The 2012 Treaty Between the Holy See and the Republic of Burundi in Light of the Challenge of Inculturation that Precedes the Right to Religious Liberty

Abstract

The Holy See has intensified its concordat policy in Africa in recent years. The Bujumbura Concordat (2012), built on the dominant model of the framework agreements, it is based on two cornerstones: the mission and the local episcopate. The Church confronts two orders of problems in Burundi : one, of an anthropological-cultural type (the comparison with the traditional models and the ethnicquestion); the other, politician (the widespread corruption in the ruling class). These problems overlap : it is confirmed in the discipline, sometimes evanescent, of some institutions: marriage, religious assistance and formation in the Armed Forces, freedom of the press and teaching. This state of affairs, together with the serious institutional insanity, exalts the local episcopate and its fundamental role of mediation (also in the international organization of African episcopates) between evangelization and the awakening of consciences.