All Souls Day: We Do Not Have to Abandon Africa to Find Christ Remembering the departed, reclaiming our African heritage and challenging the Church to embrace an authentically African Christianity. By Fr Mathibela Sebothoma Every year on 2 November, the Catholic Church celebrates All Souls Day, a day dedicated to remembering and praying for the faithful departed. It is a day when families remember their loved ones, visit cemeteries, light candles, offer prayers and reflect on the mystery of death and eternal life. Across South Africa, people will visit the graves of parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, friends and others whose lives have touched theirs. For many Africans, however, remembering the dead is not something reserved for one particular day on the Christian calendar. It is woven into our understanding of family, identity, belonging and the continuity of life. The departed remain part of our conversations, family histories and collective memory. Their names...
