THE ETHICS OF LITURGICAL RECONCILIATIO ET PAENITENTIA (§§4, 23, 29, 31): A STUDY INTO GWONG CULTURAL MODELS OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
The study examines “the ethics of liturgical reconciliatio et paenitentia (§§4, 23, 29, 31): A study into Gwong cultural models of transitional justice.” It analyses the ethical and theological logic of forgiveness and asks how Catholic liturgical penance can converse with African transitional justice, with specific attention to the Gwong of Central Nigeria. While many dominant frameworks privilege legal accountability and institutional redress, Gwong's moral reasoning emphasises communal restoration, moral equilibrium, and reintegration. Forgiveness (Thyisyam) is enacted as a ritual-ethical sequence of confession, cleansing, restitution, and social restoration, initiated by the offender’s request for forgiveness (kyala thyisyam) and formalised through the act of seeking reconciliation (Hgyèé khìtóng). In dialogue with John Paul II’s Reconciliatio et Paenitentia (1984), the study develops a contextual theological-ethical model that interprets forgiveness as justice realised through restored relationships. Using qualitative theological-ethical inquiry, ritual studies, communitarian virtue ethics, and inculturation theory, it draws on cultural descriptions, oral traditions, and liturgical texts to show convergences around truth-telling, confession, reparative action, and reintegration. It proposes a ritual-ethical synthesis for post-conflict reconstruction in African Christian contexts.
Keywords: Reconciliation, Justice, Forgiveness, Inculturation, and Ritual.