Inculturation Theology

Bailey (2002) stated that Catholic Schools prefer to teach a Religious Education that is Catholic in deepening the faith of their Catholic students. However, they have Religious Education subjects and programs that are not sensitive and considerate to the beliefs and practices of non-Catholic students. To come up with Religious Education programs and subjects that are sensitive to the religious and spiritual development of both Catholic and non-Catholic students, it is appropriate to understand first their perspective toward religion. The objectives of the study are to investigate how Catholic and non-Catholic college students in a certain Catholic University perceive Religion, and to determine if there are significant differences in these perspectives. The researcher used a descriptive research design and a quantitative descriptive method in describing the current context and perceptions of Catholic and non-Catholic students toward religion. A survey questionnaire developed by Baring et al. (2018) was utilized in gathering data, and purposive sampling was used in selecting 200 college students as respondents. An independent-sample t-test was the statistical method used in determining the significant difference of the two independent variables. The findings showed that there are specific significant differences toward the perception of Catholic and non-Catholic students on spirituality and religiosity, especially in terms of the identity dimension of Religion. However, there are more similarities than differences in their perceptions of religion.

The semper reformanda [always reforming] principle has been poorly promoted by all traditions
since it was conceptualised following the 16th-century reformations. A significant problem
caused by the missionary movement was the imposition of a Western-style approach to
theology, liturgy and polity with little regard for the cultures that were being invaded and
diminished. This article examines the hermeneutical problem in the African context, as well as
the concept of and practice of inculturation, and proposes a way forward on the basis of
faithfulness to the semper reformanda principle.

The term 'inculturation' is becoming increasingly fashionable in church, and in particular Roman Catholic, mission circles. The popularity of the term is due to a heightened Christian self-understanding of the necessity of adapting the Christian message to its cultural environment. There is recognition that the implantation of European values in Africa, or in other parts of the world, is not necessarily desirous or successful as a mission strategy. African and other non-western criticisms of colonial hegemony, including a rejection of Christianity as currently taught and practised, have come from both within and outside the church, to the extent that some African Christian theologians are rejecting the 'Christ figure' alto­ gether.2 Christianity has failed to take root, often after centuries of evan­ gelisation, if one is to judge from phenomena such as the absence or scarcity of candidates for the priesthood, or the rejection of monogamy. A perceived threat to mission churches from African Independent and Western fundamentalist churches, as well as from Islam, also contribute to a sense of urgency in the search for new solutions. In this article I look first at some  of  the ways in which inculturation is being defined and at what have come to be regarded as some early experiments in inculturation, whether well received or finally rejected by church authorities and local Christians

—"Jesus-Christ and the Chinese Religious World", Studia Missionalia, Roma, vol.50, 2001, pp.391-405.
The present article takes the risk of
forwarding to the world of Chinese religions the question
asked by Jesus throughout the ages: "Who do you say that I
am?". Obviously, the answers given here are "constructs"
brought forth by an outsider. Moreover, they are mere glimpses
on a tradition of which the richness cannot be captured
or even suggested in the length of an article. However, I hope
that this limited attempt will provide the reader with an idea
of the resources that the Chinese tradition embodies for
expressing anew the encounter between Christ and
humankind.

Anand Amaladass, "The Writing Catechism and Translation Strategies of Three Jesuits in South India: Henrique Henriques, Roberto de Nobili and Joseph Beschi", in "Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World", eds. Antje Flüchter and Rouven Wirbser (Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2017): 170-194.

Strenuo difensore dei diritti delle popolazioni indigene colombiane, attivo nel territorio del Cauca da oltre trent'anni, Ezio Roattino è divenuto un punto di riferimento spirituale, culturale e politico per le comunità di etnia nasa che abitano la regione. Nella sua attività intellettuale e sociale di mediazione interculturale eredita il messaggio del suo stretto collaboratore Álvaro Ulcué Chocué, primo sacerdote indigeno in Colombia, assassinato nel 1984 per le sue coraggiose battaglie in difesa del diritto alla vita e alla terra delle popolazioni andine.
L’appassionata  testimonianza  di  Ezio  Roattino  risulta  particolarmente significativa,  e  tristemente  premonitrice,  alla  luce  della  recrudescenza  degli  episodi violenti  nel  municipio  di  Toribío:  nel  solo  mese  di  agosto  del  2019  un’autorità ancestrale  e  tre  membri  della Guardía  Indígena  locale  (organismo  di  controllo territoriale  disarmato)  sono  stati  assassinati  per  mano  dei  gruppi  armati  che gestiscono  le  coltivazioni  e  il  traffico  di  sostanze  illecite  nel  territorio.  La  millenaria storia di resistenza delle comunità nasa del Nord del Cauca sta attraversando un’epoca di  fragilità,  abbandono  e  sfruttamento:  una  condizione  ben  lontana  da  quella immaginata al momento della firma degli accordi di pace tra il Governo colombiano e le FARC (2016). La parola di Roattino, lucida e coraggiosa nel suo luogo enunciativo di pensatore  e  parroco  di  frontiera,  ripercorre  quarant’anni  di  spiritualità  perdute,  dal sogno del risveglio indigeno alla cattura della comunità nella morsa del narcotraffico, dalle  fratture  degli  immaginari  ancestrali  alla  speranza  di  una  nuova  possibilità  di resistenza autonoma offerta dal tempo ciclico andino.

Can we rearticulate the doctrine with the conceptual tools of cultures other than the Greek one, which established the articulation of the dogma in ontological categories, such as “being”, “essence”, “hypostasis”? Great civilizations of Far East do not have those categories, but they express themselves through pictures or narratives.  My answer is that we certainly can and we certainly have to do it. I strongly believe that re-articulation is a task stemming from the very nature of the Church.

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) is not just a religious organization, but also a movement for social change and political rights. The church is very active in many different social events, such as charity, education, health care... The church has proclaimed to become a prophet for the Taiwanese nation and a critic of social and political iniquity. If inculturation is the intentional transmission of a system of ideas and values from one culture to another, then the PCT’s Christian ideas (which are specific, but I realize are not Western anymore) represent the system of cultural values that are trying to be passed to Taiwanese culture. This system includes not only religious beliefs, but also other cultural or political ideas. During the process of inculturation, which can be observed in statements and documents of the PCT, it is easy to see how important legitimization is, because it provides the church with recognition – and the church´s ideas can be transferred only if they are widespread and identified. The questions that this paper aims to answer are how exactly has the PCT established legitimacy for its social involvement, which strategies has the PCT used, and if the problem of legitimacy is connected to the process
of inculturation.

Wielokulturowość jest niewątpliwie pojęciem wieloznacznym, opisującym zjawiska o złożonej naturze. Jako kategoria badawcza pojawiło się stosunkowo niedawno i znalazło w kręgu zainteresowań socjologów, antropologów, etnolo-gów, politologów, kulturoznawców itp. Oznacza to, że badania nad wielokul-turowością mają charakter interdyscyplinarny. Dominantę za każdym razem stanowi perspektywa przyjęta przez badacza 1. Z bogactwa i dobrodziejstwa interdyscyplinarności korzysta też biblistyka. Nie należy więc dziwić się, ani dyskredytować pewnego eklektyzmu, który charakteryzuje próby opisania wie-lokulturowości z biblijnego i biblistycznego punktu widzenia (również w tym tekście), tym bardziej, że nie udało się dotąd wypracować jednolitych, uniwer-salnych kryteriów pozwalających na ujęcie zjawiska wielokulturowości w spo-sób całościowy 2. Celem tego artykułu jest charakterystyka modeli wielokulturowości odnaj-dywanych w Starym i Nowym Testamencie oraz ukazanie teologicznie i kultu-rowo uwarunkowanych zmian w wartościowaniu tego zjawiska. Zmiana oceny i stosunku do wielokulturowości i pluralizmu skutkuje podejmowaniem działań inkulturacyjnych, dlatego niezbędnym uzupełnieniem prezentacji różnych wzor-ców funkcjonowania i wzajemnych relacji pomiędzy biblijnymi społecznościa-mi wydaje się wskazanie kierunków i tendencji inkulturacyjnych, które zaczęły się formować już w czasach starożytnych. Współcześnie są one również zauwa-żalne, choć zmienił się zakres i charakter ich oddziaływania. Obok elementów inkulturacji musiały pojawić się też elementy interakcji międzykulturowych, po-nieważ powiększył się dystans pomiędzy społecznością źródłową (pierwotnym Kościołem tworzonym przez wiernych pochodzenia żydowskiego i greckiego), która przekazuje swoje wartości, a społecznością docelową, która je przyjmuje, ale w odmiennych warunkach historycznych, społecznych, ekonomicznych, po-litycznych i kulturowych. 1 Por. L. Gęsiak, Wielokulturowość. Rola religii w dynamice zjawiska

On August 15, 1695, Jesuit Belgian missionary Antoine Thomas wrote in Beijing a memorandum On the need of [ordaining] Chinese priests and on the dispensation [for the celebration] of the [Holy] Sacrifice in Chinese (De necessitate sacerdotum sinensium et dispensionis pro sacrificio in lingua sinica). It was presented to Pope Innocent XII in 1698 and to Clement XI in 1701. Thomas, on behalf his confreres, asked the Pope for two concessions: the promotion of indigenous clergy and the permission for having Chinese as liturgical language. Both submissions went without result and the memoir fell into obscurity.

Thomas argued that China is an entire new world, possibly with more inhabitants than Catholics in the whole world. Even the conversion of neighboring nations depends upon the Chinese. Thomas concludes his inspiring memoir by claiming that “since the beginning of the Church of Christ, there was never a matter of greater importance. We have spared no efforts in promoting such a grave matter.”

Indeed, since the very beginning of their mission, the Jesuits speared non efforts at achieving the conversion of China, the “greatest matter since the beginning of the Church”. They adopted innovative strategies in responding to the challenges posed by Chinese cultures and religions, and they adopted accommodation as their missionary method.

Qui organise aujourd'hui des funérailles catholiques à Abomey, dans le sud du Bénin? Comment, pourquoi, et dans quelles conditions? Voici quelques-unes des questions auxquelles ce texte s'efforce de répondre, en replaçant ce cas dans la problématique plus générale de l'articulation entre identités religieuses et divisions sociales dans l'Afrique contemporaine.