Factors Responsible For Mal-Evangelization In St. Patrick Parish Akwanga, Lafia Diocese, Nigeria

Mal-evangelization and evangelization have been perennial issues of concern within the Roman Catholic Church. This study aimed at establishing how mal-evangelization has led the Catholic faithful to syncretism in St. Patrick Parish Akwanga, Lafia Diocese, Nigeria. The study specific objectives sought to assess the prevalence of syncretism; to examine the factors responsible for mal-evangelization; to investigate the effects of mal-evangelization among the Christian; and lastly to identify possible models of evangelization to reduce syncretic practices in St. Patrick Parish Akwanga, Lafia Diocese, Nigeria. This study utilized descriptive survey. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data while semi-structured interview guides were used to gather qualitative data. Quantitative data was gathered from the parishioners of St. Patrick’s Parish Akwanga, Lafia Diocese while Qualitative data was gathered from the Key informants in St. Patrick’s Parish Akwanga, Lafia Diocese. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling methods were used to select Roman Catholic Christians while purposive sampling method was used to select 391 respondents who participated in the study while 7 key informants were interviewed. Quantitative data was coded, entered, edited, and cleaned by the researcher using statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS version 23) while content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative information from the interviews. Majority of the respondents had experienced mal-evangelization, which can encourage syncretism through Catechism and clarification between harmful and good African beliefs; conducting more teaching even after catechism; Re-integration and recombination of good African beliefs with Christianity. The preceding information summarizes mal-evangelization and syncretism as per the area of this study. The parish was recommended to have an ongoing faith formation programs, to discourage Christian converts who may from time to time have the strong desire to go back to their former religion and form more Small Christian Communities so as to reach Christians at grass root level. Key words: Mal-Evangelization, syncretism, Christians, Catholic church, Christians