Biography
Emmanuel Ojeifo is currently pursuing doctoral studies in theology, with specialization in political theologies and interreligious dialogue, at the University of Notre Dame, IN. He earned his master's degrees in Religion and Global Politics at SOAS London and in Science and Religion at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.
Paper Abstract
Although African thinkers, ethicists, and activists have been writing and speaking about the ecological crisis facing the continent for a long time, Pope Francis's ground-breaking encyclical Laudato Si' (2015) appears to have triggered a renewed interest in the ecological conversation among African Christian scholars, ordinary believers, and communities. Over these last few years, a growing body of theological works from African Christian scholars dealing with the ecological crisis facing the continent has appeared. Guided by Pope Francis's hermeneutical reading of the ecological crisis, which links "the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor," more recent narratives of ecological disaster in Africa now give significant attention to the various ways in which the human and non-human subjectivities express their feeling of pain and suffering, sadness and loss, as well as the ways in which these expressions of lamentation convey an appeal for responsibility, ecological conversion, and healing. Taking all these together, this proposed topic explores some of the existential geographies of lamentation with regard to the ecological crisis ravaging the African continent. It also identifies some rays of light and hope in the midst of this crisis, taking into consideration the theological vitality and moral agency of African Christians who are re-imagining and reinventing ecologically sustainable ways of living. Using a qualitative research methodology, this paper draws upon scholarly academic literature on Africa's ecological crisis, and concludes that while African Christian ethicists and ecological thinkers are highlighting the various ramifications of the ecological devastation ravaging Africa, they are also proposing new pathways of hope in addressing this crisis.