Reclaiming the eucharistic celebration in the context of social justice: the case of the alliance evangelical community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Abstract

The current research focuses on the challenges of the Eucharistic celebration in the Alliance Evangelical Community (French: Communauté Evangélique de l'Alliance au Congo; ‘CEAC’) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) with the Eucharist being one of the sacraments that postulates social justice in the DR Congo. The DR Congo is a wealthy country in terms of natural resources but has been plagued by manifold conflicts which have devastated and destabilised the entire country. Despite its wealth of natural resources, most people continue to live in a state of crisis and are afflicted by malnutrition (due to living below the food security line), unemployment, poverty, permanent social insecurity, housing shortages, electricity shortages, a lack of safe drinking water, inadequate healthcare services and low remuneration for their labour. The Congolese people have been experiencing social injustice brought about by their political leaders. Nevertheless, ordinary Congolese Christians, as well as their political leaders who subscribe to Christianity, partake of the Eucharistic celebration in memory of Jesus Christ and commit to live in conformity with the values of this sacrament. The spiritual significance of this sacrament is to foster love, unity, communion and a sense of social justice. In the context of the DR Congo, the Eucharist should lead our response to the suffering of the Congolese people, whose hardship is often caused by powerful individuals who also partake of the celebration. Unfortunately, there is a great juxtaposition between the Eucharistic celebration and life in the public space, in the context of social justice. As an evangelical and Protestant Church, the CEAC, based in Kongo Central Province, accords great importance to the sacrament of the Eucharist and considers the Eucharist a fulfillment of the Christian faith. The CEAC believes that the role of the church in general and the role of church members in particular is to help disadvantaged people in their local communities through employing a liberative theological perspective. Many scholars have discussed the social aspects of the Eucharist. The aim of this research is to analyse how the Eucharistic celebration forms the basis for social justice and how that can postulate the liberative perspective for the people who suffer the injustice. This study argues that the Eucharistic celebration as a foundation and inspiration for Christian social justice has been challenged by the political conflict in the country. Therefore, the study calls for a revisit of what it means to celebrate communion amidst social injustice.