AgroTheology and Related Theological Insights

Brighton Katabaro Academy of International Ecumenism, University of Hamburg 1. Introduction In generations past, spirituality permeated every aspect of African life, from social organization and economic activity to health and politics. Wilson Niwagila famously described this integration of the spiritual and the material as being as inseparable as the "shell and yolk of an egg," a sentiment echoed by John Mbiti’s classic assertion that “Africans are notoriously religious” (Niwagila 1988, 34; Mbiti 1969, 1).   This spiritual orientation was not, therefore, a discrete category of belief, but rather the foundational matrix through which identity, sociality, and humanity's relationship with the cosmos were understood and enacted. In other words, it  formed worldviews that molded identity, behavior, and ecological practice, viewing all existence as a unified whole with direct implications for human–nature relations (Asamoah-Gyadu 2022, 8).    This essay argues ...

Brighton Katabaro Academy of International Ecumenism, University of Hamburg   The Pain of Seeing One’s Child Suffer and Die Recently, on November 15th, 2025, my choir here in Nienstedten had a concert, and we sang the "Stabat Mater"  piece by Joseph Haydn. Since that evening, one particular line from the hymn has stayed with me like a refrain I cannot shake off. Again and again, this sound rises within me: “Stabat Mater dolorosa, juxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.” The sorrowful mother (Mary) standing beneath the cross, watching her son (Jesus) die. Today, in many places around the world, mothers and fathers stand beneath their own “cross.” They watch their children suffer - because of war and violence, because of hunger that threatens millions of young lives every day, and because of the consequences of climate change: droughts, floods, destroyed harvests - bringing new suffering, new tears, new graves.   The pain of seeing a loved one (and especially...

Brighton Katabaro Academy of International Ecumenism, University of Hamburg   Ganzheitliche Weltsicht von Gott, Mensch und Natur Ökologische Spiritualität unter den Bahaya/Banyambo in Tansania (und in mehreren anderen afrikanischen Ethnien) erschließt sich aus einer ganzheitlichen Weltsicht, in der Gott, Mensch und Natur in einem lebendigen Beziehungsnetz existieren. Dieses Verständnis zeigt sich in einem spirituell geprägten Naturbild, in dem die Schöpfung als lebendiges Subjekt und nicht lediglich als Objekt menschlicher Nutzung verstanden wird. Die Natur gilt als Manifestation des Göttlichen – als Zeichen der immanenten Präsenz des Schöpfers Ruhanga (Katonda) sowie der Vorfahren, die als Mittler zwischen dem Sichtbaren und dem Unsichtbaren auftreten. Relationales Verständnis der Schöpfung Das Weltbild der Nyambo/Haya (wie vieler anderer afrikanischer Gemeinschaften) ist relational und interdependent: Berge, Flüsse, Wälder und Tiere werden als heilige Räume betrachte...