Empowerment of the Catholic Laity in the Nigerian Political Situation - An Hermeneutical Reading of "Apostolicam Actuositatem" (The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity) of Vatican II and its Application to Concrete Situations

In light of this research work, the Vatican II Council remains a landmark, and its document Apostolicam Actuositatem (what we decided to call a ‘Text of witness of actions’ for the Catholic Laity), the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, inter alia Lumen gentium and Gaudium et spes, that border on the mission of the Catholic Laity in the human society, is a great achievement. After the Vatican II Council the Church saw the need to enhance and harness the witnessing message of the Council for the Catholic Laity mission in the Church and in the world. In the light of the foregoing this work is part of these efforts. We developed a ‘hermeneutical model’ via the political theology of Johann Baptist Metz in the light of the Vatican II Council message that becomes a challenge for concrete action of the Nigerian Catholic Laity in the existential socio-political situation of Nigeria.