THE CONCEPT OF ‘FAMILY’ AS THE CONTRIBUTION OF AFRICA TO THE CONSECRATED LIFE

Résumé

The Year of Consecrated Life which was inaugurated last year 2014 by his Holiness Pope Francis, and which would end next year 2016 in February has provided diverse opportunities for consecrated persons to reflect on the different dimensions of the consecrated life. This year being the year of the extraordinary synod on the family, a new aperture has opened as a locus for reflection on the consecrated life. In attentiveness to the various discourses on the family and the consecrated life, this piece focused on the concept of family as the contribution of Africa to the consecrated life. It questions the contribution of African ontology to the historical evolution of the consecrated life. It adopted the historical and phenomenological methods of inquiry in its investigation. The research discovered that the spirit of community in the consecrated life was borne from the African spirit of the family.