Widowhood in Africa: A major challenge to the church and society

Abstract

It is an incontrovertible fact that we have widows among us and the number is constantly increasing because of incessant deaths. The horror of death is universal among mankind. Death, as a mystery, is always accompanied with pain whenever and wherever it occurs. Nobody is righteous enough to escape death and nobody is wicked enough to escape death. Nobody is too rich or too poor for death. Death is a universal calamity that will come to everyone. Every generation, regardless of age, status and tribe is normally visited by  death. It is this death that exposes women to this plight or condition. It marks the beginning of suffering and change of identity. The death of a woman‘s husband may invariably reduce and humble her. It affects her rating in the society, church and several other places. The reason widows suffer after the demise of their husbands is always because of the expectation of the society. Also, the church appears to sometimes share the tradition or worldview that women are inferior to men and as such must not usurp authority over a man. This seems to be one of the factors preventing the church from taking a stand to defend the cause of widows and orphans. This article shall examine these issues.

Keywords: Widowhood, Church and Society