Eucharistic Communion and Rituals of Communion in Igbo Culture: An Integrative Study of Liturgy, Faith, and Culture

This book elucidates the dynamism of culture and how cultural expressions are often intertwined with religious expressions. The Catholic Church, while conscious of the profound cultural diversity within her membership, earnestly seeks to inculturate the gospel message in these cultures, for a better expressed, experienced, and lived Catholicism in the modern world. Relational and theological expressions of Eucharistic communion increase in wealth and meaning when Christians of different races and cultures are able to understand the global call to unity and interconnectivity in the world today. Relating the clear theological and relational aspects of Eucharistic communion to the traditional rituals of communion expressed in Igbo culture enriches both the encountered faith and lived culture. The rituals of communion in Igbo tradition studied in this book, namely, Emume Iwa Ọjị (Kola nut Ritual), Emume Iri Ji Ọhụrụ (New Yam Festival), and Ịgba Orikọ (Ritual Meal of Reconciliation), are still prevalent and valued among the Igbo people. These rituals pilot and determine the wellbeing of present and future generations of Igbo people. This integrative study of liturgy, faith, and culture, establishes the theological and relational aspects of both the traditional rituals of communion in Igbo culture and the Christian understanding of Eucharistic communion, for a truly inculturated Eucharistic theology.

Mary-Reginald Ngozi Anibueze, DDL, earned her Ph.D. in Theology, with a specialty in Liturgical Studies, from the University of Notre Dame. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Religion and African and African American Studies at Berea College, Kentucky.