The adoption of kurova guva as official liturgy by the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe in 1982 can be attributed to various forces within and outside it. The radicalization of the Catholic Association, a lay Catholic organization founded in 1934, during the nascent period of nationalism in Zimbabwe, provides one explanation. This lay movement not only found impetus in the growing cultural consciousness expressed in African nationalism; it also found a willing ally in the few Black clergy, the first of whom were ordained only in 1947, who were struggling to have their voice heard by the missionary clergy and hierarchy. The Black diocesan clergy later became a force to reckon with in the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe, from 1972 when they formed the National Association of Diocesan Clergy (NADC). This paper traces the change that took place in the church when the Catholic Association, in conjunction with the NADC and other lay members in the church steered the theological discourse which culminated in the adoption of kurova guva. The paper also investigates how the Vatican Council II teachings on liturgical development provided the matrix to the discourse. This paper argues that kurova guva represents a classic case of the dynamic interaction between the gospel and culture in Africa. It also argues that the process of change which resulted in the new liturgy was unique within "historical churches" in the sense that it started from the bottom and not from the top.
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