENTURY 
 

Williams Olorunfemi, ASO, Ph.D 
Seminary of All Saints 

Uhiele-Ekpoma 
Edo State, Nigeria 

olorunfemi6697@gmail.com 
 
Abstract  
The inquiries concerning the ontological status of man and its 
implications for human formation for the nobility inherent in human 
nature become evident have been deliberated and scrutinized by diverse 
philosophers that defined human nature. It is palpable that Plato 
accentuated that man is a fallen soul imprisoned in a body and needs 
liberation. Aristotle called him a rational animal while Severius Boethius 
and Thomas Aquinas admitted that man is a rational subsistent being. 
Moreover, Max Scheler and Karol Wojtyla sustained that the human soul 
makes him an incarnate spirit. A systematic and comprehensive 
examination of philosophical anthropology of these philosophers 
unambiguously affirmed that human nature is ontologically composed of 
body and soul, emotion and reason, material and spiritual entities in such 
a way that man is neither an animal nor spirit but a rational animal. This 
unique status serves as a foundation of human formation that can 
facilitate the attainment of human personality suitable for the candidates 
of the Catholic priesthood in 21st century. This paper explores how 
Aristotelian-Aquinas’ understanding of human nature and virtue ethics 
can help human formative processes for the seminarians that will later 
become the intermediaries between God and his people in the field of 
evangelization, bringing Christ to all and bringing all to Christ.  
 
Keywords: human, ontology, nobility, priesthood, formation, virtue  

mailto:olorunfemi6697@gmail.com


Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    285 

Introduction 
Human formation is a generally defined as a process of helping teenagers 
to recognise, appreciate and cooperate with available means of developing 
their inherent behavioural capacities into excellent characters to the 
admiration of others in the society. In the context of this paper, Catholic 
major seminary is the nursery bed of the church to give appropriate 
human formation to the candidates for the sacred priesthood of Christ. 
In this perspective, the primary goal of human formation in the seminary 
is to rationally cultivate the personal and emotional maturity of each 
seminarian and nurture the human qualities that are necessary to be 
rationally balanced and capable of bearing the weight of priestly 
responsibilities in our contemporary world. These responsibilities are 
often evident and evaluated in the ability “to love the truth, to be loyal, to 
respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, 
to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity…balanced in 
judgement and behaviour” (Pastores Dabo Vobis no. 43), Hence, the 
seminary programmes of formation are defined, designed, determined, 
justified, practiced, promoted and preserved by the church authority in 
such way that seminarians are well-oriented and naturally behaved like 
those set apart from others in the society. It is the responsibility of the 
seminary authority in conjunction with the respective seminary 
commission to develop the fundamental contents and supervise the 
application of the needed principles and moral qualities of human 
formation for the seminarians of their region and time. As a matter of 
fact, there is need for regularly scheduled human formation conferences 
to address issues surrounding the seminarians’ physical well-being, 
habits of good nutrition and exercise, freedom from addictive 
behaviours, as well as addressing the essential issues in the development 
of a healthy emotional life, the establishment of mature friendships, 
maturity in dealing with qualities necessary for leadership and positive 
social interaction within community (nos. 43-44).  
 The onus is on the Dean of Seminarians’ Affairs in collaboration 
with other formators to assist the Rector in the development of 
programmes for human formation in the seminary. This is because the 
collaborative efforts and adequate monitoring of formators are necessary 
in all the various levels of human formation in the seminary. The efforts, 
progress and maturity of each candidates to the priesthood are often 
nurtured and supervised by the community of formators through 
lectures, seminars, conferences and tested effectiveness of acquired skills 
and talents through academic, social and liturgical engagements. 
 The appropriate human formation for the candidates of a particular 
nationality, region, culture and generation before ordination and 
incardination into a specific diocese is non-negotiable because noble 



286 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

characters expected of a priest cannot automatically derived from the 
grace of ordination. In his summary of Pastores dabo vobis, Cardinal Pio 
Laghi maintains, “in the normal run of things,…priestly ordination does 
not put in place a new humanity. In a personality which has not been 
moulded, in a character which has not had its rough edges smoothed off, 
in an individual who is not capable of calm and appropriate human 
relationships, the grace of ordination is discredited. In a mature 
personality, on the other hand, it shines out in all its fullness”. 
(https://smseminary.org-human-formation). Therefore, this paper 
attempts to demonstrate how the four cardinal virtues of prudence, 
temperance, courage and justice obtainable from the providence of the 
natural law can smooth the rough edges of human traits, reason and 
emotions to generate excellent habitual characters that can make the 
nobility in human nature of seminarians of our time undoubtedly 
evident. The order of expository and evaluation of the concepts and 
issues involved in this paper are largely based on Platonic understanding 
of cardinal virtues. While the articulation of arguments evident in 
Aristotelian-Aquinas tradition will be employed for the justification of 
the place of each cardinal virtue in cultivating excellent habitual 
characters appropriate for the candidates of the sacred priesthood. 
 
Human Formation and the Moral Character Suitable for Human 
Personality 
A comprehensive anthropological study of man shows that human 
beings have some characteristics that are similar with other animals like 
gorillas and chimpanzees as evident in the need for food, reproduction 
and social life. However, the distinguished rational abilities of man that 
are fundamentally rooted in advanced technology and deliberative choice 
of action set him apart from other animals in the same genus (Summa 
Theologiae, part one of second part, q. 1, art. 1). A closer look at the 
anthropological foundation of Aristotelian-Aquinas’ moral philosophy 
explicitly shows that objective standard for evaluating if a man has 
adequate human formation is based on the ability of the man to 
practically live and act excellently well the actions that are ontologically 
entrenched in human nature. This is a reality that is unanimously 
acknowledged, cherished, preserved and promoted in every culture of 
the world. Hence, there is need to scrutinize and evaluate the 
fundamental structures of the system that Aquinas defined, analyzed, 
justified and promoted to elucidate the process of human formation that 
can facilitate a practical demonstration of human personality suitable for 
the seminarians of our time. Thomas Aquinas in the second part of his 
Summa Theologiae clearly argued beyond any reasonable doubt that the 
core of the rational element that actually distinguished human beings 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    287 

from other animals in the same group is found in what is known as 
synderesis [practical reason].  

The term synderesis is described by Aquinas as the basis of inner 
principles (conscience) regulating the moral consciousness of every man 
‘to do good and avoid evil’. It is obvious that synderesis has two distinct 
natural powers governing human cognitive and appetitive dispositions 
(Summa Theologiae, first part, question 79, article 12). The cognitive 
disposition is the seat of intelligibility of the goodness that is rooted in 
the physical and metaphysical entities while the appetitive disposition is 
the power of desirability for the goodness that the rational power 
recognizes to be good and necessary. As Fagothey clearly upholds, “what 
appeals may supply a need, satisfy a desire, arouse an interest, stimulate 
an emotion, provoke a response, motivate a deed, or merely draw an 
approval” (70-71). This implies that in the process of human formation 
and character development, an action is good when it agrees with the 
rational nature of human beings and vice-versa (Aquinas Summa 
Theologiae, first part of second part, q. 18, art. 5). In human formation, 
therefore, what is morally valuable is whatever action that man judges to 
be honorably good, just, worthy, desirable and has inherent values that 
correspond to the nobility in human nature. Aquinas has come up with 
arguments to show that appropriate human formation is impossible 
without cultivating the necessary integration of animal and rational 
elements of man to generate characters needed to demonstrate to others 
the excellent characters that are feasible in human nature. In Aristotelian-
Aquinas moral tradition, this feasibility is achievable through the use of 
four cardinal virtues [courage, temperament, prudence and justice] to 
build a solid foundation suitable for admirable characters expected of 
candidates for the sacred priesthood. It is pertinent to examine the 
contextual meaning of habit to provide a robust foundation on which the 
relevance of cardinal virtues in the formation of human characters can be 
evaluated and justified.  
 
Habit and Attainment of Moral Character for Human Formation 
The term habit is ordinarily known as human way of life that has the 
capacity to enhance human to act either morally or immorally about 
himself and others in the society. In the primary sense of the word, habit 
is a disposition of man toward actions that are possible in human nature. 
As Aristotle posits, “habit means a disposition according to which that 
which is disposed is either well or ill disposed, and either in itself or with 
reference to something else” (Aristotle, Metaphysics, bk. v, chapter 20). In 
the context of this paper, habit becomes natural capacity of man that can 
improve and strengthen the consistency of traits inherent in human 
nature. In human formation, good habits are cultivated into maturity to 



288 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

form good characters through subtle, gradual and dynamic processes that 
are spread through a period of time before it can be evident in human 
society. In the understanding of Chukwujekwu, “habit becomes one’s 
second nature in the sense that one now performs or acts in the way of 
the already acquired character with ease” (Chukwujekwu 78). Judging 
from this quotation, the failure to recognise the nitty-gritty of the 
processes and dynamism involved in the cultivation of habits into good 
characters is responsible for odious actions of moral deviants that are 
contrary to the nobility inherent in human nature. It is obvious that, 
“habits are corrupted or weakened by contrary habits. Even mere neglect 
or laziness can weaken a habit” (Gratsch 105). Hence, in human 
formation it is necessary to give adequate attention to good human habits 
that can facilitate moral characters appropriate to seminarians that are 
preparing to embrace the celibate priesthood of Christ. Aside, rational 
sanctions are necessary to deter bad habits that are capable of becoming 
the sources of inhuman tendencies and abhorrent characters in their 
lives. Thomas Aquinas demonstrated the nuts and bolts of four cardinal 
virtues in the formation of honourable characters achievable in human 
nature. 
 
Thomas Aquinas and the Relevance of Virtue Ethics in Human 
Formation 
It is reasonable to briefly examine the historical background and origin of 
the four cardinal virtues before going to the definition and relevance of 
each of them in human formation for honourable characters that behove 
sacerdotes inferi, priests in the making in our major seminary. It is on 
record that the training of young minds with ten habitual virtues for 
moral integrity and nobility were at first known with the ancient 
Egyptian priests and neophytes that came all over the world of that time 
to learn from them (James 30). As evident in the work of G.G.M. James,  
virtues were not mere…ethical sentiments, but were positive valour and 
virility [powers] of the soul. Temperance meant complete control of the 
passional nature. Fortitude meant such courage as would not allow 
adversity to turn us away from our goal. Prudence meant the deep 
insight that befits the faculty of seership. Justice meant the unswerving 
righteousness of thought and action (30 and 171, Elders 454).   

Plato was one of the Greek neophytes that visited ancient Egypt 
to learn about the Egyptian mysteries and seboyet [wisdom] between the 
sixth and seventh century BC. He later condensed the ten Egyptian 
virtues recommended for domesticating human emotions for man to 
attain appropriate moral insights inherent into four: courage, 
temperance, prudence and justice (James 3). These four cardinal virtues 
were considered as the intellectual and moral powers of human soul to 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    289 

provide solutions to practical questions of day-to-day relationship with 
the gods and others in a dignified manner. In a nutshell, the four moral 
cardinal virtues that serve as the foundational stones of Aristotelian-
Aquinas’ formation of human character are perceptible in Plato’s 
Republic (Aso The Place of Virtues in attainment of Final End, 125-126). 
It is apparent that Aristotle, a student of Plato, learnt about the four 
cardinal virtues in Plato’s academy and elucidated more on the nitty-
gritty of their interrelatedness in human formation for deliberative 
choice of action. Thomas Aquinas cherished the scholastic definition, 
analysis, justification and evaluation of the place of each of these cardinal 
virtues in human formation for noble characters that honour and respect 
human dignity (Summa Theologiae, part one of part two, q. 55, art. 4; q. 
61, art. 2). As a way of establishing a solid foundation of human 
formation in any contemporary Catholic major seminary in Nigeria, it is 
pertinent to give analysis of how each identified virtue can contribute to 
the growth and development of characters that befit the candidates for 
the sacred priesthood in our contemporary world. 

 
Aquinas and the Place of Prudence in Human Formation for 
Seminarians  
The focus of human formation in the seminary revolves around the aim 
of helping seminarians to cherish synderesis or practical wisdom to behave 
excellently well according to the noble and moral potentialities that are 
naturally realistic in human life. Aquinas in his philosophy of human 
action defined, analyzed, justified and promoted prudence as the virtue 
that governs the details of factors that are involved in the 
phenomenology of deliberative choice of human character. As Thomas 
Hibbs gathers from Aquinas “prudence involves not simply the 
subordination of particulars to appropriate universals, but the appraisal of 
concrete, contingent circumstances” (Hibbs 92). If this is indisputable, it 
follows that human acquisition of appropriate knowledge of the 
principles and circumstances surrounding attainment of noble characters 
for seminarians is highly cumbrous. Consequently, Aquinas in his 
wisdom heightened the obligation of every human being, including 
seminarians, to previously “grasp what is pertinent and to assess what 
ought to be done in complex circumstances” (98) before carrying out any 
deliberative choice of action. Judging from this perspective, “the virtue of 
prudence becomes the source of excellence performances evident in 
memory, intelligence, foresight, circumspection, caution and shrewdness 
(Summa Theologiae part two of second part, q. 47, art, 8) of human beings 
before noble actions inherent in human nature can be excellently 
demonstrated for others to cherish. Again, it is incontrovertibly evident 
that any man that ignores the relevance of prudence and its subsidiaries 



290 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

in human formation will definitely end up in moral blunders that often 
lead to improper characters that are not in tandem with human 
formation necessary for candidates to the sacred priesthood. This is 
obvious when unreasonable and cosmetic lifestyles overlaid human 
judgment and make deficient object of deliberative choice seems more 
genuine than they really are in themselves. Hence, in a house of 
formation for the sacred priesthood, Aquinas would underline the fact 
that seminarians need to know and cherish the virtue of prudence and 
employ the same to govern their emotional drives for characters that 
enhance noble characters. Nonetheless, there is need for the virtue of 
temperance to drive prudence to take its place of importance in 
honorable characters of man. 
 
Aquinas and the Significance of Temperance in Human 
Formation for Seminarians 
In part two of his second Summa Theologiae, Aquinas philosophically 
defined the virtue of temperance as necessary restraint of bodily 
pleasures like the desire for food, drink, lifestyle, sexual activity and other 
emotional needs that are capable of making ignoble and inhuman 
characters abound in human life. He is quite aware that human beings 
often indulge in short-lived pleasures at the expense of honorable choice 
of action accessible in human nature because of deficient human 
formation. In his study of human nature, Aquinas authenticated the 
requisites to nurture virtues that restrain what he called concupiscence 
drives in the eletrico-chemistry of human body that excessively indulge 
in pleasure and avoidance of displeasure. In this context, Aquinas is not 
actually condemning bodily pleasure in its entirety. Instead, he 
articulated arguments to heighten the fact that the virtue of temperance 
is essentially necessary to moderate the way and manner man enjoys 
pleasures that is not contrary to the nobility concomitant with human 
nature (art. 3). In other words, whenever the satisfaction from emotional 
drives are sufficiently governed, the attainment and demonstration of 
noble characters for others to see and admired will be adequately 
safeguarded. Therefore, it is palpable that abstinence, chastity, humility 
and similar dispositions that govern the impetuousness of bodily desires 
of man are derived from the virtue of temperance (Summa Theologiae part 
two of second part, q. 161, art. 4). In human formation for the candidates 
of celibate priesthood, the place of temperance and correlated virtues in 
governing the resilient urge for activities that are repulsive in human 
society and endanger to their vocation cannot be overemphasized. 
 
 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    291 

Aquinas and the Relevance of Courage in Human Formation of 
Seminarians 
The role of temperance as one of the cardinal virtues is very clear in 
taming excessive impulse coming from any bodily appetite for pleasure 
and habitual consequences. It is quite obvious in the phenomenology of 
human behavior that some emotional dispositions that are polygonal in 
their unique operations as often evident in emotional feeling of dilemma 
in which available options of action are equally desirable and undesirable 
Chukwujekwu 151 and Gratch 191). In the opinion of Aquinas, the 
virtue of courage and its corollaries are fundamentally meant to govern 
irascible appetites that are awkward to achieve or avoid like hope, daring, 
fear, despair and restraint (Aquinas Summa Theologiae, part one of second 
part, q. 23, art. 1; Plato The Republic, Bk. IV, 439c). Judging from this 
background, Aquinas wanted us to know that sometimes certain objects 
of good have associated risks and fear that can inhibit human beings from 
obeying the command and impulse coming from synderesis of prudence. 
For instance, the fear and risk associating with giving a helping hands to a 
victim of accident or arm robbery especially in Nigeria of today. In this 
circumstance, it is worthwhile to do good and avoid evil but any attempt 
to throw caution into the wind, one’s effort can result to stupidity and 
extraordinary regret. Therefore, Aquinas justified courage as the virtue 
that has all it takes to moderate human irascible appetites that can hinder 
human being from obeying the moral command of practical wisdom to 
prefer noble over ignoble characters in human relationship (Summa 
Theologiae, part one of second part, q. 123, art. 3). The knowledge and 
appreciation of the virtue of courage is necessary in human formation of 
seminarians for discernment in following the impulses of practical 
wisdom to courageously behave according to the nobility inherent in 
human nature and vice-versa. The upshots of the virtue of courage in 
human psychology includes: endurance, patience and confidence. 
Hence, in Aquinas’ human formation, a courageous seminarian is 
morally equipped to persistently evaluate and confront obvious direct 
and indirect obstacles against his deliberative choice of honorable 
character with a firm hope emanating from confidence and doggedness 
derived from a resolution to be a man of integrity. Justice is the virtue 
that insists on harmonious interrelatedness of all contrivances derive four 
cardinal virtues to generate conventional characters in human society. It 
is appropriate to examine how the necessary harmony among the virtues 
are practically attainable in human formation. 
 
Aquinas and the Role of Justice in Attainment of Noble 
Characters for Seminarians  
In Plato’s Republic the virtue of justice is fundamentally defined as the 



292 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

habitual disposition to determine, justify, promote and preserve the 
harmonious relationship with others in a given community without 
making anyone subservient to others but giving each member a justified 
place of honour. This is a replica of Plato’s thought on the distinct role of 
each cardinal virtue and interrelatedness among them in the generation 
of a deliberative choice of characters that are unique to human beings. 
Aquinas employed the Platonic-Aristotelian taxonomy of moral virtues 
to demonstrate that the function of justice is to ensure whatever is 
fundamentally desirable for any of the virtue is equally appropriate for 
the good of others and the harmony expected to exist among them 
(Summa Theologiae, part one of second part, q. 58, art. 5). In the final 
analysis, it is apparent that the virtue of justice is basically concerned with 
the harmony that ought to exist in a community where individuality and 
equality are cherished, promoted and preserved from any aberration; the 
virtue of prudence approves necessary motivation for deliberative choice 
of action; the virtue of temperance controls concupiscent emotions and 
courage fortify emotional drives against fear and despair in carrying out 
noble action in the society. Judging from this standpoint, it is palpable 
that “people fulfil their natural end by adhering to the cardinal virtues of 
justice, temperance, courage and prudence, of which justice is the 
Summum bonum” in accordance with the essential principles enshrined in 
the natural law. In other words, natural law becomes the knot that 
naturally tights up the bond that exists among these cardinal virtues and 
their complementary influence in the growth and development of 
habitual and noble characters of man. It is necessary to examine the 
importance of natural law in the coordination of cardinal virtues for 
human formation. 
 
The importance of Natural Law in Human Formation of 
Seminarians 
In a common parlance, the idea of law in human society is designed and 
preserved to guide man to achieve his desirable goal and to restrain him 
from circumstances that can encumbered the fulfilment of any 
anticipated objective. Aquinas in the first part of his Summa Theologiae 
rationally defined a law as “a rule or measure of human acts, whereby a 
person is induced to act or is restrained from acting” (Summa Theologiae, 
part one of second part, q. 90, art. 1). The fundamental principle of law 
and its relationship to human action is based on the fact that the criteria 
of a good character is logically depends on its conformity with rational 
justification traceable to eternal law. This is a providential reality for 
every created being to act naturally according to the proper end that is 
ontologically established in their respective nature. In actual fact, Aquinas 
clearly showed that the rational and uninhibited participation of human 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    293 

beings in this eternal order is acting in conformity with the natural law. 
This implies that natural law is the ontological platform established by 
God for human beings to naturally recognize the characteristics of what 
is good, desirable and commendable and vice versa. It is obvious in 
Aquinas understanding of human action that natural law is indisputably 
the ontological source of synderesis, the practical wisdom needed all the 
time to know what is good and do it and recognize what is evil and avoid 
it. Therefore, the rational capacity of synderesis in seminarians are to be 
cultivated and nurtured into habitual and virtuous capacities for noble 
characters. In the seminary formative processes, any attempt to overlook 
the ontological basis and contributions of the cardinal virtues to human 
deliberative choice of action, nobility will be deficient in the characters of 
the candidates to the priesthood. 
 
Integration of rational abilities and emotional feelings in human 
formation for noble characters 
The philosophical understanding of human emotions shows that they are 
natural drives of the animal cravings toward the object of desire and 
human beings share these yearnings with other animals as perceptible in 
the sensitive part of the soul (Kadankavil 160). As a matter of fact, 
anthropological studies of human formation have demonstrated beyond 
reasonable doubt that human emotions are neither morally good nor bad 
until the willpower, evaluation and intentional choice of action becomes 
obvious. This implies that human nature is naturally porous for both 
honourable and dishonourable human traits and characters. Hence, the 
waywardness that is abound in human nature needs to be tamed through 
a process of human formation to liberate human beings from barbarity 
that is capable of obstructing attainment of noble characters (Desmond 
92). Without mincing words, a closer look at Aristotelian-Aquinas 
anthropological theory of human action clearly shows that when 
emotions are govern with reason towards a good end, the action derived 
from such end becomes morally good, appropriate and correspond to the 
dignity inherent in human nature. It is also perspicuous in the 
aforementioned theory that when emotions are allowed to run wild, the 
action sourced from such disposition automatically becomes immoral, 
inappropriate and divergent to the nobility that ontologically 
characterised human nature. If this claim is incontrovertible, it implies 
that adequate integration of emotional and rational feelings in human 
formative processes basically serves as the foundation of noble characters 
associated with a gentleman in human society.  

A systematic analysis and evaluation of the four cardinal virtues 
already examined illustrated the fact that each of them has prominent 
place in the processes of the internal and efficient principles of noble 



294 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

action excellently evident in the habitual character of a man (Aristotle 
Nichomachean Ethics, bk. II, chapter 6). In the context of this background, 
the four cardinal virtues become the software while human habits 
become the hardware of actions that define, determine, substantiate, 
demonstrate, facilitate, promote and preserve the dignity entrenched in 
human nature. Hence, a virtuous man or gentleman is the one that 
knows how to tame those emotions that are contrary to reason and yield 
to emotional derives that are sourced from rational feelings to form the 
basis of the deliberative choice of action in human formation (Gratsch 
108; Garrette 67).  

A strict observation of the processes involved clearly shows that 
the animal and rational natures of man are integrated together through 
human formation to arrive at the appropriate actions that befit human 
beings. As a matter of fact, it is evident in the writings of some 
metaphysicians like Plato and Aristotle; philosophical anthropologists 
like Thomas Aquinas, Max Scheler, Battista Mondin, Karol Wojtyla and 
religious existentialists like Paul Recour, Emmanuel Levinas, Martin 
Buber and Gabriel Marcel that only human beings among other 
creatures are endowed with a character in which rational abilities and 
emotional tendencies are coalesced together as one. In other words, 
human beings are not totally spiritual to lack element of bodily structures 
and emotions as palpable among the spirits neither are they like other 
animals that have no rational abilities except instinctual drives. As a 
matter of fact, these two aspects of human personality are so 
intermingled and jointly responsible for human characters. As Joseph 
Omoregbe cleverly encapsulates, “man is a harmonious blend of reason 
and the passions. He is neither pure reason without instincts nor pure 
instincts without reason…As a result of this fact, man’s instincts are 
rational instincts, i.e, instincts permeated with rationality (103). Hence, 
no one can easily separate the influence of the two factors in human 
character and able to justify the ontological basis of human formation 
and personality with associated values in human society. As Omoregbe 
further claims, “it is because man is a blend of reason and passions that 
he is capable of weeping (sympathy, love, hatred, benevolence, judgment 
etc.), neither a god nor a beast is capable of weeping; the former is 
incapable because it is a disembodied being without passions while the 
latter is incapable because it lacks reason” (104). Judging from this 
milieu, it means that the instinctual tendencies apparent in ordinary 
animals are guided purely by regular emotional instincts whereas the 
ones ostensible with human beings are imparted by rational emotional 
dispositions. This implies that any attempt to have unblended foundation 
of rational abilities with emotional feelings in human formation would 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    295 

automatically lead to characters that are depraved and contrary to human 
dignity.  
 It is appropriate that every youngsters especially those in the house of 
formation and formators to remember and appreciate the fact that 
human nature is not purely emotional, spiritual, rational or irrational but 
fundamentally involved in the aforementioned aspects of man and 
obviously integrated into natural inclinations necessary for human 
characters. In other words, “human formation is all about the 
development of a well-rounded and competent man, possessing personal 
maturity. The basis of this is the fact that we human beings are physical, 
emotional, psychological, sexual, social, intellectual and spiritual with the 
potentiality of each being fully realized by our efforts of co-operating with 
God’s grace”. Therefore, the necessity of human formative processes for 
candidates to the priesthood can never be overstressed because seminarians 
are not angelic beings with the nature and character that is already 
determined, structured, universal, logical, fixed, immutable, eternal and 
perfectly composed to remain the same all the time like those in a 
mathematical world where 3+3 constantly equals to 6.  
 It is unmistakably clear that human beings including seminarians are 
composed of body and soul, reason and passion by which they are 
exceptionally different from other creatures and need to pass through a 
process of human formation before attaining excellent characters. This 
implies that, “since the charism of celibacy…leaves man’s affections and 
his instinctive impulses intact, candidates to the priesthood need an 
affective maturity which is prudent, able to renounce anything that is a 
threat to it, vigilant over body and spirit, and capable of esteem and 
respect in interpersonal relationship between men and women” (Pastores 
Dabo Vobis no. 44). In the context of this paper, Seminarians are obliged 
to learn how to guide themselves with rational moral calculus to gain 
foresight for avoidance of any fundamental bad habit that can primarily 
hinder honorable characters ontologically concomitant with human 
nature become evident in them. After all, “the goal of the entire seminary 
formation…should be the development of moral leadership and witness 
the seminarian manifest to others” (no. 44). This is not easily attainable 
without some disciplines, sacrifice, practice, pain, patience, perseverance, 
determination and hope. Therefore, it is required that seminarians 
assiduously cultivate the integration of four cardinal virtues to have 
appropriate human formation so that the nobility associated with human 
nature can be exceptionally obvious in their character for their good and 
the good of the church.  
 
 
 



296 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Conclusion 
In conclusion, for an appropriate human formation of seminarians to 
reach an appreciable end, rational abilities are needed for dignified moral 
choice and precision while emotions are necessarily guided for moral 
impetus and moral virtues are gradually cultivated for habitual 
dispositions for noble characters conceivable in human nature (Harman 
1). The habitual dispositions sourced from the phenomenological 
interrelationship of reason, emotions and cardinal virtues will eventually 
become the repository of noble characters expected to characterize the 
personality and moral ideals of whoever successfully allows human 
formative processes of the major seminary to pass through him. There is 
no doubt that human nature is morally promiscuous and can easily 
wandered into habitual dispositions that are capable of disfiguring the 
ontological nobility that clearly sets man apart from other animals. 
However, the conceivable clashes between reason and emotions, good 
and bad habits, desires and deliberative choice in the process of forming 
human characters can easily dissolve into a moral disposition that 
transcends the purported phenomenological conflicts among all the 
factors that play indispensable roles in the formation of human character 
provided discipline, sacrifice, assiduousness, perseverance and nobility 
are appreciated by the seminarians of our time.  
  
References 
Aso, W.O. (2017) The Place of Virtues in the Attainment of Final End: An Appraisal 

of Thomas Aquinas’ Scholastic Ethics. Ibadan Dominican Studies, 3, 117-

136. 

Aquinas, T. (1947) Summa Theologiae. Translated by the English Dominican Fathers, 

New York: Benziger Brothers.  

_________ (1993) Commentary on Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, Translated by C.I. 

Litzinger. Notre Dame: DUMB OX BOOKS.  

Aristotle, (2001) The Basic Works of Aristotle. (edited by Richard Mckeon). New York: 

Random     House.  

Chukwujekwu, S. C. (2007) A Basic Course in Ethics: A Survey of Ethical Values.  

Nimo: Rex Charles & Patrick Ltd.  

Desmond, W. (2001) ETHICS and the BETWEEN. Albany: State University of New 

York Press. 

Elder, Leo J. (2006) Thomism Today, Annuario Filosofico, XXXIX, 2, Roma, p. 454. 

Fagothey, A. (1989) Right and Reason ---- Ethics in Theory and Practice, edited by 

Milton A. Gonzales; 9th edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.  

James, G.G.M. (1954) Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy. 

Reprinted by Molefi Kete Asante. Philadephia: African American images. 

Garrett, A. (ed.) (2014) The Routledge Companion to Eighteenth Century Philosophy. 

Routledge.  

Gratsch, E.J. (1985) Aquinas Summa: Introduction and Interpretation. Bangalore: 

Theological Publications. 

http://philpapers.org/rec/GARTRC-3


Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    297 

Harman, G. (1986) Change in view: Principle of Reasoning. Massachusetts: Bradford 

MIT Press. 

Mondin, B. (1985) Philosophical Anthropology. Rome: Urbaniana University Press, 

1985. 

Omoregbe, J. (1998) Ethics: A Systematic and historical study. Lagos: Joja 

Educational Publishers Limited.   

Rearden, M. (1976). Deed and Truth. Dublin: The Doctrine commission of the 

Church of England.  

Thomas, Hibbs (2001) Virtue’s Splendor: Wisdom, Prudence, and the Human Good. 

New York: Fordham University Press. 

 



298 

22 

SEX SLAVERY AS DEHUMANISATION: A 

CONTEXTUAL APPRAISAL IN MARTIN 

BUBER’S DIALOGIC APPROACH 
 

Benedict EGBUCHUNAM 
Department of Philosophy, 

Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele- Ekpoma 
emechunam@yahoo.com 

 
Abstract 
Sex slavery is an evil that denigrates the human person. It is a criminal 
form of enslavement which limits one’s autonomy, freedom of 
movement and power to decide matters relating to one’s sexual activity. 
Unfortunately, this apparent evil has become widespread especially in 
Nigeria and has reached an alarming rate. Despite modernization and 
technological advancements, this modern form of slavery has taken 
another dimension. This paper discusses sex slavery in Nigeria and seeks 
to demonstrate how it not only denies full humanness to others but is 
accompanied by cruelty and suffering; the human person is treated as less 
human and women, who are mostly affected by this evil, are stripped of 
their dignity. Martin Buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relationship as 
an approach to resolving the dehumanisation of the female gender is the 
essence of this paper. The fundamental fact of human existence is simply 
a person with another person, a man with a woman and a human being is 
a creature capable of entering into living essential relations with others. 
This paper attempts to show that Buber’s philosophy of dialogue serves 
as a means of resolving sex slavery in Nigeria and beyond. It requires the 
reorientation of the human mind in seeing the other person as a Thou 
instead of an It’ This paper, which is basically expository, descriptive and 
analytic, approaches this issue from an existential perspective using 
Buber’s philosophy in understanding the human person as relational for 
authentic human relationships.  
 
Keywords: Sex slavery, dehumanisation, sexual activity, Dialogue, 
Interpersonal, Relationship. 

mailto:emechunam@yahoo.com


Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    299 

Introduction 
Slavery is a practice that militates against the human person because 
through it, a person or group of persons are subjugated, oppressed, 
victimized, objectified and discriminated against. It is an evil that goes 
against man’s essential nature which is to be relational and his purpose of 
existence. Being intensely engaged in a relationship with another person 
is one of the greatest joys of being human. Human communication is at 
the core of our existence. It is an indubitable fact that being-with-others 
fundamentally characterizes our existence. We come into existence and 
notice other human persons as co-existents, and as persons we must have 
to deal with in one way or the other.  Unfortunately, slavery is a form of 
cruelty that denigrates an individual and is symptomatic of the inability 
to fully exist as genuinely human. This negative trend that slavery 
portends raises questions such as: How may I understand the other 
person, who is different from me? How may I relate to this other with 
whom I must have to deal in my concrete everyday existence? What is 
the philosophical basis for interpersonal relationship? How is person to 
person relationship different from person to things? To what extent can 
we enhance respect for human relationships so that we built a society 
that is more egalitarian, free and healthy? What is at issue here is the 
question of the relationship between persons. Interpersonal relationship 
is something we experience daily. That is what keeps us moving forward. 
That is what makes us human.  

This paper, is therefore, an attempt to address the evil of sexual 
slavery/exploitation using the philosophy of Martin Buber. This paper 
advocates a reordering of our mindsets and modes of thought in seeing 
the human person for what he or she really is – a dignified being that is 
to be respected, loved and treated as an existential subject. This 
reorientation is to be done and achieved through the lens of the 
relational existentialist, Martin Buber. For the purpose of this work, the 
terms, sex slavery and sex trafficking, will be used interchangeably. 
 
Overview of slavery 
Slavery could be said to be as old as man. It refers to a condition in which 
individuals are owned by others who control where they live and what 
they work; to the legal, economic, political and social rules that allow one 
group of people to own people belonging to another group for their own 
benefit. Essentially, slavery involves domination, oppression, control and 
so on. It existed in many cultures in early human civilizations and has 
continued to exist in some form for thousands of years in societies 
around the world. Although, it could be found in almost every society, 
slavery, as we have studied in our history lessons, has its legacy in 
colonialism and imperialism which served as fuel to agricultural 



300 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

industries till end of the of the 19th century. The freedom granted to 
slaves by governments in Europe and America were not followed up by 
social, economic and psychological supports. Consequently, slave like 
conditions and mentalities persisted. According to The Economist, 
October 30, 2016, more than 200,000 adult slaves remained in Africa’s 
Sahel until the 60s. The negative consequences of slavery are obvious 
when one looks at the uneven social and economic development of 
nations that were not only victims of slavery but were suppliers of labour 
to these countries that have now being termed ‘developed’. Hence, the 
compartmentalization of the world into categories of first and third, 
developed and under-developed, rich and poor. It is very probable that 
there are probably more slaves now than at any other point in history 
because, in all its forms, slavery has always existed in modern societies 
long after the 19th century.1  

The most common form of modern slave trade is referred to as 
human trafficking. Trafficking in human beings is a “phenomenon that 
involves a variety of areas and diverse aspects and its multidimensional 
extensiveness contributes to an often unfocused perspective”. Human 
trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring 
or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other 
forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of 
exploitation."2 This definition has three essential constituents: first, the 
action of trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, transfer, 
harboring or receipt of persons; second, the means of trafficking includes 
threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position 
of vulnerability; and third, the purpose of trafficking is geared towards 
exploitation. Exploitation includes, “at a minimum, the exploitation of 
the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced 
labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the 
removal of organs.”3 In other words, human trafficking has many forms 
of exploitation. The objective of this essay is to examine the form of 
exploitation that has to do with a person’s sexuality. 

Sex-trafficking is said to be the most common form of human-
trafficking in the world today. It refers to the “recruitment, harbouring, 
transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a 
commercial sex act, in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, 
fraud or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act 
is under the age of 18 years.”4 From the foregoing, sex trafficking is a 
sub-category within the wider framework of human-trafficking and is for 
the purpose of sexual exploitation including sexual slavery. So, sex 
trafficking necessarily includes sexual slavery but not all forms of sexual 
slavery fall under the umbrella of sex trafficking. 
 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    301 

Sex Slavery/Trafficking 
Sex slavery, which could also be described as sexual exploitation, is the 
attachment of the right of ownership over one or more persons with the 
intention of compelling them to engage in sexual activities. In other 
words, the victims are deprived of their sexual freedom, choice and rights 
and are subjected to the sexual manipulations of their enslavers. 
According to Mark Klamberg:  
Sexual slavery is a particular form of enslavement which includes 
limitations on one’s autonomy, freedom of movement and power to 
decide matters relating to one’s sexual activity. Although it is listed as a 
separate offence in the ICC Statute, it is regarded as a particular form of 
enslavement. However, whereas enslavement is solely considered a 
crime against humanity, sexual slavery may constitute either a war crime 
or a crime against humanity. It is partly based on the definition of 
enslavement identified as customary international law by the ICTY in the 
Kunarac case.5 

From the above, sexual slavery is seen as a form of enslavement 
with a sexual component. It includes the wielding of any or all of the 
powers attached to ownership over one or more persons, such as by 
buying, selling, lending or bartering such a person or persons, or by 
imposing on them a similar deprivation of liberty. Also, the person 
would have been made to engage in acts of a sexual nature. The evil also 
includes forced marriages, domestic servitude or other forced labour that 
ultimately involves forced sexual activity. In contrast to the crime of rape, 
which is a completed offence, sexual slavery constitutes a continuing 
offence.6 
  Sex slavery has its roots in ancient history. In the ancient world, the 
Greeks and the Romans amongst others made a practice of forcing 
captured young women to be consigned to a life of servitude as 
concubines or domestic servants. In the 13th century, African slave trade 
was not limited to slaves for servants, agriculture, or the labor industry 
but also extended to women who received a higher price than men, 
primarily because of the sexual appetites of their owners.7 However, in 
recent times, the rise in the harm and suffering associated with 
transporting women and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation 
has taken an alarming rate. The trafficking of women and children for 
commercial sexual purposes lies in the expansion and ever growing 
sexual entertainment industry, which is most importantly a demand-
driven phenomenon. Unfortunately, women and children are perceived 
as the most exploitable and controllable and are therefore deemed to be 
the most in demand to contribute to this expanding and very competitive 
economic market, driven by maximum profit gaining.8 



302 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

 There have been a significant rise in the magnitude of this form of 
trafficking and it is said to be reaching severe dimensions worldwide in 
the recent context of globalization despite the laws and sanctions that 
have been put in place. Several reasons have been adduced for the 
continued rise in trafficking including gender discrimination, war and 
armed conflict, poverty, persistent unemployment, lack of education, 
lack of information, gender discrimination, poverty and deprivation, lack 
of legislative and policy protection, harmful socio-cultural practices, and 
economic inequality, which is said to be the most convincing factor 
because it results in neighbouring cities, regions or countries being 
attractive destinations for people in poverty stricken cities, regions and 
countries. These factors in themselves are, however, not regarded as the 
causes of trafficking in persons; rather, they merely contribute to the 
vulnerability of victims and render them more prone to a variety of 
harms.9 

The likelihood that a country will become a source of trafficking 
is greatly influenced by the economic and political instability of that 
country. Internal armed conflict, civil unrest and natural disasters 
furthermore displace populations and increase their susceptibility to 
exploitation and abuse. Enslavers and traffickers make false promises of 
good working conditions and higher wages in foreign countries to lure 
victims into their traps.10 The unsuspecting victims, who seek a better life 
for themselves and their families, are easily deceived by these lies and 
they fall prey to the enslavers and traffickers and become objects of 
dehumanization and indignity. 

Even though victims of sex trafficking crime are encouraged to 
leave the economic struggles of their home countries in search of better 
opportunities, movement itself is not what constitutes the crime of 
trafficking. The force, fraud or coercion that is exercised on a victim by 
another person to perform sexual activities and remain in the service of 
that person, are the determining and defining elements of this crime of 
trafficking. Sex slavery involves a variety of crimes and exploitation 
including violence, cruelty and ill-treatment of victims. The exploitation 
of victims for profit through the use of force, fraud or coercion remains 
the common denominator of this crime and the trade of human beings 
continues to evolve into new and more multifaceted forms of 
exploitation, using debt contracts and other means to coerce people for 
the purpose of profit gain.11 The victim’s human rights are taken away 
and the person is stripped of dignity and is reduced to a level below that 
of animals. This is what constitutes dehumanization and objectifies the 
human person.  

The concept of human rights is based on the belief in the dignity 
of the human person. It recognizes that the human person requires 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    303 

certain minimum standards in order to fulfill a basic life of dignity. 
Furthermore, as they are derived from the dignity of a human being as 
such, these rights belong to all human beings and cannot be removed by 
any authority, under any circumstances. Human rights are held by every 
human being, simply because one is a human being and for no other 
reason.12 In other words, no one, for whatsoever reason, has the ‘right’ to 
take away the rights of another human being. Unfortunately, the human 
rights of the victims of sex slavery are trampled upon, taken away and 
made to perform indignifying acts. This is what criminalizes the actions 
of sex enslavers and traffickers and renders their actions evil in itself.  
 The cost of the sex slavery industry is most difficult to measure. The 
cost is more than just dollars being spent on sex. It also includes the 
damage done to individuals. There is also the cost in both physical and 
mental health with sex slavery. The self-esteem of the unfortunate 
victims is usually extremely low. It only takes a few days to break a 
woman; it takes many years to help her to rebuild her life. Victims of sex 
slavery/trafficking go through physical, psychological and emotional 
trauma associated with the exploitation. Those who are trafficked face 
violence that may occur during various stages of the trafficking process – 
from recruitment to destination which has a profound impact on the 
health of the victim. The physical, sexual and psychological abuse 
experienced by victims of sexual exploitation, combined with the forced 
or coerced use of alcohol and drugs, isolation and manipulation has long-
term implications for victims’ overall well-being and present a challenge 
for rehabilitation. The psychological harm experienced by victims 
exposed to severe and persistent trauma and abuse are similar to those 
observed in victims of torture and repeated sexual abuse. Escaping from 
the slavish or trafficking situation does not free the victim from the 
consequences of the period of exploitation, which she or he has endured. 
Chronic physical, psychological and social issues often affect sex-
trafficked victims throughout their lives, whether they are free or 
enslaved.13 
 In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle developed the concept of 
human flourishing or eudemonia. For him, the aim of ethics and politics 
is to show people how to achieve eudemonia, which can be interpreted as 
well-being. The well-being of an individual is to be achieved by living a 
life in society and living a life concerned with the society. Aristotle’s 
consideration of well-being, human flourishing and fulfillment is firmly 
situated in the context of society.14 Thomas Aquinas, like Aristotle, 
situated his consideration of harm and liberty in a social context. The 
frustration of basic needs or potentialities of human beings is perceived 
to be morally bad and harmful, for it reduces the ability of a person to be 
fully actualised as a human being. Thus, harm consists in not just the 



304 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

absence of physical injury but also obstacles or lack of resources that 
prevent us living fully human lives. Harm, then does not just occur at 
the one to one level, which is often easily visible, but at the institutional 
and systemic level whereby human flourishing is constrained.15 Thus, sex 
slavery militates against the flourishing and fulfillment of the human 
person. Where the human person is not allowed to flourish, 
dehumanization takes place. And as such, sex slavery, trafficking, and 
every form of exploitation are evil per se that is, they are intrinsic evils.  
 
Martin Buber’s Philosophy of inter-personal relationship 
Martin Buber was a Jewish-German existential philosopher; and as a 
theologian and a Biblical translator, he was said to be one of the most 
influential figures in the twentieth century intellectual- spiritual life. His 
ontology or theory of existence revolves around a concept of relation. 
Persons and things are seen to exist only in relation to other things and 
persons. The word, relation implies a state of affairs which connects two 
separate entities. The very essence of any existence is this connecting 
state of relation which Buber calls the between.16 Relation, as an event or 
action, occurs between two entitles, that is, between a person, whose 
attention is completely turned toward someone or something other than 
himself, and another person or thing who confronts him. Buber says that 
essence of man which is special to him can be directly known only in a 
living relation. The individual is a fact of existence in so far as he enters 
into relation with other individuals.17 He defines man as a creature 
capable of entering into living essential relations with the world and 
things.  The fundamental fact of human existence is that an individual 
steps into a living relation with other individuals. The essence of man 
which is special to him can be directly known only in a living relation.18  

According to Buber, the principle of human life is not simple but 
twofold, being built up in a twofold movement which is of such kind 
that one movement is the presupposition of the other. He calls the first 
movement the primal setting at a distance and the second, entering into 
relation.19 So, man is man in virtue of his sense of distance and relation. 
It is obvious that entering into relation presupposes the primal setting at 
a distance.  Man can only enter into relation with a being that has been 
set at a distance which has become an independent opposite. Only man 
can perform this act of setting at a distance because only man has a world 
- an unbroken continuum which includes not only all that he and other 
individuals know and experience but all that is knowable now and in the 
future.20  In other words, one can only enter into relation with that 
which is not himself - an independent other, a being which has been set 
at a distance. The primal setting at a distance involves the self 
understanding itself as being separate and apart from the being which is 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    305 

not the self: the self identifies the other as an Other.  Identifying the 
other as an Other allows the self to enter into a relationship with it. This 
setting at a distance which makes entering into relation possible is proper 
to the human category.21  
 
Man's Two Basic Relations to the World  
From the foregoing, entering into relation means entering into an I-
Thou relation, and at the same time one cannot identify distance with I-
It. When an individual fails to enter into relation, however, the distance 
thickens and solidifies, so that instead of being that which makes room 
for relation it becomes that which obstructs it. This failure to enter into 
relation corresponds to I-It, and distance thus becomes the 
presupposition for both I-Thou and I-It.22 
 The underlying principle in Buber’s philosophy is the idea that man 
has two modes available to him through which he can engage the world. 
The first mode (I-It) is that of experience, while the other mode (I-
Thou) is that of relation/encounter.23 According to him, there is no I 
taken in itself but only the I of the primary word I-Thou and the I of the 
primary word I-It; and when a man says I, he refers to one or other of 
these. The I to which man refers is present when he says I. The existence 
of I and the speaking of I are one and the same thing. The I of man is 
both the I of the I-It and the I of the I-Thou and thus the I of man is 
twofold. Man's two basic relations to the world are fundamentally 
different modes of self-expression and so the 'I' in these relations has 
different meanings. The I of the I-It is spoken where and when the 
beings around are observed and treated as mere objects of observation; 
and the I of the I-Thou relationship is spoken where and when one 
stands with the whole of one's being over against another and enters into 
essential relationship with him. 
  Buber opines that the I-Thou precedes I-It, both logically and in the 
history of the human consciousness. Through the Thou a man becomes 
I, and this implies that man’s I-consciousness develops only gradually 
from relational events.  This means too that the abstracted I, which is the 
prerequisite for the primary word I-It, is inextricably embedded in the 
web of relation, in the relation to the Thou. The first primary word can 
be resolved, certainly, into I and Thou, but it did not arise from their 
being set together; by its nature it precedes I.  The second word arose 
from the setting together of I and It; by nature it comes after I.  This is 
why Buber declares that in the beginning is relation.24 
 Buber makes a distinction between the person and the individual. 
The person is the man who has become truly or authentically human, 
that is, attained being or spiritual existence as the I of the I-Thou 
relation, through his encounter of the other as Thou. The individual, 



306 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

however, is the I who has only experienced or used the other as his It, 
the object of his intent or purpose.25  
 
The Life of Dialogue 
The heart of Buber's philosophy might be considered to be in his 
conception of dialogue.  
In the Buberian conceptual scheme, then, genuine dialogue is not simply 
a conversation, a way of communication, a means towards other goals.  
Dialogue becomes the goal in itself, the central purpose of human life. It 
is quite obvious that dialogue typifies, in a superlative way, what Buber 
has described as an I-Thou attitude towards an other. A dialogic 
relationship is one where genuine dialogue occurs between partners.26 

Buber identifies certain defining features of the life of dialogue 
which are the constituents of the structure of I-thou relationship. The 
absence of any of these will mean the absence of relationship. These 
features include accepting and confirming the otherness of the Other. 
Such confirmation does not mean approval; but no matter what the 
person has against the other, by accepting that person as a partner in 
dialogue, the person has been affirmed.27 The act of acceptance and 
confirmation belongs to the very structure and actualization of real 
human existence of I-Thou relationship. Another feature Buber 
identifies is mutuality or reciprocity of relationship. Only in the mutual 
or reciprocal saying of Thou, relationship comes into being and I and 
Thou become co-partners. The mutuality is the mutual participation of 
both the partners in each other's existence. The mutual conditioned 
nature of relationship is not one sided; and I-It is unilateral.28 A third 
feature Buber highlights is opening up and making present of everything, 
that is, not investigating the other but courageously and intensively 
stirring one's own being to enter into other's life. The exclusiveness of 
relationship is another feature which refers to total and unlimited 
presentness. The other (Thou) in relationship is not more a Thou beside 
other Thous' but he becomes a Thou who cannot be replaced or 
exchanged.29 The encompassing or inclusion of everything is the last 
feature Buber highlights which means living or experiencing through 
what the other is living or experiencing through. 
 
Application of Buber’s Philosophy to Sex Slavery and Trafficking 
Buber’s philosophy of inter-personal relationship is a salient panacea to 
the evil of sex slavery and sex trafficking in Nigeria and by extension, the 
entire human society. Buber promotes a philosophy of mutuality, 
reciprocity, genuine relationship and genuine dialogue. It is a philosophy 
that generates peace through mutual interaction and conversation, that is, 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    307 

‘I-Thou’ relationship. The concept of dialogue perceives the human 
person as ‘thou’.  

In a society where genuine relations that ought to exist between 
individuals has been largely obliterated by the objectification of the 
human person through sex slavery and trafficking, Buber proclaims that 
man can achieve authentic human existence only by turning to one 
another as a whole being in the posture of I-Thou, in which the other is 
made really present in his concrete wholeness and uniqueness and where 
there is a genuine response to the irreducible claim of the encounter 
itself. At a time when mutual understanding and intimacy of 
communion are threatened by sexual exploitation, Buber has with 
earnest insistence appealed to those healing powers which may be 
awakened by man meeting his fellow man and woman. Buber’s central 
message and insight is, therefore, that human beings are ordained to find 
fulfillment and authentic selfhood by living with each other in a 
relationship of genuine life of dialogue.30 
 It is important to note that underlying the practice of sex slavery and 
sex trafficking is the objectification of the human person where an 
individual is seen as tool to be used. So, the evil of sex slavery, sex 
trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation persists because the 
human person and probably the female sex are not perceived as ‘thou’; 
instead, they are perceived  as ‘it.’ According to Buber, the I-It 
relationship is a subject –object relationship which does not possess 
genuine dialogue, listening and response. In this relationship, an 
individual is regarded as an ‘It’ that is tossed around as a mere thing other 
than thou. Buber’s philosophy would orientate individuals in upholding 
human dignity and foster respect for human rights and by inclusion, 
women and children.31 
 Buber’s concept of confirmation which can be described as 
acknowledgement and recognition of the other would go a long way in 
curtailing sexist tendencies. In confirmation one meets, chooses and 
recognizes the other as a subject with the capacity to actualize one’s own 
potential. In order for confirmation to be complete one must know that 
he/she is being made present to the other. There must be this re-
orientation by individuals that recognizing other including women and 
children as subjects actualizes their own potentials and is a tonic for 
positive growth as an individual and the life is not about greed, money, 
making profit while disregarding the dignity of fellow human beings. 
Unfortunately, they may exist this fear that confirming others may lead 
to poverty or a lack. This is a problem of mistrust which Buber considers 
mistrust as one of the hindrances of dialogue. Mistrust leads to 
oppression, discrimination and criminality. The issue of mistrust can be 
resolved with mutual dialogue which brings trust and love.  



308 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

 Furthermore, the notion of I-Thou relationship stems from 
mutuality, reciprocity, relation and genuine dialogue. It is a concrete 
encounter, because individuals meet one another in their authentic 
existence, without any qualification or objectification of one another. 
Buber’s I-Thou relationship opens an avenue for encounter in which 
people could engage with each other fully through dialogue. In other 
words, human beings – both enslaver/traffickers and victims can 
encounter each other authentically without objectifying one another. 
When such occurs, the victims and every individual would be treated 
with utmost respect as fellow Thous who have the right to experience 
life and contribute to it. Buber’s notion of inclusion and relation 
becomes relevant here. Inclusion, according to Buber, means the ability 
to develop a dual sensation among those engaged in dialogue: 
experiencing oneself and simultaneously perceiving the ‘other’ in its 
singularity. The inclusion of a person causes one to experience and know 
one’s fellow human being. That quality of inclusion will help those 
involved in sexual exploitation to experience and understand themselves 
as well as experience and understand what their fellow existents go 
through in their situation and experiences. Accordingly, relation is 
mutual. My ‘thou’ affects me as I affect it.32 There is deep sense of 
reciprocity and mutuality in relation. 
 It is only when people overcome their self-centredness, greed and 
lust and see one another as thou that mutual, inclusive, reciprocal, 
relational and genuine dialogue in love would occur which would 
promote peaceful harmonious co-existence and human beings to flower, 
flourish and contribute uniquely in a no small measure to the 
development of the entire human society. To have a genuine relationship 
of dialogue, both men and women must recognize the “Thou” of the 
other: Only persons who are capable of truly saying Thou to one another 
can truly say We with one another.   
 
 Conclusion 
This essay has been concerned with the application of Buber’s 
philosophy of interpersonal relationship to the evil of sex slavery and 
trafficking with a view to resolving it. The basic foundation on which 
Buber’s whole project is built is his insight that man has two distinct 
ways of engaging the world - I-Thou and I-It.  Modern society largely 
ignores the I-Thou mode of encounter through which man enters into 
relation with the other; and canonizes the I-It mode of experience 
through which man treats the other as an object to be analyzed and 
utilized.  Buber’s contention is that inasmuch as the latter (mode of 
experience) is important and indispensable for human survival, it is not 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    309 

sufficient. As a matter of fact, a human being is not fully human unless 
he also opens himself up to the mode of relation (I-Thou).   

In Buber’s philosophy, men and women are essentially relational 
beings. All true living is meeting, and dialogue is the ridge on which we 
meet. In dialogue, men and women penetrate the polite superficialities 
and defenses with which they habitually armor themselves; they listen to 
one another with an authenticity that forges a bond between and among 
both sexes. Upholding and respecting the human person and entering 
into a living and essential relation with another is an act of incredible 
bravery. This is because it requires leaving behind false notions of 
selfishness, dominance, superiority and arrogance in a realm of 
experience in which we can understand and predict and master and enter 
into a realm that cannot easily be predicted and manipulated, and which 
exposes us to grave risks such as betrayal and exploitation. Man becomes 
what he essentially is in relation to others. 

A pragmatic application of Buber’s concept of dialogue would 
definitely go a long way in curbing sexual exploitation of different forms. 
It will encourage a spirit of mutual togetherness, genuine conversation, 
genuine wholeness, and genuine connection between individuals - men 
and women. There is need for confirmation and inclusion of one 
another through dialogue which brings closeness, mutuality and 
reciprocity. There is emphatic need for recognition of the dignity of 
women and children who are mostly victims of sex slavery and 
trafficking. Thus, the human person should be seen as an end in itself 
and never as a means to an end. 

 Buber’s philosophy does not in any way suggest that there 
would not be failures, errors and mistakes considering the fact that it is 
human nature that is being dealt with but it simply entails that in the 
midst of friction and tension, there could be need to understand one 
another as persons with dignity and essence. Sex slavery and trafficking is 
difficult to curb. Despite the numerous laws and attempts to stop it 
which are commendable, it still thrives. While appreciating the efforts of 
the government, non-governmental organizations, religious institutions 
and individuals, there is a need to go back to the source; the education of 
the young which Buber emphasized greatly in his works. While 
individuals in the society need a reorientation in seeing one another as 
‘Thous’ the young one – the future of the society – need to be educated 
and taught to build up a society where mutual respect is upheld, the 
dignity of the human person is held holy and fellow existents treat one 
another as Thous. That would mean introducing the young to 
philosophical ideas especially what we may refer to as relational 
existentialism and inculcating in them the values of the I-Thou 
relationship. 



310 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

In the “I-it” relation, the individual deals with the world and 
other persons functionally, manipulatively as things to be investigated 
and used. This type of relation is wrong as it has been a major cause of 
many problems in modern life as reflected in the educational systems of 
nations that see schooling as a production factory. In the I-Thou 
relationship, the individual encounters other persons and God as Thou 
(You). This involves interpersonal dialogue, an encounter which opens 
up the true depths of reality that engenders direct connection and a sense 
of unity for the individuals and the community with the necessary ethical 
underpinnings. To Buber, education is relational between the teacher 
and the learner on one hand between the educational system and the 
community on the other. Education is subjective. The active role of the 
learner in selecting and building his/her own knowledge as to be effective 
in his relations or encounter with people. Education should generally be 
seen as a relation based enterprise in that the nature and the direction of 
the society determines the essence of its educational system.33 

 
 

Endnotes 
                                                      
1 Jennifer Clark B. and Sasha Poucki, Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery, 

(London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2018), p. 51. 
2 Gabriel Temesgen, “Root Causes and Solutions to Human Trafficking in Ethiopia,” 

International Journal of Science and Research 3 (2012):  Gabriel Temesgen, “Root 

Causes and Solutions to Human Trafficking in Ethiopia,” International Journal of 

Science and Research 3 (2012): 1578 
3 Ibid. 
4 Lisa Connell, Human-trafficking for Sexual Exploitation in Australia: The Deafening 

Silence on Demand, (Melbourne: Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, 2012), p. 

42. 

 5 Mark Klamberg, ed., Commentary on the Law of the International Criminal Court, 

(Brussels: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, 2017), p. 51. 
6 Ibid. 
7 Victor, Lewis & James Larson, “Sex slavery: a new look at the world’s oldest 

profession,” Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies 9(2015): 3 
8 Juanida Suzette Horne, A Critical Analysis of Human Trafficking for Sexual 

Exploitation, (Pretoria: University of South Africa, 2014), p. 100. 
9 Ibid. 
10 Ibid, p. 99. 
11 Ibid. 
12 ‘Connell, Human trafficking, 141. 
13 Connell, Human Trafficking, 45-47. 
14 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, bk. 1, 1102. 
15 Connell, Human Trafficking, 145. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    311 

                                                                                                                         
16 Maurice Friedman,. Martin Buber: The Life of dialogue. (Chicago: The University of  

Chicago Press, 1960), p. 57. 
17 Martin Buber, I and Thou. (Edinburgh: T & T. Clark, 1937), p. 6. 
18 Martin Buber, The Knowledge of Man: Selected Essays. (Amherst: Humanity Books, 

1998), p. 7. 
19 Ibid., p. 50. 
20 Friedman, Martin Buber  80. 
21 Ezeihejiofor, Uchenna, Martin Buber’s Philosophy of Inter-Personal Relationship. 

(Ibadan: 

Dominican Institute, 2004), p. 45. 
22 Friedman, Martin Buber 83. 
23 Buber, I and Thou 3. 
24 Buber, The Knowledge 3. 
25 Winright, Elaine. Martin Buber's I and Thou As Model for Relationship Between 

Artist and  

Visual Artwork. (Texas: Texas Tech University, 1991), p. 38-39. 
26 Buber, Martin. Between man and Man. (London; Routledge Classics, 2002), p. 24. 
27 Buber, The Knowledge 75. 
28 Buber, I and Thou 11, 33.  
29 Ibid. 78. 
30 Ezeihejiofor,  Martin Buber’s Philosophy 88. 
31 Ezeogu, Uchenna A., John U. Ezugwu & Daniel U. Obi. “Herders-Farmers Conflict 

in Nigeria:  

Applying Martin Buber’s Dialogic Approach.” Nnamdi Azikiwe Journal of Philosophy. 

11:1 (2019), 141. 
32 Buber, I-Thou 15. 
33 Akinkuotu Yemi Ambrose and Quadri, Y. Ayodele, “Martins Buber’s Philosophical 

Idea of “I – Thou (You)” and its Relevance to Modern Education in Nigeria”,  British 

Journal of Arts and Social Sciences. 8:1 (2012),  89.  



312 

23 

WHAT CAN A WOMAN KNOW? EPISTEMIC 

BIAS AS DEPERSONALIZATION 
 

Francis Eshemomoh IKHIANOSIME 
Department of Philosophy, 

Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
franklmore@yahoo.com 

 
Abstract 
Since such publications like Lorraine Code’s essay, “Is the sex of the 
knower epistemically significant?” and Sandra Harding’s “Is Gender a 
variable in conceptions of rationality: a survey of issues” the conversation 
of the relation between gender and knowledge has remained an 
intellectually polemic area of discussion in epistemology, particularly, 
feminist epistemology. The relation between gender and knowledge is 
not merely theoretical, but it also involves power relations. Power 
dynamics have a lot to play with knowledge acquisition and how we 
accord truth values to an epistemic agent. Although, mainstream 
epistemology pretends to be gender neutral with the knowing subject, 
such claim can arguably be said to be nominal rather than practical. This 
paper interrogates particularly how we determine knowing subjects. It 
argues that the female gender or woman has sometimes been treated 
with discrimination in determining whether she is a knowing subject or 
not. This paper further situates this discrimination as fallouts of biases or 
prejudices. Far from creating an unwholesome epistemic situation such 
biases are associated with power. Epistemic bias against women apart 
from showing how gendered-power structure of societies affect the 
shape and possibilities of knowledge production, it further argues that 
such epistemic bias also depersonalizes the woman and this is a form of 
dehumanization. This paper concludes with an argument for an inclusive 
gender-balanced structure of epistemic relations as a pathway that can 
create a more robust epistemic relation for knowledge. It is believed this 
can further strengthen the understanding of the human person as an 
epistemic agent. 
 

mailto:franklmore@yahoo.com


Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    313 

Keywords: Epistemic bias, Depersonalization, Gender, Human person, 
Power dynamics. 
 
Introduction 
The goal of every cognitive or philosophical inquiry is the desire to 
know. Aristotle begins the opening line of his, Metaphysics, stating this 
fundamental truth, saying, “All men by nature desire to know.”1 This 
desire to know is not just fundamental to human nature it is also part of 
man’s evolutionary make up and destiny. Man as homo sapiens (intelligent 
being) is also homo quaerens (thinking and knowing being). The history of 
epistemology in the Western tradition from Plato till date is largely 
concerned with “How do we know what we know?” “Do we really know 
anything at all?” Much of the efforts in traditional epistemology have 
focused not on the knower, per say, but, on what the knower can know. 
The concern was more on what can pass as knowledge to make it 
legitimate or genuine in the face of skeptical opposition which argues 
that we cannot know anything at all or what we can know is limited. It is 
this challenge that gave direction to epistemology for a long while. 
However, from the 1970s and more robustly, around the 1980s new 
epistemic questions have been asked about who this anonymous “we” 
referred to in the common interrogatives? The critical interrogation 
basically seeks to know, like Lorraine Code asks, “Is the sex of the 
knower epistemologically significant?”2 It further seeks to find out 
whether gender has any role to play with the way knowledge is acquired 
or accepted.  For a long time, orthodox epistemology claims that in the 
search for knowledge, the gender of the knower was significantly neutral.  

However, this assumption has been exposed by these critical 
interrogations, which has come under the umbrella of feminist 
epistemology as hypocritical. Code, for instance, argues that “the fact of 
being male or female seems to be fundamental to one’s way of being a 
person in such a way that it could have a strong influence upon one’s 
way of knowing”3 She argues that in the pursuit of knowledge, there are 
sometimes gender biases and discrimination at least historically speaking. 
Women sometimes are not allowed access to certain aspects of learning. 
From this, at least, biological makeup creates a limitation of cognitive 
capacity. Thus, there is both a type of knowledge that a woman can 
acquire and what is accessible to her. Miranda Fricker has argued 
vigorously in her book, Epistemic Injustice, Ethics and the Power of knowing, 
that this politics of epistemic practice “has an irrepressible connection to 
social power, or that social disadvantage can produce unjust social 
disadvantage”4. The point is that is there is such politics of social 
stratification; it also leads to situations of cognitive authority or 
powerlessness. Thus, gender plays a role in knowledge acquisition and 



314 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

this sometimes creates an air of imbalance. Apart from an imbalance in 
power relations, knowledge leads to how we are conceptualized, 
classified, or personalized. This paper, which seeks both to address issues 
in this epistemic imbalance, also seeks to expose how biases in epistemic 
relations and conceptualization lead to depersonalization. It seeks to 
further argue ways in which there can be epistemological inclusivity. The 
end point is to both have a normative vision of epistemology as well that 
of the human person. This paper adopts analytic and expository 
methodologies. 
 
Understanding the Feminist Thesis and Philosophy 
Feminist epistemology is a form of social epistemology. Social 
epistemology refers broadly to the evaluation of social dimensions of 
knowledge. Knowledge within social epistemology is not taken solely as 
an individual activity but sometimes as a social or a collective 
achievement. Thus, social epistemology deals with those social means of 
arriving at knowledge or social justification for our knowledge claims. 
Feminist epistemology “examines the relations between gender and 
knowledge, where gender is understood not as an attribute of 
individuals, but rather as an axis of social relations.”5 The concern of 
feminist epistemology is based on social bifurcations along lines of 
gender. Society is conceived, at least from this biological point of view of 
things existing either as male or female. The concern of feminist 
epistemology is an examination of the connection between power 
relations of gender and knowledge.6  This concern is different from 
feminine epistemology which concerns itself what ways women can 
know. Although, the broad scope of feminist epistemology concerns all 
such discussions include those hitherto known as feminine 
epistemology. Heide Grasswick notes that the scope of analysis for 
feminist epistemology is broadened beyond gender, but involves all such 
divisions of race, class and sexuality and all such axes of oppression. 
Feminist epistemology becomes a face of ‘liberatory epistemologies’. 
 Feminist epistemology is a reaction to an overall social class grouping 
arguably created by radical systems like Marxism. It seeks to overcome 
the epistemic disadvantage for belonging to a particular class or gender, 
in this case, the female gender. Marxism with all its variants, helped to 
create social and class divisions in society and this had its own power play 
of one group having superiority over the other; the bourgeoisie over the 
proletariat. This class system reinforced an age-old division and 
domination like patriarchy and androcentric biases arguably perpetuated 
by some world religions, where women are given a secondary or an 
inferior class position. This class oppression saw the rise of women's 
liberation movement (WLM) and other forms of self-actualization 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    315 

movements like feminism.  From movements to philosophy, feminist 
epistemology seeks to address situations of imbalances created by class, 
race or gender superiority. 
 The concerns of feminist epistemology are not just about the power 
imbalance, but also involve some aspects that are moral. The imbalances 
caused by class bifurcation are also moral. They impede on the virtues of 
such purportedly epistemic inferior other, like women. If women are 
regarded as inferior, they are less likely to be trustworthy and their 
testimony easily dismissed on the grounds of a default class stratification 
that deflates their epistemic credibility. The concern of trustworthiness 
bears on the virtues of agents. Therefore, gender imbalance has a 
crystallizing effect not just on power relations, but also on virtues. 
Feminist epistemology seeks to interrogate all these issues that are the 
fallout of gender and their relations with knowledge. The effects of 
gender biases have an overarching aftereffect in many areas within the 
overall epistemological framework. The scope of feminist epistemology 
thus deals with the many intersecting areas of women’s lives and feminist 
philosophy. 
 The goal of feminist philosophy is not just for justice, but to give 
meaning to women’s history and to seek an inclusive philosophy or 
epistemology. Nevertheless, critics against the foundations of feminist 
philosophy argue that feminist philosophy generally begins with an 
assumption that women are oppressed or marginalized and the same 
experiences of women are universalized rather than taken within 
contexts.7 No matter how the arguments go, we cannot deny that 
feminist epistemology is radically transformative of how women are seen 
and their experiences evaluated and also that the issues of epistemic 
marginalization on the grounds of gender are no longer left to silence. 
The starting point for a meaning discourse is the question of biases in 
epistemic relations. 
 
Knowing Subjects and Biases in Epistemic Relations 
Knowing is a function of different variables and how one can know and 
what a knower can also know are also impacted by different variables. 
The main thrust of feminist epistemology is an interrogation into the 
role and place of gender in knowledge practices. Kristen Campbell argues 
that for feminist theories of knowledge, the gender of the knower is 
epistemologically significant and that deconstructive feminist 
epistemologies maintain that the Western subject of reason is not 
sexually neutral but presupposes a masculine knower.8 This is why 
feminist scholars like Sandra Harding and Patricia Hill Collins argue for 
a reconstruction of new models for knowledge with the woman as a 



316 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

knowing subject. Therefore, we cannot really ignore the sex of the 
knowing subject.  
 Be that as it may, within feminist epistemology, there is the question 
of who the knowing subject should be whether the female knower or the 
feminist knower, or both? But, to pursue this would be creating another 
imperfect situation that first gave birth to feminist epistemology. 
Lorraine Code has elaborately written on how the female knower can be 
impeded and rendered epistemically inaccessible to some knowledge. 
Constraints on the sex of the knower can lead to constraints in 
knowledge in general. This creates a situation of ‘epistemic obscurity’. 
This kind of situation can be warranted with certain kinds of knowledge 
limited or designated as strictly for male. In responding to the 
interrogative, what can a woman know? It seems that the process of 
socialization sometimes, limit what certain persons can know based on 
their gender. This kind of situation creates a biased epistemic situation. 
Some of these social systems or epistemic situations are reinforced by 
male chauvinistic teachings and philosophy. For instance, Aristotle in his 
Republic regards woman as irrational, higher than slaves and lacking in 
authority. He even argues that women are meant to be subject to their 
husbands and that they are sometimes deceptive.9 The Danish 
Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard holds that “the attainment of the ethical 
and religious levels of existence to be open to men only; women are 
aesthetic being”. In Roman mythology, women are regarded as 
Dionysian creatures, meaning they are for merrymaking and wining. 
 The putative designation of women into inferior catalogues to that of 
men is a function of epistemic biases. Biases are “persistent and 
widespread psychological tendencies that can be detrimental to 
objectivity and rationality.”10 In logical thinking, when a premise is 
implicitly accepted in our theories and methods, it becomes a 
philosophical bias. Philosophical biases are acquired from professional 
practice and other disciplinary traditions that defines a scientific 
paradigm. Thus, when we have used a basis for a long time, implicitly, it 
becomes foundational, and this makes one undermine the strength or 
foundation upon which such claim rests. Biases could either be 
cognitive, conflict of interests, statistical, or prejudices. Biases could also 
be understood in different contexts, like biases in the media, academia, 
etc. Biases could be explicit or implicit. It is explicit when it is intended 
and implicit when it is not intended. Gender bias against women and 
androcentric cataloguing of women can arguably fall under implicit bias. 
Philosophically, implicit bias suggests that “people can act on the basis of 
prejudice and stereotypes without intending to do so”.11 Implicit bias lead 
to discriminatory behaviour in favour or against a subject, and these raise 
metaphysical, epistemological and ethical questions.  



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    317 

 Evaluative judgments based on implicit bias or any such biases can be 
termed epistemic bias. Epistemic bias can be implicated in epistemic 
injustice. The wrong labelling of women has epistemological 
implications, including epistemic injustices. Jules Holroyd and Katherine 
Puddifoot12 identified five types of epistemic injustice that can be due 
from such epistemic relation. The first is testimonial injustice, where a 
person is given less credibility than they deserve due to stereotypes about 
the competence or sincerity of those with their social identity. This 
thought is explored in Miranda Fricker’s book, Epistemic Injustice: Power 
and the Ethics of Knowing, 2007. The second is epistemic appropriation 
where the contribution to knowledge provided by a person is not 
recognized as their contribution and is instead attributed to someone 
else. This form is deeply explored by Emmalon Davis.13 The third type 
of injustice from epistemic bias is epistemic exploitation and this occurs 
when members of a marginalized group are expected or required to 
educate members of privileged groups about injustices that are faced by 
those who share their social identity. This form is explored by Nora 
Berenstain.14 The fourth form of injustice due from epistemic bias is 
what Miranda Fricker identified as Hermeneutical injustice when some 
people are unjustly excluded from contributing to the shared conceptual 
resources that are widely used in a society. The fifth kind of injustice is 
contributory injustice, which occurs when an agent is wilfully ignorant 
in using conceptual resources that thwart the ability of others to 
contribute to the knowledge community. This form is elaborately 
explored in the thoughts of Kristie Dotson.15 Women arguably suffer all 
the forms of injustices outlined above by epistemic biases against them. 
 Be that as it may, biased epistemic labelling of women imparts on the 
qualitative difference in how we accord trust or truth-worthiness to 
women as knowing subjects or not. With man given a status of an 
epistemic superior, it renders without interrogation, that women’s 
knowledge are inferior and subjective. In traditional epistemology, the 
gender of the knower has, for the most, been treated as a “featureless 
abstraction,”16 while for the least, this knower, in an uncontested given, 
has presumptuously been an imaginary male. This gender-biased 
situation presents a problem of knowledge, granted that knowing is a 
combination of both the objective and subjective factors. While the 
objective component of knowledge is what is known, the subjective 
component is the knower. John Bewaji has argued that the subjective 
component has mostly been ignored in classical epistemology and this 
has largely resulted in impartial accounts of knowledge.17  
 Arguably, the undermining of the subjective component of 
knowledge, in this case, the female knower, can be due to how the 
objective component has been appreciated. What is known is a product 



318 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

of many factors, including individual creativity, social conditions, 
location of the knower, affective sides, etc. These conditions have also 
generally led to social roles and how men and women apply themselves 
to different tasks or activities. This in turn imparts on what can be 
known. For instance, women are more inclined into sewing clothes, 
cooking, doing domestic chores, etc., while men are generally disposed 
to doing some more mechanical and physical jobs and roles like fixing 
stalled cars, mowing the laws, etc. These polarised gender roles impact 
what particular people are inclined to knowing. The consequence is that 
it leaves knowledge for the most to be sexually differentiated by practical 
expectation. Nevertheless, the fact that men have applied themselves to 
particular roles does not mean women lack the cognitive capacity to do 
so and vice versa. Hence, knowledge being a sexually differentiated 
product by practical expectation does not necessarily mean a logical 
necessity, that is, because men are expected to always mow the lawns, for 
instance, does not mean women cannot do it. Hence, to completely 
delimit women’s knowledge based on practical expectation, or social 
default on certain issues, for instance, is to create a lopsided account for 
knowledge situation ab initio. The consequent effect is that this affects the 
overall subjective component or condition for knowledge.  
 The challenge of epistemic biases to the subjective component of 
knowledge mirrors the overall questions of marginality discussed in 
feminist epistemology. There are different forms of gender marginality 
or exclusion that affect knowledge production. For instance, when 
women are refused admission into certain schools of learning, they are 
marginalized both institutionally and epistemologically. This is one of 
the forms of marginality which affects what a woman can know and it 
only resurfaces the question of who a knowing subject should be.  
Lorraine Code surmises, that “as long as the view prevails that women 
cannot know according to the highest criteria for establishing knowledge, 
it seems that they are in fact not just marginalized but excluded, confined 
somewhere beyond the limits of both marginality and centrality”.18 
Therefore, the sex of the knower is epistemologically significant.   
 The sex of the knower is important because in a certain way, it gives 
grounds for justification of what we claim to know and epistemic 
justification aims at the truth in a very strong way. For instance, we are 
more likely to ask, someone a question that we think is likely to produce 
the right answer. If we were to ask the time for Mass today, we are more 
inclined to ask the priest, because we believe, he would be a more 
justified epistemic agent. These are the issues about the subjective 
component of knowledge. The properties of a knowing subject are not 
just on account of his cognitive capacity, but also by its location, position 
as well as gender. These add up to what makes the knower a viable 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    319 

epistemic agent or a truth-bearer. If women have been largely 
marginalized and this is allowed to gain enough ground, then, we we 
cannot claim that the sex of the knower is not epistemically significant.  

Ordinarily, proposing the sex of the knower casts doubt on the 
autonomy of reason. In our commonsense assumption, we really do not 
require the gender of a person to determine the rationality of a claim; 
rather, it is a function of the coherence in thought, logic and strong 
appeal to reason and truth. This assumption that gender is unimportant 
has nevertheless been contested by scholars like Edward Craig19 and 
Miranda Fricker.20 The epistemic duo has argued that matters of truth 
and rationality are inextricably tied to power and social identities. Fricker 
tries to explain how social power enters into epistemic practice by 
explaining who knows? Fricker uses Craig’s framework to explain this 
relationship. Craig in explaining the meaning of “know” imagines a case 
of an epistemic “state of nature” in which we seek true belief in order to 
survive. In this state, we have a fundamental need to acquire true beliefs. 
This desire for truth drives our practice and this, in turn, leads to seeing 
“good informants” people who would tell us the truth as whether p-  in 
order to multiply our epistemic resources.21 Therefore, to distinguish a 
good informant from a bad one, three features are identified, namely, (i) 
competence (ii) trustworthiness (iii) indicator-properties. Knowledge in 
this case is enshrined in a good informant. What it means is that 
someone who is trustworthy and competent is said to have rational 
authority. These properties are for the most social properties. Hence, if 
we take a woman on the basis of some social exclusion and epistemic 
marginalization as being a bad informant, she, therefore, is being 
excluded from rationality or being a good sources of knowledge. Hence, 
rationality is generally a function of social factors, not just some internal 
epistemic properties. In this wise, if a woman is disdained as a bad 
informant, then, she is already excluded from being a good source of 
knowledge.  

Miranda Fricker has argued that rational authority has a lot to do 
with social power or powerlessness. When we find a credible person who 
has rational authority, he also possesses some social powers, because of 
the ability to tell the truth. The contrast to this is someone who lacks 
social authority is one who is powerless. This is not the only dimension 
that rational authority presents. The powerlessness due from lack of 
rational authority leads to a kind of depersonalisation. It leads to a 
metaphysical obscurity or oblivion. We are not likely to recognize as a 
person, someone we think lacks rational authority. The context of being 
a person goes beyond the physical features, but, one we strip of qualities 
enabling a person. Being a person goes beyond a biological make up, but 
also to some other extraneous factors, hence, we regard institutions 



320 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

sometimes as a juridic person. From an ethical point of view, a person 
can be conceived from the point of responsibility. If we deny that an 
individual is incapable of truth or knowledge, we absolve him of 
responsibility to any such claim; hence, we do not hold him accountable. 
Ethically, a person goes beyond biological features. The point here is, 
epistemic biases against women, have inadvertently led to some form of 
powerlessness and this kind of metaphysical obscurity leads to 
depersonalisation. Powerlessness diminishes one’s social and epistemic 
relevance as well as its authority. While, biases in epistemic relations are 
sometimes a function of historical androcentrism; seeing women from 
uninterrogated social misconstructions, this limitation depersonalizes. It 
suffices to examine the phenomenology of personhood briefly. 
 
The Phenomenology of Personhood and Depersonalization 
The question of personhood is essentially philosophical. The quality of 
being a person is metaphysical and even controversial. There are several 
theories on personhood and the term contrasts strongly with other 
related terms which are sometimes used interchangeably with it. 
Boethius as cited by Frederick Copleston defined the person as “an 
individual substance of a rational nature”.22 The implication of this 
definition which long dominated the whole of medieval philosophy 
holds that every human being is a person. For Aquinas, the disembodied 
soul is not a person because he loses at that point what gives it rationality. 
In Thomas Aquinas, the person is made up of body, soul and mind. 
Aquinas placed emphasis on the rational substance. 
 With Descartes on the other hand, the emphasis was changed. A 
person consists in self-consciousness. This is the naturalist 
epistemological tradition which is reflected in the writings of Locke and 
Hume. It does not place a premium on the body, but on consciousness 
and its ability to relate to the world and performing actions and being 
able to represent them. This naturalist position places emphasis on what 
a person can do. The emphasis is on ability rather than on any 
ontological criteria. A person is one on account of a consciousness that 
can be; a consciousness that can produce something or is doing 
something. Some critics have argued that a person is not brought into 
being on account of his functions. 
 The non-embodiment view of personhood contrasts with the 
position of embodied and embedded in the world. This is first captured 
in the philosophy of Edmund Husserl, but more concretely expressed in 
Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology of being-in-the-world. Dermont 
Moran argues that “In Husserl’s phenomenology, the heart of embodied 
selfhood is the person, understood as the unified, goal-directed center of 
action, bearer of rights and status, responsibilities and moral standing”.23 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    321 

For Heidegger, we are more defined on account of our experiences. 
Thus, persons are those whose experiences are meaningful in the world. 
Meaning, therefore, defines a person. The contributions of modern 
thinkers generally tend to regard freedom as the chief characteristic of 
the human person.24 The idea of person for the most in modern 
philosophy has a moral connotation unlike the metaphysical connotation 
that was emphasized in the scholastic and the medieval period. 
 The personalists view of personhood begins with a primordial 
distinction between “an individual” and “a person”. Copleston explains 
that the term “individual” is used in a pejorative sense, one that is 
essentially egocentric. The individual is the egocentric man.25 The 
individual is described on the biological level, a practical materialist, no 
moral vocation, a member of the crowd. The person, on the other hand, 
contrasts with this view and has a moral vocation. Copleston gives the 
personalist manifesto which expressly defines a person as: 

…a spiritual being constituted as such by a manner of 
subsistence and of independence in being; it maintains 
this subsistence by its adhesion to a hierarchy of values, 
freely adopted, assimilated and lived, by a responsible 
self-commitment and by a constant conversion; it thus 
unifies all its activity in liberty and develops, moreover, 
by means of creative acts, its own unique vocation.26 

With the personalists, a person is tied to a vocation which is fulfilled with 
social interaction and beyond. A person is a transcendental being, one 
who is an embodiment of collectivity. A person for the personalist is 
beyond being a member of the human species, but also one that can 
contribute to a purpose or vision. A person is beyond biology. Whereas 
an individual is anti-social being, a person is a social being. As a social 
being, “he is more than a mere being in the group, but one oriented 
towards a society of persons, and a society of persons is a society of free, 
morally responsible human beings”.27 This personalist view of a person is 
opposed to Marxism which creates both a social caste system and regards 
man only within his economic value or benefit. However, man is not 
conceived not from a parochial plane, but, from a holistic plane. 
Personalists like Emmanuel Mounier and even Karol Wojtyla are 
doctrines antithetical to individualism.  
 The personalist creed is a reaction to the perceived depersonalisation 
created by such philosophies which undermined the creative vision of 
man, his transcedentalness, axiological relevance or teleological goal of 
man, yet conceives him from a limited sense or on account of some 
metaphysical values. Personalism tends to give dignity to the human 
person and correct the Darwinian error that the difference between man 
and other terrestrial being is in degrees and not in kind. Darwinian 



322 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

evolutionary vision and the social engineering places man not at the 
centre of the cosmos but like every other creatures seeking survival. In 
personalism, a fundamental difference in the classification of all beings is 
the distinction between person and non-persons. Thus, in the words of 
Jacques Maritain: “Whenever we say that man is a person, we mean that 
he is more than a mere parcel of matter, more than an individual element 
in nature, such as is an atom, a blade of grass, a fly or an elephant…Man 
is an animal and an individual, but unlike other animals or 
individuals.” 28 Personalist thesis also holds man as having a dialogic 
relationship with the world like the I-Thou of Martin Buber. 
 Personalists also hold the dignity of the person of the individual. The 
quality of being a person is not dependent by this on variables such as 
intelligence or social prowess. Also, the quality of being a person cannot 
be derived by a cosmological reduction of any sort, but are functions of 
some irreducible conditions. It means that being a person is not a 
function of what one is able to do or not. Also, in personalism, the 
human person is relational and always in communion. He is never 
always alone.  “Relationship is not an optional accessory for the human 
person, but is essential to his personhood. He is a being-for-relation.”29 
Personalist see the human person’s strive for communion as a function 
of his rationality. Thus, the human person is never judged in isolation. 
To evaluate him in isolation from relationality is to both deny him 
rationality as well as depersonalize him. 
 The personalist view of a person is very metaphysical, conceiving of 
man beyond his physical features. However, epistemologically, the 
starting point for conceptualisation on personhood is rationality and 
epistemic responsibility. This understanding of personhood is more fluid 
beyond metaphysics. The fluid conception of personhood is one that 
makes us conceive  of a person in other senses like ethical, moral or legal. 
As an ethical term, it may refer to a mode being and as a legal term, it 
may refer one as a human individual, a partnership or a cooperation. 
Epistemologically, a person is not just a human being, because, the 
conception of a person would invoke the idea of an epistemic agency. An 
epistemic agent goes beyond a human person, but include also non-
human epistemic agency including collectivities like groups or 
institutions. This is the ground for discussing non-human epistemic 
agents as having group beliefs. Therefore, to depersonalise in the 
epistemological sense is to deny an epistemic agent of the ability to hold 
epistemic belief, at least, or knowledge at best. When, therefore, we deny 
an epistemic agent the privilege of having epistemic claims or knowledge, 
we depersonalise them. In this wise, when, women, as a consequence of 
epistemic bias suffer epistemic injustices, they at some level are 
depersonalised. This depersonalisation which is due from epistemic bias 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    323 

is not on account of women being incapable of certain epistemic belief, 
truth or knowledge, but, that such biases have unjustly impaired, 
marginalized or circumscribe them from such. The consequence is that, 
we limit the possibility for a wholesome picture of what is possible in a 
knowledge situation. Knowledge situation is understood as the 
“interaction of factors that directly or indirectly contributes to the 
knowing process It concerns the question of the relation of the knower, 
sense data experienced and things known.30 If we must have a 
wholesome knowledge situation, epistemic justice to the knower is 
important. This first helps establish  prima facie ground that he is a viable, 
credible or truth-worthy epistemic agent. If he is denied this quality, not 
on account of any sufficiently grounded incapacity, but, one on the basis 
of implicit or epistemic bias, then, we are poised to have a shaky 
foundation, on whatever is established by the subject of knowledge. 
Biases in epistemic relations, especially of women, raises further the 
challenges to having genuine knowledge or a wholesome knowledge 
situation. 

 
Concluding Remarks: What Can a Woman Know? 
From the discussion above, we have seen that epistemic biases are 
sometimes default thought patterns which skew our judgements in 
favour or against a person, class of persons or situation. The concern of 
feminist epistemology is one that aims to correct this imbalance 
epistemic relation. Persistent gender inequality has affected how the 
subjective component of knowledge affects areas of what can be known 
and unknown. Why this seems to spiral the skeptical challenge, it has also 
left the efforts to gaining purity, balance and wholeness in what we can 
know. Biases are the stumbling blocks to what we can know. As long, we 
pretend that the gender of the knower is unimportant, the female 
knower will continually be disdained by implicit biases, and this will 
continually ferment the grounds of epistemic injustices in epistemic 
relations.  
 The analysis above shows there is a need to improve the dynamics of 
our epistemic practices, one that seeks to eliminate all forms of 
marginalization. If we wish to raise the quality of knowledge production 
and authorization, we must seek to be all inclusive of the composition of 
epistemic communities, one that seeks to give equal grounds for male 
and female knower. Our attention must be properly paid to a robust 
appreciation of the epistemic advantages that can accrue to those who are 
otherwise marginalized. A useful way which has been advanced by 
feminist epistemology is feminist standpoint theory. Feminist standpoint 
theory is a transformative shift that holds three principal claims to 
correcting the epistemological imbalance and impasse occasioned from 



324 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

biased epistemic relations, namely, “(1) knowledge is socially situated, (2) 
marginalized groups are socially situated in ways that make it more 
possible for them to be aware of things and ask  questions than it is for 
the non-marginalized, and (3) research, particularly that focused on 
power relations, should begin with the lives of the marginalized”.31 
Feminist standpoint theory advocates that the lived experiences of the 
knower, in this case, the woman, cannot be discounted. It also analyses 
the effect of power structures on knowledge production.  The Feminist 
standpoint theory offers new methodological starting point and 
approaches to knowledge situations which generally eliminate such 
forms of epistemic injustices due from a marginalized knower in 
mainstream epistemology. The framework advanced by feminist 
standpoint theory, makes the question, what a woman can know as 
almost superfluous, if it is not asked in the same way, what can a man 
know? This is because, when a woman is given equal chances bereft of 
biases in the epistemic community, a woman can know as much as a 
man, given the same epistemic context. Therefore, feminist standpoint 
theory privileges social contexts and experiences of the knower, precisely, 
female knower.  
 The extant of biased epistemic relations in knowledge communities 
mirrored in the typical anonymous knower of S knows P in mainstream 
epistemology, have helped to reduce the credibility of women as 
knowers. When women are so biased, the starting point is to doubt their 
competence or epistemic credentials. What this means in the first 
instance is that, they are denied rational authority and this is 
epistemologically tied to personhood. When we raise the question, what 
can a woman know, we are entering into the polemic waters of epistemic 
injustice and this can only cause systemic gaps in the interpretive 
resources available to epistemic agents and knowledge gaps in the 
epistemic community. Feminist standpoint theory, therefore, resolves 
this impasse, which is also the position of this paper, for a situatedness of 
knowledge. Situated knowledge which is a feminist thesis, holds that all 
forms of knowledge reflect the particular conditions in which they are 
produced and at some level reflect the social identities and social location 
or gender of knowledge producers. This position deflates the myth of 
scientific objectivity. This position advances that all knowledge must take 
into cognizance the perspective of the knower. The knower is always a 
combination of functions, including idiosyncratic skills and talents. 
Alison Wylie expresses this intent more robustly:  

What individuals experience and understand is 
(contingently) shaped by systems of social differentiation 
that structure and are, in turn, structured by the material 
conditions of their lives, the relations of production and 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    325 

reproduction that condition their social interactions, and 
the cultural and conceptual resources available to them for 
representing interpreting these relations.32 

Therefore, to interrogate, what can a woman know, is to begin with a 
prima facie unbiased recognition of the woman as an epistemic agent 
imbue with credibility and rationality; a person whose situation must be 
be cognized, taking her experience in context as well as social conditions 
in perspective. This can only help to enrich the epistemic community, 
granted that all knowers, male and female, are equally appreciated. The 
synopsis of the above submission for our conversation is that to further 
close the gaps caused by skewed epistemic relations from biases, women's 
experiences should be taken into context as well as their experiences. 
Each time we advance the embers of epistemic exclusion of women as 
knowing subjects we further rupture the challenge of scepticism or 
increase the chances of having a wholesome and a more warranted 
knowledge and knowledge production. Apart from the many epistemic 
advantages these have, epistemologically, it restores personhood to the 
woman as a knowing subject, as epistemic injustice and biases 
depersonalizes. 
  
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1 Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book A (1) in Louis Pojman (Ed), Classics of Philosophy, 

Second edition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 267. 
2 Lorraine Code, “Is the Sex of the Knower Epistemologically Significant?” in 

Metaphilosophy, vol. 12, No. 3 & 4, July/October 1981, 267- 276. 
3Code, “Is the Sex of the Knower ” 267. 
4 Miranda Fricker, Epistemic Injustice, Power and the Ethics of Knowing, (Oxford: 

Oxford University Press, 2007),  2.  
5 Heidi E. Grasswick, “Introduction: Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of 

Science in the Twenty-first Century” in Heide E. Grasswick (Ed), Feminist 

Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, Power in Knowledge, (London: Springer, 

2011),  xiv.  
6 Grasswick, “Feminist Epistemology”. 
7 Linda Martin Alcoff and Eva Feder Kittay, “Defining Feminist Philosophy” in  The 

Blackwell Guide to Feminist Philosophy,  Linda Martin Alcoff and Eva Feder Kittay 

(Ed), Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007, 8.  
8 Kristen Campbell, Jacques Lacan and Feminist Epistemology, (London: Routledge 

Taylor and Francis Group publishers, 2004), 59. 
9 Aristotle, Republic. 
10 “Fallacies and Biases” Critical Thinking Web, accessed March 25, 2021, 

https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/fallacy/ 



326 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
11 Michael Brownstein, “Implicit Bias” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 

accessed March 25, 2021,  https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicit-bias/. 
12 Jules Holroyd and Kathering Puddifoot, “Epistemic Injustice and Implicit Bias” in 

An Introduction to Implicit Bias Knowledge, Justice and the Social Mind, Erin Beeghly 

and Alex Madva (Eds), New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2020),  116-

133. 
13 Emmalon Davis, “On Epistemic Appropriation”, in Ethics, 128 (4), 2018: 702-727. 
14 Nora Berenstain, “Epistemic Exploitation” in Ergo, 3, 2016. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/ergo.12405314.0003.022. 
15 Kristie Dotson, “A Cautionary Tale: On Limiting Epistemic Oppression”, in 

Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 33 (1), 2012: 24-47. 
16 Lorraine Code, What Can She Know? Feminist Theory and the Construction of 

Knowledge (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1991), 1. 
17 John Bewaji, An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, A Pluricultural Approach 

(Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2007),  59. 
18 Lorraine Code, “Feminist Epistemology and the Politics of Knowledge: Questions 

of Marginality”, Mary Evans, et. al. Eds, The Sage Handbook of Feminist Theory (Los 

Angeles: Sage Publications, 2014), 10. 
19 Edward Craig, Knowledge and the State of Nature- An Essay in Conceptual 

Synthesis, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. 
20 Miranda Fricker, “Rational Authority and Social Power: Towards a Truly Social 

Epistemology” in Social Epistemology: Essential Readings, Alvin Goldman and Denis 

Whitcomb (Eds), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. 
21 Fricker, “Rational Authority and Social Power” 56. 
22 Frederick Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Logical Positivism and Existentialism, 

London: Bloomsbury, 1972, 103. 
23 Dermont Moran, “The Phenomenology of Personhood: Charles Taylor and 

Edmund Husserl”, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266173189_The_Ph 

enomenology_of_Personhood_Charles_Taylor_and_Edmund_Husserl/link/547f73430

cf250f1edbdc686/download, retrieved March 19, 2020.  
24 Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Logical Positivism and Existentialism, 104.  
25 Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Logical Positivism and Existentialism, 109. 
26 Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Logical Positivism and Existentialism, 110. 
27 Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Logical Positivism and Existentialism,112.  
28 Thomas D. Williams and Jan Olof Bengtsson, “Personalism” in Stanford 

Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/personalism/#ChaP 

erTho, retrieved March 19, 2020. 
29 Williams and Bengtsson, “Personalism”. 
30 Aja Egbeke, Elements of Theory of Knowledge, Enugu: Auto-Century, 1993, 28. 
31 T. Bowell, “Feminist Standpoint Theory” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 

accessed March 25, 2021, https://iep.utm.edu/fem-stan/ 
32 Alison Wylie, “What Knowers Know Well: Women, Work and Academy” in Heide 

Grasswick (Ed), Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, New York: 

Springer, 2011, 162. 



327 

24 

THE HUMAN PERSON IN YORUBA 

CULTURE AND PHILOSOPHY 
 

Prof. Ikechukwu Anthony, KANU (OSA) 
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies 

Tansian University, Umunya 
Anambra State 

ikee_mario@yahoo.com 
& 

Immaculata Olu, OMOJOLA, (SSMA), Ph.D 
Department of Business Administration and Management 

Villanova Polytechnic 
Imesi Ile 

Osun State 
omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 

& 
Mike Boni, BAZZA, Ph.D 

Department of History and International Relations 
Veritas University Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria) 

danbazza68@gmail.com 
 

Abstract  
The question: who is a human person? has remained a perennial 
question in the study of philosophy and religion. In spite of the fact of 
the establishment of the fact that the human person is an individual 
substance of a rational nature, different cultures continue to reflect on 
the question of the human person from the particularity and peculiarity 
of their cultural category. Thus, this paper investigates the concept of the 
human person from the perspective of the Yoruba people. The Yoruba 
believe that a human person consist of a body, which is physical, and a 
soul which is spiritual. At creation, Yoruba mythology of creation has it 
that Olodumare worked in collaboration with some gods to bring the 
human person into existence. These gods are Orisanla (God of creation) 
who was responsible for molding the body, Ogun (God of iron) was the 
beautifier; who for example cut the hands into fingers and Olodumare 
gave the soul. This paper is aimed at giving an explanation to what makes 

mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com
mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk
mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com


328 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

a human person among the Yoruba. For the purpose of this study, the 
phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed.    
 
Key words: Human Person, Yoruba Culture, Body, Soul, Olodumare, 
Orisanla, gods.   
 
Introduction 
The purpose of this work is to discuss human person in Yoruba culture. 
A human person is a living being that contains a real and existing power 
to direct its own development toward fulfillment through perfect, 
unconditional, and infinite Truth, Love, Goodness, Beauty, and Unity, 
and will do so if all the proper conditions are met. A human being is 
referred to as “eniyan” in Yoruba context, which connotes a good or 
responsible person hence the saying “kii se eniyan” that is person is not 
responsible or reliable. This by implication means that a human person 
must be dependable with total sense of readiness to be there for others. If 
a human person is not making any contributions to the community in 
which he or she is part, then to Yoruba people, he is not a human person 
per se. Although he has the features but not the competence.  This idea 
has earlier been presented by Gbadegesin (1983) that “the normative 
concept of a person evolves from the way in which man is understood in 
a given community in terms of his relations to other living beings and his 
role among other men.” Therefore human person in Yoruba context 
mean somebody that is part of the community in all ramifications. This 
is in line with the understanding of Akan people about human person. 
“In fact, a person of high moral standards or conduct would be described 
approvingly as oye onipa paa—literally; she is a real (human) person. In 
contrast, an individual who fails in his striving in the Akan community 
may be judged as onipa hun, which literally means “useless person,” an 
opprobrious expression. (Wingo 2006) 

In the lesson note of Open University on person and persons, 
there is an agreement that   “someone who has suffered some catastrophe 
that has put them in a permanent coma, a ‘persistent vegetative state’. 
Their biological classification has not altered; they are still a human 
being. They have lost something, however. In a sense, they have ceased 
to exist…. A being in a persistent vegetative state is a case of something 
human that might not be a person.” Therefore a human person must be 
alive, active and productive.  
 
Who Are the Yoruba? 
Yoruba people according to Atanda (1989) constitute one of the major 
ethnic groups in modern igeria and they effectively occupy the whole of 
Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos State and a substantial part of Kwara State. 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    329 

A considerable number of Yoruba people also inhabit the South- Eastern 
part of Republic of Benin (formal Dahomey). In agreement, Omojola 
(2015) states that, the Yoruba live in the South-western part of the 
present day Nigeria and they occupy the states of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, 
Ondo, Lagos and Ekiti. They are also found in some parts of Kogi, Kwara 
and Edo States and beyond the lower Niger northwards into Nupe land. 
They could also be found beyond the boundaries of the present day 
Nigeria in Dahomey (Republic of Benin) and Togoland. Since the result 
of the last census in Nigeria is controversial, it is difficult to give the 
accurate total population of the Yoruba people. All that is known about 
them is that they are regarded as one of the most advanced communities 
in West African in; religion, agriculture, commerce, education, art, 
intelligence, government and warfare. 

This group of people has as part of their values collective 
community development, cultural observes reflecting in their interaction 
with others- mode of dressing and diets. They also value honesty, 
humility and diligence. And more importantly, they value communal 
life. All these are taught in their informal training beginning from home. 
According to Kanu and Omojola (2018), Yoruba values are inherent in 
their formation as they assert that “at rising, children are taught to greet 
elders, sweep the surroundings, they are also taught from time to time to 
respect elders, to have value of honesty, charity, industriousness, 
cleanness, humility, support- members helping themselves in developing 
someone’s project, as a group or people of the same trade helping 
themselves. Formation of children was even taught to be done 
collectively. Most Africans gain this knowledge ever before they grow up 
to form associations according to age groups and they begin to compete 
and use themselves as yardstick for success, development and progress. 
All these are taught through proverbs, songs, art, communal life, and folk 
tales/ lore during moonlight play. 
 
The Human Person in Yoruba Culture and Philosophy 
The understanding of human person in Yoruba culture therefore is seen 
beyond ordinary because it has to do with physical and spiritual. 
Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) put it this way “Yoruba religious thought 
makes a distinction between the physical body (ara) and the spiritual 
elements that inhabit it and give it life and individuality. Still, there is the 
conception that the two are inseparable entities that make up human 
personality. The spiritual elements consist of both the head (orí, the 
inner head) and breath (èémí), which are the vital components without 
which the body dies. Orí, which is more than a physical head that carries 
human brain, controls one’s destiny and direction through the use of 
one’s ẹsẹ̀ (legs). Ese (legs) is regarded by the Yorubas as a vital part of the 



330 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

human personality make-up, both in a physical and spiritual sense. This 
is the symbol of power and activity. It is therefore an element which 
enables a man to struggle and function adequately in life so that he may 
bring to realization whatever has been marked out for him by the choice 
of ori. Makinde (1983). 

Orí also guides one’s deeds and actions; a bad and good choice 
depends on one’s choice of orí. In essence, orí is the element that 
predetermines a person’s success or failure in the world.” Therefore, 
human person consists of physical in body (Ara) and spiritual body in 
head and breathe (Orí and èémí). Abimbola (2006), added that One's ori-
inu (spiritual consciousness in the physical realm) must grow in order to 
consummate union with one's "Iponri" (Ori Orun, spiritual self).   

Makinde (1983) alludes to this by saying that “apart from the 
body and soul which, in Yoruba thought, are the two main elements (the 
physical and the spiritual) of a person, there is a third element, also 
spiritual, of a person, known as ori (inner head) whose function it is to 
determine human destiny.” Makinde went further to say that the Yoruba 
concept of the choice of destiny through ori also emphasizes the need for 
hard work to bring to fruition the potentiality for success represented by 
the choice of a good ori. This leads us to believe in ese (leg) as an 
important ingredient of human personality. This means to a very large 
extent, success determines a human person. This success in human 
person is what Yoruba people refer to as “Eniyan” not just the person 
with features of a human being. 

Reflecting on what make a human being (Eniyan) and how they 
come about, Gbadegesin (1983) is of the opinion that “eniyan” is the 
combined effort of “Olodumare”, the supreme deity, and some 
subordinates. Yoruba conception of a human person refers to all the 
tangible elements that make a person both externally and internally such 
as brain, intestine, liver, and so on. Emi (Soul) is believed to be the 
immaterial element that provides the energy without which a person is said 
to be living or being conscious.  Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) in their 
attempt to draw the relationship between body, soul and head referred to Ifá 
verse that the body (ara) was molded by Òrìṣà-Ńlá, the orí (head) is provided 
by Àjàlá and the ẹ̀mí is provided by Ọlọ́run (Olódùmarè), God in Yoruba 
believe. This relationship has been grouped into physical-material and 
mental-spiritual by Gbadegesin (2003) as follows: “Ara” – body belongs to 
the first, èmí –soul, to the second, and “orí”- head and “okàn”-heart has 
physical and mental aspects.  

In another version, Makinde (1983) asserts that the Yoruba 
people believe that the human personality has two main elements: the 
physical and the spiritual body and mind (soul). And that the creation of 
the physical elements of a person by Orisanla does not include hands and 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    331 

legs. It was the duty of Ogun (the god of iron) to cut the hands into 
fingers and also cut the legs out of the shapeless trunk. The researcher 
finds this Ogun assignment as beautifier very interesting. Being the god 
of iron according to Yoruba people, he would have enough instruments 
like cutlass and others apparatuses to do the separations.  

The physical head which is said to be the first to be molded is 
regarded as the beginning of all things from which the body was made 
and Gbadegesin (2003) explained the importance of this (Ori) as follows 
“The idea of orí as a spiritual component, chosen by the individual and 
having the power of a guardian and protector over him/her, seems too 
deep-rooted in the Yoruba world-view to be given up. It is therefore the 
“ori” so chosen, with the destiny wound up in it that determines the 
personality of the individual. And though the orí is symbolized by the 
physical head, it is not identical with it. For the orí is construed as the 
inner—or spiritual—head (orí-inú).”  From these two versions of the 
creation of human persons, it can be deduced that Olodumare (God) 
worked in collaboration with some gods to bring forth man. They were 
Orisanla and Ajala according to Akíntúndé and Fálọlá. Makinde says 
Orisanla and Ogun. 

As an extension to the above concept of human person in Yoruba 
culture, Abimbola (2006), opines that Yoruba belief holds that all human 
beings possess what is known as "Ayanmo" (destiny, fate) and are 
expected to eventually become one in spirit with Olodumare. Also, the 
thoughts and actions of each person in Ayé (the physical realm) interact 
with all other living things, including the Earth itself. Each person 
attempts to achieve perfection and find their destiny in Orun-Rere (the 
spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things).  
 
Impact of the Community on Human Person 
Taking lead from the fact that a human person must be responsible and 
reliable, indigenous Yoruba community comes together to raise a child 
for his good and good of the community. At pregnancy, ‘Ifa’ priest is 
consulted to know the type of child that should be expected. Even at 
times, a prediction of a particular type of child may come to a family and 
how to prepare and care for such a child will be discussed along with the 
announcement before pregnancy. A woman who is carrying a future king 
will know before birth for example. At arrival, naming ceremony will be 
done to welcome the child to the community and everyone in the 
community has it as a responsibility to care for him through proper 
formation or informal education. Hence the saying in Yoruba that 
“Eniyan kan lo n bimo, igba owo lo n to” literally means that it is only 
one person that gives birth to a child and two hundred hands bring him 
up.  



332 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

In the typical Yoruba culture, a diviner must be consulted before 
any serious decision is taking because as Idowu (1966) opines …the full 
responsibility of all the affairs belongs to the Deity…through all its 
changing scenes, its joys and troubles; it is the Deity who is in control”.  
Sacrifices are used regularly to appease the gods because it is equally 
believed that evil world can change destinies. Therefore regular prayers 
in form of sacrifices are important to one Ori as will be needed in the 
mind of Abimbola (2006).  “Iwapẹlẹ (or well-balanced) meditative 
recitation and sincere veneration is sufficient to strengthen the “ori-inu” 
of most people. Well-balanced people, it is believed, are able to make 
positive use of the simplest form of connection between their Oris and 
the omnipotent Olu-Orun: an adura (petition or prayer) for divine 
support”. What happens in this type of prayer is this: “Eshu Elegbara” (a 
god) initiates contact with spiritual realm on behalf of the petitioner, and 
transmits the prayer to Ayé; the deliverer of ase or the spark of life. He 
transmits this prayer without distorting it in any way. Thereafter, the 
petitioner may be satisfied with a personal answer. In the event that he or 
she is not, the Ifá oracle of the Orisha Orunmila may also be consulted. 
All communication with Orun, whether simplistic in the form of a 
personal prayer or complicated in the form of that done by an initiated 
Babalawo (priest of divination), however, is energized by invoking ase. 
(So shall it be) Abimbola (2006) 

The community guides individual to a matured age and at times 
initiate them especially male children to a cult for support and 
protection. Human person are guided through choosing a trade that is 
suitable as dictated by the diviners. Even in marriage, the community still 
pays attention to the choice of partner. In times of trouble, they still run 
back to their family and community for solutions. In case there is any 
failure after all these efforts have been put in place, they resign to 
“Ayanmo” (Destiny or Fate) hence, the saying that “Ayanmo ko gbo 
Oogun”. (Destiny has no remedy). This is as well related to the choice of 
Ori (head), hence those with difficult cases without remedy are termed 
to be “Oloriburuku” that is, having a bad head. This however will lead us 
to whether Yoruba believe that human person lives after here, that is, the 
physical realm (heaven) that Abimbola (2006) is pointed at earlier.  

 
Human Person and After Life 
Primarily, Africans believe in life after here or live beyond here or 
Ancestral World. In the explanation of  Abanuka (1994), that “ Ancestors 
are an aspect of the African experience of the universe… the dead are not 
considered as very far removed from the living, and those who are still 
living are conscious of their journey to join those who have gone before 
them to the land of the dead”. In the mind of Mbiti (1969) however, “A 



Section II: Philosophical Perspectives And Human Formation    333 

person dies and yet continues to live: he is a living- dead, and no other 
term can describe him better than that”. To the family members, the 
diseased continues to live as and remembered as if he travels. Keeping 
the dead in the temporal sight by his loved ones is what Mbiti describes 
as the cult of the living –dead in all African societies. Ige (2006) added 
that they even move round and “It is only those who possess special 
power or medicine that can notice their presence.”   

Being particular about Yoruba people, Mbiti insists that “they are 
uncertain about the final lot of the departed: some are put in a good 
place, others in a bad place; the first group meets relatives and lives more 
or less as the people did in this life, but the second group is thought to 
suffer without end.” This is the story of the ancestral world that the 
researcher heard in the oral tradition of Yoruba people. The second group 
may not be able to survive and they disappear without attention hence, they 
emphasize good relationship here on earth so that they can reunit with the 
ancestors and continue to live here after. Also, Yoruba believe that after a 
while, the diseased will leave the ancestral world and return to their families 
to live again or to fulfil some uncompleted assignments hence they have 
names like- “Yetunde”, “Yejide”, “Yewande” or “Iyabo” – mother has 
returned, and “Babatunde” “Babajide” or “Babade” – father has returned. In 
the mind of Idowu (1966), ancestral world exist and there is an annual 
festival in their honour especially for those that have been deified. 
Remembrance of the Ancestors is not only particular to the deified members 
because that is what is being celebrated annually in “Egungun” festival as 
opposed the idea of Idowu (1966). Ige (2006) attests to this that “communal 
ceremonies are done in honour of the ancestor and to remind the people of 
the great deeds of their ancestors. Some of these festivals include ‘Oro’ and 
‘Egungun’”.  Apart from this, Ige continues “The ancestors have shrines 
where sacrifices and prayers are offered to them. Among the Yoruba it is 
called Igbo Igbale’.  There are priests and priestesses attached to the 
shrines.  The priests and priestesses are usually the most elderly men and 
women in the family. It is however not a woman married into the family. 
The above consequently establish the fact that human person continues 
to live here after. It implies that life is not end by death as Mbiti (1969) 
affirms “Death stands between the world of human beings and the world 
of the spirits, between the visible and the invisible.” 
 
Conclusion  
An attempt had been made in this paper to discuss the understanding of 
human person in Yoruba culture and Philosophy. The physical element 
of a person is collectively known as ara (body), a creation of Orisanla (the 
Yoruba God of creation) who is charged by Olodumare (God of Heaven) 
with the responsibility of molding human beings out of clay, with  Ogun 



334 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

(god of iron) to beautify the body while Olodumare gives the breath 
“Eemi”. In the analysis, “ara”, (body) “Ori” (head), “Emi” (Spirit), and 
“Eemi’ (Breath) form a human person. Prayer to one's Ori- Orun is 
important regularly as it produces an immediate sensation of joy. This 
must work directly with “ese” legs to bring to fulfillment all that one has 
been destined to achieve. It was equally established that the community 
in which one is part must have influence on human person from the 
beginning to the age of maturity for his good and the good of the 
community at large. However, even after death, a human person lives on 
in Yoruba land especially those who have lived well and they are 
regularly celebrated as ancestors. Finnally, in the Yoruba belief system, 
Olodumare has ase (Final say) over everything hence, it is considered 
supreme. 
 
References 
Abanuka B. (1994). A new essay on African Philosophy. Nigeria, SNAAP Press.     

Abimbola, K (2006). The Yoruba Concept of Human personality.  Birmigham, Iroko.   

Abimbola, Kola. (2006). Yoruba Culture: A Philosophical Account, Birmigham, Iroko. 

2006. 

Atanda J. A. (1980). An Introduction to Yoruba History. Ibadan. The Caxton Press.  

Balogun, O.A. (2007). “The Concepts of Ori and Human Destiny in Traditional 

Yoruba    Thought: A Soft Deterministic Interpretation” Nordic Journal of 

African Studies 16 (1). 

Gbadegesin, O. (1983).  The Yoruba Conception of A Person And Its Implications 

On Fatalism, Determinism And Human Destiny. 

https://nairaproject.com/projects/3696.html 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person 

Idowu E.B. (1966). Olodumare: God in Yoruba Culture. London and Beccles. William 

Clowes and Sons Ltd. 

Ige A (2006). The Cult of Ancestors in African Traditional Religion. 

https://nairaproject.com/projects/3696.html. 

Kanu I.A and Omojola I.O. (2018) Mitigation of African Indigenous Knowledge. 

Tansian University Journal of Arts, Management and Social Sciences 

(TUJAMSS). ISSN: 2449-0334. Vol. 5.  

Learning from Open University. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-

arts/culture/philosophy/philosophy-the-nature-persons/content-section-1 

Makinde M.A (1983). An African Concept of Human Personality: The Yoruba 

Example. Nigeria Journal of Cultures and Ideas 1: No. 1 (December). 

Mbiti (1969).African religions and Philosophy.  Britain. Morrison and Gibb. 

Omojola.  L. T. (2015). Catholic Church in Ekitiland: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. 

Akure: Don Bosco.  

Wingo A (2006).Akan Philosophy of the Person. Standard Encyclopedia of 

Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/akan-person/  

Idowu E.B. (1966). Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief. London and Beccles. William 

Clowes and Sons Ltd.  

 



335 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

SECTION 3 
 
 

RELIGIOUS/SOCIO-CULTURAL 

PERSPECTIVES AND HUMAN 

FORMATION 
 



336 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 



337 

25 

RELIGION AND HUMAN VALUES: AN 

INQUISITION OF THE AFRO-CENTRIC 

IMPERATIVE. 
 

Prof. John Afiagbokai ONIMHAWO 
Department of Religious Management and Cultural Studies, 

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. Edo State, Nigeria. 
jonimhawo@gmail.com 

& 
Cyril Osilama ADAMU Ph.D 

College of Education, Ekiadolor, Benin City. 
cytechsystem@yahoo.com 

 
Abstract 
Contemporary debates by scholars on the relevance or otherwise of 
African values system and thought process had further opened the 
floodgate of the ambivalence between those scholars seeking to define 
African values and morality within the parameters of a conventionalized 
Western religious epistemological hegemony, thereby accentuating the 
superiority of Western values. On the other side of the debate are 
scholars pursuing an “Africanist” explanation which embraces an 
authentic mode of African knowledge construction of human values and 
morality.  The objective of this paper is to examine the Afro-centric 
imperative of the African thought process in the current moral discourse, 
in order to extrapolate an endorsement which will grant space for a 
hybrid of moral reconstructions between Christianity and African 
indigenous religion and thought process. This study is cached within the 
theoretical framework of the Afro-centric Cultural Distinctive Paradigm 
(ACDP) which encapsulates African indigenous religion and human 
values. However, within the grindstone of spotlighting African human 
values, is the inevitable project of decolonization. This paper therefore 
explores the task of decolonizing African thought against the backdrop of 
the ontological normative dialectics of superiority and inferiority. This 
paper argues against the superiority of Western thought and values over 
African values. In order to argue for this conclusion, this discourse finds 

mailto:cytechsystem@yahoo.com


338 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

it expedient to denude in more precise terms, some positive human 
values of African thought process; an investigation that leads to the 
interplay between the decolonization of African thought and the 
decolonization of the African intellectual landscape. This paper disturbs 
and unpacks the colonial project and calls to contestation Western 
hegemony and the continuous dominance of Western thought even 
amongst African scholars (theologians and philosophers).  This paper 
concludes by asserting that the differences that exist between African 
religious human values and western values must not necessarily have 
normative consequences; as things can be different without having to be 
placed within a normative hierarchy.  The contention that African values 
should be of less worth than Western values is therefore repudiated. The 
Paper advances the understanding of religion and human values from the 
perspective of African indigenous worldview.  The recommendation is 
that there should be an integrated approach to resolving the current 
crises of human values. 
Keywords: Religion, Human Values and Afrocentricism. 
 
Introduction 
The deadweight of accentuating African indigenous religious and human 
values in contemporary scholarship is fraught with many difficulties 
punctuated by fluctuations, oscillation, and occasional regressions. 
Although some progress is being made, this progression has not always 
been rectilinear but nonetheless exhibiting some level of advances.  
Vivaciously this process has been set in motion by the aspirations of 
many African intellectuals like Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwasi Wiredu, 
Henry Odera Oruka, John Mbiti, Bolaji Idowu, Frantz Fanon, and Aimé 
Césaire; and many other African activists like Steve Biko and Nelson 
Mandela. Interestingly the project of decolonization of the African 
thought process has also been the preoccupation of non-African 
contemporary scholars like Björn Freter1 and very few others. These 
antecedents should suggest that the crusade before African contemporary 
scholarship is the acceleration of the contention to decolonize African 
thought process, including the valuation and transvalution of indigenous 
religious and human values.  

The crisis of values pervading contemporary Nigeria moral space 
is inexorable, which requires a high level of critical reflection in the 
search for ways through which the moral challenge posed by the agents 
of Western acculturation can be adequately addressed. The tremendous 
impact of Western acculturation on the nation and the speeding erosion 
of well enacted Afro-centric religious and human values are readily seen 
in the ways many African indigenous normative systems are being 
seriously undermined even by some African intellectuals and African 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    339 

converts to non-indigenous religions. This situation has led to the 
waning away of African values system in the face of alien values.  
 Therefore the enterprise to underscore African religious and human 
values is one that must not be taken lightly, because every society has set 
of values covering the whole ramifications of the society, and these 
values apparently play regulating roles in human relationships and act as 
stabilizing factors of the society. As asserted by Kanu “value system is the 
cultural outlook of a people and the understanding of the value system of 
the people is the understanding of the belief system and cultural system 
of the people in question.”2 

In proffering solutions to the misadventure of the Nigerian 
project, the dominant tenor within the public space is the narrative that 
posits that the solution to the Nigerian question is at the narthex of 
formulating the right economic policies and fashioning a suitable 
political ideology. This line of thinking has reached a crescendo that any 
contrary opinion is often repudiated. While some level of truth resides in 
the above assertion: that economics and politics play undeniable 
importance in the development of any nation, public discourse tends 
however to discount the most fundamental aspect of the society: namely 
its ethical dimension. Therefore, an accurate design of economic policies 
and the adoption of the proper political ideology, without a 
corresponding attestation of an ethical value system are most unlikely to 
yield any meaning human development. Ethical behavior in every area of 
the public space should provide the fundamental philosophical 
foundation for authentic human development, because: “economic and 
political choices as a society are ultimately determined by moral values.”3 
Plato said, “States are as men are; they grow out of human character.” So 
the Nigerian state is a product of the Nigerian character as a nation 
cannot rise above the values of her citizens. 

What is profoundly and eminently obvious is that there is a crisis 
of values in Nigeria, which has led to the agitation and clamour for 
invigorating and maintaining durable and lasting positive values in 
Nigeria. The draught of positive values is made manifest in all sphere of 
public life. There is the abuse and perversion of teachers-students 
relationship which is supposed to be a vital mentoring relationship. 
Religious institutions have fallen into moral disrepute owing to a 
number of high profile scandals with the attended disdained for the 
emissaries of organized religion.  Religious leaders are increasingly 
vulnerable to the criticism that they are far more comfortable courting 
the rich and the powerful than speaking truth to power. The post-
modern Nigeria society is increasingly being typified by instant 
gratification that feeds on short-termism, profiteering, fraud, sexual 
irresponsibility and perversion.  Without making hasty and unsustainable 



340 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

generalizations, the consensus is that the Nigeria public space is suffused 
by inordinately disproportionate returns on non- investments (which in 
popular palace is called corruption), cheating, predatory exploitation and 
feverish individualism at the expense of the common good. 

Arriving at a broadly agreed upon set of values that will launch 
Nigeria into the path of moral rectitude is one of the most urgent tasks 
for Nigerian public intellectuals and social thinkers. The objective of this 
paper therefore is to examine the Afro-centric imperative in the 
enthronement of positive religious and human values in order to 
extrapolate an endorsement which will grant space for a hybrid of moral 
reconstructions. 
 
Conceptual Clarity 
Religion  
Religion is a victim of definitional pluralism as there is no scholarly 
consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. For the purpose 
clarity, the paper adopts Émile Durkheim definition of religion as a 
"unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things".4 By 
sacred things Durkheim meant things set apart and forbidden, beliefs and 
practices and all those who adhere to them. Sacred things are not, 
however, limited to gods or spirits. On the contrary, a sacred thing can 
be a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house.  Religious 
beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are the representations that express 
the nature of these sacred things, and the virtues and powers which are 
attributed to them. Antoine Vergote on his part defined religion as “… 
the entirety of the linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs 
that refer to a supernatural being or supernatural beings.”5 Vergote took 
the term supernatural simply to mean whatever transcends the powers of 
nature or human agency.  

Therefore religious values are ethical principles founded on 
religious traditions, texts and beliefs. These values are usually considered 
to be the high moral and ethical values that people of faith aspire to 
achieve.  In contrast to human or personal values, religious-based values 
are based on the scriptures and or a religion's established norms. For 
example, Judaism has the Ten Commandments. Christianity has both 
the ten commandment and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Islam provides 
spiritual guidance through the Quran and Hadith, while African 
traditional religious values are expressed through the customs, culture, 
beliefs and practices of the Africans. 
 Christians and Muslims comprise the predominant religious groups 
in Nigeria. Christianity is more common in the southern region of the 
country, while Islam is the dominant religion in the north. Indigenous 
traditional religion accounts for about 10 percent of the population. 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    341 

These traditional religions are specific to certain rural or indigenous areas 
and are usually intertwined with either Christianity or Islam. Each of 
these religious groups has various religious values which serve as a guide 
and control of human behavior, dictating right from wrong.  
 
Human Values 
Many social scientists have tried to give meaning to the word “value” by 
articulating many definitions. Among these are: Allport, Jones and 
Gerald, and Rokeach. Allport in his publication titled Pattern and Growth 
in Personality sees value as: “a belief upon which a man act by 
preference.”6 Jones and Gerald in their join text defined value as: “any 
singular state or object for which the individual strives or approaches, 
extols, embraces, voluntarily consumes, incur expenses to acquire as 
positive value.”7 According to these social scientists, values sensitize the 
person; they move him around his environment because they define his 
attractive and repelling nature and particular cognitive categories. 
Therefore a value offers a motivational force, defines, sustains and 
modifies attitude and behaviour. 

 Another attempt to create a more lucid meaning of the word 
“value” is found in the work of Rokeach titled The Nature of Human 
Values. Rokeach says “a value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of 
conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an 
opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.”8  

Experts in the humanities have described human values as “our 
very core, the especial essence of who we are as human beings.”9  Human 
values are the virtues that guide us to take into account of the human 
element when we interact with other human beings. Human values are, 
for example, respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation, listening, 
openness, affection, empathy and love towards other human beings. 
These are the demonstrable and authentic values on which any human 
society should be built upon. Some human values in traditional African 
society include honesty, morality, respect for elders, respect for fellow 
citizens, communality and family loyalty. One of the most significant 
values that traditional Africans hold to be of great importance is the 
wisdom of its elders. Age is a symbol of experience and intelligence, and 
the mistreatment of said elders is viewed as taboo. 
 
Afrocentricism and Afro-centric Cultural Distinctive Theoretical 
Framework 
Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah view Afrocentrism as a cultural 
ideology or worldview that focuses on the history of the people of 
African descent. It is a response to global Eurocentric attitudes about 
African people and their historical contributions; it revisits their history 



342 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

with an African cultural and ideological focus.10 In most studies, 
Afrocentrism is usually interchanged with Afrocentricity which deals 
primarily with Pan-African ideology in culture, philosophy, and history. 
Afrocentrism can be seen as an African inspired ideology that manifests 
an affirmation by conceptualizing a glorified heritage that is distinctly 
African. This is what defines the Afro-centric cultural distinctive 
theoretical framework. It often argues against or minimizes European 
cultural hegemony and influences, while accenting historical African 
civilizations that independently accomplished a significant level of 
cultural development. In general, the Afro-centric cultural distinctive 
paradigm is usually manifested in a focus on African culture and the 
history of Africa. It involves an African version of an African-centered 
view of history and culture to portray the achievements and development 
of African traditions which have been inferiorized by the West.11 In his 
book, The Afrocentric Idea, Asante defines Afrocentricity as "the placing of 
African ideals at the center of any analysis that involves African culture 
and behavior."12 It should be emphasized that this perspective is not an 
explicit argument for African superiority in culture and history, although 
some scholars have used it to that end. Rather, the Afro-centric cultural 
distinctive paradigm is a conceptual tool for seeing the history of African-
descended peoples through their own lens, and not through the lens of 
Europe or the West. As a mode of analysis, Afrocentrism has remained 
remarkably durable over the past two hundred years; however, scholars 
have often reached radically different conclusions in their utilization of 
this analytical tool. 

According to Asante, what is today broadly called Afrocentrism 
evolved out of the work of African intellectuals that flowered into its 
modern form due to the activism of African intellectuals in the civil 
rights movement and in the development of African studies programs in 
universities as a distinct academic ideology.13 Proponents of Afrocentrism 
support the claim that the contributions of various Africans have been 
downplayed or discredited as part of the legacy of colonialism and 
slavery's pathology of "writing Africans out of history."14 Afrocentrism 
argues that for centuries, Africans and other nonwhites have been 
dominated, through slavery and colonization, by Europeans, and that 
European culture is diametrically opposed to efforts by non-Europeans 
to achieve self-determination. For this reason, according to 
Afrocentrism, people of African descent need to develop an appreciation 
of the achievements of traditional African civilizations; indeed, they need 
to articulate their own history and their own system of values.15 . 

Afrocentrists assert that traditional African culture contrasts with 
European culture in being more informed by its history “circular” rather 
than “linear”; more cooperative; more intuitive; more humano-centric; 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    343 

and more closely integrated with the spiritual world.16 Renewed attention 
to this culture, they argue, can benefit Africans by reminding them that 
their own culture, which was long been devalued by Europeans, has a 
rich and ancient heritage. In addition to emphasizing the past, 
Afrocentrism encourages the preservation and elevation of contemporary 
African culture.17 
 
Western Textualisation of African Values and Thought Process 
Edem Kodjo, the author of ‘Africa Tomorrow’ aptly describes the western 
textualization and colonization of African values and thought process as 
the condition of the African “torn away from his past, propelled into a 
universe fashioned from outside that suppresses his values, and 
dumbfounded by a cultural invasion that marginalizes him. The African 
... is today the deformed image of others.”18 The westernization of 
African values is the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority, a form 
of internalized oppression engrained in the contemporary African 
psyche. This disposition was supported by an educational system which 
drew the African away from his community and misled him by showing 
him the green pastures of the European society where he is not allowed 
to graze.19 Western education introduced a western culture-transmitting 
process with an attitude that neither respects the core values of African 
culture, nor leads the present generation to acquire accumulated 
knowledge of African values with pride. The educational process directed 
the African thought process away from African values; equipping him 
with a type of education that is antagonistic to the African cultural values 
and thought patterns.20 Onwubiko said: 
Western system of education was very well calculated to teach the new 
Africans that in order to rise in the ladder of the new culture and acquire 
the status it promised; they must be alienated, ideologically and 
physically, from their root and their cultural past. The colonial agents 
presented themselves as symbols of human beings, in the image and 
likeness of whom all future generation Africans were to be created.21  

This is the thinking that foreign values are always better and 
superior, while the indigenous are primitive, uncultured and barbaric. 
Therefore a colonized African thought is the acceptance, by the 
colonized, of the culture or doctrines of the colonizer, as intrinsically 
more worthy or superior. This is the mentality that still plagues Africa 
many years after independence, and despite all the knowledge and 
education. This is why Nyerere said: “of all the crimes of colonialism 
there is none worse than the attempt to make us believe that we had no 
indigenous culture of our own or that what we did have was worthless or 
something of which we should be ashamed, instead of being a source of 
pride.”22 Therefore the Western textualisation of African values is 



344 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

responsible for the wholesale importation and adoption of Western 
values and the repudiation of African heritage, as if there was never 
anything good in Africa history and values. 

African nationalists who worked so hard for the liberation of 
Africans from physical enslavement and actual colonization may not have 
realized that intellectual slavery and mental enslavement that works 
insidiously at the level of the mind was more pervasive, more vicious and 
even more cruel and exacting, than political colonization. Once people’s 
mind is conquered and enslaved, the dominion and domination naturally 
extend to other domains such as politics, economics and even religion. 
This mental enslavement comprehensively dehumanized and stripped 
Africans of their humanity; a situation which makes the work of the 
conqueror easier. Thus, the colonization of African mind makes Africans 
tend to treat Europeans and their allies as demigods.  

The effects of the colonized African mind also included the near 
extinction of African culture, which has greatly diluted or destroyed 
African heritage, including the destruction of African traditional 
institutions and religion. The Europeans forced the people to learn their 
language, taught them how to eat European food and dress like 
Europeans, abandoning their own traditional eating habits and dressing. 
From then on the Africans occupied only the inferior positions of the 
colonial administration and never had a say in the government of their 
own countries. Those employed by the colonial administration felt 
proud and more superior to the others. Even today Africans who are 
schooled in western ways of life feel more superior to other Africans. 
This deculturalization of Africa paved the way for the acceptance of the 
dominance of Europe and European values over African heritage, and the 
rejection African culture in exchange for the colonial culture.  

A colonized African thought process is today a burden and 
barrier to the progress of Africa, as Africans now prefer foreign lifestyle, 
culture, music, literature and others. Today Africans conduct two (at 
times three) separate full-blown marriage ceremonies, because in our 
minds, until the “White Wedding” is done the marriage ceremony is not 
complete. Thus there is the traditional marriage (which is actually the 
proper marriage ceremony according to African heritage), then the 
marriage at the registry, and the third which is the “white wedding”. In 
politics, the colonized African thought process seeks to implement 
democracy as defined by the western nations without regard to the fact 
the democracy as a system of government grew and evolved from the 
way of life of these nations with their own variant of democracy.   

It is believed in most part of Africa that one will automatically 
become rich if he/she can travel to Europe or America, as many Africans 
believe there is no poor man in Europe because it is a whiteman's 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    345 

country. This is why many young Africans: men and women are ready to 
cross the Sahara desert on foot upward to Europe through dangerous and 
unfathomable means through the sea. The colonized African mind 
believes that what makes a beautiful African man or woman is the 
whiteness or fairness of the skin. So that an individual is ready to bleach 
the skin to white as it is the belief that white skin is better than black 
skin.  

Franz Fanon’s book Black skin, white masks” provides some 
edification here. Fanon writes that “the juxtaposition of the black and 
white ‘races’ has resulted in a massive psycho-existential complex”.23 
Fanon through his work sought to liberate the black man from the 
arsenal of complexes that germinated in the colonial situation. Fanon 
believes that it is necessary for the black person to overcome the 
psychological effects of colonialism.24 

Freter avows that what is largely responsible for this state of 
affairs is the superiorization of Western thought over African thought. 
According to Freter: 
Western thought is infused with a permanent tacit assumption of 
superiority of a metaphysical proportion, a diffuse conviction of being 
the one and only thought that truly counts. It is from this assumption of 
superiority, entirely in accordance with Western textbook dialectics, that 
the idea of inferiorisation directly and necessarily emanates. When one 
entity is considered superior, others must be considered inferior. Anyone 
who thinks in this manner has good conceptual reason to make the leap 
from one to the other. This movement of thought shows only that the 
plain and arbitrary positing of one’s own greatness simultaneously means 
the positing of the other, i.e. the one which is not great. This positing, 
because it follows necessarily from an arbitrary act, is itself also 
arbitrary.25 
 The onslaught Christianity and Islam on African traditional religion 
is yet another sad narrative. While early missionaries condemned and 
forbid our forebears from venerating African ancestors; on the other 
hand, the missionaries introduced and propagated the veneration of the 
saints which most often were Eurocentric ancestors. On one hand the 
missionaries condemned our most revered masquerades, while in the 
same breath brought in Santa Claus. These missionaries saw nothing 
good in African indigenous religion including African theocentric names 
that conveyed more theocentric connotation to the African mind. Indeed 
the whole of African traditional religion was cached in derogatory 
terminologies. However due the consented pioneering efforts of 
Geoffrey Parrinder in 1954, later Bolaji Idowu and John Mbiti where to 
protest against a long history of derogatory elucidation of Africans, their 
culture and religion by outsiders. Interestedly African Traditional 



346 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Religion (ATR) is now widely taught in African universities and 
Seminaries, but its identity remains essentially negative. To the West, 
what was not Christian was non-religious and non-theocentric. What 
was African was inferior and what was Western was superior. The 
success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 
years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the 
detriment of African indigenous religion and culture. 
 
Religion and Human Values: The Afrocentric Imperative 
The African tradition consists of basic human values which are 
indispensable for authentic human development.26 It is expedient to 
denude in more precise terms, some positive human values of African 
traditional thought process: 
 
African Value for Human Life 
The greatest arguments against African traditional religion and customs 
by Westerners and their apologists are the practices of human sacrifice 
and twin murder, which are usually evidenced as lack of regard for 
human dignity. The misleading slant arising from these practices 
eventuate in the colonial writers to describe Africans as primitive, dark, 
pagan, brutes, cannibalistic, crude and savages. While these writers can 
easily be forgiven for their epistemological deficiency, the point must be 
hurriedly made that African society has a very high regard for the human 
person and the preservation of human dignity.  

The dignity of the human person is seen in African cosmology 
and human origins. Ikenga - Metuh asserted that: viewed from the 
standpoint of his origin and final destiny of man is best understood in 
relation to God, his creator. Man comes from God. He has a definite 
mission to fulfill in God's plan and will eventually go back to God.27 The 
dignity of human person is seen in relationship of being created by God, 
the human complex nature which God imprinted in man is the crown of 
God's creation and provision for a continual interaction through rituals, 
despite human limitations. 
 The dignity of the human person is also identifiable in the African 
insatiable desire to worship. Mbiti has rightly observed that Africans do 
not know how to exist without religion.28 Wherever the African is, there 
is religion and its morals. In pre-colonial Africa, the human person is a 
religious being, wherefrom follows his human dignity. The African 
concept of human dignity is not found in earthly riches and abundance, 
but in the nobility of his religious being. Therefore the relationship 
between individuals is based on the recognition of their intrinsic worth 
as human beings; not necessary only in what they possess or what they 
can do for each other. 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    347 

African Sense of a good Life 
In all African traditions, the idea that there is far more to life than vested 
self interest and the inordinate pursuit of riches is deeply ingrained in the 
African thought process. There is the African proverb that says: “a good 
name is better than riches”.  This is a timeless truth in African values 
system which seems to have been jettison in post-colonial Africa. It is 
indubitable that one of the greatest problems of today’s Nigeria is within 
the ambience of self-centeredness and unbridled vested self interest. The 
Nigeria society today needs to re-evaluate and re-emphasize what it 
means to be rich. Certain questions beg for answers: is the frantic 
acquisition and primitive accumulation of wealth all that Nigerians have 
to live for, or should Nigerians be seeking intangible human values that 
cannot be subjected to monetary evaluation, but which nonetheless are 
the real basis for living a fulfilled life? What matters most is a good 
character. In African traditional society wealth will come to naught if one 
lacks good character. A life without moral rectitude is nothing but vanity.  
Interestingly contemporary social science researches are fast coming to 
the conclusion that inordinate pursuit of capitalism and the zero-sum 
competition for money and status in the developed world is a major 
source of unhappiness.29  

There is abundant anecdotal evidence to suggest that people find 
new meaning and fulfillment in their lives when they free themselves 
from the acquisitive treadmill and begin to give of themselves. In other 
words, social science is now proving what African indigenous 
epistemology and axiology have always known through the wisdom of 
African ancestors that: generosity rather than consumption is the key to 
happiness. Current social researches are therefore reclining to the 
traditional African thought that what is truly require for happiness is  
nurturing healthy relationships, cultivating friendships, serving others, 
raising well-adjusted children,  and being involved in a community.30 
Only a life that transcends the narrow goals of self-aggrandizement and 
self-gratification can be truly happy. A society of transcendent human 
values such as those found in African traditional society can be truly safe. 
A society in which all individuals are committed to nothing more than 
the single-minded pursuit of their self-gratification at the expense of 
everything else is a dangerously predatory society in which no one can 
ever be truly safe – sadly these are the operating parameters of most post-
colonial African societies. This situation of self-centeredness is what is 
expressed in the Afemai proverb: mokpaira rele ikhekhe le gbo “I will eat all 
alone suffers constipation.” 
 
 
 



348 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

African Sense of Parenting  
In African traditional values system, parenting takes a lot of forms which 
enables a child to develop into a responsible adult. Some of these forms 
of parenting are: through story telling (folktales), the extended family, 
traditional rites, and the mother's care, attention and love.31 The 
uniqueness of this system with regards to parenting in traditional African 
communities is that the responsibility in taking care of the child is not 
only to the biological parents. This is shared by all in the extended 
family. This is buttressed by the African proverb on parenting which says 
that, “a single hand cannot nurse a child”. This in Afemai would mean: 
aro obokpa ro omo. Yet again, another African proverb says “it takes a 
village to raise a child”. This implies that although the mother has the 
responsibility of taking care of the child, the responsibility is being 
shared by all.  

Arguably therefore, the most significant indicator of national 
instability is not found in politics or economics but in the ways in which 
children are raised and socialized.  Parents, teachers, older relatives and 
friends must be good exemplars to young ones and should have lasting 
positive influences on our lives. These early influences define their 
identities and what they later understand to be acceptable standards of 
societal behaviour. The family, very broadly defined, is the premier 
learning environment. Research has shown that what happens to a child 
in the earliest years has a formative impact on the personality and 
character development which in turn affects the rest of his life.32 It is 
within families that the critical standards of right and wrong are acquired. 
In African traditional society parents are the primary audience before 
whom children model a lifestyle of integrity, purpose and service to the 
common good.  
 
The Lack of Monetization of Values 
There is no gainsaying the fact that contrary to the African human values 
system that the monetization of values has broken down our traditional 
definitions of authority within the family system. Before now, the most 
respected were those who were reputed for their ethical constancy and 
moral authority. Just now, the most influential members of the family 
are those who have illicitly or otherwise earned wealth from stints in 
government or corporate enterprise.33 Despite the knowledge of their 
crimes, we celebrate these men and women because of what we stand to 
gain from them financially. Those who are the real voices of reason 
within the family are marginalized, derided for their lack of financial heft 
and mocked for their insistence on values that are now consider 
irrelevant. 
 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    349 

African Sense of Community-based Living  
African value for community-based living and relationships are found in 
works of Davidson,34 Mbiti,35 Okere36 and Ogbujah37 and a lot more. The 
sense of community or communality refers to the awareness which 
identifies an individual not as a solitary being, but as an entity whose 
being and survival is consequent upon its union with other human 
beings within an identified locality. In traditional Africa for instance, a 
person is known and identified in, by and through his community. 
Individual lives, moves and revolves around the community. To a large 
extent, a man’s achievements depend primarily on how much of his 
community’s standards he accommodates: he sees as his community see, 
and acts as his community acts.38 Communal life is among the cardinal 
values in Africa. Africans do not practice individualism like most Western 
nations. They live a life of community and solidarity. The African man’s 
idea of security and its value depended on personal identification with 
and within the community.  

However with the arrival of the colonial overlords, different 
ideologies and philosophies about human relations such as individualism 
came into play.  Mbiti  noted that for the Africans, to be human is to be 
in a community, participating in the beliefs, ceremonies,  rituals  and  
festivals  of  that  community  that  gives  them  sense  of  belonging. 
Membership of the community is emphasized more than member’s 
individuality; for a society is based more on obligations, than on 
individual rights and individuals assume their rights in exercise of the 
obligations, which makes a society a chain of inter-relationships. 39 The 
autonomy and rights of the individual person are enjoyed in 
relationship.40  

Individuals are not regarded as complete until they have been 
identified with a community. “Each one must belong to kith and kin, to 
parents, brothers and sisters, who are immediate, and to a wider 
relationship within the extended family. There is nothing like 
individualism. A person belongs to an immediate family, hamlet, village, 
clan and town. This belonging enhances chances of survival and ensures 
security and growth.”41 
 
Sense of Brotherhood and Hospitality  
Before the  advent  of  Western  civilization  and  culture  to  Africa,  the  
sense  of  brotherhood  and  hospitality  were some of the cardinal 
human values of African indigenous society. The Sense of hospitality is 
inherently indispensable in African tradition society. There was always 
spontaneous accommodation of strangers and visitors. Unlike the West, 
no appointment and special invitation are needed for one to visit a distant 
relation or neighbour.  On arrival, one is treated kindly, just as one 



350 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

would wish to be treated when visiting another home. This spontaneous 
acceptance is expressed in many symbolic ways like presentation of kola 
nuts, traditional gin, coconuts etc. These are given to show acceptance 
and safety.  
 Onimhawo and Adamu in their study: An Afrocentric Perspective on 
Human Migration:  
The Nigerian Experience succinctly argued that the common membership 
of one universal human family constitutes a legitimate basis for the idea 
of universal human brotherhood in African conceptual thought. This 
idea is depicted for instance in Afemai maxim: Oya lo khi iyokpa oya “A 
human being's brother is another human being”.42 This maxim asserts 
unmistakably that a human being is related only to another human being, 
not to a beast. Implicit in the African perception of humanity is the 
recognition of all persons, irrespective of their racial or ethnic 
backgrounds, as brothers. This is the reason why in African cultures the 
word ‘brother’ is used to cover various and complex family relationships 
linked by blood ties.43 But the word is also used, significantly, by persons 
between whom there are no blood ties; thus, the word is used 
comprehensively. The comprehensive meaning given to the word 
‘brother’ in African culture is intended, indeed, to lift people up from the 
purely biologically determined blood relation level onto the human level, 
the level where the essence of humanity is held as transcending the 
contingencies of human biology, race, ethnicity, or culture.44 
 
African Sense of Solidarity  
The  traditional  African  community  attitude  to  work  is  one  factor  
that  explains the African sense of solidarity. In African cultural context 
duties such: building of a hut or a house for a kinsman especially of 
someone  that  is  old  or  a  person  that  is  not  well  to  do  in  the  
material  sense,  is  often  seen  as  a  collective responsibility that calls for 
the contributions of many.45 This African concept of solidarity is aptly 
captured in Afemai proverb: Obokpa ovue akh’ uno “one hand cannot 
cover the mouth of a pot.” Yet another Afemai proverb says Orokpe okio 
gwa, “one tree cannot make a forest”.  Furthermore, kinsmen can 
mobilize a workforce to the farm of a dead relative or someone who is 
bereaved to help out in maintaining the farm and keep the bereaved 
family going.46  

Everywhere in Africa society there is the spirit of Ubuntu (I am 
because we are) which Barbara Nussbaum says “is the capacity in African 
culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and 
humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community with 
justice and mutual caring.”47   
 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    351 

Sense of Respect for Elders 
Africans generally have deep and ingrained respect for old age. Grey hairs 
earn an individual the right to courtesy and politeness. The elders are 
respected first because they are believed to be the teachers and directors 
of the young. They are the repository of truth as their words and 
instructions are heeded to for the promotion of good behaviour among 
the young. The elders are also taken to be the custodian of communal 
wisdom and therefore they are conceded leadership in the affairs of the 
people.  One  of  the  reasons  for  this,  is  the  nearness  of  the  elders  
to  the ancestors.  The respect given to the elders has its practical effect in 
the maintenance of custom and tradition. The young are always looking 
forward to being elders and they are often told that if a child respects an 
elder, he would be respected by the young when he becomes an elder. 
This is the fundamental principle behind human relations in African 
cultural milieu 

The idea of Old People’s Homes is an aberration in traditional 
African society and a promotion of a careless assumption that a man is 
deserving of respect only, and only if the man is  virile and productive. 
To entrust the welfare of the elderly to institutional caregivers is an 
abomination to the African mind. The care of the aged is situated within 
the family. It is so cherished and so organized that there is no need, in 
the African setting, for the cheerless nursing homes for the aged as it 
exist today in Europe and America48 and speedily taking roots in Africa.  
 
African Sense of Extended Family 
According to Pantaleon Iroegbu “African languages generally have no 
words for uncles, aunts cousins and nieces. All these are part of the one 
family. The family is one, but extended”.49 Marriage is a means of family 
extension especially between two families.  The extended family system 
is very much alive in contemporary African societies as a community of 
brothers and sisters, which is the basis of, and the expression of, the 
extended family system in Africa.  
 
African Sense of Religiosity 
Africans are everywhere and always profoundly religious. African 
spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and 
inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot 
be separated from everyday living. For many Africans, religion can never 
be separated from life. Unlike the West, religion is a way of life, and it 
can never be separated from the public sphere. Religion informs 
everything in the traditional African society, including marriage, health, 
diet, dress, economics, birth and death. The Africans eat religiously, 
drink religiously and bath religiously. African spirituality is truly holistic. 



352 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

For example, sickness in the indigenous African worldview is not only an 
imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in one’s social life, which 
can be linked to a breakdown in one’s kinship and family relations or 
even to one’s relationship with one’s ancestors.50 

Africans are deeply religious, for the African, life is religion and 
religion is life. The attachment to and worship of God, form a 
dominating part of their world view. All they do or say and permit is 
impregnated with a vision of the divine, and all natural reality is 
explainable in function of the supernatural. African social values rest on 
the moral values which in turn rest on religious values.51  

To many people it is perverse and perhaps sacrilegious to 
separate the moral and the religious values. It is the presence of religion 
that lends meaning and authority to values. Religious or spiritual element 
in the African man characterizes his relationship with the divine, with 
God and/or the gods. And it is an indubitable fact that this sense of 
religion is the promotion of moral excellence.52  
 A conscientious inquisition of the preceding prefatory would indeed 
reveal the imperativeness of adopting the Afro-centric cultural distinctive 
paradigm. Namely, that the African values system contains positive 
human values that can provide the ontological foundation for a moral 
reconstruction, even between Christianity and African thought process 
inclusive of indigenous religion. The note of caution is that care must be 
taken to excogitate certain aspects of African traditional values that might 
not be wholly in tandem with contemporary realities. This should not 
come as a surprise because every culture consists of both the 
counterintuitive and the perdurable. 
 
Conclusion 
This discourse established the importance of accentuating African 
indigenous religious and human values in contemporary scholarship. 
The role of human values was exhaustively discussed and denoted 
because of the understanding that the value system of a people is 
consequent upon the understanding of the beliefs and cultural system of 
the people. The paper examined the Afro-centric imperative of the 
African thought process in the current moral discourse, and concluded 
that the Afro-centric cultural distinctive paradigm encapsulates African 
indigenous human values. It was expedient to denude in more precise 
terms, some positive human values of the African thought process which 
included an investigation into the African value on human life, African 
sense of a good life, African sense of responsible parenthood, the lack of 
monetization of values, African sense of community-based Living,  
African sense of  brotherhood  and  hospitality , African sense of 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    353 

solidarity,  sense of respect for authority and the elders, African sense of 
extended family and African sense of religiosity. 
 Given that no one values system is error proof, African religious and 
human values must be carefully examined in order to extrapolate the 
very best of African traditional values systems which continuous to 
reverberate their usefulness in our contemporary era. The paper asserted 
that the differences that exist between African religious human values 
and western values must not necessarily have a normative consequence; 
as things can be different without having to be placed within a normative 
hierarchy. The contention that African values should be of less worth 
than Western values is therefore repudiated.  
 
Recommendations 
This paper makes the following recommendations: 
a. that African institutes of human character formation like seminaries 

should faithfully study and seriously promote African traditional 
values system, including African indigenous religion; 

b. that African converts to non-African religions should have a rethink 
and revaluation of their disposition to African traditional religion, 
namely to change their attitude from condemnation to 
commendation and understanding; 

c. that policy makers should be aware of the importance of the 
Afrocentric imperative in the enthronement of positive human 
values in Nigeria; 

d. that African scholarship should be at the vanguard in the promotion 
of African human values both within and outside Africa; 

e. that the negative clout presently beclouding African Indigenous 
religion should be removed through proper enlightenment.  

 
 
Endnotes  
                                                      
1 Björn Freter, “Desuperiorisation of Thought: Western Thinkers and The 

Responsibility to Complement the Efforts of Philosophical Decolonialisation 

Through Desuperiorisation,” First Annual Philosophy Lecture of the Department of 

Philosophy, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, 10.10.2017, 1-28. 
2 Macaulay A. Kanu, “The Indispensability of the Basic Social Values in African 

Tradition: A Philosophical Appraisal” African Journal Online 7(2010):149, 

https//doi.org/:57930/58765 
3 Kayode Fayemi, “Crisis of Values: Reclaiming our Society”, Lecture at the Women 

in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) Conference, Lagos, March 

10, 2016.   



354 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
4 Emile Durkheim,  The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (London: George 

Allen & Unwin, 1915), 5 
5 Anthony Vergote, Religion, Belief and Unbelief. A Psychological Study (Leuven 

University Press, 1996), 16 
6 Gordon Allport, Pattern and Growth in Personality (New York: Holt Rinehart, 

&amp, 1963) 90 
7 Jones Edward  and Gerard B. Harold, Foundation of Social Psychology ( New York, 

1967)123 
8  Milton Rokeach, The nature of human values, (New York, NY: Free Press, 1973), 

145. 
9  Rokeach,  The nature of human values, 154 
10 Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah (eds). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African 

and African-American (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 111. 
11 Asante, The Afrocentric Idea, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998), 34. 
12 Asante, “The Afrocentric Idea,” 6. 
13 Asante, “The Afrocentric Idea,”  67 
14 Andrade Susan. “Rewriting History, Motherhood, and Rebellion: Naming an 

African Women's Literary Tradition.” Research in African Literatures 21.1 (Spring 

1990): 91  
15 Early Gerald. “Afrocentrism: Cultural and Political Movement.” Encyclopædia 

Britannica. accessed April 10, 2018  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Afrocentrism. 
16 Gerald. “Afrocentrism,”  
17 Gerald. “Afrocentrism,”   
18 Motsoko Pheko, “Effects of Colonialism on Africa's Past and Present,” accessed 

November 1, 2017 https://www.pambazuka.org/global-south/effects-colonialism-

africas-past-and-present 
19 Motsoko Pheko Apartheid: The Story of A Dispossessed People, (Marram Books 

London, 1984), 15O. 
20 Kanu, “The Indispensability,” 150. 
21 Oliver A. Onwubiko,  African Thought, Religion and Culture (Enugu: Bigard 

Memorial Seminary, 1991), xii. 
22 Jones A. Akinpelu, “Values in Nigerian Society” in New Perspectives in Moral 

Education. Otonti A. Ndubuka and E.O. Iheoma (Eds) (Ibadan: Evans Brothers, 

Nigerian Publishers Ltd 1983), 33 
23 Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, translated by Richard Phil-Cox, (Grove 

Press, New York, 2008), 12. 
24 Frantz Fanon, “Black Skin, White Masks,” 
25 Freter, “Desuperiorisation of Thought…” 17-18. 
26  Kanu, “The Indispensability,” 149. 
27 Emefie Ikenga - Metuh, African Religions in Western Conceptual Schemes: The 

Problem of Interpretation (Studies in lgbo Religion) 2nd ed. (Onitsha Nigeria: 

IMICO Press 1985) 109. 
28  John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (London: Heinmann 1990), 3 
29 The Guardian, “The Guardian View on a Caring Capitalism: Healing an Unhappy 

Society” accessed March 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    355 

                                                                                                                         
e/2018/jan/19/the-guardian-view-on-a-caring-capitalism-healing-an-unhappy-

society. 
30  Duran Bell, “Wealth and Power:  Survival in a time of global accumulation” 

accessed March 16, 2020, http://www.economics.uci.edu/~dbell/aaabeijing.pdf 
31 Patricia M. Amos, “Parenting and Culture – Evidence from Some African 

Communities” accessed March 16, 2020. DOI: 10.5772/56967 
32 Kayode Fayemi, “Crisis of Values,” 
33 Kayode Fayemi, “Crisis of Values,” 
34 Basil Davidson, West Africa Before the Colonial Era (Longman, 1998) 
35 John Mbiti,  “African Religions, “   
36 Theophilus Okere, “African Philosophy and the Hermeneutics of Culture” in 

Oguejiofor, O. and Unah, G. (Eds.). Essays in Honour of Theophilus Okere. (Münster: 

LIT Verlag, 2005) 
37 Columbus Ogbujah, The Idea of Personhood (Enugu: Snaap Press Ltd, 2006) 
38 Ogbujah, “The Idea of Personhood ,”  34. 
39 Mbiti, “African Religions,” 106.   
40Elizabeth O. Ezenweke, Awka Nwadialor, Loius Kanayo, “Understanding Human 

Relations in African Traditional Religious Context in the Face of Globalization: 

Nigerian Perspectives” International Journal of Contemporary Research 3 no 2 

(February 2013): 61. 
41 Nkem Emeghara, “ The Dignity of the Human Person in African Belief,” Theology 

Annual  14(992-1993):.126-137 
42 John Onimhawo and Cyril Adamu, “An Afrocentric Perspective on Human 

Migration: The Nigerian Experience.” A Paper Presented at the Ist Prof. Imobighe’s 

Memorial Lecture and Ist International Conference on Migration and Global 

Security of the Centre for Strategic and Development Studies (CSDS), Ambrose Alli 

University, Ekpoma. Edo State, Nigeria, 18th - 20th July, 2018. 
43  Onimhawo and  Adamu, “An Afrocentric Perspective,”  17. 
44 Kwame Gyekye, “African Ethic” accessed April 10, 2018, 

https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/african-ethics. 
45 Ezenweke, Nwadialor and Kanayo, “Understanding Human,” 64. 
46 Ezenweke, Nwadialor and Kanayo, “Understanding Human,” 64. 
47 Barbara Nussbaum cited in Chika Onyejiuwa, “Ubuntu: An African Culture of 

Human Solidarity,” accessed March 16, 2020,  http://aefjn.org/en/ubuntu-an-

african-culture-of-human-solidarity-2/ 
48 Kanu, “The Indispensability,” 150. 
49 Pantaleon Iroegbu,  Enwisdomization and African Philosophy, (Owerri: 

International Universities Press, 1994), 84 
50 Jacob Olupona cited in Anthony Chiorazzi, “The Spirituality of Africa” The 

Harvard Gazette, accessed March 16, 2020,  https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/ 
51 Olupona cited in Chiorazzi, The spirituality  
52 Kanu, “The Indispensability,” 157. 



356 

26 

HUMAN FORMATION, RELIGION, AND 

VIOLENCE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF AN 

UNHOLY ALLIANCE. 
 

John Segun ODEYEMI, Ph.D 
Department of Theology 

Dusquene University, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. 
frjay1368@gmail.com 

 
Precis  
As our world continues to evolve and grow, we recognize a spike and an 
upward curve of violence across the world.  Within the complexities of 
our common humanity which has made remarkable advancement in 
scientific and technological developments we find an intricate and hydra 
headed space of unbridled capacity for carnage, terror and violence.  In 
this essay, I seek to explore the idea of human formation, which ought to 
lead to wholesomeness and the creation of good citizens.  I place the 
ideal especially against the idea of ‘religion’ and religious violence, which 
has become volatile and prevalent in various regions of our world. In this 
paper, I simply lay out a format, which challenges assumptions, and 
hopefully provokes further reflections and seeks to question the 
contradiction of religion(s) and why they breed violence.  In addition, I 
will explore the ontological assumptions about human formation and the 
intersections of the nature of this unholy alliance. 
 
Introduction 
We live in a complex world of multi dimensions and inter-dependence 
with many aspects of our existence constantly intersecting with or 
without our conscious awareness.  In this essay, I intend to explore the 
varied levels of intersections between religion, the wholesome and moral 
formation of the human person in the society and how violence is yet a 
reality between human formation and religious beliefs.  Naturally, 
religion, among other factors is observed to be one of the fundamental 
bedrock of the formation of an ethically upright person and citizen. It is 
therefore a conundrum worth exploring, when religion itself becomes 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    357 

violent and when religious persons embrace violence.  To proceed, there 
is a necessity to clarify a subtle yet quintessential shift in terms used in 
the title of this paper.  In my research, specialists in the area of life 
coaching in modern psychology and studies in human behavioral 
sciences have brought me up to speed that they no longer speak only of 
human formation; rather, there is a deeper reflection on the totality of 
the formation of the human person.  The distinction between these two 
ideas will be explored further in the next section.  For this essay, the term 
‘religion’ will be employed essentially in reference to the Abrahamic and 
monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Remarks will 
be made briefly about other religions only to buttress points and support 
arguments.  Even though many scripts have been written specifically 
looking at religion and violence, this paper adds a new dimension as it 
relates the formation of persons with all its implications and the 
propensity for the same religious persons and their religious beliefs to 
become agents of violence. 
 
The Idea of Human Formation and the Formation of the Human 
Person 
 Lou Vallone is a leading figure among life coaching experts of the 
Human Formation Coalition (HFC).  They focus on helping individuals 
particularly people preparing or already in ministry within the Catholic 
and Protestant denominations.  Vallone makes the distinction between 
human formation and the formation of the human person understood 
from the perspective of development.  He asserts that while human 
formation is viewed broadly as one aspect, the formation of the human 
person encompasses some aspects that comes together to build an 
integral whole.  Within the newer approach, the formation of the human 
person includes intellectual, spiritual, pastoral formation (or relational 
formation), and human formation.  Vallone and other coalition members 
insists that the program of the formation of the human person is more all 
embracing than the outdated model of a broad human formation 
approach.  Within the intellectual formation, the person undergoing 
formation is helped to understand their intellectual abilities/capabilities.  
They are intellectually reinforced to be successful in their ministry by 
their insertion into the appropriate intellectual traditions of where they 
belong and will function.  Here you build the mind.  For an integral 
formation to take place, the spirituality of the tradition remains 
paramount with the hope that this formation leads to the development of 
a personalized spirituality.  Here you build the soul.  Within pastoral 
formation, Vallone and the coalitionists speak of relational or 
professional formation, which creates a matured person who is able to 
interact with others in a healthy and balanced manner.  Here you train a 



358 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

person, mind and body to re-engage and interact in the field.  It is the 
combination of these various aspects of the human person when properly 
annexed that can produce a balanced citizen or a person who carries out a 
specific role within the society. Finally, this is the kind of human 
formation that is geared towards behavioral and psychosomatic 
development of the individual, now approached under the title of the 
“Formation of the Human Person.”1 
 
The Nature of Religion 
Religions broadly are a set of belief system, which forms a pattern of 
practices, behaviors, worldviews, morals that relates to the connection 
between the human and supernatural world.  Religions of the world, 
according to leading scholars cannot be classed, categorized or defined 
under one simple category.  Generally, religions have sacred stories, rites, 
rituals, symbols, holy places, and doctrines, which often times are 
preserved or transmitted by sacred texts.  Fundamental to the practice of 
religion is an attempt to understand the origins of human existence, the 
origin of our universe (and sometimes, its impending dissolution), and 
the notion of a transcendental being often referred to as God.  In classic 
antiquity, particularly deriving from its Latin etymological roots, religio is 
understood as a sense of moral rectitude, ethical obligation or duty 
towards others, nature and even God.  At this stage, religio did not 
reference the idea of doctrine or ritual practices.  Religious beliefs and 
practices are many and varied around the world the usual common 
trends include the belief in the supernatural, omnipotent being/deity 
who is responsible for the creation of the world.  This supernatural being 
expects a specific moral rectitude in this world as to earn a reward either 
in this world, in the next or in both. 

Organized religions has been traced back by anthropologists to 
the Neanderthal age, and religious speculations goes even further back to 
the earliest dawns of human history.  Religions remain relevant because 
it has the power, through symbols, texts, rituals, liturgies to evoke a sense 
of mystery that ‘legislate’ order in existence.  According to Raymond 
Scupin and Christopher DeCorse, “A religious worldview helps people 
to discern the meaning of pain and suffering in the world.  Sacred myths 
help people make sense of the world and also explain and justify cultural 
values and social roles.”2  While some claim that religion as faith 
contradicts reason, others argue that faith and reason are interlinked, so 
that when they are properly annexed religion tends to bring forth a 
properly mannered individual.  Religions of the world could almost be 
marked out distinctly by regions, however, the majority of self-professed 
practitioners of religion in the world belong to the three monotheistic 
and Abrahamic faith of Judaism, Christianity and Islam,   Hinduism and 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    359 

Buddhism closely follow these.  In recent times, a certain demographic 
known as religiously unaffiliated, who are either self-acclaimed atheists 
or agnostics are yet  found to have some religious beliefs or tend to some 
spirituality especially of the Eastern types.  In the United States for 
instance, while many Americans no longer go to the Christian Churches, 
many are found to be attracted by various Eastern religious philosophies 
like yoga or meditation. 
 While ontologically, religion should be the ideal space for an 
alternate world of peace, justice, truth and non-violence, historically, 
religion has been known to be the harbinger for violence.  Tikva Frymer-
Kensky sums it up thus, 
Religions find themselves actively engaged in violence.  Islam confronts 
the rise of militant extremism and the world’s perception of Islam as a 
violent religion.  Judaism is coping with the challenges of having military 
power and with the national struggle with the Palestinians and the 
immediate threat of suicide bombing.  Hinduism faces the issue of the 
violent confrontations between Hindus and Muslims in North India.  
Buddhism must deal with the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and the 
genocide in Cambodia and its aftermath.  Even Christianity, which has a 
past of violent conflict, now must reevaluate its concepts of just war, now 
that technology makes limited war very difficult and the issue arises of 
whether to intervene militarily in order to prevent genocide or other 
atrocities.3  
 It is important to note that from a purely historical perspective, when 
religions become violent, at the very root of that violence usually is 
found people who manipulate and hijack religion for personal purposes.  
It could be for political gain, economic gain, the oppression of minorities 
or for cultural gains. Therefore, we can establish that innately, religion is 
not per se violent but it can be used to perpetrate violence. 
 There are various reasons why religions may turn violent, and these 
reasons will be explored carefully later on in this paper.  For now, it 
suffices to point out an underlying theological problem that is often not 
identified when there is a conversation about religions.  Most religions 
require faith, a strong belief based on personal spirituality and 
conviction, without physical proof, in the existence of a benevolent 
higher being known as God.  Religion can exist epistemologically but the 
true act of religiosity is faith.   Therefore, it is possible for an individual 
to be religious but the same individual is not a person of faith.  Religion 
can be likened to a container, and its content is faith.  Relying primarily 
on the Abrahamic and monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity 
and Islam, and even though we can trace a history of violence among 
them in gargantuan proportions, yet we can find littered all through 
history, great men and women whose goodness and positive 



360 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

contributions continues to inspire humanity even today.  The relations 
between religions and violence or in a more specific manner the 
relationship between practitioners of religions and the religions they 
practice are quite diffused; in proximity, religions, persons and their 
environment can be violent and can be kind.  I argue that most people 
are introduced to religion but never quite make the next step; a personal 
growth into faith.  It is my position that it is within the various camps of 
religionists that the world has produced extremists thereby giving birth 
to religious violence.   
 Some argue that violence is embedded deep in the DNA of every 
human person.  And given the right conditions, motivations or even 
provocation, the beast in everyone can come to the surface.  There are 
also those who opine that there is a natural cosmic evil, an eternal battle 
between light and darkness, between good and evil, and more succinctly 
when couched in religious language; it is the eternal battle between God 
and the devil for the human soul.  J. Harold Ellens debunks these 
assumptions by arguing, “The notion that evil is cosmic and that reality is 
split, from the transcendental level down to our empirical experience, is 
profoundly untrue.  There is no evidence on the basis of which to 
conclude that there is such a thing as cosmic evil or that some grand 
warfare between good and evil, God and the devil, rages in the universe 
or in our personal world.”4  Ellens continues, “…the suffering of this 
world arises from our actions or our failure to act, either from inadequate 
or bad will, or from inadequate or bad information, or from inadequate 
or inefficient effort, or from lack of power or ability to do better or 
indifferently.”5  Ellens submits that religious violence is born out of the 
nature of humanity still grappling with understanding the power of 
nature and the complexities of the world around us.  Outside of the 
erroneous belief in ontological evil or cosmic conflict between good and 
evil, Ellens avers that violence by humans broadly “…are just 
communities of inadequate, ignorant, and sick humans trying to find 
their way to meaning in a world of radical freedom, constant growth, the 
perpetual change attendant upon growth, and the pervasive pain that 
accommodating change always brings.”6  Ellens surmise that humanity is 
naturally capable of devising violence, “without metaphoric prodding or 
genetic pathogenesis.  The Palestinians and Israelis have no mortgage on 
violence; al Qaeda is not unique, but typical, of the universal human 
pathology; we need only to look within our own psyches or souls.”7  
 Faith is personal, dynamic and specific that requires a commitment 
of the will to something abstract and otherworldly.  When religion leads 
to faith, it requires a certain kind of clarity and self-understanding that 
makes one commit to justice, equity and not perpetuating hate and 
violence.  Conversely, religion without faith creates fundamentalism of 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    361 

the negative type.  It believes narrowly and exclusively, insisting that he 
or she possesses a monopoly of God and true religion.  
 
The Definition of ‘Violence’ 
Violence has become commonplace in society that many people have 
become inured to its effect.  We encounter violence on our streets on 
daily basis; in the beatings meted out by the police or the army to 
protesters, to the pickpocket who is caught and summarily condemned 
by mass hysteria and set on fire on our streets.  The simple acts of 
jostling to get on a public transport is violent in nature but accepted as 
the norm.  When a worker eventually makes it home and settles into the 
sanctity of his home, he encounters violence on the TV news, violence 
from a spouse bitter for lack of adequate funds to run the house.  When 
eventually he attempts to sleep, he is confronted with the violence of 
high temperatures without electrical power to combat it by the use of any 
kind of cooling device, and sometimes, the singsong of mosquitoes who 
remind you of how poor you really are. 

All of these may be perceived as a collage of separate actions, 
however, violence of all sorts are interconnected, “by a web of actions 
and behaviors, ideas, perceptions, and justifications.  While the individual 
and situational dynamics of violent behavior may vary somewhat, they all 
share a number of essential characteristics that bind them together into 
what we can call the unity of human aggression.”8  

One must not presume definitionally or otherwise that violence 
is limited only to physical aggression, bodily harm or injury; violence can 
also be emotional or psychological.  In this light, I find Leonard 
Berkowitz’s definition of violence apt, “any form of behavior that is 
intended to injure someone physically or psychologically.”9   An attempt 
to trace the continuum of violence exemplifies the depth and range of 
how violence subtly has become a subculture in modern times.  Within 
the spectrum of violence, we can include, physical assault, murder, serial, 
mass, spree killings, domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, crime of 
passion, street crimes, hate crimes, mob violence, genocide, verbal and 
psychological abuse, terrorism, kidnapping, gang violence, ethnic 
violence and religious violence. 
Religious violence are usually born out of delusions that subjectivises 
and personalizes truth.  Harold Ellens encapsulates religious violence 
very succinctly thus,  
Violence is always the product of such worldviews.  Whether it is 
violation of the truth, or violation of persons, property, and appropriate 
procedures for human social and juridical order, it is violence.  Whether 
it destroys persons, the necessary conditions of healthy human existence, 
or useful understandings of the real world, it is violence.  Whether it 



362 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

corrupts freedom, constraints legitimate liberty, or fouls the human nest 
with mayhem and bestiality, it is violence.  Whether it oppresses persons 
or peoples with the force and power of empire building, represses hope 
and the resilience of the human spirit with mass-casualty fear and 
intimidation, or terrorizes the tranquility of children with media reports 
of those kinds of mayhem, it is phenomenally destructive violence.10 

Religious violence therefore is a creation of a person or persons 
whose ethical formation is flawed and thriving on absolutists’ and 
fundamentalistic positions degenerates into psychosis. This is a 
dangerous psychosis because wherever it is found it is usually dogmatic, 
ideological and exclusivist in nature.  It cannot be reasoned with, it 
cannot be reviewed or critiqued, it is rigid, unchanging and cannot 
tolerate any other truths outside of its own, neither can this position 
accept amendments or new insights.  Whenever the absolutist feels 
cornered or threatened by an opposing idea, in their demented mind, to 
defend their own truth is to result into violence.  
  
When Religion Become Violent: From Fundamentalism to 
Extremism 
Core to religious violence is the conflict between orthodoxy, liberalism 
and modernism at crossroads for the modern person in contemporary 
times.  Overtime, religious violence has been fomented by those who 
claim orthodoxy, be it the Catholic crusades, the never ending Jihads of 
radical Islam and the Jewish- Palestinian conflict; they are grounded on 
orthodoxy.  However, it has become even more problematic when it is 
re-translated as orthodoxy against liberal post modernity.  Events of 9/11 
remain a poster child and watershed for an outrage incomprehensible or 
imaginable to the normal human psyche until it happened.  Beyond 
perhaps, political and economic reasons, this act of brazen terrorism is 
primarily an ideological one.  In one act of savage violence, the world 
experienced the collision of extreme Islamic orthodoxy against a 
perceived extreme Western liberalism and the ‘waywardness of Western 
modernism.’ Sadly, and according to Ellens, “The tragedy of that 
terrorism is severe enough at the physical and material level to gain 
global attention and concern.”11  This writer states that the real tragedy of 
this violence lies in the fact that “it is a state of the soul or psyche, 
conditioned and twisted by specific religious archetypes.  Those terrorists 
apparently really believed that their action was an execution of the will 
and intentions of God and for it they would have ‘exceedingly great 
reward’.”12 

Conversely, we must consider what Andrea Riccardi refers to as 
‘The Decline of Religion’; a situation where postmodern liberalism has 
jettisoned the idea of religion and twentieth century industrial and 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    363 

technological civilization has found a new god.  Some contend that 
modernity with its new humanism has sounded the death toll for 
religious belief.  Within modernity is the evolution and creation of the 
new political order, the state.  Riccardi states, “The state’s view has been 
a secular one, and the secular view has even been an ethic that has 
become as it were a lay religion, with its own social rites… Society has 
ceased to identify itself with religion.”13 In this view, summarily, 
The twentieth century continued with the idea that modernity was 
sweeping religion away from its role as a protagonist in history… religion 
came to be associated with fanaticism or with the memory of the wars of 
religion which had stained Europe with blood or which had been fought 
between the Christian world and the Muslim world.  The elimination of 
religion from social life was regarded as a factor of progress and 
stability.14 

Subliminally we must also reflect on the relationship between 
the origins of the political state and religions.  While Islam and Judaism 
can lay claim to a religion that is embedded strongly in the culture and 
nationhood of the environs in which it originated, Christianity does not 
share the same history.  In fact, for the first three centuries of its infancy, 
Christianity was persecuted by the state and its political machinery.  In 
contemporary times, the infractions of the state against religion, albeit, 
Christianity as a religion in the separation of Church and state is worthy 
of evaluation in another paper.  It suffices to say that religions can 
become violent depending on how the political state impinges on 
religious liberties or how it favors one religion against the other in a 
multi-religious space. 

Emmanuel Ojeifo in a newspaper piece written and published by 
This Day newspaper on March 19, 2020, while reflecting on religion and 
violence argues that when people become entrapped in what he calls 
“mental and theological prisons of sectarianism”, they become blind and 
unable to perceive what is valuable due to globalization and how it 
impacts the religious sphere.  Ojeifo states, “They think to welcome this 
good [of globalization] is to put their faith at risk of extinction.  The 
reaction to this is therefore, one of intolerance to difference, which finds 
expression in the rhetoric of ‘We’ vs ‘Them’ or ‘The Chosen vs. The 
Rest.’  When this intolerance is pushed to the extreme, it leads to the 
vilification and demonization of the other.”15  And in the classic Wole 
Soyinka saying, we then move quickly from “I am right, you are wrong,’ 
to ‘I am right; you are dead’!  It is within this scope that poorly formed 
individuals turn into a menace to society.  While religious formation, 
formal education, societal education, peer education all fail to produce a 
worthwhile citizen, you end up with a maniac, closed minded absolutist 
ready to cause mayhem if his way is not the only way.   



364 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Edward Schillebeeckx extrapolates on two claims made by 
religious adherents, which quickly devolves into violence; first, he points 
out the claim made that one religion is the only true religion.  According 
to him, “Here the right of the other religion to exist is consistently 
denied.  In a multicolored society such a negation is in itself a virtual 
declaration of war.”16  Second, is what he calls the established guarantee 
of the wellbeing of human society based on ‘my God alone’ syndrome.  
He avers, “This second foundation for religious violence is the 
conviction… on the basis of its claim that the god whom they confess is 
the direct guarantee of the wellbeing of human society.”17  Schillebeeckx, 
submits that “Even if a religion recognizes itself as one alongside many 
other religions, it can incite violence because of all kinds of alliances or 
presumptions, hidden or open, which are in fact bound up with it and 
therefore because of an implied distorted picture of God.”18 In his final 
summation, Schillebeeckx states, 

…the whole of human kind is the elect people of God.  
All historical forms of belief in a religious election must 
be at the service of and subject to the criticism of 
universal election; otherwise the self-understanding of 
election in individuals, peoples, or faith communities 
also pose a threat, involves danger and violence, to those 
of other faiths or none at all.  This can prove a breeding 
ground of violence.19 

Religions therefore, to remain through to its classical definition and 
foundational authority remains true in so far as it does not make 
absolutists claims to truths about God-even when there are doctrines or 
scared texts that make these claims.  No government or persons can 
legitimize this sort of claim without leaving the back door open for 
violence.  Anyone can choose to believe in what they believe in, but no 
one can impose their beliefs on others even when it implies an eternal or 
temporal damnation of body or soul. 

Fundamentalism usually is born of orthodoxy and it is not 
limited to the religious sphere alone.  According to J. Harold Ellens, 
“Fundamentalism is a psychopathology that drives its proponents to the 
construction of orthodoxies in whatever field it is in which those 
proponents live or work.”20  Ellens is of the opinion that “Today we 
would certainly be forced to include in that category of most dangerous 
movements both Islamic religious fundamentalism and fundamentalistic 
Israeli politics.  All three of the great Western religions that derive from 
ancient Israelite religion of the Hebrew Bible are plagued by the presence 
of this sick psychology and its heretical products.”21 

Most dangerous of all is the danger of misinterpreting sacred 
texts.  Religions mostly approach their sacred text as revealed or divine.  



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    365 

As such, the message of sacred texts are taking seriously.  History has 
shown that many times, religious violence erupts because of the 
interpretations without context, without an understanding of history, 
worse still, without education in the field. D. Andrew Kille opines that, 
“To understand the role of sacred scriptures in shaping violent attitudes 
and behavior we must recognize that texts do not do anything in 
themselves.  It is only in the dynamic encounter between the text and a 
specific reader, in a specific community, in a particular historical and 
cultural context that individuals engage, interpret, internalize and 
ultimately act on these texts.22 

It is therefore easy for individuals to take a text out of context 
and run with it. The sacred texts can be approached from proper exegesis 
or simply from the point of eisegesis. The combination of wrong 
interpretation of sacred texts coupled with fanatical extremism is the 
most dangerous recipe that can quickly result into religious violence. 
 
Proposals 
Even though religions may have been used historically as a tool to back 
up violence, to maintain power, to subjugate others and often times to 
disenfranchise the less powerful, religions remain essential to the 
equilibrium of persons and the society.  Religion wields its own power 
over people’s minds and lives.  It affects how many relate peacefully or 
otherwise in a largely pluralistic society.  Religion can be used to form 
cooperation between nations and it can be used to cause wars among 
sovereignties.  No matter how much contemporary culture lays claim to 
civility, the litmus test is found often in how we employ religious tenets 
to build or tear down communities.  In Olusegun Okedairo’s work, 
titled Africanism, he asserts, 

…a country may have all the means of modern 
technology but should it lack the necessary properties… 
then rather than be said to be civilized is uncivilized.  A 
country’s constitution that features the right to freedom 
of thought, conscience and religion among other rights is 
a civilized one.  In the same vein, one of the indices of a 
country’s holy writ that is uncivil or a man’s incivility or 
lack of culture is the absence of these fundamental rights.  
Hence anybody who discriminates, ridicules, attacks, 
maligns, maims or kills another on account of religion is 
not only wicked…but strictly speaking, he is not 
civilized, he is a pagan, bush man or ill mannered.  Call 
him a zombie, you will not be wrong, because you would 
have beyond this planet to find a more striking example 
of mechanical religionists, blind adherent to a verbal 



366 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

formula without any regard for conscience or common 
sense.23 
Politicians, religious leaders and all who hold positions of 

authority over others must turn away from the seduction of using 
religion to illegitimately maintain and perpetuate personal gain and 
power.  Rather, leaders ought to explore means by which religions can be 
a tool for ameliorating all sorts of class misunderstandings. Helena 
Cobbans is right when she avers, “At their very best, religious ideals and 
precepts can, when confronted with the chaos and the bottomless 
tragedy and perversion of the natural order that are induced by war, be 
used in ways that provide succor to afflicted and healing at all levels of 
society from the individual person through the group to the nation.”24.  If 
bad people can manipulate religion for personal gain, then good people 
must work tirelessly to make sure religion is a veritable tool for 
development and growth. 

In recapitulating as part of a few proposal, we can result to a 
simple antithesis of the problems already enumerated.  Namely, we need 
to pay attention to the fundamentals of the formation of the human 
person; rounded and wholesome.  Anything else creates the conducive 
atmosphere for the breeding of anarchists and extremists.  The 
interpretative approach to the reading of sacred texts in all religions, 
when not attended to respectfully and intellectually will continue to be 
the ontological basis for religious violence.  Sacred texts are powerful and 
portends possibilities for peace or violence.  The proliferation of religions 
around the world into conservative, moderate, liberal, ultra-modern, etc, 
and the re-interpretation of scriptural texts under these varying traditions 
remains an underlying factor for religious violence.  Unfortunately, very 
little can be done in correcting this error.   It is important also to study 
and come to an agreement of the interaction between ‘Church and State.’  
There is a need for an anthropology particular to a place and its people to 
know the degree of separation.  Traditionally, some cultures are very 
religious and their civil codes derive from their religious worldview.  In 
some other climes, this is not so, especially as it can be found in most of 
western democracies.  Most importantly, religions should not be used as 
a political advantage against other religions within a body politic or as a 
leverage for the maintenance of power.  For religion not to turn violent, 
it must not be used to give undue advantage to adherents either for jobs, 
appointments or admissions. Finally, wholistic human formation should 
create citizens whose altruism is not based on indices like religion, 
ethnicity or political alliances rather, these citizens must be focused on 
the thriving of the commonwealth, peace building and non-violence.  
 
 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    367 

Conclusion 
As part of our efforts as religious people or civil society to engage in 
attempts at proper formation of the human person, we must keep in 
mind that the world will never embrace one faith or one religion.  In 
living the reality of pluralism of religions, all citizens must accept the task 
of learning the maxim, ‘live and let live.’ On this Andrea Riccardi states, 
“Reality and the religious traditions have constantly given rise to a 
demand for dialogue and understanding between the different religious 
worlds.  This orientation contrasts with the tendency to retreat into 
narrow identity and to engage in conflict, and with the use of the 
religions for nationalistic or bellicose ends.”25 It is for this reason that 
many countries now create channels to engage differing religious groups 
within their enclave in constructive dialogues.  

In contemporary times, the monotheistic religions must take the 
lead in a new re-orientation of its adherents towards peace building 
through more ecumenical and dialogical relationships.  Hermann Haring 
sums it up as a need for “a revitalization of communication, a democratic 
attitude and an appropriate differentiation of functions.”26  Haring goes 
further to state that religions for modern man will be less violent if 
dissidents are not suppressed or condemned as kafirs or heretics but 
engaged and taken seriously as dialogue partners, violence then can be 
averted.  According to Haring, “Those who want to overcome violence 
credibly must overcome its legitimization, whether manifest or 
concealed, in their own communities… That makes the chances for the 
future all the better, the less Christianity and Islam succumb to the 
seduction of worldly power.”27  We know from history that none of the 
great religions of the world can be exonerated of the complicity in violent 
conducts.  It is the duty of religion in the modern context to oppose 
violence in all its forms and overcome its productivity. Yet this 
nonviolence must not become passivity especially in reaction to political 
and class oppression of the masses.  Religion necessarily must be at the 
forefront of forming the human person in consciousness, social 
responsibility and when necessary civil disobedience and active 
resistance. 

More than at any other time in history, religion must become 
more a synonym for peace in practical ways.  For instance, the gathering 
of world religions and their leaders in Assisi to pray for peace at the 
invitation of the Pope.  We cannot but recall the role of the Truth and 
Reconciliation Committee in post independent South Africa and the 
same work done after the Rwandan genocide.  The work groups in 
Islam, even though overshadowed by mainline political Islam must be 
encouraged and given a spotlight.  Groups such as Muslim Peace 
Fellowship, Muslim Civil Rights Protection Center, and an emerging 



368 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

number of Muslim intellectuals and authors who all seek nonviolence 
and means of peaceful resolutions to conflicts.  The Eastern religions, 
Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Brahmanism and so 
forth, already notionally have the idea of nonviolence within their believe 
system.  Like the West, they have not always fared well in keeping peace. 
But they also have a chance to reclaim their own history and antecedents 
to do no evil to anyone.  

It is a duty binding on anyone involved in the formation and 
educating of others to seek to open the minds of those educated that the 
world does have grey lines, and so it is never directly black or white.  For 
religious violence to be overcome we need a new generation devoid of 
the psychopathology of religious extremism of all sorts.  The greatest 
challenge of all is to educate people who understand that responding to 
violence-by-violence will never yield any meaningful or positive results.  
True religion that has transited to faith will always seek the paths of 
grace, of peace and work for the welfare of the human family.  True 
religion must abhor violence and imposition of its own creed on non-
adherents.  True religion must always be committed to the work of 
healing a broken world and uniting a fragmented people.  Outside of 
these, it is no longer a religion; it is a mechanism of oppression and 
suppression disguised by those who stand to gain by it as religion.  
 
 
Endnotes 
                                                      
1 Oral interview with Rev. Lou Vallone, MDiv., MA JCB, Coach/Trainer HFC.  

Interview was held at his residence on March 5, 2020   
2 Raymond Scupin & Christopher R. DeCorse.  Anthropology: A Global Perspective. 

9th Edition. (Los Angeles: Sage Publication, Inc., 2021)(Instructional Copy) P. 467 
3 Tivka Frymer-Kensky. Religions and Violence: An Analytical Synthesis. The 

Ecumenical Review.* 
4 J. Harold Ellens. (Ed.) The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, 

Christianity, and Islam. First Edition. (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004), P. 3 
5 Ibid. 
6 Ibid. P. 8 
7 J. Harold Ellens. Sacred Scriptures, Ideology, and Violence. First Edition. Op.Cit. P. 

256 
8 Alex Alvarez & Ronet D. Bachman. Violence: The Enduring Problem. (Los Angeles: 

Sage Publications Ltd., 2021) (Instructional Copy), P. 3 
9 Leonard Berkowitz. Aggression: Its Causes, Consequences, and Control. (New York: 

McGraw-Hill, 1993), P. 3 
10 J. Harold Ellens. Sacred Scriptures, Ideology, and Violence. Fourth Edition. Op.Cit. 

P. 122 
11 J. Harold. Ellens. Op.Cit. P. 264 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    369 

                                                                                                                         
12 Ibid. 
13 Andrea Riccardi. “Between Violence and Dialogue: The Religions in the Twentieth 

Century” in Wim Beuken & karl-Josef Kuschel Religion as a Source of Violence? 

Concilium 1997 Number 4, P. 72 
14 Ibid. P. 73 
15 Emmanuel Ojeifo. “A Global awakening of the Spirit.”  This Day Newspaper, 

March 18th Part 1, March 19th Part 2 
16 Edward Schillebeeckx. “Documentation: Religion and Violence” in Concilium, 

Op.Cit. P. 132  
17 Ibid 
1818 Ibid. P. 133 
19 Ibid. P. 136 
20 J. Harold Ellens. (Ed.) The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, 

Christianity, and Islam. Fourth Edition. (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004), P. 

120  
21 Ibid. p. 121 
22 D. Andrew Kille. “The Bible Made me Do It”: Text, Interpretation and Violence. In 

J. Harold Ellens. (Ed.) The Destructive Power of Religion. Op.Cit. P. 56 
23 Olusegun Okediaro. Africanism. (Lagos, Nigeria: Kofo-David Graphics, 2006), P. 

165 
24 Helena Cobbans. “Religion and Violence.” Journal of the American Academy of 

Religion. Dec., 2005, Vol. 73, Number 4, P.1125 
25 Andrea Riccardi. “Between Violence and Dialogue: The Religions in the Twentieth 

Century.” Op.Cit. P. 80 
26 Hermann Haring.  Overcoming Violence in the name of Religion (Christianity and 

Islam) in Concilium, Op.Cit. P. 88 
27 Ibid. P. 91 



370 

27 

FORMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN YOUTH 

AND ITS IMPLICATION ON INTEGRAL 

DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY 
 

Prof. Felix Ehimare, ENEGHO 
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Humanities,  

Kogi State University, Anyigba, 
Research Fellow, Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and 

Missiology 
University of South Africa, Pretoria 

felixenegho@gmail.com 
 

Abstract 
The place of the youth in the growth and development of any nation 
cannot be overemphasized and Nigeria is not an exception. Many today 
on the African continent have blamed the West for the 
underdevelopment of Africa as a people and as a continent because of the 
transatlantic slave trade that devastated the continent for some centuries. 
The transatlantic slave trade was a segment of the global slave 
trade that transported between 10 million and 12 million enslaved 
Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 
19th century. It was the second of three stages of the so-called triangular 
trade, in which arms, textiles, and wine were shipped from Europe to 
Africa, slaves from Africa to the Americas, and sugar and coffee from the 
Americas to Europe. However, though such African youths who were 
part of the slave trade saga rather than being formed in Africa were 
exported to the Western world, this paper aims at assessing critically the 
formation of the Christian youth in Nigeria today with the intent of 
looking at its implication for the development of Nigeria. How are the 
youths being formed in Nigeria? Who are the formators? Are such 
formators utilizing the right tools of formation in our time and age? Are 
the youths being formed aware of their roles in their training? Why are 
the Nigerian Christian youths always so eager to migrate to any country 
in the world? Why are so many Christian youths involved in all kinds of 
criminality in Nigeria and abroad today? What is the way forward at 

mailto:felixenegho@gmail.com
https://www.britannica.com/topic/slave-trade
https://www.britannica.com/topic/slave-trade
https://www.britannica.com/place/Atlantic-Ocean
https://www.britannica.com/topic/triangular-trade
https://www.britannica.com/topic/triangular-trade


Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    371 

curbing the challenges facing the Christian youths in contemporary 
Nigeria? What indeed is the problem with Nigeria, is it the youths or the 
system? These questions would form the basis of this paper. This work 
utilizes the socio-historical method.  
 
Keywords: Christian, Youth, Formation, Development, Nigeria 
 
Introduction 
Formation of the human person has continued to receive attention 
globally and Nigeria is not left out in the whole enterprise. Whenever we 
hear of the word “formation” especially in Roman Catholic parlance, our 
minds quickly swing to and fro like the pendulum to formation in our 
seminaries. But far from it, formation is not only for those intending to 
be priests or religious, monks or nuns, but for all human persons. 
 The concept “formation” is one that should not be undermined in 
our world that is fast going through all kinds of transformation, a 
transformation that suggests that we need to be cautious in our 
relationship with people of different mentality, ethnic/tribal affiliations, 
religious and ideological differences. It has often be said by all and 
sundry that the world has become a global village with each unit of that 
village having its own ideologies and models.  

In defining the concept “youth” in Nigeria,, the Federal Ministry 
of Youth and Sports Development on May 24, 2019 launched the 
Revised National Youth Policy, 2019 with youth stakeholders in Akure, 
Ondo State. The review which was long overdue – the 2009 Policy states 
that it should be reviewed periodically (every five years) – was due for 
review in 2014. However, due to various challenges, the policy review 
process was not completed till 2019 (an additional five years after the last 
review was to have taken place). 

In the 2019 Policy Foreword, the Minister of Youth and Sports 
Development, Solomon Dalung, quickly points out that, ‘A major thrust 
of the current review is regarding the age bracket for the classification of 
youth from existing grading of 18 – 35 years to 15 – 29 years. The review 
is informed by practical empirical analysis and the need to promote the 
appropriate targeting of desired beneficiaries of intervention programmes 
for the youth rather than adults masquerading as youth.’ Internet source 
(May 28, 2019) 

However, this paper focuses on formation of the Christian youth 
and its implication on integral development in the Nigerian society. The 
act of forming people is quite onerous and challenging. It therefore 
demands all the time and attention one can possibly give in seeing to the 
realization of that goal of making impact on the human persons and in 
this case the youth, so as to assist in the integral development of the 



372 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Nigerian society. This paper shall adopt the socio-historic approach in its 
research methodology. 

 
Integral Formation of the Christian Youth in Nigeria 
The formation of the Christian youth in Nigeria starts from birth. One  
born into a Christian family as a child automatically shares from the table 
of other Christians at home, in the school and up to his/her work place. 
As a Christian such a child displays the traits of Christianity inherited 
from his/her parents and live with that until he/she begins to live on 
his/her own. This brings us to the idea of what a name truly means. 
There is nothing like a good name, it is often said. It endures forever and 
never dies. A good image means a good name, a positive reputation, a 
respectable noble, self-comportment among the members of one’s 
community. Iroegbu (2000, p.186) 
 Often the fraudulent and wicked though rich, end up as persona non 
grata (undesired persons) in the long run. They build on the vanishing, 
and sooner or later they vanish with it. An old English primary school 
poem has it:  

The loss of gold is much, 
The loss of time is more, 
The loss of honour is such a loss 
That no man can restore.  Iroegbu (2000, p.187) 

 To loss one’s name, one’s honour and reputation is a disaster that is 
unhealable, unrecuperable. It can practically not be restored. The human 
person and in this case the youth, has an image, that of divinity. The 
divine is being in goodness, perfection and love. It is therefore a great 
value to be one who mirrors goodness, excellence and love. What makes 
a good name is for one to be good and not wicked to others; to be 
excellent in performance in your trained and talented area; and to have 
loving-kindness, a caring, understanding and tolerant heart. Therein lies 
the good image of a person. These are the values that last forever. 
Iroegbu (2000, p.187) 
 The place of the family in formation the young people in the society 
cannot be overemphasized. In all societies North and South, changes 
appear to be under way, as a result of which individuals and social groups 
are subjecting their relationships with the family, politics, the economy 
and religion to a critical review, albeit at varying speeds. By so doing the 
traditional concept of society is being stood on its head. Indeed, there is 
talk of ‘a crisis of social cohesion’.  Several authors, including Hervieu-
Leger believe the emergence of new models of family will bring about 
‘institutional deregulation’ or ‘deinstitutionalisation’. Roussel even 
alludes to a dual form of deinstitutionalisation within the family affecting 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    373 

both the rules and laws which governs it and the normative framework 
to which it adheres. Guiblehon (2017, pp.71- 72) 
 It is important to mention here with regards to formation of the 
Christian youth in Nigeria just as elsewhere around the world how 
certain practices by the male folks in our society can affect the psychic of 
both the young girl and boy. In many cultural and religious traditions the 
woman’s body is conceived in such a way that the autonomy of her will 
and wishes is completely denied. She is often seen as an object for 
unlimited access. It is not uncommon to find that in many cases of rape, 
the tendency is to blame the woman rather than the man. A particular 
fashionable example is the reference to the so –called “provocative dress” 
of women as if this is a good excuse for violating their persons in cases of 
rape. Another typical example is what is portrayed in John 8:3-5a “The 
scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in 
adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, 
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 
Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women” But the 
law as stipulate in the book of Leviticus required that both the adulterer 
and the adulteress should be stoned to death (Lev. 20:10). In the case 
cited in the passage quoted above, the rule is bent and the woman alone 
was condemned to be stoned to death. This is a case where rules and 
regulations are used to control the body of the woman. Amoah (1996, 
p.80) With this kind of orientation, young men often believe that the 
world is theirs and therefore see women as tools only for their pleasure 
not minding women’s disposition to such act. This kind of orientation 
need to be moderated, whereby women should perceive themselves as 
the image and likeness of God and men are to see them as such and show 
them all the respect they truly deserve. 
 There is also the existence of mental and spiritual violence as well as 
the fact that physical violence can harm and destroy not only the body 
but also the human spirit. There is the need to transform ourselves and 
our world; we need to foster. And gather empowering resources of 
strength for new cultural creation and transformation. That is why we 
need new forms of spirituality: spirituality for life which helps and 
sustain us in choosing life, to affirm, increase, and trust life, and to 
recognize the energy and power of God’s spirit in all the movements of 
life. Spirituality is quite imperative in formation of the Christian youth. 
For many people, spirituality is a soft word, something idealistic and 
dreamy, even sugary, like the icing of a cake, or it is understood merely as 
something inward, personal, private, or escapist. Spirituality must not be 
considered as something abstract, divorced from life, as a far-flung 
saintly ideal for the devout and few; on the contrary, it is something very 



374 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

concrete, strong, physical and material, embodied, something we can 
really touch and be in touch with. Ursula (1996, p.152)  
 There exists a strong tradition in spiritual teaching about the 
necessity for a discernment of spirits: what is good and what is bad, what 
is debilitating, distorting spirituality, and what is a strengthening, 
nourishing one which can bring about growth, lead us to the fullness of 
life, and endow us with the strength of wisdom. Spirituality is deeply 
grounded in human experience, but it is also linked to the belief that 
there is a greater, fuller reality which surrounds, beckons, and calls us. 
Christians speak of the call to holiness and perfection implicit in the 
gospel, which says, “You must be perfect as your (parent) in heaven is 
perfect” (Mt. 5:48). From the beginning of Christianity the search for 
spiritual perfection, of life lived in the spirit of God, has led to new forms 
of life, to asceticism, monasticism, and mysticism. Countless Christian 
writers, from the desert fathers and mothers to medieval and modern 
saints and mystics, have written about their spiritual quests and struggles, 
left instructions and teachings, and provided us with models of Christian 
discipleship and holiness. Ursula (1996, p.152) 
 As An interpretative, existential tool, Ursula (1996) opines that 
spirituality is the attitude and interpretation we adopt towards our own 
experiences to give them meaning, to make sense of them. We can do 
this by drawing on the resources of a religious faith, on a programme for 
action relating to justice and peace, on an ideal of being fully human, on 
a relationship of love and forgiveness. There is the need to discover the 
ever transcendent and yet so near horizon which surrounds us, envelops 
and cradles us. In this sense spirituality as the struggle for life is quite 
literally the immense effort, labour, and pain to produce and bring into 
life into this world, as women in collaboration with men always do, but 
also to attend to all details of growth, to nurture it with love and care, 
and struggle to live and survive against all odds, to make ends meet, to 
produce the food needed for so many mouths, to calm down fights and 
quarrels. It is more than merely struggling to survive; it is also the 
tremendous effort to live a fuller, more abundant, richer, and more 
meaningful human life. Understood in this sense, spirituality which is a 
great tool in formation of the Christian youth is the breath and blessing 
of life; it is the very bread of life. (154) 
  
The Nigerian Christian Youth and Interface with other Religions 
The Christian youth in Nigeria is faced with so many challenges as 
he/she strives to live out his/her live in a country that is passing through a 
difficult face in its history. Many observers today see Nigeria as one of 
the most religious nations on this planet. One can adduce that religion is 
the Nigerian culture as it permeates all aspects of the average life of a 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    375 

Nigerian from birth to death. In every city, town and village, the most 
imposing structures are religious houses. With such religiosity, one 
would readily have expected sanity in every area of life of every Nigerian. 
If Nigeria must become a peaceful nation and attain holistic 
development, there must be a better approach to the issue of how the 
Nigerian Christian youth is trained. I choose to lay emphasis on the 
Nigerian Christian youth, because he/she is the focus or target of this 
paper. (Otonko (2018, p.1) 
 Religion is a worldwide phenomenon which has played a part in all 
human cultures. It is an aspect of human experience that may intersect, 
incorporate or transcend other aspects of life and society. Nigeria is 
clearly a religiously pluralized society. Three religions, however, stand 
out very clearly. These are African Traditional Religion (ATR), Islam 
and Christianity. Islam entered Nigeria by the eleventh century and 
Christianity set roots in about the early 15th century. Since inception, the 
two religions have grown steadily on the Nigerian soil. One would 
ordinarily expect that the country should be reaping the good fruits of 
these two religions presently. Sadly, however, in Nigeria, especially in 
recent years, the pages of several newspapers, news items and comments 
on the radio and television, articles in journals and magazines, and also 
the social media, fall over themselves identifying and reporting the 
periodic religious upheavals in the country and the adverse effects these 
have had on the citizenry. Thus, religious crises have become a ready 
tool for all forms of national disagreements and conflicts. Because the 
North-South dichotomy is coterminous with Muslim-Christian entities, 
every argument in the land is more often than not very readily given 
religious interpretation. This orientation or perception of national issues 
has become a lethal threat to the corporate existence of the nation. 
(Otonko (2018, pp. 7-8) 
 Extremism has been extolled in the practice of religion in the 
contemporary Nigerian society. Various provocative seminal topics are 
often on the lips of preachers, and these often make people of divergent 
religious inclinations live in awe of one another. This tide has persisted, 
thereby helping to widen and deepen the dichotomy that exists among 
adherents of different religions in Nigeria. Thus religions which ought 
to preach peace, and which should be harbingers of this peace, have 
become avenues leading to riots, clashes and cold wars between citizens 
of the country. This certainly looks like an outrageous clash of 
paradigms. (Otonko (2018, p.8) 
 One may wonder why this analysis of the Nigerian Christian youth 
and the interface with other religions. It is for the simple reason that in 
forming the Christian youth, first by the parents who constitute the first 
church the youth ever knew while growing up, the church and the 



376 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

school, especially Christian schools must educate the youth to be tolerant 
towards other religions and adherents of other religions.  
 
The Family as Agent of Youth Formation 
Hervieu-Leger in her analysis of the anthropology of the Church asserts 
that it favours the biblical model of marriage and the family on the 
grounds that the norm-the one true married family, following biblical 
norms, established by God consists of a father (male), a mother (female) 
and the children they conceive together and that the family is the only 
natural institution capable of laying the ground for the establishment of a 
bond between spouses, parents and children. Guiblehon (2017,p.77) 
 Assessing Hervieu-Leger this form of anthropology which makes 
marriage the unique, sole and unequivocal benchmark of all human 
conjugality, leans too heavily on the ‘divine will which, it is assumed, is 
expressed by a natural order explicitly linking a union with procreation 
and preserving the principle of submission by women to men.’ She 
however concludes that this model fails to give recognition to the fact 
that the creation of an ideal couple is based on the virtue of love. For this 
reason, she regards it as rather discriminatory. Also, there have been 
increasing calls, even among the Church faithful urging respect for 
individual choices and for the ‘menu of options’. It is quite a 
challenge to talk of specifically African concepts of marriage and the 
family, since the influence of Western models and practices is extensive. 
However, to be docile and not proactive would be tantamount to suicide 
for the Church, which might be forced to accept a model it feels intense 
dislike or disgust for. It would appear, therefore, that the Church in 
Nigeria just as in many parts of Africa has little choice but to formulate 
its own model of the family which remains true to the Church as well as 
the rich African heritage and its ideas on the family, which include a 
strong feeling for relationships, kinship and brotherhood, a sense of the 
importance of solidarity, hospitality, respect for elders and traditions, and 
a sense of honour for and attachment to ancestors, all of which help to 
maintain group equilibrium (pp.78-80) 
 Christian parents should aim at raising children who love and serve 
the Lord. Perhaps, this is their most important goal. They need to tell 
their children about the Lord and teach them about his love, so that they 
come to know the Lord on a personal basis. It is not strange to see 
children today who do not want to attend Church services. Often, 
Christian parents feel baffled because their efforts at trying to raise their 
children in the knowledge of God does not seem to be working, 
especially as their efforts run up against indifference or resistance in the 
children. Some children do not want to hear about the Lord. They do 
not want any part in family devotions. Often times, it is easy for parents 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    377 

to lose faith and decide that their children really do not have any desire 
for the Lord or his life. Ralph (1978, p.139) 

We have it often said that ‘it is the habit a child forms at home 
that he exhibits outside and the manners that a girl-child learnt at home 
that accompany her to her husband’s house’. It is not what the child 
learnt in school that is mentioned here. When many today refer to 
education as the greatest legacy parents can bequeath to their children, 
such persons seem to undermine informal education which encompasses 
the rudiments of moral and religious formation. For those who have the 
means, the services of house helps would do in place of their parental 
responsibility. This is rather an ill-disposition towards the formation of 
the young ones since as the saying goes, “blood is thicker than water”. It 
is a valid submission that no nanny or house help will ever satisfactorily 
fulfill the duties of parents with regard to the raising of children. Parents 
need to perform their role as parents for the proper formation of their 
children and for the good of our society. Onoise (2013, p.38) 
 
The Church and Formation of the Christian Youth in Nigeria  
Christians comprise of the clergy and the laity and their task involves 
evangelism and proselytism. The general activities in the Church are 
presided over by the religious leaders who are mandated to perform due 
to their special positions. Religious leaders are persons who are trained 
and set apart to carry out spiritual rites and ceremonies, offer sacrifices to 
God sp as to obtain graces, favours and spiritual harmony. Hence, the 
clergy are symbols and representatives, spiritual and moral guardians of 
God’s love to and for humanity. They are personal representatives, 
mouth – pieces of the divine will, teachers and interpreters of the sacred 
mysteries and spiritual counselors in their communities. Muyomi (2011, 
p.505) This indicates that the church has an important role in the 
formation of the Christian youth in Nigeria. 
 The traditional position of the mission of the Church heavily 
emphasized the spiritual perspective. This stand needs to be modified, 
when we take into consideration the increasing crises in society such as 
population explosion, famine, poverty, wars, political oppression, 
muzzling of freedoms of expression, worship. Movement and 
association, corruption at all levels, increase in refugees and lack of 
provision of medical care, education and other services. (p.505) The 
proliferation of street children and street dwellers can be associated not 
only to poverty but also the break up of the marriage and family 
structures, as well as a clear indication of the failure of the leaders to 
ensure socio-economic parity. These groups of people lead a 
dehumanizing, destitute and desperate lifestyle.(p.507) 
 



378 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The School and the Task of Formation 
Christian schools are quite germane in the all round formation of the 
youth. It does not matter if such youth are Christians or Muslims as 
exemplified in the fact that most of the early nationalists in Nigeria who 
were at the forefront of clamouring for Nigeria’s political independence 
went through Christian schools, especially Catholic schools. The 
Catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the Church, 
especially for education in the faith. Remembering that ‘the 
simultaneous development of man’s psychological and moral 
consciousness is demanded by Christ almost as a precondition for the 
reception of the appropriate divine gifts of truth and grace’, the Church 
fulfills her obligation to foster in her children a full awareness of their 
rebirth to a new life. It is precisely in the Gospel of Christ, taking root in 
the minds and lives of the faithful, that the Catholic school finds its 
definition as it comes to terms with the cultural conditions of the times. 
Flannery (2002, p.608) 
 While policies and opportunities differ from place to place, the 
Catholic school has its place in any national school system. By offering 
such an alternative the Church wishes to respond to the obvious need for 
cooperation in a society characterized by cultural pluralism. By so doing, 
she assists in promoting that freedom of conscience and the parental 
right to choose the school best suited to parents’ educational objectives. 
There is a sort of conviction that the Catholic schools, with their 
educational objectives, perform a vital service for the Church in today’s 
world. The Church takes part in cultural dialogue through schools, 
making her own positive contribution to the cause of the integral 
formation of man. There is the belief that the absence of the Catholic 
school would be a great loss for civilization and for the natural and 
supernatural destiny of man. (p.609)   
 
Self as Agent of Formation 
While agents such as the family, the school, the church and society are all 
key players in the the process of formation of the Christian youth; 
however the major actor in the formation drama is the youth. Self – 
mastery for self-giving is the solid principle of relating to others with 
success. Only a fine disciplined mind in a well ordered body can create 
and achieve something worthwhile for himself and for others. Scholars 
of literary and historical tell us that the greatest victor on earth is not he 
who conquers kingdoms and nations. For these are only temporary and 
external. The greatest victor is he who conquers himself. It is one who 
has perfect control over his unruly emotions, wild desires and bad 
tempers. The body and mind are by nature wild. They wander away and 
get scattered thereby scattering the productive energies of the person, if 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    379 

left uncontrolled. In some persons this trait is more dramatic than in 
others, yet all have a battle- against-self to win. Iroegbu (2000, p.186) 
 The value of self-mastery is fundamental. It is to train oneself in self-
control and good character formation. This is through the formation of 
contrary habits that bring to order the areas most prone to unruliness. 
Form good habits. Practice good behavior. Educate the senses. Train the 
faculties in the right direction. It makes one a perfect gentleman or 
woman. Many also utilize the spiritual methods, others athletic, and 
some other still normal human practices of self-restraint and self-
containment. For instance if your problem is that you talk like a parrot 
without control, you can choose to practice restraining  your tongue by 
using your hand to shut your mouth or using your teeth to hold your 
tongue because the urge to talk break loose in the nervous system. If one 
sees himself as a lazy person, the best and proper thing to do is to follow 
hard working people or group, not to draw them to his lazy-cushion, but 
to be inspired by them to wake up from one’s laziness-slumber. As a rule 
of thumb, constant systematic practice will bring about self-mastery and 
self-development in the desired context. Self-mastery helps in fidelity to 
one’s life commitments, to nobility of life and to general good 
comportment. It makes one a gentle and good person. By so doing, the 
persons acquires peace and joy of life. It is a great value (p.186). 
 
Food for Thought 
Formation is an ongoing process in our journey in life. Formation does 
not end till death. We need to realize that the fact that formation exists 
means that one would continue to get formed from the time one is 
conceived in his or her mother’s womb with the collaboration of God 
and of one’s father. That is why it seems out of place for any person to 
feel that whoever is not receptive to integral formation is doomed in life 
and should be sent out from such a society or community. 
 Those involved in the formation of the youth have a herculean task 
in their hands. Such persons first and foremost must bear in mind that 
they have a difficult project ahead of them and must work assiduously to 
achieve good results. Backing out of the project is a sign of failure or 
weakness or both. Formation involves the physical and the spiritual 
aspects. The formator must understand the physical and spiritually 
dimensions of training if they are to come up with great impact and 
excellent results.  
 When there are problems or challenges in the forming of any human 
person and in this regard, the youth, there are indicators to  put into very 
serious consideration which includes that if there is failure or successes 
recorded, the person being formed and the formator has his/her share in 
whatever went wrong or right in the training process. This means that 



380 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the right approach or strategy must be adopted and the youth being 
formed need to be receptive to training.   
 It is not longer news that many young people in Nigeria today 
including Christian youths have the mindset to acquire wealth at all cost 
even if it means stealing from others. This attitude possibly is an offshoot 
of the corrupt and immodest life style not only by the Nigerian political 
elites and others who the youth often look up to, but also sometimes by 
key players in Nigerian Christianity.. Many youths in Nigeria in trying 
to imitate the much older people end up being corrupt by acquiring 
those traits which are not in the best interest of Nigeria as a nation. 
 In the twenty first century, there is the need for policy and decision 
makers; including formators in all areas of life in Nigeria to encourage 
the youths to be job creators rather than job seekers. This means that 
entrepreneurship should be encouraged in our school curriculum. 
Presently, though entrepreneurship is being taught in tertiary institutions 
in Nigeria, it is however not yet fully understood clearly by the students. 
Many youths simply see the act of entrepreneurship as only important in 
passing examinations. Formators need to do more in educating the 
young people of its importance in the growth and development of 
Nigeria. 

Also, formators including the government and the Church need 
to look critically at those indicators which make the youth in Nigeria to 
be rebellious against the system. In Nigeria for instance the issue of 
unemployment has become a major challenge. The lack of good living 
condition of the young people and their inability to raise their profile to 
the level they would have expected have turned the youths into all forms 
of unruly behaviour and criminality. This aspect need to be seriously 
addressed. The youth should be made to realize that migrating to other 
countries in search of greener pasture is not necessarily the solution to 
their problems. The solution may just be to look inward and take their 
destinies in their own hands by believing in their ability to stand firm 
even in the midst of what may look at insurmountable challenges. 

The government has a big role to play in the attitude and 
development of the Nigerian youth irrespective of the religious 
affiliation of such youth. The problem of insecurity needs serious 
attention. There is the need to tackle the problem of insecurity 
emanating from the Fulani herdsmen who constantly terrorize people on 
our highways, farms and even residential areas. There are also the 
constant threats posed by the Boko Haram in their reckless bombing and 
killing of innocent and harmless Nigerians including the youth force. If 
the youths are to be well formed, security in all areas is key to unlocking 
the numerous potentials in our youths.    
 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    381 

Concluding Remarks 
The youth constitute the bedrock of the future in any given society, and 
this makes it imperative that genuine and serious effort be made so as to 
assist in his formation. Any society or group that neglects the training of 
young people is gradually losing its relevance and future in our world. 
For this reason, the Church must continue to strive for the proper and 
all round formation of her youth because in the youth lies the 
continuous growth and development of the Church in our society that is 
gradually heading towards secularism and all forms of anti Christian 
tendencies. If the Nigerian society is to grow and develop, the young 
people need to be made to channel their energy towards making 
themselves available for the right kind of formation that befits a follower 
of Christ.  

However, those involved in formation of the Christian youth 
must never give up in their effort at getting the right result in their effort 
at formation of the youth in meeting the numerous challenges of the 21st 
century. They need to have the right spirituality which should aim at 
attracting the youth to the things of God and the Church. A genuine 
formator should not be someone who would always display the attitude 
which seems to portray that the youth should only do what he the 
formator says and not imitate his actions.  

The family, the school, the Church and the society should 
continue to actively participate in the training and re-training of our 
young people for the purpose of developing the Nigerian society 
positively; but for formation to be total, is the will and responsibility of 
the young person being formed. Often times, punishment of the person 
being trained is not only the best solution, and also sending the young 
person out of a particular system or institution is not only the best 
method of formation, except it is very apparent that such a youth has 
become a real danger to others within the system. Extra effort is required 
from all those involved in formation so as to achieve the desired goal of 
integral formation. Giving up on the young person being trained so 
easily no matter the challenges encountered is the easiest way of 
neglecting one’s responsibility as a true formator.  

A great thinker was asked about the meaning of life. He replied, 
LIFE itself has no meaning, it is an opportunity to create a meaning..! 
“Be honest when in trouble and be simple when in wealth. Be polite 
when in authority and be silent when in anger” “This is called “The life 
management.” Let us all join hands in the act of formation of the 
Christian youth so as to bring about the integral development of the 
Nigerian society in this twenty first century. 

 
 



382 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

References 
Amoah, E. (1996) “Violence and Women’s Bodies in African Perspective” Mananzan, 

Mary John et. al (Eds). Women Resisting Violence: Spirituality for Life. Orbis 

Books. 

Flannery, A. (Ed.)  (2002) Vatican Council II: More Post Conciliar Documents. St. 

Pauls. 

Guiblehon, B. (2017) “Contemporary Changes in Family Forms and their Diversity in 

Africa Today” in Klaus Kramer and Klaus Vellguth (Eds). Family: Living Life 

Together in the Church and the World (One World Theology, Volume 10). 

Cleretian Communications Foundations, Inc. 

Iroegbu, P. (2000) Kpim of Personality, Treatise on the Human Person: Respect, 

Solidarity, Liberty. Eustel Publications (Nig). 

Muyomi, M. J. (2011) “Leadership : The Church and Civil Society”  African Ecclesial 

Review (AFER), Vol. 53, Nos. 3 & 4.  

“Nigeria’s new age of Classification”. Punch Online, May 28, 2019. 

https://punchng.com/nigerias-new-youth-age-classification/. Accessed on 

March 19, 2020 

Onoise, F.A. (2013) Virtues and Values. Concept production Kreativzone. 

Otonko, J.O. (2018). Religion, Politics and Society: Nagging Issues. Pyla-mak 

Publishers. 

Ralph, M. (1978). Husbands, Wives, Parents, Children: Foundations for the Christian 

Family. Servant Books 

Ursula, K. (1996) “Spirituality for Life” Mananzan, Mary John et. al (Eds). Women 

Resisting Violence: Spirituality for Life. Orbis Books. 



383 

28 

THE CONCEPT OF SACRIFICE IN YORUBA 

RELIGION AND CULTURE 
 

Prof. Ikechukwu Anthony, KANU (OSA) 
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies 
Tansian University, Umunya Anambra State 

ikee_mario@yahoo.com 
& 

Immaculata Olu, OMOJOLA, (SSMA), Ph.D 
Department of Business Administration and Management 

Villanova Polytechnic Imesi Ile Osun State 
omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 

& 
Mike Boni, BAZZA, Ph.D 

Department of History and International Relations 
Veritas University Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria) 

danbazza68@gmail.com 
 

Abstract 
Sacrifice occupies a fundamental place in the practice of African traditional 
religion. It is through sacrifices that the African relates to the spiritual 
beings, both good and bad, that surround him. His offerings of thanksgiving 
to the gods are offered through the making of sacrifices. When the time 
comes for the appeasement of the gods and other spiritual beings, it is 
through sacrifice that is done. However, this paper is concerned about 
sacrifice among the Yoruba people.  In the traditional Yoruba religion and 
culture, sacrifice is referred to as (Ebo). It connotes offering something to a 
particular deity or cult in other to be in communion with them or to seek 
favours. It was very common and regular because sacrifices have both 
positive and negative effects. It is believed that Olodumare-God in Yoruba 
belief has deities that are mediators between him and human beings. It is 
then very important to offer sacrifices to these gods in other to represent 
them well in the presence of Olodumare. Items for sacrifices are regularly 
prescribed by the Ifa priests and how to carry out the approved sacrifice. 
This paper therefore gives explanation about the meaning and importance of 
sacrifice in the traditional Yoruba culture. It, however, observed that 
civilization has reduced the frequency of this practice, not making an 

mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com
mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk
mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com


384 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

emphatic statement that they are no longer in practice but that they are done 
most of the time in secret. For the purpose of this study, the phenomenolo-
gical method of inquiry would be employed. 
 
Key words: Sacrifice, Concept, Yoruba, Deities, Gods, Olodumare, Ifa, 
Ebo and Appeasement. 
 

Introduction  
Sacrifice is a way of offering something to gain another thing. It has 
meaning when someone renounces or gives up something to be 
rewarded with another object. The concept of sacrifice sounds like trade 
by barter- making exchange for something.  Sacrifice is to give away 
something valuable for the possibility of gaining something of a great 
value in return. This can come in form of self-respect, trust, love, 
freedom, favours and prosperity. It may even be for the purpose of 
avoiding greater loss, which means, retaining what is of value to 
someone. “The giving up or foregoing of some valued thing for the sake 
of something of greater value or having a more pressing claim”  Nu 
(2013). It can also be the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals 
to a higher purpose, in particular divine beings, as an act of propitiation 
or worship. Therefore, sacrifice is made for the purpose of worship and 
appeasement, for avoiding loss and for attaining a better thing. When it 
comes to worship in Africa however, sacrifice is the most primary and 
basic form of ritual and Nu (2013) upholds that “The Africans believe 
that verbalization is not enough in one’s relationship with the 
supernatural. Ifa divination serves as a preamble to prayer. Via Ifa 
divination we can ascertain how to pray, to whom to pray and for what.”  

Sacrifice in African religion according to Awolalu and Dopamu 
(1979) is the act of offering the life of animal, person or object to the 
divine power or powers. Nu (2013) is of the opinion that For the 
Yoruba, divining (Ifa) serves as an approach to prayer and shows one why 
they need to pray and shows one the best procedure for elevating one’s 
prayer via some form of sacrifice. In this world of many choices, this 
complex and varied approach is still miraculously accurate and effective. 
In this world of choices, this complex and varied approach is 
necessary.The write up on Ifaglobal network in (2018) presents this 
definition to sacrifice (ebo) in Yoruba culture. “Ebo means sacrifice. Ebo 
is a ritual. Ebo is the prescription that is given within the IFA divination. 
It is the medicine used to solve problems. Ebo is a combination of 
materials that symbolically has meaning to a person' situation.”  

This is very important in every religious celebration and worship. 
Sacrifice is mainly for the purpose of contact or communion between the 
divine and man and to maintain relationship. Man has always employed 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    385 

this means to pay dues to divinity, to ask for favours and to influence the 
divinity to be interested in the affairs of man. Africans hold sacrifice in 
high esteem because it is being directed to God. Blood sacrifice is the 
most important and efficacious of all sacrifices in the understanding of 
African rituals. This is evident in the offering of animal and human 
beings.  
 Human sacrifice is also predominant in Yoruba culture and religion. 
“This is a practice found in every race and culture throughout the world” 
Awolalu and Dopamu (1979).  

It has its relevance in offering the best to the divine to satisfy 
him, especially in difficult times like the loom of epidemic, drought, war, 
flood, earthquakes or calamity. Human sacrifice was also done to 
accompany the dedication of a new temple or bridge, upon the death of a 
king, high priest and great leader. The sacrificed were supposed to serve 
or accompany the deceased leader in the next life. The story of Moremi, a 
Yoruba woman is relevant here. Moremi was a very brave and beautiful 
woman who, in order to deal with the problem facing her people, 
pledged a great sacrifice to the Spirit of the river Esimirin so that she 
could discover the strength of her nation's enemies. Moremi, following 
the war she returned to her first husband, King Oramiyan of Ife (and 
later Oyo), who immediately had her re-instated as his queen. In order 
to fulfil the pledge she made to Esimirin before embarking on her 
mission, her son Oluorogbo was given in sacrifice to the Spirit because this 
is what it asked her for when she returned to its shrine.   
 

Who are the Yoruba? 
Yoruba people according to Atanda (1989) one of the major ethnic 
groups in modern Nigeria and they effectively occupy the whole of 
Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos State and a substantial part of Kwara State. 
A considerable number of Yoruba people also inhabit the South- Eastern 
part of Republic of Benin (formal Dahomey). In the same vain, 
Ogunyemi (2015) affirms that Yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic 
groups of Nigeria, concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. 
Much smaller, scattered groups live in Benin and Northern Togo. The 
Yoruba numbered more than 20 million at the turn of the 21st century. 
Yoruba people have shared a common language and culture for centuries. 

Most Yoruba men are farmers, growing yams, corn (maize), and 
millet as staples and plantains, peanuts (groundnuts), beans, and peas as 
subsidiary crops; cocoa is a major cash crop. Others are traders or 
craftsmen. Women do little farm work but most of them sell produce 
from their husband’s farm and they also do other trades like weaving, 
dyeing and midwives. Each community has leaders generally known as 



386 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Oba or Kabiyesi with his chiefs. These people are held in highest honour 
and in some cases, they are ritual leaders.    

Yoruba as a group dwell in a world of myths, metaphors, poetry, 
and they strongly belief in Ifa divination system, which guides their steps 
and decisions. “Yoruba philosophy is best understood as a folk 
philosophy, a set of narratives and cultural practices that attempt to 
explain the causes and the nature of things affecting the corporeal and 
the spiritual universe.’ Ogunyemi (2015) .Yoruba people are community 
people; this is visible in their interaction with others especially during 
celebrations. Their communal life is also visible in their mode of 
dressing uniformly and sharing of common diets. Ogunyemi (2015) 
explains their communal life thus “the Yoruba also have several kinds of 
voluntary associations, including the egbe, a male recreational association; 
the aaro, a mutual-aid association of farmers; and the esusu, whose 
members contribute a fixed amount of money and from which they can 
receive loans.” Iwofa was also a practice among Yoruba people where a 
son or daughter is used as collateral until loan is paid. They also value 
honesty, humility, respect for others and diligence. All these are 
transmitted from generation to generation through oral traditions.  
 

Yoruba Concept of Sacrifice 
Sacrifice known as Ebo is very common in indigenous Yoruba culture. 
Indeed, is it part of their daily activities and likely items like: sheep, goat, 
food, fruits, eggs and any other prescribed stuff by the priest of the 
particular god to offer sacrifice to are used for sacrifices. After all, the 
write up on Ifaglobal network in (2018) shows that “all of the ebo 
materials come from the Odu Ifa that was cast, each condiment represent 
an important part of solving the clients problems, there is no condiment 
that should be left out. Basic condiments that are always present during 
any ebo i.e Cool water (omi tutu), honey (oyin), and gin (oti). Each one 
of these condiments are agents that supports the ebo, each condiments 
has its roll that it plays in the ebo ritual.”  

These sacrifices are either exposed in the shrines, cross-roads, 
market places, some may even been buried, at times Yoruba eat or share 
sacrifices together with friends or community. However, how to go 
about the presentation of a particular sacrifice depends on the 
prescription of the diviner.  These gods have their taste and taboos as 
well.  Sacrifice is offered everyday by individual families so as to be in 
communion with the divinity. Community sacrifices are equally 
preformed regularly.  

It is part of the belief of Yoruba that one’s a sacrifice is offered for 
a given purpose, through the consultation with Ifa that the solution is 
provided for the problem in question. Sacrifice must be offered regularly 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    387 

both in good and bad times. Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) carefully 
explain this as follows: “In a culture with strong beliefs in fairies and 
mystical causation, protective rituals and sacrifices are regularly 
performed. People must be protected from the wrath of fairies, and fairy-
human social relationships must be harmonized. Therefore, whenever 
any misfortune occurs in Yorùbá society and the source remains unknown, 
both humans and invisible spirits are subjects of divination by the people 
concerned. To complete any divination process, there is always a prescribed 
sacrifice. Whether the prediction of the divination is good or bad, the client 
must always offer a sacrifice. If the prediction is good, a sacrifice will 
quicken a positive outcome; if the prediction is evil, a sacrifice will help 
dispel the ill effects.”  

In addition to this, Obara-meji (2014) affirms that “It is important 
that the sacrifice be given on time, as a matter of fact immediately, as it is 
prescribed. Ifa says, “There is no difference between the person that refuses 
to offer sacrifice on time and the one that did not offer at all”. The write up 
on Ifaglobal network in (2018), settle for this in attempt to respond to what 
happens if Ebo is not done after consultation with the oracle? “Then you 
run the chances of making another problem occur stronger than your first 
problem you started with. It is not advisable to delay your ebo process 
especially when the odu has appeared. You should follow the guidance 
and wisdom of IFA and your IFA Priest who did the consultation. Once 
you have done IFA Divination you must always know that you have to 
do ebo, they both work hand in hand together. The ebo helps to shift one' 
circumstance to a balanced outcome.”  
 
Types or Categories of Sacrifice 
There are seven types or categories of sacrifice in Yoruba culture as 
Idowu (1969) affirms, this was later re-echoed by Awolalu and Dopamu 
(1979) as follows: Meal and Drink sacrifice is offered daily by individual 
and families to continue to appreciate the deity or divinity and to be in 
communion with the god. The head of the family is responsible for 
coordinating this sacrifice which can be termed as Morning Prayer for a 
particular household. Libation is poured here and prayers are offered. 
Individual present or interested members may be asked to add some 
intentions while all in attendance respond in resounding amen. This is 
equally done at feast days where food and drinks are prepared for 
sharing; all present must partake in it. There is no prearranged food; it 
depends on whatever the community can afford.   

The second type is thanks –offering. This is done whenever a 
favour is received, like at the arrival of a new baby or one escaped from a 
misfortune or danger.  This type of sacrifice can also be performed when 
one is asking for a particular blessing. Items like animal, fruits, vegetables 



388 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

or articles that may be useful in the shrine are presented for sacrifice. At 
annual festival however, this is important as everybody would be 
encouraged to come with voluntary items for sacrifice.  

The third one is votive offering. In the process of making a 
request, one may make a vow. This vow is an agreement between the 
god and the receiver of gift. In Yoruba culture, any vow made must be 
paid, if not the receiver may not be able to cope with the consequences. 
The case of Oluronbi can be applicable here, who in the process of asking 
for a child promised to return this child to Iroko tree after a while. Her 
request was eventually granted with the gift of a handsome baby boy 
which she did not want to release as promised. One day according to this 
story, as she was returning from the market in the company of this boy, 
passing under Iroko tree, the boy disappeared and was nowhere to be 
found. It was latter interpreted that Iroko tree claimed what was its own 
and Oluronbi went home sorrowful.   

Another category of sacrifice is propitiation or expiation. This is 
done when the fury of the divinity is at its peak. Sacrifice here is offered 
to appease the god in pacification. Asking for forgiveness of past sins and 
promising to live a better life. It has its purpose in gaining back the 
favour of the deity. Sacrifices offered here are not shared! It is mainly for 
the divinity and must be treated as the divinity instructs. After the 
sacrifice has been duly offered, the person in question is relieved from 
the anger or chastisement of the divinity.  

The fifth category of sacrifice is substitutionary sacrifice or 
offering. This is done as soon as a person is marked to die or there is a 
revelation that a particular person will die. An animal is used to 
substitute for the person. Other agreed items may be added. The items 
are rubbed against the body of the person in this situation and parked 
like a corpse for burial. This takes the place of the person that this type of 
sacrifice is prescribed for. It is then understood that the person is dead as 
pronounced. Obara meji (2014) gives a beautiful analysis of this type of 
sacrifice using his personal example thus:  “When  I did my  initiation to 
Ifa  (Itefa) I was told that my father would die, this was many years ago, 
this came out on the seventh day of my initiation which is called Ije, this 
is when all the Babalawos gather around and each of them tell you 
something from the Odu, your destiny, which comes out for you during 
initiation, I was told that in order for the death to be removed from my 
father, a female Goat had to be given as sacrifice to Orunmila otherwise 
known as Ifa. It was given and accepted. The life of the Goat was given 
instead of the life of my father. I would say that was a fair exchange.” 

In the preventive sacrifice, it is done to avert sudden attack on a 
person or a community. An oracle may predict this beforehand or it may 
come through a consultation with the oracle when there is a problem like 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    389 

epidemic or a chain of adversities. A preventive sacrifice is performed to 
stop it. The last is foundation sacrifice. This is done at the start of any 
important step or stage in one’s life, for example, at birth, at puberty, 
during weeding, starting a building, settling down in a new town or 
when a new object has just been purchased. This type of sacrifice is to 
request for peace and progress in this new phase of life.  

Although Nu (2013) states in contrary to the above that “The 
variety of sacrifice includes time, song, dance, money, change and life 
force offerings.” This may not be totally acceptable in Yoruba context in 
the mind of the researcher. Nu’s ideas are more of actions that 
accompany worship and celebrations rather than what sacrifice (Ebo) 
means in Yoruba perspective. Except if variety in his definition does not 
denote types and categories. Considering the write up of Ifaglobal 
network in (2018), it has been concluded that types of Ebo has no 
perimeter as against the assertion of Idowu (1969), Awolalu and Dopamu 
(1979) above that agree on seven types or categories. “There are ebo for 
long life, prosperity, wealth, victory, health, money, peace of mind, 
honour, and respect and so on; there is no limit to ebo.”  

In general, sacrifices are means of existence for Yoruba people. It is 
part of their belief that some spirits control the world. They must constantly 
and regularly connect to these spirits so that the world will be a peaceful 
place for human beings to stay. Regarding this, Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) 
remark that “Broadly speaking, four forces are at play in Yorùbá ritual: gods, 
ancestors, witches and other supernatural powers, and human beings. The 
function of sacrifice is to enlist the support of these four forces to achieve 
the desired ends and to ensure that none of the forces work against one’s 
purpose.” Human beings must be part of it because most of the food 
prepared for sacrifices will be consumed by them and they must be rewarded 
for being witnesses at the shrine.    

At whatever time a sacrifice is prescribed by a deity through the 
priest or priestess, how to carry it out and items to be used will be 
recommended as well. This is particular to individual situation or in relation 
to those concerned. At times, ifa priest may carry out the sacrifice himself 
while the person drops money or items. It may be that the person should 
carry the sacrifice to a particular place to be accompanied by the priest. It 
could be the mother or friend of the person in question that would be 
asked to do it. There is no fixed person for this. Ifa must guide and the 
priest or priestess who is interpreting the mind of the deity must lead and 
see that it comes to a success.  
 
Conclusion   
This paper on sacrifice in Yoruba culture gives the meaning, types and 
importance of sacrifice (ebo) to the people and community. It is very 



390 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

important to offer sacrifice since the world is being ruled by spirits and 
gods according to their belief and these spirits and gods must be regularly 
appeased so as to gain favour from Olodumare. Within the traditional 
African worldview in general, you are mainly responsible for your own 
self-improvement. If you want to change your condition you must make 
sacrifice. Since the deities guide the steps of the indigenous Yoruba 
people, they must make consultations before taking any decisions. After 
consultation with ifa, the next step is to prescribe a type of sacrifice that 
will march the request of the one in quest of insight. This sacrifice must 
be performed to avoid calamities.  

Worship in Yoruba culture attracts a lot of, singing, drumming, 
and dancing especially during festivities. Worship can be a private affair 
whereby an individual venerates his or her personal deity, or it can be a 
public one, which was very common. Blood sacrifice was considered to 
be the uppermost hence the need to offer human beings and animals in 
the past. People would be ritually killed in a manner that was supposed 
to please or appease a god or spirit. Nowadays, human sacrifice is not 
very common since civilization has considered it as a murder. This has 
been replaced by animal sacrifice. Sacrifice is not celebrated as before 
either, this not to say that it is no longer in practice, but that it is not as 
popular as ever. We still have cases of seeing Ebo at cross roads and in 
front of some shines that are not hidden, without seen the person that 
put them there. Diviners are even consulted in secrets today; unlike 
before that it was done as a life style. In this age of civilization, ebo in 
Yoruba culture is done in secret. 
 

References 
Akíntúndé A and Fálọlá T. (Eds) (2016).  Encyclopedia of the Yoruba.  Bloomington, IN. 

Indiana University Press. Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. 

www.questia.com 

Awolalu P.A and Dopamu J.O (1979). West African Traditional Religion. Nigeria. 

Onibonoje press and Book Industries (Nig) Limited. 

Idowu E.B. (1969). Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief. London and Beccles. William Clowes 

and Sons Ltd. 

IFAGlobal Staff Writer.  https://www.ifaglobalsite.com/single-post/2018/12/11/What-Is-

The-Importance-Of-Ebo 2018. 

 Nu R. (2013). Ebo/Sacrifice Guarantees Success. https://africanspiritualitynow. 

wordpress.com/2013/05/13 /ebosacrifice/ 

Obara Meji (2014). Ifa- The Tradition of Sacrifice. Www.Embracingspiritulity.Com  

Ogunyemi Y.D. (2015). The Philosophy of the Yoruba. https://www.britannica.com 

/topic/The-Philosophy-of-the-Yoruba-2006354 

 



391 

29 

THE RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY OF 

AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN THE 

THEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF 

SEMINARIANS TODAY 
 

Dr. Chris. A. OBI 
Department of Religious Management and Cultural Studies, 

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo state. 
obichris@aauekpoma.edu.ng;chrisaobi@yahoo.com 

 
Abstract  
Speaking on the revision of ecclesiastical studies, Vatican II 
recommended among other theological courses that seminarians “should 
also be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are more 
widely spread through individual areas” (Optatam Totius 16). She 
reasoned that this will help them better understand the elements of 
goodness and truth such religions possess and learn how to disprove the 
errors in them in the process of sharing  the full light of the truth with 
those who lack it. Both Mbiti and Gyekye have noted that religion 
influences in a comprehensive way thoughts and actions of African life, 
fully determining practically every aspect of life including moral 
behaviour. The African lives in a religious universe in which all actions 
and thought have religious meaning and are inspired or influenced by a 
religious point of view. With African Traditional Religion (ATR), 
Christianity and Islam as Nigeria’s three main religions, Nigeria is a 
typical religious plural society. Each of these religions has their values. 
These values have served as a guide and control of human behaviour, 
dictating right from wrong and this is the most important aspect of 
religion, that is, its capacity to shape honorable human personality and 
values being in accord with human society. Some of the human and 
religious values in traditional society include honesty, education, 
morality, brotherhood tie, respect for elders and fellow citizens, good 
name, community living and family loyalty. One of the most significant 
values that traditional Nigerians hold to be of great importance is the 
wisdom of its elders which manifests in proverbs-speaking. This paper 

mailto:obichris@aauekpoma.edu.ng;chrisaobi@yahoo.com


392 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

examines the relevance of the study of African Traditional Religion in 
contemporary Catholic theological formation houses. The method 
adopted is multi-dimensional - analytical, historical, phenomenological 
and theological. Our findings highlight the main reasons or benefits of 
the study, the traditional values to be integrated in theological formation; 
that our contextualization of the Christian faith has to be based on a good 
knowledge of pre-Christian traditional heritage or the knowledge of 
earlier religious tradition in our local environment; and that African 
Christian theology must be diverse based on different cultural 
background, social-economic and political diversity and the diverse  
strands of Christian missionaries   that evangelized Africa. Our 
conclusion is that the African Christian theologian must engage in a 
serious dialogue with African traditional religion. He / She can longer lay 
claim to exclusive truth and condemn the non-Christian religion as a 
mere worship of idols as some Pentecostals would do.  
 
Keywords: African Traditional Religion, Traditional Values, African 
Christian Theology, Theological Formation                                 
 
Introduction 
In this new era of evangelization advocated by the Catholic Church 
today, one of the basic questions that have to be addressed is: “How have 
the African seminaries, in general, and the Nigerian ones in particular, 
faced the challenges and adjusted to the inevitable changes in the 
formation of their priests?” (Ekwunife, 2011). According to him, the 
primary goal of formation in Catholic seminaries is to produce men who 
will be intellectually, socially and spiritually equipped to be effective 
instruments of evangelization after their ordination. The seminary is 
expected to train capable priests, who in response to God’s grace, can 
collaborate with their Bishops and superiors in serving God’s people 
throughout the world. The importance of formation was recently 
stressed by Pope Paul II in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to the 
Bishops, Clergy and the faithful so that the end products of Catholic 
priestly formation may become with the sacrament of Orders, “a living 
image of Jesus Christ, Head and Shepherd of the Church” (Pastores  Da 
Vobis 42). 
 Speaking earlier on the revision of ecclesiastical studies, Vatican II 
recommended among other theological courses that seminarians “should 
be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are widely spread 
through individual areas” (Optatam Totius 16). She reasoned that this will 
help them better understand the elements of goodness and truth such 
religions possess and learn how to disprove the errors in them in the 
process of sharing the full light of the truth with those who lack them. In 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    393 

addition Alexander Carter in his introduction to Optatam Totius has 
observed that the pastoral preparation must take into consideration the 
specific environment in which the young priest will begin his ministry 
(Abbot 1972, p. 436). Both J. Mbiti (1969) and B. Gyekye (1996) have 
noted that religion influences in a comprehensive way thoughts and 
actions of African life, fully determining practically every aspect of life 
including moral behaviour. The African lives in a religious universe in 
which all actions and thoughts have religious meaning and are inspired 
or influenced by a religious point of view (Obi 2013, p. 442). 
 With African Traditional Religion (ATR), Islam and Christianity as 
Nigeria’s three main religions, Nigeria is a typical plural religious society. 
Each of these religions has its values. These values have served as a guide 
and control of human behaviour, dictating right from wrong and this is 
the most important aspect of religion – its capacity to shape honourable 
human personality and values being in accord with human society. Some 
of the human and religious values in traditional society include: honesty, 
education, morality, brotherhood tie, respect for elders and fellow 
citizens, good name, community living and family loyalty (Ebhomielen 
2011, p. 131). One of the most significant values that traditional 
Nigerians cherish is the wisdom of its elders which manifests in proverb 
– speaking (Onimhawo &Adamu 2011, p. 25; Obi 2013, p. 443). 
 This paper examined the relevance of the study of African 
Traditional Religion in Catholic theological formation houses in lieu of 
Vatican II’s earlier advice that Episcopal Conferences of each region are 
to adjust ecclesiastical courses to the pastoral requirement of a particular 
region. The method adopted is multidimensional – historical, analytic, 
phenomenological and theological. 
 
Religions in Nigeria 
Historically, before the advent of Islam and Christianity the main 
religion was ATR. African Religion can be defined as “institutionalized 
patterns of beliefs and worship practiced by various African societies 
from time immemorial” (Metuh 1987, p. 51). The main tenet of this 
religion, based on the principle of hierarchy of beings, is made of five 
elements, namely, belief in God, belief in divinities, belief in ancestors, 
belief in spirits and the practice to magic and medicine (Idowu 1991, p. 
137-202; Kanu 2015, p. 92-127). The African universe has physical and 
spiritual dimension. This means all beings can be said to belong to either 
two worlds- the visible world and the invisible world. There is no wall of 
demarcation between the two worlds as the two realms shade into each 
other (Metuh 1987, p. 51). Thus, there is no clear-cut distinction or 
opposition between the visible and invisible, the material and spiritual, 
the temporal and non-temporal, the sacred and the profane unlike the 



394 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

dichotomy which is characteristic of Graeco-Christian worldview 
(Metuh 1987, p. 5). In spite of this sense of cosmic oneness that is 
essential to African religion, there are slight variations between West 
African worldview (made up of five elements), the worldview of Nilotic 
societies (in so far as their Supreme Being has prophets) and the 
worldview of the Bantu areas (who have three categories of spiritual 
beings instead of five). The implications of these variations for African 
Christology/African Theology ought to be noted and their import for 
priestly formation not to be disregarded. 
 However, with the introduction to Nigeria of Islam in the 11th and 
14th centuries through Kanem – Borno in the North East and the 
medieval empire of Mali in the South West and Christianity in the 
South, the centre could no longer hold, that is, the social order hitherto 
maintained through traditional religion caved in. Islam’s emphasis on 
Allah’s absoluteness, Sharia law, judgment day, its code of crime and 
punishment as well as its universalism, introduced elements of value 
confusion among the adherents of the old order in the rural 
communities of pre-colonial social institutions of the Hausa and Kanuri 
polities. For example, the bori or spirit possession cult of the Hausa, was 
one of the institutions of traditional social system that struggled for 
survival in the face of threatened extinction when it lost male converts to 
Islam and retained the support of women generally (Tamuno 1994,p.32). 
Though Islam accepted polygamy and its Sufi inspired tolerance of ritual, 
charms and magic, and some bits of syncretism, ancestor worship and 
reverence for associated spirits did not command acceptance by Islamic 
fundamentalists in attempts to accommodate spirits and jinns. In these 
and other respects the theocracy of the traditional social order differed 
significantly from the concept associated with Islam, more so after the 
Jihad of 1864 led by Uthman dan Fodiye whose success established the 
Sokoto Caliphate. Thereafter, Islam’s mission of purification was actively 
pursued by its clerics in the Fulani Hausa States (Obi 2013, p.444; 
Tamuno 1994, p. 33). The above instances portray the issue of 
contextualization in the history of Islam in Nigeria.    
 On its part, Christianity came to Nigeria in mid 19th century through 
the coastal areas of Badagry, Bonny, Calabar and the hinterland at 
Abeokuta, Onitsha and Warri after earlier attempts by the Portuguese 
failed to take root. The familiar Christian practices – Trinity, Salvation 
through Jesus Christ, the ten Commandments, forgiveness, judgment 
day, monogamy, abhorrence of idol worship and the like challenged the 
social order and its buttresses for group solidarity and crime control. The 
principle of individualism which Christianity directly encouraged also 
threatened the durability on social control systems and values built on 
traditional collective or communal approach (Tamuno 1994, p. 30; Obi 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    395 

2013 p. 445). Besides, the notion of individual responsibility and 
accountability challenged the traditional belief and fear that serious 
crimes like abominations against earth goddess, would pollute an entire 
community if not expiated, began to be eroded seriously. Above all, other 
notions of the certainty of punishment prevalent under the traditional 
corpus belief system stood in danger of disintegration with the increasing 
pressure of Christian doctrine and practice. In short, the combined 
forces of Christianity, Islam and Western education, if not also the wide 
logic of colonization weakened the belief in the traditional social order, 
as E. B. Idowu acknowledged with regard to the Yoruba in 1962 
(Tamuno 1994, p. 31; Idowu Olodumare 1996, p. 227-228; Obi 2013, 
445). This experience found literary expression in literary works such as 
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) and No Longer at Ease (1969). 
This analysis provides a sufficient background on the stress on the 
relevance of study of ATR in the formation of priests in Nigeria today. 
 
Seminary Formation in Nigeria in Perspective  
In his brief history of Seminary formation in Eastern Nigeria written 
some 20 years ago, Ekwunife opined that seminary formation in Nigeria  
can be divided into the following three epochs: (i) the early beginning 
(1930-1960), (ii) the post independence period (1960-1980), and (iii) 
Modern period 1980 and beyond (Ekwunife 2011). Among the 
deficiencies he pointed out over the periods include: seminarians were 
isolated from their people, their traditional cultures and  institutions; 
they were imbued with foreign cultures and manners; bias of the 
formators against anything African; seminarians were trained to be fluent 
in English and Latin but inarticulate in their own native language, ready 
to imitate their formators’ foreign cultures and manners but unable to 
study their own culture where they were to work after ordination and 
lack of contextual orientation because the formators failed to take into 
consideration the cultural environment of the seminarians. Among the 
weaknesses in the second period of which the writer is a victim is the 
over emphasis on English and Latin as the official language of church and 
even teaching of philosophy in Latin using Di Napoli as the main text and 
wrong approach to cultural values. The 1970 Bigard Curriculum of 
Studies lists some 13 courses in philosophy and 13 in theology in 
addition to auxiliary subjects (Oburoto 2001, pp.75-76). With one course 
in Igbo philosophy and one course in comparative religion the deficiency 
in ATR is easily discernible (and had to be rectified later). 
 Even in the 1980s the negative attitude of both formators and 
seminarians towards the traditional religion and culture that sustained it 
was still rampart. Even though the formators were indigenous clergy 
men, “the quality of formation still lacked deep cultural orientation 



396 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

which would encourage dialogue with African Traditional Religion and 
Culture” (Ekwunife 2011). 
 It is noteworthy that prior to Vatican II the Christian church had a 
rather negative attitude towards other religions and expected them to 
disappear with the introduction of Christianity in the places where they 
were practiced. But as the religions have continued to exist side by side 
with Christianity, the attitude of much of the Christian world towards 
them has changed from that of confrontation to that of dialogue. It is no 
longer theologically acceptable today, at least in the non-radical 
evangelical circles to look on other religions as satanic. Positive 
evaluations of religions vis-à-vis Christianity are being put forward by 
scholars who studied them (Ukpong 1989, p. 422; Pannikar 1999). The 
official Catholic position is reflected in the guidelines issued by the 
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) which encourages 
the study of ATR, Islam and Interreligious Dialogue in the Seminaries 
and Houses of Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa (PCID 2004). But the 
question to be addressed is: “How far has this instruction been 
implemented in Seminaries throughout the country? It is still doubtful 
whether the study of ATR has found its way into the curriculum of 
junior seminaries in Nigeria or any other African country” (Ekwunife 
2011). 
 In this regard the response to a survey in Africa of the content of 
what is taught in 61 major seminaries and 6 Catholic Universities and 
Institutes of Higher Learning with reference to ATR, Islam and 
Interreligious Dialogue by the PCID as of 2001 is apropos (instructive).A 
summary of the replies received from 47 major seminaries show that:  
In 36 major Seminaries, ATR is taught as a course. In the rest of 11 
Seminaries, ATR is taught under various titles – Inculturation, African 
thought, African spirituality, African philosophy etc.  
In 35 major Seminaries, Islam is taught as a course. For others, no 
information has been given (it is presumed that it is not taught). 
In 20 major seminaries some form of information is given in 
interreligious dialogue (PCID 2004, p. 10). 
Of 6 the Catholic Universities and Institutes of Higher Learning 
consulted, four replied they have courses in ATR. In two of them Islam 
is taught as a course. None has a programme for teaching interreligious 
dialogue. 
 Based on the result of this survey, PCID tried to provide a common 
programme subject to local adaptations for teaching the courses provided 
and it is to the credit of the authorities of Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele, 
Ekpoma  that ATR has been mounted for those in year 600 and 700 level 
theology. However, it is disheartening that over the years some students 
do not take the course serious. It is embarrassing that some students are 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    397 

unable to explain why the derogatory terms used by western investigators 
to describe our fore-fathers’ religion are inappropriate. One is however, 
encouraged by the positive attitude displayed by the Bishop of the 
Catholic Diocese of Uromi, Most Rev. Dr Donatus Ogun who recently 
organized a Diocesan Delegate Assembly with focus on Burial Practices 
in Esanland which held Monday, 15th February to Thursday 13th 
February, 2020 at Brother Roman Catechetical and Renewal Centre, 
Ekpoma. It is hoped that such discourse will help understand and douse 
tensions on the burial rites in Esanland. This particularly shows the need 
to adjust academic curricula to the needs of the environment. 
 
Rationale for the Study of ATR  
The students of any department of Religious Studies in Nigerian 
Universities have always met the embarrassing question from colleagues: 
“why are you studying religion? Are you preparing to be a pastor?” In 
like manner, some Christians in Africa may ask, “why study ATR? We 
have forsaken our old religion and have embraced the Christian faith. 
Jesus Christ is now our Lord and Saviour. What further need do we have 
to research ATR?” (Gehman, 1989, p.15). 
 Several scholars have taken up this challenge. According to 
Aderibigbe and Ayegboyin (2001) the all embracing reason why religion 
should be studied is its importance, significance and hold on human life. 
First, there is currency of religion as a human phenomenon. Secondly, 
the dominating presence, and existence and functions in society have 
come to be accepted so that there is no apology for its acceptance. Third, 
is its universal relevance. Religion has universal application that 
transcends demarcations of place, race, colour and time. Fourth, is the 
fear that it is impossible to find a replacing value for or to fill the vacum 
of its absence (pp.20-31). Other reasons include the benefits of the study 
such as emancipation from ignorance, information and skill since one is 
exposed to the proper methods of data collection in the study of religion, 
and appreciation of one’s and other peoples’ religion. 
 For Gary Kessler so much of human history and culture remains a 
mystery if we cannot comprehend the role religion has played and 
continues to play in the development of human institutions, values and 
behaviour. In addition, study of religion especially religions of others 
helps us overcome our all-too-comfortable ethnocentric attitudes and 
achieve a more comparative perspective (Kessler 2006, p. 12). Moreover, 
the study of religion opens up a space in our busy lives where we can 
pause and reflect on the meaning and purpose of our lives. It provides an 
occasion for us to think, in a comparative setting about what constitutes a 
good life. Finally, the study would prepare for a career in the field of 



398 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

religious studies and other fields and to satisfy the requirement for 
general or liberal education (Kessler 2006, p. 13). 
 Similarly, different scholars have given reasons why African 
Traditional Religion should be studied. For example, Gehman offers six 
reasons, namely, we ought to study the traditional religion in Africa 
because it is one of the world’s religions of a great people with a great 
past. ATR was formerly embraced by a whole continent. Second, ATR is 
the religious background of African people whom Christians seek to 
evangelize today. Therefore, in order to build bridges of communication 
with them, we must study the beliefs and practices of the traditional 
African. Thirdly, many professing Christians rely on ATR in times of 
crisis, particularly those looking for the fruit of the womb, power and 
money. Fourth, the Christian church in African needs to contextualize 
her faith so that it becomes truly rooted in the life of the people. The just 
concluded Catholic Diocese of Uromi Delegate Conference on funeral 
rites in Esanland is apropos here. The rise of African Independent 
Churches (AICS) owes its origin to failure of earlier ‘missionary 
Christianity’ in this regard. In the same token, the church of North 
Africa that produced famous theologians as Saints Augustine and 
Cyprian was wiped out, due in part to its non rootedness in the life of the 
indigenous people. Fifth, the revival of ATR in Ethiopianism brings a 
sense of urgency to the study. Sixth.ATR should be studied for its own 
sake (Gehman 1987, p. 15-22).  
 On his part, T. Quarcoopome gives some fundamental reasons for 
studying West African Traditional Religion (WATR). He asks the 
question: “Of what relevance then is the study of WATR on the 
contemporary scene?” In his view the objectives for the study of ATR or 
WATR are as follows: 
to help the African to reconstruct his past in order to understand the 
present and effectively plan for the future: to help the African in his 
search for self determination and self-assertion; to make known the 
world view of the Africans so that non-Africans can understand the social 
and moral behaviour of the African; to make scientific comparison with 
other religions and finally to correct misconceptions about the 
Traditional Religion by Western Investigators and educated Africans 
(Quarcoopome 1987, pp.9-10). 

Thus the basic aim of the study is not to glorify the African past 
but to present the truth with regard to what Africans authentically 
believe and authentically think about God and the supersensible world 
(Idowu 1973, p. 106). This will induce sympathetic understanding for 
the traditional faith. 
 Finally the PCID document earlier mentioned highlights the aims of 
the course on ATR as: (a) to awaken the interest of participants in 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    399 

African traditional religion; (b) to prepare and dispose them for 
interreligious dialogue; (c) to help them appreciate the lasting values of 
this religion which are relevant to modern African quest for nation 
building; and (d) to reinforce their appreciation of the urgency of the 
Church’s constant call for inculturation of the Christian faith in Africa 
(PCID 2004, p.10). Consequently it designed a  programme that suits 
long term (two semesters) and short term (one semester) option 
depending on the local need. Hitherto Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele has 
chosen the two semester option. 
 While emphasizing the manifold reasons and relevance of the study, 
the difficulties besetting the study ought to be noted. These include the 
vast geography of Africa with the corresponding mistaken generalization 
about Africa, the influence of direct or indirect colonial indoctrination by 
the British and French colonial masters, the factor of death of custodians 
of the cultural and religious traditions; the myriads of language and 
dialectics in Africa. Nigeria alone has over 250 ethnic groups. Last but 
not the least, is the influence of other cultures and religions, western 
education and modernity. What this means is that the interpreter has to 
note that Africa is a continent of multitudes of nations, myriads of 
people, countless languages or dialectics and peoples at various levels of 
culture (Idowu 1973, p. 78-83). 
African Values and Priestly Formation 
There are many African values of ATR which could be integrated in the 
holistic formation of Catholic priests. Among them could be: (i) the 
sense of the scared, (ii) corporate existence, (iii) a sense of justice, (iv) 
sincerity in ones’ commitment to a cause, and (v) good leadership 
(Ekwunife 2011). Others are the concept of omenala, respect for elders, 
use of language and traditional concept of mediation. We will illustrate 
with some of the lasting values of ATR for a modern nation 
building/priestly formation. 
 In ATR the sense of the sacred is very strong and important. Rudolf 
Otto (1958) did mention two dimensions of the sacred, the mysterium 
tremendum: it attracts and repels. In order to safeguard the distance we 
have taboos. We have already mentioned that there is no dichotomy 
between the sacred and profane, the invisible and the visible since the 
two shade into each other in African worldview. Consequently, 
whenever the harmony in one is destabilized, it affects the other and the 
services of the diviner are needed to restore the harmony. There are 
varieties of the sacred – God, divinities, ancestors, persons, places and 
objects based on their relationship to God and the world. For example, a 
masked person is sacred because it is related to the invisible reality, the 
ancestor. To unmask a masquerade is a taboo, an abomination that 
requires a ritual cleansing because we are expected to preserve the 



400 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

respectful distance from the sacred without severing the relationship. In 
Africa the sacred is not only associated with power, it is affiliated with the 
highest values in human life such as honesty, justice, gentleness, patience 
and sincerity. A sacred person is expected to mirror these values. This is 
depicted in the Igbo concept and practice of Ozo title–taking in which 
the initiate is addressed as Nze – an epithet of truthfulness and justice. In 
the words of Ekei:  

Initiation into Ozo makes the recipient “sacred” Nze.  
The group of Ozo titled men are therefore called ‘sacred 
group’ (Ndi Nze). The concept ‘Nze’ has both ethical and 
religious significance for the Igbo. Etymologically, ‘Nze’ 
is an abridged term of Nze’-le’, that is, ‘separation’ or 
‘apartness’ or sacrosanct. These concepts convey a 
mystical meaning to the recipient. In other words, he is 
by this title, ethically aloof, and ritually separated from 
‘commoners’ or from ‘pollutions’ and ‘defilements’ (Ekei 
2001, p. 4). 

It is this symbol of justice that makes Ozo initiation to be linked with 
sense of Igbo morality. 
 The emphasis on the African sense of the sacred has far reaching 
effects in the formation of Catholic seminarians. It will create in them an 
attitude of deep respect for the things of God and anything associated 
with God. Among the sacred things is the human person. Hence crimes 
like murder, abortion, uprooting seed yams are nso nla abomination that 
can only be cleansed by Nri priests. Worship, covenant with divinities 
and others, oath-taking, sacrifice and prayer are among the means used to 
internalize the sense of the sacred and sacredness of the human person. 
Therefore stimulating the sense of the sacred in seminary formation will 
help respect the sacred of non-Christian religions. 
 Africans recognize life as life-in-community. There is the conviction 
that humankind of the past, present and future generations forms one 
community. The concept of individual success or failure is secondary. 
The ethnic group, the village, the locality, the family are crucial in one’s 
estimation of oneself. Our nature as being-in-relation is a two-way 
relation with God and with our fellow human beings. Catholic 
seminarians in Africa need to emphasize the sense of community-living 
and values to cut across ethnic and social boundaries. The sense of life-
in-community will help douse the tensions that sadly manifest between 
the parish priest and his curates/priests in residence. 
 However, this community living cannot thrive without a sense of 
justice. ATR is so concerned about justice such that anyone who negates 
the principle of justice will be severely punished not only by society but 
also the gods. This is of expressed in the Igbo proverb Egbe belu, ugo belu 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    401 

(live and let live). Again this is also aptly depicted in Igbo religion 
through the Ofo- na- ogu concept. The Ofo concept has been exposed by 
Clement Ejizu (1986) and the Ogu is aptly exposed by Stephen Egwin 
(2005). Ofo is the guarantor of truth, just judgement, just living and 
authority to rule as well as pray to the gods for onesself and others. Ogu 
stands for moral uprightness and innocence. The concept is well utilized 
in the dynamics of Igbo litigation. Ofo represents ancestral authority, 
sacred tradition and community and enforces justice while Ogu 
ascertains the innocence of the individual and determines whose side 
justice takes. The judicial system is based on the traditional moral code 
which is considered to be sacred tradition. The ancestral power to 
dispense justice is determined by innocence (Ogu) and judgement (Ofo) 
and operates in the form of punishing the guilty and vindicating the 
innocent (Egwim 2005, p. 195). A sense of justice has to be instilled in 
the formators and seminarians in the seminaries throughout Africa.  
          Among the good leadership qualities Arinze advocated that has to 
be inculcated in seminarians six African values stand out: “sense of the 
sacred, respect for life, sense of community, family spiritual vision of life, 
authority as sacred and symbolism in worship”. Idowu associated many 
of these African values with the Yoruba concept of ‘Iwa’, character. 
Indeed there is hardly any good textbook on ATR that does not reflect on 
some African moral values (Ekwunife 2011). 
 One of the most valuable culture of the African society is the concept 
of respect for elders and those in authority. Africans generally have deep 
and ingrained respect for old age: the old man’s gray hairs earn him right 
to courtesy and politeness. Hence the dictum, “the words of the elders 
are words of wisdom” because of the experience they garnered over the 
years. Hence elders in Africa are respected for many reasons. An Igbo 
adage has it: “He who listens to an elder is like one who consults an 
oracle”. The oracles are believed to give the infallible truths; these elders 
are believed to say the truth and their words and instructions are heeded 
to for the promotion of good behaviour among the youth. The church 
like the society and African traditional value teaches respect for elders 
and those in authority. This is because this group of individuals has been 
given the authority of leadership. 
 The African culture values language and proverbs, because in them 
they communicate and in them wisdom is passed in the process; the 
importance of both cannot just be overemphasized in the African cultural 
heritage. Moreover, for the African, if the individual is not able to 
communicate with the native language the individual ideologically, puts 
himself outside the community. Speaking a language in the African sense 
does not depend on the peripheral knowledge of the language but on the 
ability to express oneself adequately in the proverbs and idioms of the 



402 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

language community. One is therefore happy that Seminary of All Saints, 
Uhiele academic curriculum allots some space for the vernacular. 
 Diagnosing the causes of affliction is a central preoccupation of 
African Religion (Magesa 2008, p. 190). There are people who have the 
power to “sniff out hidden sources of disorder”, who can advice on 
procedures to correct the situation. They are generally known as 
diviners. Laurenti Magesa (2008) mentions some of the values of 
divination. Since divination systems are “ways of knowing”, ATR 
presumes that true reasons for all events can be known although 
sufficient knowledge is seldom available through mundane means of 
inquiry (Magesa 2008, p. 192). Divination assists in knowing true reasons 
for events. Events are either positive or negative. In ATR when calamities 
befall a community, diviners are consulted to know the true reason 
behind the cause, and possible measures taking to avert the calamity are 
also sought. Divination ensures that decisions are made or the right 
course of action is carried out to address certain events or situations. 
Thus, divination helps Africans to gather the necessary information 
about events, the causes and possible solution (193). It aids right decision 
making in addressing calamity in a community. 
Divination also helps to protect and secure the future. Hence at the 

beginning of the year, or at birth, diviners are consulted to ascertain what 
the year or destiny of a child holds. Such diviners will expose the good 
and bad aspects of the coming year and proffer ways to sustain the good 
ones and other ways of averting the bad ones usually by appeasing the 
gods through sacrifices as the case may be. This provides the background 
why today at the beginning of the year, prophecies are awaited from 
insightful men of God. The implication of this traditional value for 
seminary formation is that the equivalent gift of prophecy, of Davidic 
practice of inquiring from the Lord, ought to be paramount in the 
training of seminarians. Prayer of inquiry (Iga na ajuju in divinatory terms ) 
is a major aspect of Davidic and prophetic spirituality as manifested in 
the life of prophet Josiah Oshitelu and Apostle Ayo Babalola (Oshitelu 
2007, p. 71) and seminarians ought to imbibe this. In this regard we 
ought to note the challenge which traditional African concept of 
mediation poses to modern African Christianity. For, the traditional 
agents of mediation are twofold: invisible agents (divinities, ancestors, 
spirits) and visible agents (priests, diviners, medicine men, mediums, 
magicians, seers, kings, queens and elders). This shows a diversity of 
ministry and religious roles of religious specialists or cultic functionaries 
in traditional setting which has to be taken into consideration in the 
process of contextualizing the gospel. None of these religious specialists 
claim monopoly in religious affairs but collaborate with   others (Obi 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    403 

2006, p. 290). Thus collaborative ministry which is advocated today was 
already in vogue in traditional religion. 
 
Implication of ATR for African Christian Theology  
In African Christianity, one of the main thrusts in the area of 
contextualization in which ATR has played a dominant part is in the area 
of Christology. J. Onaiyekan (2016) writing on the main trends in 
African Christology mentions four sources to include the Bible, the 
theological patrimony of the church, African traditional religious 
concepts and modern African situation (pp.54-58). Many African 
theologians have borrowed from the thought world of ATR to explicate 
the person of Christ. Such attempts include the East African theologian 
C. Nyamiti, who presents Jesus as the greatest of all ancestors taking a 
clue from East Africa where the veneration of ancestors plays a key role 
in the traditional life.  Because of their kinship with their descendants, 
they are concerned about their welfare. Jesus fulfills all the Bantu expects 
of his ancestors in an eminent degree and can therefore be considered as 
an Ancestor, or more precisely “our Brother Ancestor” (Nyamiti 1985, 
p.33). B. Bujo toes the same line, from an ethical perspective. He 
describes Christ as a Proto-Ancestor (1981, p. 143; Onaiyekan 2016, p. 
55). Kabasele adds to the concept of ancestor that of ‘Elder’ (Onaiyekan 
1991.p.20).  The famous healer and former Archbishop of Lusaka, 
Emmanuel Milingo also expressed similar thought about “Jesus the 
Ancestor” (Milingo 1984, p. 78). 
 Other African traditional concepts have been used to explicate the 
person of Christ such as the concept of “Kinsman”, the concept of 
“Chief” by Kabasele, the “Healer” by C. Kolier and K. Enang  as we see 
also in Nigerian Pentecostal Charismatic circles. An unusual portrait of 
Jesus is that of the ‘Master of Initiation’ espoused by Bishop Sanon of 
Burkina Faso who takes us into the sacred groves of Burkinabe initiation 
ceremonies. He explains what it means to say that Jesus is ‘Master of 
initiation’, that is, the elder who guides towards perfection those who 
have been at the initiation rites. This symbolic approach is not 
completely new as some of the Greek Fathers such as Gregory of 
Nazianzen already spoke of Jesus as a mystagogus, a title derived from 
Greek religions and refers to the ‘leader of initiation rites. From a Yoruba 
religious perspective, J. Onaiyekan adds ‘Christ the Great Orisha’ because 
Yoruba traditional religion is almost exclusively concerned with the cult 
of the divinities called Orisha who act as agents and servants of the 
Supreme Being. Orisha is so much a characteristic of Yoruba religion that 
its followers are called Aberisa, “worshipers” of Orisha. Yoruba converts to 
Christianity often speak of giving up Orisha in order to accept Jesus 



404 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

(Onaiyekan 1991, p.22; Onaiyekan 2016, pp. 39-40). On his part, Chris 
Manus (1993) also exposed a Christology of Christ as “the African King”.  
          Each of these portraits of Christ within an African setting and 
colour has its limits of application. For example, Christ is more than an 
Ancestor. His relationship with the Father is unique and different from 
that of any Orisha with the Supreme Being. Consequently our images 
cannot say it all although they do say something (Onaiyekan 2016, p.58). 
At least they do give us inkling as to the benefits of ATR in the study of 
African Christian Theology. 
 
Conclusion  
The primary goal of formation in Catholic seminaries is to produce men 
who will be intellectually, socially and spiritually equipped to be effective 
instruments of evangelization after ordination. This pastoral preparation 
requires that seminarians be acquainted with religions practiced in their 
specific environment where they would work according to Vatican II. 
Since religion influences in a comprehensive way the thoughts and 
actions of African life, seminarians ought to be grafted in the tenets of 
African Religion which is one of the three religions practiced in the 
multiethnic culture of Nigeria. 
 This paper examined the relevance of ATR for future African priests. 
The reasons for studying religion in general and ATR in particular were 
highlighted using the views of different scholars. The difficulties 
besetting the study were also noted. Many African values which could be 
integrated in the holistic formation of Catholic priests include the sense 
of the sacred, community living, sense of justice, sincerity in one’s 
commitment to a cause, good leadership, respect for elders, and concept 
of traditional mediation which involves collaborative ministry. Finally, 
the implication of ATR as a source for African Christian Theology 
particularly with the understanding of the person of Christ in African 
setting were broached, such as “Christ as Ancestor”, “Chief”, “Orisha”  
and “Kinsman”. The limitations of some of these images 
notwithstanding, they do give us inkling as to the benefits of studying 
ATR in the exposition of Christian revelation. The study of both 
philosophy and theology in major seminaries in Africa needs to be 
culture bound. African traditional religion and culture ought to be the 
springboard of philosophical and theological studies in Africa. Perhaps 
one may not be far from the truth in saying that the deficiencies in most 
seminaries in Africa in the past are largely caused by the non-inclusion of 
timeless African traditional values in the curriculum of seminary 
formation. 
 
 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    405 

References 
Abbot, W. (1972).  The Documents of Vatican II. London: Geoffrey Chapman. 

Aderibigbe, G and Ayegboyin, D. eds (2001). Religion: Study and Practice. Lagos: 

Olu Akin Publishers. 

Bujo, B. (1981). Pour une ethique africano-christocentrique”. Bulletin de Theologie 

Africaine  3, 41-52  

...   (1982). A Christocentric Ethics for Black Africa. Theology. Digest  30, 143-146. 

Bujo, B. and J. I. Muya (ed) (2003). African Theology: The Contribution of the 

Pioneers. Vol. 1. Nairobi. Paulines.        

Ebhomielen, T. O. (2011). African Traditional Religious and Human Values: A 

Panacea for Development in Africa. In J. A. Onimhawo ed. Human and 

Religious Development in Nigeria: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. 

Ibadan: Sanifos Publisher, 130-147. 

Egwim, S. (2005) Decolonizing the Lament Psalms: A Reading of Psalm 109 in 

African Context. In S. O. Abogunrin et al (eds.) Decolonization of Biblical 

Interpretation in Africa. Ibadan: A Publication of the Nigerian Association 

for Biblical Studies(NABIS), 192-219. 

Ejizu, C. (1986). Ofo: Igbo Ritual Symbol. Enugu: Fourth Dimension. 

Ekei, J.C. (2007). Justice in Communalism: A Foundation of Ethics in African 

Philosophy. Lagos: Realm Communications Ltd. 

Ekwunife, A.N. O. (2011). Integration of Traditional African Values in Priestly 

Formation. AFER African Ecclesiastical Review 39/4 (1997). Retrieved 

http://www.sedos.org/english/ekwunife.htm 22/1/2011 

Gehman, R. J. (1989). African Traditional Religion in Biblical Perspective. Nairobi: 

East African Educational Publishers Ltd. 

Gyekye, G. K. (1996). African Cultural Values: An Introduction: Accra: Sankoja 

Publishing Company. 

Idowu, E. B. (1991). African Traditional Religion: A Definition. Ibadan. Fountain 

Publication. 

Kanu, I. A. (2015). A Hermeneutic Approach to African Traditional Religion: Theology 

and Philosophy. Jos: Augustinian Publications. 

Kessler, G. E. (2006). Studying Religion: An Introduction through Cases. 2nd ed. 

Boston: McGrew Hill. 

Magesa, L. (2008). African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life. Nairobi: 

Pauline Publication Africa. 

Mbiti, J. S. (2015). African Religions and Philosophy. Nairobi: East African 

Educational Publishes Ltd. 

Metuh, E. I. (1987). Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religions. Onitsha: 

Imico. 

Milingo, E. (1984). The World in Between: Christian Healing and the Struggle for 

Spiritual Survival. London: C. Hurst & Co. 

Nyamiti, C. (1984).  Christ as our Ancestor: Christology from an African Perspective. 

Givero, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press. 

Obi, C. A. (2006). “Christian Levites”: Appreciating the Role Lay Catechists in 

Ministry. In I.M.C Obinwa (ed). Collaborative Ministry in the Context of 

Inculturation. Onitsha: Africana First Publishers Ltd., 276-298. 



406 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

… (2013). Religion as Basis of Social Order. In G.U. Ukagba, Des O. Obi and I.J. 

Nwankwor, The Kpim of Social Order. A Season of Social Uprising. USA: 

Xlibris Corporation, 425-450. 

Oburoto, A. (2001). Theological and Philosophical Studies in the Major Seminary. In 

V.M. Okeke (ed.). Bigard Memorial Jubilee Essays. Nsukka: Fulladu 

Publishing Company, 69-86  

Onaiyekan, J. (1991). Christological Trends in Contemporary African Theology: A 

Challenge to Nigerian Theologians. The Nigerian Journal of Theology 1(6): 

11-27. 

… (2016) Theology and Context: Inculturation and Evangelization in Africa. Abuja: 

Paulines Publication in Africa. 

Onimhawo, J. A. and C. O. Adamu (2011), Religion and Human Values for 

Sustainable Development in Nigeria: In J. A. Onimhawo, Human and 

Religious Development in Nigeria: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. 

Ibadan. Sanifos Punishers, 19-34. 

Oshitelu, G. O. (2007). History of the Aladura (Independent) Churches 1918-1940: An 

Interpretation. Ibadan: Hope Publications. 

Otto, R. (1958). The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non-rational Factor in the 

Idea of the Divine and Its relation to the Rational. Oxford: Oxford University 

Press. 

PCID. (2004). A Guide for Teaching African Traditional Religion, Islam, Interreligious 

Dialogue in Catholic major Seminaries, House of Religious Formation and 

Institutions of Higher Learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Vatican City: 

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. 

Quarcoopome, T.N.O. (1987). West African Traditional Religion. Ibadan: African 

Universities Press. 

Tamuno, T.N. (1994). Traditional Methods of Crime Detection and Control in 

Nigeria. Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies xxvi(2): 25-41. 

Ukpong, J. S. (1989). Pluralism and the Problem of Discernment of Spirits. The 

Ecumenical Review  41(3): 416-425.  



407 

30 

ISLAM AND THE FORMATION OF 

CATHOLIC PRIEST IN NIGERIA 
 

Emmanuel I. UKPEBOR 
Department of Religious Management and Cultural Studies 

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria 
emma2002ukpe@yahoo.com or emmaukpebor@aauekpoma.edu.ng 

 
Abstract 
The Nigeria society is dynamic and distinct in its pluralistic nature. 
Multiplicity defines the features and elements that make up the Nigerian 
State. The choice of becoming a vanguard of religious tradition by an 
individual in such a nation with plural political, cultural, social and 
religious belief systems demand rigorous formation processes. This 
paper examines Islam, one of the religious and cultural traditions most 
assertive and influential in Nigeria’s religio-political space against the 
training of Catholic priest of the Christian religious belief system. The 
work employs the historical, analytical and evaluative methods to 
examine the transformative stages of Islam from its inception and the 
challenges its poses to the Christian evangelical mission in Nigeria. The 
work hinges on the Geothe’s paradox theoretical framework “he who 
knows one knows none” adapted by Max Muller (1823-1900) in his 
comparative study of religion. The findings reveal that Islam which came 
through commercial activities has become a powerful influence in 
Nigeria society and the knowledge of its dynamic influences is of essence 
in the formation of Catholic priest as it enhances the strategies of priestly 
mission of evangelization and re-construction of a better society for 
peace and harmony with members of other religious groups. The 
enforcement the law of freedom of religious participation by political 
authority of the society is part of the recommendations of the paper 
which concludes that the commitment to interreligious dialogue and 
cooperation in a diverse society as Nigeria by the Catholic church will 
continuously be effective if the elements of knowing the dynamics of 
Islam are embedded within the context of the training of seminarians 
who hold the posterity of the Catholic mission.  
 

mailto:emma2002ukpe@yahoo.com


408 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Key Words: Islam, Catholic priest, Formation and Nigeria. 
 
Introduction 
The Nigerian society is a complex society. There are multiple and 
diverse elements in the various systems that make up the entity. The 
religious space is characterized with several religious traditions three of 
which are dominantly subscribed namely; the Indigenous Traditional 
Religion, Christianity and Islam. The peoples that answer the corporate 
name called Nigeria share diverse ethnic nationalities numbering no less 
than 250 ethnic groups with diverse socio-cultural heritages. History has 
it that each of these ethnic groups of which three are predominant ( 
Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo) had and operated different political and 
legal systems before the 1914 Amalgamation that brought the differing 
groups together.     

Religion as an inevitable phenomenon in human activity has a 
function of unifying people together and giving meaning to their 
existence on earth and assurance of what is to come in the afterlife. The 
diversities in the practices of religion in Nigeria with the presence of 
multiple religious traditions and the ethnic and cultural variations of the 
people influence the general administration of the Nigeria State creating 
numerous issues that threaten collective peace and harmony needed for 
the nation’s optimum growth and development. Islam and Christianity 
stand as the most influential and assertive religions in Nigeria’s religio-
political space. The events of struggles, rivalry and competition visible in 
Nigeria’s political engineering more often than not received 
interpretation along the line of these religions (Islam and Christianity) 
(Odey, 2014). There are inconsistencies in the population figure of 
religious affiliation census in Nigeria. Though the 2006 Nigeria 
population census did not censor religious affiliations but the World Fact 
Book (2003) cited in Wotogbe (2012) reveals Muslims population in 
Nigeria to be 50%, Christians 40% while the followers of the Indigenous 
Traditional Religion 10%. Another source, the Religious Freedom 
Nation Profile puts it that Christians in Nigeria are approximately 46%, 
Muslims 44% and members of the African Indigenous Religion 10% 
(Imaekhai, 2010:56).  

The polarization of the society along the two major religious 
divides has earned the Nation series of religious crises that had resulted 
in great fatality both human and property. Islam with its political 
dynamism appears to be more influential and assertive than the Christian 
counterpart in Nigeria’s religio-political space. Many of the religious 
crises that have occurred in Nigeria have been attributed to Islam 
(Ukpebor, 2018). This made Islam to be commonly referred as a religion 
of violence. However, there is more to be known and understood about 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    409 

the Islamic religion and the Muslims besides the common view about 
them especially by the members and the upcoming leaders of the 
counterpart Christian faith.  

Denominationalism characterizes the Christian faith in Nigeria. 
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in 
Nigeria. It has about 39 million worshippers from the over 140 million 
population of Nigeria closely followed by the Anglican Church with over 
18 million members (Imaekhai, 2010:56). The Catholic Church with 
this status has represented the Christian voice in the maintenance of 
peace and harmony through its engagement with other religions in 
dialogue. The positive results of this engagement by the leading Catholic 
clerics create the need for its sustenance by the Church’s successive 
ministers. It is on this note that this paper looks into the formation of 
Catholic priest with the aim of exposing the religious and political 
dynamics of Islam in Nigeria with the view to arm the intending 
Catholic priest with a balanced knowledge that would aid the Church 
effective mission of evangelization in Nigeria society.  
 
Theoretical Framework 
This paper adopts the Geothe’s paradox: “he who knows one knows 
none” as the framework that guides the study. The Geothe’s paradox was 
first used by the students of comparative philology in the study of 
language. Max Muller adopted this paradox “he who knows one knows 
none” in the new discipline of science of religion otherwise called 
comparative study of religion which he developed in late 19th century 
(Muller, 1873). The import of the paradox lies in the fact that one has a 
balanced knowledge, when one has knowledge of more than one religion 
or religious traditions in the society and the process of achieving this is 
known as the comparative study of religions. Thus, comparative study of 
religion in essence is the inquiry into the religious traditions of man. It is 
a study that takes into account the fact that there are in the world of men 
various religious traditions each of which makes sense to the adherents 
or the believers of the faith (Wotogbe, 2005:7). Although, this paradox 
received criticism when it was first used for the study of comparative 
language on the premise that learning too many languages may lead to 
the risk of losing firm grasp of one’s own language. But Muller explained 
that the result in doing comparative study of languages leads to a higher 
level of order, knowledge and wisdom which in a similar vein extend to 
the comparative study of religion. He thus concluded that contrary to the 
position of the critics of comparative languages, inquiries in comparative 
study of religion besides the benefits of higher order, knowledge and 
wisdom attainment, lead one to more firm grasp on one’s own religious 
tradition (Muller, 1897). The theory is apposite as it justifies the aim of 



410 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

this paper which is geared towards exposing the dynamics of Islam, a 
different religious tradition to the Catholic tradition which would 
enhance the acquisition of higher and balanced knowledge in the 
formative processes of priesthood vocation.  
 
Conceptualizing Priest and Priesthood 
The word priest is an English word derived from the Greek word 
presbyterous (elder) but in usage and meaning it is the equivalent of the 
Greek hiereus, latin sacerdos and Hebrew kohen meaning the offerer of 
sacrifice and revealer of oracles (Tasie and Okinedo, 2005:124). This 
translate that a priest is a channel of divine communication that makes 
the wishes of the deity known to men and in turn offers to the deity the 
worship and sacrifices of men. Priesthood as a terminology is an 
institution referring to a body of persons who perform religious 
functions and mediate between men and the Supersensible Being.  

In Catholic tradition, priesthood refers to the sacrament of Holy 
orders through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles 
continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time (CCC, 
1536). The seminary formation is the process the Catholic Church 
instituted to ensure the continuation of the apostolic ministry. As the 
priests are to be taken among men to live with other men as brothers 
(Vatican II no.3), it is expedient to arm them with the dynamic nature of 
the society especially one with plural features.  
 
Defining Islam 
Islam is one of the Semitic and prophetic religious traditions that share 
an uncompromising monotheism and belief in God’s revelation, his 
prophets, ethical responsibility and accountability, and the Day of 
Judgment (Esposito, 2005:1). The word Islam is from the Arabic root 
“SILM” which means peace and submission. It is a term use in Arabic 
language to designate surrender when one wants to submits to his 
opponent in a battle field during the pre Islamic days. It was adopted to 
describe the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad and that is why in 
religious context the word (Islam) came to mean submission to the will 
of Allah and obedience to His law. Kilani describes it as a noun formed 
from the infinitive of a verb asalama meaning “to accept “, “to submit”, 
“to commit oneself” which invariably means to submit or surrender to 
Allah (18). The Qur’an in chapter 3 verse 85 jealously distinguishes 
Islam when it says, “if anyone desires a religion other than Islam 
(submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the 
hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual 
good)”. By implication this means that it is through submission to the 
Will of Allah and by obedience to His law can one achieves true peace 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    411 

and enjoys lasting purity. A Muslim from this understanding becomes 
one who submits to the will of Allah. 
 
Islamic Incursion in Nigeria 
Islam entered the territory now known as Nigeria from two directions; 
the north and south. In both directions, the opening of trans-Saharan 
trade facilitated the penetration of the religion in the area. Raiding, a 
legitimate and legal act in Arabia before the revelation that gave birth to 
Islam came to Muhammad was still been carried out by the Arabs that 
had converted to Islam. One of such Arabs was Uqba ibn-Nafi whose 
raiding venture in 667 AD into the central Sahara opened the route to 
Kanem and Borno in Northern Nigeria and it lasted till the end of the 
19th century (Kenny, 2001). In each of the towns Uqba raided, he 
imposed a tribute of 360 slaves and that made the central African trade 
route to be known and specialized in slaves taken from the hinterland of 
Borno. The business was later extended to Western Sudan where gold 
was discovered. This precious commodity attracted the interest of the 
Umayyad governor who sought for ways to enhance the continuous 
supply of the commodity from West Africa (Kilani & Ukpebor, 2016).  
The trans-Saharan trade routes were then developed to serve a secure 
and efficient link with the Western Sahara. The settlement established by 
the Arab Muslims’ merchant along the trade routes which made them 
stayed with their indigenous customers to the extent of contracting 
marriage with them provided the stimulus for the Islamization of West 
Africa in general (Kilani, 2008). The free mixing of Muslim merchants 
with West African people created the avenue to organize African trading 
agents and associates which the Muslims traders needed to facilitate their 
trade. This led to the emergence of a community of African Muslims 
around the Arab Muslim merchants. Thus, the trans-Saharan trade 
stimulated the beginning of the formation of “State in Islam” in sub-
Saharan African.  

African Kings welcomed the presence of Muslim traders in their 
communities as they saw the economic benefits the long-distance trade 
had to offered and which stood higher if they (the kings) embraced 
Islam. Their compliance would also provide them the status of 
citizenship in the larger Muslim umma (community) with equality and 
brotherhood with the far away Arab Miuslims in Saudi Arabia. As Islam 
gained ground, large scale marketing and transportation became Muslim 
monopoly and this put pressure on traders to join Islam to become part 
of the club.  

The presence of Muslim scholars who provided the written 
communication in Arabic, a vital element in the infrastructure of long-
distance trade also appealed to the people of West Africa. It is interesting 



412 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

to note that the Arabic language was the only international language of 
West Africa before the arrival of the Portuguese on the coast in the 15th 
century and French and English in the 19th century (Kenny, 2001:3). 
Muslims clerics that were present during the trans-Saharan trade had 
several religions medicine to offer which somewhat stood superior in it 
efficacy to that of the Indigenous traditional religion. The medication is 
in form of specific prescriptions for every conceivable disease and any 
other issue of life and the dosage is taken by drinking the ink washed 
from a slate with Quranic writing. There is talisman to be put on and 
prayers to be said. The Islamic rites of worship in its entirety were of 
high attraction as it were commonly performed in an opened 
environment, dramatic and with all seriousness of minds.  

The spirit of brotherhood brought by Islam to those who accept 
it provided a sense of security to them as it gave them legal immunity 
from attack by other Muslims. This became another strong motivation 
for the African King to become a Muslim as it served a pre-emptory 
defense against attack (Kenny, 2001). The Kings therefore found Islam a 
convenient support to their imperial authority as it was a unifying 
ideology bridging many tribes and presenting to them a wider 
brotherhood, citizenship and nationality. This was how the phenomenon 
of “State Islam” emerged. The religion from its inception in West Africa 
was controlled and used to promote the interest of the rulers.  
 
Islamic Reformation and the Spread of Islam in Nigeria 
 Another prominent factor in the spread of Islam in Nigeria is the 
military factor. Beginning from the long-distance trade, Islam spread 
peacefully through Muslim clerics and traders until the reformation 
carried out by Usman dan Fodio in early 19th century among the 
Hausa/Fulani nation. Reformation as a concept is derived from the 
Arabic word Tajdid meaning to reform or revive. It is an ideology derived 
from the prophetic tradition which states that “the Muslims community 
will be assisted by those who will renew its faith for it”. The objective is 
to recreate or recapture the ideal sunni Islamic society by mobilizing the 
people along the paradigms of the Quran and prophetic tradition 
(Ukpebor, 2018:42). It is popularly referred as the Jihad of the sword. 

Thus, the Jihad of Fodio was conceived to revive and purify 
Islam in Hausa land, to eliminate all syncretistic beliefs and rituals, 
jettison all innovations that are contrary to the Quran and Sharia, and 
bring the Muslims backsliders back to orthodox and pure Islam 
(Umejesi, 1992:87). However, the religious motive turned out to be a 
political revolution. All the Hausa dynasties were overthrown and the 
Fulani were installed as Emirs with Sokoto chosen as the Caliphal centre. 
Islamic caliphate system replaced the traditional political system and 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    413 

Islam thereafter became firmly established in places where it had not had 
a stronghold before in northern Nigeria. The all-inclusiveness of Islam is 
justified by this holistic revolution. Islam does not separate the political 
from the religious and this makes Muslims expect that the establishment 
of Islam in the society will bring a better and more prosperous society as 
well as a greater enjoyment of the goods of this life and that of the 
hereafter. This is the notion of State in Islam. It is contrary to the 
Christian teaching to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what 
is God’s. In Islam, Caesar and what he owns belong to God, the One 
(Al-Qaradawi, 1998:3).  
 
Colonial Phase Islam 
The violent intolerance tendency of Islam that stares at the non-Muslims 
especially the Christians and their evangelical mission today was 
stimulated during colonial rule in Nigeria. Although, the militant 
tendency of the Jihadists stopped before the colonial era, the spread of 
Islam continues during the colonial period but in a peaceful mode of 
dissemination like as it was during the trans-Saharan trade. If the British 
had swept away the Caliphal system of Islam they met as their French 
counterpart did in their territory the tale of Nigeria would have been 
different. But the British propped and increased their authority through 
what Umejesi (1992) refers to as “a symbiotic arrangement” otherwise 
known as the “principle of Indirect Rule”.  

In addition, the British introduced the Pax Brittanica which 
permitted Muslims and everyone to move freely throughout the country 
in pursuit of trade or livelihood (Kenny, 2001:8). This enable Muslims to 
build Mosque and interact with local people throughout the country 
while the Christian though were still free to move around the country as 
well but restricted in building churches in Muslims areas and their 
priests were forbidden to evangelize the Muslims. This was enunciated 
by the British who feared that the policy of indirect rule might not 
succeed if the trapping of Islam was not preserved. Takaya (1987) quoted 
in Umejesi (1992) averred: 

Lugard assured them that their religion and customs 
would not be interfered with and that all structures 
would remain except that power was now effectively in 
the hands of the British. On their part, the Muslim 
leaders, nay the Jihadists, promised to put an end to the 
Jihad of the sword and stop slave raiding, human 
mutilation and other acts antithetical to the interests of 
the British economy as pursued through the lugardian 
philosophy of dual mandate in Africa (Umejesi, 
1992:89).  



414 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

This confessional neutrality adopted by the British in the north 
gave way to partiality as the latent import was the recognition of Islam as 
the State religion and the entire north regarded as Muslim land while the 
south considered a Christian area. This impression was far from the 
reality. 

However, the Lugardian partiality and politicized view of 
religion were attributed to various reasons: respect for Islam, fear of a 
general Muslim uprising against the government and a strict cum 
conservative interpretation of the indirect rule system. The Christian 
missionaries themselves equally added to the negative attitude that stared 
at them from the northern/Islamic leaders. The negative attitude resulted 
from the missionary strategy of acting as liberators of the oppressed 
Hausa from the perceived Fulani hegemony and it imperiled the attempt 
to penetrate the Muslim stronghold. This cardinal mistake as Anyanwu 
and Nwanaju (2014: viii) put it, hardened the attitude of the rulers and 
their loyalists against the missionaries whose activities were seen as 
subversive to the established system and order.    
 
Islam in Independent Nigeria 
At independence in 1960s, Islam became a reckoning force in Nigeria 
politics. The British colonizers not only promoted Islam during the 
colonial period but equally set the stage for the supremacy of Muslims 
and Islam in the infrastructural elements of Nigeria’s government. They 
did this through the schools they established to train young members of 
the ruling stratum in the skills necessary for native administration under 
the indirect rule system (Umejesi, 1992). Katsina Teacher’s Training 
College was one of such schools that produced Ahmadu Bello, the 
erstwhile Sardauna of Sokoto. The college was an exclusive training 
ground that produced most of the Nigerian Muslim political leaders of 
the north. In addition, the British ensured as a form of compensation to 
the north for their cooperation and compliance that the heirs of the 
Sokoto caliphate controlled the northern region (Kenny, 2001).  

Consequently the First Republic was headed by Tafawa Balewa, 
a Northern Muslim. But the real power rested on Ahmadu Bello, the 
Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region. The political 
party, Northern People’s Congress (NPC) that brought them to power 
overtly and covertly bears the touch of Islam. Scholars describe the 
features of this political party in various ways. Duddley (1968:143) 
affirmed that the NPC represented the consensus of the Muslim 
Society- the Ijma and that any iota of its rejection by any member of the 
society signified a sinful Islamic act. Falola (1998) described it according 
to the meaning given to symbols in the logo of the party. He reported 
that the ‘one raised finger’ in the logo of the party represents the Unity 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    415 

of God of the Islamic monotheistic faith which in the same way passed a 
message to its people that the ‘two fingered V’ for victory symbol of its 
opponent in the south portrays polytheism which Islam prohibits out 
rightly.     

In the bid to gain upper hand, Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna 
embarked on the policy of northernization informing the people in his 
campaign tours that the north was in danger of coastal colonization when 
the British left. He made this assertion because many skilled southerners 
had occupied some of the best position in the north. As such to avert this 
tragedy, the north should come together under one umbrella against the 
south. Besides, this northernization policy, Ahmadu bello second agenda 
was to completely Islamized the entire north. He was fully committed to 
this as the great-grandson of Usman dan Fodio. He wanted to perfect the 
work of his ancestors and he dip the Quran into the sea with the intent 
of total Islamization of Nigeria. The Sardauna’s assassination in the coup 
of 1966 successfully brought to an end his Islamization agenda of the 
north and by extension the entire Nigeria.  

Leadership is a vital substance in Islam and Muslims are under 
obligation to participate in the societal business of leadership. For the 
fortunes of Islam to continue especially as it is believed that Islam is a 
complete way of life, there is need to perpetually hold on to power so 
that any perceived anomaly could easily be addressed at any point in 
time. Thus, northern Muslims have continued to struggle to hold on to 
power in the reign of government in Nigeria. Coup after coup continues 
to feature in post independent Nigeria with prominent Islamic figures. 

The 1970s saw the promulgation of the Public Education Edict 
by the military administrators announcing the takeover of primary and 
secondary schools run by voluntary agencies. The Catholic Church was 
most hit by that edict as she had invested much in those institutions. 
Initially, the policy was not seen as an attempt to foster any religious 
affiliation but with key positions in the National Education planning 
been held by Muslims, it became clear that the education policies were 
designed to protect and foster Muslims’ interests. The words of a 
Muslim scholar Doi (1978) is an attestation: 
The policy has given freedom to Islam to foster its cause, and in a way it 
has imposed restrictions on Christianity, which had so far dominated the 
educational and social scene of the country. Some of the Muslim 
organizations laid down in their constitution that their aim was to 
remove the educational imbalance between Muslims and Christians 
(Doi, 1978:342-343). 

The political well-being of the Muslim community is a matter of 
supreme importance (Amstrong, 2000:xi). This assertion was 
demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s as Muslim intellectuals that had 



416 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

developed in Nigeria began to seek a new identity for Islam in order to 
give Islam a better and beneficial status in the Muslim world, and to 
balance the perceived religious imbalance in Nigeria’s religio-political 
space.  

Thus, there emerged the Shariah debates with the advancement 
by the protagonists that the Islamic law (Shariah) be incorporated in the 
constitution. They hinged their argument on the notion that of the three 
laws in Nigeria: (the Islamic law, English law and the Native law), the 
Shariah has not been given due consideration in the constitution 
(Ebhomienlen and Ukpebor, 2013: 168). The provisions of Sharia on the 
draft constitution were: 
1. There shall be a Federal Sharia Court of Appeal which shall be an 

intermediate Court of Appeal between the States’ Sharia Courts of 
Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 

2. The Court shall be composed of the Grand Mufti and such a 
member of Muftis (not less than three) as the National Assembly 
may prescribe. 

3. In each State of the Federation that so desires, there shall be a Sharia 
Court of Appeal to be established by the Constitution of the State ( 
Kukah, 2011:118). 

The background of these political events was the fundamentalist 
tendency of reverting to prestine Islam taught and practice by the 
Prophet enunciated by Abubakar Gumi, the influential spiritual heir of 
the Sardauna. He mentored the Izala Society group (Jama’a Izala al-bida 
wa-iqama as-sunna meaning, movement for the removal of innovations in 
Islam and a return to Prophetic tradition). They espoused the Saudi 
Wahhabism and spread intolerant views and actions which were 
principally against the traditional Muslims who belong to the Sufi 
brotherhood, the Tijaniyya and Qadiriyya (Kenny, 2001), but their 
actions later extended to the non-Muslims especially the Christians. 
They were for the full establishment of Sharia not as enacted by a 
Nigeria government but as the supreme and only law of the Islamic 
umma which they considered as their authentic nationality. Subsequent 
Islamic groups later emerged with full impacts in Nigeria religio-politico 
space such as the Shiite movement, the Maitatsine and the Boko Haram 
with a host of others. 

The perfection of Nigeria’s Islamic status was carried out by the 
later military dictatorships of General Ibrahim Babagida and General 
Sani Abacha with total disregard to the secularity of the Nigeria State. 
Babagida in 1986 registered Nigeria as a full member of the Organization 
of Islamic Conference (OIC) while Abacha signed a secret pact that 
smuggled Nigeria into another Islamic group made up of eight 
developing countries known as the D-8 in 1997. 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    417 

 
Evaluation and Conclusion 
The discussion so far has shown the dynamic nature of Islam, a religious 
tradition in the social, economic and political settings of Nigeria. 
Beginning from the trans-Saharan trade through which Islam penetrated 
Nigeria, its influence has revolutionized commerce and trade. Its military 
transformed the traditional socio-political organization of the north and 
south west to Emirate system and paved way for the triumph of 
Muslims’ hegemonic control of power. The colonial masters did nothing 
but promoted Islam with their policies which consolidated the political 
well-being of the Muslims over the non-Muslims in the geographical 
entity of plurality they formed as Nigeria State. Finally, Nigeria’s 
independence opened the chapter of perpetual struggle for supremacy 
between Muslims and non-Muslims in the direction of leadership and 
general administration of the country with attendant rivalry between the 
adherence of the two religious divides (Islam and Christianity). The 
relevance of this analysis to the formative processes of the Catholic 
clerics is the need for understanding of Islam physical processes on 
Muslims in Nigeria by the seminarians and the logical background 
behind the complex numerous issues which confront the peoples of the 
contemporary Nigeria society they are to serve.  This is important as the 
way out is not to continue in the suprematic struggle but to engage in 
dialogue no matter the cost so that the mission of the Church’s 
evangelization will continue to flourish in the society.  

It is the recommendation of this paper that the non-violent 
attitude of Christ during his redemptive mission on earth be the guiding 
principle of Christians especially the would-be Catholic priest as the 
Catholic Church to a great extent represents the Christian faith in 
Nigeria. Also, the Government authorities should be engaged in 
modalities that promote freedom and impartiality in service delivery to 
the people including the provision of effective strategy that will ensure 
safety and security of lives and property for all citizens.  
 
References 
Abdulati, H. (1997), Islam in Focus, Cairo: El-Falah Foundation. 

Al-Qaradawi, Y. (1998). State in Islam. Cairo: El-Falah. 

Anyanwu, S. O. and Nwanaju, I. U. (2014). The Politicization of Religion in Nigeria 

since the Amalgamation of 1914. Abakaliki: Citizens’ Advocate Press. 

Armstrong, K. (2000). Islam: A Short History. United Kingdom: Weidenfeld & 

Nicolson. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) (1995). New York: Double Day. 

Doi, A.R.I (1978). “Islam in Nigeria: Changes since Independence” in Edward 

Fashole-luke et al (Eds), Christianity in Independent Africa. Ibadan: 

University Press. (Pgs 334-353). 



418 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Dudley, B. (1968). Parties and Politics in Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. 

Ebhomienlen, T.O. and Ukpebor, E.I. (2013). “Religion and Politics in Nigeria: A 

Comparative Study of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and 

the Christian Association of Nigeria” in International Journal of Science and 

Research (IJSR), Vol. 2, No.9. (pgs 166-170). 

Esposito, J.L. (2005), Islam the Straight Path, New York: Oxford University Press. 

Falola, T. (1998). Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular 

Ideologies. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.  

Imaekhai, F. J. (2010). “The Three Major Religions Practised in Nigeria and Human 

Value” in Isiramen, C.O, Imaekhai, F.J and Igboin, B.O. (Eds), Religion and 

the Nigerian Nation: Some Topical Issues. Ibadan: En-Joy Press & Books. 

(Pgs 53-66).  

Kenny, J. (2001). “The Spread of Islam in Nigeria: A Historical Survey”, A paper given 

at Conference on Sharia in Nigeria at the Spiritan Institute of Theology, 

Enugu. Retrived www.islamawareness.net/Africa/Nigeria/nigeria_artic 

le0001.html, 18/03/2020. 

Kilani, A.O. and Ukpebor, E.I. (2016) “Islam in Africa and Homosexuality Debates” in 

EPHA: Ekpoma Journal of Religious Studies. Vol. 11, No. 1&2, (pgs 232-

247). 

Kilani, A.R.O. (2014). Islamology. Third Edition, Lagos: Jetins Ltd. 

Kukah, M.H. (2011). Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria. Ibadan: 

Spectrum Books. 

Muller, M. (1897) in https://www.academia.edu/19356218/Max_Muller retrieved 

18/02/20. 

Odey, J. (2012). “Boko Haram: Nigeria’s Path to Disintegration” in Anyanwu, S.O. 

And Nwanaju, I.U. (Eds), Boko Haram and Terrorism: Religious Conflicts and 

Dialogue Initiatives in Nigeria. Enugu: Snaap Press Nigeria Ltd. (Pgs 48-75). 

Tasie, G.I.K and Okinedo, A.H.I (2005). “Priesthood” in W.O. Wotogbe-Weneka (Ed), 

Themes in Comparative Religion, Ado-Ekiti: Hamaz Global Publishing Co. 

(pgs 124-134). 

Ukpebor, E. I. (2018). “Violence and Peace: The Place of Islam in the Crises of 

Confidence in Nigeria” in Voyages: Journal of Religious Studies. Vol. 4, (pgs 

37-54). 

Umejesi, I.O. (1992). “The Spread of Islam in Nigeria”, in Orita Journal of religious 

Studies, Vol. 1-2, (pgs 85-96). 

Wotogbe-Weneka W.O. (2005).Themes in Comparative Religion, Ado-Ekiti: Hamaz 

Global Publishing Co. 



419 

31 

IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON WOMEN    

AND CHILDREN 
 

Prof. Ikechukwu Anthony, KANU (OSA) 
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies 

Tansian University, Umunya 
Anambra State 

ikee_mario@yahoo.com 
& 

Mike Boni, BAZZA, Ph.D 
Department of History and International Relations 

Veritas University Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria) 
danbazza68@gmail.com 

& 
Immaculata Olu, OMOJOLA, (SSMA), Ph.D 

Department of Business Administration and Management 
Villanova Polytechnic 

Imesi Ile 
Osun State 

omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 
 
Abstract 
This paper provides a thematic discourse on the impact of migration on 
women and children. The study aims to contribute to deepening the 
understanding of migration as a gendered phenomenon and its impact on 
women and children and human rights in general. Women comprise 
slightly less than half of the international migrant population. While 
women and men decide to migrate for similar reasons, gender-specific 
social and cultural norms also play decisive roles in the migration process 
and therefore, affect the experience of migrant women and children. 
Furthermore, the paper juxtaposes that a greater understanding of 
migration as a gendered phenomenon can enable States to better protect 
migrant women and children from gender based discrimination, abuse 
and violations at all stages of migration, and fulfill their human rights. 
The study focuses on the impact of migration on women and children, 
especially girls, given that they are uniquely and disproportionately 
affected by gender-based discrimination, abuse and violence. The paper 

mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com
mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com
mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk


420 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

concludes by submitting that migrant women, who comprise half of the 
total migrant population in the world, provide important social and 
economic contributions to their countries of origin and destination. For 
many women and children, migration provides opportunities for their 
economic and social development. Indeed, migration experiences can 
contribute to the empowerment of women and children by increasing 
their self-confidence, autonomy and control over their lives. Finally, the 
paper notes, their exposure to different gender norms may contribute to 
the achievement of gender equality in their societies of origin. 
 
Keywords: Migration, Women, Children, Human Rights, Gender 
norms, Socio- Cultural norms 
 
Introduction 
The number of migrant women is said to have doubled between 1960 
and 2015. In 2017, women comprised slightly less than half, or 48 per 
cent, of the international migrant population. Interestingly, they 
outnumbered men in all regions except Africa and Asia.1 Data indicate 
that the rate of female migration is growing faster than male migration in 
many receiving countries  

While migration has moved up in the international policy 
agenda, its wide-ranging implications for children have received little 
attention. Children are affected by migration when they are left behind 
by one or both migrating parents, migrating with parents (or born 
abroad), or migrating alone.2 The impact of migration on children and 
adolescents must be seen in the broader context of poverty and conflict, 
and within the perspectives of vulnerability and resilience, gender 
relations and children’s rights. 

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) protects 
every child, regardless of nationality or immigration status. States have 
obligations to respect the provisions of the Convention in their policies 
and actions toward each and every child within their jurisdiction. These 
provisions include the right to citizenship, physical integrity, health and 
education as well as the right to be free from discrimination, exploitation, 
and abuse. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights 
of All Migrant Workers reaffirms these rights set forth in the CRC.3  

Policies should protect children’s rights by enhancing access to 
the potential benefits created by migration, while also providing 
protection for those who are vulnerable to its negative consequences. 
Effective migration policies need to be accompanied by additional 
investments in health, education and social protection to address the 
risks faced by children and adolescents who are migrating or left behind.4 

 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    421 

Definitions of Terms  
Children: According to international standards, children are defined as 
“individuals below the age of 18” (CRC, Article1). However, it is 
important to note that only some of the documents included in this 
paper provide information disaggregated to specify the 0-18 age group.5 
In most of the research examined children are defined by the age group 
0-15, and youth by the age group 16-24.6   
 
Migration: The United Nations defines a migrant as “any person who 
changes his or her country of usual residence”.7 Identifying who is a 
migrant can be difficult due to the dynamic nature of migration, which 
in turn implies defining and assessing temporal and spatial criteria. 
Migration can be permanent, if a person never return to his or her place 
of origin, or long term if a person moves to a country other than that of 
his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the 
country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of 
usual residence. 

A short-term migrant is defined as a person moving to a 
country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at 
least 3 months but less than a year (12 months), and often is the status of 
a person who moves from one region to another in accordance to the 
seasons. However, if a person moves to a new country for purposes of 
recreation, holiday, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical 
treatment, or religious pilgrimages, he or she is not considered a 
migrant.8 In terms of space patterns, migration can imply the movement 
from one country to another (international migration), or movement 
within a country (internal migration, particularly between rural and 
urban areas), or movement transnationally if migrants “forge and sustain 
multi-stranded relations that link together their societies of origin and 
settlement”.9  
 
The Conventions on: 
The Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: 
Under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination against Women, discrimination against women is 
prohibited and States are obliged to eliminate discrimination against 
women. There are 189 States parties to the Convention, which includes 
obligations to suppress trafficking in women (art. 6); grant women equal 
rights with men to acquire, change or retain nationality (art. 9); eliminate 
discrimination against women in the field of employment (art. 11); 
eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care and 
ensure access to health-care services, including those related to family 
planning and maternal care (art. 12); and accord to men and women the 



422 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons 
and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile (art. 15 (4).10  
 
The Rights of the Child: The principle of non-discrimination is 
codified in article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 
joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the protection 
of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families and 
No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the 
general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context 
of international migration, both Committees gave their interpretation of 
the application of the non-discrimination principle in the context of 
international migration. The non-discrimination principle in the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that States parties 
should respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention for all 
children, whether they are considered, inter alia, migrants in regular or 
irregular situations, asylum seekers, refugees, stateless or victims of 
trafficking, including in situations of return or deportation to their 
country of origin, irrespective of their or their parents’ or legal guardians’ 
nationality, migration status or statelessness.11 
 
Migration Channels and Specific Challenges while Migrating 
Until recently, women were thought to migrate primarily to join a 
partner or for family reunification. Today, an increasing number of 
women are moving on their own,12 notably to find work, which is 
leading to a so-called feminization of migration. While the way in which 
women are migrating is changing, more women are also likely to be the 
lead migrant, that is, the first member of the family to migrate. Highly 
skilled women are more likely to migrate on their own than low-skilled 
women.13Some women, however, still face difficulties in leaving their 
countries because of prohibitive, gender-specific discriminatory laws or 
restrictive social norms. Those measures can push them to migrate 
through irregular channels14 which is more common when coupled with 
institutional failures to address the obstacles, as well as insufficient 
information on the migration process and a low level of education. It 
should be noted here that a network of migrant women in their 
countries of origin, or previous experience of women’s migration, can 
help to stimulate migration. Social networks, as a set of interpersonal ties 
that connect migrants, former migrants and non-migrants in origin, 
transit and destination countries through kinship, friendship or a shared 
community of origin, can prompt rural women to migrate across 
borders. 

In countries of destination, regardless of their migratory status, 
migrant women encounter multiple and intersecting forms of 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    423 

discrimination, not only as women and as migrants, but also on other 
grounds, including age, race and ethnicity, nationality, religion, marital 
and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity. As a result, they 
are at risk of abuse and exploitation. It is well documented that migrant 
women in general struggle in many countries to have their credentials 
recognized, which leads to “deskilling” as a result of being 
underemployed.15  
 
Migration and Socio-Cultural Gender Norms 
The migration of women may amend the social and gender norms both 
for migrants themselves and for their home communities. It may 
influence their home communities to adopt more equitable norms with 
regard to education, reproductive rights, marriage and the organization of 
families and communities.16The migration of women has the potential to 
contribute to a reformulation of gender roles and cultural norms, and 
may improve women’s autonomy, self-esteem and social standing.17 For 
example, in one study, South Asian migrant women reportedly used 
their increased decision‐making power to direct their remittances to 
health care and education for their families.18 
 
Migration and Economic Empowerment of Women 
In his opening remarks at the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt 
the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the 
Secretary-General emphasized how important migration was for the 
functioning of economies, as migrants performed vital roles, such as in 
health care and care for elderly persons.19 Migration can fill critical gaps 
in labour markets in countries of destination, with a positive impact on 
employment, production and the country’s gross domestic product. It is 
important to note that the migration of women also leaves gaps in their 
countries of origin. In 2011, the World Bank pointed out that physicians 
and nurses were the professionals that migrated most often than other 
classes of professionals.20It is therefore not surprising that according to 
one study; sub-Saharan countries are experiencing a shortage of 600,000 
nurses. It was found in another study that from 1999 to 2001, 60 per cent 
of registered nurses left tertiary hospitals in Malawi, likely to migrate. As 
a result, 64 per cent of nursing positions (heavily dominated by women) 
remain unfilled, with medical centres operating with no nurses or with 
employees who have as little as 10 weeks of medical training.21  
 
The Impact of Migration on: 
Children in general: In order to formulate policy recommendations 
that enhance children’s welfare, there is a need for reliable data that allow 
the assessment of positive and negative effects of migration. UNICEF, in 



424 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

collaboration with UNDP and the Special Unit for South-South 
Cooperation (SU-SSC), has initiated policy research and operational 
work in six countries (Ecuador, Albania, Moldova, Philippines, Mexico, 
Morocco) on the impact of migration on women and children left 
behind. Some preliminary results from country-level studies and a 
review of current literature highlight the magnitude of the impact of 
migration on families.  

According to a report by (Save the Children, 2006), around 1 
million Sri Lankan children are left behind by their mothers, who 
migrate in search of work. In the Philippines, it is estimated that between 
8.8 and 9 million children, or around 27% of all minors in the country, 
live separated from one or both parents. In Moldova, a study estimated 
that 31% of children aged 0-14 have been left behind by one parent and 
5.4% by both parents.22  In 2002, 13% of Mexican and almost 22% of 
Salvadoran immigrants living in the U.S had children left behind in their 
home countries.23  
 
Children Left Behind: The social cost of migration can be very high, 
particularly due to the lack of parental care. Children left behind 
inevitably grow up in single-headed families (if only one parent is 
migrating), or with grandparents and other relatives (if both of the 
parents are migrating), filling the vacuum left by migrant parents. 
Negative effects can be exacerbated if long term migration of one of the 
parents may lead to permanent disruption of family unity. Absence of 
men can create material and psychological insecurity, leading mothers 
(or children when both the parents are migrating) to pressures and 
negotiations with wider family members. Migrants may start having 
“dual families” relationships: one in the country of origin and one in the 
country of destination; this phenomenon may actually reduce the 
amount of remittances sent home.24 However it is important to stress the 
fact that children left behind are not orphans and most of them do keep 
some sort of contact with their migrant parents. 

The impact of the absence of one of the parents on children can 
be mediated by an extended family safety net, which is an effective 
response to economic and social crises, particularly in sub-Saharan 
Africa. For this reason, children in left-behind households do not appear 
to suffer greater social or economic problems than their peers in non-
remittance-receiving households, with the exception of younger 
children.25 However, care by the extended family, or community or 
institutional care, often does not provide as much protection from abuse 
and exploitation as parental care.   
 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    425 

Children’s Health: The effects of migration on child health are 
contested and complex. Whereas on the one hand, migration itself poses 
significant hazards to children and their health, movement to a 
destination country also can increase access to health care. Moving to 
countries or regions with better health services will have a positive 
impact on children. Migrant children moving from a rural area to the 
urban area are more likely to survive due to a greater number of hospitals 
and doctors, improved infrastructure including potable water, flush 
toilets, and refrigeration, and better health information (prompting 
cleaner food preparation and storage and improved hygiene practices). 

Health benefits of migration, due to access to better health 
services and information, are sharply contrasted with the inherent health 
risks to moving in the first place. According to Whitehead and Hashim, 
child health is often directly associated with the type of work child 
migrants find, whether it be abusive work, sex work, hazardous work in 
the informal economy, or physically beyond the child’s capacities.26 The 
working conditions, if illegal (i.e. prostitution) may also prevent child 
access to health care if there is a fear of raid, discovery, or deportation. 

Finally migrant may face serious difficulties in accessing health 
services if based on a registered residence system. In China, for example, 
migrants may face a lack of adequate health care for a variety of reasons: 
caretaker lack of knowledge, both in terms of prevention and access to 
care; passive attention to disease; poor economic situations. These factors 
lead to higher child mortality rates among migrants.27  
 
Education and Economic Activity of Migrant Children 
Migration may also have a negative impact on education attainment of 
children. Children of migrant workers and children migrating alone face 
serious exclusion from education due to social and cultural isolation, 
strenuous and hazardous work, extreme poverty, poor health conditions 
and language barriers. Children may leave the household of origin with 
the objective of performing economic activities that may keep them out 
of school. Comparing education achievement between migrants and 
non-migrant children in a given country may be misleading in assessing 
the impact of migration on migrant children. In order to measure how 
and whether the decision to migrate has increased school attainment, it 
will be necessary to compare levels with children of the same age group 
in the country of origin, and not the population of children in the 
country of destination.28 

Children who migrate may end up in being involved in 
economic activities as a specific decision (work migration) or as a result 
of the conditions, need and opportunities in destination countries. 
Regardless of the extensive literature on child work, disproportionately 



426 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

focused on children who work in the worst form of child labour (i.e. 
trafficked jobs, prostitution), there is a lack of quantitative research 
looking specifically at economic activity patterns of migrant children. 
Child migrant workers have a variety of experiences due to a complex set 
of factors, and often one child will have a mixture of positive and 
negative experiences.29 Negative effects may include exploitation, poor 
working conditions, physical, verbal, or sexual abuse from employers and 
foregone access to school. 
 
Psycho-Social: Migration may have psycho-social impacts on children 
due to the experience moving from the country of origin to the country 
of destination, and also due to exclusion and marginalization in countries 
of destination. Leaving their communities, migrant children lose contact 
with their family and friends, as well as lose customs and traditions. At 
the same time, coming into a new community, they may be required to 
become accustomed to new language, culture and lifestyle.30 Even if 
children may adapt to new contexts more quickly than adults, this may 
generate conflict with parent or other members of same migrant group. 
As in the cases of health and education, the psycho-social impact of 
migration varied greatly depending on specific characteristics of the 
migrant group and its receiving country, as well as other methodological 
factors such as variance in data collection.  
 
Children in Host Countries: Children of migrants face challenges in 
adapting to host societies. They stand a greater risk of dropping out of 
school, teenage pregnancy and juvenile crime; they get exposed to 
incomplete citizenship rights and therefore, may have difficult access to 
social services which may also lead to the danger of social exclusion. 
 
Ensure Respect for the Rights of Migrant Women and Children 
In order to ensure the rights of migrant women and children, the 
following steps should be aggressively taken:  
 
(a)  Promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and 

children in efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable 
Development;  

 
(b)  Ensure that the implementation, review and follow-up of the 

Global Compact for Migration is human rights-based, gender-
responsive and child-sensitive;  

 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    427 

(c)  Formulate human rights-based, gender-responsive and child-
sensitive policies to govern migration that promote gender equality 
and non-discrimination;  

 
(d)  Increase avenues for regular migration, where migrants, including 

women and children, can make informed choices and have access to 
legal protection, services and social networks in countries of origin, 
transit and destination;  

 
(e)  Revise national laws and regulations governing migration to make 

them more gender-responsive by including provisions on anti-
discrimination, equality between men and women, mandatory 
health insurance for migrant workers at all levels and special 
protection for vulnerable categories of workers, including domestic 
workers;  

 
(f)  Take measures to ensure that family reunion policies are applicable 

to women migrant workers at all levels, including domestic 
workers, in order to enable their spouses and children to join them 
in their country of destination;  

 
(g)  Involve migrant women and relevant civil society organizations in 

the formulation, implementation and review of policies and 
regulations governing migration to ensure that the specific needs of 
migrant women and children are addressed;  

 
(h)  Provide pre-departure orientation training specific to migrant 

women, which should include information on their human rights, 
potential methods of exploitation and available complaint 
mechanisms; and make financial literacy programmes available to 
migrant women to enable them to better manage their earnings;  

 
(i)  Ensure the provision of basic services as enshrined in international 

human rights law, so that citizens do not have to rely on remittances 
to compensate for the absence of affordable, accessible, publicly 
funded services and social protection;  

 
(j)  Ensure the provision of human rights-based, gender-responsive and 

child-sensitive reintegration programmes for migrants who return 
to their countries of origin, and more specifically, ensure that 
economic, sociocultural and psychosocial support is provided to 
returnee migrants and communities in their countries of origin 
prior, during and after their return;  



428 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

(k)  Provide gender-sensitive human rights training to immigration 
officials, border police, social workers, health-care providers, 
educators, judicial officers and media workers to raise their 
awareness of the human rights of migrant women and children;  

 
(l)  Take all measures necessary to prevent, investigate, prosecute and 

sanction human rights violations and abuse against migrant women 
and children, whether perpetrated by public officials or private 
individuals;  

 
(m) Guarantee adequate recognition of foreign qualifications and skills to 

ensure that migrant women do not become underemployed or 
“deskilled”, and to ensure that their professional experience and 
skills are fully recognized;  

 
(n)  Lift sex-specific bans and discriminatory restrictions on the 

migration of women, whether they are based on age, pregnancy or 
marital or maternity status, and particularly restrictions that require 
women or children to obtain permission from male family 
members in order to travel;  

 
(o)  Strengthen State oversight and monitoring of private recruitment 

agencies and brokers to ensure that overseas employment 
programmes and work permits are administered in a manner that 
respects gender equality and the rights of migrant women;  

 
(p)  Ensure that migrant women have equal access to legal remedies and 

complaint mechanisms, and provide legal, vocational, medical and 
psychological assistance to victims of trafficking, particularly female 
victims;  

 
(q)  Ensure that migrant women and children have access to education, 

social protection, health care, including reproductive health care, 
and other basic services;  

 
(r)  Establish firewalls between public service providers and 

immigration authorities to allow access to justice for migrant 
women and girls without fear of being reported, detained or 
deported;  

 
(s)  Invest in and support the capacity of national agencies to collect and 

use sex- and age-disaggregated data on migrants regardless of their 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    429 

migratory status, and support research initiatives to better 
understand the impact of migration on women and children;  

 
(t)  Conduct awareness-raising campaigns to better uphold the dignity 

of migrant women and children, and to highlight their social and 
economic contributions to society;  

 
(u)  Include the protection of the rights of migrant women and children 

on the agenda of intergovernmental dialogues on migration-related 
issues at the global, regional and bilateral levels. 

 
Conclusions and Recommendations 
Migrant women, who comprise half of the total migrant population in 
the world, provide important social and economic contributions to their 
countries of origin and destination. For many women and children, 
migration provides opportunities for their economic and social 
development. Migration experiences can contribute to the empowerment 
of women and girls by increasing their self-confidence, autonomy and 
control over their lives. Their exposure to different gender norms may 
contribute to the achievement of gender equality in their societies of 
origin. However, circumstances such as discriminatory social and 
cultural norms and policies have contributed to the specific 
vulnerabilities of migrant women and children. Many are 
disproportionately affected by gender-based discrimination, abuse and 
violations of their rights during migration. A limited understanding of 
the realities faced by migrant women and children affects the ability of 
States to formulate and implement gender-responsive migration laws, 
policies and programmes, and ensure that women and children can enjoy 
their human rights throughout their migration journey. 

We conclude this discourse on the impacts of migration on women 
and children with the following recommendations: 
1. Children and adolescents must matter in migration policies and 

debates. Children and adolescents affected by migration are 
particularly vulnerable and should receive special protection.  

2. To increase the visibility of children in policy agendas, more research 
and comparable global data on how children are affected by 
migration are needed. ƒ 

3. Policy and programme interventions should aim at maximizing the 
benefits of remittances and limiting the negative effects of migration 
on children and families left behind.  

4. Governments, international organizations, and civil society 
stakeholders must collaborate (a) to advocate for the rights of 
children and women affected by migration, (b) to monitor and 



430 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

gather information on the well-being of children in migrant 
communities and (c) to promote awareness in sending migrants to 
host societies so that the risks of discrimination and social exclusion 
are reduced. 

 
 
Endnotes  
____________________ 
 
1. International Migration Report 2017 (Highlights), United Nations publication, 

Sales No. E.18.XIII.4) 
2. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 
3. International Migration Policy Programme, Meeting the Challenges of Migration: 

Progress since the ICPD (2004), p. 13. 
4. The impact of migration on migrant women and girls: a gender perspective: 

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants 

(A/HRC/41/38) (EN/AR/RU) 
5. The lack of disaggregated data specifying 0-18 as an age group includes 

international statistics that should follow the definition in the Convention on the 

Rights of the Child. 
6. Ibid. 
7. In the 1976 recommendation, a migrant was defined as person who has entered 

a country with the intention of remaining for more than one year and who either 

must never have been in that country continuously for more than one year or, 

having been in the country at least once continuously for more than one year, 

must have been away continuously for more than one year since the last stay of 

more than one involved (United Nations, 1998) 
8. Ibid. 
9. www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-12-10/remarks-

intergovernmental-conferenceadopt-the-global-compact-for-migration 
10. Nicola Piper, ed., New Perspectives on Gender and Migration: Livelihood, Rights 

and Entitlements, Oxon: Routledge, 2007, pp. 1–2.  
11. See also Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 6 (2005) on 

the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of 

origin, paragraph 12. 
12. Alyson L., Dimmit Gnam, “Mexico’s missed opportunities to protect irregular 

women trans migrants: applying a gender lens to migration law reform” in Pacific 

Rim Law & Policy Journal, vol. 22, No. 3 (2013), pp. 713–749.  
13. O’Neil, Fleury and Foresti, “Women on the move”, p. 9.  
14. Bandita Sijapati, “Women’s labour migration from Asia and the Pacific: 

opportunities and challenges”, IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and 

Migration Policy Institute, 2015, p. 8. 
15. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Global 

Education Monitoring Report Team, “The intersections between education, 

migration and displacement are not gender-neutral”, document 

ED/GEM/MRT/2019/WP1, p. 4.) 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    431 

16. O’Neil, Fleury and Foresti, “Women on the move”, p. 5. 
17. Rita Afsar, “Contextualizing gender and migration in South Asia: critical insights” 

in Gender, Technology and Development, vol. 15, No. 3 (2011), pp. 389–410. 
18. www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-12-10/remarks-

intergovernmental-conferenceadopt-the-global-compact-for-migration 
19. Camilla Spadavecchia, “Migration of women from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe”, 

p. 108.  
20. Ibid. 
21. UNICEF Moldova / SU-SSC, 2006)  
22. Cortina & de la Garza, 2004) 
23. Nyiri and Saveliev 2002 
24. In the available policy literature on development, the term “children left behind” 

is sometime also used to refer to children orphans due to HIV/AIDS. 
25. Whitehead and Hashim (2005) 
26. Beijing Health Bureau’s (2007). 
27.  The effect of a lack of parental care on children has been addressed in detail in a 

series of recent studies looking at the conditions of the large number of children 

orphans due to HIV/AIDS, and some of the policy concerns and interventions are 

similar to the ones developed for of abandoned children or orphans. 
28. Ibid. 
29. Ibid. 
30. Camilla Spadavecchia, “Migration of women from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe”, 

p. 108.  

 



432 

32 

FORMATION OF THE YOUTH AND ITS 

IMPLICATIONS ON NATIONAL 

DEVELOPMENT 
 

Osamede Christopher, OSAWARU 
Department of Philosophy, 

University of Benin, Benin-City, 
Edo State, Nigeria. 

chrisosawaru4@gmail.com, christopher.osawaru@uniben.edu 
 

 
Abstract 
It is often said that today’s youth are tomorrows’ leaders. The youths are 
the pillars upon which the success, progress and prosperity of a nations’ 
future are built. When their strengths and potentials and creativity are 
properly harnessed, they are great assets to any nation. Youths are the 
major human capital (resources) hence the need to channel their 
energies accordingly and dissipate it appropriately for the benefit of the 
nation and humanity as a whole. Today’s youths are faced with the 
challenge of coping with an ever broadening spectrum of influences on 
decision making and behavior. These influences stem from the home, 
peer pressure, the media, technological advancement and the society and 
they have negative effects on their growth and development. The youth 
cannot be who they ought to be without the gentle and loving guidance 
of everyone charged with the responsibility of molding their lives. The 
manifestations of uncivilized acts among the youths are as result of the 
missing link in the execution of these responsibilities. This paper is an 
attempt to provide a philosophical investigation into the formation of the 
youth with a view of emphasizing the need to harness the potentials of 
these youths for national development. The paper argues that everyone 
charged with the responsibility of contributing to the formation of the 
youth are stakeholders in this onerous task and it is justifiable and 
rational for all hands to be on deck. The paper adopted an expository 
method of philosophical inquiry 
 

mailto:chrisosawaru4@gmail.com


Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    433 

Keywords: Youth, Youth formation, Development, National 
development, Human capital, Stakeholders. 
 
Introduction 
It is often said that ‘today’s youth are tomorrows’ leaders. They are our 
future leaders because they will outlive today’s leaders. Historically, this 
is essentially true. They are the pillars upon which the success, progress 
and prosperity of a nations’ future are built. When their strength, 
potentials and creativity are properly harnessed, they are great assets to 
any nation. But when their abilities are not properly channeled, they can 
become a great danger to themselves and the society. This is the reason 
every nation that hopes to remain relevant in future must give priority to 
the formation, development and training of its youths. There will be no 
success without a successor. 

However, it is imperative that the cliché that youths are the 
leaders of tomorrow go beyond mere platitudes and words to action. 
Efforts must be made to ensure that it actually become a reality because 
the youths are special breeds with unique abilities to drive positive and 
lasting change in every facet of life. But in order for them to maximize 
their potentials and get to the peak of their abilities, they need to be 
adequately equipped today. 

The older generation has the responsibility to prepare the 
younger ones for their future relevance, first by their examples and then 
by helping the youths understand their calling and future responsibilities. 
Parents, schools, religious organizations, the society and the government 
are the stakeholders who have special tasks in making the youths ready 
for the future; to equip them with skills, knowledge and support needed 
to take advantage of the opportunities of the modern world and make 
their societies a better place to the benefit of humanity. 

Parents are the primary care givers of their children, the training 
and development of the youths should begin at home. It is the home that 
morals are first inculcated and characters moulded. The Holy Bible for 
Christians stated that “Train up a child in the way he should go; and 
when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). This 
places enormous responsibilities on parents because parental care and 
guidance are major cornerstones in the formation process of every child. 
The school should also help in preparing the youth for the future by 
preparing them mentally and intellectually so that they can adequately 
meet the challenge of this century. Education remains an essential key to 
ensuring a brighter future. Therefore, the government should make the 
education of the youth a priority. Beyond this, it should also create an 
enabling environment for young people to actualize their dreams 
through its policies and programmes.  



434 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

It is axiomatic therefore to posit that there is a linkage between 
youth formation and national development. This intercourse is not only 
symbiotically connected; but, one depends on the other for its 
sustenance. Therefore, the role of youth on national development cannot 
be over emphasized. The wheel of development of any country lies on 
the shoulder of how productive and creative the youthful populations 
are. The youth in any society are the engine of growth and development; 
because, they provide the labour force for production of goods and 
service to take effect. And also, are the critical masses of people, whose 
action and inaction can develop or destroy the hegemonies/fabrics of 
their society. The thrust of this paper is to expose the role of various 
stakeholders in the formation of the youths using a simple analytical 
survey, this paper tries to examine how youths could be helped to 
develop skills that can enhance their abilities and also achieve a 
promising future for themselves. 

 
Conceptual Clarifications 
Who is a Youth? 
The word “youth” has a relatively clear connotation but for the purpose 
of this article, it is important we proceed with a clarification of the notion 
of a youth. There is no universal definition of the youth population. 
“Youths” is traditionally defined as a period of transition from childhood 
to adulthood. According to Chambers Dictionary, a youth is a person 
between childhood/adolescents and maturity, from this, it could be 
deduced that a youth is a young person still going through the process of 
formation or development. This starts right from conception through 
childhood and adolescence to maturity, if this is ever fully achieved.  

In the African Youths Report 2009 (UNECA 2009), “youths” are 
defined as people between 15 and 39 years of age. However, several 
African countries define their youth population differently. For example, 
Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa define the youth population as those 
between 15 and 35 years of age; Nigeria and Swaziland define it as those 
between 12 and 30 years; and Botswana and Mauritius define it as those 
between 14 and 25 years.1 These varying definitions of the youth 
population make it difficult to effectively discuss issues affecting youths 
in Africa generally and to compare information across countries. The age 
band used in the AYR is too wide because it is generally agreed that 
people in their 30s are adults, and hence not part of those youths who are 
in transition to adulthood.  

For statistical purposes, the United Nations (2011d) defines 
youths as “those aged 15 to 24 years.”2 Although arbitrary, this is the age 
group that has been recognized internationally as “Youths.” Though 
generally acceptable and preferable, its implementation often poses 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    435 

problems because the data for different countries are not provided using 
this definition. For example, population data are commonly presented in 
five-year age bands or presented for children (below 15 years) and for 
adults (15 years and above). Similarly, labor market data are typically 
presented for adults (16–64 years).3  

A problem with this attempt at defining a youth however is that 
while we are reasonably sure that the process of formation, employed to 
define who a youth is, begins right from childhood, we are not sure if 
and when this process stops and maturity is fully attained. Indeed, there 
are two important questions we need to address in this regard. It relates 
to when childhood starts. Is it from conception, from birth or a certain 
point after birth? At least, it is obvious that development characterizes 
the life of each individual right from conception. Without unnecessarily 
belabouring the issue of when childhood commences we may safely put 
this at immediately after conception. A reason for this position is that we 
observe in individual persons marked signs of growth, especially physical 
growth, right from birth with manifestations of other forms of growth 
(intellectual, emotional, spiritual and cognitive following as the child 
develops physically. 

The second question is “is there any point in the life of the 
human person that he/she finally achieves maturity and ceases from 
growing and developing?’ From the legal perspective, the age of 
maturity/adulthood is located between the age of eighteen and twenty-
one in virtually all countries. But, one fact that we can hardly contest is 
that the process of growth and development extends far beyond the age 
bracket of eighteen and twenty-one. Thus, if maturity is to be 
understood as the point at which the process of growth and development 
terminates and maturity is fully attained then it is obvious that this 
cannot be rightly located between the age of eighteen and twenty-one. 
Besides, it is very much doubtful that we can identify a definite age at 
which persons attain maturity, understood as the age of full growth and 
development. Thus, the problem with the attempt to define a youth in 
terms of the period and the process of development is that these vary 
from person to person. The process might even continue in some 
individuals from childhood, far beyond what people would ordinarily 
want to consider as the period of youthfulness and extend to what is 
described as the middle or even the old age. 

There is really no period in human life that development cannot 
and as a matter of fact, does not take place in ones aspect of life or the 
other. Given this understanding, if we are to retain our conception of the 
youth being marked by the period and process of growth, then it might 
be helpful to extend the concept to include anyone who appreciates the 
need for growth, seeks for growth or is actually growing in areas that are 



436 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

crucial for both personal and social development. However, for our 
purpose, a youth can be defined as a person who is still in his/her 
formative years, undergoing character modeling, personality 
development and sometimes receiving training that has to do with 
human capacity development. “The youth therefore could be influenced 
by whatever transpires in and around his/her environment because 
he/she learns through observation and experience”.4 (Adeyemo & Co) 

 
The Concept of Development 
There is no agreement as to what development is. There are various 
aspects as to what constitutes development; however common to all is a 
positive change in human wellbeing. The individual and his quality of 
life must be the center of the conception of national development, for 
the purpose of this paper; the youth must be equipped to contribute their 
own quota to the development of the nation. The term development 
could be used interchangeably with evolution depending on the contexts 
in which it is being used, either positively or negatively to refer to 
situations, trends, or issues.   

Development, ordinarily means “man’s effort to make the 
necessary impact on nature; his environment, and on himself with a view 
to transforming and improving himself and his environment”5 (Nwafor, 
2006).  It is clear therefore that development and improvement are 
synonymous.  When something has been made to wear a new look from 
what it was before, we can say that a development has taken place.  The 
words “growth” and expansion” are coterminous with development, and 
they suggest positive development.  These words equally denote progress 
being made from one stage to another, which do not denote negative 
development like retardation, degeneration or decline. Development is 
the progressive realization of capabilities, abilities and talents of each 
individual for his /her own satisfaction and enhancement of the social 
good. 

Development in a wider context deals with socio-economic and 
political life of the society; it connotes the fulfillment, realization or 
actualization of goals and objectives, hopes and aspirations of that society.  
The process of actualization begins when a society recognizes its 
inadequacies, and sets goals for itself, and decides to make deliberate 
efforts to remedy perceived deficiencies in order to attain desired goals.6 

(Nwafor, 2006). In this regard, Nyerere in Ezimah (2004) views 
development as having an emancipator goal, i.e., it liberates man from 
shackles of ignorance, superstition and oppression in all its 
ramifications.7 Consequently, all forms of development have to some 
extent a reasonable dose of educational process.  For that reason, the 
development of the intellectual frontiers of the individual youth cannot 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    437 

be left untouched.  By extension therefore, the development of the 
individual’s intellectual capacity and capability empowers him/ her 
socially, economically and politically; thereby giving him not only a sense 
of self-fulfillment, but also a sense of belonging and commitment to the 
overall development of society. 

Development entails more than the economic aspect of people 
lives. A significant development in a country like Nigeria must take into 
account man as a whole and not just an aspect of him. This supports the 
notion of subjecting development to multidisciplinary interpretation and 
usage, these various perceptions only contribute to showing the richness 
as well as the problems associated with the concept of development. The 
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) distinguishes between 
two sides of development. One is the formation of human capabilities 
and the other is the use people make of their acquired capabilities. This 
implies that development could be at the level of individual and also at 
the level of the society. 

Development is a multidimensional process involving the totality 
of man in his political, economic, psychological, social relations, among 
others. Development is not a completed affair; it is an on-going process. 
Thus people are the objects of development. It must involve among 
other things the eradication of certain human -demeaning social 
phenomena, such as poverty, illiteracy, lowlife expectancy; development 
should be the creation and maintenance of livelihood opportunities.  

Development is a social concept standing for the process through 
which human beings strive to improve the conditions of their lives. 
Development is not an abstraction; it is a process of social 
transformation, which involves the replacement of those factors that 
inhibit the capacity of the individual for self-direction and the promotion 
of social cooperation with those which promote these ideals. In short, it 
is a process whose essence concerns the quality of life of the people. 
 
National Development  
The term national development is a term that refers to a sustainable 
growth and development of a nation to a more desirable one. National 
development is people oriented and its success is evaluated in terms of 
the impact it has had in improving the lot of the masses. True 
development must mean the development of man, the unfolding and 
realization of his creative potentials, enabling him to improve his 
material conditions of living through the use of resources available to 
him. It is a process by which man’s personality is enhanced, and it is this 
enhanced personality and creativity, organized and disciplined- which is 
the moving force behind the socioeconomic transformation of any 
society. According to Onabajo and M’Bayo (2009), says ‘national 



438 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

development should be man oriented and not institution oriented, that 
is, individually in collectiveness and not individual.8 To Elugbe, (1994), 
‘national development refers among other things, to the growth of the 
nation in terms of unity, education, economic well-being and mass 
participation in government.9 In summary development entails the 
provision of all the necessary materials and equipment’s that will 
guarantee that man in every society make a living and essence out of life.  

Anaeto and Anaeto (2010) citing Todaro and Smith (2003), 
identified three objectives of development which are; 1. Increase 
availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustaining goods such 
as food, shelter, health and protection. 2. To raise levels of living in 
addition to higher incomes, the provision of more jobs, better education, 
and greater attention to cultural and human values, all of which will 
serve not only to enhance material well-being but also to generate greater 
individual and national self-esteem and 3. To expand the range of 
economic and social choices available to individuals and nation by freeing 
them from servitude and dependence, not only in relation to other 
people and nation states but also to the forces of ignorance and human 
misery.10 Development is the socio-cultural, political, economic and the 
spiritual well-being of a society. In a truly developed state there is 
assurance of good quality of life, exercise of all human rights, and 
freedom to participate in the democratic process. From the foregoing, 
development implies enhanced quality of life, equity and justice, as it 
takes into consideration the wellbeing, growth and advancement of 
individuals within the society. 

National development could be described as the process of 
putting in place all it require for a nation  state to stand on its own as an 
independent autonomous state.it entails more than the economic aspect 
of people lives. A significant development in a country like Nigeria must 
take into account man as a whole and not just an aspect of him. This 
supports the notion of subjecting development to multidisciplinary 
interpretation and usage, these various perceptions only contribute to 
showing the richness as well as the problems associated with the concept 
of national development. The United Nations Development Program 
(UNDP) distinguishes between two sides of development. One is the 
formation of human capabilities and the other is the use people make of 
their acquired capabilities. This implies that development could be at the 
level of individual and also at the level of the society. 

National development is a multidimensional process involving 
the totality of the nation in its political, economic, psychological, social 
relations, among others. National development is not a completed affair; 
it is an on-going process. Thus people are the objects of national 
development. It must involve among other things the eradication of 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    439 

certain human -demeaning social phenomena, such as poverty, illiteracy, 
lowlife expectancy, national development should be the creation and 
maintenance of livelihood opportunities amongst the citizens that makes 
up such nation. Such process includes training and retraining of the 
human resources. The aim is to harness and exploit the available 
resources in the country. In most cases, the training is focused majorly 
on areas of critical needs at a particular point in time. National 
development means the conscious, deliberate and concerted effort made 
by people to address the fundamental needs or issues of their 
nationhood. 
 
Human Capital Development  
Human capital development was described as an end or objective of 
development. It is a way to fulfill the potential of people by enlarging 
their capabilities, and this necessarily implies empowerment of people, 
enabling them to participate actively in their own development. Human 
capital development is also a means since it enhances the skills, 
knowledge, productivity and inventiveness of people through a process 
of human capital formation broadly conceived. Thus, human capital 
development is a people centered strategy, and not goods centered or 
production centered strategy of development. What really matters is the 
empowerment of people to identify their own priorities and to 
implement programmes and projects of direct benefit to them. This in 
turn implies the active participation of people in the development 
process and the consequent need to construct institutions that permit 
and indeed encourage that participation.  

In human capital development, education and health are 
essential. Education is concerned with the cultivation of “the whole 
person” including intellectual, character and psychomotor development. 
It is the human resources of any nation, rather than its physical, capital 
and material resources, which ultimately determine the character and 
pace of its economic and social development. According to Harbison, 
Human resources constitute the ultimate basis for the wealth of nations. 
Capital and natural resources are passive factors of production; human 
beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural 
resources, build social, economic and political organization, and carry 
forward national development. A country which is unable to develop the 
skills and knowledge of its people and utilize them effectively for 
national progress will be unable to develop anything else.11 (Harbison, 
1973, p.3).  

Education occupies an important place in most plans for 
economic and social development. Whichever way one looks at it, the 
education sector is important in human development as a supplier of the 



440 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

trained manpower and it is a prerequisite for the accomplishment of 
other development goals. Also, it is the main sector through whose 
national identity goals and aspirations are given meaning and reality 
among the people.  
 
The Uniqueness of Youthfulness 
The youthful age is the most exciting, active, dynamic period of one’s 
life. This stage of life is characterized by physical strength, dreams of a 
great future, a quest for adventure and acquisition of knowledge and 
experience. At this stage, one can achieve the best in life. The average 
youth is full of life and dreams; they want to try new things. In a way, 
these are advantageous to them because this penchant to discover, create 
and try new things can be channeled towards productivity. Besides some 
great innovations in the world today were pioneered by young people 
who were curious, passionate and adventurous; young men and women 
who dared to dream. If the youths are well guided and mentored, they 
will discover their God-given potentials and channel those potentials 
towards problem solving. They will not only be useful to themselves and 
their families, they will also be making substantial inputs to national 
development. History is replete with youths who have contributed 
immensely to the progress of their countries. So many discoveries and 
inventions have been made by young minds. 

Sixteen years old Olivia Hallisely discovered a way to detect 
Ebola in less than thirty minutes compared to the current method that 
takes up to twelve hours to get results.12 Cancer survivor, Kylie Simonds, 
designed a stylish backpack that allows children taking chemotherapy 
intravenously to move around without having to carry IV poles along. 
Kylie was only thirteen when she invented the backpack,13 four Nigerian 
high school students all under age 15 years, devised a “urine-powered” 
generator that can supply six hours uninterrupted electricity with one 
liter of processed urine.14 These are ingenious minds and they are just 
few of the countless numbers of dynamic youths in our generation. 
Youths are unique; they should constantly be reminded of that and be 
encouraged to be at their best before this stage of their lives passes by. . 
For example according to the 2006 census, the youthful population 
constituted over 70% of the Nigerian population. Therefore, this 
quantum of population is a great asset for the Nigerian state if they are 
harnessed and utilized in the right direction. Interestingly, the transition 
of society from one generation to another is critical to the formative and 
developmental aspiration of such society. This is why society that 
prepares their youth for the sake of future aspiration will not only secure 
her future development; but, will prepare her next set of leaders with the 
challenges of national reconciliation and development.   Hence, the 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    441 

formation of youth has its implications on national development and is 
sacrosanct to the whole developmental aspiration of any society. The 
youth are the cornerstone to societal rejuvenation. Societies are not only 
recreated through the youthful population, but, youth are often referred 
to as leaders of tomorrow. 
 
Youth and Education 
Education is a process of learning and development the process is 
embarked upon with the objective of facilitating intellectual and moral 
development in individuals so as to make the youth become productive 
members of the society. This process of education involves the 
transmission of values and accumulated knowledge. It assists individuals 
to fashion out, pursue and actually achieve their life goals. Whether 
formal or informal, its basic objective is to unleash a person’s potentials 
and develop knowledge skills and socially desirable and useful 
behavioural patterns. While formal education is acquired in schools, 
informal education takes place through everyday experiences and actual 
relationships with people around you. 

In our effort to define who a youth is, the process of 
development stands out as an essential element. This suggests that 
education understood as a process of learning and designed to facilitate 
development on youths and the prospect of their development. As a 
result, an appropriate system of education must facilitate the “holistic 
enhancement of the youths” and this is essential to overcome the 
growing doubts Africa’s prospects of developing in a increasing 
competitive world. 
Education of the youths should go beyond mere economic 
empowerment in order to earn a living, it must also enhance the capacity 
of all to exert a regenerating and creative moral vibration on the social 
system, this is highly essential to regenerate the social system and cleanse 
it of much of the … afflicting it today. 

For Onyechere Anyiam-Osigwe, holistic education must result 
in the spiritual, moral, economic and socio-political enhancement of 
both the youth and the society as a whole, he contends that the collapsing 
moral fibre of society, which according, to him is worse in countries 
reputed to be educationally advantaged is due to the neglect of the 
primordial essence of education” 15which is instill moral order in the 
individual. The ultimate end of education is to produce good people and 
good members of the society. In his words, “the primordial essence of 
education is to reawaken the moral order inherent in the human essence: 
that is mould the individual in a manner that ensures that he or she 
becomes a good member of his tribe or community. 



442 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Education is the most crucial secular activity for national 
development the education of the youth is the highest secular investment 
that can ever be made because it empowers the youth to be great 
achievers and leaders. According to Eleanor Roosevett, “education is 
essential to good citizenship and that education is important to life 
because it enables people to contribute to their country and their 
community. Education equally helps to reform the youths’ interpersonal 
relationship. Hence, the youth should be encouraged to socialize and 
keep healthy relationships to ensure a balanced social life. Also it should 
be inculcated in the youth values that will prepare them for leadership. 
Some of these values include: courtesy, humility, hospitability, 
compassion, generosity, patience, diligence, sense of responsibility and 
friendliness. A balanced life is crucial for personal success and peace of 
mind. Helping youths to balance their secular activities will make them 
more relevant in the society. 
 
Stakeholders in Youth Formation 
In general sense, the term “stakeholder” means any person or group that 
has a vested interest in a matter. The stakeholder  can affect or be 
affected by the results of that which he /she is said to be a stakeholder, 
that is that in which he or she has a stake. The stakeholder temporarily 
owns the project or the business he/ she is involved in while is owner is 
still being determined. There are various stakeholders responsible for the 
upbringing and training of the youth: the school, the parent, the society, 
the government and religious organization .Though all these agencies of 
youth development are expected to mould different aspect of the youth’s 
life so that he/ she will grow up to become the person he/she is meant to 
be, their responsibilities are intertwined.  

The youth world is interesting and challenging. It is a world 
filled with potentials and opportunities waiting to be explored and 
developed for wonderful results. Everywhere in the world, the great 
potentials of the young population which is about half of the world’s 
population are recognized. This is why so much should be committed to 
ensuring that these potentials are fully tapped and developed because 
therein lies the strength, growth and development of every nation. 
Sadly, many young people fail to recognize the great potentials that they 
have and the wonderful future that lies ahead of them if these 
opportunities are properly harnessed and utilized. Many of them are 
overwhelmed in the euphoria and ecstasy of their age which blindfolds 
them to the realities of life. Others go on without awakening from the 
stupor their fantasies had drawn then into; thus wasting whole lives filed 
with untapped potentials. Some wake up too late to realize that they had 
wasted a good part of their lives that would definitely have made them 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    443 

better than what they are and have to struggle so hard to come to terms 
with the realities of life. 

What this shows is that while the “youth world” has wonderful 
opportunities, it is also filled with dangers that tend to hamper and 
undermine some youths. To be able to go through this stage and 
maximally utilize their potentials, the youth need guidance, this is what 
has informed this aspect of the article, the youth cannot be who they 
ought to be without the loving and gentle guidance of everyone charged 
with the responsibilities of moulding their lives. Parents, guidance, 
religious organizations, government, youth workers, teachers and all 
adults are stakeholders in this business and hands must be on deck to 
raise great youths. 

 
i. The Home/Parent/Guardians. 
Parents are major stakeholders in youth formation because of their 
natural affinity with their children. They are traditionally the ultimate 
caregivers who invest most, if not all, of their time on their children. It is 
easier to build a child than to repair an adult; that is why child’s training 
should begin very early. Children learn how to act in the world by what 
they see others do and they learn about controlling aggression through 
adults hence, good parenting is the key to prevent juvenile delinquency. 
However, because of unavailability of and neglect by parents in most 
homes, many youths have been driven to the street by negative and 
external influences. The dramatic increase in the number of working 
class mothers with very young children has definitely left a “gaping hole” 
in the home. Today many children are left to their own devices often 
relying on TV and computers as babysitters or nannies. Breakups in 
families, child abuse and bad examples of parents are also negatively 
affecting the lifestyles and behaviours of youth. 

The home is the first school any child attends and the parents or 
guardians are their first teachers. A child physical, mental, emotional and 
spiritual development begins here. Consequently, parents should 
endeavor to promote and support all-round growth and development of 
their children at every stage of life. A child that is well trained will live a 
happy, healthy and fulfilled life, while a child that is not well groomed 
will grow up living a lopsided life, becoming a liability to his parents and 
the nation. The Holy Bible commands parents to “train up a child in the 
way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” 
(Proverbs 22:6) it therefore behoves the parents to adequately train and 
prepare their youths for a blessed future both on earth and in eternity. 

 
 
 



444 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

ii. The Government/School 
The school trains the child mentally to make him/her literate or 
educated, and be able to make impact in this world as they grow up. The 
youth is the future of the world, tomorrow’s people and the new 
inspiration, and the school prepares the youth mentally for the future. 
However, the school is not only to make the youth intellectually capable 
to meet the challenges of and fit into this fast moving world, but also 
expected to impart moral lessons into them. This can be fully achieved 
through education. No doubt education is the backbone of national 
development; it equips people with knowledge and skills that bring about 
economic wealth, social prosperity and political stability in a nation.  

The government should endeavour to build more schools, provide 
free and quality education, especially for the less privileged. Youth 
empowerment programmes should be organized from time to time. 
Besides classrooms activities, schools should provide avenues for youth 
to interact with their peers and teachers so that they can develop 
communication and healthy relationship skills. The government through 
its policies helps all other agencies to do their jobs and achieve their set 
goals by coordinating their operations. These two agencies of formation 
play vital roles in the shaping of the lives of the youths.   

 
iii. Religious Organisation 
This play an important role in maintaining and helping the youths 
achieve their divine purpose. The goal of the religious organization is to 
help the youth established a relationship with God, teach them how to 
abide in the Lord and serve God in love and reverential fear. To do this, 
youth workers must be passionate and patient. They should come down 
to the level of the youth and befriend them.  They should seek to 
understand their situation before criticizing and judging them, visit them 
in their homes, show interest in their well being, provide the shoulder 
they can cry on, and see about helping them out with whatever challenge 
is confronting them. The adults in these religious organizations should 
always resist the temptation to get into any kind of tussle with youths. 
They shouldn’t approach them with an attitude that says, “We are adults 
and we know it all, you must listen because we are adults”. They 
wouldn’t be able to impact these youths with this kind of attitude. They 
should show them love, intercede for them, but don’t hesitate to correct 
them when necessary. Above all, they should provide mentorship and 
live an exemplary life.  
 
Developing Essential Life Skills for Youth Formation 
Life skills are those abilities that will help the youth adapt and thrive in a 
world that is filled with daunting demands, they are the skills needed by 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    445 

the youth to make the most out of their life often seen as a way to 
manage and maintain a quality life. Life skills will help the youths attain 
life’s goal and give them an edge over peers and competitors. Any youth 
who understands the importance and the use of these skills and 
synchronizes them with educational dexterity will be outstanding. 
Experience has shown that there is often a great mismatch between what 
is taught in class and the realities of life. It is observed also that most 
graduates lacks employability skills such as team work, skills, 
communication skills and the ability to cope under pressure. The onus is 
deliberately on the youth to learn these skills and be taught these skills. 

Someone once said the most important skills one should have are 
the ability and willingness to learn “By learning new skills we increase 
our understanding of the world around us and equip ourselves with the 
tools we need to live a more productive and fulfilling life finding ways to 
cope with the challenge that life inevitably throws at us” Below are some 
of the relevant skills every youth should endeavour to have and the youth 
should be taught:  
 
Creative Thinking 
This is the ability to “think outside the box” it involves devising a new 
approach to tasks, situations or problems. Creative thinking helps one 
initiate novel idea and makes one see situations and problems from a 
picture perspective. On can stimulate creative thoughts by being curious 
and following ones curiosity, taking a rest, reading widely, writing, 
brainstorming, eating healthy, walking, being open to new things, going 
outside your comfort zone and a lot more. 
 
Time Management 
Time is a precious asset and wasting it is tantamount to wasting one’s 
life. As a youth, this skill is needed in order for the youth to be able to 
plan and control the amount of time spent on various activities. Time 
management skill will increase effectiveness and productivity because it 
will help the youth to discipline themselves and focus on the goal at 
hand. 
 
Money Management 
Many people are in a financial mess today because they have no clue 
about how money works. It is better not to wait to learn the hard way: 
learn to save, no matter how little you earn. It is imperative for the youth 
to be taught how to save no matter how little you earn. It is necessary for 
them to have a monthly or weekly budget and strive to spend less then 
they earn. Learning how to make money work for them through 
investment will help go far in life endeavour. 



446 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Survival Skill 
This skill comes handy when one find himself or herself in a precarious 
situation they include how to administer first aid, light or put out fire, 
read a compass, make smoke signals, read topography, change a car tyre, 
build a make shift shelter, find and purify water and other survival skills 
like swimming, climbing and self defense. 
 
People Skill 
The way one relates with people could determine the extent of one’s 
success or failure in life. People skill will help you to relate with people 
appropriately. Therefore, it is needful for youth to learn how to treat 
people with respect and kindness. It is needful to always think win/win 
when dealing with others and they should treat people the way they 
would want others to treat them. 
 
Coping with Failure 
A famous Athlete once said “I have missed more than 9000 shots in my 
career. I have lost almost 300 games, 26 times I have been trusted to take 
the game wining shot and missed. I have failed over and over and over 
again in my life. And that is why I succeed”, sometimes failure can teach 
us valuable lessons of life. Though it’s natural to feel bad when you fail, 
the youth must learn that they don’t have to dwell on it or allow it to 
define their person. They need to encourage themselves and learn a 
lesson from experience by asking oneself why the failure and what could 
have been done better. It is necessary to try to see the brighter side of 
things and resist the temptation of indulging in vices. The youth should 
deliberately make effort to try again. The youth must not allow failure to 
stop them from moving forward in life 
 
Leadership Skills 
The youth must be taught that as they go on in life, they will find 
themselves in situations where they need to take on leadership roles. It is 
needful therefore for them to equip themselves they need to learn how 
to set goals, make decisions and manage human and material resources 
well. They can develop leadership skill by learning to take on 
responsibilities in their home and school. They should always organize 
themselves and learn how to effectively communicate with different 
kinds of people. 
In addition to all these skills that have been explained above, there are 
other valuable skills the youth should learn, they include assertiveness, 
cooperation, working independently, prioritizing, positive thinking, 
problem solving, confidence building, negotiation, presentation, listening 
skill communication, recognizing diversity, handling disappointment and 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    447 

networking. If the youths strive to acquire these skills, they will be better 
equipped for the demands of life and contribute immeasurably to the 
development of the nation.  
 
Symbiotic Links between Youth Formation and National 
Development 
In the world today where spiritual lethargy, moral decadence and mind 
blowing corruption reign, there is need to raise youths that will be pillars 
and hope of the nation. This is made possible through education and the 
inculcation of the right values. This process is embarked upon with the 
objective of facilitating intellectual and moral development in individuals 
so as to make them become productive members of the society. The 
process involves the transmission of values and accumulated knowledge 
that will assist the individuals to fashion out, pursue and actually achieve 
their live goals. Whether formal or informal, its basic objective is to 
unleash a person’s potentials and develop knowledge, skills and socially 
desirable and useful behavioral pattern. 

While formal education is acquired in schools, informal 
education takes place through everyday experiences and actual 
relationships with people around you. This also involves capacity 
development which has a direct link with human development. In fact, 
there are a range of issues where the two are closely intertwined. These 
include: human capital development through health and nutrition, 
education and training; the accumulation of physical capital that 
increases the levels of investment to generate employment opportunities; 
strengthening governance through institutional and policy reforms; and 
the application of improved technologies, logistics and systems to 
enhance organizational performance. The ultimate mission of capacity 
development is for people to increase their incomes and improve their 
quality of life.  

Capacity building helps create conditions that enable people to 
derive maximum benefits. It is an on-going process that involves 
developing competencies (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) to enable 
people to make things happen. There are various dimensions of capacity 
development, which includes; Individual (human), Institutional 
(organizational) and societal (community) capacities. Since the focus of 
this paper is on youth formation and national development, these two 
will be discussed: 
 
Individual Capacities  
Individual capacities relates to the availability of the right quantity and 
quality of human capital to achieve and sustain national human 
development. There are two key components needed:  Planning present 



448 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

and future human capital stock by skills and expertise. Periodic human 
resources surveys are needed and a human capital plan should be 
prepared with the aim of mapping current and future capacity 
development needs, strategies and programmes; and ensuring that there 
are adequate teachers, school administrators and education planners in 
place to design, mount and execute specialized training as well as general 
and professional education to meet the nation’s needs in accordance with 
the human capital mobilization plan. The process of individual 
development involves a number of changes in innate resources such as 
knowledge, practical skills, mind sets, values, perceptions, stamina and 
relationships. The goal is for the individual to be empowered to live a 
happy, long and comfortable life. This may include providing general 
education and vocational training; creating a competent and motivated 
cadre of people that will guarantee a high level of productivity and 
growth; and providing good health services and nutritious food to 
improve health.  
 
Institutional Capacities  
Institutional capacities is concerned with institutional and organizational 
capabilities, both public and private, to attract financial and quality 
human capital and put it to productive use. Effective national 
performance is a condition stemming from efficient use of quality 
human and financial capital through institutions and organizations that 
enable the delivery of desired results. Weak institutions are often central 
to the failure of development efforts. For example, poor management of 
public resources undermines the state as a guarantor of public welfare 
and security and this is what we presently experiencing in Nigeria.  
           Consequently, developing capacity at the organizational or 
institutional level involves reforming, as and where necessary, the 
structures, mandates, functions, remuneration, management systems, 
corporate culture and operational processes of organizations – especially 
the public sector. Institutions must also be adequately equipped to attract 
and make the best use of available resources. This involves improving 
physical facilities and equipment, institution linkages, networking and 
relations and institutional philosophies. It should be emphasized at the 
point that the two components are complementary. For instance, if the 
institutional setting in a country is not appropriate, the realization of the 
full benefits of even the best quality human capacity would be illusory.  
            The importance of investing in education and health is well 
appreciated and understood in economies that wish to attain sustainable 
growth. The quality of a nation’s development depends on the quality of 
its workforce. Nigeria is rated by international standards as ‘less 
developed’ and thus has economic growth as a major goal. Indeed, the 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    449 

importance of a prime sector such as education has been stressed in 
Nigeria since the early sixties. Presently, there is need to stress the 
importance of human capital development for Nigeria, because the 
Nigerian economy has to be efficient and competitive in the new world 
order in which national frontiers no longer constitute barriers to human, 
material, and capital flows, the greatest barriers facing Nigeria in this 
millennium is the issue of capacity building to enhance productivity in 
the economy of which the youth can play a major role. 
 
Conclusion 
Our discourse does not pretend to be exhaustive as there are definitely a 
lot of issues left untouched, with many others yet to be discussed in 
details. Nonetheless, it is hoped that by this brief analysis on youth 
formation and how it could enhance national development, we have 
been able to stimulate some interests and thoughts in ways that would 
motivate philosophical investigation into how this thoughts can be 
further developed and applied in practical ways that can facilitate social 
and national development as a whole. One thing that stands out is the 
concern for holistic formation (spiritual, intellectual, moral, political and 
economic) of the youth.  
 
Recommendations:  
1. Parents should develop and inculcate proper values in their children 

for the survival of the individual and the society. 
2. The individual’s intellectual capacity of the youth should be 

developed in order for them to understand and appreciate their local 
and external environments. 

3.  There is need for the youth to acquire both physical and intellectual 
skills, which will enable them to be self-reliant and useful members 
of the society. 

4.  The government and corporate organization should promote and 
encourage merit-based scholarship and community service.  

5. Special attention should be paid to mentoring in the training of the 
youth since they are looking always for role models..  

6. The government should create avenues for the promotion of 
national and international understanding and interaction 

 
References: 
1. Adamu, A. “Youths and Development in Nigeria” Being a paper presented at 

National Congress of the National Youths Council of Nigeria held at Abacha 

Youths Centre, Lafia, Nigeria,2003. 
2. African Union. African Youths Charter.  Adopted by the Seventh Ordinary Session 

of the Assembly ,Banjul, Gambia, July 2. 2006 



450 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

3. Aiyede, R.E. (nd), “The State, Values and Development: Towards Re-orientating 

the Nigerian Youths for Positive Leadership”, 
4. Amanda S. (2003), Youths Network and Governance, CommonWealth Journal of 

Youths and Development Vol. 1 No.2  
5. Anaeto, S.G and Anaeto, M (2010). Development Communication Principle and 

Practice. Ibadan, Sterling- Holden Ltd. Ibadan 
6. Anaeto, S.G, Onabajo, O.S and Osifeso,J.B (2008). Models and Theories of 

Communication.Bowie, Maryland, African Renaissance Books Incorporated. 
7. Adeyemo,L.K and Ehiemua G.F(2017) “Youth Activism ,Social Media and Nation 

Building” in SWEM Journal of Religion and Philosophy, vol 7,no.1 December. 

Pp.78-89 
8. Ekanola, A.B(2009) “A Critical Exposition of the Views of Emmanuel Onyechere 

Anyiam- Osigwe on Youths, Education and Social Development” in Olusegun 

Oladipo and Ekanola Adebola(eds.) The Development Philosophy of Emmanuel 

Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam Osigwe Vol.1 
9. Anyiam-Osigwe,C.O et al(eds.) Youth and Education: Africa’s 21st Century 

Youth;Everyone a Fisherman, Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 

Foundation,2002a,pp.52-53 
10.  “Youths the Strength of the Nation” in Christian Women Mirror Magazine August 

2018,pp.4-5 



451 

33 

THE RELIGIOUS ROLES ON  
YOUTH FORMATION IN NATIONAL 

DEVELOPMENT 
 

Chikodi Josiah, WACHUKWU, Ph. D 
Department of Religious Cultural Studies, 

Rivers State University, Npkolu, Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, 
wachukwu54@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The study focused basically on ascertaining the roles of religion on youth 
formation in national development. There has been an ongoing debate 
on the assertion that religion has any role to play in formation of positive 
attitude amongst youths needed for national development. The continent 
of Africa is facing great increase in social vices and poor level of 
development, and Nigeria is not left out. This is evident in her 
educational, social and economic deterioration. This paper sought to 
discover the reason for the deterioration and sketch the role religion has 
played in the formation of positive virtues for national development of 
Nigeria to ameliorate her state. Qualitative and descriptive method of 
inquiry was used in this study and it was discovered that lack of 
adherence to stipulated norms promulgated by religious organization has 
resulted in increased in social vices, mono economy, corruption, 
religious intolerance and lack of good governance which has contributed 
largely to underdevelopment. It also found out that religious groups have 
played starring roles in national growth through the provision of schools, 
hospitals, micro loans in partnership with directorate of rural farmers, 
inculcating morals through teaching in religious and political assemblies 
for national growth. The article recommends among others an improved 
partnership of the government arm and the different religions. 
 
Keywords: Religion, youth formation & national development. 
 
 
 

mailto:wachukwu54@gmail.com


452 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Introduction 
There is virtually no society that does not practice one form of religion or 
the other. However, the role religion plays in formulation of positive 
attitude among youth needed for national development varies 
significantly from one countries to another (Ayo, 2011). Before 
establishing the role of religion on youth formulation in national 
development, it is pertinent to establish the foundation of the study. 
Thus, the key variables like religion, youth formation and national 
development were thoroughly reviewed. Religion is a powerful universal 
phenomenon that has permeated Countries of the world. It has to do 
with the belief in a supernatural being that is invisible. Religion creates 
great impact in human behavior and in most cases transforms primitive 
and hostile behavior to a refine and more acceptable attitudes compatible 
with human cohabitation (Awolalu, 2008). It was through the influence 
of religion that Nigerians stopped killing twins and banishing their 
mothers to evil forest; to start appreciating twin children. Religion 
moderates our greed, hostility and animosity of killing human being as a 
punishment for a minutes offence. Religion makes us to appreciate our 
creature and seek for ways of moderating our action in order for us to 
have a peaceful coexistence, and seek for salvation. This change of 
behavior can impact positively on national development in Nigeria. It is 
the effort of and activities of man that enhances or retard national 
development. 
 
The Concept of Religion  
Eliade (2010) in his functional perspective sees religion as a unified 
system of beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral 
community called a church, ultimate non-material fact and has a 
“dynamogenic” quality. That is, it has the capacity not only to dominate 
individuals but also to elevate them above their ordinary abilities and 
capacities. He argues that social life is impossible without the share 
values and moral beliefs which form the collective conscience. Also, in 
their absence, there would be no social; order, social control, social 
solidarity or co-operation. Therefore, the sacredness of religion 
strengthens values and moral beliefs which form the basis of social life.  

Deton (2006) conceives religion as a fixed relationship between 
the human and non-human entities, the sacred, the supernatural, the 
self-existent, the absolute or simply, God. However, religion is such a 
wonderful universal phenomenon that is found in every society, 
developed or underdeveloped, black or white race. Pratt (1996) agrees 
that religion is a social behaviour associated with individuals or 
communities directed towards the power or forces which they conceived 
as having lasting and ultimate control over their religion, men exchange 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    453 

obedience and loyalty with security and peace in form of a covenant with 
the supernatural powers, hence they turn to worship them culminating 
in a religious exercise.  

According to Eliade (2010), religion is the most substantial bond 
of humanity, the fear of the unexplainable phenomena of the universe 
and some superstitious beliefs compel men to enter into a bond or pact 
with such unknown forces. Balm (1994) sees religion as the experiences 
of the holy. This is where the objective side of religion comes to play. 
The objective of worship is conceived by man to be holy; having 
convinced himself thus, man the “experience” of such encounter 
expresses and passes onto others that which he has internalized. It is easy, 
therefore to experience the “holy” than to know or localize it. 

Serrate and Hawkini (1992) share common views with Karl 
Marx when they assert that religion makes one to forget one’s earthly 
hardship because, for the religionist the other world is where one would 
lay his treasures. Also, there is no retaliation because “vengeance is mine” 
says the Lord. Marx was materialistically inclined, so to him the need of 
this immediate world is more urgent than the imaginary pie in the sky.  

However, Davis (1993) suggests that if religion is practiced 
honestly, it can open to the realities of life and not cause a blind folding 
as some of the economic determinists seem to argue. Religion, according 
to Dopamu (2005), is a factor of civilization and the knowledge and its 
seed everywhere have been known to contain such potent elements. 
Forde (2002) relates religion to its role in society through individual 
members who believe. Thus, becomes a factor of cohesion order, peace 
and solidarity in the society. The researcher is of the view that religion is 
both God-word and Man-word oriented. It involves God and man 
relationship for the purpose of communion and communication in peace 
and security ensured on the part of man, a sort of pact resulting in some 
ritual observances.  

Harry (2006) observes that religion in its essence gives meaning 
to life and serves as an instrument for promoting social solidarity, value 
consensus, harmony, and tolerance in the society. Also, it strengthens the 
unity of a group or country and much of the norms of the social system 
are integrated by religious beliefs. 
 
Youth Formation 
Haralambos and Heald (2004) opined that youth formation is the 
development of positive attitude that prepares a young person to meet 
the challenges of adolescence and adulthood and achieve his or her full 
potential. Youth formation is promoted through activities and 
experiences that help youth develop social, ethical, emotional, physical, 
and cognitive competencies (Ubani, 2003). This developmental phases is 



454 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

part of the youth development process and supports the young person in 
developing: (a) the ability to analyze his or her own strengths and 
weaknesses, set personal and vocational goals, and have the self-esteem, 
confidence, motivation, and abilities to carry them out (including the 
ability to establish support networks in order to fully participate in 
community life and effect positive social change); and (b) the ability to 
guide or direct others on a course of action, influence the opinions and 
behaviors of others, and serve as a role model capable of influencing 
others positively (Wehmeyer, Agran and Hughes, 1998). 

Conditions that promote healthy youth formation are supported 
through programs and activities in schools and communities. Researches 
on carried out on youth formation, emphasize that effective programs 
and interventions recognize youths’ strengths and seek to promote 
positive development rather than addressing risks in isolation. Youth 
who are constructively involved in learning and doing and who are 
connected to positive adults and peers are less likely to engage in risky or 
self-defeating behaviors (Maman, 1990). Providing the conditions for 
positive youth attitudinal formation is a responsibility shared by families, 
schools, and communities. The conditions for developing such healthy 
attitude amongst youths needed in national development reside in 
families, schools, and communities. 
 
National Development  
Naomi (1995) believes that development is usually taken to involve not 
only economic growth, but also some notion of equitable distribution, 
provision of health care, education, housing and other essential services 
all with a view to improving the individual and collective quality of life.  
Chrisman (1984) views development as a process of societal 
advancement, where improvement in the well-being of people are 
generated through strong partnerships between all sectors, corporate 
bodies and other groups in the society. It is reasonable to know that 
development is not only an economic exercise, but also involves both 
socio-economic and political issues and pervades all aspects of societal 
life.  

National, according to Longman dictionary of contemporary 
English, refers to a phenomenon that embraces a whole nation. National 
development therefore can be described as the overall development or a 
collective socio-economic, political as well as religious advancement of a 
country or nation. This is best achieved through development planning, 
which can be described as the country’s collection of strategies mapped 
out by the government.  

National Development is a process of improving the range of 
opportunities that will enable individual humans and communities to 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    455 

achieve their aspirations and full potential over a sustained period of time 
while maintaining the resilience of economic, social and environmental 
systems. (Munasinghe, 2004). 

Lawal (2011) describe national development as the overall 
development or a collective socio-economic, political as well as religious 
advancement of a country or nation. However, in this paper, national 
development will refer to the ability of a country or countries to improve 
the social welfare of the people, by providing social amenities like quality 
education, potable water, transportation, infrastructure, medical care etc.  
 
Nexus between Religion Roles and Youth Formation in National 
Development 
Religion is seen as a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and 
practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, 
or organizations that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or 
spiritual elements (Morreall, 2013). Supporting the above assertion, 
Nongbri (2013) opines that religion is a system of symbols which acts to 
establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in 
men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and 
clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods 
and motivations seem uniquely realistic. It is also seen as the entirety of 
the linguistic expressions, emotions and actions and signs that refers to a 
supernatural being or supernatural beings. According to James (2010) 
religion is a relatively-bounded systems of beliefs, symbols and practices 
that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with 
others and otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually 
transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and 
knowing. Religion fosters national unity and development. It offer 
people the understanding of existence and provide rules and regulations 
which controls people behavior as it is believed that to live a godly life 
according to one’s religion is to carry out one’s duty both to God and 
men. Thus, it can be established that religion contributes significant in 
influencing youths’ attitudinal development and implementation. The 
more youths’ development and implements the right attitudes preached 
in the gospel, the more easier it becomes to build and maintain a healthy 
nation. 

Parrinder (1996) and Idowu (2008) are of the view that in 
Nigeria; very little efforts have been made to tap the potentials of religion 
as cement for unity and the development of nationhood through 
inculcating positive attitude especially among youths. Despite the above 
attainable benefits, religion is being manipulated to cause ethnic 
divisiveness and civil strife. Some people exploit it for their selfish 



456 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

political ambition. Religion is one vital element that can be harnessed for 
fostering solidarity and unity.  

Mutuah et al., (2010) avers that being life itself, religion can serve 
as the basis on which a nation can be solidly founded. It can also be used 
as an instrument of bringing into reality our dreams of a united nation. 
Religion is also characterized as a sound entity that is functional in the 
sense that it contribute to the maintenance of societal stability of 
equilibrium.  

According to Clark (1994), religion can be used to make way for 
the understanding of the world in which we live. It can supply answers 
to such questions as the existence of God, the sufferings and pains of 
humans, the problems of after death and so on. It could provide moral 
values by which a nation may stand. Such moral values include what is 
virtue and vice, thereby enriching the people’s morals, the welfare of the 
individuals and society at large.  

Denton (2006) suggests that religion may inspire people to 
develop great ideas as courage, love, endurance and sense of kinship. 
Yinger (1990) avers that national development requires that all hand 
must be on deck to build a strong and united nation which could be 
anchored on religious and intellectual capabilities of every citizen.  

Awolalu (2010) succeeded in clarifying that religion can be a part 
in national development by promoting high moral standards such as 
honesty, courage, hard work, obedience and respect for leaders especially 
among youth that are leaders of tomorrow.   He    suggests    that   
religion   could be expected to encourage faith, trust, and confidence in 
both God and fellow human beings which makes for integration, 
cohesion and solidarity by bringing people together for worship, festivals, 
ceremonies, and prayers especially people of different ethnic, cultural 
and linguistic backgrounds.  

Forde (2002) argues that religion help youths develops attitudes 
capable of solving the problems of selfishness which hinders the pace of 
progress in nation building. Idowu (2002) suggests that religion can 
effectively provide an understanding of certain occurrences that affect 
man and his environment, especially some of the trials and tribulations 
being experienced by Nigerians such as anxiety about the structural 
adjustment programme (SAP). The continued drift of the nation may be 
attributed to our sins, but for people who are deeply religious, it can be 
argued that through the power of prayers backed by God led ministers 
these national problems could be successfully resolved to the glory of 
God. According to Tim (1996) there is the beliefs that “if God cares for 
the things of nature and environment, such as the birds of the air, the 
fishes of the sea and the animals in the forest, God will definitely cater 
for the needs of the country which he has created”. Meyer (1996) 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    457 

describes religion as being capable of promoting national development 
and moral identity, to inculcate in the individuals the right attitude 
which would eradicate crime, murder, suicide, rape, corruption, 
indolence, dishonesty and cheating which has bedeviled the nation. He 
further stated that when individuals imbibe these attitudes, it will be 
demonstrated in their families, social groups and other works of life. 

In summary, the above empirical evidence provided on the role 
religion in national development made obviously clear that religion helps 
in developing positive attitude amongst the populace needed for all 
round positive development. Religion instill discipline among the youths 
especially during their various stages of developing positive virtues like 
respect for life, adherence established laws,  creates a better 
understanding of the world around us amongst others that contributes to 
development of the nation. It was also established that religion aid in the 
formulation and implementation of favourable policies that ensure 
sustained national development, trains up youths who can be better 
leaders of tomorrow and minimizes the incidence of corruption amongst 
the youth who are leaders of tomorrow. 
 
Factors that Hinder National Development in Nigeria  
In spite of series of developmental strategies put in place by successive 
governments, and sometimes with good intentions, all attempts to 
generate meaningful development proved futile. 
 
1.  Poor Formulation and Implementation of Policies: There are 

in most cases, no executive capacity responsible for the formulation 
and implementation of the plan. Some of the previous development 
plans failed because; there was little or no consultation of the general 
public. Planning is supposed to involve even the peasant in the 
villages. Even the Local Government officials who are close to the 
people were not consulted. (Mimiko 1997).  

 
2.  Lack of Good Governance: This militates against national 

development. Where there is no good governance, development 
becomes a mirage. This is as a result of bad leadership in the country. 
Most of our leaders have no sense of commitment to development. 

 
3.  Decolonization: Decolonization allowed the crop of leaders that 

aligned with colonial power to take over Nigeria. This ensured the 
sustenance of a neo-colonial economy even after political 
independence. These leaders on assumption of power quickly turned 
up the repressive machinery of the colonial state rather than 
dismantling it. Significantly, they have no vision of development to 



458 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

accompany the efficient instrument of repression they inherited. All 
they were interested   in   was   access   to   power   and   privileges   
and   not development.  

 
4.  Corruption: High level of corruption and indiscipline is another 

barrier to development. Nigeria is corrupt, managed by corrupt 
leaders who have made the state an instrument of capital 
accumulation, rather than using it to project the interest of the 
citizenry. A very good plan supervised by a thoroughly corrupt state 
can hardly do a thorough job. Corruption and development are 
antithetical to each other, the two cannot cohabit, and so, where one 
is present, the other suffers. (Chuta 2004). 

 
Strategies for Ensuring National Development 
The beauty of any development plan is the faithful implementation of 
such plan, which its success lies with the implementers. In the previous 
subsections, it was mentioned that most of the past development plans 
failed as a result of implementation problem, lack of committed 
leadership, lack of adherence to suggestions of religious leaders, etc.  

Based on this fact, new development policies and strategies are 
currently in place as alternative strategies for ensuring sustained national 
development, such as Seven Points Agenda, Vision 2020, change begins 
with you, etc. These policies and vision appear to be all embracing but 
they are not sacrosanct in their totality. But if faithfully implemented, the 
nation at least will move towards path of national development. 

First, development requires total commitment on the parts of the 
leadership (religion and non-religion). The need for discipline and 
honesty on the part of the project implementers cannot be compromised; 
such officials should show enough discipline, interest, willingness, 
dedication and honesty. Without these attributes and the will to pursue 
set economic goals, all other ingredients of development present would 
amount to nullity. 

Secondly, there is need for attitudinal change. Nigerians must as 
a matter of fact change their pessimistic attitude towards national 
development. The anticipated changes should be promulgated by 
religious leaders since they control a greater number of the populace. 
Similarly, the idea or belief that “things cannot work in Nigeria or 
Nigerian factor” should be discouraged. Real development is achieved 
through internal activities rather than from external influences. 
Development is seen as a process generated within a society by forces 
propagated and invigorated by the actual members of that society. It is 
believed that true development can neither be started nor sustained by 
outsiders. Although, no country can develop in isolation, but heavy 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    459 

emphasis should not be placed on foreign resources for the country’s 
development.  

Importantly, citizenship should be promoted over indigeneity in 
order to achieve cooperation and participation of all communities in the 
development process. Omotoso (2008) noted that the 1999 constitution 
is directly or indirectly promoting indigeneity in the country. For 
example, section 318(1) of paragraph (IV) supports indigeneity. The 
constitution sets parameters for indigenes and non-indigenes. It equally 
gives legal bases to various discriminatory policies that actively promote 
indigeneity, contrary to some sections that argue against discrimination. 
This is very contradictory. 
Leadership in Nigeria must behave in a way to inculcate the spirit of 
patriotism in the minds of the people, so that they will be ready to stand 
with the government in her development efforts. When Nigerians see 
themselves as one and not as belonging to one section of the country as 
portrayed presently, the urge to develop Nigeria will be germinated and 
sustained.  

Additionally, the need to reform electoral process is imperative 
for socio-economic and political development. Electoral   fraud   is   one   
of   the   banes    of    Nigeria’s development. The role of leadership in 
development cannot be overemphasized, all efforts towards development 
must be coordinated and directed by the leaders, therefore, the leaders 
must be development conscious, have genuine interest for development 
and the political will to propel such development. The leaders must also 
have the cooperation of the people, because, it is the people that develop 
a nation. Honestly, the aforementioned ingredients cannot be possible 
without a legitimized mandate for the leaders by the people. When a 
leader assumes office illegimately or through electoral fraud, such leader 
is bound to fail in his effort to generate meaningful development. This is 
due to the fact that such illegitimate leaders tend to display characters 
that repress development such as; selfishness, corruption, pride, thuggery 
and inefficiency and also, there is apathy and natural detachment to 
development plans by the people as they did not see such emerging 
leaders as the products of their consent through voting. Based on the 
foregoing, the electoral process should be reformed in such away that 
nobody assumes power (political) through crook or fraudulent means. 
The process should be made opened, free, fair and competitive. All legal 
battles preceding the elections must be concluded before any swearing 
in. This, it is believed, will create genuine environment conducive for 
development.  

Lastly, development plan should not be exclusively regarded as 
economic issue it should be seen as holistic and encompassing national 



460 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

issue that cuts across economic, social, political and psychological aspects 
of human endeavour. 
 
Conclusion and Recommendations 
This study has x-rayed the place of religion in youth formation in 
Nigeria’s national development. It must be noted that religion cannot be 
rejected in its totality because of how much it has permeated into our 
knowledge system. More so, the world is gradually growing into a global 
village within which all kinds of cross-cultural activities are taking place.   

Religion can be used as a tool or means of promoting national 
development by nurturing youths to development positive attitude. 
Though religious conflict are master minded by greedy and corrupt 
politician and religious leaders. The structures of the society guarantees 
religious conflict, and can be used too to strengthen inter-religions cum 
denominational cooperation; which will promote national development.  
Religion has a direct impact on the individual, the individual are the once 
who steer the ship of development, due to their ability to peacefully co-
exist and use their creativity to better themselves and their environment. 
It is equally the individual that is used to ferment religious conflict. 
Religion preaches the virtues of peace, love, understanding and 
goodness. If the individual is highly religious, his moral upbringing will 
impact positivity on national development.  

However, it is an urgent task for us to raise our religious norms such 
that it contributes positively to national development through the 
cultivation of positive attitude among youths. This must be reflected at 
homes, in governance and in school curricula at all levels. Indeed the 
opportunity to correct the basic error of our religious beliefs is upon us; 
this is because it will restore to us our inward beauty, identity, and pride. 
It therefore behooves us to choose where to belong so that we can 
proceed in putting measures in place to attack any hindrance to national 
development which we hope to achieve. Government should carry out 
deliberate effort to promote inter-religious and denominational 
cooperation, meetings, conferences and universal worship, by creating a 
platform that will handle such responsibilities. The platform will action 
the followings: 

i. To periodically host interreligious/denominational worship.  
ii. Promote high moral standards such as honesty, hard work, 

obedience and respect to elders and leaders.  
iii. It should be used to build faith, trust and confidence in both 

God and fellow human beings.  
iv. Build solidarity, integration and cohesion among the people 

irrespective of one‟s religious denomination.  



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    461 

v. Preach against vices, crime, corruption, indolence, dishonesty 
and cheating.   

vi. Promote value re-orientation of the people through this 
platform, Churches, Mosques, National Orientation Agency, 
Schools and etc. to depart from existing socio-economic vices, 
impatience, corruption, electoral violence, that is crippling our 
polity. 

 
 
References 
Awolalu, A. (2008) Philosophical analysis of colonization and decolonization in 

introduction to religion social and political philosophy (ed). Samtech.  

Ayo, S. A. (2011). The concept of religion. The Humanities Press.  

Bahm, A. J. (1994). The world’s living religions. Dell Publishing Co. Inc.  

Chuta, S.C. (2004). Corruption in Nigeria, Nsukka: Afor-orbis publications limited. 

Clarke, A. (1994). Profiles of the future. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 

Davies, P. (1993). God and the new physics. Simon and Schuster.  

Deton, M. (2006). The mind of God: The scientific basis for a rational world. Simon 

and Shuster. 

Dopamu, A. P. (2005). The history of the challenging relationship between religion 

and science. Confluence of Religions and Sciences Journal. 1 (12). 

Eliade, M. (2010). The social sacred and the propane. Harcourt brace and World Inc.  

Forde, A. N. (2002) Approaching sociology of religion. Mc Graw Hill International 

Book Company. 

Haralambos, M. and Heald, R. (2004). Sociology: themes and perspectives. New 

Edition Slough, University Press.  

Harry, S. A. (2006). A short history of the early church. WB Erdmans publishing 

Grand Rapids.  

Idowu, O. (2002). The religious enslavement of the African mind. Ray Standard Baker 

and Williams E, Dodd 2 (216). 

Idowu, O. (2008). Religion as both inculcation and emancipation. Pesaconf. 

http://www2.hawaii i/pesaconf/zpdfs/bobo. 

Maman, S. H. (1990). Christian dialogue with people of other Faith. A Seminar paper 

Presented at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.  

Mayer, S. A. (1996). Religious science: Myth or reality. Vantage press (120).  

Mimiko, O. (1997). The Global Village. Selected Topics on International Economic 

Relations. Akure: Olaniyan Publishing Company. 

Munasinghe, S. (2004). Effective instructions through dynamic discipline. Ohio, 

Charles E. Merill 

Mutuah, et. al. (2000). NCE/DLS Course Book on Religion Cycle 2 Kaduna (162-163).  

Omotoso F (2008). The South-West Position on the Review of the 1999 

Constitution. Paper presented at the South-West Legislative Conference 

on Constitutional Review, 23rd – 24th June. Akure, pp. 510. 

Parrinder SA (1976). Religion in Crisis. Bethesda, MD: Adler and Adler (86-87).  

Parrinder, S. A. (1996). Religion in Crisis. Adler and Adler (86-87). 



462 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Parsons, T. (1969). The Structure and process in modern societies. The free press 

(216). Pdf on 3rd April 2013.  

Pratt, S. (1996). Education course on religion. Kaduna Press.  

Serrte, D. and Hawkini, J. D. (1992). God and men: A survey of the world religions. 

Glasgow Blackil and Sons Ltd (102).  

Tim, H. (1996). Windows on science and faith. 

Ubani, A (2003). Man and Religion in Africa: Longman Nyem Ltd Ikeja (160). 

Yinger, S. A. (1990). In his explanation of naturism and possible origin of religion. 

University of Tutorial Press Ltd (110-112). 



463 

34 

IMPACT OF RELIGION ON SOCIETAL 

VALUE DEVELOPMENT 
 

Chikodi Josiah, WACHUKWU, Ph. D 
Department of Religious Cultural Studies, 

Rivers State University, Npkolu, Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, 
wachukwu54@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The article examined the impact of religion on societal value 
development. Discourse on social values as they relate to environmental 
and sustainability issues has almost exclusively been conducted in a 
secular intellectual context. However, with a renewed emphasis on 
culture as defining and shaping links between people and nature, there 
has been an increasing level of scholarly attention to the role of religion 
and spirituality in defining, molding and understanding social values in 
the society. In this article we explore the intersection of religion and 
social values for sustainable development. First, we consider this nexus as 
it has been explored in existing scholarship. We acknowledge a body of 
research that has suggested that many religions are broadly associated 
with self-transcendent values. However, the degree to which they are 
translated into pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour varies 
according to context and application. Second, we argue that while there 
is much potential support for human values for sustainability within 
religious traditions, it is essential that religion is seen as a complex, 
multi-scalar and multi-dimensional institutional phenomena. 
Consequently, analysis of the relationship between religion and social 
values must account for the context of narratives, histories and practices. 
Third, using this lens, we show how religious perspectives can 
contribute to operationalising theories of systemic change for 
sustainability. Finally, we outline key principles for further sustainability 
research seeking to advance knowledge on the relationship between 
religion and societal values development. 
 
Keywords: Religion, social value and development. 
 

mailto:wachukwu54@gmail.com


464 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Introduction 
The contributory role of religion to societal value formation and 
development cannot be overruled. This is based on the established fact 
that religion is one of the most prominent and wide-reaching social 
institutions, touching and shaping virtually every sphere of culture and 
society (Ibikunle, 2015). In corroboration, according to the Pew 
Research Centre, approximately 84% of the world’s population are 
affiliated with a religion (Pew Research Centre, 2017). Given this 
ubiquity and social influence of religion, it is argued that articles or 
publications on social values development ought to consider the place of 
religion carefully in order to establish the relationship between religion 
and societal value development. There is a diversity in the practices and 
worldviews across (and even within) different religious traditions. This 
makes identifying a clear definition of religion difficult. However, 
HaluzaDeLay (2014) provided a concise definition of religion by 
defining religion broadly to include “beliefs, worldviews, practices, and 
institutions that cross borders, time and scale from the level of 
individuals all the way to transnational and transhistorical movements”. 
He also noted that the western notion of equating religion with an 
established set of beliefs does not represent many eastern or traditional 
religious systems, which often emphasise collective practices as much as 
cognitive beliefs and may lack firmly established institutionalised 
teachings.  

Religion is a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and 
practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, 
or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or 
spiritual elements. However, there is no scholarly consensus over what 
precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not 
contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith, a 
supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and 
transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". 
Ezeanga, (2010) opined that religious practices may include rituals, 
sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities), sacrifices, festivals, 
feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, 
meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of 
human culture. Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which 
may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that 
aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic 
stories, which are sometimes said by followers to be true, that have the 
side purpose of explaining the origin of life, the universe, and other 
things (Odudele, 2006). Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has 
been considered a source of religious beliefs. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_symbol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_places
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_cosmology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_belief


Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    465 

 

Having reviewed briefly the concept religion, it is pertinent that 
the variable societal value development be reviewed. This will help 
provide the fundamentals needed to establish the relationship between 
religion and societal values development. The concept of social values is 
gaining increasing attention within sustainable societal value 
development. The word value reflects the importance, worth, desirability 
and the respect something gets in return (Soykan, 2007). As a 
sociological concept, values refer to similarities and shared demands. 
Social values are moral beliefs and principles that are accepted by the 
majority so as to ensure the continuity of a society (Ergil, 1984). Values, 
in addition to these qualities, signal not what is there but what should be 
there in a society in form of moral imperatives (Inkeles, 1964). In that 
sense, values are accepted as truthful opinions and criteria set for what is 
expected by a society. Establishing the relationship between religion and 
societal value development Ibikunle (2015) argued that religion form the 
basis by which individuals in the society learn, develop and maintain 
values in the society. He went further to say that a greater number of the 
attitude exhibited by individuals is largely dependent on the morals and 
values taught by religious organizations. 

Available researchers have indicated that there is little or no 
efforts made by previous researchers to establish the relationship 
between religion and societal value development. Thus, available studies 
have been unable to provide concise information on the essence of 
religion in developing and maintaining social values needed in ensuring 
the smooth operations of the society. Furthermore, most research 
institutions do not encourage the study of religion, reason being that 
people do not exhibit interest in religious studies. As most people view 
knowledge obtained from such field as irrelevant and practically 
applicable. Hence, little or no interest is displayed in carrying out studies 
to provide factual information on the nexus between religion and societal 
value development. Similarly, the relevance of diverse cultural resources 
is acknowledged in this scholarship, there is little explicit recognition of 
the more specific role of religion in establishing and shaping social values 
in society. In this article we refer to societal values as a broad term which 
encompasses human values held or expressed at different scales of 
aggregation and it influence development of values within the society. 
 
Religion 
Religion is seen as a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and 
practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, 
or organizations that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or 
spiritual elements (Morreall, 2013). Nongbri (2013) opines that religion 



466 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and 
long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions 
of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such 
an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely 
realistic. It is also seen as the entirety of the linguistic expressions, 
emotions and actions and signs that refers to a supernatural being or 
supernatural beings. According to James (2010) religion is a relatively-
bounded systems of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the 
nature of existence, and in which communion with others and otherness 
is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded 
ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. Religion fosters 
national unity and development. It offer people the understanding of 
existence and provide rules and regulations which controls people 
behavior as it is believed that to live a godly life according to one’s 
religion is to carry out one’s duty both to God and men. Religion is also 
characterized as a sound entity that is functional in the sense that it 
contribute to the maintenance of societal stability of equilibrium. 
 
Values  
The word value reflects the importance, worth, desirability and the 
respect something gets in return (Soykan, 2007). As a sociological 
concept, values refer to similarities and shared demands. Social values are 
moral beliefs and principles that are accepted by the majority so as to 
ensure the continuity of a society (Ergil, 1994). Values, in addition to 
these qualities, signal not what is there but what should be there in a 
society in form of moral imperatives. In that sense, values are accepted as 
truthful opinions and criteria set for what is expected by a society. In fact, 
when we say we enjoy similar things and we find the same things 
beautiful, we refer to shared content of values. What sociologists call 
collective consciousness are called by philosophers objective soul are the 
domain of common values (Ülken, 2001). It is clear that without society, 
there will not be any biological, psychological, and sociological value. 
Only in society, language, religion, morals, arts, and traditions can appear 
the result of which is the accepted core of a society. Coming to the world 
as an organism, human beings come to learn societal dreams, ideals, 
norms, morals, arts and religion by means of growing into an identity 
(produce) from an organism (Türkdoğan, 1992). 
 
Function of values  
Values in social system always take part at the beginning of activities, 
inside and at the end of the process because they are the powers which 
begin in the world of consciousness and conscience. Human beings and 
societies exist together with their values (Lawal, 2002). Physical wealth of 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    467 

 

a society is also based on the perception, belief and values that the society 
has. Those cultural codes are road maps in a way to determine the routes 
of an individual and the society. As a result, in almost every society 
people take values seriously, sacrifice their interest, struggle for them and 
even they die for them. In this context, some functions of values could 
be the following:  
1) They show the ways of thinking and behaving ideally.  
2) Values are used as means in judging.  
3) They make people focus on useful and important cultural objects.  
4) They play a role as a guide to adopt and realize social roles.  
5) They perform as social control and restraint tools.  
6) They provide solidarity (Fichter, 1990). 
 
Religion and Social Values 
The term ‘value’ can connote a range of different meanings and 
interpretations. Values can equally refer to broad underlying principles in 
life, important features within a landscape, or monetary figures assigned 
to goods or services. But as it applies in this context, values are standards, 
principles or ideals with which we evaluate actions, people, things, or 
situations. Tadaki et al., (2017) helpfully outlined a broad typology of 
value concepts in an environmental context. In exploring the intersection 
of religion with social values, we focus our inquiry on transcendental or 
‘held’ values. Most commonly, these values are associated with the work 
by Shalom Schwartz on ‘universal’ human values (Schwartz, 1994). 
Kluckhohn and Strodbeck (1961) first theorised that universal values 
might be arranged along various continua, and this was refined by a 
range of scholars, most prominently by Schwartz. Most important were 
two continua: (1) from self-transcendence (e.g., protecting the 
environment) to self-enhancement (e.g., social power), and (2) from 
openness to change (e.g., freedom) to tradition (e.g., self-discipline). 
Scholars have found strongest support for pro-environmental behaviour 
and attitudes within the self-transcendence dimension of human values 
(de Groot and Steg, 2007). 
 
Religion and Societal Values: A Complicated Relationship 
As we have already hinted above, while religion certainly can be viewed 
as a fertile source of values that align with sustainability, simply equating 
religion with certain sets of values does not adequately capture the more 
complex interplay of religious belief, belonging, and environmental 
values (Ayuba and Alex, 2006). Any serious consideration of the 
intersection between religion and values for sustainability must not 



468 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

simply force religion into existing value frameworks, despite the 
empirical relationships described in the previous section. 

One of the dominant discourses that has considered human 
values is within the field of social psychology. Although social 
psychology has amassed detailed knowledge of the structure and 
composition of values in societies around the world, few scholars of 
social values have explored why certain values emerge in different 
contexts. Recently, some social psychologists have emphasised the 
systems view of values, namely that values are not simply static 
constructs in people’s minds, but are deeply embedded in culture and 
ecology (Kitayama 2002; Manfredo et al., 2014). We also adopt this 
perspective, but suggest that values are in part an expression of dominant 
narratives within cultures, withheld narratives providing a locally 
inflected mesh in which values carry their meaning. Taking the broad 
view of religion that we outlined above, even ‘secular’ narratives can been 
seen to have some religious or quasi-religious dimensions. Moreover, in 
reality, there is a melding of myriad narratives within most societies. 
These narratives may be considered as forming part of a larger 
‘worldview’ out of which individuals operate. According to research by 
Hedlund-de Witt (2012) and Hedlund-de Witt et al., (2014), worldviews 
are comprised of inter alia axiology (core values), as well as ontology 
(including a cosmogony), anthropology (the purpose of the human 
being) and societal vision (how society should be organised or function). 
Understanding values (axiology) apart from these other dimensions is, 
therefore, a superficial reading of society. 

Another key factor which must be considered in seeking to 
understand the role of religious values in sustainability is the way that 
religious identity and belonging works at multiple scales, from 
individuals to groups to international bodies and values across these 
scales do not always align. For ease of explanation, we conceptualise 
religious values as present across three scales: the individual scale, the 
community scale, and the formal institutional scale. These three levels 
interact with one another and are permeable to the (often notionally 
secular) socio-cultural and ecological context within which they are 
embedded. The formal institutional scale includes public statements by 
major religions or denominations. For example, the Buddhism Faith 
Statement on Ecology (Fossey 2003), the World Council of Churches 
“Justice, Peace and Creation Concerns” (World Council of Churches 
1983) or the Bristol Faith Commitments compiled by the Alliance of 
Religions and Conservation (The Alliance of Religions and Conservation 
2015). The community scale would represent the teachings and 
viewpoints of particular churches, temples or faith communities. The 
individual scale is the values held by individual members of these 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    469 

 

communities, which may be highly diverse and conflict at times with the 
values espoused at the other scales. 

To demonstrate the complex dynamics across these scales, we 
take as one recent example the Roman Catholic encyclical by Pope 
Francis, Laudato Sí (which is examined in depth by Christie et al. 2019). 
The publication of encyclicals are major events, occurring infrequently, 
and carrying particular normative force as formal religious teaching by 
the leader of the Roman Catholic church. Laudato (2015), the first 
encyclical on the environment, was widely hailed as precipitating a 
change towards (or intensification of) pro-environmental values among 
Roman Catholics, who number nearly a billion worldwide. Interviews 
conducted by Kidwell (unpublished data), indicated that there was 
indeed a boost perceived by elite actors (priests and denominational 
leaders). Again, our point here is not that values are uninfluenced, but 
that the dissemination and mobilisation of values is complex (Kidwell et 
al., 2018). Popular views often hold that the Roman Catholic Church is 
hierarchical and top-down. However, in practice, this research suggests 
that within the American Roman Catholic context, values are often 
consolidated in free-standing ways at different scales: from individual, to 
parish, to diocese, to regional ecumenical partnerships, to global 
community. As Li et al., (2016) suggest, at each of these levels, actors may 
be subject to different cross-pressuring effects, whereby political and 
religious affiliations are in conflict around an issue like “sustainability” 
may itself also be unstable (Johnston, 2013). It is impossible to locate a 
universally agreed upon definition of sustainability and as such scholars 
and practitioners have developed definitions to fit specific purposes 
(White, 2013). In this ambiguous context, we may appreciate a range of 
ways that religion doesn’t always sit comfortably with ‘sustainability’ as a 
concept. Not only may religious communities emphasise particular 
dimensions of sustainability—emphasising human health over ecological 
integrity for instance—religious perspectives may also challenge 
sustainability as a normative goal. The concept of the “common good” 
discussed by Christie et al., (2019) within Catholic teaching as an 
alternative (albeit not inconsistent) aspirational goal to sustainability is a 
good example. Appreciating narratives and worldviews of faith 
communities relevant to conservation activities has recently been 
emphasised as best-practice (Schaefer and Higgins, 2017).  
 
Role of Religion in the Society 
Religion permeates every aspects of man’s existence in the universe, be it 
politics, social, cultural or economic life of the people (Bankston and 
Zhou, 1995). It has been used as the most important instrument in the 



470 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

social control of man and the society. It performs the social functions 
such as providing aims, purpose forms, defense and sense of direction. 
The role of religion in promoting peace security and eradicating the 
youth’s militancy cannot be over emphasized. 
 
1 Religion Stimulates Social Habits and Checks Anti- Social 
Behavior. 
Religion is “an efficient means of social control, stimulates social habits 
and checks anti-social tendencies”.  It offers the whole society a concept 
of its own scared value. It prescribes a particular kind of behavior or 
conduct to its adherents in terms of knowledge, thinking, reflection 
decisions, choices, tastes, opinion, habits, feelings and freedom of actions 
(Benson, Leffert, Scales & Blyth, 1998). Such particular life styles are 
created, maintained and sustained through religions doctrines, ethics, 
and laws safe guards are prescribed against deviation from these life 
styles. Religion polishes and fashions morality in positive dimension. To 
neglect religion is to do away with morality, without religion moral 
development of the society will be meaningless. 
2 Religion gives Emotional Security, Spiritual and Material 
Support. 
Religion is an instrument for defense. It provides belief and attitudes that 
help to defend the people against vexing doubts, anxieties and aggression. 
As people do struggle with life of uncertainties, powerlessness and 
insecurity religion provides answer to the things that threaten people’s 
life and survival. It was even noted that religion offers emotional, 
spiritual and material support to its members in times of tension, stress 
or hardship (Lawal, 2003). The poor and wretched ones are to be given 
alms or gifts from the rich ones among them. Victims of natural hazards 
or wars are to be aided and their life must protect as a sacred entity and 
peaceful coexistence of the society. Also religion offers resistance against 
frustration, hostility, suffering, anxiety, despair and hatred 
3. Religion Reforms and Resettles Deviants 
A deviant is person who is deficient in moral and social standards from 
what is normal and accepted. Religion can be used to call the out law 
persons or sinners back to repentance, and makes them become socially 
integrated into the society (Odudele, 2006). Religion struggles with the 
ultimate problems of human life that deprive man from behaving in the 
morally and socially accepted ways. It gives a sense of direction and 
makes people to perceive, feel, think, act and behave in a specifically 
desired ways. It moves people a way from despair and restores 
confidence in them. Armed robbers, adulterers, drunkards, drug- addicts, 
law- breakers and frauds to mention a few have been changed to behave 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    471 

 

in a socially approved manners and society see and treat them with trust 
and confidence. 
4. Religion Fosters Social Solidarity and Friendships. 
Religion serves as a powerful means for the solidarity among its members 
and nearly all the great social institutions have been born in religion 
(Ezeanya, 2010). Also, religion regulates social life of the society by 
creating some sort of order for its members to live together. Religion 
encourages solidarity, consensus, cordially, harmony, cooperation, unity, 
stability, security and peaceful co-existence. Religion creates several 
fellowship groups for the adults and youths alike. Out of these 
fellowships, friendships, marriage and brother hoods emerged. It allows 
the adherents to coordinate their activities in submission to rules and 
regulations under the guidance of values, so that they can live 
harmoniously with their fellow human beings. 
5. Religion helps to bring about Social Change. 
A change haves place in religion as a social phenomenon. In Nigeria, 
religion helps to bring about social change. Social change has described 
as the change that occurs in world views, ideas, values, beliefs, rules, 
relationships, institutions, symbols speech, languages, style of thinking 
and behaviors and the means of production and distribution of goods and 
services (Fadiyimu, 2004). A social change is the alteration in the patterns 
of social action and interactions. Religion introduces and disseminates 
new idea and information about education, medicine, literature, 
agriculture, games, markets organization and administration. Religion 
brings establishes new form of education, dressing, marriage, law courts 
and languages in Nigeria. 
6. The Relevance of Religion in Cultural Development. 
Religion helps in transforming the society by introducing new cultural 
elements. Religious doctrines, laws organizations, modes of dressing, 
dogma, buildings, patterns of marriages, training of children, burying the 
dead and many other items of culture are influence through religion. 
Morality is used to give meaning and purpose to the cultural behavior 
(Obikunle, 2015). Wherein the culture deviates from the real religious 
meaning, then it has to be checked, so that there is balanced relationship 
between the cultural elements and religious ideology. Indecent modes of 
dress, is discouraged for the sake of modesty and moral implication 
given. 
7. Religion Ensures the Retinues Existence of the Society. 
Ayuba and Alex (2006) opined the positive role of religion is to holding 
society together as a form of “social glue”. Religion serves as a social 
bond that holds the society together. It strengthens the basis belief and 
values of the society. It stresses for the social cohesion of all its members 



472 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

to live in unity and peace. Religious ceremonies are performed to remind 
people that they have a common history and identity, thereby ensuring 
the continuity for the existence of the society. There are events in the life 
of an individual and in the life of a society that point to the fact that God 
is working out this purpose for the common good of the individual and 
the society. 
 
Impact of Religion on Societal Value Development 
Man as a human being, cannot exist without religion because it is 
intrinsic in his nature. One cannot isolate religion from the life situation. 
Religion determines its true value from the role it plays in the 
enrichment of the quality of life. It has a role to play, a contributive role 
in the evolution of man and developmental of societal values, by 
providing society with ethical codes, social rules and ideals, rituals and 
devotion that guide the activities of man in the course of social 
interaction. Religion also enhances human values and self-awareness 
(Bjarnason, 1998). Religion helps one to lead a disciplined and purified 
life. Religions always stand for the betterment of human soul. The 
different religions, though devotedly called by different names, show a 
surprising likeness of spirit and life. It is a unique specific expression and 
cannot be equated with anything. There is no religion which does not 
stress one form or other of universal brotherhood, and which does not 
advocate kindness to all living things. In the religions of the non-
vegetarian people, there is an acceptance, in principle at least, of the non-
killing commandment. And there is the general acceptance by the 
Semitic religions that a form of grace accompanies fasting and abstention 
from meat eating on certain days (Lawal, 2003). Buddhism in principle is 
solidly based on non-hurting (ahimsa), and Jainism makes the high level 
of this principle. 

When religion is not influential in a society or has ceased to be, 
the state inherits the entire burden of public morality, crime and 
intolerance. It then must use punishment and police. Yet, this is 
unsuccessful as morality, integrity and self-respect not already inherent 
in the individual, cannot be enforced with any great success. Only by a 
spiritual awareness and inculcation of the spiritual value of these 
attributes can they come about. There must be more reason and more 
emotional motivation to be moral, etc., than threat of human discipline. 
 
Conclusion 
We have explored in this article the complex relationship between 
religion and development of societal values development in the society. 
While there are consistent trends regarding values promoted by major 
faith traditions and certain values operationalised within universal 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    473 

 

human values theory, religion comprises far more than the promotion of 
particular values. To progress research on the intersection of human 
values and religion, we suggest that religion must be understood as a 
multi-faceted embodied institution of substantial social and political 
relevance. This broad understanding of religion thus enables scholarship 
on social values for sustainability to connect with theories of social 
transformation. We encourage scholars pursuing such a research agenda 
to recognise that values are not freestanding but are connected to social 
practices and institutional dynamics, to pay attention to local expressions 
of values embedded in religious contexts, and to embrace more 
embedded vernacular than that of social psychological theory (e.g., 
concepts such as compassion/love rather than self-transcendence). Thus, 
it has been established that religion contributes significantly to the 
development of positive societal values.  
 
Recommendations 
Based on the observation made in the course of the theoretical review on 
the impact of religion on societal value development, the study suggests 
that the teachings and activities of religious organizations in Nigeria 
should be encouraged, since it contributes significantly to positive 
societal value development. More so, similar study should be pursued by 
potential researchers on the impact of religion on societal value 
development as this will help the researcher pursue the objective the 
current study was unable to pursue owing to the limited timeframe 
allotted to this study. 
 
 
References 
Ayuba, C. and Alex, Z. T. (2006). “The role of Religion in Promoting Peace, Security 

and National Development in Nigeria”. In Peace, Security and National 

Development, 46-49. 

Bankston, C. L., & Zhou, M. (1995). Religious participation, ethnic identification, and 

adaptation of Vietnamese adolescents in an immigrant community. 

Sociological Quarterly, 36, 523–534. 

Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., Scales, P. C., & Blyth, D. A. (1998). Beyond the “village” 

rhetoric: Creating healthy communities for children and adolescents. 

Applied Developmental Science, 2, 138–159. 

Bjarnason, T. (1998). Parents, religion and perceived social coherence: A 

Durkheimian framework of adolescent anomie. Journal for the Scientific 

Study of Religion, 37, 742–754. 

Ezeanga, S. N. (2010). “The Contribution of African Traditional Religion to National 

Building” In E.C. Amucheazi, (ed) Reading in Social Sciences Issues in 

National Development, Fourth Dimension Publishing Co. Limited. Enugu, 

50-53 



474 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Fadiyimu: O. (2004). The Youth and the Church, Ibadan Oluseyi Press. 110 

Fichter, J. (1990). What is sociology? (Translated by Çelebi, N.). Ankara: Attila 

Bookstore. 

Ibikunle, G. O. (2015).  “The role of Religion in National Development” A Paper 

presented at the Ist National Conference of the School of Arts and Social 

Sciences, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, 1-3 

James, P and Mandaville, P. (2010). Globalization and culture: Globalizing religions. 

London: Sage Publications. 2. 

Lawal, B. O. (2003). Teaching Religions in Colleges and University. Stirling- Horden 

Publishers. 32. 

Morreall, J. S. (2013). “Myth 1: All societies have religions” 50 Great Myths of Religion. 

Wiley-Blackwell. 12 – 17. 

Nongbri, B. (2013). Before religion: A History of a Modern Concept. Yale University 

Press. 

Odudele: R. (2006). Religion and Moral Instructions in Schools: Al-Hafiz Publishers, 

14- 23 

Tsai, W., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital and value creation: The role of intrafirm 

networks. Academy of Management Journal, 41, 464–476. 

Wagener, L. M., Furrow, J. L., King, P. E., Leffert, N., & Benson, P. (2003). Religion and 

developmental resources. Review of Religious Research, 44, 271–284. 



475 

35 

FORMATION OF THE YOUTH AND ITS 

IMPLICATION FOR NATIONAL 

DEVELOPMENT 
 

Praise, KORIE 
Catholic Diocese of Uromi 
praisesilva2@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 
The future of any and every great institution in the world, largely 
depends on folks who fall within the age bracket of those regarded as 
youths, who undisputedly are the leaders of tomorrow, whether or not 
they are prepared for it. The youths no doubt are a very important class 
of any nation, since their resourcefulness, skills, strengths can no doubt 
be beneficial in sustaining any nation’s development. They bring in a 
kind of vitality and enthusiasm that can drive any nation to the zenith of 
development and self-reliance. But more often as we see; especially in 
developing nations, not much regard is given to youth formation, in a bid 
to prepare them for their future role. The consequence of which is, 
being plunged into the future with absolutely no formation and 
preparation, they also fail to maintain the standards already set in place. 
This study is therefore, posed towards understanding the importance of 
youth formation and it’s implication in attaining sustainable national 
development. It shall also establish the extent of interaction between 
formation and national development; the challenges of youth formation 
and the role of major stakeholders. A qualitative, critical and analytical 
assessment of these issues will help us to arrive at the shores of the 
objective of this study. This piece, discovers that, in other to situate the 
youth of today strategically for national development, we must put into 
consideration the demographics of youth as well as their corresponding 
formation. This remains the task of every major player saddled with the 
enterprise of promoting national development. 
 
Keywords: Formation, Youth, Youth formation, Development, National 
development. 

mailto:praisesilva2@gmail.com


476 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Introduction 
Every nation of the world, strives to attain an all-round growth. And 
undoubtedly, the future of any nation rests on the shoulders of the 
youth. They eschew age long out dated mentalities, the values they hold 
and the qualities they possess, can inevitably bring development to any 
nation. The knowledge, skills and principles which they have acquired 
over the years would be used as tools for the development or otherwise 
of the nation.  

Youths can bring social reform and improvement in society. We 
cannot do without the youths of a country. A nation requires their 
participation to achieve her goals and help in taking the nation towards 
progress. 

Indeed, the youths are the movers and shakers of the nation. 
Without them, the nation has no future, remains moribund and faces 
extinction if care is not taken. The development of any country requires 
active participation from the youth. We must make all the youth aware of 
their power and the role they have to play in nation-building. As well as 
contribute our quarter to their proper formation. There are many ways 
in which we can help the youth of our country to achieve their potential. 
For that, the government must introduce programs that will help in 
fighting off issues like unemployment, poor education institutes and 
more to help them prosper without any hindrance. 

But today what do we find? Ill formed youths, who cannot cater 
for their own well-being less talk, the well-being of a nation. Can this 
situation cannot be blamed totally on the youths? This write up, attempts 
at presenting a brief insight into the crisis concerned with youth 
formation and briefly state how their proper formation can aid them to 
contribute effectively to national development. 

 
Conceptual Clarifications 
Formation: Formation can be referred to as the act or process of value 
adding. This value may be social, religious, an ethical. It is the process of 
giving a form to a person, or an act of taking form.1 It has to do with 
character development, value orientation and moral integrity. It is a 
process of breaking and shapening, breaking out deformations and 
molding forth a transformation. 
 
Youths: Many definitions of the youths are often done with age 
classifications. And these categorization differ from place to place. 
Generally those who fall within the age bracket of 14-35 are often 
regarded as youths. In some cases, the age range can be up to 40. It 
usually is a period between childhood and adulthood, between 
dependence and moving towards independence. The definition of a 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    477 

 

youth is a young person who has not yet reached adulthood and refers to 
the time period before you become an adult.2The United Nations, for 
statistical purposes, defines those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 
as youth.3UNESCO further notes that: Youths have the creativity, 
the potential and the capacity to make change happen – for 
themselves, for their communities, and for the rest of the world.4 
Simply put, youths have the vitality needed to transform any 
society. Pope John Paul II affirms this youthful vitality when he 
avers that:  
Youth is the age of hope, of promise, of enthusiasm, of plans and 
of ideals. Youths do not want to give up in the face of difficulties. 
Youth does not want to put up with the short comings of the 
status quo. Youth believes in a better world and is determined to 
do something to help bring about it.5 
 
Youth formation: Youths are the building blocks of every developed 
nation. Youth formation is the process of preparing the young for the 
future act of becoming leaders. The youthful stage is a formative age, 
which enhances the youth and makes him or her contribute 
meaningfully to national development. Youth formation is a duty for all, 
social agents - the family, the church, the government, parents and 
youths themselves. The energy and vigor of the youths act as catalyst for 
national development. That is why, countries which utilize their youth 
in positive direction are more developed. Youths can constitute both a 
challenge and an opportunity for development. 

The need for formation is vital, because the youths of 
this century live in a dysfunctional world, with so many contradictions, 
unprecedented changes. A world torn apart by a complexity of 
conflicting value orientations, divergent worldviews and competing 
ideologies.6 

Within the black continent, youths bring out the potentiality for 
Africa’s development. Youths could be a source of labor inputs as well as 
human capital in production, which would improve total factor 
productivity in a region of the world where capital formation is limited. 
When employed, youths could be a reliable source of demand for the 
economy through their consumption activities. Especially in the African 
continent, the youths of Africa could be critical for the development of a 
new class of entrepreneurs that African countries need to prosper.7 
 
Development: Development is generally used to denote growth or 
progress. It is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or 
the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and 



478 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

demographic components.  The purpose of development is a rise in the 
level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion 
of local regional income and employment opportunities, without 
damaging the resources of the environment.  Development is visible and 
useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality 
change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change.8 
 
National Development: National development is a constructive 
process of engaging all the people of the country in building political 
stability, social unity and economic prosperity of the country.    

National development involves social harmony, infrastructure 
development and economic growth of the nation. Youths involvement in 
any growing economy is an essential key to development. Youths are the 
greatest power of the country therefore significant efforts must be 
established to help empower them to competently and adequately 
contribute towards sustainable development of the nation. National 
development will improve the lives of citizens with the growing 
economy.9 
 
Challenges of Youth Formation 
Many challenges exist today, which impedes youth formation. These 
range from lack of proper education, lack of social and basic amenities, 
lack of job opportunities, lack of support for creative innovations and 
worse still, there is the dysfunctionalism which is associated with the agents 
of socialization which in turn affects formation. George Ehusani, in 
Success without Successor, affirms this socializational dysfunctionalism when 
he avers that  

The traditional agents of socialization - the family, the church 
and the school, appear to have lost much of their authority and pride of 
place in the socialization and formative process. Today the Internet, the 
Television, the Cinema, the Home Video and the Peer Group appear to 
have snatched from the Parents, the Priests and Catechists and the 
School Teachers the primary prerogative of imparting knowledge and 
values and building the character of the younger generation.10 

 
o Family. The family is the bedrock of any human formation which is 

to be impacted into young people. When the formation which the 
family ought to impart is missing, it requires extra effort to get the 
formation of young people aright. In these times, news of broken 
families and failed relationships constitute no new surprise to us. But 
the end process of these broken families are traumatized children and 
youths who are left and if not by grace, would themselves become 
partners of broken families, thus continuing the cycle. Again many 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    479 

 

parents are career persons, who love their jobs so much at the 
expense of valuable family formation of their wards. They at best 
leave the formation of their wards to uneducated house assistance, 
who have the potentiality to bring into actuality the deformation of 
young people. 
 

o Church. Many Churches today, are but true Churches. They are 
advanced shrines and medium for business. Many main stream 
Churches, have become a reproach and abomination to God. Thus 
the message of Christ which ought to have a formative impact on the 
lives of young ones, is now being distorted for a message that 
preaches material prosperity and the desire for materialistic relevant 
miracles. Today, the pulpit is been used to advise young ones about 
the seemingly wastage of time on education. They only present to 
the young ‘the miracle working God’ and not the ‘suffering Jesus’ 
who carried his cross. Every line of scripture is interpreted in a 
liberalistic manner, and people end up fed with stones instead of 
bread. 

 
o School. Many schools today are set up for profit making, over and 

above value formation. We need to try striking simple conversations 
with our latest graduates in order to discover the mess many youths 
have been entangled in. Professors who engage in nebulous acts such 
as mal-practice, were those who had access to quality education. 
Schools today have lost their influence over value and character 
formation. Students and parents decide what they want, and what 
they do not want and in a bid to retain numbers especially due to 
financial rewards, the schools watch the children throwaway their 
future, while they sit and fold their hands. 

 
o Unemployment. Lack of employment destroys certain formation to 

be gotten from the ethics of work. When jobs are not readily 
available, and those available are not meant for the educated but the 
connected. This creeds the contemporary belief among youths that 
education is no longer the key.  

 
o Lack of Mentorship. Lack of mentorship is another factor 

destroying the affective formation of youths. Youths witness 
everyday those who preach but do not practice; those who outline 
policies and principles but do not follow them. The end result of this 
accumulated experience never motivates but translates them into 
being oppressed oppressors. 



480 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

 
o Social Media. The social media frenzy, has taken over the task of 

formation of these impeded agents of formation. From children who 
live in abundance but thirst from lack of attention, to those who 
want answers to the meaning of life, and seek  means for channeling 
their vitality and passion in expressing themselves. The media 
(wrong use of it), has given young people today the illusion of a false 
presence, a feeling of accepttedness, and a fabricated feeling of 
satisfaction. This makes a lot of persons accept whatever is brought 
to the table. 

 
Authentic Formation of Youths: Implications for National 
Development 
Can youth formation be beneficial for national development? Yes. This is 
because, we cannot eliminate the important role youths play, in any 
nation’s development. Youths could be a source of labor inputs as well as 
human capital in production, which would improve total factor 
productivity in a region of the world where capital formation is limited.11 
Youths are critical for the development of a new class of entrepreneurs 
and leaders that can keep any nation aright. 
Youths spur in-depth research into varying issues confronting our 
collective existence. They ask questions which set researchers into 
motion. They challenge, oppose existing foundations, by seeking more 
and more to make adjustments to existing status quo. Thus only when 
they are adequately formed, that it would be possible for them to make 
ethical choices, which in the long run would be beneficial to any society. 

With the new waves of knowledge attained from globalization, 
youths are better able to make choices that support the pursuit of 
educational goals and the development of life skills necessary for national 
and local leadership positions. For instance, youths with access to 
reproductive health education, services (where they are welcomed), will 
enable them make rightful decisions as regards their health.  

Youths occupy a prominent place in any society, for apart from 
being the owners and leaders of tomorrow, they have energy and ideas 
that are society's great potentials.12 The National Youths Development 
Policy asserts that: Youths are the foundation of a society. Their energies, 
inventiveness, character and orientation define the pace of development 
and security of a nation. Through their creative talents and labour power, 
a nation makes giant strides in economic development and socio-political 
attainments. In their dreams and hopes, a nation founds her motivation; 
on their energies, she builds her vitality and purpose. And because of 
their dreams and aspirations, the future of a nation is assured.13  The 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    481 

 

statement above acknowledges the role of the youths in the peace and 
security of a nation.  

Youths depending on how they are employed, can be agents of 
peace as well a instruments of war. They no doubt can play the role of 
peace mediators. Ozohu-Suleiman avers that: as [an] active segment of 
any society, youths are the major determiners of peace and stability of a 
nation.14 Conversely, the degree of disorderliness and instability in 
society is also determined in part by youths. Peace is a precursor of 
development. The absence of peace means that no meaningful 
development can take place.15 

 
Youth Formation: A Task For All 
To our already existing identity as victims of bad government, today, we 
all are potential martyrs (whether we are ready or not), and also potential 
victims of kidnap, potential victims of wrong medical treatments, 
potential victims of collapsed buildings, potential victims of human 
inhumanness.   

The formation of the youths remains an absolute task for 
everyone interested in the well-being of any nation. As faulty 
foundations can lead to collapse of structures, same can be said for any 
nation which pays little or no attention to youth formation cum 
development. Everyone must put in whatever it takes to give a better 
foundation for the youths. There must be a revival of the agents of 
socialization. The creation of enabling environment for family life. The 
creation of job opportunities and incentives for the youth. The 
admittance of youths sufficiently formed into the political and economic 
structure of society.  

The political society itself, is an important agent of the formation 
of the youths. The quest for an all-round character cum moral value 
formation for young people must have a place in any government’s 
policies. Leaders are to be aware that they must be role models and not 
pharisaic in nature. Government must set up effective youth policies 
which must move from the level of being an act of government to the 
level of honest implementation. Furthermore, equal opportunities must 
be provided for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender, race, religion and 
more. There are various issues of nepotism and favoritism which eats 
away the actual talents of a nation. This must be done away with.  

Since those found in the society are those found also in the 
Church, it follows that if the youths in the society are damaged, the 
youths in the Church would also be damaged youths. Given this fact, the 
Church must rise up and contribute her quota to the formation of the 



482 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

youths. She must play her role as an agent of the formation of youths. As 
George Ehusani notes: 
Church based programs and projects for youth development should 
include not only spiritual, moral and doctrinal education, but also 
(especially in our economically distressed environment where many 
youths have dropped out of school and are without skills) to include 
vocational and basic skills training for economically disadvantaged 
youths.16 

The youths themselves have a role to play in their own 
formation. The self is the first agent of formation. They should avail 
themselves of any and every such opportunity provided for their growth 
and wellbeing. Many youths today seem lackadaisical in affairs which 
should help their self-growth and aspirations. They are lured into all 
kind of life style which would lead to their unproductivity. If youths do 
not open and dispose themselves they cannot be formed and cannot 
eventually contribute to national development. At best they can just be 
noise makers on social media platforms.  

 
Youth Formation in Nigeria: Issues and Concern. 
Youths have a vital role to play in building this nation. They are spurs to 
facilitate Nigeria’s economic greatness and instigate developmental 
strides. But the youths of this country have not had a soft bed on which 
to land on. They are plagued on all sides many factors which are within 
and without. From lack of adequate formation to absence of 
infrastructural requirements for right living. Some of these issues as well 
as the resulting concerns are highlighted below. 
 
Socio-Economic and Political Environment: The socio-economic 
and political environment in Nigeria poses a great challenge to the 
youths. Economic and social statistics present a somber picture that 
leaves much to be desired. Almost half a century after flag independence, 
the economy continues to be dominated by the primary sector – 
agriculture, oil and minerals. This is partly because the country has not 
been able to create an environment for high value added economic 
activities. There is low domestic capital formation and declining direct 
foreign investment, with the exemption of the oil and gas sectors, until 
recently very heavy indebtedness, high unemployment and the 
informalisation of the economy where the majority of its people live in 
poverty.17 

Nigeria performs very poorly in terms of global economic 
competitiveness. The country lacks basic social and physical 
infrastructure. As a result, most people on the country have no access to 
basic services such as potable water, electricity, good sanitation, roads and 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    483 

 

healthcare. All of this is coupled with a high illiteracy rate. The country’s 
underdevelopment has been reinforced by authoritarianism, political 
instability, ethnic and religious conflicts in the last decade.  

Even almost two decades after the return to democratic rule, we 
witness today instability in governance- like those in governance do not 
have an idea about governance. We witness tribalism and nepotism, we 
see a government that grossly tells lies, and misleads the public, we see 
non-accountability of public officials, lack of transparency in decision-
making, electoral frauds and the colonialisation and personalisation of 
the state and national resources by the political elite. This situation 
presents particular challenges for the Nigerian youths.18 

 
Lack of Education: Education is very crucial to the formation of 
youths. In Nigeria, our educational system is nothing to write home 
about. The aim of education is to bring about intellectual, moral, social 
and psychological formation of the human person. A person who is 
balanced in these areas of life will make the society proud. But today we 
find students who are intellectual thieves, socially imbalanced, morally 
bankrupt, psychologically confused, emotionally imbalanced, and 
physically challenged.19 More worrisome is the fact that education in 
Nigeria today is certificate based education, rather than education for 
productivity. Thus we have more graduates, but less people who can 
distinguish their left from their right. Education also ought to help us 
make ethical choices, but we have today more educated illiterates, who 
lack value appreciation and moral ethos. 
 
Lack of Employment. Youth unemployment poses a great threat to the 
country’s stability and development, and if not checkmated on time, it 
may lead to disastrous consequences for the nation. Desperation can 
drive the unemployed youths into living outside the law in order to 
survive and as a means of expressing dissatisfaction at the apparent 
neglect of their very existence. Crime as a result of unemployment has 
adverse effect on the economy.20 E. Okafor laments that: High level of 
corruption in Nigeria has robbed the country of developing a vibrant 
economic base in spite of her abundant natural resources. Massive 
corruption is perpetuated in every sector and has permeated the entire 
social structure of Nigeria. Funds meant for development projects which 
could have generated employment have been misappropriated, diverted, 
or embezzled and stashed away in foreign banks. Endemic corruption has 
robbed the country of the chance of developing a vibrant economy that 
would have created jobs for the youths in the various sectors of 
economy.21 



484 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

The consequences of not fully developing and harnessing 
youth’s potential could be dire, having enormous impact on the 
economic, political scientific, moral and social life of a nation. Youths are 
more likely to become frustrated because of legitimate grievances, 
including a lack of employment opportunities, low educational 
attainment, little participation in decision making and low social 
mobility. In this volatile context, greedy and opportunistic politicians 
could even exploit these grievances by involving these frustrated youths 
in creating massive instabilities that could impede the development of 
any nation.  

We must invest heavily in our children and youth population, so 
that from among them would emerge better presidents, better governors, 
better local government chairmen, better MDs and Directors of 
companies.22 

If posed for a better future, the Nigerian youth, has the 
propensity for greatness. Being more technologically attuned and with 
the desire to improve on existing parameters of development, they can 
help push the integral part of Nigeria’s socio-political cum economic 
growth and development. The challenge faced by those saddled with the 
responsibility of youth formation, remains how to sufficiently harness 
and channel young people’s passion, energy and enthusiasm into positive 
outcomes. 
 
Concluding Remarks 
The task of national development of any nation requires the captainship 
of astute and sound personnel. Sound men and women of deep vision, 
with sincerity of purpose, hardworking credible persons who are self-
sacrifical and patriotic. In the words of Abolade Fagbohun,  
Nation-building and the associated developmental issues require men 
and women of deep vision; sincerity of purpose; selflessness; genuine 
love for their country and their people; hardworking; of conscience, 
integrity, credibility, trustworthiness, honesty, reliable and able; people 
who do not think of stealing or embezzling; people who do not misuse 
the authority and power conferred on them, by God or Man; people who 
do not think that getting to positions of authority is a “do-or-die” affair; 
people who understand the meaning of nation building, leadership, good 
governance, rule of law, political emancipation, equality, human and civil 
rights, civility, freedom of speech, rule of law, diversity and religious 
tolerance; people who will shun and will not tolerate tribalism, 
corruption and nepotism. These are the people who can build nations 
and create the change we want to see.23 

If a nation believes in its youths and believes that without the 
youths, she can’t achieve her greatness, then she should make more 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    485 

 

investment in them, because without investing in the youths, the future 
of a nation will not have any returns.  
The youths themselves should also be proactive, and help in their own 
formation. They should indulge in selfless services, and in the long run 
become positive change agents and role models.  
The Church, family, school, the government and society at large have 
equal responsibility to provide the youths with an environment that is 
conducive to bringing about a formation for the youths. There is the 
need as Ehusani avers, 

…to invest in our future by channeling a lot of our time 
and resources into the wholesome formation and integral 
development of our youths, because what we see as our 
successes today must bear fruits in future generations… 
because our successes today must not end with our 
generation. They must have a multiplier effect on the 
coming generation.24 
Also, the youths should have a responsibility to be more 

proactive. An ideal youth who seeks to become a leader of tomorrow, 
must endeavor to be honest, hardworking, thrifty, idealistic, disciplined, 
patriotic, compassionate, sportsmanlike, moral/religious and above all he 
should be capable of dreaming high and positive dreams.25 

In the end, youths by their very nature are transforming, and by 
default, under formation whether or not the society puts effort into their 
formation, they are being formed, the question is not whether they are 
being formed or whether they should be formed but that whether by 
default or effort they receive the appropriate formation. Whatever they 
receive determines what becomes of the development of any nation.  

To transform the crisis of youth formation and development 
today, we need a paradigm shift in the structure and method of their 
formation, as well as the environment we provide for them, and the 
opportunities we present for them to grow. 

 
 
Endnote 
                                                      
1What is formation? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formation 
2Who is a youth? https://www.yourdictionary.com/youth (accessed March 5th 2020) 
3Secretary-General’s Report to the General Assembly, A/36/215, 1981 in 

https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/youth/fact-sheets/youth-definition.pdf 

(accessed March11th, 2020) 
4https://en.unesco.org/youth (accessed March 7, 2020) 
5John Paul II, Address to the Young people of Nigeria. 1982 



486 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
6George Ehusani, Success without Successor is Failure in Disguise: The Challenge of 

Youth Ministry Today. http://www.georgeehusani.org/index.php/other-articles/187-

success-without-successor-is-failure-in-disguise-the-challenge-of-youth-ministry-

today 
7 Adeline Idike. A Eme, Okechukwu Innocent, “Role Of The Youths In Nation-

Building,”  Journal of Policy and Development Studies Vol. 9, No. 5, (2015):  52-3 
8 Sid Israel, What is Development? The Israeli Center for International Aid and 

Development Studies, March 11, 2018. https://www.sid-israel.org/en/Development-

Issues/What-is-Development (accessed March 7, 2020) 
9 Essay on the role of youths in nation building,  http://robinnegiclasses.blog 

spot.com/2019/06/essay-on-role-of-youths-in-nation.html (accessed March 7, 

2020) 
10George Ehusani, Success without Successor is Failure in Disguise: The Challenge of 

Youth Ministry Today.http://www.georgeehusani.org/index.php/other-articles/187-

success-without-successor-is-failure-in-disguise-the-challenge-of-youth-ministry-

today (accessed March 7, 2020) 
11 Sid Israel, What is Development? 2018 
12 Onyekpe, N. “Managing youths at election,” The Constitution: A Journal of 

Constitutional Development 7 (1) (2007): 76-87. 
13 Federal Republic of Nigeria (2001), National Youths Policy 
14 Ozohu-Suleiman, A., “The Nigerian youths in contemporary political 

development: Relevance, challenges, and role expectation,” The Constitution: A 

Journal of Constitutional Development 6 (4) (2006) : 97-111. 
15 Eme, and Okechukwu, “Role Of The Youths In Nation-Building,” 57-8 
16George Ehusani,  Success without successor 
17 Eme, and Okechukwu, “Role Of The Youths In Nation-Building,” 62 
18 Ibid. 
19Anthony Ewerido, Lazarus Ishaku, “Youth Formation and Globalisation in the 

Nigeria context, A Theological and Pastoral Reflection on Timothy 4:12-15” in Youth 

Formation & Globalisation in the Nigerian Context,  edited by Luke Ijezie, Stephen 

Audu and Agnes Acha, (Portharcourt, CATHAN Publicatios, 2018), 102 
20 Adebayo, Abayomi “Youths unemployment and crime in Nigeria: A nexus and 

implications for national development” International Journal of Sociology and 

Anthropology 5 (2013): 350-357.  
21 Okafor Emeka, “Executive Corruption in Nigeria: A Critical Overview of Its Socio-

Economic Implications for Development” Afr. J. Psychol. Stud. Soc. Issues. 2005. 8(1): 

21-41. 
22George Ehusani, Success without Successor 
23Abolade Fagbohun, The Role of Nigerian Youth in Nation Building, 

https://medium.com/@abbjcicero101/the-role-of-nigerian-youth-in-nation-

building-2fb8a5552520 April 26, 2011. (accessed March 12, 2020) 
24George Ehusani, Success without Successor 
25 Eme, and Okechukwu, “Role Of The Youths In Nation-Building,”. 64 



487 

36 

SEMINARY FORMATION AND MODERN 

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION: ISSUES 

AND POSSIBILITIES 
 

Hilary Oseabulu ODENORE, Ph.D 
Catholic Diocese of Uromi 

osichair@gmail.com 
 
Abstract 
The means of Social Communications in modern times have developed 
to such an extent as to be able to exert profound influence on every 
aspect of human endeavour. This development has coincided with a 
gradual shift in the Church’s Hierarchy's overall attitude towards the said 
means of Social Communications, from one of suspicion and rejection 
(especially in the early years of the Cinema), to critical understanding 
and appreciation. This shift in approach invites ongoing critical reflection 
on how the Church can better understand these providential gifts to 
man, so as to engender a responsible use of them that will result in better 
persons, faithful Christians and a more committed, evangelizing Church. 
The formation of future priests is an important locus for the deepening of 
the Church’s appreciation of these means of communication. It is 
imperative for future priests, a good number of whom are Digital 
Natives, to develop a keen understanding of the culture of the modern 
means of communication, and it’s implication for the Church’s mission. 
Using the extant situation in the Major Seminaries of the Old Lagos 
Ecclesiastical Province as a case study, this paper attempts to raise issues 
bordering on the implications of the present state of the means of Social 
Communications for the human person as a whole. These issues will be 
correlated with possibilities that can be applied to Seminary formation, 
so as to highlight some valuable lessons for the Church. 
 
Keywords: Social Communication, Formation, Digital, Seminary 
 
 
 



488 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Introduction  
In 1986, the Pontifical Council for Catholic Education issued the Guide 
to the Training of Future Priests concerning the Means of Social Communication.  
The rationale behind this was…  
…so that the preparation of future priests in this regard may be less 
inadequate and may better meet their needs in the work that awaits 
them, the Congregation for Catholic Education, having consulted widely 
with experts in the matter, and especially with the Pontifical 
Commission for Social Communications, is pleased to offer to 
seminaries the present "Guide" in the hope that it will help in some way 
in carrying out their responsibilities. Whatever possible future 
developments and local diversity of situation there may be, all institutes 
of priestly formation must today urgently face a common core of 
fundamental questions concerning the personal conduct of receivers, the 
pastoral use of the mass media, and specialized formation for particular 
works.1 

This was a landmark document, in so far as its subject matter is 
concerned. It showed the Church playing her maternal role and 
appreciating the influence that the means of Social Communications 
exercise on every aspect of human endeavour, influence which while 
largely positive, could also be damaging to the fabric of human society. 
Thus, the Guide sets out to ensure that “future priests [are] trained in 
the seminary in the correct use of these instruments. This provision 
had a threefold purpose, namely, that the seminarians might impose 
discipline on their own personal use of the media, that they might be 
able to train the faithful in their turn to exercise similar self-discipline, 
and that they might learn how to use the media in their apostolate”2. 

Since 1986 till date, the world has undergone transformation in 
many ways, not least of which is that fact that we are now witnessing the 
entrenchment of the digital age, and its implications for the humanity. 
Unlike what obtained then, which was largely restricted to the Print and 
Electronic Media, the inception of the World Wide Web (www) in 
March 1989, coupled with the proliferation of computers in portable 
forms, radically transformed the means of Social Communication and 
the ways persons make use of them. The advent of the smartphone as 
well, has created ‘a whole new world’ as regards how people 
communicate.  

This ‘new world’ needs priests, just like other ‘worlds’ or epochs 
have always needed priests. These priests need to be prepared and trained 
in how to effectively serve in this ‘world’ after the example of the Good 
Shepherd, Jesus, who has such a relationship with the sheep that He 
knows them, they know Him, and they listen to His voice and do what 
He asks them to do (cf John 10:1-21).  



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    489 

 

This paper argues that in the Spirit of the 1986 Guide, we need to update 
our present approach to the formation of future priests on the means of 
Social Communication, so that they can function more effectively as 
pastors post priestly ordination. The paper will have the following 
sections: 
 The Essence of Seminary Formation (according to the Magisterium) 
 Communication Formation within Seminary Formation 
 Modern Means of Communication – Overview 
 Modern Means of Communication – Possibilities for Formation 
 Modern Means of Communication – Issues in Formation 
 The Baby or the Bath water?  
 
The Essence of Seminary Formation:  
The setting up of seminaries for the training of future priests, can be 
traced to the Council of Trent. In its legislation De Seminariis, the Sacred 
Council “…made it obligatory for every Diocese to erect a seminary for 
the purpose of educating the local clergy. Whenever possible, this 
institution was to be built near the cathedral church so that young 
aspirants to the priesthood might serve a sort of apprenticeship there by 
participating, each according his rank, in the divine offices presided by 
the Bishop”3 

Before this decree of the Council, seminary formation had 
always tried to mirror what Jesus did with his disciples, in the three plus 
years they spent with Him. During this period, they learnt from Him, 
before being entrusted with the mission to go into the whole world and 
baptize those who received their teaching about Jesus (Matthew 28:19-
20). It was similar to what Paul did with Timothy, and what continued in 
the early centuries of the Church, leading up to the Patristic era and to 
the Middle Ages. We observe that there was always some form of 
training of future clerics, and this training was not cut off entirely from 
the community where they would serve in the future. There is the 
opinion that “with the breakdown of feudalism and the rise of 
universities, this ancient system of clerical formation became either 
impoverished or generally abandoned. As a result, a large segment of the 
late medieval and pre-Reformation clergy received inadequate training 
and were very often ordained for an office they were not sufficiently 
equipped to exercise”4 

The Council of Trent therefore, concerned with the laxity in 
clerical life and the harm that this was causing the Church, used De 
Seminariis to set the motion for a uniform but high standard for priestly 
formation, imperative on all the Dioceses in the world, so as to 



490 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

checkmate the possibility of unsuitable and poorly prepared candidates 
being ordained as priests.  

This has remained the essence of seminary formation. In the 
words of Optatam Totius, the Second Vatican Council’s decree on Priestly 
Training, …major seminaries are necessary for priestly formation. Here 
the entire training of the students should be oriented to the formation of 
true shepherds of souls after the model of our Lord Jesus Christ, teacher, 
priest and shepherd. They are therefore to be prepared for the ministry 
of the word: that they might understand ever more perfectly the revealed 
word of God; that, meditating on it they might possess it more firmly, 
and that they might express it in words and in example; for the ministry 
of worship and of sanctification: that through their prayers and their 
carrying out of the sacred liturgical celebrations they might perfect the 
work of salvation through the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments; 
for the ministry of the parish: that they might know how to make Christ 
present to men, Him who did not "come to be served but to serve and to 
give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45; cf. John 13:12-17), and 
that, having become the servants of all, they might win over all the more 
(cf. 1 Cor. 9:19). Therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, 
intellectual, disciplinary, are to be ordered with concerted effort towards 
this pastoral end, and to attain it all the administrators and teachers are to 
work zealously and harmoniously together, faithfully obedient to the 
authority of the bishop.5 

The rinovamento brought about by the Second Vatican council, 
was keenly felt in the Seminaries. While what obtained prior to the 
council was not inadequate, the changes the Council advocated in the 
Liturgy and the Pastoral life of the Church, coupled with the stress on 
the dignity of the laity, meant that future priests needed to be trained 
diligently in the demands of the pastoral life. Priests, more than before, 
are to be immersed in the life of their flock, so that they can better direct 
them spiritually. Hence, “…those capabilities are to be developed in the 
students which especially contribute to dialogue with men, such as the 
ability to listen to others and to open their hearts and minds in the spirit 
of charity to the various circumstances and needs of men”6. 

In 1990, we had the 8th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod 
of Bishops, with the theme ‘The Formation of Priests in Circumstances 
of the Present Day’. The Synod has been described as very pastoral in 
tone, and directed towards placing stress on priestly formation and the 
person of the priest himself, before and after ordination7. In the Post-
Synodal Apostolic Exhortation following the Assembly, Pastores Dabo 
Vobis, we read; 

This same synod also sought to answer a request which was 
made at the previous synod on the vocation and mission of 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    491 

 

the laity in the Church and in the world. Lay people 
themselves had asked that priests commit themselves to 
their formation so that they, the laity, could be suitably 
helped to fulfill their role in the ecclesial mission which is 
shared by all. Indeed, "the more the lay apostolate develops, 
the more strongly is perceived the need to have well - 
formed holy priests… The more the laity's own sense of 
vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest 
stands out."8 

It is instructive therefore, in the light of this expressed desire to redefine 
or re-emphasize the identity of the priest, to consider what the Synod 
Fathers considered the essence of Seminary formation. So, after 
reflecting on the challenges to priestly life, the present state of vocations 
in the Church, and the Spiritual life of the Priest, the Synod Fathers then 
reflected on the formation of candidates for the Priesthood.   

…In this sense, the "seminary" in its different forms - and 
analogously the "house" of formation for religious priests - 
more than a place, a material space, should be a spiritual 
place, a way of life, an atmosphere that fosters and ensures a 
process of formation, so that the person who is called to the 
priesthood by God may become, with the sacrament of 
orders, a living image of Jesus Christ, head and shepherd of 
the Church. In their final message the Synod Fathers have 
grasped in a direct and deep way the original and specific 
meaning of the formation of candidates for the priesthood, 
when they say that "To live in the seminary, which is a 
school of the Gospel, means to follow Christ as the apostles 
did. You are led by Christ into the service of God the 
Father and of all people, under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit. Thus you become more like Christ the Good 
Shepherd in order better to serve the Church and the world 
as a priest."9 
Suffice it to say that the same Synod Fathers had already outlined 

what is expected of the Priest. “it is equally certain that the life and 
ministry of the priest must also "adapt to every era and circumstance of 
life.... to be as open as possible to light from on high from the Holy 
Spirit, in order to discover the tendencies of contemporary society, 
recognize the deepest spiritual needs, determine the most important 
concrete tasks and the pastoral methods to adopt, and thus respond 
adequately to human expectations."10 

Other documents that address the theme of Seminary formation, 
have more or less the same idea.11 Seminary formation is basically a 
period when candidates who feel called to the serve in the ministerial 



492 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

priesthood, are accompanied in shaping themselves after the example of 
their Lord Jesus Christ, so as to be able to serve the people of God, for 
whom God bestows the gift of priestly vocations in the first instance.  
 
Communication Formation within Seminary Formation  
The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis identifies 
four major pillars of Seminary formation, viz, Spiritual, Human, 
Intellectual and Pastoral formation. To successfully situate 
communication formation within these pillars, it will be important to 
define communications as a reality.  

Etymologically, communication is directly from the Latin 
comunicationem, which means ‘making common or imparting’.  It can also 
be considered from the past-participle stem of communicare, which means 
‘to share, divide out, impart, inform, join, unite, participate in’.12  
Lexically, communication refers to “a process by which information is 
exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, 
signs and behaviour”.13 In addition, Scholars of communication proffer 
different definitions of the reality. Popular definitions however tend to 
all accept the fact that communication has to do with the sharing of 
meaning through some commonly understood language.  

If we accept this understanding of communication, then we will 
see that it actually cuts across the four pillars of priestly formation of 
Spiritual, Human, Intellectual and Pastoral formation. For instance, as 
regards human formation, it has been said that “formation for the 
priesthood must necessarily provide adequate means to allow for 
maturation in view of an authentic exercise of the priestly ministry. To 
this end, the seminarian is called upon to develop his personality, having 
Christ, the perfect man, as his model and source”14  

For the seminarian to make progress as regards his human 
formation, communication is essential, as “the use of the media and ease 
with the digital world are an integral part of the development of the 
personality of the seminarian, because, using new communication 
technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and 
help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ”15 

The same is true of Spiritual formation. All the tools of spiritual 
formation listed in the Ratio Fundamentalis depend on communication. 
Personal union with Christ through prolonged and personal prayer 
needs a combination of intrapersonal and interpersonal communication 
to be effective. Lectio Divina is based on the printed medium of the 
Sacred Scriptures, just like the Liturgy of the Hours. The Sacrament of 
Penance and Spiritual Direction involve dyadic communication, through 
which the Spiritual Director and the Confessor serve as God’s 
instruments to get the seminarian to open up with sincerity, trust and 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    493 

 

docility. Daily participation in the Eucharist is also a deep 
communicative experience at different levels.  

The fact is that in the real sense, there is no formation without 
communication, as it underlies everything that goes on in the Seminary. 
And even when the concept gets restricted to the tools that facilitate it, 
otherwise known as the means of communication, it still cuts across the 
four pillars, as these means are always being used in the formation 
process.  
 
Modern Means of Social Communication: An Overview 
Traditionally, the study of communication takes into consideration the 
different levels at which people communicate. These are; 
1.  Intrapersonal level, where communication that takes place within a 

person or carried out by a person that he/she does not intend to share 
with others. 

2.  Inter-personal communication, which occurs between two persons, 
and is also known as dyadic communication. 

3.  Small group communication, which refers to communication that 
takes place within a group of persons, with a minimum of three and a 
maximum of twenty. 

4.  Public communication, that is, communication between a person 
and an audience beyond 20 people. 

5.  Mass communication, which is communication involving a person 
or an entity and a usually large and undifferentiated number of 
persons.  

Each level of communication has the possibility of making use of a 
medium to facilitate the communication process. It is such media that 
are referred to as the means of communication. Another way to define 
them sees them as “the various methods of sending information between 
people and places, especially phones, computers, radio, et cetera”16  

Since man became self-aware, and saw the need to reach out to 
others, he has made use of different techniques to do so. The human 
voice for instance, is a very important means of communication, and 
based on this we have language and by extension, writing, as other 
examples of the older means of communication.  

In modern times, and in the light of the available body of 
knowledge on the different levels of communication, it is difficult to 
proffer an exhaustive list of the means of communication currently used 
by persons. However and in no particular order, we can talk of the 
following; voice, books, newspapers, magazines and periodicals, pagers, 
computers, word processors, radio, facsimile machines, telephones, 
smartphones, telegraph, television, and so on17 



494 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

While not exhaustive, the means of communications mentioned 
above cuts across the different great epochs of communication that 
humanity has experienced, viz, the phase of Primary Orality; the age of 
Writing; the period of the Press; the age of the Electric Media; and the 
Digital age.18 Courses on the History of Human Communications use 
these epochs to help students situate the development of 
communications from the earliest men and women till now, 
acknowledging the fact that innovations in successive epochs tend to 
build upon the achievements of preceding ones, rather than obliterate 
them.  

Presently, we are in the digital epoch, the beginning of which we 
can attribute to the invention of the first computer, and the birth of the 
possibility of representing phenomena in numerical form. In this epoch, 
we have witnessed the passage from analogue to digital systems in 
communications; the computerization of the systems of communications 
and the creation of integral multimedia networks, especially in the case 
of the internet. We have also experienced the movement of media 
towards portability, so as to facilitate the accessing of services at any point 
in space, and the passage of the mass media into personal media.19  

It is in this wise that we will consider one of the most significant 
inventions of the digital age; the smartphone. The dictionary defines the 
smartphone as “a mobile phone that can be used as a small computer and 
that connects to the internet”.20 This definition is quite modest. In fact, 
the typical smartphone has advanced computing capabilities, with which 
it can access web pages and browse the web using data networks or Wi-Fi 
support and mobile broadband. It also has the capacity to interact with 
other devices using Bluetooth and near field communication, such that 
information can still be passed across in the absence of internet 
connectivity. The smartphone can view, edit and share different types of 
documents, since it can run applications that enable such. It can 
download different types of files, take photos and record videos, offer 
music playback and view movies, amongst others. It can serve as a radio, 
language translator, store dictionaries and encyclopedia, compass and 
magnifying glass and so on.  

The smartphone can serve as a calendar, a clock, a directory 
containing list of contacts, can download, store and read maps for 
navigational purposes as well as give weather updates. It can assist the 
user carry out financial transactions, keep accounts and make budgets, 
track funds and finances, make travel arrangements, monitor heart rate, 
organize ones activities as well as provide entertainment. It can serve as a 
library where e-books and downloaded content are stored for further 
reference. And with the advent of the ‘internet of things’21 we now have 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    495 

 

users who use their smartphones to secure and operate their homes and 
appliances.  

The smartphone can do all these because it is actually a 
“modernized personal digital assistant (PDA) with wireless connectivity 
compact in design with a high-resolution touch screen, multi-touch 
interface and QWERTY keyboard22. The smartphone is not essential for 
healthy living, but in this digital age, it enhances and makes life easier.  
 
Modern Means of Communication – Possibilities for Formation: 
In his message on the 44th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict 
XVI said  

…priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world 
of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the 
Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of 
communities which increasingly express themselves with 
the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. 
Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by 
employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources, 
which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new 
vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis. Using 
new communication technologies, priests can introduce 
people to the life of the Church and help our 
contemporaries to discover the face of Christ. They will 
best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of 
their formation, how to use these technologies in a 
competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound 
theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly 
spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the 
Lord. Yet priests present in the world of digital 
communications should be less notable for their media 
savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ. 
This will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also 
will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that 
makes up the “Web”. 23 
We have tried to argue earlier, that communication as a reality, 

cuts across the four pillars of priestly formation, and the means of 
communication are already being used in formation. In addition to this, 
it is a truism that “those who begin the Seminary journey are, for the 
most part, already naturally adept and immersed in the digital world and 
its instruments”. 24 Indeed practically every student in the three major 
seminaries of the Old Lagos Ecclesiastical Province for instance, is a 
digital native25 This is why it has been recommended that  



496 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

…social networks should be integrated into the daily life of 
the Seminary community in a particular way (by a use that 
is vigilant, but also serene and positive). They should be 
experienced as places that offer new possibilities from the 
point of view of interpersonal relationships, of encounter 
with others, of engagement with one’s neighbor, of the 
witness of faith. These may all be viewed from the 
perspective of formative growth, which cannot fail to take 
into consideration every place in which relationships are 
formed and in which we find ourselves living. 26 
The modern means of communications offer many possibilities 

for formation. We can consider this especially from two of the pillars of 
formation which we left out earlier, Intellectual and Pastoral.  
Intellectual formation is “aimed at achieving for seminarians a solid 
competence in Philosophy and Theology, along with a more general 
educational preparation, enough to allow them to proclaim the Gospel 
message to the people of our own day in a way that is credible and can be 
understood…”27 

The means of communication will help to open up for the 
individual seminarian, fonts of knowledge that will be otherwise difficult 
to access. The presence of electronic libraries in Nigerian Universities 
and Major Seminaries is testament to the fact there are inadequate 
materials in the physical libraries of these institutions. This fact has been 
lamented for a long time, and if truth be told, as it affects universities, so 
it affects seminaries. The e-library simply makes it possible to gain access 
to materials otherwise impossible to get.  

Going forward, there is the need to progress beyond the idea that 
the presence of an e-library with a certain number of computers in a 
Seminary completely fills this need. This is especially true of Seminaries 
in the Old Lagos Ecclesiastical Province, which each boasts of functional 
and relatively well equipped e-libraries. But can we say that 30 
computers in an e-library are sufficient for over 180 students? Or 50 for 
400 students?  

One of the ways the Seminaries have employed in getting around 
this dearth of computers is the use of computers owned by liturgico-
cultural groups and other associations by the students, in a designated 
area. This helps to lessen the burden, but there is still a long way to go, as 
there remains a significant shortfall in the number of available computers 
vis-à-vis the population of students.  

The academic contemporaries of these young men in formation 
(undergraduate students in universities) do not have the same challenge. 
It is either the universities (mostly private universities) insist on each 
student having a personal computer, to facilitate learning on-line, or the 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    497 

 

students are allowed to use their smart phones for the same purposes that 
the computer does. The fact is that such institutions have made 
advancements in the digitalization of their processes, and any student 
without the relevant accessory to function in that environment is as good 
as being a ‘non’ student. This is because apart from being cut off from 
the academic activities of the school, he/she will end up being grossly 
unprepared for life after the university, in a world where 58.7% of 
persons (or roughly 3 out of every 5 persons) has access to the internet.28 

It is our considered opinion that seminarians in formation 
should be able to take advantage of the available technologies which add 
value to their training. A seminarian with a smartphone, can have access 
to countless materials, books, documents and sources, which may not be 
in the physical library (and if there, not in sufficient quantity for the time 
needed for in-depth study), and which while accessible via the e-library, 
he may also not be able to use it properly due to reasons given above.  

He can use his smartphone to prepare and submit assignments, 
which will be beneficial in three ways; one, it will help lecturers enforce 
deadlines, through platforms that will be time-limited (thus improving 
the discipline of the seminarian); two, it will reduce cost and waste to be 
incurred via printing on paper; and most importantly, it will eliminate 
plagiarism from the seminary system, as such soft copies can easily be 
uploaded to anti-plagiarism software for checks and assessments.  

In addition, the seminarian who is open to formation will be 
assisted to develop a healthy reading habit, in consonance with the best 
traditions of priestly life. This is because, while there appears to be a 
worldwide decline in the number of persons reading books29, there is an 
appreciable increase in the number of hours spent online. This is one of 
the effects of the phase of digitalization that we are in currently, and 
while no one can predict the future as to whether this trend will be 
reversed or it will become more entrenched, there is wisdom in 
preparing the future priest to spend this time online constructively. He 
can be trained to create virtual reading libraries, and challenged to read 
works on-line with his smartphone.  

As regards Pastoral formation, being schooled in the means of 
communication helps the seminarian to understand his flock, who are 
completely immersed in this new world. Increasingly, priests are having 
to carry out pastoral ministry online. This is the reason why Dioceses, 
Parishes, Institutions and even certain individuals have 
webpages/websites, and maintain an online presence, conscious of the 
implications of web 2.0 for such webpages/websites.  

In addition, the presence on social networks and the floating of 
Blogs, Vlogs, YouTube channels and Podcasts, are efforts made to reach 



498 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the people in that space where many of them prefer to be. It is a response 
to the signs of the times, already articulated by Pope Benedict XVI, when 
he stated  
…responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to 
which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using 
new communications technologies. The world of digital communication, 
with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the 
more Saint Paul’s exclamation: “Woe to me if I do not preach the 
Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16) The increased availability of the new technologies 
demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the 
Word, but it also requires them to become become more focused, 
efficient and compelling in their efforts. Priests stand at the threshold of 
a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across 
greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the 
media ever more effectively at the service of the Word. 30 

It is while in the seminary that the future priest will learn how to 
not only use the means of communication in his pastoral ministry, but 
also how to be a shepherd to his flock, who are fully immersed in this 
digital environment. This can be seen as a variant of anticipatory 
socialization31, whereby the future priest learns how to manage the 
pastoral challenges that are associated with the digital age, by assuming 
these roles while in formation, and thus benefits from his experiences.  
 
Modern Means of Communication – Issues in Formation:  
It is instructive that in the same section where it is said that “the Church, 
in virtue of the mandate received from Christ, looks confidently at the 
possibilities offered by the digital world for evangelization…”32, we also 
read the following; “it is necessary to pay prudent attention to the 
inevitable risks that come with frequenting the digital world, including 
various forms of addiction, which can be addressed with suitable spiritual 
and psychological supports”33 

There is need for vigilance in the use of the modern means of 
communication. The digital age and its main facilitator, the internet is 
neither morally ambivalent nor wholly positive. Indeed, “people in 
emerging and developing nations say that the increasing use of the 
internet has been a good influence in the realms of education, personal 
relationships and the economy. But despite all the benefits of these new 
technologies, on balance people are more likely to say that the internet is 
a negative rather than a positive influence on morality…”34 

The seminarian in formation is yet to complete his journey of 
personality integration and configuration to the person of Christ. This 
means that when he has a smartphone in his possession, it could expose 
him to some harm, especially in the following ways; 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    499 

 

1. Illegal downloading of copyrighted materials: As prevalent as this is, 
downloading of copyrighted materials without the permission of the 
owner of the intellectual property is wrong (and in some cases liable 
to prosecution).  

2. Negative Impact on Human Socialization: One of the effects of 
smartphones and by extension, social networks, is that persons now 
interact more via such platforms than face-to-face communication. 
This is impacting negatively on families, religious communities, 
rectories, offices and so on. There is the danger that with the 
smartphone in his possession, the Seminarian will also be guilty of 
this trend.  

3. Disorientation on-line: There are virtually no rules in cyberspace, 
and anyone with the right gadget can post anything online, without 
the rigour of confirming its veracity. This causes confusion that can 
affect the Seminarian, should he frequent misleading websites. 

4. Pornography: The possession of a smartphone will accentuate the 
temptation to view pornography on-line.  

5. Anti-Social Behaviour: One of the features of social networks is the 
increase in harassment, threats, hate speech, and similar illegal, 
immoral or inflammatory behaviour. When the seminarian has a 
smartphone, he may be more prone to carrying out such actions.  

6. Effects of Virtual Reality: Studies have shown that increased 
exposure to the internet increases the risk of internet addiction 
disorder35. In addition, the longer the time spent in the virtual world, 
the less attention that is given to real life issues. These can affect a 
seminarian in possession of a smartphone.  

7. Financial fraud of any sort, et cetera, can be carried out via the 
smartphone with ease.  

These issues can pose real threats to priestly formation, and it is 
understandable that in order to prevent them, many seminaries in 
Nigeria, following the directives of their proprietors, enforce an outright 
ban on the use of personal phones and computers by seminarians in 
formation while in the Seminary. This ban has been in force for quite a few 
years now. But should the presence of such dangers justify the 
continuance of this ban, given the possible benefits that are lost in the 
process?  
 

Conclusion: The Baby or the Bath Water?  
As far the means of communications are concerned, it is fair to say that as 
a Church, we have always displayed an attitude of suspicion, due to fear 
of its negative effects. It suffices to examine the tone of the first few 
magisterial documents on the means of communication to appreciate this 



500 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

point. At the same time, this attitude is not as dominant as it once was, as 
more study of communications as a reality has helped the cultivation of a 
corresponding attitude of critical understanding, in order to make the 
best use of these gifts from God. But the suspicion is yet to fully go away, and 
often exists side by side with efforts to maximize our understanding and 
use of the means of communication, to the extent of even vitiating 
initiatives that promote the latter. But we do not need to throw away the 
baby with the dirty bath water.  

We are of the opinion that it is better to return to the inspiration 
behind the publication of the 1986 Guide in this question of the means of 
communication. The idea of that document was that  
…social communications training … which is specifically pastoral, is to 
be given to all students without distinction during their philosophy and 
theology courses. It has three aims: 
a)  To train those concerned in the correct use of the instruments of 

social communication (and in general, of every technique of 
expression and communication) in their pastoral activities, when 
the circumstances permit it;  

b)  To train them to be masters and guides of others (receivers in 
general, educators, all those who work in the mass media) through 
instruction, catechesis, preaching, etc., and as consultants, 
confessors, spiritual directors; 

c)  Above all, to get them into a state of mind in which they will be 
permanently ready to make the necessary adjustments in their 
pastoral activity, including those demanded by the inculturation 
of the Christian faith and life in the different particular 
churches, in a world psychologically and socially conditioned by 
the mass media and even already by telematics and informatics.36 
Consequently, it will be better on the short and long run, to 

expose seminarians in formation to more means of communications 
rather than less. We are in a situation where the Authorities have to 
consider providing Seminary Formators with the necessary wherewithal 
to be able to effectively mentor and journey with their students, as 
regards proper, responsible use of the means of communication, 
especially the smartphone. It will not be easy to correct them when they 
misuse the smartphone or personal computers, if these are not 
mainstreamed into the regular seminary curriculum. At any rate, that 
seminarians do not have smartphones in the seminary does not mean that 
they do not have smartphones outside the seminary, which they use 
during vacation. Is that period not part of their formation for the 
priesthood?  

Similarly, and in the light of what has been said above, there is 
the need to have experts in Communications Science among the 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    501 

 

seminary staff, who will be responsible for teaching communication 
courses that span through the entire duration of the formation of the 
future priest. What we now have in the seminaries under consideration 
in this paper, are seminar courses on aspects of Communications located 
either at the final year of the formation program, or carried out during 
inter-semester breaks. These are better than nothing, but still far from 
the desired point, if the 1986 Guide is taken into proper consideration. 
The presence of such an expert will reasonably guarantee that the 
Seminarians understand from the outset, how they are to use the means 
of communications, and transform them from possible distractions to 
critical aids to their integral formation, and future priestly life.  

Additionally, we humbly state that there is a flaw in the 
reasoning that the ban on smartphone usage in the Seminary helps the 
candidate avoid the dangers associated with it. It only postpones the 
proverbial evil day, as instead of making ‘low profile’ errors, while in 
formation, with the possibility of correction, we will expose ourselves to 
the possibility of high profile ‘gaffes’ being committed by the same 
person, with the difference being that he is now a priest, and 
unfortunately, may not be as eager to accept that sort of correction. And 
as for teaching the lay faithful how best to use the means of 
communication, it will be a case of nemo dat quod non habet37.  

Therefore, in the question of Seminary Formation and Modern 
Means of Communications, the possibilities in permitting full exposure 
to these communication tools significantly outweigh whatever benefits 
that would come from shielding those in formation from these tools, in 
the light of the present digital epoch.    

 
 
Endnote 
                                                      
1 Congregation for Catholic Education, (1986) Guide To The Training Of Future 

Priests Concerning The Instruments Of Social Communication, Presentation, 

accessed from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/docu 

ments/rc_pc_pccs_doc_19031986_guide-for-future-priests_en.html (Retrieved 

March 05, 2020) 
2 Ibid, No 4 
3 "Seminary Education ." New Catholic Encyclopedia . (Retrieved March 04, 2020 

from Encyclopedia.com) 
4 Ibid 
5 Decree on Priestly Training Optatam Totius, (October 28, 1965) in Flannery, A. (ed) 

(1995). Vatican Council II: The Concilliar and Post Concilliar Documents, Bombay, St. 

Pauls’ No.4 
6 Ibid,  N.19  



502 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

                                                                                                                         
7 See http://www.synod.va/content/synod/en/synodal_assemblies/1990-eighth-

ordinary-general-assembly--the-formation-of-priests-.html 
8 John Paul II, Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, (March 15, 

1992) No 3. Retrieved March 05, 2020 from www.vatican.va.  
9 Ibid, No. 42 
10 Ibid, No. 5 
11 For instance, the revised Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, authored by 

the Congregation for the Clergy, (No. 35) we read “Priests, who are configured to Christ, 

Head and Shepherd, Servant and Spouse, participate in His one priesthood and saving 

mission as co-workers with the Bishops. In this way they are visible signs of the merciful 

love of the Father in the Church and in the world. These characteristics of the person of 

Christ help us to understand better the ministerial priesthood in the Church. Under the 

guidance of the Holy Spirit, they inspire and guide the formation of seminarians so that 

they can be conformed to Christ by their immersion in the mystery of the Trinity”  
12 See https://www.etymonline.com/word/communication (Retrieved February 24, 

2020).  
13 Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Communication. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. 

(Retrieved March 06, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ 

communication) 
14 Congregation for the Clergy (2016) The Gift of the Priestly Vocation Ratio 

Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, Vatican City, L’Osservatore Romano, No 93.  
15 Ibid, No. 97 
16 Cambridge. (n.d). Communication. In Dictionary.Cambridge.org. (Retrieved March 

03, 2020 from  

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication).  
17 We have deliberated left out the internet or the worldwide web, from this list of 

the means of communication, because of its unique characteristics. In the words of 

M. A. Dennis & R. Kahn, the internet is “a system architecture that has 

revolutionized communications and methods of commerce by allowing 

various computer networks around the world to interconnect. Sometimes referred 

to as a “network of networks,” …the Internet provides a capability so powerful and 

general that it can be used for almost any purpose that depends on information, 

and it is accessible by every individual who connects to one of 

its constituent networks”. See Brittannica.com 
18 For a detailed treatment of these different epochs, see Gronowski, Dariusz (2007) 

Teoria Generale Della Comunicazione, Roma, EDUSC, (Dispense per uso degli 

studenti) pp 89-126.  
19 Gronowski, Ibid, p. 121  
20 Cambridge. (n.d). Smartphone. In Dictionary.Cambridge.org. (Retrieved March 04, 

2020 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication). 
21 The internet of things is a proposed development of the internet in which many 

everyday objects are embedded with microchips giving them network connectivity, 

allowing them to send and receive data. See "internet, n.". OED Online. March 2020. 

Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/248411 

(Retrieved March 06, 2020).  



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    503 

 

                                                                                                                         
22 Lenovo. What is a Smartphone. (Retrieved 2020, Feb 24 from https://www.len 

ovo.com/gb/en/faqs/pc-life-faqs/what-is-a-smartphone/) 
23 Benedict XVI, “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at 

the Service of the Word” message on the 44th World Day of Communications, 24 

January, 2010, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedictxvi/en/messages/communicati 

ons/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20100124_44th-world-communications-day.html 

(Retrieved February 27, 2020)  (emphasis mine).  
24 Congregation for the Clergy, ibid, No. 99 
25 Digital Native is a term used to describe a person who has grown up in 

the digital age, and is used to digital systems as a result. It is used to contrast 

Digital Immigrants, who had to acquire familiarity with digital systems as an adult.   
26 Congregation for the Clergy, ibid, No. 100 
27 Ibid, No. 116 
28 According to available statistics, the world population as at December 2019 was 

estimated at 7,796,615,710, with 4,574,150,134 having access to the internet. 

https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm   (Retrieved March 02, 2020).  
29 This has been the subjects of many academic papers and newspaper articles, but 

we will just refer the reader to one; Twenge, J. M., Martin, G. N., & Spitzberg, B. H. 

(2019). Trends in U.S. Adolescents’ media use, 1976–2016: The rise of digital media, 

the decline of TV, and the (near) demise of print. Psychology of Popular Media 

Culture, 8(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000203 
30 Pope Benedict XVI, Ibid. 
31 Anticipatory Socialization “involves the informal adoption of norms or behaviour 

appropriate to a status not yet achieved by the individuals concerned, so providing 

them with experience of a role they have yet to assume. For example, children may 

anticipate parenthood by observing their parents as role models, and the careerist 

may anticipate promotion by emulating the occupational behaviour of his or her 

superiors”. (See "anticipatory socialization." A Dictionary of Sociology. . (Retrieved 

March 05, 2020 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-

sciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/anticipatory-

socialization) 
32 Congregation for the Clergy, ibid, No. 98 
33 Ibid, No. 99 
34 See https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/03/19 (Retrieved March 06, 2020) 
35 Internet Addiction Disorder has been defined as “a maladaptive patter of internet 

use, characterized by psychological dependence, withdrawal symptoms when 

offline for prolonged periods, loss of control, compulsive behavior, and clinically 

significant impairment of normal social interactions or distress” (See Internet 

addiction. (n.d.) Segen's Medical Dictionary. (2011). Retrieved March 6 2020 

from https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Internet+addiction) 
36 Congregation for Catholic Education, ibid, No. 30 
37 This Latin saying means “You cannot give what you do not have”.  

https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/norm#1O88norm
https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/computers-and-electrical-engineering/computers-and-computing/status#1O88status
https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/role#1O88role


504 

37 

WOMEN IN YORUBA RELIGION AND 

CULTURE 
 

Prof. Ikechukwu Anthony, KANU (OSA) 
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies 

Tansian University, Umunya 
Anambra State 

ikee_mario@yahoo.com 
& 

Immaculata Olu, OMOJOLA, (SSMA), Ph.D 
Department of Business Administration and Management 

Villanova Polytechnic 
Imesi Ile 

Osun State 
omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk 

& 
Mike Boni BAZZA, Ph.D 

Department of History and International Relations 
Veritas University Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria) 

danbazza68@gmail.com 
 

Abstract  
This paper discusses the place of women in Yoruba Culture and 
Religion. It first established the fact that Yoruba culture and religion are 
strictly related. While culture expresses religion, religion is part and 
parcel of Yoruba culture, and these two elements occupy a valuable place 
in the life of the Yoruba. It observed that the Yoruba value motherhood 
even as polygamy was common, targeted at having more children, 
specifically, male children because of inheritance. The women were 
indispensable partners of the men folk; it was the women that managed 
the home and made Yoruba valued festivities a huge success. They were 
not just partners in relation to the men, they assumed leadership offices 
like the Iya Laje.  This paper also discovered that women were the 
sustaining force of Yoruba Religion. Women did not only participate but 
played leadership roles, especially as concerns rituals.  In several cults for 
instance, women were priestesses like, Ìyá Ọ̀ṣun, Ìyá Ògún, and Ìyá 
Ṣàngó. They were also readily accessible to feed the gods and take care of 

mailto:ikee_mario@yahoo.com
mailto:omojolassma@yahoo.co.uk
mailto:danbazza68@gmail.com


Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    505 

 

shrines. This paper discovered that women were not only well involved 
in the Yoruba life, culture and religion, they were indispensable. For the 
purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would 
be employed.  
 
Key words: Women, Yoruba, Religion, Culture, Motherhood, Iya Laje, 
Priestesses 
 
Introduction  
This paper discusses Women in Yoruba Culture and Religion especially 
in the precolonial period. Yoruba people according to Atanda (1989) 
constitute one of the major ethnic groups in modern Nigeria and they 
effectively occupy the whole of Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos State and a 
substantial part of Kwara State. A considerable number of Yoruba people 
also inhabit the South- Eastern part of Republic of Benin (formal 
Dahomey). As a group, they have distinguished themselves in their belief 
and traditions. The Yoruba deities are called Orishas and the oral 
traditions have it that they have more than 420 Deities that are worshiped 
differently without clashes with rituals, music, dances, and prediction 
practices from their priests and priestesses. Yorubas believe that when 
they die, they go to the realm of ancestors where they can still have 
influence on events taking place on earth. They believe in re-incarnation. 
Hence there is a link between the living and the dead. God Almighty to 
them is called Olọ́run.   

Most of the Yoruba people take part in farm work. The men 
grow foods such as corn, yams, cocoyams, nuts, and cocoa. Men are also 
often traders and craftsmen as well. Women do less work on the farms, 
but are important traders as they market their husbands’ farm produce. 
Their rank traditionally depends on that of their husbands. Therefore 
wives of kings, chiefs and Ifa priests were honoured more than those that 
were married to ordinary members of the community.  Some of Yoruba 
values are respect for elders- growing up has benefits. They also value 
honesty, collective community development, cultural observes reflecting 
in their interaction with others- mode of dressing and diets. They also 
value humility and perseverance. And more importantly, they value 
communal life. All these are inculcated in their informal training 
originally called home training.   

Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) summarize Yoruba values as 
follows: “Good virtues can also be learned through proverbs (òwe), Ifá 
corpus (odù), and some mythical stories and parables. Generosity, 
hospitality, and kindness are interconnected and closely related. The 
Yorùbá expect that a person who possesses a virtuous moral character, 



506 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

such as kindness, ought to be generous and hospitable. All virtues are 
intrinsically connected with and relevant to individual and communal 
peace. When these qualities are in abundance, the Yorùbá consider the 
society to have abundant life.” 

Yoruba culture and religion are closely related. While culture 
expresses religion, religion itself is part and parcel of Yoruba culture. 
This is simply their ways of life as well as their belief. Any effort to 
separate culture and religion among the Yoruba will   surely be 
ineffective. According to Olajubu (2008), “the traditional cultural and 
religious practices of the Yoruba people are closely intertwined. In 
traditional Yoruba religion, women are its majority membership and 
sustaining force. Consequently, women play leadership roles in Yoruba 
religion, especially as concerns rituals.” The researcher witnessed in 
some villages in Yoruba land, while women would carry sacrifices in 
afternoon to ensure safety in the environment. At times, they may be two 
or three women doing this at the same time with total enthusiasm and 
seriousness.    

Yoruba believe that women apart from being complementary, 
they are representation of peace and harmony.  Hence the common wish 
and prayer at the beginning of a New Year “ọ́dún á ya’bo fún wa o” (This 
year will bring us all that the female principle stands for). This prayer is a 
representation of the people’s conception of female (abo) and male (akọ). 
A “female year” in this context is a blissful and pleasurable year. Since 
Yoruba belief that symbols of calmness and peace (ẹ̀rọ ̀) represent female 
principles, whereas toughness represents male principles. 

Another important fact about Yoruba women down the ages is 
their trust in motherhood. Motherhood is cherished beyond any other 
thing. Despite the fact that polygamy was common in the indigenous 
Yoruba culture, having children was as good as living or being alive. To 
this, Ilesanmi (2013) opines that “among the Yoruba people, motherhood 
transcends biological readiness” Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) explain this 
concept better in these words “a woman must bear children; 
motherhood is highly valued by the Yorùbá people. A proverb states 
ọlọ́mọ ló l’ọkọ (the one who bears children is the owner of the 
husband).”  Many a time they say olomo lo l’aye (the one who bears 
children owns the world). Therefore, you have names like Omojola (A 
child is greater than wealth), Omoyajowo (A child is preferred to 
wealth), Omoleye (Children are honorable), Omolabake (A child is to be 
pampered), Omobanji (A child awoke with me), Omolade (A child is a 
crown), Omoniosinmi (A child will bury me),  Omolere (A child is a 
reward), Omolaso (A child covers nakedness), Omolara (A child is 
family), Omolayo (A child is joy) in Yoruba culture to drive home the 
fact that children are better than any other thing in life. A mother then 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    507 

 

will stay in her marriage through tick and tin because children are 
involved and many a time it becomes the only reason why they have to 
persevere.  In the midst of chaos, they remove their children first and any 
other thing can perish.   

Akíntúndé and Fálọlá  conclude by saying that  “ a barren woman 
does everything humanly even spiritually possible to have a child, which 
may result in the children of cowives becoming possible targets of attack 
from a barren woman or other enemies.” As they struggle to become 
mothers, the desire to have male children is another important issue. 
Male children are highly valued than female children because of 
inheritance as Ilesanmi (2013) consents therefore, “the heir receives 
much honour but a female child cannot be a heir in Yoruba land.” Along 
with this struggle, they still participate actively in the affairs of the society 
and in religion by taking leadership positions by becoming regents, 
priestesses and even Deities.  
 
Women in Yoruba Culture and Religion 
Women in Yoruba Culture: The culture of Yoruba people reflects in 
their trades and professions, music, dressing, choices of meals or diets, 
celebration of the living and the dead, togetherness, arts and festivals, 
folktales, proverbs, myths and symbols. This culture is also their religion 
and Idowu (1966) asserts to this by saying that “the religion of the 
Yoruba permeates their lives so much that it expresses itself in 
multifarious ways. It forms the themes of songs, makes topics for 
minstrelsy, finds vehicles in myths, folktales, proverbs and sayings, and is 
the basis of philosophy.”    

Yoruba women were always available to take care of their homes 
and children even the extended families. They were useful domestically, 
such as catering, tailoring, and housekeeping. They were helping their 
husbands in farm work as very popular in the traditional Yoruba culture. 
They always break into age groups for support and encouragements 
through regular meetings and connections. Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) 
in their contributions are of the opinion that the precolonial Yorùbá 
woman’s active participation in economic activities allowed for 
accumulation of wealth, through which she accessed sociopolitical space. 
Prominent examples of women who achieved socio-economic power 
and subsequently wielded great political influence in their societies and 
environs include Ẹfúnṣetán Aníwúrà, the Ìyálóde (woman leader) of 
Ìbàdàn and Mọ́gàjí of her lineage, and Madam Ẹfúnróyè Tinúbú, the first 
Ìyálóde of Ẹ̀gbáland. Other women became adelé ọba (regents) to fill 
leadership vacuums in their communities, and some became the ọba of 
their communities, such as in old Oǹdó kingdom. 



508 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

In the culture, Yoruba women were part and parcel of war even 
though men were always at the war front. Ilesanmi (2013) asserts that, 
“while men rely on brute force and medicinal power in fighting wars, 
women rely on psychological and the cult knowledge which are by far 
superior to those of brute force and medicinal aid.” They have a 
particular role to play in all the events of the traditional life be it related 
to peace or to war. In the mind of Ilesanmi (2013) as well, “women most 
of the time were responsible for the happenings of the environment as he 
identifies them as a group that “can cause war, act as instrument of war, 
act in avoidance of war and their role in the formulation of peace treaty.” 
A good example is the story of Moremi, who sacrificed her son 
Oluorogbo to a goddess for her people to have peace. 
 
Women in Yoruba Religion: Yoruba people stand out in their religious 
practices.  They belief in God and in other gods that are closer to them 
and they carve images of them in their shrines. In relation to this, 
Johnson (1921) affirms that “Yoruba people believe in the existence of 
the ALMIGHTY GOD, him they term Olorun- Lord of heaven. They 
acknowledge Him, maker of heaven and earth, but too exalted to 
concern Himself with men and their affairs, hence they admit the 
existence of other gods as intermediaries and these they term Orisas.” He 
went further to explain Yoruba belief by adding that they also belief in 
the future state, therefore the worship of the dead, and invocation of the 
spirits and in the “doctrine of metempsychosis, transmigration of souls, 
hence they affirm that after a period of time, deceased parents are born 
again into the family of their surviving children.” Women are the 
majority when it comes to practicing traditional religion. However, 
Idowu (1966) is of the opinion that Yoruba people are “religious in all 
things.” He states further that “Religion forms the foundation and all-
governing principle of life for them. …the full responsibility of all the 
affairs belongs to the Deity…through all its changing scenes, its joys and 
troubles; it is the Deity who is in control” Women were very much 
ensnared into this religious practices that apart from the time of worship, 
they make their religious practices part of their daily activities. Idowu 
(1966) opines that “usually, women are more religious ones who are 
more frequently caught in this practice by wayside shrines, sacred trees, 
sacred brooks, at cross-roads, or at any other places marked with some 
sacred signs, asking for a blessing on their journey, their work, their 
wares, their family or their private undertakings”.  

As we pay attention to the role of women in Yoruba culture, 
some of them became Deities with specific responsibilities like their 
male counterparts like: Ajé - orisha of wealth, Ayao - orisha of air, Yewa - 
orisha of the river Yewa. Of the maternity and of the children, Nàná 



Section III: Religious/Socio-Cultural Perspectives And Human Formation    509 

 

Bùkùú - orisha of the river and of the earth, Ọbà - first wife of Ṣàngó and 
orisha of domesticity and marriage, Ọtìn - orisha of river, she is hunter 
and wife of Erinlẹ̀, Olókun - orisha of the seas, Ọ̀ṣun - orisha who 
presides over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth, diplomacy and of the Ọ̀ṣun 
river, Ọya - orisha of the Niger River; associated with wind, lightning, 
fertility, fire, and magic, Yemọja - a mother goddess; patron deity of 
women and of the Ogun river and finally Yemowo - wife of Ọbàtálá and 
of the water.  

Each òrìṣà has its shrine and favorite sacrificial offerings, and its 
followers observe a distinctive set of food taboos. Women were readily 
available at these shrines to feed the gods and clean the shrines. They 
equally make provisions for food during festivities. To their followers, 
the òrìṣà bring the benefits of health, wealth, and children, but they 
punish negligence, offences, and the breaking of taboos. Various 
worshippers enjoy the support of the ruler (ọba) and some of the 
worshippers visit the palace to greet him and impart on him the blessings 
of the òrìṣà on their feast days.   

In line with this, Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) arrive at a 
beautiful description on the role of women in Yoruba religion. “Women 
play key roles in religious ceremonies as priestesses and prophetesses. 
Some important deities are female. For instance, several cults, including 
Ọ̀ṣun, Ògún, and Ṣàngó, have women priestesses who are known as Ìyá 
Ọ̀ṣun, Ìyá Ògún, and Ìyá Ṣàngó, respectively.”  They went further to 
explain that Yorùbá women in precolonial period were admitted into 
sacred knowledge (awo). As initiates, such women could participate as 
leaders in high religious ritual practices from which uninitiated men and 
women were excluded. The admission of women into sacred knowledge 
translated into religious powers for those women. They went on to serve 
as diviners (Ìyánífá). 

Yoruba women have mystical powers as they appear week 
physically; some of them have more than they carry outside.  “Yoruba 
people also believe that some women have extrasensory, celestial powers. 
Some of these powers are intended for destruction, and these women are 
referred to as ìyá ayé (women of the world). Women were often regarded 
as atúnnidá, or women who have the ability to affect one’s destiny and 
possibly change such an individual. Akíntúndé and Fálọlá (2016) 

They were the brains behind most of the happenings in cults. 
Ilesanmi (2013) says emphatically that “there is no Yoruba native cult 
without women as its backbone” and always women were deprived to see 
or witness these happenings hence the saying; Obinrin o kii wo oro which 
means that women must not witness the happening within the cults. And 
to this, Ilesanmi says, “It is women who ban other women from seeing 



510 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

the cults.” Apart from women this, “the most powerful women’s cult is 
witches cult” Ilesanmi (2013).  He explained further that men fear them 
most because they decide who should be king and put a mark on him 
from birth. Also, women cults controls men as vanguards; they can make 
men suffer indescribable pains and yet pretend that they knew nothing 
about the genesis of the suffering and they give full support to the one 
they love.     
 
Conclusion 
The participation of women in Yoruba culture and Religion are not 
prominent today like in the traditional culture. Colonization and 
civilization has really influenced these practices. Today, Christianity and 
Islamic religions are becoming popular and women are not taking active 
participation in them. It appears to be men religion. For example, 
women are no longer participating in rituals; they are not even 
recognized in worship. Although in some cases they still take care of the 
places of worship as cleaners but not as prophetesses and priestesses 
except in some white garment churches. Women are still the majority in 
places of worship, at Prayer Mountains and attending vigils, asking for 
blessings on their journey, their work, their business, their family or 
their private happenings. Nonetheless, they are in the minority in the 
political and economic structures of the society. Yoruba women today 
struggle alone in this individualistic society. Thanks to colonial masters 
who brought civilization in its positive parts but this has really destroyed 
Yoruba values and women participation in their culture and Religion.  
 
References 
Akíntúndé A and Fálọlá T. (Eds) (2016).  Encyclopedia of the Yoruba.  Bloomington, 

IN. Indiana University Press. Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. 

www.questia.com 

Atanda J. A. (1980). An Introduction to Yoruba History.  Ibadan. The Caxton Press. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yoruba_deities 

Idowu E.B. (1966). Olodumare: God in Yoruba Culture. London and Beccles. William 

Clowes and Sons Ltd. 

Ilesanmi T.M (2013). Obinrin: A cultural Assessment of Yoruba Women. Nigeria, 

astra-J. Multimedia Nig.Ltd. 

Johnson S. (1921). The history of the Yorubas. Lagos. CCS Bookshops Ltd. 

 Olajubu O. (2008). A Socio-Cultural Analysis of Yoruba Women and the Re-

imagining of Christianity. Research Article. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 

0966735008091401 

 



511 

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FORMATION 

OF THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE 21ST CENTURY 

COMMUNIQUE 

1. Preamble 
The Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele, Ekpoma, Edo state in celebrating 
Twenty Five years of existence as a sacred institution for the 
formation of future priests for the Church convoked an 
international conference, the second of its very kind to mark this 
landmark. The conference was held at the seminary compound from 
the 18th to 21st of March, 2020 on the theme: Formation of the 
Human person in the 21st Century, and the following points were 
arrived at. 

The 21st Century is complex, sophisticated, global and amazingly 
interconnected. It is a world that questions: it is curious and 
challenges even age long traditional institutions, structures and 
beliefs. There seem to be an unrelenting battle by many forces, for 
the soul and heart of the 21st century world. The Human person as 
well as the whole formation process are although evolving, but in at a 
slow pace, hence there is a need for a synergy between the four 
aspects of formation; spiritual, pastoral, human, and intellectual as it 
pertains to the human person living and existing in the 21st Century. 
It is pertinent to review and evaluate the processes and overall mode 
of priestly formation in this century in face of global and local 
realities that have become part of the society in the 21st Century. 
 

2. Attractions 
The business of the Seminary is to form Catholic men for the 
ministerial priesthood. The task of Seminary formators is to ensure 
that candidates were thoroughly grounded in theological truths and 
priestly spirituality with clear expectations in terms of doctrinal 
orthodoxy, liturgical celebration, pastoral ministry and priestly 
spirituality with an eye to the vicissitudes and vagaries of the time 
and place. The preoccupation of the Formators in Seminary is how 
to form the seminarians for optimum efficiency and pastoral 
effectiveness as priests. The zealous and dedicated Formators, 
therefore, are constantly in search of enhanced and up to date 
methods and techniques to carry out this duties satisfactorily. 



512 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

While formation of the Catholic Priests has the same objective, the 
context, time and methods for doing it have continued to change. 
The maximization of the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity 
would enhance the updated functionality and utility of the collective 
efforts of both the Proprietors and the Formators at the priestly 
formation in our time. 
 

3. Dangers 
Not to take note of the constant change about formation and take 
advantage of the new methods and techniques that  soothes the 
present time would cause injury to the integrity, comprehensive and 
the updated functionality of other the Seminary as an institution and 
Formators as conscientious labourers in it. 
Formators should guide against the “i no go do for my pikin, because 
my papa no do for me” syndrome, this mentality only leads to 
retrogression 
Formators are also to watch out so as not to project and prescribe 
their personal spirituality as the norm for everybody. No general 
principles and objectives are approachable from various and different 
angles. 
 

4. Challenges 
The family is the first place for the formation of the human person, 
It is within the context of a healthy family that a healthy priestly or 
religious vocation is been nurtured. However, some of the deadly 
traits we notice in some seminarians are defects resulting from family 
set-up or societal backgrounds: Aversion for Truth telling; 
irresponsible life style; lack of commitment; sexual immaturity and 
abuses, mistrust of authority and disconnection from and discontent 
with the teaching, directive or spirituality of the Church 
The discernment of motive can some as well as the spiritual, moral, 
and intellectual adequacy can some time prove to be an herculean 
task. 
 

5. Response 
The Church in Nigeria needs priests, who know what they are 
doing, who can defend the faith. We need priests who can manage 
their emotions and sexuality. We need priests who are not ruled by 
anger, bitterness, or malice. We need priests who are not always on 
their "high-horses’. We need priests who can relate with confidence 
and charity towards all men, Christians, Muslims, and Traditionalists 
alike. We need good, happy, efficient, holy, loyal, hardworking, and 
compassionate priests. We need priests like Christ. This is the task of 



Communique of the Conference     513 

 

the Seminary at this time in Nigeria, it is a great task but it is not 
impossible. All of us must do our part by giving our best to Christ 
and his Church We must pay more attention to every aspect of 
human formation, because the times are changing, demands are 
higher, and the stake is grave. 
 

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 
Most Rev Dr. Adesina Francis, Bishop of Ijebu-Ode 
Most Rev Dr Michael Odogwu Elue, Bishop of Issele- Uku 
Diocese, Nigeria 
Abiona Lawrence Adekunle, Department Of Religions, University Of 
Ilorin, Ilorin. 
Ajibolade Clement, Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele- Ekpoma. 
Amuluche-Greg. Nnamani, Ph.D St. Peter’s Chaplaincy, University 
of Nigeria, Nsukka. 
Anselm Ekhelar, Ph. D, Rector, St. Albert the Great Major Seminary, 
Idowu-Offonran, Ogun State. 
Anselm K. Jimoh Ph.D. Associate Professor/Head of Department of 
Philosophy, Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Major Seminary Bodija, Ibadan. 
Anthony Ifechukwude Akalue, Department of Philosophy, Seminary 
of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
Anthony O. Igbekele, Ph.D, Department of Theology, Ss. Peter and 
Paul Major Seminary, Bodija Ibadan. 
Aso Williams Olorunfemi Ph.D, Seminary of All Saints Uhiele-
Ekpoma Edo State. 
Benedict Egbuchunam, Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele- Ekpoma. 
Chikodi Josiah Wachukwu, Ph.D, Rivers State University, Npkolu, 
Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt. 
Chris. A. Obi, Ph.D, Department Of Religious Management and 
Cultural Studies, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State 
Cyril Osilama Adamu Ph.D, College of Education, Ekiadolor, Benin 
City. 
Edema, Philip Ph.D., Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies 
Augustine University, Ilara-Epe, Lagos. 
Edwin N. Omorogbe Ph.D, Parish Priest, St. Paul Catholic Church, 
Benin City, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of 
Benin, Benin City. 
Egielewa, Peter Eshioke, Ph.D, Department of Mass Communication, 
Edo University Iyamho, Edo State. 
Elvis Imafidon, Ph.D, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, 
Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. 



514 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

Emmanuel I. Ukpebor, Department of Religious Management and 
Cultural Studies, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria. 
Emmanuel Ogundele Ph.D, Department of Philosophy and Religious 
Studies Augustine University, Ilara-Epe, Lagos. 
Fabidun Fancis, St. Albert the Great Seminary, Offonran, Abeokuta. 
Felix Ehimare Enegho, Professor of Church History and Mission 
Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba 
Francis Adelabu, Ph.D, Saints Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija 
Francis Eshemomoh Ikhianosime, Department of Philosophy, 
Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
Gregory Ebalu Ogbenika, Ph.D, Head, Department of Philosophy, 
Seminary of All Saints,Uhiele - Ekpoma, Edo State. 
Hilary Oseabulu Odenore, Ph.D, Diocesan Chancery, Catholic 
Diocese of Uromi. 
Idahosa Amadasu, Ph.D, Seminary Of All Saints, Uhiele, Ekpoma. 
John Segun Odeyemi, Ph.D, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh (Via 
Skype) 
Korie Praiz, Catholic Diocese of Uromi. 
Mark Omorovie Ikeke, Ph. D, Department of Religious Studies and 
Philosophy Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State.  
Michael Odubela, Oblates of St. Joseph, General House, Rome, Italy 
Michael Olawuyi Olawuni, St. Mary’s College, Carlifornia (via 
Skype). 
Michael Sola Omojola, STD, Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
Mike Boni Bazza, Ph.D, Department of History and International 
Relations, Veritas University Abuja, the Catholic University of Nigeria 
Ntui Victor Ntui, Ph.D, Department of Philosophy St Joseph Major 
Seminary, Ikot Ekpene,Akwa Ibom State. 
Olumuyiwa Anthony Omodunbi, STL, Catholic Diocese of Osogbo. 
Omojola Immaculata Olu, (SSMA), Ph.D, Department of Business 
Administration and Management, Villanova Polytechnic, Imesi Ile, Osun 
State  
Osawaru, Osamede Christopher, Department of Philosophy, 
University of Benin, Benin-City, Edo State, Nigeria. 
Paul Ọlátúbọ̀sún Àdajà, (Ph.D in view), Department of Theology, 
Loyola University Chicago (via Skype). 
Peter Egbe, Ph.D, St. Albert the Great Major Seminary, Abeokuta, 
Ogun State. 
Peter Wojuaye, Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
Prof. Agatha Eguavoen, Department of Sociology, Ambrose Alli 
University, Ekpoma, Edo State. 



Communique of the Conference     515 

 

Prof. Isaac E. Ukpokolo, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, 
University of Ibadan 
Prof. John Afiagbokai Onimhawo, Department of Religious 
Management and Cultural Studies, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. 
Edo State, Nigeria. 
Prof. Kanu, Ikechukwu Anthony (OSA), Department of Philosophy 
and Religious Studies Tansian University, Umunya, Anambra State  
Prof. Michael Ogunu, Past Supreme Chancellor of the Knights of St. 
Mulumba Nigeria and President of the Executive Board of the World 
Apostolate of Fatima in Africa. 
Rex Osajie, STL, MTH Department of Theology, Seminary of All 
Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
Samson Imhagbe, Ph.D, Department of Education, Ambrose Alli 
Universtity, Ekpoma. 
Stan-William O. Ede, Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, Rome -   (via 
Skype). 
Sylvester Idemudia Odia, Ph.D, Head, Department of Philosophy, 
University of Benin, Benin City. 
Vincent Ojo, Ph.D, Head, Department of Theology, Seminary of All 
Saints, Uhiele-Ekpoma. 
 

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 
 

1. Abang Emmanuel Bankong 
2. Abang, Joseph Kejie-Osowo. 
3. Abienekpen, Sylvester 

Ekeomonkhemen 
4. Abiona Lawrence Adekunle 
5. Abu Moses Joseph  
6. Abu, Jonathan Oshione 
7. Abumere, Benedict 

Iriagbonmenoise 
8. Adebayo, Anthony Oluwafemi 
9. Adebisi Emmanuel Kayode 
10. Adefolaju, Michael Adebayo 
11. Aderoh, Bernard Oshozemede 
12. Adesanya, Martin Adebayo 
13. Adewebi, Vincent Olamigoke 
14. Adeyera, Anthony Toluwalase 
15. Adio Augustine 
16. Afolabi, Philip Kayode 
17. Afuwape Augustine Adebayo 
18. Agbokutaye Alexander Kessiena 
19. Ageh, Ephraim Osaoghene 

20. Agor, Solomon Chinonso 
21. Aguocha, Nnamdi Benjamin 
22. Aidoyin, Kennedy Odion 
23. Aigbekaen, Ignatius Osaigbovo 
24. Aigbuduokjhai, Paul Omogbai 
25. Aitimon, Raymond Omodiagbe 
26. Ajani, Richard Oreoluwa 
27. Ajewole, Patrick Akinjide 
28. Ajibolade, Clement Omosola 
29. Akhere, Kingsley Ehimhenmen 
30. Akhuetie Rapheal Destiny               
31. Aleoghena Mordecai Okumeode 
32. Alfred, Anthony Oghenega 
33. Aliu Gabriel  
34. Alphonsus, John Ifeanyi 
35. Amadi, Eric Chukwuemeka 
36. Amedu, Paulinus 
37. Amuluche-Greg. Nnamani 
38. Anaweokhai, Kennedy 
39. Aniebue Boniface Chukwudi 
40. Anim, Endurance Chukwuemeke 



516 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

41. Anselm Ekhelar 
42. Anselm K. Jimoh 
43. Anthony Ifechukwude Akalue 
44. Anthony O. Igbekele 
45. Arinze Polycarp 
46. Aso Williams Olorunfemi 
47. Ataagbe, Collins Michael 
48. Atenyo Christopher Aghoghene 
49. Awojobi Anthony Ayodeji 
50. Ayabowei Joseph Oyindouye 
51. Ayangbemi, Lawrence Kehinde 
52. Azubuike, Anthony Uchechukwu 
53. Benedict Egbuchunam 
54. Binite, Augustine Oriawafo 
55. Chikodi Josiah Wachukwu 
56. Chris. A. Obi  
57. Chukwu, Victor Ogenna 
58. Chukwuma, Paschal Chukwuma 
59. Chukwunyere Richard Wabugwu 
60. Chukwurah, Peter Izuchukwu 
61. Clement, Emmanuel Ojo 
62. Cyril Osilama Adamu  
63. Danladi, Paul Amos 
64. December, Andrew Ogheneosun 
65. Deile Peter  
66. Douye Stephen Onoriode 
67. Ebiwarebo Evans Samuel 
68. Ebor Samuel Osimeoagwe 
69. Edema, Philip 
70. Ediale, Andrew Osaremen 
71. Edosomah, Edgar Chukwudumebi 
72. Edwin N. Omorogbe 
73. Egho, Augustine Chukwuka 
74. Egielewa, Peter Eshioke 
75. Egwu Peter Ikenna 
76. Ehiomhen John Aiwonose 
77. Ekairia Eugene Okueamhen  
78. Ekechi John Okwudili 
79. Elegbede, Dominic Oluwatosin 
80. Elias, Innocent Chidera 
81. Elimian, Thomos Onosetale 
82. Elvis Imafidon 
83. Emekhi, Ambrose Oseghale 
84. Emmanuel I. Ukpebor 
85. Emmanuel Ogundele 
86. Enihenhenan, Simon Oseghale 

87. Enowoghomwenma, Matthew 
Osakpomwan 

88. Eromiokhale Augustine 
Osemundiamhen 

89. Esene, Emmanuel Bernard 
90. Ewedina, David Francis 
91. Eze Chidubem Anthony 
92. Ezuna Paschal Chekwube  
93. Fabidun Fancis 
94. Fadele, John Adebayo 
95. Faniyi, Victor Oluwasegun 
96. Fashanu Oluwadamilare 

Emmanuel 
97. Felix Ehimare Enegho 
98. Francis Adedara 
99. Francis Adelabu 
100. Francis Eshemomoh Ikhianosime 
101. Francis Oseghale 
102. Frofoun, Owey Ebianoukabo 
103. Gagana Clement Akpesiri 
104. Garuba Bethel Emmanuel  
105. Genesis, Joseph Oghenemaro 
106. Gregory Ebalu Ogbenika 
107. Hilary Oseabulu Odenore 
108. Ibhazobe, Kennedy Ebinehita 
109. Ibi Valentine 
110. Idahosa Amadasu 
111. Idobogbe Clement Ebanehita 
112. Ifedioranma, Francis Chinonso 
113. Ijezie Francis 
114. Ilegbedion, Romanus Ighodarosa 
115. Ilemonu, Vincent Eyegwialo 
116. Itulah, Timothy Osemudiamhen 
117. Iyah, Wilson Emoefe 
118. James, Callistus Chukwuma 
119. John Segun Odeyemi 
120. Johnson, Avivie Ekine 
121. Junaid, Lawrence Bamidele 
122. Korie Praiz 
123. Lawrence, Friday Stephen 
124. Mark Omorovie Ikeke 
125. Martins, Benedict Barisua 
126. Masigwe, Vincent Ikemefune 
127. Michael Odubela 
128. Michael Olawuyi Olawuni 
129. Michael Sola Omojola 
130. Mike Boni Bazza 



Communique of the Conference     517 

 

131. Mkpahu Maduka Benjamin 
132. Mmadu John Chibueze  
133. Mochi, Benedict Oshiokekhai 
134. Morah Francis Ikechuwku  
135. Most Rev Dr Michael Odogwu 

Elue 
136. Most Rev Dr. Adesina Francis 
137. Most. Rev. Donatus Ogun 
138. Nicholas Oshiokede 
139. Njoku, Joseph Emeka 
140. Njuwe, Henry Chukwuneku 
141. Ntui Victor Ntui 
142. Nwagu, Michael Uche 
143. Nwokpor Joseph Sunday 
144. Nwokwu, Matthew Onyedikachi 
145. Obiagbalasi, Henry Ebere 
146. Obiejesi, Emmanuel Ekene 
147. Oboh Bernard Odion  
148. Oboh, Paul Eromosele 
149. Odion, Destiny Paul 
150. Odozi, Joseph Chukwudi 
151. Ofomata, Francis Ifeanyi 
152. Ofuokwu, Emmanuel 

Chukwunonso 
153. Oguekwe, Gerald Chiazokam 
154. Ogunlaja, Philip Omotoso 
155. Ogunsanya, Paul Kehinde 
156. Ohumaegbulem Emmanuel 

Chukwugozi 
157. Ohwota, Anthony 
158. Ojekunle, Francis Oluwatobi 
159. Ojeniyi John Ayanponle  
160. Okafor Justin Onyebuchi  
161. Okee, David Johnbosco 
162. Okoboshi, Peter Chukwuma 
163. Okoh, Peace 
164. Okonkwo Vitus Peter 
165. Okonmah, Kenneth 

Chukwubuikem 
166. Okoro, Destiny  
167. Okoro, Ernest Ichako 
168. Okoye Sylvester Uzokwe 
169. Okpako, Raphael Oghenero 
170. Okpalefe, Paul Ejomafuvwe 
171. Okpomeh, Jude Aghuoghenathor 
172. Olagunju, Emmanuel Eniola 

173. Olanrewaju, Boniface Oluwaseun 
174. Olumuyiwa Anthony Omodunbi 
175. Oluwadare, Lucas Abiodun 
176. Omoalu, Augustine Emaneshi 
177. Omodara, Michael Tope 
178. Omodiale Daniel Ehimen 
179. Omojola Immaculata Olu 
180. Omosebi, Michael Thomson 
181. Onifade, Emmanuel Kayode 
182. Onojame, Victor Isicheri 
183. Onwuneme, Anthony Blair 
184. Onyele Ifeanyi Callistus 
185. Onyemegbulem, Adrian 

Chukwufumnanya 
186. Ootoade, Anthony Adebayo 
187. Opoggen Anthony Mudiaga 
188. Orisheminone, Alexander 

Emavremu 
189. Osawaru, Osamede Christopher 
190. Oseghale, Jude Ehimen 
191. Oseyande, Geoffrey 

Osamudiamen 
192. Oshevire, Francis Ogheneyoma 
193. Oshogbo, Jonh Dennis 
194. Osuji, Benedict Chigozie 
195. Otoagua, Matthew Osazee 
196. Otutu, Ebenezer Ehinomen 
197. Ovadje Gregory 
198. Owie, God’s Time 
199. Owolanwo, Victor Uniaminuva 
200. Oyanoghafo Alphonsus Nosakhare  
201. Ozom Anthony Oyenanai 
202. Paul Ọlátúbọ̀sún Àdajà 
203. Peter Egbe 
204. Peter Wojuaye 
205. Polycarp B. Imoageme 
206. Prof. Agatha Eguavoen,  
207. Prof. Isaac E. Ukpokolo 
208. Prof. John Afiagbokai Onimhawo 
209. Prof. Kanu, Ikechukwu Anthony 
210. Prof. Michael Ogunu 
211. Rex Osajie 
212. Salako, Matthew Setonji 
213. Samson Imhagbe 
214. Samuel, Charles Odiri 
215. Sani, Joseph Osizehmete 



518 Formation of the Human Person in the 21st Century 

216. Sekunda Gabriel Babatunde 
217. Stan-William O. Ede 
218. Sule Jude Etseoghena 
219. Sylvester Idemudia Odia 
220. Theodore, Jonh God’spower 
221. Thomas Anthony  
222. Thomas Martins Akinwale  
223. Thomas Onuh 
224. Toriola, Peter Oluwatosin 
225. Ubhimhiye Luke Ehiabhi 
226. Uduebholo Ahamiuki Benjamin 
227. Ugonabo Valentine Ekene 
228. Ulebor, Benjamin Junior 
229. Umeh, Francis Paul 
230. Umehido Ignatius Obinna 
231. Umukoro, Patrick Oghenekaro 
232. Unuabona Abraham Amioshor 
233. Usuogie Andy Obho 
234. Uzere Augustine Othuke 
235. Uzowuihe, Emmauel Onyekachi 
236. Vincent Ojo 
237. Yonronfun, Reuben Mautin 
238. Ziakegha, Clement  
239. Ebimobowei 


