Death in abundance versus life in abundance in the context of COVID-19 and poverty: A practical theological reflection on pastoral accompaniment during the grieving process

Theologia Viatorum

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Death in abundance versus life in abundance in the context of COVID-19 and poverty: A practical theological reflection on pastoral accompaniment during the grieving process
 
Creator Buffel, Olehile A.
 
Subject — COVID-19; poverty; pastoral accompaniment; death; grieving stages.
Description The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is currently holding the whole world hostage. It has led to the death of millions accross the world and thousands in South Africa. On the surface, it looks like there is an abundance of death in contrast to an abundance of life. Many of those who have lost their loved ones are being left to grieve alone without appropriate pastoral accompaniment by their pastors and other trained pastoral caregivers. In this article, written from a practical theological perspective, it is argued that those who are grieving as a result of the loss of loved ones must be pastorally accompanied. Pastors should be empowered in order to journey with the grieving persons in the context of COVID-19 and poverty. They should also be empowered to equip others who join them in the responsibility of pastorally accompanying the grieving as they transition through various stages of grief. Pastoral accompaniment should happen with due recognition of the socioeconomic context of South Africa and the context in which traditional and cultural practices of Africans persist amid opposition from churches.Contribution: This article, which is written from a practical theological perspective and using an interdisciplinary approach, contributes to discourse on pastoral care and particularly pastoral accompaniment of those who are going through various stages of grieving in the context of poverty and COVID-19.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor None
Date 2022-10-26
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Practical theological; pastoral accompaniment
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/tv.v46i1.156
 
Source Theologia Viatorum; Vol 46, No 1 (2022); 9 pages 2664-2980 0378-4142
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://theologiaviatorum.org/index.php/tv/article/view/156/414 https://theologiaviatorum.org/index.php/tv/article/view/156/415 https://theologiaviatorum.org/index.php/tv/article/view/156/416 https://theologiaviatorum.org/index.php/tv/article/view/156/417
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Olehile A. Buffel https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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