Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
June 20, 2001
Sister discovers universal Church in Zambia
Materially poor Zambian Catholics, rich in faith, hospitality
By Alwen Bledsoe
Sister Macrina Scott, O.S.F., director of the Catholic Biblical School, has been teaching scripture for 19 years, but never as the only white-skinned, white-haired person as far as the eye could see, and certainly not in a land peppered with waist-high anthills and baobao trees. Scott has just recently returned from a three-month stint in Zambia where she taught Scripture classes for religious and lay leaders serving as catechetical teachers and spiritual directors.
"It was the first time I tried to teach Scripture in a totally different culture," said Scott, later adding, "They were just marvelous to teach."
Zambia is a culture with two disparate faces: one pock marked and scarred by squalid poverty, disease, and injustice, and one radiant with joy and fervent faith.
The images of poverty and oppression abound as Scott tells stories of her time there. But images of joy and faith are even more abundant.
In a land ravaged by AIDS, poverty, and malnutrition, most people live to be only 37, and many parents are nursing their own AIDS-afflicted children. At least 75 percent of the population live below the poverty line, and to top that off, Zambia's government is notorious for corruption and inefficiency, she added.
When Scott visited a government-run hospital, she learned that the staff had not been paid in four months and she saw 40 beds only inches apart, each holding four children suffering from malaria.
Many people have no running water and no electricity and there are so many deaths that local parishes are unable to accommodate the number of requiem Masses required.
"They don't have medicine," said Scott. "They don't have equipment. They don't have space. Everything is lacking. We take so much for granted. ... It's a whole other world. I knew that they were poor, but I didn't know they would be so happy and so friendly. ... You never felt unwelcome," she continued.
Though most Zambians have no furniture in their homes every time Scott visited someone's home, she or he would be certain to find her a stool, a box, or a mat for Scott to sit on.
Perhaps her most precious memory is of an interaction with a Zambian woman who was wearing a jubilee chetenge, a bright rectangular piece of cloth Zambian women wear over their clothing like a skirt or apron. When Scott commented on how much she liked the jubilee design on the cloth, the woman took it off and gave it to her.
"I was appalled because they're so very poor, but she said, `Oh that's all right. I have another one,'" said Scott. "It's a precious object."
The vibrancy of the Church in Zambia astounded Scott.
"It was really a great experience of Church for me," she said, "because they're very Catholic, but it's so different."
Masses often lasted between two and four hours and, instead of organs, the syncopated rhythms of drums enlivened the liturgy. Zambian Catholics, not content with the Western routine of sitting, standing, and kneeling, also add enthusiastic dancing and singing to their services, explained Scott.
"Oh, they have rhythm," she said appreciatively.
Along with attending Mass, most Catholics spend another two hours every Sunday with the Christian communities — small groups that fill in the gaps where the Church is too over-taxed to minister directly, said Scott. These groups minister to the sick and bury the dead as well as providing lay training and teaching.
Along with AIDS, poverty, and the burgeoning population in local churches (50-75 percent of the country is Christian), the Zambian Church also must contend with the cultural clashes its teaching sometimes brings, especially in regards to polygamy and other tribal practices, said Scott. But its greatest struggle of all is to continue sounding a clarion call for justice, she said.
Scott came to intimately understand the Bible's preoccupation with the plight of widows and orphans, noting that when a husband died, male relatives often divided up the property, sold it, and left the widow and children destitute.
"The Church really does such a good job there dealing with the poverty and oppression of women and is really pushing people to be more just in their dealings with women and so many orphans," she said. "The Church is really trying to fight political corruption, which is a big, big problem. It's really on the forefront (of fighting for justice). I was really proud of the Church there."
The greatest benefit of her trip to Zambia, said Scott, was the widening of her understanding of the Church.
"I think I feel like I belong to a bigger Church because my Church has expanded," she said. "My world has expanded. I have a different perspective on my own country. I appreciate it more, and I also see there are things we can learn from them: the graciousness and courtesy and the emphasis on the importance of people. We can learn a lot from them."
Sister Macrina Scott invites those interested in hearing more to join her 7 p.m. June 24 in Bonfils Hall at the John Paul II Center at 1300 Steele St. in Denver for her free presentation "Report from Zambia."
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