KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Faculty of Theology

POPULAR RELIGIOSITY AND ROMAN LITURGY Toward a Contemporary Theology of Liturgical Inculturation in the Caribbean

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctors Degree in Theology

Promoter Prof. Dr. Joris GELDHOF

by Duncan R. WIELZEN

2009

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Faculty of Theology

POPULAR RELIGIOSITY AND ROMAN LITURGY Toward a Contemporary Theology of Liturgical Inculturation in the Caribbean

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctors Degree in Theology

Promoter Prof. Dr. Joris GELDHOF

by Duncan R. WIELZEN

2009

PREFACE

It is with profound gratitude and a deep sense of humility that I look back at the process of writing this dissertation. This theological journey has been one with many challenges, involving trials and setbacks, and at times being on the brink of despair. The completion of this study has taken too many years, and I have changed my mind on many occasions about what to write, and what not. Had it not been but for the friendly and professional support of several people who stood with me throughout the entire process, this study would not have been completed. I therefore thank my promoter, Prof. Dr. Joris Geldhof, who brilliantly guided me through the stormy waters of this ambitious enterprise. I am greatly indebted for his scholarly advises which I have often experienced as moments of enlightenment. I deeply appreciate his kindness to accept my request for his professional supervision of the dissertation, after my initial promoter emeritus Prof. Dr. Jozef Lamberts made that suggestion. At the same time, I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to emeritus Prof. Dr. Jozef Lamberts who guided and supported me at the beginning of the dissertation project. Our discussions have definitively left their bearings on this dissertation. There are many other persons who have supported me in various ways throughout the process of writing this dissertation. The list of names would easily span over several pages. Yet there are a few names I would like to mention, which by no means implies less gratitude for those not mentioned here. I am greatly indebted to all my interviewees and informants, and all those who cooperated and facilitated my field research in Suriname. Through your kind and much appreciated cooperation I have been able to gain a deeper insight into the practical thematic field of popular religiosity as it occurs in Suriname. I thank Mr. Hans Lim A Po for kindly allowing me to use the facilities of the FHR Lim A Po Institute for Social Studies in Paramaribo. My thanks also goes to Mr. Paul Tjon Kiem Sang of the Dienst voor Geloof, Cultuur en Communicatie (Faith, Culture, and Communication Center) of the Diocese of Paramaribo, who has given me access to the services of this institute. Peter and Elly Sjak-Shie have been quite supportive toward me and my family during our four and a half year residence in Paramaribo. I thank them for their warm and much appreciated friendship. I also thank Dr. Maria van Enckevort for her kind and friendly assistance in proof-reading the text and suggestions for improvement, Dr. Sergio Scatolini Apstolo for his thought-provoking suggestions, and Drs. Milton George for his friendly encouragement. Some institutions have also provided me with financial aid. Without their support I would have had a rather hard time completing this project. I therefore express my heartfelt

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gratitude to the Bischfliche Aktion ADVENIAT; the board members of Stichting Mgr. C. L. de Wijckerslooth; and the Stichting Mgr. J. Bluyssen-Missiefonds for their generosity. Last but not least I thank my family for their patience and support. A special word of thanks goes to my wife Luca who has been a great source of support and encouragement; who has motivated me with her compassion, love, and understanding, and kept me going. I also thank our daughters Shaina and Keta who on many occasions had to engage in outdoor activities without my presence. Luca, for your patience and understanding, I would like to say now: masha danki!

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________. Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio. On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World. Rome: 22 November 1981; available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/ apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jpii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.html; Internet; accessed 12 October 2004. ________. Apostolic Exhortation Tertio Millennio Adveniente. On Preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000. Rome: 10 November 1994; available from: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/ apost_letters/documents/hf_jpii_apl_10111994_tertio-millennio-adveniente_en.html; Internet; accessed 26 January 2006. ________. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa. On the Church in Africa and its Evangelizing Mission Towards the Year 2000. Yaound, Cameroon: 14 September 1995; available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jpii_exh_ 14091995_ecclesia-in-africa_en.html; Internet; accessed 26 January 2006. ________. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America. On the Encounter with the Living Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion, and Solidarity in America. Mexico City: 22 January 1999; available from: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf _ jpii_exh_22011999_ecclesia-in-america_en.html; Internet; accessed 26 January 2006. Benedict XVI. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. On the Eucharist As the Source and Summit of the Churchs Life and Mission. Rome: 22 February 2007.

V. Magisterial Instructions, Declarations, and Directories

Sacred Congregation for Rites. Instruction Inter Oecumenici. First Instruction on Implementing Liturgical Norms. Rome: 26 September 1964. ________. Instruction Tres Abhinc Annos. Second Instruction on the Orderly Carrying Out of the Constitution on the Liturgy. Rome: 4 May 1967. ________. Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium. On Worship of the Eucharist. Rome: 25 May 1967. Consilium for Implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Instruction Comme le prvoit. On the Translation of Liturgical Texts for Celebrations with a Congregation. In Documents on the Liturgy 1963-1979. ICEL, 284-91 (par. 838- 880). Rome: 25 January 1969. Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship. Instruction Liturgicae Instaurationes. Third Instruction on the Orderly Carrying Out of the Constitution on the Liturgy. Rome: 5 September 1970. ________. General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Rome: 27 March 1975.

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Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Instruction Inculturation and the Roman Liturgy Varietates Legitimae. Fourth Instruction for the Right Application of the Conciliar Constitution on the Liturgy (Nos. 37-40). Rome: 29 March 1994. ________. Liturgiam Authenticam. Fifth Instruction for the Right Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 36). On the Use of Vernacular Languages in the Publication of the Books of the Roman Liturgy. Rome: 7 May 2001. ________. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines. Vatican City: December 2001. Congregation for the Clergy. General Directory for Catechesis. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1998. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theologies of Liberation. In Origins: NC Documentary Service, 14, no. 13, 193-204. 13 September 1984; available from http://www.campchabad.com/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfait h_ doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html; Internet; accessed 18 January 2008. ________. Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation. In Origins: NC Documentary Service, 14, no. 44, 713-28. 17 April 1986; available from http://www.campchabad.com/roman_curia/ congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19860322_freedomliberation_en.html; Internet; accessed 18 January 2008. ________. Norms for the Translation of Biblical Texts for Use in the Liturgy. Rome: 4 July 1997. ________. Declaration Dominus Iesus. On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church. Rome: 6 August 2000.

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________. Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine. For the Year of the Eucharist. October 2004 October 2005. Rome: 7 October 2004.

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Hart, Trevor A. et al., eds. The Dictionary of Historical Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000. Lewis, Charlton T., and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary (based on Andrews Edition of Freunds Latin Dictionary, rev., enl., and in great part rewritten. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955 [1879]. Richardson, Alan, ed. A Dictionary of Christian Theology. London: SCM Press, 1969.

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Stout, D. B. San Blas Cuna Acculturation: An Introduction. Viking Fund publications in anthropology 9. New York: Viking fund, 1943. Tachiaos, Anthony-Emil N. Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2001. Tanner, Kathryn E. Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997. Tarkka, Lotte, ed., Dynamics of Tradition: Perspectives on Oral Poetry and Folk Belief. Studia fennica Folkloristica 13. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2003. Taylor, Charles. Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002. Taylor, John. The Primal Vision: Christian Presence amid African Religion. 3rd ed. London: SCM Press, 1973. Taylor, Patrick, ed. Nation Dance: Religion, Identity, and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2001. Tejido, Manuel, ed. His Gospel to Our Peoples Texts, Documents and Other Papers From the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) in connection with the Third General Synod of Bishops. Rome, 1974. Vol. 1. Manila: Cardinal Bea Institute for Ecumenical Studies, 1975. Thoden van Velzen, H. U. E. Politieke beheersing in de Djuka maatschappij: een studie van een onvolledig machtsoverwicht. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum, 1966. Thoden Van Velzen, H. U. E., and Wilhelmina Van Wetering. The Great Father and the Danger: Religious Cults, Material Forces, and Collective Fantasies in a World of the Surinamese Maroons. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1988. Thornton, John. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Tracy, David. On Naming the Present: God, Hermeneutics, and Church. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1994. Turkson, Peter, and Frans Wijsen, eds. Inculturation: Abide by the Otherness of Africa and the Africans. Kampen: Kok, 1994. Turner, Victor. Drama, Fields and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society. Cornell University Press, 1974. 2nd Printing: Ithaca, NY: Cornell Paperbacks, 1978. Tylor, Edward Burnett. The Origins of Culture. Harper torchbooks. Vol. 33 / Part 1 of Primitive Culture. New York: Harper, 1958. Originally published in 1871. Uzukwu, Elochukwu E. Liturgy: Truly Christian, Truly African. Eldoret, Kenya: Gaba Publications, 1982. Vagaggini, Cipriano. Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy: A General Treatise on the Theology of Liturgy. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1976. Van den Braemsbussche, Antoon, ed. Voorbij het postmodernisme. Bedenkingen aan gene zijde van het fin de sicle. Best: DAMON, 1996. Van der Linde, Jan. Het visioen van Hernhut en het Apostolaat der Moravische Broeders in Suriname 1735-1863. Paramaribo: C. Kersten & Co., 1956.

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Vanhoozer, Kevin J., ed. The Trinity in a Pluralistic Age: Theological Essays on Culture and Religion. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. Van Lier, Rudolf. Bonuman: een studie van zeven religieuze specialisten in Suriname. Leiden: Institute of Cultural and Social Studies, Leiden University, 1983. Van Raalte, Jan. Secularisatie en zending in Suriname: over het secularisatieproces in verband met het zendingswerk van de Evangelische Broedergemeente in Suriname. Wageningen: Veenman, 1973 Van Stripiaan, Alex. Surinaams contrast: roofbouw en overleven in een Carabische plantagekolonie 1750 1863. 2nd. edition. Leiden: KITLV, 1993. Van Tillo, Gerardus P. De kwalitatieve dimensie: een methodologisch perspectief voor de godsdienstsociologie. Utrecht: s.n., 1987. Van Uden, Marinus, Jos Pieper, and Ernst Henau, eds. Bij geloof: over bedevaarten en andere uitingen van volksreligiositeit. UTP-Katernen 11. Hilversum: Gooi en Sticht, 1991. Vergote, Antoon. Religie, geloof en ongeloof: psychologische studie. Antwerpen / Amsterdam: De Nederlandse Boekhandel, 1984. ________. Moderniteit en Christendom. Gesprek in vrijheid en respect. Translated by Paul Leemans. Tielt: Lannoo, 1999. Vernooij, Joop. Lomsu 1975-1985: de afgelopen tien jaren. Leo Victor: Paramaribo, 1985. ________. Indianen en kerken in Suriname: identiteit en autonomie in het binnenland. Paramaribo: Stichting Wetenschappelijk Informatie, 1989. ________. Bosnegers en Katholieke Kerk: van confrontatie naar dialoog. Paramaribo: Stichting Wetenschappelijke Informatie, 1996. ________. De Rooms-katholieke gemeente in Suriname: handboek van de geschiedenis van de Rooms-katholieke kerk in Suriname. Paramaribo: Leo Victor, 1998. ________, ed. Libi nanga bribi: enkele aanzetten tot Surinaamse theologie. Feestbundel ter ere van Hein Eersel. Occassional Papers 7. Nijmegen: Nijmeegs Instituut voor Missiologie, Juni 2002. Vernooij, Joop, and Peter Sjak-Shie. Een kerk die leert. Gedenkboek bij gelegenheid van het 25jarig bestaan van het Katechetisch Centrum. Paramaribo: Katechetisch Centrum, R.-K. Bisdom Paramaribo, 1998. Verstraelen, F., ed. Oecumenische Inleiding in de Missiologie. Kampen: Kok, 1988. Voeks, Robert A. Sacred Leaves of Candombl: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil. Texas: University of Texas Press, 1997. Vogel, Dwight, ed. Primary Sources of Liturgical Theology: A Reader. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000. Vorgrimler, Herbert, ed. Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II. Vols. 1-5, repr. ed. New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989) [1967-1969]. Original title: Das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil: Dokumente und Kommentare, 3 vols. Freiburg: Herder, 1966-1968. Vrijhoff, Pieter Hendrik, and Jacques J. Waardenburg, eds. Official and Popular Religion: Analysis of a Theme for Religious Studies. The Hague: Mouton, 1979.

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Waliggo J. et al., eds. Inculturation: Its Meaning and Urgency. Nairobi: St. Paul Publications Africa, 1986. Walsh, Michal J., ed. Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1994. Wegman, Herman. Riten en mythen: liturgie in de geschiedenis van het Christendom. Kampen: Kok, 1991. Werkgroep Suriname. 25 Jaar Kerken in Suriname. Verslag van een conferentie gehouden op 11 november 2000 in Kerkcentrum De Nieuwe Stad, Amsterdam Z.O. Amsterdam: Werkgroep Suriname van de R.-K. parochie De Graankorrel, 2000. Wessels, Anton. Kerstening en ontkerstening van Europa: wisselwerking tussen evangelie en cultuur. Baarn: Ten Have, 1994. Wielzen, Duncan R. Inculturatie van de Liturgie: een kritische analyse van het gebruik van het sranan in het proces van surinamisering van de liturgie. MA thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, 1997. Wijsen, Frans. Evangelisatie in nieuw perspectief. UTP-tekst 19. Heerlen, 1991. ________. There Is Only One God: A Social-scientific and Theological Study of Popular Religion and Evangelization in Sukumaland, Northwest Tanzania. Kerk en theologie in context 22, Kampen: Kok, 1993. Wijsen, Frans, and Peter Nissen. Mission is a Must. Intercultural Theology and the Mission of the Church. Church and Theology in Context, no. 40. Amsterdam / New York: Editions Rodopi B. V., 2002. Williams, Raymond. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Fontana Books 3479. London: Fontana, 1976. Witvliet, Theo J. Bevrijdingstheologie in de Derde Wereld. s-Gravenhage: Meinema, 1990. Wooding, Charles J. Winti: een Afroamerikaanse godsdienst in Suriname: een cultureelhistorische analyse van de religieuze verschijnselen in de Para. Meppel: Krips Repro, 1972. Yu, Jose Vidamor. Inculturation of Filipino-Chinese Culture Mentality. Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations. Vol. 3. Rome: Pontificia Universit Gregoriana, 2000. Zamuel, Hesdie. Johannes King, profeet en apostel van het Surinaamse bosland. Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum,1994.

G. Articles I. Journals and periodicals

Aleaz, K. P. Indigenization. In Dictionary of Third World Theologies, ed. Virginia Fabella and R. S. Sugirtharajah, 106-8. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000. Amafili, Leo. Inculturation: Its Etymology and Problems. Questions Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy 74 (1992): 170-88.

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Amaladoss, Michael. Inculturation and Internationality. East Asian Pastoral Review 29, nos. 3 (1992): 238-52. ________. Images of Jesus in India. East Asian Pastoral Review 31, nos. 1-2 (1994): 6-20. ________. Global Homogenization: Can Local Cultures Survive? East Asian Pastoral Review 36, no. 4 (1999): 424-32. ________. Double Religious Belonging: An Anthropological Reflection. East Asian Pastoral Review 39, no. 4 (2002): 297-312. ________. The Trinity on Mission. In Mission is a Must. Intercultural Theology and the Mission of the Church. Church and Theology in Context, no. 40, ed. Frans Wijsen and Peter Nissen, 99-106. Amsterdam / New York: Editions Rodopi B. V., 2002. ________. Liturgical Inculturation and Postmodern Culture. East Asian Pastoral Review 44, no. 1 (2007): 5-16. Amalorpavadass, Duraisamy S. Theological Reflections on Inculturation. Part 1 & 2. Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 36-54; 116-36. ________. Images of Jesus in India. East Asian Pastoral Review 31, nos. 1-2 (1994): 6-20. Amato, Angelo Archbishop. Criteriological Reflections on the Theology of Inculturation. Mission Today 5 (2003): 253-69. Aram, I. The Incarnation of the Gospel in Cultures: A Missionary Event. The Ecumenical Review 48 (1996): 96-105. Arbuckle, Gerald A. Inculturation Not Adaptation: Time to Change Terminology. Worship 60 (1986): 511-20. Arinze, Francis Cardinal. Pastoral Attention to Traditional Religions. Letter from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (Rome: 25 March 1988). African Ecclesial Review 10, no. 3 (1988): 131-34. Aristide, Jean Bertrand. The Church in Haiti: Land of Resistance. Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (March 1991): 108-13. Art, J. Possibilities and Difficulties in Studying the Place of Religion in Everyday Life in the 19th and Early 20th Century. In Experiences and Explanations: Historical and Sociological Essays on Religion in Everyday Life, ed. L. Laeyendecker, J. Jansma, and C. H. A. Verhaar, 103-16. Leeuwarden: Fryske Akademy, 1990. Asanbe, Jude Abidemi. Evangelization: Challenges and the Prospects for the Church in Africa. African Ecclesial Review 47, no. 3 (2005): 199-218. Baluleete, Simon M. Inculturation: African Drums Are Not Enough. African Ecclesial Review 27, no. 5 (October 1985): 286-88. Barrow, Christine, and Rhoda Reddock. Religion and Belief Systems. In Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Readings, ed. Ids., 541-43. Oxford: James Currey Publishers, 2001. Bax, Mart. Popular Devotions, Power, and Religious Regimes in Catholic Dutch Brabant. Ethnology: An International Journal of Cultural and Social Anthropology 24 (1985): 215-27. Belita, Jaime. The Sto. Nino and the Nazareno: The Inculturation of Christ in Filipino Popular Religion. East Asian Pastoral Review 30, nos. 3-4 (1993): 244-59.

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Berger, Peter L. Reflections on the Sociology of Religion Today. The 2000 Paul Hanly Furfey Lecture. Sociology of Religion 64, no. 4 (2001): 443-54. Berger, Teresa. The Womens Movement as a Liturgical Movement: A Form of Inculturation? Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 55-64. Bloechl, J., and Stijn Van den Bossche,. Postmoderniteit, theologie en sacramentologie: een onderzoeksproject toegelicht. Jaarboek voor Liturgie-onderzoek, no. 13 (1997): 21-48. Blomjous, Joseph. Development in Mission Thinking and Practice, 1959-1980: Inculturation and Interculturation. African Ecclesial Review 22, no. 6 (1980): 293-98. Boff, Clodovis. The Catholic Church and the New Churches in Latin America. SEDOS Bulletin 31, nos. 6-7 (1999): 196-201. Bonino, Jos Mguez. Popular Piety in Latin America. Translated by J. P. Donnelli. Concilium 6, no. 10 (1974): 148-57. Boodoo, Gerald. Gospel and Culture in a Forced Theological Context. Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 2 (1996): 3-19. ________. Understanding Church and Theology in the Caribbean Today. In Many Faces, One Church: Cultural Diversity and the American Catholic Experience, ed. Peter C. Phan and Diana Hayes, 117-135. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005. Boothe, Hyacinth I. A Theological Journey for an Emancipatory Theology. Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 1 (1996): 15-21. Borobio, Dionisio. The Four Sacraments of Popular Religiosity: A Critique. Concilium 2, no. 112 (1978): 85-99. Bradshaw, Paul F. The Homogenization of Christian Liturgy: Ancient and Modern: Presidential Address. Studia Liturgica 26 (1996): 1-15. Brkenhielm, Carl Reinhold. Christian Tradition and Contemporary Society. Concilium 6 (1994): 23-34. Brand, Gerrit. Salvation in African Christian Theology: A Typology of Existing Approaches. Exchange 28, no. 3 (1999): 194-223. Brown, Frank Burch. Christian Theologys Dialogue with Culture. In Companion Encyclopedia of Theology, ed. Peter Byrne and Leslie Houlden, 314-34. London / New York: Routledge, 1995. Buckland, Stephen. Ritual, Bodies and Cultural Memory. Concilium 3 (1995): 49-56. Burke, Cormac. Inculturation: John Paul II and the Third World. East Asian Pastoral Review 32, nos. 3-4 (1995): 277-90. Byrne James M. Theology and Christian Faith. Concilium 6 (1994): 3-12. Campbell-Johnston, Michael. Vatican II, Medellin, Puebla and Today. Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (March 1991): 4-18. Cartford, G. Public Prayer and Culture: An Ecumenical Journey. Liturgy 11, no. 3 (1994): 31-37. Castillo, Fernando. Christianity: Bourgeois (Burguesa) Religion or Religion of the People? Concilium 5, no. 125 (1979): 51-60.

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________. Christianity and Inculturation in Latin America. Translated by Paul Burns. Concilium 2 (1994): 74-87. Castillo Guerra, Jorge. The Dialogue between Christianity and Afro-Cuban Religions. Exchange 32, no. 3 (2003): 250-59. Cavanaugh, William T. The Ecclesiologies of Medellin and the Lessons of the Base Communities. Cross Currents 44, no. 1 (1994): 67-84. Chanson, Phillip. De magisch-religieuze wereld van de Antillen. Wereld en Zending 29, no. 4 (2000): 43-51. ________. Creoliteit en theologie. Theologie van de creoliteit. Wereld en Zending 31, no. 1 (2003): 88-99. Chartier, R. Popular Culture: A Concept Revisited. Intellectual History Newsletter 15 (1993): 313. Chauvet, Louis-Marie. The Liturgy in its Symbolic Space. Consilium 3 (1995): 29-39. Chevannes, Barry. Towards an Afro-Caribbean Theology: Principles for the Indigenisation of Christianity in the Caribbean. Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 45-55. Chibuko, Patrick C. Liturgical Inculturation: Proposed Pattern. African Ecclesial Review 40, no. 4 (1998): 216-43. ________. A Practical Approach to Liturgical Inculturation. African Ecclesial Review 43, nos. 12 (2001): 2-27. Chupungco, Anscar J. A Filipino Attempt at Liturgical Indigenization. Ephemerides Liturgicae 91 (1977): 370-76. ________. Filipino Culture and Christian Liturgy. Concilium 2, no. 102 (1977): 62-71. ________. The Magna Charta of Liturgical Adaptation. Notitiae 14 (1978): 74-89. ________. Greco-Roman Culture and Liturgical Adaptation. Notitiae 153 (1979): 202-18. ________. A Historical Survey of Liturgical Adaptation. Notitiae 174 (1981): 28-43. ________. Adaptation of the Liturgy to the Culture and Traditions of the Peoples. Notitiae 20 (1984): 820-34. ________. A Definition of Liturgical Inculturation. Ecclesia Orans 5 (1988): 11-23. ________. Liturgical Inculturation. East Asian Pastoral Review 30, no. 2 (1993): 108-19. ________. Remarks on the Roman Liturgy and Inculturation. Ecclesia Orans 11, no. 3 (1994): 269-77. ________. Liturgiam Authenticam and Inculturation: Reviews and Reflections. East Asia Pastoral Review 39, no. 1 (2002): 95-100. Claver, Francisco. The Encounter between the Gospel and the Values of Indigenous Peoples in Asia: Challenges of the Future. East Asia Pastoral Review 4 (2002): 350-66. Cleary, Edward L. Missionaries and the Indigenous Resurgence in Latin America. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29, no. 4 (April 2005): 177-82.

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Clements, Keith. Theology Now. In Companion Encyclopedia of Theology, ed. Byrne and Houlden, 272-90. London / New York: Routledge, 1995. Cobb, John B. Is Christianity a Religion? Concilium 6, no. 136 (1980): 3-11. Connor, James H. When Culture Leaves Christianity Behind. Missiology: An International Review 19 (1991): 21-29. Costen, Melva W. African Roots of Afro-American Baptismal Practices. Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center 14 (1986 / 1987): 23-42. Coyle, Kathleen. Pilgrimages, Apparitions and Popular Piety. East Asian Pastoral Review 38, no. 2 (2001): 172-89. Cray, Robert E. Jr., Memorialization and Enshrinement: George Whitefield and Popular Religious Culture, 1770-1850, Journal of the Early Republic 10, no. 3 (1990): 339-61. Crockett, William R. Christianity and Culture in Modern Secular Society. Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 28-35. Cupitt, Don. The Finality of Christ. Theology 78 (1975): 618-28. Damen, Frans. Het subject van de inculturatie. Wereld en Zending 1 (2002): 31-39. Danandjaja, James. The Role of Local Churches in Inculturation: An Indonesian Case. East Asian Pastoral Review 30, nos. 3-4 (1993): 283-94. Daudelin, Jean, and W. E. Hewitt, Churches and Politics in Latin America: Catholicism at the Crossroads. Third World Quarterly 16, no. 2 (1995): 221-36. Davies, J. G. The Introduction of the Numinous into the Liturgy: An Historical Note. Studia Liturgica 8 (1971-2): 216-23. Davis, Charles. Todays Culture and the Meaning of Baptism. Ecumenical Review 39 (1987): 163-72. DCosta, Gavin. Christian Theology and Other Faiths. In Companion Encyclopedia of Theology, eds. Byrne and Houlden, 291-313. De Bies, Renate. Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands: woordenboek of inventaris? OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinamistiek en het Carabisch gebied 9, no. 1 (1990): 85-87. De Clercq, J. and Henau, Ernst. De sociale gestalte van de kerk in de toekomst. Tijdschrift voor theologie 4 (1977): 333-52. De Gasperis, Francesco Rossi. Continuity and Newness in the Faith of the Mother Church of Jerusalem. In Bible and Inculturation, Paul Beauchamp et al. Inculturation: Working Papers on Living Faith and Cultures. Vol. 3. ed. Roest Crollius, 17-69. Rome: Pontifical Gregorian University, 1983. Delameau, Jean. Official and Popular Religion in France during the Reformation and CounterReformation. Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 12-19. Delattre, R. Ritual Resourcefulness and Cultural Pluralism. Soundings 61 (1978): 281-301. De Mesa, Jos M. Primal Religion and Popular Religiosity. East Asian Pastoral Review 37, no. 1 (2000): 73-82.

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________. Making Salvation Concrete and Jesus Real. Trends in Asian Christology. Exchange 30, no. 1 (2001): 1-17. De Schrijver, George. Experiencing the Sacramental Character of Existence. Questions Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy 75 (1994): 12-27. Desmangles, Leslie. Baptismal Rites: Religious Symbiosis of Vodun and Catholicism in Haiti. Concilium 2, no. 102 (1977): 51-61. De Vreese, Eric. Volksreligie als partner van de theoloog. Oorspronkelijk standpunt van J. C. Scannone. Intersectiones 2 (1995): 2-14. Drogus, Carol Ann. The Rise and Decline of Liberation Theology: Churches, Faith and Political Change in Latin America. [Review Articles] Comparative Politics 27, no. 4 (July 1995): 46577. Dupuis, Jacques. Christianity and the Religions Revisited. Louvain Studies 28 (2003): 363-83. Dussel, Enrique. Popular Religion as Oppression and Liberation: Hypotheses on Its Past and Its Present in Latin America. Translated by Francis McDonagh. Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 8294. Edwards, O. C. Historical-Critical Methods Failure of Nerve and a Prescription for a Tonic: A Review of Some Recent Literature. Anglican Theological Review 59 (1977): 115-34. Egbulem, Chris N. An African Interpretation of Liturgical Inculturation: The Rite Zairois. In A Promise of Presence, ed. Michael Downey and Richard Fragomeni, 227-50. Washington DC: Pastoral Press, 1992, Ela, Jean-Marc. Ancestors and Christian Faith: An African Problem. Concilium 2, no. 102 (1977): 34-50. Elder, Jacob D. The Orisha Religion (Shango) as Resistance and Social Protest. In AfricanCaribbean Religions, ed. Kremser, 25-40. Elizondo, Virgil. Our Lady of Guadalupe as a Cultural Symbol: The Power of the Powerless. Concilium 2, no. 102 (1977): 25-33. ________. Popular Religion as Support of Identity: A Pastoral Psychological Case-Study Based on the Mexican American Experience in the USA. Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 36-43. ________. Guadalupe: The Birth of American Mestizo Christianity. Louvain Studies 26 (2001): 295-312. Empereur, James L. Popular Religiosity and the Liturgy: The State of the Question. Liturgical Ministry 7 (1998): 105-20. Espeut, Peter. Education and the Church: Elements of Inertia or Change. Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 56-67. Evenou, Jean. Processions, Pilgrimages, Popular Religion. In The Church at Prayer. An Introduction to the Liturgy. New Edition. Vol. 3: The Sacraments. Robert Cabi et al., 241-62. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1988. Fabella, Virginia. Contextualization. In Dictionary of Third World Theologies, ed. Fabella and Sugirtharajah, 58-59.

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Fink, Peter E. Theoretical Structures for Liturgical Symbols. Liturgical Ministry 2 (Fall 1993): 125-37. Fitzgerald, Michael. Evangelii Nuntiandi and World Religions. African Ecclesial Review 21, no. 1 (1979): 34-43. Francis, Mark R. Liturgical Inculturation: The State of the Question. Liturgical Ministry 6 (1997): 97-107. ________. The Hispanic Liturgical Year: The Peoples Calendar. Liturgical Ministry 7 (1998): 129-35. Galilea, Segundo. The Theology of Liberation and the Place of Folk Religion. Concilium 6, no. 136 (1980): 40-45. Gallagher, Michael Paul. Inculturation: Some Theological Perspectives, International Review of Mission 85, no. 337 (April 1996): 173-80. Ganly, John. ATR Can Enrich Christianity. African Ecclesial Review 41, nos. 2-3 (1999): 96-107. George, Milton A. Pastoraal pleidooi voor het Afro-Caribisch concubinaat. Wereld en Zending 31, no. 1 (2003): 100-09. Giel, R. Het algemene in de transculturele psychiatrie. In Winti-religie: een Afro-Surinaamse godsdienst in Nederland, ed. F. E. R. Derveld and H. Noordegraaf, 125-31. De Horstink: Amersfoort / Leuven, 1988. Gittins, Anthony J. Beyond Liturgical Inculturation: Transforming the Deep Structures of Faith. Irish Theological Quarterly 69 (2004): 47-72. Glazier, Stephen D. Latin American Perspectives on Religion and Politics. [Review Essays] Latin American Research Review 30, no. 1 (1995): 247-55. Gogolok, Osmar Erwin. Pastoral Aspects of Popular Religion in Brazil. Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 105-12. Gordon, Ernle. Emancipatory Theology (A Theological Journey). Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 1 (1996): 22-37. Gordon, Jason. Understanding the Caribbean Context for Inculturation and Catechesis. Catechist 35, no 7 (2002): 52-57. Gorski, John F. How the Catholic Church in Latin America Became Missionary. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 27, no. 2 (2003): 59-64. ________. Christology, Inculturation, and Their Missiological Implications: A Latin American Perspective. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 28, no. 2 (2004): 60-63. Granfield, Patrick. The Church as Societas Perfecta in the Schema of Vatican I. Church History 48, no. 4 (1979): 431-46. Gray, Donald. Bridging the Gap: Presidential Address. Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 1-7. Greinacher, Norbert, and Norbert Mette, eds. Editorial (Theme number Popular religion) Concilium, 4, no. 186 (1986): ix-xi. Groome, Thomas H. Inculturation: How to Proceed in a Pastoral Context. Concilium 2 (1994): 120-33.

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Thompson, Jack T. Some Reflections on Popular Religiosity in Britain. International Review of Mission 82, no. 327 (1993): 375-81. Tjon A Ten, Varina. Rituelen en gebruiken bij overlijden bij Creolen. OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinamistiek en het Carabisch gebied 17, no. 1 (1998): 23-28. Tracy, David. What is Religion? An Inquiry for Christian Theology. (Editorial). Concilium 6, no. 136 (1980): vii-ix. Trautman, Donald. The Quest for Liturgy both Catholic and Contemporary. Origins 25 (1996): 481-87. Tucci, Roberto. The Proper Development of Culture. In Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II. Vol. 5, Pastoral Constitution in the Modern World. Translated by W. J. OHara, ed. Vorgrimler, 246-87. Ukpong, Justine S. Contextualisation: A Historical Survey. African Ecclesial Review 29, no. 5 (October 1987): 278-86. ________. Towards a Renewed Approach to Inculturation Theology. Journal of Inculturation Theology 1 (1994): 8-24. Uzukwu, Elochukwu E. African Personality and the Christian Liturgy. African Christian Studies 3 (1987): 61-74. ________. African Symbols and Christian Liturgical Celebration. Worship 65, no. 2 (1991): 98112. ________. Inculturation and the Liturgy (Eucharist). In Paths of African Theology, ed. Rosino Gibellini, 95-114. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1994. ________. Body and Memory in African Liturgy. Concilium 3 (1995): 71-78. Van den Bossche, Stijn Postmoderniteit, theologie en sacramentologie. Een onderzoeksproject toegelicht. Jaarboek voor Liturgie-onderzoek 13 (1997): 21-48. Van der Pijl, Yvonne. Een klein verhaal over winti. OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinamistiek en het Carabisch gebied 21, no. 1 (2002): 76-89. Van der Ziel, Kees. Door het oog van de naald: cultuur, context en bijbelvertaling bij de Karaben. Wereld en Zending 31, no. 1 (2003): 47-60. Van Laarhoven, Jan. De God van de gewonen: een verkenning in de middeleeuwen. Tijdschrift voor theologie 35 (1995): 252-70. Van Liebergen, Lon. Foreword to Volksdevotie: beelden van religieuze volkscultuur in NoordBrabant [Tentoonstelling] (Uden: Museum voor religieuze kunst, 1990-09, 15. Van Rossum, Rogier. Het verhaal van de missie. Wereld en Zending 3 (2000): 44-56. Van Tongeren, Louis. De inculturatie van de liturgie tot (stil)stand gebracht? Kanttekeningen bij een Romeins document over liturgie en inculturatie. Jaarboek voor liturgie-onderzoek 12 (1996): 164-86. ________. Liturgie in context: de vernieuwing van de liturgie en de voortgang ervan als een continue proces. Tijdschrift voor liturgie 81 (1997): 178-98. Vergote, Antoon. Volkskatholicisme. Collationes 9 (1979): 417-32.

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Vernooij, Joop. Volksreligie in Suriname. Wereld en Zending 29, no. 4 (2000): 52-59. ________. Kaart van christelijk Suriname. OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinamistiek en het Carabisch gebied 21, no. 1 (2002): 26-34. ________. Mapping Religious Suriname. Exchange 31, no. 3 (2002): 230-38. ________. Veelkleurige religie in het Caribische gebied. Wereld en Zending 31, no. 1 (2003): 4-17. Vertovec, Steven. Official and Popular Hinduism in Diaspora: Historical and Contemporary Trends in Suriname, Trinidad and Guyana. Contributions to Indian Sociology 28, no. 1 (1994): 123-48. Vigil, Jos Maria. Is There a Paradigm Shift in Liberation Theology? East Asian Pastoral Review 42, no. 4 (2005): 336-52. Villa-Vicencio, Ch. Theology and Culture in South Africa: Beyond Multiculturism. Theology Today 51 (1994): 115-26. Visscher, A., and J. Stern. Family rituals as Medium in Christian Faith Transmission. In Current Studies on Rituals: Perspectives for the Psychology of Religion. International series in the psychology of religion 2, ed. Hans-Gnter Heimbrock and Barbara H. Boudewijnse, 103-18. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1990. Voorhoeve, Jan. The Obiaman and His Influence in the Moravian Parish. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 139, no. 4 (1983): 411-20. Voulgarakis, Elias. A Lesson in Evangelism: The Lives of Cyril and Methodius. International Review of Mission 74, no. 294 (April 1985): 230-36. Wachege, P. N. Inculturation and Salvation within the African Context. African Ecclesial Review 43, nos. 1-2 (February-April 2001): 28-40. Whiteman, Darrell L. Contextualization: The Theory, the Gap, the Challenge. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 21, no. 1 (1997): 1-7. Whitt, Reginald D. Varietates Legitimae and an African-American Liturgical Tradition. Worship 71 (1997): 504-37. Wielzen, Duncan R. Popular Religiosity as an Internal Dynamic for the Local Church: The Case of Suriname, Exchange 34, no. 1 (2005): 1-21. Wijsen, Frans. Popular Christianity in East Africa: Inculturation or Syncretism? Exchange 29, no.1 (2000): 37-60. ________. Intercultural Theology and the Mission of the Church. Exchange 30, no. 3 (2001): 218-28. Wilfred, Felix. Christian Inculturation and World Religions. SEDOS Bulletin 21, (1989): 37-44. ________. Inculturation: Reflections in the Asian Context. SEDOS Bulletin 21, (1989): 185-94. Wilson, H. S. Mission and Cultures: Some Paradigms of Encounter. Asia Journal of Theology 18, no. 1 (April 2004): 14-32. Witvliet, Theo J. Missionaire identiteit in een multiculturele wereld. Wereld en Zending 28, no. 3 (2000): 8-12.

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Wright, Robert E. Popular Religiosity: Review of Literature. Liturgical Ministry 7 (1998): 14146. Zamuel, Hesdie S. Winti en christelijke kerk in Suriname. Wereld en Zending 28, no. 2 (1999): 66-73.

II. Electronic articles from the WorldWideWeb (Internet)

Bekye, Paul. African Traditional Religions in Church Documents; available from http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/atrxadocs.htm;Internet; accessed 23 January 2008. Chupungco, Anscar. Liturgical Inculturation: The Future that Awaits Us; available from https://www.valpo.edu/ils/ chupungco2.pdf; Internet; accessed 13 January 2005. Early Christian Attacks Against Trinidad Hindus: The Curse of John Morton in Trinidad, 18681912; available from http://www.hindunet.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=15,44&Number=1815&page=0&view= collapsed&sb =5%o=&fpart=1: Internet; accessed 12 September 2006 (author unknown). Forms of Popular Religiosity; available from http://countrystudies.us/chile/53.htm; Internet; accessed 23 May 2005 (author unknown). Gordon, Jason. Faces of Jesus in Caribbean Theology; available from http://www.caribbeantheology.net/theological_method.htm; Internet; accessed 17 November 2005. Isizoh, Chidi Denis. Dialogue with African Traditional Religion in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Changing Attitude of the Catholic Church; available from http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/ changing-attitude.htm; Internet; accessed 23 January 2008. Kailo, Kaarina. Monoculture, Gender and Nationalism: The Kalevala as a Tool of Acculturation. In Ethical Challenges for Teacher Education and Teaching: Special Focus in Gender and Multicultural Issues, online edition, ed. Vappu Sunnari and Rauni Rsnen, 13-37. Oulu, Finland: University of Oulu, 2000; available from http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn951425869X/isbn951425869X.pdf; Internet; accessed 23 April 2008. Lernoux, Penny. Popular Religiosity Forms New Social Conscience in Latin America; available from http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001976/Lernoux/Lernoux06/Lernoux06.html; Internet; accessed 15 August 2005. Maier, Martin. Inculturation. Stimmen der Zeit: Die Zeitschrift fur christliche Kultur [English version] (August 2007): 505-6, 506; available from http://www.conspiration.de/texte/english/2007/maier2-e.html; Internet accessed 18 February 2008.

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Medina Estevez, Jorge Arturo Cardinal. Popular Piety and the Life of Faith. L'Osservatore Romano (4 September 2002); available from http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4614; Internet; accessed 14 January 2004. Phan, Peter. Culture and the Liturgy; available from: http://members.cox.net/vientrietdao/bao/ancestor.html; Internet; access 21 February 2006. Rhodes, Ron. Christian Revolution in Latin America: The Changing Face of Liberation Theology; available from http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Liberation.html; Internet; accessed 21 April 2006. Richard, Pablo. Inculturation Defends Human, Cosmic Life. National Catholic Reporter (19 December 1997); available from http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/121997/121997c.htm; Internet; accessed 20 February 2006. Rivera, Norberto Cardinal. Place of Popular Devotion. L'Osservatore Romano (4 September 2002); available from http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/ doc_view.cfm?recnum=4616; Internet; accessed 14 January 2004. Schreiter, Robert. Challenges Today to Mission Ad Gentes (Meeting of the Superiors General of Societies of Apostolic Life, Maryknoll, NY, U.S.A., 1 May 2000); available from http://www.sedos.org/english/schreiter_1.htm; Internet; accessed 28 March 2008. Tate, Jeannie Choy. Reflections on Trinidad: Towards a Rainbow Theology; available from http://www.pcusa.org/oga/perspectives/dec02/dec-trinidad.htm; Internet; accessed 12 September 2006. Yronwode, Catherine. The Evil Eye; available from http://www.luckymojo.com/evileye.html; Internet; accessed 12 February 2005.

III. Newspaper and magazine articles

Aveloo, Tascha. Gedurfde publicatie: de waarheid van de leugen. De Ware Tijd (2 December 2005). Matheus Kairale ingewijd tot Carabische piyai te Galibi. De Ware Tijd, 7 September 2006, section A5. Mickens, Robert. Pope Tells Theologians to Focus on the Truth of Faith. The Tablet (13 December 2008).

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE .................................................................................................................................I BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................III A. HOLY BIBLE .................................................................................................................................III B. DOCUMENTS FROM THE VATICAN ....................................................................................................III I. First Vatican Ecumenical Council..........................................................................................III II. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council ....................................................................................III III. Encyclicals ...........................................................................................................................III IV. Apostolic Exhortations .......................................................................................................IV V. Magisterial Instructions, Declarations, and Directories.......................................................V VI. Apostolic Letters.................................................................................................................VI VII. Magisterial Books, Papal Discourses, and Messages .......................................................VII C. PASTORAL LETTERS, ANTILLES EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE (AEC).............................................................VII D. DICTIONARIES.............................................................................................................................VII E. ENCYCLOPEDIAS .........................................................................................................................VIII F. BOOKS......................................................................................................................................VIII G. ARTICLES ............................................................................................................................... XXIV I. Journals and periodicals .................................................................................................. XXIV II. Electronic articles from the WorldWideWeb (Internet)................................................... XLII III. Newspaper and magazine articles.................................................................................. XLIII TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................XLIV GENERAL INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1. CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY IN A POSTMODERN CONTEXT...............................13 1.1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................13 1.2. CHRISTIANITY AND MODERNITY ................................................................................................15 1.3. POSTMODERNITY ..................................................................................................................23 1.3.1. Postmodernity and individualism .............................................................................25 1.3.2. Postmodernity and plurality .....................................................................................29 1.4. IMPLICATIONS FOR THEOLOGY IN A POSTMODERN CONTEXT ...........................................................33 1.4.1. Liturgy in a postmodern context ..................................................................................35 1.4.2. Popular religiosity in a postmodern context ................................................................39 1.5. PARTIAL CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................44 CHAPTER 2. POPULAR RELIGIOSITY IN THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSES AND MAGISTERIAL TEACHINGS ....................................................................................................45 2.1. AN ATTEMPT AT EXPLORING THE COMPLEXITY OF POPULAR RELIGIOSITY ............................................45 2.1.1. Socio-cultural approaches to popular religiosity ......................................................46 2.1.2. Theological approaches to popular religiosity ..........................................................48 2.2. MAGISTERIAL APPROACHES TO POPULAR RELIGIOSITY ...................................................................54 2.2.1. Popular religiosity and related terminology in DPPL ................................................55 2.2.2. Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium .......................................................................57

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2.2.3. Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus .......................................................................58 2.2.4. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi ...............................................................60 2.2.5. Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae .............................................................62 2.2.6. Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio ...............................................................64 2.2.7. General Directory for Catechesis ..............................................................................65 2.2.8. Toward a Pastoral Approach to Culture....................................................................69 2.3. CELAM AND POPULAR RELIGIOSITY ..........................................................................................72 2.3.1. Medelln and popular religiosity ...............................................................................72 2.3.2. Puebla and popular religiosity...................................................................................75 2.4. A PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE RECEPTION AND PERCEPTION OF POPULAR RELIGIOSITY ..............................77 2.4.1. Liberation theology and popular religiosity ..............................................................81 2.4.2. Popular voices in popular religiosity .........................................................................91 2.5. PARTIAL CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................100 CHAPTER 3. POPULAR RELIGIOSITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CARIBBEAN......................... 103 3.1. AFRICAN-CARIBBEAN RELIGIONS IN THE NEW WORLD ................................................................105 3.1.1. Defining the Caribbean ...........................................................................................106 3.1.2. African-Caribbean religions and cults .....................................................................107 3.2. POPULAR RELIGIOSITY FROM THE CARIBBEAN ............................................................................111 3.2.1. African-Caribbean religions as bases for popular religiosity...................................112 3.2.2. The spirit world and its biblical underpinnings.......................................................115 3.2.3. Caribbean churches and African-Caribbean religions.............................................122 3.2.4. Caribbean Christianity.............................................................................................127 3.3. POPULAR RELIGIOSITY REVISITED: THE CASE OF SURINAME ....................................................136 3.3.1. The socio-historical context of ethnic and religious plurality.................................137 3.3.2. Dede oso rituals and practice..................................................................................140 3.3.3. The puru blaka ritual ...............................................................................................144 3.4. PARTIAL CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................146 CHAPTER 4. INCULTURATION IN THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSES AND MAGISTERIAL TEACHINGS .................................................................................................. 149 4.1. MISSION AND ITS CULTURAL MILIEU ........................................................................................152 4.2. UNDERSTANDING CULTURE ...................................................................................................155 4.2.1. Vatican IIs appreciation of culture .........................................................................162 4.2.2. Post-Vatican II documents on culture.....................................................................165 4.2.3. Postmodern perceptions of culture ........................................................................167 4.3. INCULTURATION AND ITS RELATED TERMS .................................................................................170 4.3.1. Enculturation...........................................................................................................171 4.3.2. Acculturation...........................................................................................................174 4.3.3. Adaptation...............................................................................................................176 4.3.4. Indigenization..........................................................................................................179 4.3.5. Incarnation ..............................................................................................................180 4.3.6. Contextualization ....................................................................................................182 4.3.7. Inculturation............................................................................................................184 4.4. LOCI FOR INCULTURATION .....................................................................................................188 4.4.1. Inculturation and the Bible .....................................................................................189 4.4.1.1. Inculturation in the Old Testament .....................................................................189 4.4.1.2. Inculturation in the New Testament....................................................................192

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4.4.2. Inculturation in the history of the Churchs missionary activities ..........................196 4.4.2.1. Christianity and culture during the period of the Apologist Fathers...................197 4.4.2.2. Christianity and culture after the Peace of Constantine .....................................198 4.4.2.3. Christianity and culture toward the end of the first millennium ........................200 4.4.2.4. Christianity and culture in newly discovered mission territories ......................204 4.4.2.5. Christianity and culture in the modern era .........................................................211 4.4.3. Inculturation in magisterial teaching ......................................................................213 4.4.3.1. Inculturation and Vatican II..................................................................................214 4.4.3.2. Inculturation in post-Vatican II documents .........................................................224 4.4.4. Levels of inculturation in theological and magisterial discourses ..........................231 4.5. UNDERSTANDING THE INCARNATION .......................................................................................233 4.6. PARTIAL CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................245 CHAPTER 5. LITURGICAL INCULTURATION AND POPULAR RELIGIOSITY ............................ 247 5.1. LITURGY AND CULTURE .........................................................................................................250 5.1.1. The Liturgy as the mediating body of the mystery of Christ...................................251 5.1.2. The double movements of the liturgy.....................................................................253 5.1.2.1. The horizontal movement of sending and receiving ...........................................253 5.1.2.2. The vertical movement of katabasis and anabasis .............................................257 5.2. LITURGY AND POPULAR RELIGIOSITY ENCOUNTERING ONE ANOTHER ...............................................260 5.2.1. Bridging the gap between liturgy and popular religiosity.......................................264 5.2.2. Sacramentals as stepping stones between popular religiosity and the liturgy ......271 5.3. WHAT IS LITURGICAL INCULTURATION?....................................................................................281 5.3.1. Liturgical inculturation in theological discourses....................................................284 5.3.2. Liturgical inculturation in magisterial teaching.......................................................292 5.4. OUTLINING A THEOLOGY OF LITURGICAL INCULTURATION .............................................................305 5.4.1. Theological foundation of liturgical inculturation ..................................................307 5.4.1.1. Christological foundation (the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery)................309 5.4.1.2. Ecclesiological dimension ....................................................................................312 5.4.1.3. Soteriological dimension......................................................................................315 5.4.1.4. Pneumatological dimension ................................................................................318 5.4.2. Theological methods for liturgical inculturation.....................................................320 5.5. A CONCRETE CASE: THE EVIL EYE AND INFANT BAPTISM ...............................................................323 5.5.1. The evil eye..............................................................................................................325 5.5.2. Toward a Christian reinterpretation of the use of Reckitts Blue ...........................331 5.5.3. Pastoral implications ...............................................................................................334 GENERAL CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 341

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Preliminary remarks This current study builds forth on a previous study on liturgical inculturation, which we had completed in 1997. That study fitted within the larger framework of a program for Surinamizing the Roman liturgy in the Diocese of Paramaribo, Suriname. It was first officially adopted in the 1984 diocesan policy plan as a central concern.1 That program was propelled by the Independence movement, which saw Suriname gaining political Independence from The Netherlands when it achieved the status of an independent Republic on 25 November 1975. One of the first conscious efforts at Surinamization of the liturgy was embodied by a project to translate the Roman lectionary for the Sunday readings, and readings for the Roman Catholic feast days, in Sranan, the lingua franca of Suriname.2 The project commenced in 1976. According to one of the translators it was ignited at the flame of our Independence. The translators were convinced that a Sranan translation of the Bible readings for the Sundays and Catholic feast days would entail a lasting and sustainable contribution to Surinames Independence.3 In 1988 the translation was completed and hence Leysipisi fu den Sonde nanga den Fesadey (Lectionary for the Sundays and Feast days) was born. The program for surinamizing the liturgy, however, did not stop with the publication of Leysipisi. It was later incorporated into the Diocesan mid-term policy plan (Beleidsplan Bisdom Paramaribo, 1992 - 1997), in which it was stipulated as a priority for diocesan policy related to the liturgy. The Pastoral Centre of the Diocese was entrusted the task to develop, initiate, and promote concrete proposals that could lead to further implement the process of Surinamization of the liturgy. Among the activities were the composition of hymnals based on traditional Afro-Surinamese melodies, and other liturgical songs in Sranan. Hence, the so-called Mijland-Mass came into being.4

See Joop Vernooij, Lomsu 1975-1985: de afgelopen tien jaren (Leo Victor: Paramaribo, 1985), 40-41. Lomsu is the Sranan (Surinamese language) word for the Roman Catholic Church. See Chandra van Binnendijk and Paul Faeber, eds., Sranan: cultuur in Suriname (Amsterdam: Koninklijke Instituut voor de Tropen, 1992), 119-25, 123. Sranan is one of the seven Creole languages spoken in Suriname. As early as from the beginning of the eighteenth century it functions as a lingua franca. See Bertus Roest, Leysipisi wat toegelicht en verantwoord (Nieuw Nickerie, December 1989). The translators (B. Roest and Eddy van der Hilst) also had other objectives with the translation of the Roman lectionary, which were directly related to promoting the status of Sranan, and the peoples self-esteem and esteem for the language. The Mijland-Mass is named after Mrs. Jane Mijland, who arduously engaged herself to compose liturgical songs (Kyrie, Sanctus, Gloria, etc) on the base of MAisa-melodies. MAisa, or Mama Aisa is the goddess of the Earth revered in Afro-Surinamese religiosity. Her devotees praise her with traditional songs, of which the melodies and rhythm formed the basis for the composition of the liturgical songs of the Mijland-Mass.

In our former study we critically examined the desirability and the usability of Sranan for liturgical texts and rites in general, and for the Sunday readings in Leysipisi in particular. We conducted that study in light of the thematic field of liturgical inculturation.5 By focusing on the usability and desirability of Leysipisi, in exploring the position of Sranan in the process of liturgical inculturation in Suriname, we observed the inability for the average Surinamese person to read the translated texts efficiently. Partly, this had to do with the style of the translation and with little familiarity with the Sranan reading and writing tradition from the majority of the population. One of the main conclusions then was that language cannot be the only means for liturgical inculturation. Hence, we think language should be understood in a broader perspective, in a ritual and symbolic sense; thus, in terms of the genius of a people. Nevertheless, both Sacrosanctum Concilium 6 and Redemptoris Missio 7 discuss the pivotal role of language in the process of evangelization and liturgical inculturation. Evangelization of the various peoples often started in their own language. Hence, in order to root the Gospel8 in peoples lives and cultures, the Church9 decrees that its proclamation in their language must follow this first evangelization. If the people are to take part in the liturgical celebrations consciously and actively, as the Second Vatican Council decreed, it therefore follows that that they not only understand the nature of the liturgy but also its ritual and symbolic expressions.
5

Duncan R. Wielzen, Inculturatie van de liturgie: een kritische analyse van het Sranan in het proces van surinamisering van de liturgie (M.A. thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen / Universitair Centrum voor Theologie en Pastoraat, 1997). See Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 36,2. Henceforth, Sacrosanctum Concilium, followed by the appropriate number(s), and abbreviated in the body text with SC. See John Paul II, On the Permanent Validity of the Church's Missionary Mandate, Redemptoris Missio, no. 53 (Rome, 7 December 1990). Henceforth, Redemptoris Missio, followed by the appropriate number(s), and abbreviated in the body text with RM. Throughout this study we employ the term the Gospel to indicate the Good News about Jesus and His proclamation of Gods Kingdom. Thus with the Gospel we do not intend any of the four accounts from the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luce, or John, of Jesus life, passion, death and resurrection. In this study we employ the notion of Church to indicate the universal Church, more specifically, the Roman Catholic Church that subsists in the various local churches. When writing about the local ecclesial community we shall use the term local Church, thus with a capital letter. However, the capital letter also refers to other denominational Christian faith communities, but will then be specified as, for instance, the Anglican Church, (or Church of England), the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, etc. It should be noted, however, that authors in general do not always make a clear distinction when employing the term church. Moreover, some use it with a beginning capital letter, whereas others employ it with a lower case. We shall retain their spelling, when citing from their work. When applied in a plural sense, and unquoted, we shall always employ the lower case, such as, for example local churches, by which we mean more than one territorial local Roman Catholic ecclesial community or diocese. Lower case is also used in a general sense, such as, for instance: Practically, a church can only be called indigenous when all its supporting structures (e.g., bishop, priests, deacons thus the entire administration its catechesis and liturgy, its mission program) is taken from and directed toward its own people. Or, when used in passing: e.g., Mrs. Smith has been a member of the Presbyterian Church from early childhood onwards. She refers to this church as her house church.

It further implies that the liturgy also reflects the peoples own ritual and symbolic language, otherwise it remains aloof. Therefore, even though the spoken language of the people is an important means for active participation,10 their very culture inhabits a rich reservoir that can be employed to express their Christian experience in original ways and forms provided that those traditions are in harmony with the objective requirements of the faith itself.11 Likewise, the peoples cultural fabric contains vital resources that can be used to celebrate the Roman liturgy in ways that whilst pointing to Christ as the first liturgist also reflect their own cultural traditions to some extent. One area, in particular, which inhabits a rich resource for giving a distinct cultural expression of the Christian faith, and of the liturgy,12 is the peoples very religiosity, or popular religiosity. This study will examine how popular religiosity and the liturgy can be brought to a synthesis that not only gives expression to peoples faith in Christ the Redeemer of the universe, but also enriches the Roman liturgy with new expressions for worship. A key notion for this endeavor will be liturgical inculturation, which we shall explore in the later stages of this study. Our examination of the relationship between popular religiosity and the Roman liturgy will be guided by firm theological principles as enunciated by the Church. We shall, therefore, employ a variety of Church documents in that regard. Moreover, we shall also consult the works of theologians and social scientists to guide us in this study. A fundamental research question for this study is, How can popular religiosity be harmonized with the Roman liturgy, in such a way that it gives expression to new forms of worship that are in harmony with the doctrines and traditions of the Church? Connected to this question is the issue of an appropriate theology that supports the integration of popular religiosity and the liturgy. We think that such a theology ought to be based on Sacred Scripture and the Churchs apostolic tradition in order to be in harmony and continuity with the magisterial teaching as reflected in the pertaining Church documents. In light of the above, our primary objective with this current study then is to outline the contours of a theology of liturgical inculturation. It is our contention that such a theology can provide a proper framework for harmonizing popular religiosity with the Roman liturgy, in light of divine revelation. Contrary to our former study, the scope of this study is much broader since it is not limited to the Surinamese context, even though in the final analysis this particular context will serve as our main frame of reference. Moreover, as we have already pointed out, the focus of this study exceeds the limits of spoken language. It rather focuses on the entire

10

Cf. Anscar J. Chupungco, Liturgiam Authenticam and Inculturation: Reviews and Reflection, East Asia Pastoral Review 39, no. 1 (2002): 95-100. Chupungco, Philippine-born Benedictine, is a leading theologian in the field of liturgy and inculturation. We shall employ a variety of his writings in this study. Redemptoris Missio, no. 53. One should note, however, that a cultureless faith, or ditto liturgy does not exist. Faith and liturgy always assume a particular cultural expression.

11 12

gamut of the peoples religiosity, from which legitimate and authentic forms of expressing Christian faith arises. However, one should note that in this study we distinguish between the Christian faith and Christianity. For us the former is faith in Christ as divinely revealed, and which supersedes all cultures. But the same faith finds various cultural expressions; thus, it gives birth to Christianity with different faces and colors. Hence, one could speak of popular Christianity, or African Christianity,13 or even multi-colored Christianity.14 But the underlying faith within these various forms is a faith in need of constant renewal, since it also inhabits elements which are not always consonant with faith in Jesus as Lord; thus, the process of liturgical inculturation will also involve conversion and purification. Our attempt to construct a theology of liturgical inculturation is guided by the biblical paradigm to construct a building on a solid foundation as recorded in Matthews gospel narrative of Jesus discourse.
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And anyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell; the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. 15 (Mt 7:24-27).

This account from Mathews gospel narrative underscores the need to have a sound and solid foundation for a theology of liturgical inculturation. The vast majority of International theological discourses generally ascribe the doctrine of the Incarnation as the prime theological foundation for liturgical inculturation. The German theologian H. B. Meyer, for example, asserts that the doctrine of the Incarnation is the greatest example and model of inculturation.16 And in Vatican IIs decree on the Churchs mission activity Ad Gentes, the Incarnation of Christ is presented as the paradigm for rooting the Gospel in the cultures and traditions of the people and for planting the Church among the nations. The Council, therefore, decrees:
In harmony with the economy of the Incarnation, the young churches, rooted in Christ and built up on the foundation of the Apostles, take to themselves in a wonderful exchange all the riches of the nations which were given to Christ as an inheritance (cf. Ps. 2:8). They borrow from the customs and traditions of their people, from their wisdom and their learning, from their arts and disciplines,

13 14

See, for instance, Eugene Hillman, Toward a African Christianity: Inculturation Applied (New York: Paulist, 1993). See the thematic issue of Wereld en Zending 31, no. 1 (2003) titled: Veelkleurig Christendom. Het Caribisch model, particularly Vernooijs article entitled: Veelkleurige religie in het Caribisch gebied, Ibid., 4-17. Donald Senior et al., eds., The Catholic Study Bible / The New American Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 18. H. B. Meyer, Zur Inkulturation der Eucharistiefeier im Blick auf das deutsche Sprachgebiet, Liturgisches Jahrbuch 41 (1991): 7-23, 8, as quoted in The Churchs Liturgy, Michael Kunzler, trans. Placed Murray, Henry OShea, and Cilian S, 86 (London: Continuum, 2001).

15

16

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all those things which can contribute to the glory of their Creator, or enhance the grace of their 17 Savior, or dispose Christian life the way it should be.

The same idea is also present in AG 10 where the following is stipulated:

The Church, sent by Christ to reveal and to communicate the love of God to all men and nations, is aware that there still remains a gigantic missionary task for her to accomplish.... The Church, in order to be able to offer all of them the mystery of salvation and the life brought by God, must implant herself into these groups for the same motive which led Christ to bind Himself, in virtue of His Incarnation, to certain social and cultural conditions of those human beings among whom He 18 dwelt.

According to Chupungco, the phrase in harmony with the economy of the Incarnation clearly reveals the Councils intention to posit Christs incarnation as an exemplar to be copied faithfully. In imitation of Christ, who by virtue of the incarnation made himself one with the Jewish nation, the local Church should strive to identify itself with the people among whom it dwells.19 In this study we shall adhere to this fundamental theological insight and seek to construct a theological house for liturgical inculturation on the foundation of the doctrine of the Incarnation. That implies faithful adherence to the words of Jesus from His Gospel, as recorded by the evangelists, faithfully transmitted by the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church, and guarded by the Magisterium; it further entails an imperative to act on these words as well (cf. Mt 7:24). However, there are several observations that one should take notice of at the beginning of this study. Firstly, this study aims to make a distinct contribution to the ongoing theological discourses on liturgical inculturation, in general. More especially, it is meant to fill in the lacunae in the Caribbean theological reflection on the contextualization of Christianity in the region. Christian theologians from this region have for more than three decades spent much time and efforts in search of authentic theological methods for doing contextual theology in the Caribbean.20

17

Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Ad Gentes, on the Mission Activity of the Church, no. 22. Henceforth, Ad Gentes, followed by the appropriate number(s), and abbreviated in the body text with AG. Ad Gentes, no. 10. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation: Sacramentals, Religiosity, and Catechesis (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992), 17. See Gerald Boodoo, Understanding Church and Theology in the Caribbean Today, in Many Faces, One Church: Cultural Diversity and the American Catholic Experience, Catholic Studies, ed. Phan and Diana Hayes (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005), 117-35, 118ff; and Id., Gospel and Culture in a Forced Theological Context, Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 2 (1996): 3-19, 10. Here Boodoo comes to the raw conclusion that there seems to be a failing in terms of the methodology of Caribbean theologians for recalling and enshrining the religious intuitions of the people of the Caribbean; also see Jason Gordon, Faces of Jesus in Caribbean Theology; available from http://www.caribbeantheology.net/theological_method.htm; Internet; accessed 17 November 2005. This article provides a thorough discussion of various methods employed to mediate Caribbean reality in Caribbean theological discourses.

18 19

20

The originality of this study lies greatly in that it not only concerns itself with the question of the most appropriate method for theologizing in the Caribbean,21 but it actually offers a concrete and systematic reflection on and suggestion for liturgical inculturation in the region and beyond. This is done in a manner that conveys a profound respect for the workings of God in the history of the Caribbean people, for the dogmatic traditions of the Church, and for the richness inherent in all cultures, especially those of the Caribbean. Despite the ambitious nature of this study we acknowledge its limitations, which we think are inevitable. Hence, though this study sketches a general framework for liturgical inculturation firmly grafted on and rooted in the doctrine of the Incarnation, it cannot be applied to any given context without adaptations. Theology is essentially contextual, since it arises, and derives its shape from a particular given (cultural) contexts, irrespective of its rootedness in the Incarnation. When applied to another context theology needs adaptation and contextualization in order to retain its viability and to become meaningful for the people whom it addresses. Hence, paradoxically, the limitations of this study are at the same time its strength because they sketch out the specific profile of a theology of liturgical inculturation for the local Church. Secondly, a contextual theology seeks to address issues that are profoundly connected with the prevalent context in which it is situated. It implies an affinity with contemporary issues peculiar to a given context. It is therefore this-worldly.22 Hence, this study envisages the construction of a contemporary theology of liturgical inculturation, as its title suggests. It seeks to sketch a theological framework for addressing contemporary questions which ask for a contemporary solution. Ever since Jesus commissioned the Apostles to preach the Gospel to all nations of the earth, the Church has employed various methods and strategies in the encounter between Christian faith and culture in order to root the Gospel into the new milieu. Inculturation is our present-day notion for the method applied in this encounter. It is not a matter of purely external adaptation, but a profound and all-embracing [process], which involves the Christian message, and also the Churchs reflection and practice.23 Thirdly, building forth on the classical understanding of theology as faith seeking understanding, a contemporary theology of liturgical inculturation needs other academic disciplines which offer original understandings of contemporary matters related to peoples culture(s). Cultures have long been the scope of the human and social sciences such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, and linguistics. In addition, psychology has probed into the mysteries of human behavior and has generated valuable insights. The classical understanding of philosophy as the handmaid of theology is now greatly challenged by the
21 22

Cf. ibid., 122. This, however, by no means precludes the necessity to be attuned with not only the contemporary social reality, but also with the historical condition of a people, since the latter sheds lights on and enables a deeper understanding of the former. Redemptoris Missio, no. 52.

23

other human sciences. The implication for contemporary theology is to enter into a fruitful dialogue with the social sciences in order to deepen its own understanding of culture and society in which it operates. This is especially the case when one attempts to integrate popular religiosity with the liturgy. In light of this dialogue, AG 34 advocates fraternal and generous collaboration on the part of scientific institutes which specialize in missiology and in other arts and disciplines such as ethnology and linguistics, the history and science of religions, sociology, pastoral skills and the like.24 Nevertheless, a contemporary theology ought not to forfeit its primary task, which is to reflect on the truth of Christian revelation,25 as Pope Benedict XVI recently highlighted in an address to members of the International Theological Commission on 5 December 2008. He also stressed the importance of interreligious dialogue which he acknowledges as a one of the fundamental goods, by stating:
In a globalized society like the one being formed today, theologians often are challenged by public opinion to, above all, promote dialogue among religions and cultures [and] to contribute to the development of an ethics that has peace, justice and the defense of the natural environment as its 26 natural coordinates.

However, the Pope also pointed out that a theology, limited to these noble objectives would not only lose its proper identity, but also the very foundation of these goods.27 Theologys first priority, therefore, is to speak of and ponder God after having carefully listened to him.28 According to the Pope, the real work of theology is to enter into the Word of God, to try to understand it as much as possible and make it understandable to our world.29 In this way, theology becomes better equipped to respond to the great questions, since this

24

Ad Gentes, no. 43; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 44, which advocates with regard to the promotion of Pastoral-Liturgical Action, a liturgical commission, to be assisted by experts in liturgical science, sacred music, art and pastoral practice, thus aided from various theological angles. One may add that some of these theological angles, such as sacred art are also the object of study from non-theological disciplines. Robert Mickens, Pope Tells Theologians to Focus on the Truth of Faith, The Tablet, 13 December 2008. Mickens quotes Pope Benedict XVI, who made the following statement at this occasion: The essential, inescapable characteristic of theology is to ask questions concerning the truth of faith and not simply to ask questions about its practical and social effectiveness. However, we think both are necessary for acquiring deeper understanding, not only of peoples faith, but also of their life. Since faith and life are intimately connected we think that these both tasks are not mutually exclusive, but rather complement one another. Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the International Theological Commission (Rome, 5 December 2008) as quoted in Mickens, Pope Tells Theologians to Focus. Ibid. Mickens, Pope Tells Theologians to Focus; also see John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, on the Relation Between Faith and Reason (Rome: 14 September 1998), nos. 92-93; 97, highlighting the primary tasks of theology today. No. 93 sums up the chief purpose of theology as to provide an understanding of Revelation and the content of faith. The very heart of theological enquiry will thus be the contemplation of the mystery of the Triune God. Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the International Theological Commission, as quoted in Mickens, Pope Tells Theologians to Focus.

25

26

27 28

29

method opens the eyes of reason, widens our horizon and allows us to find the necessary answers to the challenges30 of today. A fourth consideration regards the author of a theology of liturgical inculturation. The question may be asked who does theology, and where. We think that the primary locus for theology is Sacred Scripture. In addition, the local Christian community is the place where Scripture or the message of Jesus becomes enfleshed. Here it receives a body through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. John Paul II expressed this thought convincingly when he stated in Fides et Ratio:
Theological work in the Church is first of all at the service of the proclamation of the faith and of catechesis. Proclamation or kerygma is a call to conversion, announcing the truth of Christ, which reaches its summit in his Paschal Mystery: for only in Christ is it possible to know the fullness of the 31 truth which saves (cf. Acts 4:12; 1 Tm 2:4-6).

Hence the construction of a theology of liturgical inculturation is not the private enterprise of an individual. It is primarily done by the local Church,32 where it arises from the intersection between reflection on the Word of God and on the local communitys spiritual and religious life, through the lens of the Churchs Apostolic tradition and doctrine. Methodological issues There are several methodological issues involved in this study, of which the adopted approach can be named as a first concern. For this study we adopt a thematic approach. We do this for several reasons, the first of which is that there is nothing new about inculturation, since from the very beginning the Church has grappled with the question of how to root the Gospel in the life and cultures of various peoples. That is why the literature on inculturation or, rather, on the reality it reflects, is well expanded, actually covering the entire period of the Churchs existence. A challenge then is the question where to start from. However, despite its ancient origin, the state of the question on inculturation is of fairly recent time. Nevertheless, the data and sources related to the question of faith encountering culture are of such a magnitude, which renders it rather impossible to completely account for in this study. Yet we shall employ a wide variety of sources, related to the primary research question of this study, which, as we have already indicated, is intimately bound with the question of liturgical inculturation. Since this study deals with a specific theme that concerns the Church in its entire universality in time and space, we shall therefore employ a wide variety of sources that elucidate the theme from different angles. This way of working correlates better with a

30 31 32

Ibid. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, no. 99. Cf. Redemptoris Missio, no. 54, where John Paul II remarks: In effect, inculturation must involve the whole people of God, and not just a few experts, since the people reflect the authentic sensus fidei which must never be lost sight of.

thematic approach, which is not confined to one particular source of knowledge, like, e.g. history. A second methodological issue regards our sources. For this study we shall employ a wide range of sources. These comprise the Holy Bible, Church documents, (theological) dictionaries, encyclopedias, other books, and articles from journals, magazines and newspapers. In addition, we shall consult electronic sources, for instance, Internet WebPages and online articles. A third methodological issue regards the method. This study is basically descriptive and analytical. Throughout this study we shall adopt a two-angled approach. We, therefore, examine both the magisterial teaching and the (ensuing) theological discourse on the two major themes in this study, namely popular religiosity and (liturgical) inculturation. We then try to identify points of convergence or divergence, and examine their significance for a theology of liturgical inculturation. The adopted method is based on literature study and literature review.33 A fourth methodological issue regards the question of procedure. How do we proceed in conducting this study? We start from a conceptual scheme of reference as reflected in both the Churchs documents and the ensuing theological discourses (for instance, the works of distinguished scholars like Anscar Chupungco, Aylward Shorter, and David Power, to name just a few). Even though this study gravitates around the Churchs teaching, as reflected in the pertaining documents, we deem the view of theologians as the ones just mentioned also important because their works provide deeper understandings of matters held by the Church. We begin this study from a broad conceptualized frame of reference. We are aware that there are other legitimate ways which may serve as starting point (e.g., from the concrete praxis), yet still we consciously commit ourselves to a conceptual approach. The reason therefore is that doctrinal pronouncements and Church documents have been tested by time, and have been subjected to a process of doctrinal and theological purification. Even the works of distinguished theologians like Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, Louis-Marie Chauvet, Gustavo Gutirrez, Michael Amaladoss, Elochukwu Uzukwu, Patrick Chibuko, and many others, have been subjected to scrutiny, either from Rome, or from the wider theological academe. They have gone through a process of theological catharsis. Hence, the major advantage of starting from a conceptual scheme of reference is that the sources employed have already reached theological maturity.
33

We should mention, however, that regarding our research method and sources, we have also conducted open, non-structured interviews, and employed the method of participant observation for collecting data related to the thematic field of popular religiosity. The first period of our field research took place from July to September 2005, in Paramaribo and comprised entirely of interviews. The second period occurred from March to May 2006, in which both interviews and participant observation have been employed. The latter occurred at two infant welfare centers, one located in a southern working class sub-urban area of Paramaribo, and the other in the northern (socio-economically better off) region of the capital. The primary objective of the observations was to assess the extent to which practices related to belief in the evil eye occurs.

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Engaging with the construction of a theology of liturgical inculturation certainly involves risks. While to some extent it can be brave-hearted to take risks particularly when taken with the necessary prudence it is also wise to avoid such, as much as possible, if one wants to withstand the storms and reach safely at the other side of the theological Sea. One, therefore, needs some save havens to anchor, pause, reflect, and from whence to continue the passage after the storm is over. However, we do acknowledge the vitality and authenticity of the concrete context of the local Church, and of peoples religiosity enshrined in their practices and beliefs, for theological reflection. They are valuable in that they can yield original and profound theological insights. But for a theology of liturgical inculturation which involves the harmonization of popular religiosity with the liturgy, we contend that it is not the Gospel that needs to be adapted to peoples lives, but rather vice versa, i.e., peoples lives and cultures should be transformed in order to meet the demands of the Gospel. Composition of the dissertation This dissertation comprises five chapters. The first chapter, which is actually an introductory chapter, describes the general context in which we situate the construction of a contemporary theology of liturgical inculturation. In this chapter we identify the context as one defined by postmodernity. This context entails new challenges to the Churchs liturgical and sacramental life. The incremental sense of individualism among the faithful this includes the so-called marginal- or seasonal Christians has its impact on the liturgy. How can the liturgy remain a communal celebration, when people are increasingly resorting to individual rites, even those of putative questionable allure? Apart from the trend of individualism, postmodernity also entails thriving pluralism. How can the Roman liturgy as the faith expression of one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church at the same time reflect the diversity of cultures and peoples among which and whom it is celebrated? In other words, how can the Church in its celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ be truly local and at the same time universal? These questions are explored in light of inculturation, for which this chapter serves as a conceptual framework. In the second chapter we focus on the theme of popular religiosity. The main guiding question for this chapter is: what is the theological significance of popular religiosity for the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church? We start with exploring this complex reality from two different angles, namely, from a socio-cultural and a theological perspective. This examination covers a variety of terminology related to this thematic field. A third approach is considered by looking at how a number of Church documents speak of popular religiosity. Thereafter we then assess the theological significance which one can derive from the manner in which these approaches evaluate popular religiosity.

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After having explored a portion of the theological literature that reflects the discourse on popular religiosity and the magisterial teaching of it, we then proceed with the third chapter in which we pay specific attention to popular religiosity from a Caribbean perspective. Here popular religiosity is not so much looked at from the side of the Church, but rather from the side of the peoples culture. We will advance that the concept of popular religiosity is also enshrined within the various African-American and African-Caribbean religions. How do these religions impact the faithful in their appropriation of the Gospel message? What lessons can be learned here for the inculturation of the liturgy vis--vis popular religiosity? With these questions still fresh on our mind, and perhaps not yet clearly answered, we usher into the fourth chapter of the dissertation. The fourth chapter begins with examining the theological foundation of a framework for liturgical inculturation. Here, the biblical paradigm of a solid foundation as narrated in Mt 7:2426, begins to take shape. However, a discussion on inculturation requires one to first explicate the concept of culture that is employed. In this chapter we shall briefly outline various understandings of this concept because each sheds light on the dynamic encounter between Gospel and culture from an historical perspective. But how does the present postmodern context perceive culture, and what are the implications of its understanding of the term for rooting the Gospel message in todays cultures? How do Gospel and culture encounter one another in a postmodern world? How are they related in function of the theological framework we envisage for liturgical inculturation? These will be guiding questions for this chapter. Furthermore, how can we go about establishing Christs Incarnation as the foundation for the theological framework of liturgical inculturation in light of universal salvation? This question will lead us to discuss the necessity of continuous evangelization on the part of the Church. Thence, we shall examine the relation between inculturation and evangelization. And toward the end of this chapter we shall explore in more detail the doctrine of the Incarnation which constitutes not only the base, but also stands at the very heart of inculturation. With the fifth and final chapter we pay closer attention to the question of liturgical inculturation and its underlying theology. We shall examine what this concept is really about and what it entails. Our examination of it will be guided by the works of Chupungco and others. Thereafter, we shall attempt to put together the main materials for a theology of liturgical inculturation, of which popular religiosity and the Roman liturgy function as supporting pillars to uphold the framework. We shall also seal its foundation (i.e., the Incarnation) with another layer, namely the Paschal Mystery, in order to highlight the continuous presence of the risen Lord in His Church and in the liturgy, even when inculturated. Towards the end of this chapter we discuss in more concrete terms how popular religiosity and the Roman liturgy can engage in a fruitful encounter, in light of liturgical inculturation; we then also examine how such an encounter can be underpinned theologically, and in harmony with the Churchs doctrine. We shall therefore examine what theological significance one can attribute to the ancient practice

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of, and believe in the evil eye, as it occurs in many contemporary Caribbean societies and cultures. We end this study with a general conclusion, in which we shall briefly restate the essential findings of this theological journey.

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CHAPTER 1. CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY IN A POSTMODERN CONTEXT

1.1.

Introduction

Theological discourses are cultural products: they take place within historical processes. All theologies represent particular understandings and can be adequately comprehended only if they are seen in light of the history of the relevant ideas and social facts that influenced their original setting. Consequently, different eras have seen the rise of different theological discourses. Theological discourses can be said to be contemporary if they examine and address current questions, challenges and problems, and try to find new answers and solutions for them. In this initial chapter on contemporary theology, we shall concentrate on the challenges, demands and questions posed by postmodernity,1 in relation to popular religiosity and the liturgy. We embark hereupon with the assumption that present-day societies are generally considered to be profoundly affected by postmodernity which also has its bearings on Christianity and ways of expressing faith. It is therefore in a postmodern context where these challenges and questions emerge, and call for a theological response. One of the present-day challenges concerns radical plurality in virtually all societal domains. This also obtains for the discipline of theology. The latter part of the twentieth century saw the emergence of a multitude of theological forms arising from a variety of contexts. According to James Byrne this poses a challenge to classical university theology. Moreover, it has led to the recognition of the importance of discrete experiences in theological reflection.2 Based on this understanding, we envisage contemporary theology as a theology, or theologies rather, that take(s) the concrete pertaining context as starting point for reflection.3

The discourse on postmodernity originated from within the domains of architecture, art and music, and only later was taken up by philosophers and theologians. Our current discussion of this theme is situated in the framework of the theological discourse. See Keith F. Pecklers, Worship, New Century Theology (London / New York: Continuum, 2002), 193. James M. Byrne, Theology and Christian Faith, Concilium 6 (1994): 3-12, 6. Cf. Keith Clements, Theology Now, in Companion Encyclopedia of Theology, eds. Peter Byrne and Leslie Houlden (London / New York: Routledge, 1995), 272-90. According to Clements, contemporary theology is marked by a particular set of cross-currents, which are not simply between liberal and orthodox theologies, as between quite different understandings of which features of the contemporary cultural context theology should relate to, or which intellectual endeavors it should be part of (p. 285).

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It is also argued that theology as a whole departs from the reflection on the sacramentality of religious life, in its activity and its thinking.4 Against this backdrop, theology is not limited to a theology of the sacraments, even though that occupies a central part in its endeavor. It rather reflects a larger view on how to think the divine and its mediation, i.e., the presence of God, in an intellectual context. Philosophers and theologians in general refer to that context as postmodern or postmodernity. One should, however, not confuse postmodernity with postmodernism. As George Worgul points out, postmodernity is a description of a culture condition, whereas postmodernism is a somewhat loosely connected set of ideas such as relativism, nihilism, or emotivism, which some have categorized as ideologies inimical to Christian faith....5 Lambert Leijssen notes that presentday philosophers and theologians employ this term to characterize the contemporary cultural climate. 6 Elsewhere Leijssen distinguishes three different definitions which are given to postmodernity. A brief first definition attached to this term perceives it as a critical reflection of reason on modernitys rationale.7 Secondly, postmodernity is also perceived as the approach which followed after the awakening from modernity at the end of the so-called metanarratives, the collapse of the myth of progress, the conscientization of the finitude of the individual subject to construct a coherent worldview.8 And thirdly, some also define postmodernity as radicalized modernity, or plural and reflexive modernity.9 These definitions constitute the background for our discussion of contemporary theology in relation to popular religiosity and the liturgy. Others, however, use both postmodernity and postmodernism interchangeably,10 or employ the latter with the meaning of the former.11 This may be attributed to the difficulty, or
4

See Lieven Boeve, Lambert Leijssen, and John C. Ries, Preface to Questions Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy 81 (2000): 163-64, 163. George S. Worgul, Jr. foreword to With the Silent Glimmer of Gods Spirit: A Postmodern Look at the Sacraments, trans. Marie Baird, by Lambert J. Leijssen (New York / Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2006) x. Lambert J. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer of Gods Spirit: A Postmodern Look at the Sacraments (New York / Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2006), 23. Leijssen, Volksreligie en postmoderniteit, in Volksreligie, liturgie en evangelisatie, Nik-reeks 42, ed. Jozef Lamberts (Leuven / Amersfoort: Acco, 1998), 107-28, 107. Ibid., 108. In this current study worldview refers to an all-embracing vision that people have of themselves, the society, the cosmos, history, and their place in all this. Cf. Amando J. Robles, Social Transformation and the Religious Vision of the World among the Underclasses of Nicaragua, in Popular Religion, Liberation and Contextual Theology, KTC 8, eds. Jacques Van Nieuwenhove and Berma Klein Goldewijk (Kampen: J. H. Kok b.v., 1991), 91-99. Robles claims that there are at least three different models of worldviews. He thus identifies the following: A traditional vision of the world applied to nature, as opposed to a rational and analytical vision of the world applied to the social domain, and a traditional ethico-social vision which, likewise, is opposed to a vision of the world in mythical terms and a vision of the world purely in analytical and rational terms. Ibid., 109. See, for instance, Herman De Dijn, Religie in de 21ste eeuw. Kleine handleiding voor voor- en tegenstanders (Kapellen: Pelckmans, 2006). All following translations of quotations from this book are ours.

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even impossibility either to define or to evaluate postmodernity as a uniform or even single phenomenon. 12 Nevertheless, in general, postmodern authors agree on some of the stark features of postmodernity, which, among others, they identified as a profound diffusion of a sense of plurality and an abounding sense of individuality, or individualism. This chapter focuses in part on these two dominant features of postmodernity. However, one cannot grasp postmodernity without duly considering modernity, especially where the former is construed as reflexive modernity, or radicalized modernity. For that reason we will precede the discussion on postmodernity with a brief elaboration on the concept of modernity in relation to Christianity. Worgul emphasizes that the Church ought to take postmodernity au srieux, since that is the context where the faithful are living and where the gospel is to be preached.13 This latter observation underlines the importance of a contemporary theology especially in the area of liturgy. On a final note it must be added that the discussion on postmodernity, as construed in this chapter, is far from exhaustive. Given that the philosophical intricacies and underpinnings of postmodernity are beyond the scope of this study, many blind spots will unavoidably become apparent and questions be left unanswered.

1.2.

Christianity and modernity

There seems to be no general agreement on a specific demarcated historical period for modernity. In general terms, however, modernity depicts the evolution of cultural and intellectual movements (for instance, the Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Enlightenment, etc.) occurring roughly between the beginning of the seventeenth and the midtwentieth century. Some historians make a distinction between the early modern period (occurring roughly between the sixteenth and nineteenth century) and the later modern era (which is
11

See, for instance, Jozef Lamberts, Contemporary Feeling and Liturgy, Concilium 6 (1995): 130-36, 130. Here Lamberts describes postmodernism as to denote above all the deep doubt in what was (indeed is) so characteristic to modern age: a blind belief in progress, the power of human reason, the benefits of science, the ideal of total human autonomy in freedom and equality, the power of great ideologies as generally meaningful explanations. This circumscription is based on George De Schrijver, Experiencing the Sacramental Character of Existence, QL 75 (1994): 12-27, 19-20. De Schrijver himself employs the term postmodernity, or more accurate philosophical postmodernity. Anthony C. Thiselton, Postmodernity, in The Dictionary of Historical Theology, eds. Trevor A. Hart et al. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000), 434-37,436. This author asserts that postmodernitys definition and scope may vary from context to context rendering it, therefore, rather intricate (p. 434). Worgul, foreword to With the Silent Glimmer, by Leijssen, x-xi; also see John C. Ries, The Place of Sacraments in a Post-Modern Context, QL 81 (2000): 165-69, 166. Here, with the oft-quoted verse of Blaise Pascal at the back of his mind The heart has reasons of which reason knows nothing; we know this in countless ways as reflected in his Penses, Ries succinctly outlines the postmodern context as follow: It is a profound, even pervading, sense that the tribunal of reason is not final, that there are reasons of which reason knows nothing, and that it is precisely these unreasonable reasons which are of vital importance to us.

12

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believed to have already begun during the eighteenth century). Others claim that the early part of modernity was characterized by the nineteenth century process of industrialization, whereas the second part largely concurred with the twentieth century. And, again, others contend that the age of modernity began around the seventeenth century.14 It is, however, generally accepted that modernity was sparked by the evolution of modern science in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Historically the process of modernization emanated from the western world, namely Western Europe. Some authors therefore identify modernization with westernization, a process which lasted for about 500 years. More specifically it is a process whereby traditional, longestablished societies came under the influence of western culture in such matters as industry and technology, law, politics, economy, etc. The indigenous population of many colonized territories assimilated or domesticated elements of European cultures, like the language of their European motherland and Christianity as reflected in its various European brands. As a result many of these former European colonies have become westernized in the sense that western culture has deeply permeated into these societies, and has to a large extent influenced the lifestyle of the people. This is reflected by, among others, the language of government and instruction which is not only the official language, but also the language of the former motherland. 15 For many people the respective European languages have become a first (mother tongue) or second language. Other areas of western influence include family planning and birth control measures, division of labor, nutrition and healthcare, and medical treatment, even for endemic diseases. In short it can be said that many non-western people have adopted a modern lifestyle in a process which has been vastly accelerated since the diffusion of modern technological and communication devices. Westernization and modernization to a large extent went hand in hand. Modernizing trends also occurred in the Caribbean during the period of colonization and slavery. For example, in Suriname, a colony of The Netherlands at that time, several clubs arose among the white section of the population, such as De Surinaamsche Lettervrienden, which existed from 1785 ca. 1790. This particular club was involved with theatre, science and arts, and can be perceived as a landmark of a modest cultural renaissance in the colony, even though it had no significant lasting influence on society at large.16
14

See Antoon Vergote, Moderniteit en Christendom. Gesprek in vrijheid en respect, trans. Paul Leemans (Tielt: Lannoo, 1999), 11, 39-40. De Dijn (Religie in de 21ste eeuw, 34) follows Vergote in this. In all the former British colonies in the Caribbean English is the official language. Likewise, French is still the official language in former French colonies and contemporary overseas provinces of France in Africa and the Caribbean. In the case of Suriname, one can perceive the colonial cultural impact of The Netherlands, in among other, the Dutch language which is the official language of instruction and government. See Ursy Lichtveld and Jan Voorhoeve, Suriname, spiegel der vaderlandse kooplieden: een historisch leesboek, 2nd rev. edition (Den Haag: Nijhoff, 1980). The area of the impact of western modernity on Caribbean societies during

15

16

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According to John Ries, modernity in the western world implied a thorough confidence in the capabilities and self-transparency of human reason.17 Another author notes two particular elements which are specific for modernity. The first concerns the differentiation in culture between various social sectors operating autonomously from one another (for instance, science and technology, economy and labor, politics, ethics, and religion) and the second concerns the autonomy of the human person.18 And yet another way of describing modernity is by comparing it to premodern or postmodern societies. From a historical lens one looks at modernity, or the modern age, as distinct from the medieval period and the age of antiquity. In this line of argument modernity is characterized as that period within which humanity became aware of its own historicity.19 Notwithstanding these diverse ways of characterizing modernity,20 authors generally perceive it as extending up to the twentieth century. These ways for depicting modernity had implications for Christianity the world over.21 Whereas in premodern times Christianity largely
the period of colonialization and slavery has remained virtually unexplored in theological studies, although Caribbean theologians have in recent years began utilizing socio-historical studies for theological reflection. Social scientists from the Caribbean and elsewhere have long been aware of the repercussions of western modernity and its impact on Caribbean people, their cultures and societies on the whole. See, for instance, Moses I. Finley, Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology in Historical Context, expanded and ed. Brent D. Shaw (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998 [1980]). In this book the author discusses how slave societies in both the premodern (classical Greece and Roman Italy) and modern age (United States of America, the Caribbean, and Brazil) came into being. He particularly examines the moral, social, and economic underpinnings, prevalent in these periods, and how they contributed to the development of these societies.
17 18

Ries, The Place of Sacraments, 165. De Dijn, Religie in de 21ste eeuw, 34. Regarding the discovery of the modern subject as an autonomous individual, De Dijn refers to Kant who held that the modern subject is the human person who thinks and acts for himself as an autonomous individual, not influenced by others or tradition. Terrence Merrigan, Whats in a Word? Revelation and Tradition in Vatican II and in Contemporary Theology, in Vatican II and Its Legacy, BETL 166, eds. M. Lamberigts and L. Kenis (Leuven: University Press and Peeters, 2002), 59-82, 59. Cf. De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift in Third World Theologies of Liberation: From Socio-Economic Analysis to Cultural Analysis? in Liberation Theologies on Shifting Grounds: A Clash of Socio-Economic and Cultural Paradigms, BETL, 135, ed. Id. (Leuven: University Press and Peeters, 1998), 3-83, 9. Here the Schrijver gives a broader understanding of modernity by pointing out the following five pillars on which it stands: confidence in sciencebased technology, the sovereignty of the nation-states, bureaucratic rationality, profit maximization, and the belief in steady progress. These five pillars, De Schrijver asserts, rest on a methodology that aims at rationally comprehending things in terms of their standardized universal order (p. 9). These implications first came to the fore in modern western societies and later found expressions in the entire radiance of secularization understood here as a process in which religion diminishes in importance both in society and in the consciousness of individuals (Peter L. Berger, Reflections on the Sociology of Religion Today, [The 2000 Paul Hanly Furfey Lecture] Sociology of Religion 64, no. 4 [2001]: 443-54, 443). But, eventually, the implications also spilled over to the so-called third world countries or (former) colonial territories. See, for instance, a study by Jan Van Raalte, Secularisatie en zending in Suriname: over het secularisatieproces in verband met het zendingswerk van de Evangelische Broedergemeente in Suriname (Wageningen: Veenman, 1973); and John F. Gorski, Christology, Inculturation, and Their Missiological Implications: A Latin American Perspective, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 28, no. 2 (2004): 60-63, 60, who reports that approximately one-third of the Latin American population constitutes of migrants relocated from one part of their country to another, or

19

20

21

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impacted social and communal life, and adopted the role of what Peter Berger has described as a sacred canopy,22 with the advent of modernity Christianity became one among other socially influential factors. Modernity dictated one sovereign and absolute truth, and that was the truth of science. Moreover, modernitys historical consciousness, it is claimed, seems to deny any factual basis to the gospels and concomitantly explains Christianity purely in terms of historic-cultural categories. To that respect the clarity and power of reason seemed to have relegated religion to a realm of superstition and rendered its reasons mute.23 Moreover, the Flemish philosopher Herman De Dijn argues:
Psychology and sociobiology seem to reduce religion to socio-psychological processes or even to mere pathology. Evolution theory and scientific cosmology seem obviously to be incompatible with the biblical worldview in which the arrival of Christ has an eschatological meaning in a drama which 24 contains the entire cosmos.

Modernity, it is said, also impacted church and society. De Dijn points out that with modernity the Church as an institution loses its grip on society and is confronted with individuals for whom authority and orthodoxy are no longer self-evident. This crisis of the institutional Church, De Dijn maintains, reflects the crisis of all institutions and of the attached power- and authority relations.25 However, Bryan Wilson gives us a more apt description of how modernity impacted religion in general and Christianity in particular when he writes:
Religion becomes privatized. In a consumer society it becomes just another consumer good, a leisure-time commodity no longer affecting the centers of power or the operation of the system even at the level of social control, socialization, and the organization of the emotions and of motivations. Religion becomes a matter of choice, but whatever religion is chosen is of no 26 consequence to the operation of the social system.

Some authors also insist that modernity entailed a legitimate purge of traditional Christianity. This is reflected in several modern brands of theology, or theological methods. Alister McGrath argues that the period 1400-1750 has been foundational for modern theological

even to other nations These people live with a mixture of their own traditions and elements from other cultures, along with a dose of modern and postmodern elements (p. 60).
22

Peter L. Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of A Sociological Theory of Religion (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967). Ries, The Place of Sacraments, 166. De Dijn, Religie in de 21ste eeuw, 34-35. Ibid., 35. Bryan Wilson, Contemporary Transformations of Religions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976), 277, quoted in David Lyon, The Steeples Shadow: On the Myths and Realities of Secularization (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 58

23 24 25 26

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methods.27 An example of the latter is found with the historical critical method in biblical studies. The German Protestant existentialist Rudolf Bultmann is generally considered to be the frontrunner of this method. It offered groundbreaking insights into biblical literature by correcting conventional thinking which saw the gospels as strict historical reports. In addition, it opened up avenues for reading these gospels as symbolic-theological writings, and as confessions, not straightly forwarded from the Word of God, but from the faith of the editors.28 Bultmann is generally considered as the representative of the school that has forcefully advocated the following position:
What is essential to the Christian religion is the call of God and mans response, which is faith; that the kerugma is the expression of the call of faith; that the simple proclamation of Gods intervention, demanding our response; and that much, at least, of the gospel story is the expression of this 29 intervention in mythological form.

The underlying question for some modern theologians, however, was whether Christianity could survive as a vital force vis--vis modernity. Bultmann, who became famous for his concept of demythologizing Christianity held that traditional Christianity could be rescued from skepticism if its mythological elements are filtered out and only their core meanings retained.30 According to Carl Reinhold Brkenhielm, the objective of this approach was to sift out the timebound from the timeless in the Synoptic Gospels. 31 This approach had consequences for traditional Christianity, but was also objected by Bultmanns contemporaries. The German philosopher Karl Jaspers, who is considered a founder of existential philosophy, entered into a fierce debate with Bultmann, as related in Myth and Christianity.32 There Jaspers contends that religion without mythology is impossible. But the tone set by Bultmann already had implications for traditional Christianity, which found resonance in modernitys mode of thinking. It is argued that Bultmanns demythologization programme was taken to its extreme limit in the 1960s by the death of God theology, and that at its best it remains part of the

27

Alister McGrath, The Transition to Modernity, in Companion Encyclopedia of Theology, eds. Byrne and Houlden, 230-50. McGrath contends that a series of development that prepared the basis for modern theological methods occurred particularly in relation to the following three areas: (1) The dawn of a historical perspective; (2) the development of a critical approach to Scripture; (3) the shift in meaning of the word Church (p. 230). De Dijn, Religie in de 21ste eeuw, 35. H. Francis Davis et al. eds., A Catholic Dictionary of Theology (London / Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1967), 336. See Rudolf Bultmann, The Case for Demythologization, in Myth and Christianity: An Inquiry into the Possibility of Religion without Myth, eds. Karl Jaspers and Rudolf Bultmann (New York: Noonday, 1958), 57-71. Carl Reinhold Brkenhielm, Christian Tradition and Contemporary Society, Concilium 6 (1994): 23-34, 25. See Karl Jaspers, Myth and Religion, in Myth and Christianity, eds. Jasper and Bultmann, 3-56; Jaspers, The Issues Clarified, in Ibid., 72-116.

28 29

30

31 32

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mainstream of both Protestant and Catholic theology.33 However, the historical-critical method eventually came under severe criticism,34 with some opponents from Bultmanns own hatch. Eta Linnemann, for instance, a former student of Bultmann who had meticulously initiated her into the minutest details of this method, and which eventually merited her a honorary professorship in New Testament studies at Philipps University in Marburg, (West) Germany, eventually recanted. After a personal crisis of faith, followed by her embrace of a brand of neo-evangelicals, Linnemann broke completely with this method and with her former guru. In one of her later works she objects that to the historical-critic critical reason decides what is reality in the Bible, and what cannot be reality.35 The historical-critical approach in essence, antagonists claim, tries to find the canon within the canon. According to another opponent this method had become a godless technique that erodes the Word of God itself.36 In its place the German theologian Gerhard Maier suggests the historical-Biblical method which emphasizes the historical rather than the critical.37 It therefore takes a serious look at (biblical) history without denying Gods supernatural intervention in human affairs. The relationship between Christianity and modernity remained problematic throughout the modern era. Some authors attribute this troublesome marriage to modernitys inability to envisage transcendental reality breaking through human history. As a consequence hereof, modern human sciences reduce the understanding and experience of faith to a mere combination of psychological (or even psychopathological) phenomena.38 To redress this problematic relationship Antoon Vergote suggests the intervention of a philosophical anthropology which he deems capable to sensitize modernitys mentality for the pitfalls of a certain reductionism. De Dijn explains this in the following way:

33 34

James Byrne, Theology and Christian Faith, 4. See, for instance, John Macquarrie, The Scope of Demythologizing: Bultmann and His Critics (London: SCM, 1960). Macquarrie is more sympathetic toward Bultmanns concept of demythologization than any of the critics he discusses. He therefore concludes: Demythologizing looks like being one of the most promising ways forward for theology in our time. Maintaining some sense of cautiousness, he finally notes: The limit to demythologizing is nothing other than the recognition of the difference between a philosophy of human existence and a religion of divine grace (p. 244). Eta Linnemann, Historical Criticism of the Bible: Methodology or Ideology, trans. Robert W. Yarbrough (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1990), 169. Eugene F. Klug, foreword to The End of the Historical-Critical Method, trans. Edwin W. Leverenz and Rudolf F. Norden, by Gerhard Maier (St. Louis: Concordia, 1977), 10; also see O. C. Edwards, Historical-Critical Methods Failure of Nerve and a Prescription for a Tonic: A Review of Some Recent Literature, Anglican Theological Review 59 (1977): 115-34. One of the objections raised against the historical-critical method has been its perceived overemphasis on the critical aspect at the expense of the historical. Vergote, Moderniteit en Christendom, 127.

35

36

37

38

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Human science can indeed be brought to the recognition that she can never recuperate lived reality. Philosophical anthropology cannot offer itself access to the meaning people experience from faith, but she can promote the openness for the irreducible personal perception, also in the area of 39 religion.

Nevertheless, one can also view this problem from the perspective of religion, especially those religious forms or systems that have a strong connection with tradition. The argument here is that there exists incompatibility between modernity with its dynamic move toward progress and change, and religions that emphasize traditions of the past that are less susceptible to change.40 According to David Tracy modern theology also reflects the crisis of modernity in relation to transcendental reality. Tracy first observes that the history of theology is the history of the evershifting relationship between the reality of God and that divine reality as experienced and understood from within a logos, i.e., a particular horizon of intelligibility.41 Doing theology, therefore, implies correlating theos and logos in an attempt to make that relation intelligible. Since Christian theologians employed the logos of modernity, thus, using the intellectual and philosophical underpinnings of modernity in the theological discourse, the reality of theos became overwhelmed and domesticated by modernitys horizon of intelligibility. Unlike in premodern time where divine reality was always illuminated but never controlled by the logos of Greek and Roman and mediaeval cultures,42 modernity has to a large extent encapsulated the understanding of God and recasting it into its peculiar modern scheme of thought expressions. As a consequence, modern theology became obsessed with finding exactly the right method, the irrefutable modern rational argument, the proper horizon of intelligibility.43 Yet this exercise in theologizing forged significant understandings of Gods radically relational nature which had remained concealed to the premodern theological discourse. A clear example hereof is the question of panentheism which is literally seen as a theory of the nature of a God in whom everything is by identity, but a God

39 40 41 42 43

De Dijn, Religie in de 21ste eeuw, 37. Ibid., 8 David Tracy, On Naming the Present: God, Hermeneutics, and Church (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1994), 36. Ibid., 38. Ibid., 36; also see William R. Crockett, Christianity and Culture in Modern Secular Society, Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 28-35, 30-31. There he mentions three different theological responses to secularization as a distinct feature of modernity. A first response came from theologians who accepted Enlightenment assumptions uncritically and as a result thereof tended to accept secularization as the necessary consequence with in extremis some even concluding that God is dead; a second response came from more moderate secular theologians [who] looked instead for alternative models of transcendence; a third response came from theologians who regarded secularization as primarily an historical phenomenon (the end of Christendom) and sought to explore alternative relationships between church and society. As a theologian and liturgist Crocket voices his own response to secularization in terms of promoting the symbolic as a constitutive dimension of human life in society. He therefore suggest that the gap between Christianity and culture characteristic of modern secular society can be bridged primarily through the rediscovery of the symbolic in human life (p. 31).

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who remains distinct in being from the many which are identified with him.44 According to Joanne Ginsterblum it is a philosophy or religion which was originated by Alfred Whitehead based on his own metaphysics. For this, premodern theology and philosophy lacked the conceptual framework to employ it in the respective discourse. However, Alan Richardson traces its origin with K. C. F. Krause (1781-1832) which he used as a title for his own philosophy.45 Nevertheless, Tracy cautions, there is also a shadow side attached to modern theological discourse: The awesome, frightening, interruptive reality of God can seem lost even in the best modern concepts forged to articulate the relational insights of modern theologies.46 Theoretical insights that, with originative power once illuminated the reality of God were forced to go underground. Those who still possessed a strong sense of God, Tracy argues, became marginal to the modern centralizing project.47 Various forms of modern isms (deism, atheism, agnosticism, etc.) which erupted during the age of early modernity, kept the modern God hostage by imposing their own understanding of God. Through these isms modernity, in effect, promoted itself as the sovereign guardian, interpreter and advocate of the reality of God and religion. It thereby gravely overruled Christianity, at least in modern western societies and to a lesser extent in those areas least affected by modernity. The aftermaths, which are still felt in contemporary time call for a critical examination of modernity. This task has been taken up by the adepts of postmodernity; hence, Ries explains that since modern reason ultimately left no room for anything else, much of the impetus of post-modern thinking has been spent on undoing such modern reason.48 This, Ries continues, became particularly visible in the rejection of ontotheological metaphysics and the concomitant deconstruction of anything foundational or originary.49

44

Joanne M. Ginsterblum, Panentheism: The Religious Philosophy of A. N. Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne (Rome: Pontificia Univeristas Gregoriana, 1957), 5. Alan Richardson, ed., A Dictionary of Christian Theology (London: SCM Press, 1969), 250. Richardson explains this term as a Greek compound word meaning everything (exists) in God, thus indicating a conception rather different from pantheism, which holds that everything is divine. In similar fashion the Encyclopaedia Britannica, th vol. 13, 15 ed. (1974), 949 explains this word as holding that the world is included in God but that God is more than the world. And Paul Edwards, ed., The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 6, repr. ed. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1972 [1969]), 22 refers to this word as emanationism, in Ibid., 467, and distinguishes between philosophical emanationism and theological emanationism. Tracy, On Naming the Present, 37. Ibid., 40. Ries, The Place of Sacraments, 166. Ibid.

45

46 47 48 49

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1.3.

Postmodernity

Tracys contention that the modern isms failed in letting God be God, and allowing God to break through the modern logos provided postmodernity with the space to fill that void. Postmodernity, Tracy argues, provided a new opportunity for serious contemporary thought on God.50 This, however, does not cease to reflect certain modern characteristics, such as the renewed question of God for many modern scientists and theologians in their mutually informative conversations on science. In fact, Tracy points out:
Much contemporary thought on God, moreover, will prove to be a rediscovery of biblical narrative for Christian God-talk. At the same time, the most characteristically postmodern forms of God-talk have allowed the awesome reality of theos to return in force after postmodernitys calling into 51 question of modernitys powerful logos.

Worgul makes a similar claim when he points out that postmodernity contains dimensions which resemble some of the values Christian tradition in the premodern age advocated. To illustrate his point he names the following examples: apophatic theology, the openness and dynamism of the Christian story, the emphasis on Gods love as pure gift, the desire for a community of ethics, the need for decontextualization and recontextualization....52 Leijssen puts it more bluntly by remarking:
As far as the sacraments are concerned, it is striking that the premodern conceptual categories from the scholastic, Thomistic synthesis are still current, with Aristotelian metaphysics forming the supporting conceptual structure. This structure was called into question by the Reformation, with a (temporary) answer from the Council of Trent. In ecumenical dialogue this framework often remains 53 in effect.

Despite postmodernitys rejection of various forms of metaphysical-ontological thought, such as causality, the analogia entis, and the spiritual as the representation of a physical model, Leijssen maintains that it does not deny a metaphysical origin to the world. To that extent, he continues, postmodernity should be interpreted as postmetaphysical rather than antimetaphysical.54
50 51 52

Tracy, On Naming the Present, 37, 42. Ibid. Worgul, Foreword to With the Silent Glimmer, by Leijssen, xi; also see Andr Goosens, Viervoudige herijking: hedendaags profiel van de sacramenten, in Christelijke initiatie en de liturgie. Hulde aan professor dr. Jozef Lamberts bij zijn emeritaat, Nik-reeks 52, ed., Lambert Leijssen (Leuven: Acco, 2006), 285-304. In this contribution Goosens discusses the instrumental vision on the sacraments which existed throughout the ages (medieval, modern and contemporary times). He offers several ways through which the sacraments can be revalued (herijken). Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 24. Ibid., 27.

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Lieven Boeve raises a similar point on the prolongation of elements from the premodern and modern age into the postmodern era. He argues that contemporary sacramentological interpretation of symbols and rituals used in the celebration of the Christian sacraments has remained virtually premodern. Furthermore, Boeve contends that a neo-Platonic cosmology, or onto(theo)logy is an unspoken but defining feature of this sacramentology, or more generally, sacramento-theology. This cosmology prevailed despite the many attempts by modern theologians to integrate modern sensibilities into their theologies in order to regain the theoretical credibility and practical relevance of Christianity in Modern times. Regarding modern theologians in general, Boeve continues by asserting:
[They] have tended to reshape theology in accord with the modern turn to a subject-centered worldview. Concretely, this has meant leaving behind more Scholastic thought-patterns, and entering into dialogue with Kant and Hegel, existentialism and personalism, Marxism and neoMarxism. The systematic theologies of Bernard Lonergan, Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, Johann 55 Baptist Metz, and Hans Kng are the offspring of such endeavours.

The viewpoint of Tracy, Worgul, Leijssen and Boeve on the relation between premodernity, modernity and postmodernity underscores, or at least suggests that the latter should not be seen as a radical break with the former two. It is therefore imbued with both continuation and discontinuation with the premodern and modern era. Yet there seems to be a paradox in play where some argue in favor of an unmistakable caesura ... in current philosophical and theological thought.56 Nevertheless, postmodernity does not simply discard modernity in itself. What it reacts against is modernitys pretension to be the sole provider of a modern horizon of intelligibility that better fits the reality of God. Postmodernitys suspicion hereof also regards premodern arguments on the existence and nature of God. It is therefore critical toward all systems of thought that pretend to have the autonomous ability to control Gods reality.57 These systems of thought, Tracy maintains, lack the ability to conceive of Gods reality beyond their peculiar logos or horizon of intelligibility. In other words, Gods overwhelming mystery cannot be confined to one particular thought system no matter how rational it may be. Any attempt thereof risks the danger of a
55

Lieven Boeve, Thinking Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context: A Playground for Theological Renewal, in Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context, BETL 160, eds. L. Boeve and L. Leijssen (Leuven: University Press and Peeters, 2001), 3-35, 6. Leijssen (With the Silent Glimmer, 24) refers to a research project on postmodern sacramento-theology that has been conducted at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) from 1996 to 2000. Researchers at this project, of which Leijssen himself was a key player, took this caesura as the starting point of the status quaestionis. For specific details of this project, see Stijn Van den Bossche, Postmoderniteit, theologie en sacramentologie. Een onderzoeksproject toegelicht, Jaarboek voor Liturgie-onderzoek 13 (1997): 21-48. Cf. Ibid. According to Leijssen both premodernity, with the naive open-mindedness of a mythical and preCopernican worldview and the rational insights of the Enlightenment and the new theology that attempted to integrate this modern rationality deserve to be subjected to a hermeneutical [postmodern] critique.

56

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particular reductionism of the reality of God. To that extent George de Schrijver asserts that postmodern thinking sees in the way in which these thought systems as manifested in the so-called great stories assume a divine aura around themselves, an expression of arrogance and selfimportance.58

1.3.1. Postmodernity and individualism

As a developmental continuation of modernity some describe postmodernity in terms of the period within which the insight into our historicity is put into practice in a most radical fashion. This, Terrence Merrigan argues, entails that the individual now insists on taking sole responsibility for shaping his or her own historical project. This again, leads to a situation where the sovereign individual will author his or her own drama, without committing him/herself to any conventions. Value is to be attributed according as a thing is deemed serviceable to the individuals story-line.59 This observation also obtains for the religious sphere. In a postmodern context religious experiences become primarily an individual affair. These experiences are profoundly connected with individualism. 60 The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, for instance, compares contemporary faith expression with modern variations and concludes that in a postmodern context personal faith experience seems to receive prevalence above communal expressions.61 Some refer to this matter as reli-shopping, by which is meant that individuals engage in a process of religious bricolage. It is said that individuals are increasingly choosing religious elements from the religious supermarket based on a personal choice that best appeal to the personal desire or mood. This package of religious items consists of elements that originate from a variety of religious backgrounds and traditions. This is also illustrative for a fundamental discrepancy between individual religiosity, which according to Taylor is obsessed with emotivism and a crave for interesting experiences, and the religiosity inspired by Jesus example, his words and deeds as recorded in the gospel narratives. De Dijn calls this phenomenon self-bricolage spirituality.62

58 59 60

De Schrijver, Sacramental Character of Existence, 20. Merrigan, Whats in a Word?, 60. See Steven Lukes, The Meanings of Individualism, Journal of the History of Ideas 32, no. 1 (1971): 45-66, for a thorough examination of the several meanings of this concept. In this article Stevens aim is to indicate both the variety and the directions of the main paths traced during the terms rich semantic history (p. 45). He locates the origin of this term to the nineteenth century use of the French term individualisme, which grew out of the general European reaction to the French Revolution and to its alleged source, the thought of the Enlightenment (Ibid.). Charles Taylor, Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002). De Dijn, Religie in de 21
ste

61 62

eeuw, 42 (in Dutch: zelf gebricoleerde spiritualiteit).

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Individualism, however, is not a fruit of postmodernity. It has its roots in the modern era, but has become even more pronounced in contemporary time, thereby rendering the dichotomy between tradition and modernity into oblivion. According to De Dijn the question nowadays regards not so much this just mentioned dichotomy but foremost the manipulability of frameworks for sense-giving (zingevingskaders) in the context of personal desire from postmodern individuals living in a so-called pluralistic society.63 This postmodern attitude, De Dijn argues, leads to watering down the experience of faith, especially when reduced to the levels of emotivism and sentimentalism. This becomes visible in the area of the sacraments and sacramentals. De Dijn notes that in the case of funeral rites an overwhelming majority of people expresses the desire for a church funeral with a rite that contains elements of their own prerogatives, or of that of their relatives likes. He dryly comments that the individual, even after death, imposes his own will. In this way sentimentalism overtakes the deeper meaning of what is envisaged in the rite.64 Many a pastor sees him or herself65 confronted with having to find a balance between what their church offers in the funeral rite, or the rite of matrimony, and the individuals demand. This often has to do with, for instance, the choice of secular music or symbols peculiar to a particular postmodern lifestyle.66 In this regard, Louis-Mary Chauvets comment is rather apt when he states: One gets the impression that in a great many cases the order of the rite, as it is established by the church, practically functions as the rite of the order of the established order, that is, of a mediation of conformity to the dominant value system.67 De Dijn correctly points out that when instrumentalizing religion to the extent where personal feelings and sentiments receive the upper hand, religion loses its dignity. Feelings, De Dijn asserts, must remain a byproduct rather than the essential; the ritual is the essential.68 In

63 64 65 66

Ibid., 41. Ibid., 44. This does not only obtain for Roman Catholic pastors, but also for Protestants, which thus includes female pastors. De Schrijver (The Paradigm Shift, 33-44) describes a postmodern lifestyle in the following way: To find satisfaction in the ever-new now moment has become the ideal to live by. Postmoderns expect the now-experience of tomorrow to be qualitatively different from the now-experience today. They are used to celebrating the fleeting qualities of life and to enjoy the surface of existence in terms of pure instantaneity. Fragmentation and instantaneity also produce an a-historical leveling down of all viewed time-images, and a deletion of the boundaries between reality and fiction. Television, as the typical postmodern medium of communication, succeeds in mixing up historical accounts of the past with advertisements of the present, and this collage makes it difficult to differentiate entertainment from serious information (p. 33-34). Louis-Marie Chauvet, The Sacraments: The Word of God at the Mercy of the Body (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2001), 176. De Dijn, Religie in de 21
ste

67

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eeuw, 44.

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the same vein another author remarks: Ritual forms without religious tradition threaten to become empty and hollow very quickly.69 Similar voices are also heard of from high-ranking Church officials. In that respect Leijssen notes the following comment from a Belgium bishop who advocates radicalizing the ritual to its specifically Christian eloquence. At the same time, we can let them [those referred to as marginal believers] appreciate that more is at play than the occasional sacralization of a life moment that it is ultimately about something that gives life itself a new direction.70 Leijssen highlights another side of the same coin by suggesting a mild pastoral attitude of welcoming in which every opportunity is seized to allow the request for a sacrament develops into a conscious choice, as far as possible.71 In the same line of thinking Josef Lamberts advocates a pluriform liturgy that is responsive to individuals at the periphery of the churches. A pluriform liturgy, Lamberts insists, should meet the religious and spiritual quest of those who desire to give a ritual expression of profound new moments of transition in our existence which call for ritualization, like getting divorced, being put to rest, and so on.72 Lamberts links this to the liberating and healing significance of the paschal mystery of Christ. In his perception that is the foundational criteria for the Church as the sacrament of the Lord to provide a service in its ritual actions and its proclamation of the word. This implies searching for alternative forms of liturgical celebrations, which even if they can hardly be counted as ecclesial liturgy, we should not look at them in too disparaging way. Lamberts perceives these new alternative forms of liturgical celebrations as a logical consequence for when the Church, or the faith community incarnates as an authentic sacrament of the Lord. Moreover, such an approach reveals the Church ability to read and understand the signs of the (postmodern) time. It implies a profound sense of being in touch with contemporary feeling and the ability to attune liturgy to these sensibilities. Nevertheless, Lamberts cautions, this does not mean that as the Church we must then adopt the role of a religious service industry.73 Pastors are not vendors of sacraments. That would empty the sacraments from their content. On the contrary, Lamberts raises an important point by
69

Jacques De Visscher, Geherbergd in een traditie: Symbolen en rituelen dienen tot niets, Tijdschrift voor Geestelijk Leven 54 (1998): 121, quoted in Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 6. Jozef De Kesel, Omwille van zijn Naam: een tegendraads pleidooi voor de kerk (Tielt: Lannoo, 1994), 155, 152, quoted in Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 7. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 6. Lamberts, Contemporary Feeling and Liturgy, 132. Ibid.; also see De Schrijver (Sacramental Character of Existence, 22) who adopts a critical stance toward liturgical celebrations centered in social commitment. He illustrates this with the funeral mass of King Baudouin, during which socially-involved songs and testimonies obtained a significant share. No matter how lovely such elements may seem, for postmodern persons these, De Schrijver maintains, are also suspect since they can be misused for an ignoble affair.

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suggesting that new forms of liturgical celebrations, when construed prudently, can have the ability, even for the so-called marginal Christians, to trigger a profound and authentic experience of the sacraments.74 He substantiates this claim in the following way:
Wouldnt it be better, for example, in some cases to replace infant baptism with a celebration of the new life? This is not a minor matter: what I am talking about is an explicitly religious ceremony in which men and women deliberately present themselves to the God of life to express their thanks and to ask for a blessing. Here people are looking for a tangible experience to mark this emotionally powerful happening, this experience of what transcends them, a constructed form of ritualization by which they come to stand in a tradition that gives meaning and allows it to be experienced. However, individualistic such a celebration may seem (people want a church minister to come and perform the ritual in their home), nevertheless there is an expression here of how men and women need some social and emotional support at these powerful moments in order to rediscover their place, in order really to be made whole. However, to be baptized with water and the Spirit is 75 something else, and moreover that needs clearly to come to the fore.

What is at stake here is the perennial task of the Church to bear witness to Christ and to proclaim His gospel,76 even when confronted by thriving individualism. It can be argued that because of that, the Church cannot forsake what essentially characterizes her as Church, namely to win the hearts and minds of men and women for Christ. On a macro level it will entail taking the particular cultures seriously and searching for ways in which Church and the gospel of Jesus are brought into a synthesis with the cultures involved. This endeavor has spurred a volcano of theological writings on the relation between gospel and culture in the latter part of the twentieth century,77 moving into the twenty-first. Not everyone, though, shares in the positive evaluation of the implications from the manner in which individualism impacts Christianity and the religious traditions. De Dijn, for instance, as we have pointed out above, is more pessimistic about the impact of individualism on religion and religious rituals in our contemporary time. In a further assessment of individualism from a postmodern perspective De Dijn argues that the individual believer composes his own story with elements from his own and other religious traditions, which are beyond his
74

Cf. Leijssen (With the Silent Glimmer, 1-2) who voices his strong agreement with Edward Schillebeexkx that the point of departure for a rediscovery of the Christian sacraments must be the ritualization of religious moments in daily life. Lamberts, Contemporary Feeling and Liturgy, 132. See Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium 17 (Rome: 21 November 1964). See Valeer Neckebrouck, De derde kerk: cultuur en geloof, Nik-reeks 30 (Leuven / Amersfoort: Acco, 1996), 137-39 with about thirty bibliographical references on the issue of inculturation, an anthology, Neckebrouck admits, which one could easily enlarge. Within his anthology of bibliographical references, there is a preponderance of African authors, or authors representing (writing on behalf of, or about) the African continent. However, this issue also plays a significant role in the (Latin) American, Asian, and European Church, as well as the Church in Oceania. It is therefore an issue that concerns the entire Church.

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comprehension.78 Religious traditions are thereby reduced to mere folklore. Individuals combine elements from these traditions in a fashion that appears to be interesting. They adapt elements from one tradition these are often uprooted from their authentic meaning and weave them together with other elements from another tradition. In this manner, De Dijn maintains, tradition is perceived as a kind of wall robe that is inspected from time to time, to see which new outfit can be added to it.79 These remarks from De Dijn, however, are more pertinent to postmodernism than to postmodernity, a point he himself subtly makes.

1.3.2. Postmodernity and plurality

Postmodernity, it is said, signals the end of the grand metanarratives and the collapse of ideologies80 which have been peculiar to modernity. In addition, Boeve claims that postmodernity also marks the erosion of the reactionary antimodern narratives.81 These modern narratives evolved within two main domains: rationality and technology, and emancipation in terms of (personal) liberation. Boeve gives the following examples for the respective domains or types:
Hegelian idealism which would legitimate all knowledge of nature, society and state by situating it in the development of the life of the Spirit (Geist), and also scientific positivism, with its many and diverse reductionisms (evolutionism, sociobilogism...), all of which offer us a conclusive explanation and an efficient course of action. Illustrations of the second type of master narrative include the th th different societal ideologies from the 19 and 20 centuries that reflect what is considered to be the ultimate aim of the human person and society: individual freedom for liberalism, complete solidarity 82 for communism, or general welfare for capitalism, etc.

Earlier Franois Lyotard commented on how the demise of the modern metanarratives left humanity rather disillusioned. In the end, humanity had to struggle to come to grips with its mega hangover, which had been beyond imagination, due to modernitys incapability to deliver from its own expectations; hence, Lyotard points out that:
The speculative principle that all that is rational is real and vice versa (Hegel) has since been refuted by Auschwitz; the Marxist historical-materialist teaching that every proletarian is a communist and
78

Cf. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 5. Here Leijssen relates the interpretation some pastors give to the request from marginal churchgoers for life rituals at the four moments of transition birth, growth, marriage, and end of life in the following way: the people are asking for a ritual, and we give them a sacrament that they actually do not know or understand (emphasis added). De Dijn, Religie in de 21
ste

79 80

eeuw, 45

Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 24. One may add that to speak of postmodernity in isolation from modernity is almost an impossible task. For that reason we will regularly refer to modernity when discussing postmodernity in this section. Boeve (Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context, 14) follows the same line of thinking as Franois Lyotard, Le postmoderne expliqu aux enfants: Correspondance 1982-1985 (Paris: Galile, 1986), 47. Ibid., 14-15.

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vice versa was discredited in Berlin (1953), Budapest (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), and Poland (1980); the liberal parliamentarian ideal of democracy of the people, for the people and by the people was struck a blow by the events of May 1968 in Paris; the different versions of economic liberalism arguing that the free market of supply and demand could insure general welfare were contested by the economic crises of 1911, 1929 and 1974-1979. The alleged fulfillment of all these 83 promises has brought nothing but blood and misery.

The bitter awakening from the illusions and false promises of the modern metanarratives has emphatically revealed the false pretentions of modernity. Moreover, there has been a growing awareness that one absolute truth claim, as modernity purported to, does not hold. There are rather a variety of ways of which each contains within its own right its proper legitimacy. This alludes to a context of plurality which was perceived as inimical to modernity, and now has become a stark reality of postmodernity. The fundamental plurality of the postmodern condition, Boeve explains, follows from the experience that each perspective seems to have equal legitimacy and worth, even if they are nonetheless incompatible.84 This awareness has taken hold in virtually all societal domains. Our time is distinctively characterized by religious and cultural plurality. It is believed that a pluralist culture holds sway over many contemporary societies. Anton Houtepen circumscribes such a culture in the following way:
Masses of people are daily on the move from A to B and back again. They change roles all the time. Women and men caught in mutual emancipation processes have to adapt to differing genderexpectations. Our ways of life and societal culture are becoming intercultural all over the world: through daily encounters with foreigners and migrants, through confrontation with the cultural heritage of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, and through the study of their holy writ. Mosques and temples arise beside cathedrals or even replace churches being closed for lack of attendance in European cities. This cultural and religious pluralism calls for tolerance and respect for people of 85 other faiths, but it challenges the assurance and credibility of ones own faith as well.

This sketch of the current cultural situation is not limited to Europe. It is rather a global feature which only recently we have become aware of, due to the rapid dissemination of information through the Internet and other communication devices. Moreover, the scope of a pluralist culture exceeds the limits of a particular timeframe. One would easily consent to the notion that cultural and religious pluralism are of all the time. In this respect Houtepen correctly claims: In the Old and the New Testament Jews and Christians were well aware of their

83

Franois Lyotard, Le diffrend (Paris: Minuit, 1983), 257-58, quoted in Boeve, Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context 14, n. 34. Boeve, Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context, 15. Anton Houtepen, Truth Enlightening All People: Christianity and Religious Pluralism after Vatican II, in Vatican II and Its Legacy, 207-32, 210.

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neighboring religions. He continues to point out that Jews and Christians have borrowed all kinds of elements from other religions throughout the ages which he exemplifies with the following:
The feast of the year, the ten commandments, the messianic expectations, the images of eternal life, the practice of sacrifices, the symbolics of the temple, the sacramental signs of baptism, anointing, 86 laying on of hands, liturgical meals, hymnody, pilgrimage and even the rosary.

Cultural plurality is not an exclusive feature of western societies: non-Western societies, too, have been affected by plural cultural forces, as Houtepen envisaged. Cultural and religious plurality gained their full weight in Catholic theology with Vatican II.87 There the Church affirmed this plurality in Nostra Aetate (the declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions), Unitatis Redintegratio (the decree on the Catholic principles of ecumenism), Dignitatis Humanae (the declaration on religious liberty) and Ad Gentes (the decree on the missionary activity of the Church). Given that the richness of these magisterial documents outstrips the current study, it will suffice to note that they all exhibit a driving force for openness and respect toward people of other faiths, religions, and ideologies, including non-believers and atheists.88 In the conciliar declaration Nostra Aetate, for instance, the Church refers to the positive values inherent in the world religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. Proponents of interreligious dialogue see the supreme recognition of religious plurality in the following oftquoted passage:
The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has 89 reconciled all things to Himself (NA 2).

86 87

Houtepen, Truth Enlightening All People,211. Cf. Alward Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1988), 18, who notes: The first glimmerings of a pluralistic or modern view of culture to be found in a papal document, for example, date from 1944. For nearly sixteen centuries, from late Roman times until our own, a monocultural view of the world held sway among bishops, theologians and thinkers of the Catholic Church. It was a view applied to the entire human race. Culture, during these centuries, was a single, universal, normative concept (Ibid.). The papal document Shorter refers to, regards Pius XII, Allocution to the Pontifical Mission Aid Societies AAS 1944, p. 210; also see Ibid., 183-184 on The Recognition of Cultural Pluralism by Pius XII. Houtepen, Truth Enlightening All People, 214, with reference to Anton Wessels, Was Europe Ever Christian? (London: SCM, 1995); also see Peter C. Phan, Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), 138-40. Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate (Rome: 28 October 1965), no. 2.

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Though Vatican II90 emerged during the heydays of modernity, it adopted a stance which was in favor of cultural and religious plurality and diametrically opposed to modernitys homogenized and unilateral perception of truth. Its strong support for cultural plurality can be gleaned from Lumen Gentium where it emphatically declares:
Through her work, whatever good is in the minds and hearts of men, whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, is not only saved from destruction but is also cleansed, raised up and perfected unto the glory of God, the confusion of the devil and the 91 happiness of man (LG 17).

With her acknowledgement of the essentially good values which other cultures possess the Church endorsed the idea that truth does not solely lies within one system of thought, and cannot be domesticated by one particular system. This was a far cry from modernity. In fact, in this way the Church implicitly took issue with modernity 92 and concomitantly adopted a postmodern approach. One could even go as far as to claim that with Vatican II the Church, whilst finding herself amidst the streams of modernity, was already way ahead of her time, showing a profound disposition toward cultural and religious plurality. But the Church could not completely free herself form modernitys tentacles. While it is true that modern theology exhibits conspicuous features from both the premodern (onto-theology with strong classical Thomistic input) and modern age (apophatic theology, for instance, the Godis-Dead theology), it is equally true that modernity also left its stamp on Vatican II. In her plea for cultural and religious plurality, Vatican II could not but emphasize the value and the right of human religious liberty; thus, in the Declaration on Religious Liberty we read:
This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others within due limits. The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.

90

Cf. Giuseppe Alberigo, A Brief History of Vatican II, trans. Matthew Sherry (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006) which illumines the significance and meaning of this Council. Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (Rome: 16 November 1964), no. 17. This attitude confers largely with the perception of postmodernity as a criticism on modernity. However, not everyone ascribes to the notion of postmodernity as a description for contemporary society. Some argue that we are still engulfed by the waves of modernity. Vergote (Moderniteit en christendom, 9), for instance, opines the latter view.

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This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law 93 whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right (DH 2).

One can hear modernitys chorus ringing through this text where it calls for the individuals freedom to live according to the proper beliefs, and points toward reason as a source of revealing the nature of human dignity. In this sense, human reason, one may argue, occupies equal status as the revealed word of God, where it concerns knowledge about the human dignity. Nevertheless, in the meantime postmodernity, where it concerns cultural and religious plurality, continues to pose serious challenges to the Church and her theology; challenges which contemporary theology cannot evade if it wants to be at the service of the Christian faith. In the following we will pay closer attention to these challenges.

1.4.

Implications for theology in a postmodern context

There are authors who perceive the call for a postmodern approach in theology, particularly toward the liturgy and the sacraments, as a demand of the time. This call, it seems, is no longer considered to be a cry in the wilderness. The world is in a constant flux. Our time, some argue, witnesses a transition from modernity to postmodernity.94 It is said that this transition is marked by a stage modernity reaches at where it becomes conscious of itself.95 De Schrijver, in the footsteps of Anthony Giddens,96 explains this by distinguishing between simple modernization and reflexive modernization.97 He, thus, asserts:
While simple modernization rested on the rigid application of scientific methods under the aegis of clarity, homogeneity, and universality, the very result of this enterprise was an accelerated production of new commodities. Postmodernity thus is the consequence of modernity, which was basically attuned to the formal rhythm of increasing novelty. The distinguishing feature, however, is the phenomenon that postmodern people realize from within what the acceleration process of modernization is all about. They are, so to speak, used to sitting comfortably in the high-speed train
93

Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae (Rome: 07 December 1965), no. 2. Worgul (foreword to With the Silent Glimmer, x) relates this to the West. Yet one can argue that to a certain extent a similar transition occurs in non-western societies and cultures, due to the profound impact of globalization and the spread of western culture through mass communication structures and the digital world. However, at the threshold of the twenty-first century Vergote (Moderniteit en Christendom, 41-42) objected to the dominant perception of a dawning or already existing state of postmodernity in the West. His main argument therefore is that much of what modernity has achieved will prove to be definitive transformations brought forward by the intellect (spirit) and the world, and these, Vergote maintains, will not be abolished by what is to follow i.e. post factum (p. 42). Boodoo, Gospel and Culture, 5. Anthony Giddens, Beyond Left and Right: The Future of Radical Politics (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995 [1994]), 42, n.54, quoted in De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift, 33, n. 58. Boodoo (Gospel and Culture, 5) explains simple modernization as the uncritical and not so critical belief in progress and production, whereas he describes reflexive modernization as modernity looking on itself.

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of modernity, and to take in the shifting panorama of the unstoppable innovations and changing 98 perspective.

The rapidity with which changes and developments occur in contemporary society has also prompted some to already anticipate an era that goes beyond the current postmodern time.99 If it is true that the Church in her perennial task of evangelizing should nurture the ability to read the signs of the times, then she also has the duty to present Christ in the postmodern age and to all whose lives are profoundly affected by postmodernity. Moreover, the Church can no longer employ the intellectual and theoretical framework of scholastic theology if she wants to reach the hearts and minds of contemporary believers intelligibly. Leijssen makes a convincing argument to underscore this point. He contends:
In traditional scholastic theology, the sacraments were defined as efficacious means or causes that communicate the grace that they stand for. Aristotelian epistemology and metaphysics formed the philosophical context for theological reflection, with categories such as materia-forma, substanceaccident, and causa. These means were made available to the faithful through the ministry of the sacraments. No one imagined the danger of this presumably innocent model. Sadly, it gave rise to a distorted understanding of the sacraments as automatic dispensers of grace grace machines.100

To remain with this latter understanding of sacraments in contemporary theology can give rise to other anomalies or even foster their misrepresentation. One can think, for instance, of a particular understanding that perceives the sacraments in this case, Baptism to affect a kind with magical protection against evil.101 A contemporary theology, therefore, needs to respond to the new challenges posed by the rapidly changing context in which people live. From the perspective of cultural and religious plurality, there seem to be two main areas where the implications for contemporary theology are most felt. These concern the liturgy, and popular religiosity. Our elaboration on these two areas takes the following two questions as starting point. Firstly, how can liturgy remain faithful to Christian tradition and yet also be culturally meaningful for people in a postmodern context? Secondly, how can theology today meaningfully contribute to a reappraisal of popular religiosity to the extent that it cross-fertilizes
98 99

De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift, 33. See Antoon Van den Braemsbussche, ed., Voorbij het postmodernisme. Bedenkingen aan gene zijde van het fin de sicle (Best: DAMON, 1996). The various contributors to this book take a critical stance toward postmodernism, asking themselves hypothetical questions concerning, among others, what (individual) freedom will lead to in a post-postmodern era; see especially the contributions of Van den Braemsbussche, Voorbij het postmodernisme, in Ibid., 23-43; Cees van Peursen, Na het postmodernisme, in Ibid., 45-52. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 9. Ideas of this kind still persist among certain Roman Catholics. Though we have not engaged in systematic study to document such ideas, we have encountered this attitude during baptismal preparation sessions and informal meetings with both practicing i.e., churchgoers who frequently participate in the Sunday mass and nonpracticing Catholics in different contexts.

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with the liturgy in accord with magisterial teaching? These two questions are not only the immediate starting point for our current reflection; they are also connected to the entire problematic which this study addresses.

1.4.1. Liturgy in a postmodern context

It is hard for those who have not consciously experienced the pre-Vatican II liturgy, to imagine how profoundly liturgical praxis has changed since Vatican II.102 These changes brought forth by Vatican II, and to some extent first enunciated by the liturgical movement which originated in Belgium in 1909,103 have had worldwide repercussions. The radiance of these changes are still felt today the world over. Immediately after the Council various groups in countries where the Roman Catholic Church had already been established began in varying degree to explore ways for adapting the liturgy to the respective cultures in an attempt to promote active participation from the faithful. One area that received great attention was the composition of liturgical texts for hymnals and prayers. Various creeds came to see the light in which people attempted to (re)formulate the essentials or rather, what they perceived to be essential of the Christian faith in ways that resonated with the current sensibilities. In some cases attempts were overenthusiastic with the potential danger that what the Council had envisaged evaporated. Cardinal Danneels convincingly voices this danger in the following way:
Active participation in the liturgy; preparing together; concern to get as close as possible to the culture and sensitivity of the faithful can lead imperceptibly to a sort of taking possession of the liturgy. Participation and mutual celebration can [emphasis added] lead to a subtle form of manipulation. In such an event the liturgy becomes in a sense the property of those who celebrate, a terrain given over to their creativity. Those who serve the liturgy both priests and laity become its owners. In some cases this can even lead to a sort of liturgical coup in which the sacred is eliminated, the language trivialized and the cult turned into a social event. In a word, the real subject of the liturgy is no longer the Christ who through the Spirit worships the Father and sanctifies the people in a symbolic act. The real subject is the human person or the celebrating 104 community.

Though Cardinal Danneels speaks in hypothetical terms this danger actually presented itself in several cases, for instance in The Netherlands. In fact this danger continues to lurk today in areas where attempts are made to make the liturgy more culturally meaningful for the faithful. This, one
102

See Godfried Cardinal Danneels, Liturgy Forty Years After the Second Vatican Council: High Point or Recession, in Keith Pecklers, Liturgy in a Postmodern World (London / New York: Continuum, 2003), 7-26, 7. Ibid., 8. Here Cardinal Danneels notes that the term active participation was one of the fruits of the liturgical movement. It became one of the central notions in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Ibid., 8-9. The added emphasis in this citation illustrates its hypothetical character.

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may argue, justifies the Churchs concern that processes for liturgical renewal are properly guided, after careful study on the nature of the renewal or changes endeavored. It is against this backdrop that the Church, during and immediately after the Council began to issue Instructions for the orderly implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.105 These Instructions, or at least some of their elements, evoke both positive and negative reactions. 106 Some hail their interventions while others are rather skeptical or critical about what they envisage. With regard to Liturgiam Authenticam Peter Jeffery notes:
Some grassroots organizations have praised the document, which they hope will end aspects of North American liturgical practice that they have been critical of. Catholic biblical scholars have been particularly articulate in explaining that the document's prescriptions would weaken, rather than improve, the quality of biblical translations Liturgical scholars, on the other hand, tend to see it as retrogressive, embodying an inadequate conception of liturgical language. Since the instruction's directives would effectively end the use of gender-inclusive language, some have reacted with hope 107 or fear that that is, in fact, its primary target.

It is argued that especially liturgists seem to object certain aspects of magisterial teaching. Thus, with regard to VL, Gerard Lukken appeals for a more flexible liturgical arrangement based on the principle of subsidiary.108 Others observe that at local parish level priests often ran their own course where it concerns liturgical reforms, as stipulated by Roman authorities.109 There are
105

Since Vatican II the Church has issued five Instructions to ensure or encourage the rightful implementation of the liturgical constitution, especially with regard to nos. 37-40. These five Instructions are the following: Inter Oecumenici (Instruction on implementing liturgical norms), by the Sacred Congregation for the Rites on 24 September 1964, thus actually issued before the Council came to a close; Tres Abhinc Annos (second Instruction on the orderly carrying out of the Constitution on the Liturgy), by the Sacred Congregation for the Rites on 4 May 1967; Liturgicae Instaurationes (third Instruction) by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship on 5 September 1970; Varietates Legitimae (fourth Instruction; henceforth VL), by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 24 March 1994; and finally, Liturgiam Authenticam (fifth Instruction), by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 28 March 2001. See David Power, Sacrament: The Language of Gods Giving (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999). In the first chapter of this book Power discusses Varietates Legitimae, or the Instruction on the Roman Liturgy and Inculturation as it is translated in English, and surveys various approaches and attitudes to sacramental (liturgical) renewal related to this fourth Instruction. Peter Jeffery, A Chant Historian Reads Liturgiam Authenticam 1: The Latin Liturgical Traditions, Worship 78, no. 1 (Jan. 2004): 2-24, 3. Jeffery himself offers a more nuanced and balanced commentary on Liturgiam Authenticam. Gerard Lukken, Inculturatie van de liturgie: theorie en praktijk, in Liturgie en inculturatie, Nik-reeks 37, ed. Jozef Lamberts (Leuven / Amersfoort: Acco, 1996), 15-56, 50-55; also see Louis van Tongeren, De inculturatie van de liturgie tot (stil)stand gebracht? Kanttekeningen bij een Romeins document over liturgie en inculturatie, Jaarboek voor liturgie-onderzoek 12 (1996): 164-86. In this article Van Tongeren concludes that while VL agrees with the basic assumptions of inculturation, its elaboration leaves little room for continuing the inculturation of the renewed liturgy (p. 186); for other general evaluations of VL see Nathan Mitchel, The Amen Corner, Worship 68 (1994): 369-77; D. Reginald Whitt, Varietates Legitimae and an African-American Liturgical Tradition, Worship 71 (1997): 504-37. See, for instance, Kieran Flanagan, Sociology and Liturgy: Re-presentations of the Holy (New York: St. Martins Press, 1991), cited by Power, Sacrament: The Language, 27. According to Power, Flanagans main complaint is that

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numerous other examples in the area of pastoral theology where a tension between prescribed order and lived praxis comes to the fore.110 In many places a process of what David Power calls ritualization, occurs. He describes this as attention to known and traditional rites, along with attention to other ritual forms, and a somewhat free way of accommodating to community situations. In practice it entails that:
The community knows the traditional, but it tries in its own accommodations to negotiate the meaning of this tradition to weave it into the lives of the congregants, and to invest the rites with their faith perceptions, social concerns, and cultural forms. There is always some play between the written and the oral, the known ritual actions and the enfleshment of these rituals in actual 111 practice.

This may seem as a conspicuous characteristic of postmodernity, and while it is so, to certain extent it is also a common feature that takes place at any time, no matter how consolidated the ritual code may seem to be. Congregations, Power observes, always accommodate this to their own situation in life, culture, and society.112 The characteristically postmodern component is perhaps illustrated in the measure to which communities are experimenting more with liturgies and more consciously diversifying or adding new elements, drawn from a variety of sources, not exclusively from recognized Christian traditions.113 We base this latter observation on the presupposition that the post-Tridentine liturgy seemed to have exhibit a rather stringent uniformity, whereas from the post-Vatican II period onwards, communities have appropriated their own space for liturgical experimentation.114 As such, this latter period accords with the postmodern ethos of diversity and plurality.

liturgists, and oftentimes priests, have so secularized the liturgy that it is devoid of the sense of the holy and ruined as a means of grace. Power further has Flanagan suggesting that there was too conceptual, and somewhat behavioristic, an approach to liturgical reforms. Liturgical scholars and practitioners sometimes made matters worse by injecting change with large measures of ideologically inspired purpose (p. 27).
110

See, for instance, Chauvet (The Sacraments, 174-75) who illustrates with figures taken from the French context that there is a discrepancy between practices and beliefs among the faithful in contemporary Catholicism. This discrepancy is not a sole phenomenon of the western Church, it is also present, though in varying degree among factions of the Third Church (we borrow this term from Neckebrouck see n. 77 of this chapter). Power, Sacrament: The Language, 23. Ibid. Ibid. This observation is our own interpretation given to the point Power raises. It therefore does not necessarily reflect Powers position. Cf. Adrian Hasting, Western Christianity Confronts Other Cultures, Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 19-27, 19-20. Here Hasting points out that the history of Roman Catholic liturgy in the post-Tridentine period is distinctively marked by centuries of liturgical centralization, Romanization, and westernization a process imposed not only upon the churches of western Europe and all newly evangelized peoples, whether in Asia, the Americas, the Pacific, or Africa, but also upon the existing rites around the eastern Mediterranean and South India. This period, Hasting claims, is anything but characterized by a pursuit of liberty and cultural pluralism.

111 112 113

114

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The challenge for theology today is to create a conceptual space in which, for instance in the area of liturgy, forms of worship become possible that are both in line with sound ecclesial doctrine and meaningful to the faithful. However, according to Cardinal Danneels liturgical praxis, irrespective of the context in which it occurs, should follow the liturgical ground rule that stipulates liturgy to be first Gods work on us before being our work on God.115 This ground rule implies that liturgy is first and foremost an act of Gods invitation to us. We are called together in worship by the Holy Spirit, in the authentic meaning of the word ecclesia. Furthermore, the very notion of active participation in its literal sense underscores the idea that the assembled congregation, which includes the presider(s), participate, i.e., each plays an active part, in the liturgy where Christ is the ultimate Preside. In this light Cardinal Danneels correctly points out: The acting subject of the liturgy is the risen Christ: He is the first and only High Priest, the only one who is competent to bring worship to God and to sanctify the people. This is not only an abstract theological truth: it must become evident and visible in the liturgy.116 This becomes explicitly visible in sacramental worship, particularly where the priest presides in the celebration of a sacrament in persona Christi. This important theological concept, properly understood, implies that the Person of Christ acts through the words and deeds of the bishop or priest. Therefore, words spoken at the moment of consecration this is my Body; this is my Blood, though they come from the bishop or priest, are in effect Christ words, by which the presider confect the sacrament.117 How then should one perceive the role of the faithful if liturgy is not human work, but Gods work? Cardinal Danneels explains that due to the pre-existing nature of the liturgy the faithful enters into it as a pre-established, divine and spiritual architecture. This requires a fundamental attitude of receptivity, readiness to listen, self-giving and self-relativizing. It is the attitude of faith and of faithful obedience. Succinctly described, it is an attitude of prayer, of handing ourselves over to God and letting his will be done in us.118 This attitude, in turn, makes it possible to wonder again at the overwhelming mystery of God, where in Gods absent presence we learn to be still and know that God is God.119

115 116 117

Danneels, Cardinal, High Point or Recession, 9. Ibid. See Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7: By His power he [i.e., Christ] is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes [Sacrosanctum Concilium refers here (n. 14) to Augustine, In Ioannis Evangelium Tractatus 6, cap. 1, n. 7: PL 35, 1428]. He is present in His word, since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for he promised: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Mt 18:20). Danneels, Cardinal, High Point or Recession, 10. Tracy, On Naming the Present, 45.

118 119

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These remarks about submission to the Holy seem contrary to contemporary feelings of personal self-realization. This is especially so when considering the active intervention in everyday reality and its submission of that reality to our scientific thinking and our technological expertise, which makes it particularly difficult to be genuinely liturgically-minded.120 There is a great distance between the world of the liturgy that is intimately and inseparably connected to the world(s) of the bible, and our (post)modern urban culture. But is there also not, what some authors note, a return of religious sensibilities, although profoundly marked by individualism? Others maintain that while there is a sharp decline in church attendance, abbeys and monasteries are flocked by modern/secular pilgrims. How should one understand the given that a concert where the Matthus-Passion is to be performed is fully booked months before the actual scene is set, whereas churches, at least in the West, are struggling to keep their doors open for the annual Good Friday liturgy? At the one hand, these postmodern trends underscore the necessity for a continuous evangelization; at the other hand, they pose huge challenges for theology to be at the service of Christian faith. Against this backdrop Cardinal Danneels urges that we cannot avoid the need for catechesis and initiation. Liturgy, he writes, demands schooling because it is both proclamation and celebration of mysteries, mysteries which have occurred in the history of Judaism and Christianity.121 These calls for liturgical catechesis that seeks to understand and accurately interpret what underlies contemporary feelings and the search for religious sensemaking. At the same time, such a catechesis ought to remain faithful to Christian tradition. With what we have just mentioned clearly on our lenses, it is appropriate to consider Aidan Kavanaghs reminder that all efforts at liturgical renewal, irrespective of the cultural condition within which they occur, ultimately remains a precious mystery in itself of which God is the agent: a pregnant grace which, like very other grace, gestates according to Gods pleasure rather than that of some ecclesiastical bureaucracy or ideologically pure committee.122 The role of theology in this endeavor, we think, is to expound how grace is mediated in this process through language and symbol. Conversely, this process is a grace we do not produce: we can at best only cooperate with it patiently and reverently.123 In this way theology can be of service to Christian faith.

1.4.2. Popular religiosity in a postmodern context

In this study we have deliberately opted for the term popular religiosity instead of the term popular religion as it is more frequently used in the international theological discourse.
120 121 122 123

Danneels, Cardinal, High Point or Recession, 10. Ibid., 12-13. Aidan Kavanagh, Liturgical Inculturation: Looking to the Future, Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 95-106, 105. Ibid.

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Before we attempt to reflect the current theme under study from a postmodern perspective, we first need to clarify our decision for choosing to employ this terminology. We made this choice based on the following considerations: Firstly, it is based on the assumption that religion refers to phenomena with global reach.124 This, of course, presupposes that there are also religions with a more limited reach which are operative on a local level. In its many different forms religion remains to be a complexity of beliefs and practices which expresses the meaning of life and the order of existence in terms of a relationship with the sacred.125 But because of its worldwide reach, applying the term religion inhabits a higher degree of ambiguity. The noun religion itself immediately raises questions about the nature, type, or denomination it refers to. When applied in a postmodern context of religious plurality, are we then talking about Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Native-American religions, ATR, Islam, Judaism, or Christianity? Hence, as a term used in a scientific discourse, religion evokes an immediate request to specify and clarify the type concerned. Religiosity, however, presupposes the demand for specification and clarification to a much lesser extent. It reflects human behavior in a religious context, and is embodied in a diversity of expressions, attitudes, and cosmologies that are all incarnated in the human conduct. More importantly, religiosity refers to a particular way of life that becomes manifest at a local level.126 Therefore, the local context becomes the locus for studying any particular type of religiosity.127 A second consideration proceeds from postmodernitys entailed dawning awareness of the existence of the other. Apart from the world religions, there are also religious systems to which the other is connected. These systems hitherto brushed aside as archaic, primitive, superstitious, or in the worse case as non-existing (i.e., denying their raison dtre) by the project of modernity now find articulation as independent voices claiming the right of selfdetermination. Moreover, this claim reflects an increasing consciousness of endemic cultural and religious plurality. Concomitantly, a plurality of religious contexts emerges at times, even in one single locality with each of these expressing, or giving birth to its own religious values, attitudes, rituals, etc. It is at this local level were ritualization occurs, expressing a kind of fluidity
124

See Huston Smith, The Religions of Man (New York: Harper & Row Publishers Inc., 1986); Arvind Sharma, ed., Our Religions (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993); Thomas Patrick Burke, The Major Religions (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1996). Power, Worship: Culture and Theology (Washington DC: Pastoral Press, 1990), 25. See Wielzen, Popular Religiosity as an Internal Dynamic for the Local Church: The Case of Suriname, Exchange 34, no. 1 (2005): 1-21, 17. Cf. Van Nieuwenhove and Klein Goldewijk, Popular Religion, Liberation and Contextual Theology. Exploring Some Questions, in Popular Religion, eds. Ids., 1-12, 2-4.

125 126

127

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institutionalized religions have a harder time to absorb and appropriate.128 As a distinct attitude to life popular religiosity, it seems, begets ritualization processes much easier than popular religions, since the latter often do abide by strict moral codes (codes of conduct) and a certain degree of hierarchic structure. They therefore, to a certain extent, retain elements peculiar to institutionalized religions, including a propensity to conservatism; thus, they are less conducive to change. Popular religiosity with its disposition to alterations connects better to postmodernity that embodies contemporary feelings of flexibility and simple adaptations, accommodations and experimentation. For that reason, popular religiosity as a term becomes better suited to employ. A final consideration for choosing popular religiosity over popular religion is that the former does not necessarily have to be confined to a single religion.129 Popular religion, on the contrary is usually described on the basis of being in one way or another distinct from official religion.130 It concerns a popular131 understanding of one particular religion in contrast to the official representation of that religion, as it is codified in official writings, teachings and prescriptions (for example, popular Hinduism and popular Catholicism). The concept of popular religiosity, therefore, includes faith praxis characterized by a certain degree of syncretism.132 It
128

The history of Christianity, however, witnesses a paradoxical situation, since it demonstrated the ability, at one time, to incorporate and at another, to resist external cultural influences, depending on the socio-historic conditions prevalent at the time. We are aware that there is not one single form of popular religiosity, but that there is on the contrary a manifold of forms and types. See, for example, the fourth part: Pluralization (the sixth and seventh chapter) of Christin Parker, Popular Religion and Modernization in Latin America. A Different Logic, trans. Robert R. Barr (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996), 119-60. However, in this study we chose to speak of popular religiosity in the singular sense, since it is impossible to account for the wide variety that exists in this field. See Robles, Social Transformation, 97. Robert E. Wright, Popular Religiosity: Review of Literature, Liturgical Ministry 7 (1998): 141-146, 141. See Parker (Popular Religion and Modernization, 5) for different connotations of the word popular, or people, or folk. See Harrie Hoeben and Frans Wijsen, We Are Not a Carbon Copy of Europe, in Inculturation: Abide by the Otherness of Africa and the Africans, Church and theology in context, 26, eds. Peter Turkson and Frans Wijsen (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1994), 72-82, 76. Here these authors define syncretism as the existential mixture of cultures and religions, a spontaneous interpretation as opposed to an intellectually justified one. These authors point out: From the moment Christianity moved out of the Jewish context into a Gentile one a process of syncretism was set in motion. And the gospels themselves show abundantly traces of syncretism. And surely, when Christianity was introduced into Africa, it was already a syncretistic unit of lived faith, as it had absorbed components of different cultures and religions. Contrary to the negative connotation attached to this term, which Wijsen and Hoeben attribute to the interpretation from a dogmatic perspective, these authors advocate a positive view from a pastoral perspective whereby the term then refers to the very process of faith, the identification with Christ, which is taking place constantly (Ibid.). Also see Luis Maldonado, Popular Religion: Its Dimensions, Levels and Types, trans. G. W. S. Knowles, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 3-11, 4. Here Maldonado argues that popular religion is precisely a vast, colossal example of a by no means negative syncretisation between the Gospel and peoples own cultures, their creations, heritages, and pre-Christian legacies; and Peter Schineller, Inculturation and Syncretism: What is the Real Issue?, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 16, no. 2 (1992): 50-53 for examples and a variety of interpretations on the notion of syncretism; Robert J. Schreiter, Defining Syncretism: An Interim Report, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 17, no. 2 (1993): 50-53 disagrees with Schineller that the term syncretism be dropped from the theological / missiological vocabulary.

129

130 131

132

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implies that there are types of popular religiosity which have incorporated elements from different religions;133 thus, these types concur better with current religious sensibilities. Moreover, due to its inclusive nature the concept of religiosity is much broader than the term religion that tends to evoke thoughts about revelation of an absolute truth. This observation also justifies the choice for popular religiosity, over the term popular religion. However, since in the theological discourse these terms are used both interchangeably and at times synonymously, it becomes necessary also to explore the literature that maintains the terminology of popular religion. In magisterial documents non-western religions which are not regarded as world religions are often labeled as popular religions. Some of the recent magisterial documents discuss the value and importance of these religions;134 indeed, several years after the Council the Church expressed her recognition for ATR. In 1967 Pope Paul VI wrote his Apostolic Letter Africae Terrarum in which he mentioned:
Many customs and rites, once considered to be strange are seen today, in the light of ethnological science, as integral parts of various social systems, worthy of study and commanding respect. In this regard, we think it profitable to dwell on some general ideas which typify ancient African religious 135 cultures because we think their moral and religious values deserving of attentive consideration.

This recognition of the values inherent in ATR clearly expresses Romes changing attitude toward these religions hitherto characterized in terms of paganism and fetishism. However, this changing attitude from the side of the Church did not only concern ATR, but was also broadened to include other forms of traditional religions on the various continents. The Pastoral Letter of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences in Asia, the Americas and Oceania makes this point painstakingly clear.136 For this Vatican Dicastery traditional religions are those which, unlike the world religions that have spread
Instead Schreiter advocates redefining the term on theological, cultural and missiological grounds. He insists that we must continue to speak of syncretism. We cannot ban its troubled history; we must, rather, come to terms with that past so as to understand the present (p. 52).
133

See Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985), 144-58, for an explication of these types of religiosity. See, for instance, the commentary on Evangelii Nuntiandi by Michael Fitzgerald, Evangelii Nuntiandi and World Religions, African Ecclesial Review 21, no. 1 (1979): 34-43. On p. 42 Fitzgerald concludes that EN encouraged the adoption of a prudently open attitude towards the great religions of the world. Paul V1, Apostolic Letter Africae Terrarum, October 29, AAS (1967): 1076-7, quoted in Paul Bekye, African Traditional Religions in Church Documents; available from http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/atrxadocs.htm; Internet; accessed 23 January 2008. Bekye further remarks: By his pronouncement Paul V1 went a great step forward in making explicit and solemn what the Council itself seemed to have refrained from pronouncing on. The Second Vatican Council, in spite of its positive appraisal of other religions besides Christianity, did not make any explicit statement on African traditional religious culture.... Francis Cardinal Arinze, Pastoral Attention to Traditional Religions, [Letter from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (Rome: 25 March 1988)] African Ecclesial Review 10, no. 3 (1988): 131-34.

134

135

136

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into many countries and cultures, have remained in their original socio-cultural environment. The Letter further points out that traditional does not refer to something static or unchangeable, but rather denotes this localized matrix. 137 There are different terminologies to denote these traditional religions in the various continents: in Asia they are referred to as Tribal Religions and Folk Religions; in America Native Religions and Afro-American or Afro-Caribbean Religions; and in Oceania Indigenous Religions. The Pastoral Letter, under par. 3, broadly describes the nature of Traditional Religions and presents general but salient features thereof. It is important to have a keen awareness of these features when embarking on the study of popular religiosity, since they serve as direction markers for one to navigate through this thematic field. Hence, we cite the entire paragraph below:
Traditional Religions generally have a clear belief in One God, in a Supreme Being Who goes by such names as Great Spirit, Creator, the Great One, the Mighty Spirit, the Divine, the Transcendent, the One who lives above, Heaven etc. There is also a belief in other beings which are above humankind but are less than the Supreme Being. They may be called spirits and some experts on the Traditional Religions sometimes call them deities or gods, with a small d or g. Deceased adult relatives, i.e., ancestors, are also objects of belief. Cult or worship in Traditional Religions is directed generally to the spirits and the ancestors and sometimes to God. It takes the form of prayer especially in the family, worship at shrines and communal sacrifices. Fear of the evil spirits or ancestors motivates many acts of worship. The moral code is regarded as that which has been handed down by past generations and sanctioned by the spirits and the ancestors, and occasionally by God. Traditional Religions do not generally lay claim to revealed books. Nor are they articulated in theoretical statements of a theological or philosophical nature. The riches of their contents, and their many values, are more often found in their celebrations, stories and proverbs, and conveyed through attitudes, customs and codes of conduct. It is rare that a traditional religion traces itself back to a founder.

This description indicates that there is an underlying theology in traditional religions.138 This, one may argue, underscores the possibility of a dialogue between Christianity and these religions. In addition, the reality of a spirit world is emphatically present in these religions. It also attests to a moral code inherent in these religions. These observations indicate that there are pastoral implications to the perennial process of evangelization in areas where these religions thrive. In many non-western societies large sections among the faithful still have, in varying degrees, a keen disposition toward these traditional religions. Their religiosity is made up of both elements derived
137 138

Ibid., no. 2. See, for instance, George MacDonald Mulrain, Theology in Folk Culture: The Theological Significance of Haitian Folk Religion. Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity, 33 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1984); also see Max Harris, Carnival and Other Christian Festivals: Folk Theology and Folk Performance (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003).

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from the Churchs tradition and those inherent in the traditional religions. Seeing their rich values, how and in which way then can they enrich Christianity especially in the area of liturgy and other sacramental forms of worship? This is an area where a theology of liturgical inculturation can usher into profound insights into the relation between gospel and culture. But traditional religions also have their own shadow sides. The letter cites the following examples: inadequate ideas about God, superstition, fear of the spirits, objectionable moral practices, the rejection of twins (in some places), and even occasional human sacrifice.139 These examples underscore the need for evangelization so that peoples life and culture can be brought under the dominion of Christ, and that the riches they inhabit can be rendered unto Him.

1.5.

Partial conclusion

Theology today finds itself confronted with new challenges presented from the postmodern context in which it starts its reflections. These challenges, as we have pointed out in this chapter, mainly concern the profound level of individualism and the thriving sense of plurality which characterize contemporary societies the world over. Moreover, they have direct bearings on the sacramental life of the Church as they directly impact the liturgy. Just as how modernity impacted church and society (and enticed theology to respond in a manner akin to modernitys proper horizon of intelligibility) so too postmodernity evokes a response from theology to address the current cultural condition where people are in the pursuit of ritual and symbolic expressions that best articulate their desire for a more of meaning. To this date, several solutions have been suggested, ranging from equipping pastors with the necessary liturgical skills140 to various levels of liturgical adaptations.141 The task for theology in this regard is to explore avenues and open new vistas through which liturgy can find the proper symbolic language that contemporary people understand, and appreciate, i.e., to use the title of one of Powers books the language of Gods giving.142

139 140 141

Arinze, Pastoral Attention to Traditional Religions, 131-34. See Pecklers, Worship, 197-199. See, for instance, E. E. Uzukwu, African Symbols and Christian Liturgical Celebrations, Worship 65, no. 2 (1991): st 98-112; also see Pecklers, 40 Years of Liturgical Reform: Shaping Roman Catholic Worship for the 21 century, Worship 79, no. 3 (2005): 194-209; Paul M. Collins, Christian Inculturation in India (Alershot: Ashgate, 2007). Power, Sacrament: The Language.

142

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CHAPTER 2. POPULAR RELIGIOSITY IN THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSES AND MAGISTERIAL TEACHINGS

In the initial chapter we have argued in favor of the term popular religiosity over popular religion, especially when it is employed in a postmodern context which is radically characterized by cultural and religious plurality. These two terminologies, however, overlap. Yet they remain rather complex. 1 In exploring the complexity of popular religiosity, several questions need discussion: What is popular religiosity? Are there general features that one can distinguish, and how is popular religiosity structured? What are its dimensions, levels and types?2 What is the correct terminology for an adequate description of our thematic field? This current chapter attempts to explore some of these questions. Therefore, we will assess the manner in which popular religiosity is approached scientifically. We do this from both a sociological and a theological perspective. As a consequence, the consulted sources are quite diverse, in that they originate from various geographical contexts and cover a rather expanded timeframe. We are aware of this methodological issue, but as will become clear, this does not create any significant problem for our thematic approach. In addition, we will also discuss how popular religiosity is evaluated in magisterial teaching. For that purpose we shall examine some relevant Church documents that discuss this theme.

2.1.

An attempt at exploring the complexity of popular religiosity

The face of popular religiosity varies according to the socio-political and cultural context in which it resides. Jos Mguez Bonino3 makes a threefold distinction in reference to Latin America4

There is a general consensus among theologians, ethnologists and other social scientists about the increasing complex nature of popular religiosity. A thorough elaboration on how complex a study on popular religiosity can be is provided by Danayanthi Niles, The Study of Popular Religions and our Theological Task, Asia Journal of Theology 18, no. 1 (2004): 212-19; also see Segundo Galilea, The Theology of Liberation and the Place of Folk Religion, Concilium 6, no. 136 (1980): 40-45, 41-42; Jos Mguez Bonino, Popular Piety in Latin America, trans. J. P. Donnelli Concilium 6, no. 10 (1974): 148-57, 148; Maldonado (Dimensions, Levels and Types, 4) views popular religion as an extremely complex reality comprising a multiplicity of elements. See Maldonado, Dimensions, Levels and Types, 3-11; L. Laeyendecker, Once Again: Religion in Everyday Life, in Experiences and Explanations: Historical and Sociological Essays on Religion in Everyday Life, eds. L. Laeyendecker, L. G. Jansma, and C. H. A. Verhaar (Leeuwarden: Fryske Akademy, 1990), 179-96, 188. These sources identify and discuss various types of popular religiosity such as devotions, rituals, blessings, pilgrimages, veneration of the saints, witchcraft, sorcery, miracles, taboos, superstition, prophecy, (faith)healing practices, feasts, promises, etc. Bonino, Popular Piety in Latin America, 148-49. This distinction was made in the 1970s. It is beyond the scope of this study to analyze the current Latin American context for an adequate assessment of the extent to which Boninos evaluation retains validity and relevance, since he did so more than three decades ago.

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whereby he identifies a particular type of popular piety in areas with a predominant indigenous element (Mexico and the coast of the Pacific Ocean); another type occurs in the Caribbean and Brazil, and has been largely influenced by African religions; the third type is influenced by the influx of European immigrants, and is found in the Ro de la Plata region, a part of Chile. In this chapter we limit our discussion of popular religiosity to the Latin American variant. The breadth and depth of this theme makes our discussion rather selective; hence we cannot account its entire range.

2.1.1. Socio-cultural approaches to popular religiosity

Defining popular religiosity in unequivocal terms remains a hazardous undertaking, seeing its complex nature. However, popular religiosity involves religious practices that express peoples deep-seated convictions regarding a reality in which they seek to establish contact with the divine. In general, authors employ the terms popular religiosity and popular religion interchangeably. This comes to the fore in the translation from one language into another where translators substitute one of these notions for the other or even others.5 Moreover, authors use notions as popular faith,6 folk religion,7 popular Christianity,8 and popular Catholicism,9 whereby the prefix popular, or folk indicates a level of faith praxis that corresponds in varying degrees and to some extent with prescriptions from the official religious authority or authorities, but never completely. These notions overlap, though the latter two depart from a Christian
4

See Norbert Greinacher and Norbert Mette, eds. Editorial, trans. Graham Harrison, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): ixxi, x. Here these editors argue that the discussion and theological reflection on popular religiosity has been generated most intensely from especially the Latin American region with its peculiar sociohistorical and political context(s), compared to the European, African and Asian contexts. They illustrate this point by referring to the expanded bibliography accounted for in H. Ribeiro, Religiosidada popular na teologia latinoamericano (Sao Paolo: 1984); also see Wright Review of Literature, 143-146 for a more recent and representative bibliography on the concerned subject. The editors have entitled Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986) as Popular Religion (thematic issue). The Dutch version has several translations for popular religion in the title of various articles contributed to this number, namely: volksreligie (we deem this to be the most appropriate translation for popular religion; see the article by Jean Delameau); volksreligiositeit (i.e., popular religiosity, article by Maldonado), volksgodsdienst (i.e., folk religion, Christin Parker); and volksvroomheid (i.e., popular piety, Herman Vorlnder). See Ellen Badone, ed., Religious Orthodoxy and Popular Faith in European Society (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990). See Ichiro Hori, Folk Religion in Japan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968). See Selva J. Ray and Corinne G. Dempsey, eds., Popular Christianity in India: Riting Between the Lines (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002). See Jozef Lamberts, Who Are Our Guests? Some Considerations about Liturgy and Popular Catholicism, Questions Liturgiques 74 (1993): 65-88; Orlando O. Espn, The Faith of the People: Theoretical Reflections on Popular Catholicism (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997); Michael P. Carroll, Veiled Threats: The Logic of Popular Catholicism in Italy (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1996); Sidbe Sempor, Popular Catholicism in Africa: A Way of the Gospel, in Inculturation, eds. Turkson and Wijsen, 30-46.

7 8

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context, which is not necessarily the case with the ones previously mentioned.10 Sometimes the realities these notions convey coincide in such a degree that there is hardly any difference between them, due to the strong common features irrespective of the different contexts in which they occur. Against this backdrop the Latin American bishops at Puebla used notions like popular religiosity, popular religion, popular Catholicism, popular piety, religiosity of the people, and religion of the people in an almost identical manner.11 Another distinction from official religion12 is what in some literature is referred to as everyday religion, or religion in everyday life. The latter was the subject of a two-day conference organized in October 1988 by the Fryske Akademy (i.e., a scientific research institute in the Dutch province of Friesland). Irrespective of the frequent and explicit mentioning of this subject at the conference most speakers used the term popular religion in a synonymous way. There are some salient points that further highlight the complex nature of our thematic field. As Laeyendecker points out, the notions popular religion and religion in everyday life, as so-called oppositional concepts, can be viewed negatively in the sense that neither refer to official and formal beliefs and rituals and practices, which often have a generalized and abstract character.13 Despite great overlaps between these two notions there are also conspicuous points of divergence. To illustrate this, Laeyendecker cites Beckford who in his article Socialization in Small Religious Movements contends: Popular religious practices occasionally give rise to extraordinary heights of emotion, and, on the other hand, the most sublime religion still requires much routine, dull work from acolytes. 14 By way of amplification Laeyendecker notes that popular here is congruent with everyday routine, and everyday with the extraordinary (most sublime). 15 In his assessment of the different authors who made contributions from their respective theoretical contexts, Laeyendecker follows Beckford who contends that the terms popular and everyday do not retain the same meaning in different theoretical contexts.16
10

Non-Christian religions like Hinduism and Islam also know forms of popular faith and popular religiosity, embodied in popular religious practices that are not fully in accordance with what the respective official religious authorities prescribe and have sanctioned. See Puebla nos. 444, 452, and 455. See Laeyendecker, Once Again, 186. What is usually referred to as official is ambiguous, since this attribution depends on the perspective from which it is looked at. Thus for Native Americans living in the Amazon region, their respective Native American religions are official to them, whilst for the Roman Catholic missionary working in the same region, Roman Catholicism is the official religion. However, when we use the term official in this study we refer to the established religions with their official and formal beliefs and rituals and practices, which often have a generalized and abstract character (Ibid.). Ibid. Ibid., 187. Ibid. Ibid., 188.

11 12

13 14 15 16

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Furthermore, as a pronoun, the term popular also conveys multiple connotations. Therefore a further elaboration on the prefix popular is necessary in order to avoid misconceptions of our subject under study. In the context of contemporary western urbanized youth culture the term popular signifies that, what is representative for a current trend; thus, popular music can be understood as contemporary music as distinct from classical music. But in the context of our thematic field the term popular is related to people, or of the people. This clarifies the concept of popular religiosity as the religiosity of the people, which deviates to certain extent from a religiosity that has been prescribed, codified, and institutionalized officially.

2.1.2. Theological approaches to popular religiosity

In the German and Dutch the concurrent notion of popular religiosity begins with the prefix volk, which is the translation for people. This latter again has different theological meanings, depending on the context in which it is used, and also by whom and for whom it is used.18
17

According to Spanish born theologian Luis Maldonado19 the Latin-American discourse on popular religiosity exhibits at least two understandings for the term people.20 The Medelln documents give a socio-economic interpretation of this term, understood as the poor people of Latin America. They embody the collective of poor peasants and marginalized urban laborers, the dispossessed. In this sense this notion of volk or people is used to identify the mass of the population which stands in contrast to an elite minority, in both qualitative and quantitative terms. Another interpretation has its advocates in what Maldonado calls the Argentinean school. Here volk or people refers to an entire nation. However, this notion comprises of three distinct elements, namely a collective subject, a common culture, and a common history.21 Furthermore, Maldonado argues that during the Third General Latin American Episcopal Conference at Puebla the bishops tried to maintain both interpretations in a synthesis that

17

In the English literature the term folk as a prefix to religion, i.e., folk religion, can be also taken to mean volk. Folk religion therefore can be seen as a translation for the Dutch term volksreligie. It has more or less the same meaning as popular religion. See J. De Clercq and E. Henau, De sociale gestalte van de kerk in de toekomst Tijdschrift voor theologie 4 (1977): 333-352, 345-351. Here Henau gives an account of the plurality of meanings for the term volk(s) in the German literature concerning this theme. Maldonado, Dimensions, Levels and Types, 4-5. Cf. Fernando Castillo, Christianity: Bourgeois (Burguesa) Religion or Religion of the People? trans. Paul Burns, Concilium 5, no. 125 (1979): 51-60, 53-54; Maldonado, Dimensions, Levels and Types, 4-5, for the specific meaning of the concept of people in Church and theology. Maldonado is stating his argument in agreement with J. C. Scannone, Enfoques teolgica-pastorales latinoamericanos de la religiosidad popular, Stromata 41 (1985): 261-74.

18

19 20

21

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proceeded from a twofold understanding of this notion of people.22 In an attempt to conceptualize the notion of religiosity from the perspective of popular life, Maldonado follows M. Meslin23 by maintaining that popular religiosity tries to relate to the divine in simpler, more direct, and merited ways compared to official religiosity.24 In Latin America and the Caribbean there are types of popular religiosities that, irrespective of the Christian context in which they occur, also contain non-Christian influences from, among others, several African-Caribbean, African-American, and Native American religions like Brazilian Candombl,25 Orisha in Trinidad,26 Haitian Voodoo,27 Winti,28 in Suriname, and Mayan religion in highland Guatemala. Moreover, there are authors who give priority to the notion popular religion over popular religiosity, since in their view the latter has often been perceived

22

Maldonado (Dimensions, Levels and Types, 5) notes: In many dictionaries of present-day western languages, the word people always has two distinct meanings. According to the first, people refers to the totality of the people who belong to the same country and live under the same laws. They may hold in common the same origin, the same religion, language, culture. In the second sense, people is that part of the nation or of the population which considers itself to be in opposition to the classes which are better off, have more education and more power. See M. Meslin, Le phnomne religieux populaire, in Benot Lacroix and Pietro Boglioni (eds.), Les religions populaires, Histoire et sociologie de la culture, 3 (Quebec: Presses de lUniversit Laval, 1972), 5-15. Maldonado, Dimensions, Levels and Types, 6. See Rachel E. Harding, A Refuge in Thunder: Candombl and Alternative Spaces of Blackness (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2000). In this book the author examines Candombls development in terms of experiences and meanings that underlie its foundations in nineteenth-century Bahia, Brazil. See Jacob D. Elder, The Orisha Religion (Shango) as Resistance and Social Protest, in Ay BB: African-Caribbean Religions, Vienna contributions to ethnology and anthropology 8, part 1: cults, ed. Manfred Kremser (Vienna: Institut fr Vlkerkunde der Universitt Wien, 1990), 25-40.

23

24 25

26

27

See Mulrain Theology in Folk Culture, 62-78) for a theological approach to Voodoo religion in Haiti; also see Gasner Joint, Libration du vaudou dans la dynamique dinculturation en Hati, Interreligious and intercultural investigations, 2 (Roma: Pontifica Universit Gregoriana, 1999), 13-60 and 61-136, for respectively a socio-historical and phenomenological approach to voodoo; George Eaton Simpson, Religious Cults of the Caribbean: Trinidad, Jamaica and Haiti, Caribbean Monograph Series 15, 3rd enlarged ed. (Ro Piedras: Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, 1980), 231-86, presents a general description of voodoo. There are different spellings for this Haitian religion. Mulrain employs the French spelling vaudou, even though writing in English. He substantiates his choice by claiming that the English spelling voodoo has often been associated with negative practices from evil-doers such as black magic practitioners. Simpson, however, uses vodun. See therefore, Simpson, The Belief System of Haitian Vodun, in People and Cultures of the Caribbean, ed. Michael M. Horowitz (Garden City, NY: Natural History Press, 1971), 491-591. We will nevertheless retain the English spelling voodoo, unless quoted otherwise. Moreover, we want to stress that Mulrains claim of a negative connotation attached to the English spelling voodoo, which evokes images of black magic or obeah, is only applicable in part where it concerns the latter. 28 See Eddy van der Hilst, The Winti Religion of Suriname, in At the Crossroads: African-Caribbean Religion and Christianity, ed. Burton Sankeralli (St James, Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Conference of Churches, 1995), 10925, for a brief description of the Winti religion in Suriname; also see Yvonne van der Pijl, Een klein verhaal over winti, OSO 21, no 1 (2002): 76-89 who discusses winti as a religious and spiritual complex; and Charles, J. Wooding, Winti: een Afroamerikaanse godsdienst in Suriname: een cultureel-historische analyse van de religieuze verschijnselen in de Para (Meppel: Krips repro b.v., 1972) for a systematic description of this religion.

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negatively whereas the former evokes a more neutral response.29 By using the notion of popular religion they want to emphasize the autonomous and independent manner in which the people themselves live and express their faith. On a practical level authors often use the notion of popular religiosity either as a substitute for, or as a further denotation of (Christian) religious practices, such as popular devotion and popular piety. Some also employ the notion folk belief30 or folk Christianity.31 In so doing, they make little or no distinction between the corresponding concepts. These various terminologies which can be grouped under the common heading of popular religion or popular religiosity underscore the idea of a multiform expression. Popular religiosity cannot be seen therefore as a homogenous reality, since it varies to the extent that historiccultural circumstances vary. 32 This observation has implications for any study on popular religiosity. One major implication is that research on popular religiosity should proceed from a pluralistic understanding of the subject matter, rather than a homogenous approach. 33 This thought is reflected in a study by the Dutch missiologist Frans Wijsen 34 on peoples faith perceptions in a working class area of Maastricht, a city in the southern part of The Netherlands. In this study Wijsen departs from an interpretation of popular religiosity as the religiosity of the people, which is in contrast to that of representatives of the official religion.35 He then identifies
29

Osmar E. Gogolok, Pastoral Aspects of Popular Religion in Brazil, trans. J. G. Cumming, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 105-112, 106; also see Micheal Singleton, Let the People Be: Popular Religion and Religion of the People (Brussels: Pro Mundi Vita Bulletin no. 61, 1976); Rogier van Rossum, Volkskatholicisme of katholicisme van het volk: een Latijns-Amerikaans pastoraal dilemma, in Volksreligiositeit: uitnodiging en uitdaging, HTP-studies 3, eds. Ad Blijlevens et al. (Averbode: Altiora, 1982), 23-27, presents this issue by using different terms and concepts. This is particularly the case with Scandinavian authors. See, for instance, Ingemark C. Asplund, The Genre of Trolls: The Case of A Finland-Swedish Folk Belief Tradition (bo: bo Akademi University Press, 2004); Lotte Tarkka, ed., Dynamics of Tradition: Perspectives on Oral Poetry and Folk Belief, Studia fennica. Folkloristica, 13 (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2003); and others: Paul Christopher Johnson, Secrets, Gossip, and Gods: The Transformation of Brazilian Candombl (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). Frank Graziano, Cultures of Devotion: Folk Saints of Spanish America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007); Stefan Hoschele, Christian Remnant-African Folk Church: Seventh-Day Adventism in Tanzania, 1903-1980, Studies in Christian Mission, 34 (Leiden: Brill, 2007). Vittorio Lanternari, La religion populaire. Perspective historique et anthropologique, Archives de sciences sociales des religions (1982): 121-43,133, quoted in Maldonado, Dimensions, Levels and Types, 5. Cf. Maldonado (Dimensions, Levels and Types, 7-8) who maintains that the analysis of popular religion at greater depth, and, at the same time, in a more concrete way, taking account of its place in the life of the Church, requires one to distinguish three main levels: (1) the anthropological level which constitutes the profound level of mans existence as part of the natural order and of social and family life; (2) the religious level where the cosmic, natural and human realities appear as great symbols of the transcendent, which they express and reveal; (3) a third level where Christian elements are grafted on the previous two levels. Frans Wijsen, Geloof in een volksbuurt van Maastricht, in Bij geloof. Over bedevaarten en andere uitingen van volksreligiositeit, ed. Marinus van Uden, Jos Pieper, and Ernst Henau (Hilversum: Gooi & Sticht, 1991), 163-88. Ibid., 181.

30

31

32

33

34

35

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the following two types: (1) the traditional type, i.e., popular religiosity which is based on tradition; (2) and the alternative type, i.e., popular religiosity which is often inspired by other cultures.36 The first type proceeds from a popular understanding of salvation, for instance, having the rosary hanged on the rear-view mirror of ones car, with a motivation based on the hope and an a priori expectation that such an article, especially when it is blessed by a priest, emanates protective powers; thus, it wards off the possibility of a car accident. The faith experience of followers of this type of religiosity is mainly stipulated by environment. This belief is traditional concerning its contents, devotional regarding the ritual side and liberal in the field of ethics.37 The second type generally has to do with popular religious practices which do not obviously gain ecclesial approval, nor agree with Church dogma and prescriptions. Practitioners of this type of religiosity easily incorporate non-Christian faith expressions (for instance, Bhagwan, anthroposophy, humanism) in their spiritual lives. In Wijsens study this latter group consisted of a small minority within the entire geographical space of the target group. However, it is not easy to draw a clear demarcation line between these two groups in terms of their popular religious practices. Despite differences in the religious symbols and rituals they appropriate, there are also shared values that overlap Among the latter are the drinking of water from the wells of Lourdes when illness strikes, resorting to prayer healing sessions, praying of novenas and lighting of the childrens baptismal candle whenever something is wrong.38 One also finds likewise examples of religious expressions in Latin American popular religiosity 39 that is basically the result of a historical formation process. Thereby, SpanishLusitanian popular religiosity, the religiosity of the autochthonous population,40 and forms of African religiosity not only stood at the basis, but also left their indelible marks until the present.41 One example of a distinct form among the various types in Latin American popular religiosity is found in Northern Chile, where Marian devotions have retained traces of highland Andean
36

Wijsen (Geloof in een volksbuurt, 181) relates this distinction, by way of analogy, to the distinction made in medical science between regular or official medical practices (i.e., based on western medical science) and unofficial forms (i.e., those forms not recognized by the State). The latter can be further subdivided into traditional healing practices and alternative forms of medical treatment. Wijsen refers therefore to a studies from, among others, P. Van Dijk, Volksgeneeskunst in Nederland en Vlaanderen (Deventer: 1981). One should, however, be aware that in some countries (for instance, Kenya) some forms of traditional medical practices are no longer unofficial since they have been officially recognized by the State. Ibid., 174. Ibid., 179. We are aware that Latin America inhabits a plurality of forms of popular religiosity, and do not assume one single or homogenous type when employing the term Latin American popular religiosity (i.e., in its singular form). Here the term autochthonous refers to Native Americans, or the indigenous population of Latin America. Enrique Dussel, Popular Religion as Oppression and Liberation: Hypotheses on its Past and its Present in Latin America, trans. Francis McDonagh, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 82-94, 84-85.

37 38 39

40 41

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indigenous beliefs. Moreover, in other Native American communities in Chile there are also popular religious forms that are characterized by a coexistence of faiths in various animal and bird spirits with beliefs of Christian origin.42 Wijsens reading of popular religiosity may allude to the understanding that, due to its unofficial character, this phenomenon occurs mainly outside the realm of the official Church. Actually, this phenomenon also occurs within an ecclesial context. The various forms of Marian devotions approved and often encouraged by the Church the practices concerning the Sacred Heart devotion, pilgrimages to shrines and other holy places officially acknowledged as such by the Church, are just a few examples of what constitutes a particular type of popular religiosity, one which is operative on the so called official level. Since popular devotions of the Christian people are inherent in various forms of popular religiosity and the Church also recommends them we cannot exclude these ecclesial forms from the study of our thematic field. SC 13 that has become foundational for Church teaching on the relation between popular religiosity and the liturgy underlines the idea that the sacred liturgy can in some fashion contribute to the development of popular religiosity.43 Moreover, we can maintain that it constitutes in some ways popular religiosity. It is therefore our contention that a concept of popular religiosity or religiosity of the people, as contrasted with that of representatives from the official Church, engenders serious limitations for an adequate research in the context of our thematic field. It therefore becomes an imperative to adopt an approach that looks at both the ecclesial and the non-ecclesial milieus of popular religiosity, without pretending that such an approach covers the total range and reality of this subject under study.44 The variety of approaches that exists for the study of popular religiosity attributes to this subject a likewise variety of definitions. From a sociological approach Ernst Henau defines popular religiosity as the religiosity of the broad levels (thus, the majority) of the population (translation added).45 This pragmatic definition is inclusive for it tries to include people from all societal levels
42

Forms of Popular Religiosity; available from http://countrystudies.us/chile/53.htm; Internet; accessed 23 May 2005. For different applications and interpretations of the term popular religiosity, see Ad Brants, Volksreligiositeit en christelijk geloof, in Volksreligiositeit, eds. Blijlevens et al., 41-59, 42-43. Conversely, elements from a particular type of popular religiosity, residing outside an ecclesial context, may as well enrich the sacred liturgy. Cf. Stephen Judd, Fashioning a Vital Synthesis: Popular Religion and the Evangelisation Project in Southern Peru, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 113-21, 113. The wide spectrum that the subject of popular religiosity covers is manifested by the enormous literature that gives proof of a variety of approaches (for example, historical, pastoral-theological, anthropological, sociological, or from the sociology of religion). See Frans X. Spiertz, Volksreligiosteit: een literatuuroverzicht, in Volksreligiositeit, ed. Blijlevens et al., 159-79; also see Id., Bibliografie: Volksreligiositeit, in Volksreligiositeit, ed. Blijlevens et al., 18089. Ernst Henau, Het volkskatholicisme in discussie: een pastoraaltheologische bijdrage, in Volksreligiositeit, ed. Blijlevens et al., 9-22, 17.

43

44

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who share in the same type of religiosity. According to Henau popular religiosity of this type is characterized by a partial identification with the Church, and with the primitive forms of the Christian religious experience in particular. This becomes apparent in the way Henau and De Clercq describe elsewhere what is labeled as foi populaire in the appropriate French literature, as a notion that comprises a wide range of religious components identified with:
All kinds of forms of popular piety such as the veneration of the saints, pilgrimages, processions, religious feasts which nourish a type of popular spirituality; furthermore faith conceptions (e.g., regarding angels and devils) which continually correspond with the current theology and moral norms that often deviate from official [Church] regulations and prescriptions, whereby not seldom a latent (and sometimes also an open) conflict is present between the people who retain a pyramidal and sacred vision on the Church, and the clergy who tries to press for another church conception 46 [ttranslation added].

F. Haarsma criticizes this description of popular religiosity as a partial identification with the Church by showing concrete examples of popular religiosity in the Dutch and Flemish context that gain the full recognition from the Church, and in some cases where even encouraged by the Church.47 For Haarsma these types demonstrate a full identification with the Church. But there is more. How can one speak meaningfully of popular religiosity in a religious plural context? The French debate on popular religiosity as reflected upon by Serge Bonnet48 and Robert Pannet,49 and as presented by Henau,50 depicts this phenomenon strictly in Roman Catholic categories which to some extent explains the concurrent notion of popular Catholicism.51 From a postmodern perspective, however, the question rises whether the faithful subjects of popular religiosity all share in these Roman Catholic categories, and if so, to what extent.52 Or should the
46 47

De Clercq and Henau, De sociale gestalte van de kerk, 342. F. Haarsma, Volkskatholicisme en het pastorale beleid in Nederland en Vlaanderen, Tijdschrift voor theologie 4 (1977): 391-408, 392-393. See Serge Bonnet, A hue et dia. Les avatars du clricalisme sous la Ve Rpublique (Paris: Centurion, 1973. See Robert Pannet, Le catholicisme populaire: 30 ans aprs La France, pays de mission? (Paris: Centurion, 1974). See Henau, Het volkskatholicisme in discussie. De Clercq and Henau (De sociale gestalte van de kerk, 343) maintain that Serge Bonnet and Robert Pannet, despite their differences in approach and attitude toward popular religiosity, contended the existence of a typical popular culture that served as a breathing ground that sustained a typical experience and expression of the Catholic faith, in such manner that this could be labeled as popular Catholicism. In various contexts the world over, an increasing number of people who consider themselves to be Catholic, at a certain point in their life become lesser attached to the Church. Some cross over to neo-evangelical churches whereas others demonstrate a disposition toward other religious traditions, including those of Eastern origin, as well to postmodern forms of alternative or eclectic spirituality (New Age and other esoteric movements). Among these numbers there is also a large group of people whose ties with the Church are limited to special occasions that mark a particular passage through life (Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage). Several sources endorse this observation. See, for instance, Paulo Suess, The Creative and Normative Role of Popular Religion in the Church, trans. Paul Burns, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 122-31, 123. For Suess: The high religious temperature of the people in general in Andalusia 85% called themselves believing Catholics is in contrast with a rather stagnant eucharistic practice.

48 49 50 51

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nature of popular Catholicism be understood in the authentic meaning of the word catholic, meaning general Christian? These questions press the need to conceptualize popular religiosity in a way that it is not confined to a particular culture, religious affiliation, or socio-economic group. Ad Brants presents a broader understanding of popular religiosity by describing it as coinciding simply with religiosity, without any ado. Concomitantly, this type of religiosity stands in relation to the divine, or the supernatural.53 This description goes further than Henaus concept of partial identification with the Church, since it encompasses various groups of believers. Among these are those who attend Sunday Mass regularly (i.e., participate at the Eucharistic celebration), the so-called practicing members of the Church; those whose participation is restricted to pious exercises such as praying the Rosary-prayer during the months May and October that traditionally have been dedicated to the devotion to the Holy Virgin Mary;54 and those who practice their religiosity independent from the Church. The implication from this broad understanding of popular religiosity is that devotions, popular piety and pious exercises become concrete expressions of the various manners in which people attempt to relate to the metaempirical realities,55 not only in connection with the Church tradition(s). They also spring from other religious traditions.

2.2.

Magisterial approaches to popular religiosity

Not many Vatican documents have devoted specific attention to popular religiosity as the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy56 did. This magisterial document differentiates between
Belonging to the Church is a matter of popular religion and not of regular frequentation of the sacraments. Quoting from M. Roman, La evangelizacin en Andaluca, hoy, Vida nueva 1492 (1985): 23-30, Suess further notes: In their dossier Andalucia. Report to John Paul II, the authors speak of Sunday mass attendance of around 15%; also see Penny Lernoux, Popular Religiosity Forms New Social Conscience in Latin America; available from http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001976/Lernoux/Lernoux06/Lernoux06.html; Internet; accessed 15 August 2005. Here this author presents the same idea by recounting Argentinean popular devotion to the Italian immigrants saint San Cayetano that supersedes church attendance for the Eucharist on Sundays. Lernoux also quotes an unidentified Columbian priest who said: While 90 percent of Latin Americans are baptized Catholics, only 20 percent regularly attend Mass. Wijsen (Geloof in een volksbuurt, 179) also concludes in his study that while only five percent of his population group (i.e., the target group of his study) regularly attend Sunday Mass, ninety percent acknowledge to church attendance at key moments in life (Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, and Marriage).
53 54 55

Brants, Volksreligiositeit, 44. Ibid., 42. Wijsen (Geloof in een volksbuurt, 176-77) gives some examples of meta-empirical realities: God, Jesus, Mary, Our Lady, saint Anthony, the Guardian angel and even deceased (grand)parents. These examples have been retrieved from qualitative research where interview and participant observation were employed as techniques for data collection. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines (Vatican City: Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,

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devotion and popular piety. At the one hand, the DPPL acknowledges the interchangeable use of popular religiosity and popular piety 57 and at the other hand distinguishes between pious exercises, devotions, popular piety and popular religiosity. The absence of clear-cut definitions for any of these related subjects in the DPPL underscores the complexity of this thematic field. A closer look at the various terminologies employed, and as related to the liturgy, suffices to illustrate this point.

2.2.1. Popular religiosity and related terminology in DPPL

The DPPL gives descriptions rather, in an attempt to approximate the meaning and content of the just mentioned related subjects. In the DPPL pious exercises refer to those public or private expressions of Christian piety which, although not part of the liturgy, are considered to be in harmony with the spirit, norms and rhythms of the liturgy.58 Furthermore, they always refer to public divine revelation and to an ecclesial background [as] to the grace revealed by God in Jesus Christ59 as well. The DPPL uses devotion, however, as a term to describe various external practices (for instance, prayers, hymns, observances attached to particular times or places, insignia, medals, habits or customs).60 And for popular piety, the DPPL states that this term designates those diverse cultic expressions of a private or community nature which in the context of the Christian faith, are inspired predominantly not by the Sacred Liturgy but by forms deriving from a particular nation or people, or from their culture.61 Finally, the DPPL explains popular religiosity as a universal experience, because since time immemorial people have always and everywhere had an existential religious inclination toward the Divine or the supernatural, which becomes manifest in the desire for, and act of expressing their totalizing view of the transcendent, their concept of nature, society, and history through cultic means.62 For that matter, the DPPL points out that popular religiosity does not always necessarily refer to Christian revelation.63
2001; available from http://www.adoremus.org/ChurchDocs.html; Internet; accessed 12 October 2004. The responsible Vatican Dicastery is henceforth abbreviated with CDWDS, whereas the Directory itself is henceforth referred to as DPPL, followed by the pertaining number(s).
57 58 59 60 61 62 63

DPPL, no. 6. DPPL, no. 7. Ibid. DPPL, no. 8. DPPL, no. 9. DPPL, no. 10. Ibid.

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Even though the CDWDS does not use the term popular religiosity in the title of this document, it rather dwells largely on related terms in relation to the liturgy. SC 13 provides the basis of that relation. The DPPL, then, reminds us that SC 13 did explicitly touched upon the relationship between the Liturgy and pious exercises.64 It furthermore argues that the Apostolic See amply dealt with the question of popular piety on various occasions. The DPPLs position on the relation between popular religiosity and the liturgy is not only based on SC 13. It also dwells on insights and arguments from several previous papal Instructions and Exhortations;65 hence, the DPPL stands in a larger tradition of how the Church dealt with this relation. Understanding its current position necessitates the examination of preceding documents that addressed the matter in question. In footnote 4 and 5 the DPPL refers to these pertaining documents. They are the following: Sacred Congregation of Rites Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium; Paul VIs Apostolic Exhortations Marialis Cultus and Evangelii Nuntiandi; John Paul IIs Apostolic Exhortations Catechesi Tradendae, Familiaris Consortio, and the Congregation for the Clergys General Directory for Catechesis.66 In addition, we will also look at the CELAM documents of Medelln (1968) and Puebla (1974), and discuss their evaluation of popular religiosity.67 This

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DPPL, no. 3. See DPPL, no. 2. For these documents see, respectively: (1) Sacred Congregation for Rites, Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium, on Worship of the Eucharist (Rome: 25 May 1967); available from http://www.adoremus.org/ChurchDocs.html; Internet; accessed 12 October 2004; (2) Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, on Rightly Grounding and Increasing Marian Devotion (Rome: 2 February 1974), in Documents on the Liturgy 1963-1979: Conciliar, Papal, and Curial Texts. Translated by International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), 1204-28 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1982) [par. 3896- 3948]; (3) Id., Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, on Evangelization in the Modern World (Rome: 8 December 1975; available from: http://www.adoremus.org/ChurchDocs.html; Internet; accessed 12 October 2004; (4) John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, on Catechesis in Our Time; available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations /documents/hf_jpii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae_en.html ; Internet; accessed 12 October 2004; (5) Id., Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, on the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World; available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jpii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.html; Internet; accessed 12 October 2004; (6) Congregation for the Clergy, General Directory for Catechesis (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1998). These documents are, henceforth, abbreviated in the body texts with EM, MC, EN, CT, FC, and GDC, respectively, followed by their proper number(s). The latter is, henceforth, abbreviated in the notes with General Directory, followed by the appropriate number(s). CELAM is the abbreviation for the Spanish Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano. CELAM was founded in 1955 by Pius XII, on the request of the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. All twenty-two Episcopal Conferences on the American continents at the east of the United States of America are members of the CELAM. We will not discuss the CELAM documents of Santo Domingo (1992) and Aparecide (Brazil, 2007) in this chapter, since they do not directly address the theme of popular religiosity. However, the Santo Domingo documents in no. 36 briefly refer to popular religiosity as a privileged expression of the inculturation of faith. See Alfred T. Hennelley, Santo Domingo and Beyond: Documents and Commentaries from the Fourth General Conference of Latin American Bishops (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993), 86.

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discussion will include the document from the Pontifical Council for Culture (PCC), Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture, since it also addresses the issue of popular religiosity. Our review of these documents is centered on the following questions: (1) What was the direct cause for the publication of the concerned document? (2) What is the context in which the document was published? (3) Which aspect(s) of the document relate(s) directly to the question of popular religiosity? (4) How does this document evaluate popular religiosity? After we have analyzed these documents we will then proceed with examining DPPLs position on the relation between popular religiosity and the liturgy in light of the preceding documents.

2.2.2. Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium

On 25 May 1967, the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued the Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium. The direct cause for this Instruction was the Churchs concern for the right implementation of SC. This Instruction on the Eucharistic Worship consists of three parts. The first part concerns general principles to be given prominence in catechizing the people on the Eucharistic Mystery. In the second part the related theme is the celebration of the memorial of the Lord. The third part then discusses the worship of the Eucharist as a permanent Sacrament. The first part, however, is preceded by an introduction. From the very beginning this Instruction reinforces the central role of the mystery of the Eucharist in the life of the Christian, and indeed the life of the Church.68 It does so by drawing the meaning of the Eucharist from earlier Vatican and Papal documents like SC, the Constitution on the Church, Mediator Dei, and Mysterium Fidei that formulate the principles of the doctrine for the subject under discussion. It summarizes this doctrine by stating: the eucharistic sacrifice is the source and the summit of all the Churchs worship and of the entire Christian life.69 As a consequence of this central point in Church doctrine, the pious exercise of Eucharistic adoration should not be limited to the celebration of the Mass; the faithful should also practice this pious exercise outside the Mass, considering the fullness of the mystery of the Eucharist. Ultimately, this must lead the Christian to become eager to do good works, to please God, and to live rightly, devoted to the Church, putting into practice what they have learned, and growing in devotion.70

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Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 1. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 3, section e. This statement is quoted from Lumen Gentium, no. 11; and Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 41. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 13. This is quoted from Bernard Botte, Hippolytus of Rome, Traditio Apostolica 21, pp. 58-59 [French title: La tradition apostolique, Hippolyte de Rome, Sources chrtiennes 11 (Paris: Cerf, 1946)].

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It is in the final part that this Instruction touches more explicitly on the pious exercise of Eucharistic devotion, both private and public, and related to Eucharistic processions and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Here the question of popular religiosity is limited to pious exercises, within the context of the Eucharistic adoration. The Church highly recommends these exercises and forms of devotions. However, the primordial principle in observing them remains that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the liturgy, are in some way derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them.71 That is also the objective of this Instruction. By setting these norms, it wants to provide the broad principles for catechesis about the eucharistic mystery and to make more understandable the signs through which the eucharist is celebrated as the memorial of the Lord and worshipped in the Church as a lasting sacrament.72 Furthermore, one also observes certain continuity in the Churchs thinking regarding the Eucharistic devotion as it is articulated in recent Post-Synodal documents. In this respect the Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritas, no. 66 serves as an example hereof. Here the relationship between the Mass and the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is presented in a way that perceives the latter as a natural consequence of the former. It is stated that only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature.73 However, one notices in Sacramentum Caritatis, nos. 67 and 68 a clear continuation with EM where it concerns fostering the practice of Eucharistic devotion.74 Therefore, no. 68 advocates multiple forms of devotions, such as processions with the Blessed Sacrament, especially the traditional procession on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, [and] the Forty Hours devotion. This continuation in the Churchs thinking on devotions in the past to the present can be seen in light of her concern to rekindle such devotions and other forms of pious exercises, whenever their practice is in danger of waning.

2.2.3. Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus

Paul VI issued the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, on rightly grounding and increasing Marian devotion, on February 2, 1974. It is addressed to All Bishops in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See. One can derive the intention with which this Exhortation was written from its introduction. It is to develop the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in a structured way that

71 72 73

Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 58, quoted from Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 4. Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (22 December 2005): AAS 98 (2006),45, quoted in Id., Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis (Rome: 22 February 2007), no. 66. Cf. R. Kevin Seasoltz, Eucharistic Devotions and Reservation: Some Reflections, Worship 81, no. 5 (2007): 426-48. In this article Seasoltz discusses the Eucharistic devotion from its early development to the present.

74

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corresponds with the teachings of Vatican II.75 Only under this condition does this devotion become, according to this Apostolic Exhortation, an indication of the Churchs genuine piety.76 Nonetheless, MC establishes the development of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary with the following intentions:
(1) to dwell on certain issues concerning the connection between the liturgy and the cultus of the Mother of God; (2) to propose considerations and directive norms suited to foster the lawful progress of this cultus; (3) and finally, to offer some thoughts on renewing an eager, more thoughtful recitation of the rosary, a practice constantly counseled by our [i.e., Paul VI, speaking on behalf of 77 the entire Church] predecessors and of longstanding usage among the Christian people.

These considerations form the basis and point of departure for MC. Moreover, they point out that the Exhortations objective goes beyond the development of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It is more than that. The final consideration mentioned here above gives us a clue into which direction we ought to look. It highlights the importance of renewing a devotion that the Church values for its importance for spiritual growth and enhanced Christian living. Why was the renewal of this devotion necessary? Why did the Church feel the pressing need to encourage its practice? What was the Churchs perception of the state of the question concerning this devotion at that time? From the Churchs perspective the devotion to the Blessed Virgin had run into a crisis. It had become something it was never meant to be; it had exceeded the limits of wholesome and orthodox doctrine, and, as a result, inhabited the danger to lead people to err. This momentary perception from the Church corresponded with the prevalent social context. It was a time in which both individual and communal expression of religious sentiments changed rapidly. The then existing pious practices could not keep pace with these rapid changes, and they eventually became less adequate to give suitable expression to the newly developed religious sentiments. People were looking for new ways to express their religiosity. It is in this context that MC was written. A greater motivation was to remedy the devotion to the Blessed Virgin by offering guidelines and appropriate catechesis geared toward restoring this type of devotion to its authentic form, and informing the people with the right ways for expressing their devotion. Here we see how the Church responded to the social situation by defining the boundaries for popular devotion. One fundamental principle she advocated regards the unifying bond that must exist

75 76 77

See the introduction to Marialis Cultus. Ibid. Ibid., (closing paragraph).

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between the devotion to the Blessed Virgin and Christ as its necessary point of reference.78 An authentic devotion requires a unifying and inseparable bond between these two. Another principle propagated in MC is that pious exercises devoted to the Blessed Virgin should clearly express the Trinitarian and Christological note that is intrinsic and essential to them.79 This will reflect the authenticity of the worship and render it a truly Christian character. But what ultimately matters is that they meet the norms as the Church has established in SC 13.80 Only under these conditions does the Church support, approve, and adhere fully to these devotions. These principles underscore the Churchs prerogative to defend and safeguard popular devotions to the Blessed Virgin from further corruption, and at the same time ensuring that the praxis of these devotions remain within the limits of sound doctrine.

2.2.4. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi

Paul VI promulgated the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, on December 8, 1975. In reviewing what EN has to say about popular religiosity, we will try to illuminate the Churchs basic attitude toward this reality. Therefore, we find it necessary to cite the entire article that discusses this issue.
Here we touch upon an aspect of evangelization which cannot leave us insensitive. We wish to speak about what today is often called popular religiosity. One finds among the people particular expressions of the search for God and for faith, both in the regions where the Church has been established for centuries and where she is in the course of becoming established. These expressions were for a long time regarded as less pure and were sometimes despised, but today they are almost everywhere being rediscovered. During the last Synod [Third General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops Rome, October 1974] the bishops studied their significance with remarkable pastoral realism and zeal. Popular religiosity, of course, certainly has its limits. It is often subject to penetration by many distortions of religion and even superstitions. It frequently remains at the level of forms of worship not involving a true acceptance by faith. It can even lead to the creation of sects and endanger the true ecclesial community. But if it is well oriented, above all by a pedagogy of evangelization, it is rich in values. It manifests a thirst for God which only the simple and poor can know. It makes people capable of generosity and sacrifice even to the point of heroism, when it is a question of manifesting belief. It involves an acute awareness of profound attributes of God: fatherhood, providence, loving and constant presence. It engenders interior attitudes rarely observed to the same degree elsewhere: patience, the sense of
78 79 80

Marialis Cultus, no. 4. Marialis Cultus, no. 25. See Marialis Cultus, no. 31; also Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, on Divine Revelation, no. 13.

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the cross in daily life, detachment, openness to others, devotion. By reason of these aspects, we readily call it popular piety, that is, religion of the people, rather than religiosity. Pastoral charity must dictate to all those whom the Lord has placed as leaders of the ecclesial communities the proper attitude in regard to this reality, which is at the same time so rich and so vulnerable. Above all one must be sensitive to it, know how to perceive its interior dimensions and undeniable values, be ready to help it to overcome its risks of deviation. When it is well oriented, this popular religiosity call be more and more for multitudes of our people a true encounter with God in 81 Jesus Christ.

A striking observation is that in comparison with other sections of the document, EN 48 does not refer to biblical quotations to underscore what it states on the subject; thus, this article stands on its own. When, however, it begins speaking about popular religiosity it does so mildly, first indicating that it constitutes diverse ways of how people express their desire to search for God and for faith. It acknowledges that this search for the divine occurs in places where the Church has been established for centuries, and places where the Church still needs to be established fully. It therefore means that popular religiosity occurs both within and outside the context of Christian worship. Furthermore, EN 48 acknowledges the Churchs awareness of the negative treatment popular religiosity often received. As Schreiter rightfully observes:
For a long time popular religion was by and large denigrated by theologians as a way of expressing faith that needed to be overcome sooner or later by a more sophisticated understanding of the gospel. Devotions, processions, pious associations, and places of pilgrimage seemed to many religious leaders to be realities that would pass away with liturgical renewal and a more Word82 centered spirituality.

Even though EN perceives popular religiosity as a legitimate expression of peoples desire to communicate with the meta-empirical realities, it still cautions against possible pitfalls when it (i.e., popular religiosity) remains at the level of forms of worship, not involving a true acceptance by faith. EN also warns that popular religiosity can be a threat to the true ecclesial community when promoting or fostering the formation of sects. These remarks illustrate the necessity for the evangelization of popular religiosity so that it can be (re)oriented to Christ and lead people to salvation in His name. Another conspicuous detail is that EN 48 displays a more positive attitude toward the term popular piety. Nevertheless, EN 48 suggests that the positive values inherent in popular piety are also present as logos spermaticos within popular religiosity. These, however, only come to fruition

81 82

Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 48 Schreiter, Local Theologies, 122.

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after a pedagogy of evangelization. It seems as if EN reserves the term popular piety for the state of popular religiosity after it has been purified through evangelization.83 The attitude toward popular religiosity, as gleaned from EN 48 can be described as ambiguous. On the part of the Church this would actually mean a true acceptance of faith, the faith of the people. Such an appreciation would enable both the Church and popular religiosity to retain freshness, vigor and strength in order to proclaim the Gospel by a constant conversion and renewal.84 A final comment on EN 48 concerns the nature of evangelization. EN 17 defines evangelization in terms of proclaiming Christ to those who do not know Him, of preaching, of catechesis, of conferring Baptism and the other sacraments. Evangelization means renewing and transforming humanity from within by proclaiming the Good News to people and their entire culture or cultures. This is done not in a purely decorative way as it were, by applying a thin veneer, but in a vital way, in depth and right to their very roots always taking the person as ones starting-point and always coming back to the relationships of people among themselves and with God.85 The latter part of this citation signifies that there is a personal dimension involved in the evangelization of culture. It also suggests that evangelization of culture should lead to personal conversion. It should entail a process of metanoia, not only for the individual, but also for the entire cultures called forth to bear witness of Christ saving grace.

2.2.5. Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae

As we have seen, EN emphasizes the importance of the evangelization of culture, and by implication, of popular religiosity, accompanied by catechetical formation. Therefore, we shall now pay attention to a catechetical magisterial document that touches on the issue of popular religiosity. John Paul II wrote the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae to the whole Church with the following intentions: (1) to strengthen the solidity of the faith and Christian living; (2) to give fresh vigor to the initiatives in hand; (3) to stimulate creativity with the required vigilance; (4)
83

A pedagogy of evangelization of popular religiosity fits into the scheme of the evangelization of culture or cultures. Popular religiosity cannot elude this call, since it is also a constituent of culture. But in the context of this document one can assert the same claim regarding popular piety. As Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 18 points out: For the Church evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity (italicization is ours). Furthermore, the evangelization of popular piety would be a concrete realization of Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 15 that declares: The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself. However, this is only the case when popular piety as one particular stratum of culture becomes imbued with characteristics which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation (Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 19). See, Ad Gentes, nos. 5, 11-12. Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 20

84 85

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and to help spread among the communities the joy of bringing the mystery of Christ to the world.86 This document can therefore be seen as an instrument to aid the work of evangelization in the world. CT 57 provides a brief description of the context in which this Exhortation was written and the issues it seeks to address. Catechesis, which stands at the basis of Christian formation, occurs in a profoundly secularized context. It is a time generally considered by many as the post-Christian era [and living] in a world which largely ignores God [that] too often flounders in a debasing indifferentism, if it does not remain in a scornful attitude of suspicion in the name of progress it has made in the field of scientific explanations.87 In this context the Exhortation seeks to offer:
A catechesis which trains the young people and adults of our communities to remain clear and consistent in their faith, to affirm serenely their Christian and Catholic identity, to see him who is invisible and to adhere so firmly to the absoluteness of God that they can be witnesses to Him in a 88 materialistic civilization that denies Him.

It is important to consider the context because that clarifies the nature of the devotions under study and the Churchs reaction toward them. Under the paragraph heading The Contribution of Popular Devotion CT 54 discusses the utilization of valid elements in popular piety in catechetical instruction. There we read:
Another question of method concerns the utilization in catechetical instruction of valid elements in popular piety. I have in mind devotions practiced by the faithful in certain regions with moving fervor and purity of intention, even if the faith underlying them needs to be purified or rectified in many aspects. I have in mind certain easily understood prayers that many simple people are fond of repeating. I have in mind certain acts of piety practiced with a sincere desire to do penance or to please the Lord. Underlying most of these prayers and practices, besides elements that should be discarded, there are other elements which, if they were properly used, could serve very well to help people advance towards knowledge of the mystery of Christ and of His message: the love and mercy of God, the Incarnation of Christ, His redeeming cross and resurrection, the activity of the Spirit in each Christian and in the Church, the mystery of the hereafter, the evangelical virtues to be practiced, the presence of the Christian in the world, etc. And why should we appeal to non-Christian or even anti-Christian elements refusing to build on elements which, even if they need to be revised 89 or improved, have something Christian at their root?

86 87

Catechesi Tradendae, no. 4. Cf. General Directory, no. 20; and no. 22, which reads: There is in contemporary culture a persistent spread to religious indifference. It underlines this statement with a quotation from Gaudium et Spes, no. 19: Many however of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive, or else explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Catechesi Tradendae, no. 57. Catechesi Tradendae, no. 54.

88 89

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This Exhortation speaks of valid elements in popular piety which reveals that, notwithstanding the wave of secularization the Church acknowledges the goodness within this type of piety. Moreover, this Exhortation expresses the Churchs appreciation for the devotions, as well as for the devotees, despite an underlying faith that needs purification and rectification in various aspects. CT 54 also clarifies the Churchs perception on devotions in general. While acknowledging their goodness, the Exhortation does not remain blind for the various aberrations inherent in them. Therefore, a catechesis is needed to purify and rectify them so that they can effectively enhance the work of evangelization. There is a need for enlightening these devotions from time to time by Holy Scripture and Church doctrine so that they may fit within the framework of authentic Christian worship. It is therefore clear that the Church does not discard devotions a priori, but rather the aberrations incurred by cultural and secular influences. Their underlying faith is acknowledged, and where it does not lead the faithful to authentic Christian worship the Exhortation recommends a catechesis that will serve the desired objective.

2.2.6. Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio

In Familiaris Consortio John Paul II discusses the role of the Christian family in the modern world. With this Exhortation he addresses the Episcopate, the clergy, and to the faithful of the whole Catholic Church. The document comprises four chapters which follow upon a rather extensive introduction (FC 1-16). The chapters constitute the four general tasks for the family as emphasized by the Synod of Bishops held in Rome from 26 September to 25 October 1980. They are the following: (1) Forming a community of persons; (2) serving life; (3) participating in the development of society; (4) and, sharing in the life and the mission of the Church.90 Our particular interest goes to FC 60 and 61 that both discuss the question of popular piety in the context of Christian family life. They come under the fourth chapter. FC 60 reiterates Paul VIs appeal to parents several years earlier when he insisted:
Mothers, do you teach your children the Christian prayers? Do you encourage them when they are sick to think of Christ suffering to invoke the aid of the Blessed Virgin and the saints? Do you say the family rosary together? And you, fathers, do you pray with your children, with the whole domestic community, at least sometimes? Your example of honesty in thought and action, joined to some common prayer, is a lesson for life, an act of worship of singular value. In this way you bring peace to 91 your homes: Pax huic domui. Remember, it is thus that you build up the Church.

90 91

Familiaris Consortio, no. 17. Paul VI, General Audience Address, Aug. 11, 1976, in Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, XIV (1976), 640, quoted in Familiaris Consortio, no. 60.

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The Christian family, also referred to as domestic church, is called upon to build up the Church by means of an active participation in her (prayer) life and mission that commences in the own domestic surroundings. This task of evangelization entrusted to Christian parents builds on practices of popular piety, and consists of nurturing a life of prayer and baptismal faith for their children. In addition, this Exhortation encourages parents to introduce their children to knowledge of God and to lead them by their own examples in a life of worship of God and love for neighbors. FC 61 gives concrete examples of how families can enhance their Christian life through unceasing prayer. Popular devotions and pious exercises are fundamental elements of prayer life. Therefore, this Exhortation encourages peculiar forms of prayer life, such as:
Reading and meditating on the word of God, preparation for the reception of the sacraments, devotion and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the various forms of veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grace before and after meals, and observance of popular devotions. While respecting the freedom of the children of God, the Church has always proposed certain practices of piety to the faithful with particular solicitude and insistence. Among these should be mentioned the recitation of the rosary: We now desire, as a continuation of the thought of our predecessors, to recommend strongly the recitation of the family rosary.... There is no doubt that... the rosary should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite. We like to think, and sincerely hope, that when the family gathering becomes a time of prayer the rosary is a frequent and favored manner of praying (MC 52, 54). In this way authentic devotion to Mary, which finds expression in sincere love and generous imitation of the Blessed Virgins interior spiritual attitude, constitutes a special instrument for nourishing loving communion in the family and for developing conjugal and family spirituality. For she who is the Mother of Christ and of the Church is in a special way the Mother of Christian families, 92 of domestic Churches.

The insistence and solicitude with which this Exhortation encourages various forms of popular devotion in general, and the devotion to Mary in particular, reflected by the prayer of the rosary, demonstrates how the Church values devotions for developing Christian spirituality. Reciting the rosary reflects an authentic devotion to Mary, expressed in sincere love and endowed with a Marian spirituality. Moreover, it enhances the spiritual nourishment and wellbeing of the Christian family.

2.2.7. General Directory for Catechesis

The 1997 publication of the GDC follows the General Catechetical Directory that was published in 1971.93 The current publication is a revision of its 1971 predecessor while retaining
92 93

Familiaris Consortio, no. 61. Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, General Catechetical Directory, Ad normam decreti (Rome: 11 April 1971), in AAS 64 (1972): 97-176. On 18 March 1971 Paul VI definitely approved the General Catechetical Directory after it was

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its basic structure (GDC 8) in which its original inspiration and content was respected. The GDC is also presented as an adaptation of the General Catechetical Directory to new situations and need (GDC 7). It therefore expresses the Churchs realization of a wealth of new information in the field of catechesis that has emerged over the three decades since the publication of the General Catechetical Directory. There are two fundamental principles regarding catechesis that lay at the base of the GDC. These are: (1) The contextualization of catechesis in evangelization as envisaged by EN; (2) and, the appropriation of the content of the faith as presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 94 It largely discusses the practical and theoretical implications from contextualizing catechesis in relation to evangelization. The GDC seeks to arrive at a balance between these two principles (GDC 7). It is especially against the background of the second principle that the GDC addresses the question of popular religiosity, drawing from what EN has already stated on this matter. The GDC does not employ the term popular religiosity, except in the Thematic Index95 where the relevant numbers are given that discuss this subject.96 GDC 195 and 196 make explicit mention of popular devotion. Furthermore, GDC 25 categorizes Christians according to which they have been shaped by the climate of secularism and ethical relativism.97 Among these categories the GDC mentions the simple people (EN 52) who express themselves at times with sincere religious feelings and deeprooted popular devotion (EN 48). They possess a certain faith but know little even of its fundamental principles (EN 52). For this category of people, together with other identified categories the GDC advocates an appropriate contextual catechesis that is adapted to the peculiar circumstances of these various groups. Not everyone shares the above mentioned circumscription of people who primarily express their faith in categories inherent in popular devotion as simple people. Some reject this way of labeling because it resonates connotations as less educated, unsophisticated, religiously
drawn up by a special commission of experts from the Congregation for the Clergy that consulted the various Episcopal Conferences, throughout the world, which made numerous suggestions and observations on the subject (GDC 1). 94 General Directory, no. 7; The Catechism of the Catholic Church, rev. ed. (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1999 [1994] is, henceforth, abbreviated in the body text with CCC, followed by the appropriate number(s).
95 96

General Directory, 265-82, 277 [thematic index pages]. The Thematic Index of the General Directory refers here to nos. 25, 133, 193, 195-196, 212. Of these, nos. 25, 195195 deal directly with the theme of popular devotion. However, no. 25 reiterates the positions from Evangelii Nuntiandi, nos. 48, 52, and Catechesi Tradendae, no. 54. The General Directory follows John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), in AAS 87 (1995): 5-41.

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immature, etc. For long these notions were applied to the poor masses of, among others, Latin American people.98 However, Huebsch explains that simple people refers to those who follow popular devotions but do not understand their faith deeply enough.99 Therefore, a catechesis aimed at substituting ignorance about the fundamental principles of the faith with full knowledge of the everlasting and absolute truths of the faith becomes not just relevant, but an indispensable necessity. Yet one can maintain that nowadays Christians who actively participate in popular devotional practices can be found at various diocesan levels. This group includes members who have profited from a variety of trainings and courses offered in parishes and deaneries, and ranging from parish to diocesan level. Some of these members even hold catechetical functions, such as catechetical coordinators of RCIA programs. Long years of catechetical and pastoral training have equipped them with a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of the faith.100 This observation calls for qualifying the nature of the devotions which the GDC envisages. We will return to this when discussing GDC 195-196. GDC 133 deals with aspects of adaptation in a local catechism. It also addresses popular religiosity, though in an indirect manner. The argument here is that local catechisms must have the organic synthesis of the faith as their content, though in a contextualized form. Moreover, this contextualized form must also be in alignment with those to whom it is addressed, thereby, considering the differences of culture, age, spiritual maturity and social and ecclesial conditions101 It therefore means that local catechisms do not merely repeat the language of the CCC102 but have to become culture and context specific. Hence, one of the implications of this directive is that local catechisms shall pay attention in a special way to the concrete manner in which religion is lived in a given society.103 This further means that with regard to popular devotions, the local catechism should give due consideration to the value they have for the people concerned.

98

See Daniel H. Levine, Constructing Culture and Power in Latin America (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1993), 171. Here Levine argues that these so-called simple people are in fact a set of confident, articulate, and capable men and women, from hitherto silent, unorganized, and dispirited populations. Bill Huebsch, The General Directory for Catechesis: A Summary and Commentary (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2001), 7. We have encountered several persons who clearly demonstrated a thorough knowledge of Christian faith, and because of that were commissioned as liturgical (lay)ministers or catechist. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 24, quoted in the General Directory, nos. 127, 133. Huebsch, Summary and Commentary, 54. General Directory, nos. 128, 133.

99

100

101 102 103

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In nos. 195-196 the GDC touches directly on the issue of popular devotion. They are both treated under the heading Catechesis and popular devotion.104 GDC 195 speaks of popular piety, whereas GDC 196 addresses the devotion to the Mother of God with the more specific terms Marian devotion and Marian piety. The GDC describes popular piety as particular expressions of the search for God and the religious life, which are full of fervor and purity of intention.105 For its raison dtre GDC cites Paul VIs fuller description in EN 48. Moreover, GDC perceives the manner in which the simple and poor in spirit express their religiosity as a vital dimension in Catholic life.106 It reiterates several virtues attributed to popular piety such as patience, acceptance of the Cross in daily life, detachment, openness to other men and a spirit of ready service.107 These virtues are common expressions of popular piety. They are illustrative for the spiritual richness inherent in popular religiosity and are also recognized and greatly valued by the Church. Nevertheless, the GDC still considers this reality of popular religiosity as vulnerable; hence, according to the GDC, it is unstable and inhabits a faith that can easily fall prey to anomalies such as superstition, syncretism and religious ignorance. Therefore, it is necessary to (re)direct it to Christs message of salvation with the aid of a catechesis that can imbue it with a proper synthesis of the faith in order for it to withstand and overcome the threats posed by the aforementioned anomalies. For only when popular piety or popular religiosity is wisely directed can it bring people into contact with God in Jesus Christ. GDC 196 focuses on the devotions to the Mother of God. The GDC bases its requirement for a renewed catechesis for some of these devotions on the assumption that, due to their long existence, valuable elements that make them a vital dimension in Catholic life may have become lost or obscure during the course of time. The catechesis then serves as a tool for emphasizing the perennial value of these Marian devotions, as well as to permeate them with doctrinal elements from the Magisterium.108 The GDC decrees that the renewed catechisms must clearly express the intrinsic Trinitarian, Christological and ecclesiological aspects of Mariology.109 Furthermore, these aspects should be accounted for biblically, liturgically, ecumenically, and anthropologically. Only when these requirements are met will a catechesis on these devotions have a chance of restoring them to the level where the Church can approve of them wholeheartedly.

104 105 106 107 108 109

General Directory, nos. 184-185. General Directory, no. 184 Ibid. Ibid. General Directory, no. 185. Ibid.

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An interesting development in the Churchs approach toward Marian devotion, in particular, is that she recognizes it in its original form, due to its perennial value. For that reason the Church advocates a renewal of the devotion by restoring elements that were lost or became obscure over the ages through a proper catechesis. Here, restoring means going back to the original state of the devotion and resuscitates those elements that are constitutive for a popular religious reality that is compatible with the Churchs doctrinal prescriptions. This methodological approach raises several questions about its applicability. First, to what extent does it apply to other forms of devotions and expressions of popular religiosity? Second, what are the criteria for selecting a particular form of devotion for such an approach and rejecting another? Third, how do we account for areas where the Church has not yet been profoundly established, thereby lacking the availability of a comprehensive catechesis for the concerned people? These and other questions illustrate the limitations of such an approach, which we can describe as evangelization through catechism. However, in the past the Church has applied several approaches in dealing with popular religiosity. These ranged from total acceptance to rejection, and from tolerance to active incorporation or adaptation.110 It is a problem that touches the very heart of a culture when it comes into contact with Christianity. For likewise situations the Church advocates a pastoral approach. That takes us now to discuss a final document that employs such an approach related to culture.

2.2.8. Toward a Pastoral Approach to Culture

The Pontifical Council for Culture expresses a rather positive view on popular piety in its 1999 document Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture.111 PAC 27 and 28 are devoted to the matter of popular piety and discussed under the heading: Ordinary ways of experiencing faith: popular piety, the parish. Even though the adjective ordinary is put between double quotation marks, the PCC still acknowledges popular piety as a legitimate way of experiencing faith. However, the PCC locates the origins of popular piety in the way people understood and lived the Christian faith as it permeated their individual and social lives, within a cultural context intrinsically tied up with a faith upon which it is build and around which it is organized. People expressed their faith through certain forms of piety which include local feasts, family traditions, various celebrations, pilgrimages and so on.112

110 111

See DPPL, chapter 1: Liturgy and Popular Piety in Historical Perspective. Pontifical Council for Culture, Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture (Vatican City: 23 May 1999). Henceforth: PCC and Pastoral Approach to Culture respectively, and in the body text abbreviated with PAC, followed by the proper number(s). Pastoral Approach to Culture, no. 27.

112

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It is on such a faith that a culture was built. Some authors refer to such a culture as popular religious culture.113 But that culture is now impacted by secularization, and that can also have repercussions for the faith of the people. When, in the worse case, secularism erodes such a culture, it has direct bearings on the faith upon which it was built because these two are intertwined. In order to restore the faith or enabling it to mature, the PCC advocates a profound knowledge of the culture. It seems as if the PCC shifts its focus from where GDC had left. The latter emphasizes knowledge of the fundamental principles of faith as an effective means for evangelization through a catechesis adapted to the culture(s) of the people concerned. The PCC acknowledges the importance of these principles, but stresses that knowledge of the culture of the addressees is also pivotal; thus, it declares:
If they [pastoral workers, Christian communities, and qualified theologians, among others] are to touch people's hearts, proclaiming the Gospel to the young and to adults, and celebrating salvation in the liturgy demand not only a profound knowledge of the faith, but also knowledge of the cultural environment. When people love their culture as the special part of their life, it is in that culture that they live and profess their Christian faith. Bishops, priests, men and women religious and lay people need to develop a sensitivity to this culture, in order to protect and promote it in the light of Gospel values, above all when it is a minority culture. Such attention to culture can offer those who are in any way disadvantaged a way to faith and to a better quality of Christian life at the heart of the 114 Church.

In this way a pastoral approach to culture has a double impact. On the one hand it enables faith to mature. And on the other hand it enhances the evangelization of not only people, but also of their culture or cultures. In PAC 28 the PCC further explicates its perception of popular piety as an inculturated faith of the people in the following way: Religion is also memory and tradition, and popular piety is one of the best examples of genuine inculturation of faith because it is a harmonious blend of faith and liturgy, feelings and art, and the recognition of our identity in local traditions.115 The PCC goes on to explain this claim by referring to the example of America, which historically has been, and still is, a melting-pot of peoples, and postulates that in the mestiza face of the Virgin of Tepeyac, in
113

See Robert E. Cray, Jr., Memorialization and Enshrinement: George Whitefield and Popular Religious Culture, 17701850, Journal of the Early Republic 10, no. 3 (1990): 339-61; Hans Geybels, Probleemanalyse van het onderzoek naar de religieuze volkscultuur in Vlaanderen (Bonn: Rheinische Vereinigung fr Volkskunde, 2004); Gerard Rooijakkers and Theo Van der Zee, Religieuze volkscultuur: de spanning tussen de voorgeschreven orde en de geleefde praktijk (Nijmegen: SUN, 1986); Peter Nissen, Percepties van sacraliteit: over religieuze volkscultuur, in Volkscultuur: een inleiding in de Nederlandse etnologie, eds. Ton Dekker, Herman Roodenburg, and Gerard Rooyakkers (Nijmegen: SUN, 2000), 231-81, 238, claims that several scientific disciplines, particularly anthropology and theology, have in recent years attached much attention to the phenomenon of popular religious culture, especially in the context of The Netherlands. Pastoral Approach to Culture, no. 27. Pastoral Approach to Culture, no. 28.

114 115

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Blessed Mary of Guadalupe, an impressive example of a perfectly inculturated evangelization (Ecclesia in America, 11) is revealed.116 This example of popular piety as a clear illustration of an inculturated faith, the PCC continues, provides an irrefutable evidence of the osmosis that takes place between the innovative power of the Gospel and the deepest levels of a culture.117 It is against this backdrop that the PCC strongly supports the idea that a pastoral approach to culture should essentially entail a constant pastoral discernment of popular piety as it evolves, in order to discover its genuine spiritual values and bring them to fruition in Christ so that ... it might lead to a sincere conversion and a practical exercise of charity (cf. Ecclesia in America, 16). 118 This approach to culture is essential because it has direct bearings on popular piety which the PCC perceives as an expression of faith, conditioned by a particular culture. More concretely, it sees popular piety as the way a people expresses its faith and its relationship to God and his Providence, to Our Lady and the saints, to ones neighbour, to those who have died or to creation, and it strengthens its belonging to the Church.119 Furthermore, the PCC justifies a pastoral approach to culture from the insight that cultures generally possess both noble and ignoble elements. According to the PCC, in many countries daily life is coloured by a strong sense of the sacred. This has implications for the manner in which these cultures are approached. The PCC, therefore, maintains:
A valid pastoral approach should promote and make the most of holy places, sanctuaries and pilgrimages, holy days and holy nights, liturgical vigils and adoration, holy things or sacramentals, remembrances and the sacred seasons of the liturgy. Several dioceses and university chaplaincies organize, at least once each year, a journey on foot to a sacred place, following in the footsteps of 120 the Hebrews who sang the Canticles of Ascent with real joy as they drew near Jerusalem.

The PCC emphasizes in this Pastoral Letter that just like culture, popular piety too is not static but rather prone to change, either positively or negatively. And as culture stands in need of evangelization, popular piety too has, in certain regions, a need for purification. This requires a proper catechesis so that a successful in-depth evangelization can be realized. So, while popular piety can be conducive to encountering the living Christ, it is still susceptible to error, and therefore ought to be guided by a valid pastoral approach. This evaluation reveals a certain
116

Ibid. It was actually in his Address at the Opening of the Fourth General Conference of Latin American Bishops (October 12, 1992), 24, in AAS 85 (1993): 826, when John Paul mentioned for the first time that in the Virgin of Tepeyac an apparition of the mother of Jesus is recognized. However, this view is contested by Espn (The Faith of the People, 7) who writes: I am convinced that it is not the Jewish woman Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus that most Latinos speak of when they refer to the Virgin de Guadaloupe. I am certainly not the first one to know or say this Ibid. 28. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.

117 118 119 120

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ambiguity from the side of the Church toward popular piety, or popular devotion, or popular religiosity.

2.3.

CELAM and popular religiosity

In the history of the Latin American Church there have been five major meetings of the Episcopal Conference of bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM) conferences to the present. These conferences were held successively in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1955); in Medelln, Columbia (1968); in Puebla, Mexico (1979); in Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic, which together with Haiti form the Island Hispaola (1992); and lastly in Aparecide, Brazil (2007). Each of these Episcopal conferences was convened to address specific circumstances and issues related to the Latin American Church. However, the issue of popular religiosity did not receive specific attention at all these conferences. Therefore, we shall limit our discussion in this section to CELAM II (1968) and CELAM III (1979) that dealt explicitly with the question of popular religiosity. On the other hand, CELAM IV (1992) paid specific attention to the notion of inculturation. For that reason we reserve its discussion for chapter 4 where this issue will be examined closely. The Episcopal Conference in Medelln gave impetus to a renewed interest in popular religiosity in the Roman Catholic Church and in the field of pastoral theology.121 The Third General Conference in Puebla further consolidated this renewed interest. 122 These two Episcopal conferences are of primordial concern for a thorough reflection on the Latin American discourse on popular religiosity. Therefore, our focus is centered on these two meetings in further discussing the subject under study.

2.3.1. Medelln and Popular Religiosity

The Medelln document Pastoral Popular opens the thematic discussion of Latin American popular religiosity. This document starts by sketching the diversity in faith condition and Christian praxis among the baptized Latin American people. In the context of the document these are the ethnic groups that have retained a certain level of paganism (grupos tnicos semipaganizados), masses of peasants that have maintained a profound religiosity and masses of other marginalized people who express religious sentiments that are of a low Christian level.123

121

See De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift, 3-5. In his evaluation of Medelln De Schrijver summarizes on p. 4 the main thrust of this conference to be embodied by the two words development and social change. Maldonado, Dimensions, Levels and Types, 3. CELAM, Medelln 6,1.

122 123

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Acknowledging the cultural and religious diversity, the bishops called for a Pastoral popular that, in its effects, goes beyond the limits of the first evangelization during the period of the conquest. In their view this previous evangelization produced a type of popular religiosity that is characterized by a multiplicity of devotions based on the reception of the sacraments, primarily those of Baptism and First Holy Communion. John Gorski, however, claims that the process of Christianization produced a church that was introverted, concerned merely about taking pastoral care of those who came to church, and conserving whatever influence it had in society.124 Nevertheless, the bishops agreed that this type of religiosity harbors within itself an enormous reservoir of authentic Christian values, especially with regard to charity, even though it demonstrates deficiencies in its moral conduct and does not foster church engagement by the people.125 It is deeply embedded within the subculture of the marginalized rural and urban population. Therefore, popular religiosity ought to be evaluated from the contextual framework of this subculture rather, than from western cultural interpretations as exist among the higher urbanized social classes.126 During the proceedings at Medelln, the bishops contended that the religious expressions of the people could easily be influenced by magical practices and superstition. Yet they perceived these expressions as images of an authentic religiosity, shaped by cultural elements that the people have at their disposal.127 According to the bishops, the inherent popular faith still has to reach evangelical maturation which ought to be the objective of a popular pastoral. This implies a re-evangelization in order for the seeds of the Word, already present, bear fruits. This bearing of the fruits is, therefore, contingent on the Church duty to re-evangelize the culture of the people, thereby considering the manner in which they express their faith, i.e., in a simple, emotional, and collective way.128 The idea that seeds of the Word could also be present in the cultures and religious systems of the Native American people had not yet been an issue for the Latin American Church at the time the bishops met for their second general conference. Hitherto, these people were regarded merely as socially marginalized groups, not as peoples whose cultural identity challenged the

Gorski, How the Catholic Church in Latin America Became Missionary, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 27, no. 2 (2003): 59-64, 60. Gorski has been Professor of Mission, Ecumenism, and Inculturation at the Catholic University of Bolivia in Cochabamba. In 2000 he was elected as the first President of the International Association of Catholic Missiologists; also see Lucia Pawlikov, The Traditional and Present Role of the Church in Latin America, Human Affairs 7, no. 2 (1997): 184-193, for the role of the Latin American Church in the pre-Medelln period.
125 126 127 128

124

CELAM, Medelln 6,2. CELAM, Medelln 6,4. CELAM, Medelln 6,4. CELAM, Medelln 6,3.

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Church to specific mission activity.129 Popular religiosity was until then simply regarded as un elemente vlido in the Latin American Church.130 According to the bishops, it is a rather tedious undertaking to make an adequate assessment of the faith inherent in Latin American popular religiosity. The reason therefore is twofold. At the one hand, not every religious expression, apparently Christian conveys official faith. At the other hand, this type of popular religiosity, despite being imbued by deficient forms of faith and egoistic motives, can actually demonstrate an act of authentic (i.e., in accordance with the Churchs teachings) ecclesial participation and involvement.131 This official standpoint held at Medelln reflects the ambiguous approach by the Latin American bishops at that time. Some explain this approach as a result of the fundamental difference between bishops who could be considered as exponents from the progressive wing of the Latin American Church, and their colleagues from the conservative wing. William Cavanaugh, for example, argues that among the bishops there were contrastive notions of church and its relationship to the world. The liberationists were becoming increasingly convinced that the world must be recognized as having its own proper autonomy; the institutional Church began to perceive liberationism as a threat to the church itself.132 Despite these ambiguities, the guiding principle at Medelln was still a focus on pastoral and social concern for the poor133 within the framework of applying Vatican IIs general conclusions in the very concrete Latin American context.134 A decade later, the next General Conference of the Latin American bishops at Puebla adopted the just mentioned guiding principle and radicalized it in what became known as the preferential option for the poor.135 A close reading of the section of the Medelln document that deals with the popular religiosity of the poor masses reveals the official approach the Church has maintained ever since the Second Vatican Council, and as reflected in SC 13. In their document Pastoral Popular the bishops declare:

129 130 131 132

Gorski, How the Catholic Church in Latin America, 62. CELAM, Medelln 8,2. CELAM, Medelln 6,6. William T. Cavanaugh, The Ecclesiologies of Medellin and the Lessons of the Base Communities, Cross Currents 44, no. 1 (1994): 67-84, 70. In the introduction of this article the author holds that the Medelln documents are based on two different ecclesiologies: one more liberal model of church and society, and the other based on official Catholic social teaching since Pius XI. As a result, the final documents disclose underlying tensions between factions of the Latin American Church. Anna L. Peterson and Manuel A. Vasquez, The New Evangelization in Latin American Perspective, Cross Currents 48, no. (1998): 311-29, 313. Pawlikov, The Traditional and Present Role, 186-187. Gutirrez, The Church of the Poor, in Born of the Poor: The Latin American Church since Medelln , ed. Edward L. Cleary (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1990), 9-25, 15.

133

134 135

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Given this type of religious sense among the masses, the Church is faced with the dilemma of either continuing to be a universal Church or, if it fails to attract and vitally incorporate such groups, of becoming a sect. Because she is a Church rather than a sect, she must offer her message to all 136 men

It witnesses an inclusive ecclesiology which perceives of the popular religiosity of the poor masses as an object of re-evangelization in order to accord with the prescribed teachings of the Magisterium. The ultimate goal is that popular religiosity should reach the level of evangelical maturation.

2.3.2. Puebla and popular religiosity

At their Third General Episcopal Conference in Puebla the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean devoted much attention to the theme of evangelization. Just a few years earlier with the challenges the Church faced in the work of evangelization, the various Episcopal conferences, including CELAM, were sorting out ways to implement the teachings formulated in EN. The bishops reassigned the theme of popular religiosity and related it to the demands of evangelization. They discussed this relation at length as is reflected in the Puebla documents in the section under the heading Evangelization and the Peoples Religiosity (nos. 444-469).137 A first thing one notices in the heading of this sub-chapter is that the bishops do not speak of the evangelization of popular religiosity, but popular religiosity is considered as a distinct domain from the subject of evangelization; indeed, the heading reads: Evangelization and Popular Religiosity. This document perceives popular religiosity as a form of cultural life that religion takes on among a given people.138 In this context popular religiosity is an expression of the Catholic faith; thus, an expression that according to EN, needs to be evangelized. The emphasis on its Catholic origin suggests the exclusion of Protestant forms of popular religiosity. The notion popular Catholicism would therefore render an appropriate term for this type of religiosity. The remark that this form of religiosity is a peoples Catholicism, underlines this observation. The bishops elaborate on the nature of this peoples Catholicism with the following statement expressed under number 448 as follow:

136

CELAM, Medelln 6,3 as translated by and quoted in Cavanaugh, The Ecclesiologies of Medellin, 74. The criteria for incorporating the popular devotions of the poor masses is that by means of an appropriate catechesis they are corrected so that they can harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them (SC 13). John Eagleson and Philip Sharper, eds., Puebla and Beyond: Documentation and Commentary (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1980), 184-88. Ibid., 184.

137

138

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At its core the religiosity of the people is a storehouse of values that offers the answers of Christian wisdom to the great questions of life. The Catholic wisdom of the common people is capable of fashioning a vital synthesis. It creatively combines the divine and the human, Christ and Mary, spirit and body, communion and institution, person and community, faith and homeland, intelligence and emotion. This wisdom is a Christian humanism that radically affirms, teaches people how to encounter nature and understand work, and provides reasons for joy and humor even in the midst of a very hard life. For the common people this wisdom is also a principle discernment and an evangelical instinct through which they spontaneously sense when the Gospel is served in the Church and when it is emptied of its content and stifled by other interests (OAP:III,6).139

These inherent characteristics, as described by the bishops, are illustrative for the conviction that Latin American popular religiosity contains evangelical values and has the ability to sense what belongs to the Gospel and what does not. In addition it testifies of a capacity for critical judgment. Moreover, one notices a different evaluation of popular religiosity between EN and the Puebla documents. In the former much emphasis lays on the evangelization of popular religiosity, whereas in the latter, the bishops gathered at Puebla seem to emphasize the evangelical potential inherent in popular religiosity. This stance from the bishops indicates a discontinuity with EN. The bishops attest to the fact that popular religiosity in Latin America is not simply an object of evangelization, but in a way must be considered as a concrete embodiment of the Word of God, capable of making the Gospel bear fruit in the life of people and their communities. It has the ability to evangelize. However, the bishops too, treading in the footsteps of EN, express their concerns about the threats to popular religiosity, which, if left by itself can become decadent by showing forms of erosion and distortion. In a worst case scenario popular religiosity would then evolve toward regressive forms of syncretism.140 Hence, despite being a true encounter with God in Jesus, and with the Trinity,141 the religiosity of the Latin American people, just like the Church, is in constant need of being evangelized itself. From this perspective the Puebla documents demonstrate continuity with EN.

139 140

Ibid., 185. Cf. Hoeben and Wijsen, We Are Not a Carbon Copy, 76. These authors argue, contrary to the outcry against syncretism often made by official representatives of the Church, that this phenomenon can also be evaluated positively. Thus they contend: It need no extensive debate to recognize that syncretism has always been part of the history of Christianity. From the moment Christianity moved out of the Jewish context into a Gentile one a process of syncretism was set in motion. And the gospels themselves show abundantly traces of syncretism. And surely, when Christianity was introduced into Africa, it was already a syncretistic unit of lived faith, as it had absorbed components of different cultures and religion. At times the word syncretism is interpreted from a dogmatic perspective. Syncretism is then saddled with a negative connotation, for it is defined as an aberration of doctrine. But syncretism can also be viewed from a pastoral perspective, and then it refers to the very process of faith, the indentification [sic] with Christ, which is taking place constantly. In that way it surely presents a very positive aspect of a living faith and must be seen as a necessary step within the process to arrive at inculturation. Cf. Puebla document no. 454

141

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The bishops conclude this section on popular religiosity with outlining a number of tasks and challenges142 that must be addressed urgently and with pastoral prudence, together with a strong appeal for a reappraisal of Latin American popular religiosity. After a close examination of these tasks and challenges, one can assert that the bishops indeed commit themselves to support and strengthen the religiosity of the Latin American people. However, of all these tasks and challenges no. 464 seems most pertinent to the problematic of this current study. There the bishops declare the following:
We must see to it that the liturgy and the common peoples piety cross-fertilize each other, giving lucid and prudent direction to the impulses of prayer and charismatic vitality that are evident today in our countries. In addition, the religion of the people, with its symbolic and expressive richness, can provide the liturgy with creative dynamism. When examined with proper discernment, this dynamism can help to incarnate the universal prayer of the Church in our culture in a greater and 143 better way.

With this statement the Latin American bishops have gone further than EN did. They have boldly adopted a progressive step toward liturgical inculturation with popular religiosity as its frame of reference, by advocating a reciprocal relationship between popular religiosity and the liturgy. They have ascribed to the Latin American peoples very own religiosity the potential to enrich the liturgy and to give new expression to the mystery of Christs salvation. This might have been an early and preliminary consolidation of a reevaluation of popular religiosity.

2.4.

A paradigm shift in the reception and perception of popular religiosity

The opening sentences with which Robert Schreiter begins his discussion on Popular Religion and Official Religion are illustrative for the paradigm shift in the reception and perception of Latin American popular religiosity. Schreiter remarks:
The late twentieth century has witnessed a resurgence of theological interest in popular religious forms of expression. For a long time popular religion was by and large denigrated by theologians as a way of expressing faith that needed to be overcome sooner or later by a more sophisticated understanding of the gospel. Devotions, processions, pious associations, and places of pilgrimage seemed to many religious leaders to be realities that would pass away with liturgical renewal and a more Word-centered spirituality. The conscientizing forces of liberation would replace the devotional patterns that for so long had marked the Christianity of the great majority of the population.144

142 143 144

Puebla document, nos. 460-469. Eagleson and Sharper, eds., Puebla and Beyond, 188 (Puebla document, no. 465). Schreiter, Local Theologies, 122. Schreiter uses the terminology of popular religion but contends that popular religiosity (religiosidad popular) is most commonly used in the works of theologians and sociologists operating within the Latin American context. Therefore, what he writes concerning popular religion vis--vis official religion

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Schreiter singles out two groundbreaking patterns which have led to a more positive appraisal of Latin American popular religiosity. The first had to do with the newly gained insight by Latin American liberation theology that for transforming the patterns of Christianity it could not ignore the longer-lived religion of the people.145 Secondly, he argues that the aroused awareness concerning the importance of a thorough knowledge of popular religion for developing a local theology has also been conducive to a positive appraisal.146 These developments had implications for the understanding of popular religiosity. No longer was it associated solely with superstition and an irrationality that was hostile to reason. It was onwards perceived as representing a particular religious form of a particular group of people in a manner that could be considered as genuine and authentic, and at the same time as a distinct Christian response to the Gospel. In this way, Schreiter argues that popular religion is no longer associated with a defective or deviated religious form but as an authentic way of living out the message of the Gospel.147 But before it could reach that far, sociologists, theologians, and pastoral workers generally shared the negative perception on popular religiosity in the 1950s. They questioned at great length its liberating potential. Some even doubted its Christian identity. Its value as a starting-point for liberation, its ability to develop and foster a critical consciousness, and whether its relation to a liberating pastoral should be envisioned as convergent or divergent, were just some of the issues under discussion.148 At that time the need to establish Catholic Action groups that would foster evangelical fervor within the Latin American Church was very much present. The advocates of this stream saw popular religiosity as an impediment for achieving their sacred mission due to the many flaws that were attributed to it. According to Galilea, they interpreted popular religiosity in
can also be applied at great length to popular religiosity. The same point is made by Greinacher and Mette (Editorial, ix) stating: For a long time the view governing both theological reflection and pastoral practice was that popular religion consisted of vestiges of superstition and religious ignorance which had somehow not been christianised. In more recent times, however, this view has been replaced by a productive re-evaluation which has even found its way into official Church documents. For this they refer to Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 48 and Puebla 444-468 in particular.
145 146

Ibid. Ibid., 123; also cf. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 97-99, where he gives two other reasons for the reappraisal of popular religiosity. The first had to do with the rediscovery of the value popular religiosity had, not only for the promotion of the Latin American liberation theology but also for the integrity of Christian worship. It began to dawn upon liturgists that the integral worship of the Church consists of both the official and the popular forms of prayer (p. 97). The second reason concerned the unsettling feeling that the reformed liturgy, even in the vernacular, remained removed from a good number of people who have hitherto worshipped according to one or other form of popular religiosity. For many the official form of worship, especially when no attempt has been made to inculturate it, is helplessly cold and distant. Its classical features, which must have immensely pleased the homo classicus of sixth-century Rome, seem to alienate it from the religious experience of assemblies with another worship pattern, particularly of a popular orientation or type (p. 98). Schreiter, Foreword to Popular Catholicism in a World Church: Seven Case Studies in Inculturation, by Thomas Bamat and Jean-Paul Wiest, eds. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999), vii. Galilea, Place of Folk Religion, 42.

147

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terms of a primitive religion made visible in catholic forms, but unable to effectuate the demands of the Gospel.149 Christin Parker voices the negative evaluation of popular piety and culture (and by implication, that of popular religiosity as well), prior to the positive appraisal with a systematic neglect, or symptomatic rejection, of cultural and religious themes on the part of a certain functionalistic, technocratic rationalism.150 He attributes the renewed interest in the culture and religion of the people to the discovery of the irreplaceable significance these have for the cultural identity of Latin America. He finds support for this latter view from worldwide changes unleashed by the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, which for him have become indicative of the indispensable character of cultural and religious themes for the analysis of reality. This renewed interest for popular piety or religiousness did not only come from Church authorities. In an earlier stage social scientists had already become increasingly interested in religion in its wider spectrum; indeed, in all it entails, for its importance as a not indecisive element in the cultural field of the Latin American people, and a strategic one in the struggle for socio-cultural and political hegemony.151 Elsewhere Parker contested the classical Marxist definition of religion as an opiate for the people that for decades had served as a point of reference for antagonists in their sociological analysis of popular religion. These antagonists, who for Parker constitute the majority of Latin American intellectuals, the so-called sons of the enlightened modern era, believed that popular religion should be corrected by a rational critique. But popular religion as the religion of the oppressed prevailed, and in the Chilean context its liberating potential was demonstrated in the form of protest against the oppressive structures of a dominant culture. This actually forced former antagonists to reevaluate their position and to considerably adapt their pessimistic and negative attitude toward the religion of the masses.152 According to Ernest Henau the negative evaluation of popular religiosity can be attributed largely to the rationalism of the Enlightenment and progressive thought of the nineteenth century. Even within the Church certain movements concerned with, among others, the liturgical renewal provoked a critical stance toward popular religiosity.153 While popular religiosity gained
149 150 151 152

Ibid. Parker, Popular Religion and Modernization, 18. Ibid., 20. See Parker, Popular Religion and Protest against Oppression: The Chilean Example, trans. Dinah Livingstone, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 28-35. Henau, Popular Religiosity and Christian Faith, trans. David Smith, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 71-81, 71; also see Blijlevens, Volksreligiositeit en eredienst, in Volksreligiositeit, Id. et al., eds., 61-84, 62 where Blijlevens makes a similar claim. Furthermore Lamberts, Liturgie en volksvroomheid in Vlaanderen [unidentified source] under n. 4

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incremental attention from the social sciences,154 it did not receive recognition from academic theology. This situation lasted until the early 1970s. Thenceforth, (Henau signals 1973 as the watershed) a plethora of theological literature began exploring this theme, thereby utilizing various approaches. These approaches in turn led to various understandings of popular religiosity. For that matter Henau identifies: a historic-anthropological approach which describes popular religiosity as lived religiosity in contrast to official or prescribed religiosity,155 a psychological approach which emphasizes custom as the most characteristic element of popular Catholicism,156 and an approach that perceives popular religiosity as folklore or as an expression of a false consciousness imposed upon the proletariat by the ruling class.157 In their appraisal of popular religiosity these approaches differ radically from earlier ones that tended to perceive popular religiosity solely in terms of anti-intellectual, superstitious, and backward. For some time too, popular religiosity was perceived as inhibiting human liberation. The quest for human liberation has been and still remains a central factor in Latin America and the Caribbean. This quest for liberation remains an important factor even after many countries in these geographical zones gained political independence.158 Gerald Boodoo, for instance, opines that in the Caribbean, the past, present and continuing situation of exploitation is one that is forced upon the region. This attributes the forced context of the Caribbean. The situation of being forced and having to exist in a space of confrontation with exploitative structures is what creates and sustains the drive for liberation...159 Human liberation is envisaged to constitute not only a political dimension, but also an economic and cultural dimension. In Latin America liberation theologians initially exerted themselves to put this issue on the Churchs agenda. It, however, engendered a confrontation with popular religiosity, which some
reports that the revered liturgist Odo Casel (1889-1948) it said to have refused leading the pious exercise of the Station of the Cross, while he was the spiritual director of the Benedictinissen of Herstelle. Lamberts obtains this information from B. Fischer, Relation entre liturgie et pit populaire aprs Vatican II. La rception de larticle 13 de Sacrosanctum Concilium, in: La Maison-Dieu 170 (1987), 91-101, 97.
154

See Laeyendecker, Once Again, 183-85. Here Laeyendecker briefly discusses the developments in, respectively, sociology of religion, anthropology, and history that contributed to the renewed interest in popular religiosity. Henau, Popular Religiosity, 72. For this description of popular religiosity Henau refers to Maldonado, Genesis der catolicismo popular: El inconsciente colectivo de un proceso historico (Madrid: s.n., 1979), 11-12. Ibid. For Henau this approach is dominant in Antoon Vergote, Volkskatholicisme, Collationes 9 (1979): 417-32; also see Vergote, Religie, geloof en ongeloof: psychologische studie (Antwerpen / Amsterdam: De Nederlandse Boekhandel, 1984). Ibid. Henau refers here to Italian authors who follow Antonio Gramsci. More specifically, B. Hein, Antonio Gramsci und die Volksreligion, in Volksreligion Religion des Volkes, eds. Karl Rahner et al. (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1979). See Bridget Brereton, Independence and the Persistence of European Colonialism in the Caribbean, in Crossroads of Empire: The Europe-Caribbean Connection 1492-1992, ed. Alan Cobley (Barbados, University of the West Indies [Department of History], 1994), 53-63. Boodoo, Gospel and Culture,12.

155

156

157

158

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regarded as inimical to the quest for liberation. For that matter it is necessary to pay closer attention to the relation between liberation theology and popular religiosity. Moreover, since a considerable part of our focus on popular religiosity gravitates toward the Latin American and Caribbean contexts,160 the impact of liberation theology on the life of the Church in these regions cannot be left without discussion.

2.4.1. Liberation theology and popular religiosity

The relationship between liberation theology161 and popular religiosity can be described as a hate-love affaire. Schreiter points out that Latin American liberation theology in its initial stage pressed for leaving the folk Christianity of the masses behind.162 Some liberation theologians went as far as criticizing popular religiosity for being anti-rational, superstitious, and fatalistic. These qualifications were highlighted as the reverse of an enlightened rationality once sparked by westernized modernism. In this regard Harvey Cox remarks that under the influence of Marxist modernist trends some liberation theologians embarked on the path of despising the religin popular as an opiate of the masses or as a diversion from the real work at hand.163 In the latters opinion popular religiosity impeded people from engaging themselves with the actual work that needed to be done. Cox relates an autobiographic account of his encounter with Juan Luis Segundo in 1969 in Mexico City, when he (Cox) requested his friends accompaniment to the shrine of the Virgin of Guadeloupe. In response, Segundo declined vehemently disclosing his astonishment and

160

In light of the previous section on CELAM and popular religiosity we should mention that this regional Episcopal body comprises dioceses from both Latin America and the Caribbean. The diocese of Paramaribo, Suriname i.e., the context we are most familiar with as member of the Antillean Episcopal Conference is thus also a CELAM member. As a result issues CELAM deals with also find resonance in Suriname. This is perhaps best illustrated by the running start in preparation of CELAM IV (Santo Domingo, 1992) where the Conference theme was amply dealt with at various levels within the diocese of Paramaribo, sparked by the publication of a brochure from the diocesan Pastoraal Centrum, Evangelisatie in Suriname: Santo Domingo 1492-1992 (Paramaribo: Pastoraal Centrum, 1992). We are aware that there are various types of liberation theology, and not just one. According to Rosino Gibellini , The Liberation Theology Debate, trans. John Bowden (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988) v, it was at the Theology in the Americas conference held in Detroit between 17 and 23 August 1975 were for the first time people spoke of theologies of liberation in the plural. That conference represented the first real encounter between Latin American liberation theology, black theology and feminist theology. In the fourth chapter of his book (pp. 641-72) Gibellini briefly discusses liberation theology in Africa and Asia. However, when in this study we speak of liberation theology we are particularly referring to Latin American liberation theology, unless otherwise specified; also see Daniel H. Levine, Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992), 3944 for a brief presentation of central issues in Latin American liberation theology. Schreiter, Local Theologies, 122 Harvey Cox, Religion in the Secular City: Toward a Postmodern Theology (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984), 243.

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disappointment that the author would consciously visit a devotion which according to him (Segundo) misleads and confuses millions of unfortunate people.164 A review of the relevant literature reveals a dialectic relationship between liberation theology and popular religiosity in the Latin American context. The rise and fall of liberation theology is closely related to the liberationists165 perception of popular religion in general and their approach toward the religiosity of the poor masses in particular.166 Historically, some currents within the theology of liberation adopted a critical stance against the religiosity of the poor masses. Using Marxist theory as an instrument for social analysis, liberationists emphasized the apolitical and fatalistic nature inherent in popular religion in general, which in their view was not conducive to the liberating and revolutionary struggle against the established socio-political order. Liberation theology, which originated in the prophetic tradition of evangelists and missionaries from the earliest colonial days in Latin America,167 considers the poor both as subject and object of liberation. According to the American professor Edward Lynch, this concept of liberation constitutes three levels, from the perspective of most liberationists, which are first, liberation from unjust social situations; second, personal transformation; third liberation from sin.168

164 165

Ibid., 243-44. This term includes liberation theologians, pastoral workers and social scientists who work from a liberating perspective. See Edward A. Lynch, The Retreat of Liberation Theology, The Homiletic & Pastoral Review (Feb. 1994): 12-21; Carol Ann Drogus, The Rise and Decline of Liberation Theology: Churches, Faith and Political Change in Latin America, [Review Articles] Comparative Politics 27, no. 4 (1995): 465-77. Leonardo Boff and Clodovis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology, trans. Paul Burns (Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 1987), 66; also see, Dussel, Recent Latin American Theology, in The Church in Latin America, 14921992, ed. Id. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992), 391-402. In this contribution Dussel discusses the rise and development of liberation theology. One particular view locates the origins of liberation theology in the reality of Latin America: its ecclesial, political, revolutionary and scientific (the social sciences) reality of the continent. Like Boff, Dussel too claims the origin of liberation theology to date to the early sixteenth century in the prophetic theology of the Latin American Church associated with such names as Antonio de Montesinos and Bartolome de Las Casas. However, other (mainly European) authors claim that Latin American liberation theology has European roots. Thus, for example, Ron Rhodes, in the first part of his three-part-series on Liberation Theology, holds that some of the theological roots of Latin American liberation theology can be traced directly to the writings of certain European theologians [like] Jurgen Moltmann, Johannes Baptist Metz, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. See Ron Rhodes, Christian Revolution in Latin America: The Changing Face of Liberation Theology; available from http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Liberation.html; Internet; accessed 21 April 2006. And again, some others like, for example, Michael Campbell-Johnston who is a Jesuit priest and the Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, regards the CELAM conference of Medelln as the catalyst for Liberation Theology. See therefore: Michael Campbell-Johnston, Vatican II, Medellin, Puebla and Today, Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 4-18, 11-12; a support of this perception can be found in Jean Bertrand Aristide, The Church in Haiti Land of Resistance, Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 108-13, 110. Lynch, The Retreat, 14.

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For a better understanding of what liberation theology stands for it is necessary to consider the three levels of development that preceded its formulation. These, according to Leonardo and Clodovis Boff, are firstly the social and political development during the 1950s and 1960s in among others Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. These developments engendered the creation of strong popular movements seeking profound changes in the socio-economic structure.169 Secondly, ecclesial developments as a result of the outcomes of progressive theology gave new impetus to social missions aimed at enhancing humane conditions among the poor masses. Concomitantly, the current sociological thinking disclosed the intrinsic relation that existed between development and underdevelopment, which later became known as the dependency theory.170 Together they provided a framework for popular movements and Christian groups to engage themselves socially and politically aiming ultimately at the integral liberation of the poor masses. The third level concerned theological developments that were inspired by, among others, the Second Vatican Council. That, the Boff brothers claim, gave Latin American theologians the courage to think for themselves about pastoral problems affecting their countries.171 However, more concretely, the formulation of liberation theology developed in a process constituting four formation stages,172 with firstly, the foundational stage when theologians such as Gustavo Gutirrez, Juan Luis Segundo, Emilio Castro and Jos Mguez Bonino provided the general framework for the practice of this new sprout in the old school of theology. In addition, social scientists made valuable contributions in this phase, by offering insights from their disciplines that were crucial for doing theology with the poor in a sustainable way. Secondly, in the building stage Latin American (liberation) theologians joined forces to work out the fundamental nature of liberation theology, and to provide its spiritual, Christological, and ecclesial basis. And in the third and final stage, i.e., the settling-in stage, the epistemological basis was put in place to firmly establish liberation theology as a practical and academic enterprise. In this stage the see-judge-act method, became an important tool for relating theory (reflection) to
169 170 171 172

Boff and Boff, Introducing Liberation, 67. For a concise description of the dependency theory, see De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift, 17-19. Boff and Boff, Introducing Liberation, 68. Ibid., 70-73; also see Gibellini, The Liberation Theology Debate, 1-2. This author presents here a scheme which gives another overview of the development of liberation theology. He distinguishes three stages of development, which are: firstly, the preparatory phase, 1962-68; secondly, the formative phase, 1969-75; and thirdly, the systematizing phase. Gibellinis book, does not only presents a general account of liberation theology, or relates its origin. It also examines its method, analyses the problems associated with it, reconstructs and sums up the controversies, outlines developments and prospects, and puts liberation theology in the wider context of Third World theology and the current theological debate.

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practice (action) and vice versa, leading to theological praxis. The Belgian priest Jozef Cardijn is generally associated with this method of which he discovered its philosophical roots in Lon OllLaprunes (1839-1898) work, La certitude morale, while he was still a student at the seminary in Mechelen.173 Cardijn first applied this method in a pastoral context from his engagement with the KAJ, a Catholic Youth Labor organization for working-class children around the late 1920s in Belgium.174 It received international attention at the beginning of the mid-twentieth century and found ecclesiastical endorsement in the early 1960s where it was presented to the whole Church in the magisterial document Mater et Magistra. Therein pope John XXIII writes:
There are three stages which should normally be followed in the reduction of social principles into practice. First, one reviews the concrete situation; secondly, one forms a judgment on it in the light of these same principles; thirdly, one decides what in the circumstances can and should be done to implement these principles. These are the three stages that are usually expressed in the three terms: look, judge, act (par. 236). It is important for our young people to grasp this method and to practice it. Knowledge acquired in this way does not remain merely abstract, but is seen as something that must be translated into 175 action (par. 237).

Eventually this method also became an important instrument for liberation theology to construe theological praxis.176 This method implies a process of first seeing what is at stake (both theologically and practically), followed by judging what has been perceived theologically, and finally leading to taking concrete pastoral actions based on the preceding two stages and aimed at the amelioration of the existing situation. The implication of adopting this method in liberation theology was that Latin American theologians were increasingly becoming engaged with the poor at grass-root level, and in the various socio-political strata. Peterson and Vasquez contend:
The see-judge-act method and conscientizacion oriented many pastoral activities in Latin America from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. These activities were linked, in many areas, to social

173

Lon Oll-Laprune, La certitude morale (Paris: ditions Universitaires, 1989 [1880]) quoted in Daniel F. Pilario, Back To the Rough Grounds of Praxis: Exploring Theological Method with Pierre Bourdieu, BETL, 93 (Leuven: University Press and Peeters, 2005), 537, n. 6. See Magda Pluymers and Luc Vints, eds., Cardijn: een mens, een beweging, kadoc jaarboek 1982 (Leuven: Universitaire Pers, 1983). John XXIII, Encyclical Mater et Magistra, on Christianity and Social Progress (Rome: 15 May 1961); available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/ documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_15051961_mater_en.html; Internet; accessed 10 August 2008. Peterson and Vasquez (The New Evangelization, 312) present a brief background description of this method; cf. also Clodovis Boff, The Catholic Church and the New Churches in Latin America SEDOS bulletin 31, nos. 6-7 (1999): 196-201.

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movements and campaigns against human rights abuses, as well as to the development of liberation 177 theology, which made the popular church well-known far beyond Latin America.

Finally, in the formulation stage liberation theology became ecclesial and socially embedded. The Cardenian method provided a framework that constituted both theoretical178 and practical (pastoral) 179 underpinnings. Juan Luis Segundo adopted this method in his groundbreaking book The Liberation of Theology and employed it in a theological sense, referring to it as the hermeneutic circle. He explains that in the following way:
It is the continuing change in our interpretation of the Bible which is dedicated by the continuing changes in our present-day reality, both individual and social, [such that] each new reality obliges us to interpret the word of God afresh, to change reality accordingly, and then to go back and 180 reinterpret the word of God again, and so on.

In the years following Segundos description of the hermeneutic circle this method became generally considered as the core epistemological principle of liberation theology.181 Some theologians maintain the opinion that twenty-five years after its inception in the late 1960s liberation theology began waning. For them, liberation theology has lost its momentum and has since been reduced to an intellectual curiosity. [of] many North American and European scholars.182 Critics point to the ambiguity with which liberationists approached the religiosity of the poor masses in Latin America.183 Lynch, for instance, claims:
177

Ibid., 313. According to these authors the Latin American bishops also employed this method at their Second General Meeting in Medelln to gain a better understanding of current conditions in Latin America. The method, combined with the use of social scientific analysis, helped them to learn about the precarious life conditions of large segments of the regions population, understand the structural roots of social injustices, and take practical pastoral steps to correct them. See, for example, the seminal work of Gustavo Gutirrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, trans. Caridad Inda and John Eagleson (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1973). Originally published as Teologa de la liberacin. Perspectivas (Lima: CEP, 1971); Juan Luis Segundo, The Liberation of Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1976); the series of fifty-five volumes under the heading Theology and Liberation, as mentioned in Boff and Boff, Introducing Liberation, 73; Concilium 6, no. 10 (1974); Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986). See, for example, the section of The Formalization Stage in Boff and Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology, 72 where the authors make the following claim: The last few years have seen a great extension of situations in which the church has become involved with the oppressed, with a very large number of pastoral workers involved. Many movements have come into being under the tutelage, to a large extent, of liberation theology In Brazil alone, there are movements or centers for black unity and conscientization, human rights, defense of slum-dwellers, marginalized women, mission to Amerindians, rural pastoral strategy, and so forth all concerned in one way or another with the poorest of the poor seeking liberation. Segundo, Liberation of Theology, 8. Peterson and Vasquez, The New Evangelization, 312. Lynch, The Retreat, 12. See Arthur F. McGovern, Liberation Theology and Its Critics: Toward an Assessment (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1989), who provides a well-balanced overview of a variety of analyses of liberationists which he seeks to match with the works of critics; also see Pilario, Back To the Rough Grounds of Praxis, 280-286. Pilario, who in this section

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180 181 182 183

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Liberation theologians disparaged such things as processions, prayers to patron saints, and the veneration of Mary, among other popular forms of piety in Latin America, as non-transformative. When they discovered that Marian devotions were not going to go away, liberation theologians tried to limit Marys entire life to two verses from the Magnificat. The Lord has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; He has filled the hungry with good things, and 184 the rich he has sent empty away (Luke 1:52-53).

Lynch further argues that liberation theology incurred its own decline by its disdain for Marian devotions. And regarding its showpiece of the preferential option for the poor, liberationists do not practice what they preach, for they do not really listen to the poor. He further substantiates this claim by pointing out that the natural inclination of most poor Latin Americans is toward religious attitudes and cultural priorities that the liberationists reject.185 Their (i.e., the liberationists) refusal to accept the traditional devotional practices of the poor demonstrates their unwillingness and inability to truly listen to the poor. Lynch continues by arguing that the just related dilemma of liberation theology also became manifested in the Christian Base Communities (CEBs). In light of that, he contends:
The poor people who created the CEBs, and who make up most of their membership, rejected heavy-handed liberationist control, especially when the liberationists tried to refocus the CEBs on economic matters exclusively. When liberation theologians try to compel ordinary Latin Americans to dedicate their CEBs to liberationist tasks, the poor simply desert them, sometimes finding spiritual 186 direction among evangelical Protestants.

Another factor that led to the decline of liberation theology is its failure to create new creators. Lynch finds evidence hereof in the fact that liberationists active during the 1970s still
bases himself in part on McGovern earlier cited study, explains the grounds for the early criticisms on liberation theology (itself being presented by Gustavo Gutirrez as critical reflection on praxis) in the following way: Whenever the primacy of the Word and theological orthodoxy are denigrated by the theological talk of the primacy of praxis, it is but natural that the ecclesiastical machinery, particularly its conservative side, gets shaken up. Liberation theologys early critics, most of whom were associated with the magisterium, then hurled the charge of ideologization of the faith at its first practioners (p. 282).
184

Lynch, The Retreat, 16; also see Paul E. Sigmund, Liberation Theology at the Crossroads: Democracy or Revolution? (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 165, referring to loyal Catholics, critical of liberation theology. These critics who are considered as orthodox Catholics met in Lima, Peru in July 1985. From this meeting a document with the title Declaracion de Los Andes emerged in which they argue in favor of a theology of reconciliation to supplant liberation theology. Sigmund notes that in aforementioned Declaracion the advocates express the idea that genuine liberation bases itself on the reality of the reconciliation of man with God, with himself, with others and with all that is created. Sigmunds study was warmly received by opponents of liberation theology, while liberationists themselves, felt less amused and launched a counter attack. See therefore, Levine, Considering Liberation Theology as Utopia, Review of Politics 52, no. 4 (1990): 603-20, 605-09. This situation is illustrative for the sharp division between opponents and proponents of liberation theology. Ibid., 15. This citation refers to a remark from Cardinal Jozeph Ratzinger in Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, Origins: NC Documentary Service, 14, no. 44 (17 April 1986), 713-28. Lynch, The Retreat, 18.

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[i.e., twenty years after Gutirrez publication of A Theology of Liberation] dominate the literature.187 This decline has been most conspicuous in the redirection of its central concerns away from politics in the narrow sense to issues of popular religion, spirituality, and long-term social and cultural change.188 For Lynch this change in attitude toward the religiosity of the poor masses is proven by Gutirrez discovery in 1990 that the popular prayer of the Latin American people, formerly perceived as primitive and superstitious, is in fact a protest against repression and demand for freedom.189 Lynch concludes that the complete turnaround of the liberationists regarding their attitude toward Latin American popular religiosity has been the result of Vaticans successful cultural effort.190 It involved an effective exercise of authority by the Pope and appointed orthodox bishops in Latin America. These bishops did not hesitate to resort to effective practical actions immediately after their appointments. Some immediate actions they undertook included the reassertion of Episcopal control over the training of pastoral agents, and the actual replacement of liberationists by more orthodox Catholics as staff members of diocesan offices.191 Such critical voices raised against liberation theology in turn sparked counter reactions from liberationists themselves. They argue that their opponents evaluation of their attitude toward popular religiosity only applies to some currents in liberation theology.192 Moreover, they point out, the critique is based on generalizations that are far from representative for the entire body of liberation theology which, according to Galilea, constitutes various currents. Two of these are the cultural current and the socio-political current.

187 188 189

Ibid. Levine, Liberation Theology as Utopia, 607. Gutirrez, Church of the Poor, in Path From Pueblo: Significant Documents of the Latin American Bishops since 1979, ed. Cleary (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1990), 18, quoted in Lynch, The Retreat, 20. Cf. Stephen D. Glazier, Latin American Perspectives on Religion and Politics, [Review Essays] Latin American Research Review 30, no. 1 (1995): 247-55, 251. Reviewing Edward Lynch, Religion and Politics in Latin America: Liberation Theology and Christian Democracy (New York: Praeger, 1991) the author writes: With regard to liberation theology, Lynch contends that Nicaraguans and Venezuelans have remained loyal to a traditional, hierarchical Catholic Church largely because the traditional church has maintained greater credibility than the alternative belief systems. He points out that in Venezuela, for example, the Catholic Church preempted the potential impact of liberation theology by adhering strictly to traditional Catholic teachings on social justice Lynch, The Retreat, 17. See Galilea, Place of Folk Religion, 42, with reference to endnote 4. There the author refers to E. Pin who adopted the current, associated with Lynchs discussion of liberation theology in his Introduccin a la sociologa del catolicismo latinoamericano (Bogot: FERES, 1962). Galilea refers to this current as the most secularized current of the liberation theology which critical stance toward popular religiosity has been inspired by Marxist criticism on religion.

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Galilea explains that the cultural current is exemplified in the Argentinean school of liberation theology, and is also shared by main sectors in Chili and Brazil.193 This current has a positive attitude toward the gamut of Latin American popular religiosity which it perceives as the cultural expression of Christianity in Latin America.194 It forms the key to cultural liberation. Moreover, this current criticizes the Marxist inspired criticism of popular religiosity for being elitist and biased. It also criticizes the putative incompatibility of liberation with religiosity, which it perceives as a bias stemming from an ideological notion of liberation that opposes a liberation departing from the people and their culture(s).195 This latter observation can be seen as a prelude to the [later] paradigm shift in [third world] theologies of liberation: [a shift] from socio-economic analysis to cultural analysis.196 It reflects above all a paradigmatic shift in method for analyzing society and for doing (liberation) theology. On this, Gerhard Kruip commented: the tools of analysis are departing from the standard model of Marx-inspired economy and sociology to also include analyses made with the help of cultural sciences.197 Another current within liberation theology that values the religiosity of the poor masses though it is lesser pronounced if compared with the previous one emphasizes the political and Christian formation of the people. This current credits popular religiosity for its potential for sociopolitical liberation, and displays a high degree of pragmatism.198 In the same vein Peterson and Vasquez articulate a positive appraisal by claiming: liberation theology tended to see popular piety as a potential source of a counter hegemonic ideology and for alternative Christian practices199 Closely related to the cultural current within liberation theology is the movement for Indigenous theology, enunciated by liberationists in Bolivia, Peru, and other Latin American regions. In the 1980s they began to develop a theological perspective that emphasized the value of the local indigenous cultures for its (i.e., the theological perspective or local theology) description and explanation. In collaboration with cultural scientists, liberationists developed a comprehensive
193 194 195 196

Ibid., 50. For the theoretical reflection of this current, see endnote 6 of Galileas article. Ibid., 51. Ibid. See De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift, 3; also see Jos Maria Vigil, Is There a Paradigm Shift in Liberation Theology? East Asian Pastoral Review 42, no. 4 (2005): 336-52. Gerhard Kruip, Die Theologie der Befreiung und der Zusammenbruch des realen Sozialismus eine unbewltigte Herausforderung, Zeitschrift fr Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft 80, no. 1 (1996), 3-25,25, quoted in De Schrijver, The Paradigm Shift, 31. Galilea, Place of Folk Religion, 44. Peterson and Vasquez, The New Evangelization, 324. These authors fall into to same trap of generalization, thereby neglecting to specify to which current their remark pertains.

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articulation of teologa india, which eventually became a major derivative of the liberationist movement.200 These various currents within liberation theology with their distinct emphasis, perspectives, features, and orientations highlight how hazardous it is to evaluate the approach of liberationists toward popular religiosity. Apparently there is not one general approach that can be identified but several of which each have their strengths and weaknesses to varying degrees. Some theologians, however, generally classify the various approaches under two headings, namely negative approaches and positive approaches.201 Schreiter, for example, makes such a distinction. Under so-called negative approaches he classifies elitist and Marxist approaches. As positive approaches he then identifies the following: the baseline approach, romanticist approaches, the remnant approach, subaltern approach, and the social-psychological approach.202 Other sources indicate that a negative approach toward the religiosity of the poor masses is not restricted to the domain of liberation theology. Approaches of this kind appeared with intervals among sections of the Church at different periods in the history of Christianity in Latin America. Hence Cleary comments:
When missionaries from the North Atlantic countries began creating parishes and missions in Latin America they were initially appalled at the heterodoxy apparent in the indigenous practice of Christianity Against the practices and beliefs of traditional indigenous religion, missionaries stressed orthodox Catholicism. Bishops, priests, and catechists began taking harder stands against traditional practices that seemed to them to have little to do with essential Christianity. Dioceses began forbidding the celebrations of Catholic masses as part of certain traditional celebrations. Some 203 missionaries viewed traditional practices as contrary to a modern understanding of Scripture.

This implied negative perception of indigenous (among others, Native American) culture and religiosity later shifted to a more positive appraisal. In the words of Cleary this was a shift from indigenista to indgena, from paternalistic to collegial, in the 1970s and 1980s.204 Chilean born theologian Fernando Castillo goes a step further. He insists that western missionaries did not quite reject the indigenous cultures and religiosity after accompanying the
200

Edward L. Cleary, Missionaries and the Indigenous Resurgence in Latin America, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29, no. 4 (2005): 177-182, 180. Cleary is Professor of Political Science and Director of Latin American Studies, Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island. He served as a missionary in Bolivia and Peru, respectively from 1958 to 1963 and 1968 to 1971. Several of the positive approaches were brought about sooner or later by a reorientation on, or revaluation of the culture and religiosity of the poor masses. Schreiter, Local Theologies, 131-139. Cleary, Missionaries and the Indigenous Resurgence, 177-78. Ibid., 178.

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European invaders to the Latin American continent; they rather demonized these cultures, often postulating them as the work of the devil. For the missionaries the indigenous culture and religiosity was nothing else but works of the devil (their religion was worship of the devil, their temples were constructions of the devil, their customs were inspired by the devil ).205 Castillo contends that even those missionaries who were highly critical of the Spaniards greed and abuses shared in the negative perception of the indigenous religiosity.206 While this may pertain for some missionaries, we think it is unfair to include all missionaries in this critique. Others, like Harvey Cox for instance, are of the opinion that the perceived negative approach from liberationists toward popular religiosity has its roots in modernist thinking lingering in academic circles associated with universities in the western world. He remarks that the initial disdain for the religin popular displayed by some Latin American liberation theologians was imparted to them during their study periods in Leuven or Freiburg where they drank deeply at the wells of modern critical thought.207 Cox goes as far as to claim that from an historical viewpoint liberation theology began as an attempt to empower and clarify the resistance of popular movements against the cultural and religious hegemony of the elite (the socio-political and religious establishment), rather than an effort to purify the popular piety and make it credible for that elite.208 The fact that throughout the history of Christianity in Latin America and elsewhere individual pastors from various ecclesial ranks have interchangeably adopted various approaches to popular religiosity, ranging from positive to negative, places the shift in the reception and perception of popular religiosity in a broader perspective. The adopted approach often had to do with the pastoral need felt at the time, the prevailing socio-historical circumstances, and the nature of the peoples religiosity. As a constitutive part of culture, popular religiosity inhabits both elements that can be regarded as seeds of the Word and elements that contradict gospel values. Because of this, a blunt rejection of popular religiosity (negative approach) is like one inflicting self injury upon himself. An uncritical bracing of popular religiosity on the other hand would imply compromising the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a particular culture, thereby emptying it from its salvific nature. As already pointed out, the awareness of the positive values within popular religiosity contributed to its re-evaluation. In light of this the Italian liturgist Domenico Sartore wrote in 1989 the following words: Today we have become clearly aware that this popular phenomenon has
205 206

Castillo, Christianity and Inculturation in Latin America, trans. Paul Burns, Concilium 2 (1994): 74-87, 82. Ibid. Castillo refers for this case to Fray Toribio de Benavente (Motolinia), Histora de los indios de la Nueva Espaa (1541) Treaty I, chapters II, III and IV (issued by Alianza Editorial, Madrid 1988). Cox, Religion in the Secular City, 243. Ibid., 244.

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values which need to be restudied and that it should become a protagonist in the renewal of the church, which by virtue of its mission cannot be reduced to a church of the elites.209 The Church, for long, has been aware of the goodness within popular religiosity. Vatican II confirmed this awareness by declaring in SC 13: Popular devotions of the Christian people are to be highly recommended. While being supportive to popular devotions, the Church does not close her eyes for their weaknesses and errors inherent in them. Especially in relation to the liturgy the Church emphatically asserts that in no way should they be intrusive. However, it is not unthinkable that EN, which bases itself on the pertaining teachings of Vatican II, in some way, gave impetus to the eventual positive appraisal of popular religiosity from liberation theology, even though the latter did not explicitly address the issue of popular religiosity.210

2.4.2. Popular voices in popular religiosity

Gustavo Gutirrez, in his seminal work A Theology of Liberation, makes a link between the poor peoples liberation and theology. In his view an authentic liberation theology is contingent on the suppressed groups of peoples ability to raise their voices and express themselves creatively, so that they are heard as the people of God. Actually, Gutirrez suggests that any engagement with suppressed people, and that includes their religiosity, should have a liberating effect. When, however, liberation theologians began employing concepts from various currents of Marxist thought to analyze the socio-cultural and socio-historic condition of the poor masses in Latin America, alarm bells immediately began ringing in the Vatican. It took quite some years though, before the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith came out with an Instruction to set the record straight.211 This first official warning against certain currents within liberation theology aimed at correcting what the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarded as a unilateral emphasis on the liberation from servitude of an earthly and temporal kind. Instead, this Instruction emphasized that the first and primary object of liberation is the liberation from the radical slavery of sin. As the Instruction on Certain Aspect of the Theology of Liberation had already suggested, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith came out in less than two years later with another
209

Domenico Sartore, Le manifestazioni della religiosit popolare, Anmnesis 7 (1989): 234, quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 98-99. The question on the degree in which Vatican II impacted the reception of popular religiosity in the Latin American church is beyond the scope of this study. However, a serious discussion and reflection on the relationship between popular religiosity and the liturgy cannot negate the appropriate principles Vatican II has outlined in SC. We will return to this topic in the second part of this study. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instructions on Certain Aspects of the Theologies of Liberation, Origins: NC Documentary Service, 14, no. 13 (13 September, 1984), 193-204.

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Instruction in which it highlights the main elements of the Christian doctrine on freedom and liberation.212 It then pointed out the kind of freedom modern liberation seeks after, i.e., inner freedom, in the form of freedom of thought and freedom of decision, and free from superstition and atavistic fears (par. 9). This later Instruction points toward serious ambiguities (i.e., the paradox of unbridled freedom that brings with it new forms of servitude) concerning the very meaning of freedom (par. 10) inherent in the modern liberation process. It also discusses the liberating force of scientific knowledge (par. 12) which ultimately engenders more inequality between those who have access to and understand technology and those who do not. After evaluating the aberrations that ensued from liberating trends over the centuries, the Instruction signals this warning: Freedom of thought, as a necessary condition for seeking the truth in all the fields of human knowledge, does not mean that human reason must cease to function in the light of the Revelation which Christ entrusted to his Church (par. 20). More important for the current discussion are paragraphs 21 and 22, that discuss the nature of the freedom of the little ones and the poor, and the resources of popular piety, respectively. The first flows from truth and love, whereas the second credits the poor, as object of Gods special love, for understanding best and as it were instinctively that the most radical liberation, which is liberation from sin and death, is the liberation accomplished by the Death and Resurrection of Christ. The Instruction, though it criticizes aberrations of modern liberating trends in general, also targets certain aspects of liberation theology that seek to misdirect such popular piety toward a purely earthly plan of liberation (par. 98). That will eventually lead to new forms of slavery. Nevertheless, doing theology with the poor, as liberationists would argue, entails that their voices be heard.213 This not only implies empowering the people to express their religiosity (faith) but also that this faith is liberated from elements that are in contradiction with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A keen knowledge of the peoples culture can be a great asset in such an undertaking.214

212 213

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation. Cf. L. Laeyendecker, L. G. Jansma, and C. H. A. Verhaar, Introduction, in Experiences and Explanations, eds. Ids., , 7-8, 7, pointing out that the voice of the common man cannot be heard very often in sources from which religion in everyday life, perceived as the religion of common people, is studied. We are aware that theology first and foremost needs conceptualization. Practical knowledge of a peoples culture should therefore not be seen as an end in itself, or as not needing a theological conceptual space. If faith praxis is to correspond with magisterial teaching (which it actually should, in order to be labeled as Catholic) it is in need of a critical appraisal on the basis of theological criteria grounded in a particular conceptual space. The value of cultural knowledge in this regard is that it can inform a particular pastoral approach to the concerned circumstances that need to be addressed, without compromising the Gospel message in whatever way. Moreover, as Pilario (Back To the Rough Grounds of Praxis, 256) claims: Theology ... was always already engaged with praxis all throughout its history. Thus, he further concludes: It is only through the dialectical interaction between theory and practice that one gets a real understanding of peoples practice(s) ... (pp. 532-32).

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Hence, listening to the peoples culture and religiosity becomes indispensable for understanding its faith expression.215 In line with this thinking Daniel Pilario concludes on the basis of a lengthy re-reading of the classical contrast between praxis (the level from where popular voices find articulation) and theoria (the intellectual, academic discourse) that the latter must undergo the turn to the rough grounds of praxis.216 Without this turn it runs the risk of isolating itself in an ivory tower; thus, it loses touch with the concrete experiences of persons at the practical level. For his illuminating study Pilario connects to the French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu whose epistemological theory is concerned with the dialectical interaction between theoria and praxis. Bourdieu himself stressed the need of theoretical construction of ones object of research to intersect with what he calls le sens practique.217 Hence, theory and praxis feed on one another. Pilario emphasizes this point in the following way:
If theory is to be scientific and viable, it is imperative to incorporate into its discourse structures of reflexivity. Thus, a science needs to acknowledge the difference between its own account and that of actual practice, and is challenged to incorporate the awareness of this gap (between the logic of science and the time of practice) within theory itself. Only through this reflexive stance can science 218 avoid the pitfalls of dogmatism which characterizes modern rationality.

Popular voices219 in popular religiosity, as articulated from the level of praxis, contain an implicit theology, which one can only articulate if one listens first to, and understand the culture. Therefore, the act of listening becomes an imperative for understanding the underlying cosmology (or cosmologies) and the popular image(s) of God. This, however, is not the prerogative of
215

Cf. J. Art, Possibilities and Difficulties in Studying the Place of Religion in Everyday Life in the 19 and Early 20 Century, in Experiences and Explanations, eds. Laeyendecker, Jansma, and Verhaar, 103-16, 110. Art distinguishes between elite sources and the silent groups as sources for knowledge acquisition. One can access information from the silent groups in two ways: Indirectly, through testimonies of the lettered elite about the behavior of the people; directly, through unwritten, popular traces, like objects and sayings that have been passed on to date. Examples of directly accessible sources are those directly made or used by the silent groups [such as] ex votos, devotionalia, proverbs and sayings. One may add to this list the views and articulations subjects of these silent groups directly express. Pilario, Back To the Rough Grounds of Praxis, 531. Pilarios study is actually an appraisal of what he calls the long history of the philosophical-sociological discourse on praxis and Christian theologys relation with it (Ibid.). Ibid., 532. Ibid. Cf. Levine, Constructing Culture and Power, 194-212; Id., Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992), 3-6. This book is based on field research primarily done in Venezuela and Columbia, and resonates with the voices of many men and women who were interviewed. However, what we imply with the term popular voices, does not automatically correspond with the voices of poor people alone. Here the adjective popular encompasses anyone who abides by popular religiosity to give expression of his or her Christian faith. Thus, this terminology also includes theologians (priests, bishops, religious, pastoral workers and other theologically trained lay persons) who have taken the religiosity of the people at heart and whose speaking is an articulation of the sensus fidelium.

th

th

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liberation theologians. In his groundbreaking study on the theological significance of Haitian folk religion Trinidadian born George MacDonald Mulrain writes:
The true theologian seeks to discover more about God and how He reveals Himself, not only in his or her own setting, but within the various cultures throughout the world. The tragedy is that too many theologians hailing from the west have dismissed Haitian Folk Religion as superstitious nonsense. In so doing, they have denied themselves the opportunity of adding a further dimension to their 220 understanding of God.

Listening to the peoples culture and be sensitive for their religiosity by duly considering it, can serve as a starting point for (theological) reflection.221This act of listening may very well enable us to discover the hidden principles of another way of life,222 by focusing on what people do, what people know, and the things people make and use.223 Put differently, it is from detecting and understanding the root metaphor 224 of a culture that one really gets to know and understand a particular culture. Frans Wijsen has demonstrated the importance of popular voices for analyzing and understanding popular religiosity. He follows in D. Mulders footsteps by viewing religion as peoples attempts to prevent or surmount disaster, respectively search for salvation, thereby

220 221

Mulrain, Theology in Folk Culture, 369. Cf. Harvey Cox, The Seduction of the Spirit: The Use and Misuse of Peoples Religion (London: Wildhood House, 1974), 145, stating: [W]e must now begin to learn from the experiences of ordinary people and from other cultures, not just to satisfy scholarly curiosity but to discover ways of life that can enlarge and enliven the one we now live We turn to peoples religion now not because we want to study it but because we want people to teach us; also Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Christian Freedom and Liberation, no. 21 where Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger outlines the theological significance of this approach. He therefore claims that it is especially the little ones and the poor who know in their faith that they are the object of God's infinite love. Ratzinger puts it more bluntly in the following lines: They know that to them too are addressed Jesus words: No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you (Jn 15: 15). This sharing in the knowledge of God is their emancipation from the dominating claims of the learned: You all know ... and you have no need that any one should teach you (1 Jn 2: 20b, 27b). They are also aware of sharing in the highest knowledge to which humanity is called. They know that they are loved by God, the same as all other people and more than all other people. James P. Spradley, Participant Observation (New York: Holt, 1980), 4. Ibid., 5. See Worgul, Inculturatie en basismetaforen, in Liturgie en inculturatie, ed. Lamberts, 57-74, 57-58. Worgul explains these root metaphors as keys one uses to open the doors (to understanding) of other cultural realities in terms related to the very key one employs; also see Leijssen, Volksreligie en postmoderniteit, 111. There, Leijssen employs this terminology in the context of liturgical theology. He therefore identifies some characteristics which constitute the heart of Christian faith. Among these are the acknowledgement of God as Creator of the universe; belief in the Incarnation and paschal mystery; and the parousia of Christ. These, Leijssen asserts, are the root metaphors of Christian faith. The Church celebrates them ritually in the liturgy and they are remembered in light of recognizing the faithful as Christians.

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involving another reality.225 Wijsen refers to that reality as meta-empirical reality. For him human communication includes one form in which people communicate with meta-empirical realities, whereby they believe that these realities truly exist and influence their life.226 He, therefore, maintains that it is possible to study religion (including popular religiosity) as:
A communication process between a believer or a group of believers and one or more metaempirical realities, by means of messages through certain (verbal, behavioral or material) channels, 227 with a more or less desired effect, all within the framework of a certain time and place.

For a meaningful communication process in this regard, the ritual language, expressed through the means of popular voices, has proven to be indispensable. However, popular voices have also entered the international debate on popular religiosity through the engagement of theologians with lay people at grass-root level. These experiences are described in academic publications.228 Though the sources employed may lack the abstract level of reasoning that is common to academic theological discourses, they are not devoid of rationale. In this regard Laeyendecker succinctly remarks: Everyone acts rationally in relation to his interest and resources, but the outcome may be different in the sense that the more powerful have the possibility to define that outcome as irrational or deviant or even irresponsible.229 In the same vein Jacques Kamstra had argued earlier in favor of a serious consideration for what he calls la pense de tous les jours, when doing theology. He postulates that for long theology and the science of religion have been done as if nowhere in the entire world people existed with this everyday (rational) thinking. Kamstra strikes a critical note toward some currents within established academic theology and the science of religion by asserting:
Academic theologians have described the small tradition and religion of the people with notions derived from their own Western (i.e., mostly Christian) way of thinking. How can it be? When one engages in the science of religion without considering the biases attached to his or her own thinking

225

D. C. Mulder, Alle geloven op n kussen? Over de religieuze basis van de interreligieuze dialoog, in Religies in nieuw perspectief. Studies over interreligieuze dialoog en religiositeit op het grondvlak, ed. R. Bakker (Kampen: Kok, 1985), 45, quoted in Wijsen, Geloof in een volksbuurt, 166. Wijsen, Geloof in een volksbuurt, 166. Ibid., 166-67. See, for example, Espn, The Faith of the People; Bamat and Wiest, eds., Popular Catholicism in a World Church; also see the anecdote of the encounter between a Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest and an old Buddhist woman who had just converted to Roman Catholicism, in Pio Ngo Phuc Hau, Nhat Ky Truyen Giao [Missionary Journal] (Ho Chi Minh City: 62 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, 1996), trans. and quoted in Phan, In Our Own Tongues: Perspectives from Asia on Mission and Inculturation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003), 91; and to some extent Achiel Peelman, Christ Is a Native American (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995). In this latter work Peelman attempts to deduce a Christology from the many testimonies of Native American people in Canada, in a rather experiential way. Laeyendecker, Once Again, 192; also see Crockett (Christianity and Culture, 32) who remarks that the ability for rational thinking is a truly human mode of reflection.

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and cultural milieu, one will inadvertently brush aside people with completely different patterns of 230 thought.... [Translation added].

By way of illustration Kamstra refers to Eliade who with his abstract (western academic) contradistinctions between the holy and the profane, transcendent and immanent, eternal and temporal, described other religions not from within,231 but from outside, by projecting external Christian categories unto them. For Kamstra: The conception of God and the three contradistinctions are fully and eminently present in Christianity. However, they are lacking in many other religions,232 and remain foreign. One can also apply Kamstras observation to the study of popular religiosity. For a considerable period popular religiosity has been conceptualized on the basis of western scientific categories by using oppositional terminology (for example, popular versus official, informal versus formal, mass versus elite, private versus public, etc). Thereby the dominant religion has often been postulated as normative, whereas popular religiosity was perceived as deviating from the official norm. Some authors therefore, prefer a contextual approach in which the local context becomes the starting point for reflection and analysis. Without denying the value of such an approach, it can still be argued that it inhabits the potential danger of creating blind spots which may ultimately give birth to misconceptions about the theme under study. A critical distance is necessary if one wants to avoid the danger of blind spots. This underlines the idea of a certain degree of conceptualization when studying popular religiosity. Nevertheless, some authors prefer to study popular religiosity from within. Hence, this has led Espn to insist somewhat provocatively: Popular Catholicism is the real faith of the real Church, whether we like to academically and institutionally admit it or not.233 Moreover, popular religiosity can be understood theologically as the cultural expression of the sensus fidelium234
230

Jacques H. Kamstra, Een moelijke keuze: De godsdienst van de gewone man, Tijdschrift voor theologie 20 (1980): 268-279, 271. It must be said though that, not contesting Kamstras point, his way of viewing academic theologians itself is also not free from the very same bias he reacts against. (See editors introduction). Cf. Dussel, ed., The Church in Latin America, a CEHILA production in which an attempt is made to produce a history of the Church on the basis of a particular experience we have of the institutional community founded by Jesus Christ. It is primarily a history from the underside of history, a history from within. Kamstra, Een moelijke keuze, 272. These insights from Kamstra may be quite illuminating to a certain extent. For example, when translating the Gospel into non-Western cultural categories it is required to have a profound knowledge of the receiving culture and be aware of Christian concepts which do not have an equivalent through which the content of the faith could be explained intelligibly. Yet one may argue that in the process of evangelization, the Gospel seeks to enlighten and transform cultures, and that may require the introduction of hitherto unknown Christian concepts into the pertaining culture. At the same time that culture too can shed a different light on the Gospel thereby enriching the Church in its understanding and proclamation of Gods word. Espn, The Faith of the People, 3. Ibid., 64; cf. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Christian Freedom and Liberation, par. 98. Here Cardinal Ratzinger asserts that the living faith of the people of God contains resources of holiness. The task of the

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From the point of view of tradition, Espn holds that the sensus fidelium is not limited to written conciliar documents, patristic texts, Episcopal or papal declarations, etc. It is above all incarnated in the life and faith of the Latin American people, and is always expressed through the symbols, language, and culture of the faithful 235 It finds expression in peoples communication with the meta-empirical realities. Therefore, the culture of the people, or better put, the religious popular culture in which their faith is embedded, becomes an authentic source for theology. It supplies the texts for discovering the elements of a local theology.236 In addition, Wijsen remarks: In a mature Christian situation the sensus fidelium is a source of vitality for the development of doctrine within the church.237 This further underscores the importance of the sensus fidelium as a source for doing theology. Espns study reflects his personal shift in the perception of popular religiosity.238 However, one can also perceive it as a hermeneutical tool for understanding an implicit theology that underlies the sensus fidelium, and to give a legitimate articulation of it for the wider Church community. In this line of thought several other Latin American theologians speak in varying degrees about the religiosity of the people from within. Two examples hereof are Chilean born theologian Christin Parker and U.S.A. born missionary priest Stephen Judd. Far from assuming to render a complete analysis of their work, we can just briefly present some characteristics below. Christin Parker was engaged in pastoral work with the people from the barrios for many years. His experiences at grass-root level made him come to realize that the Latin American people have a profound religious sense [which] is part of the common popular sense not, however, in the form of some static component, but having a dynamism of its own, accentuated by changing historical circumstances.239 This common sense, Parker claims:
Hosts a secret hope in the supernatural forces that signify a symbolical opportunity of survival, sometimes of cultural resistance, or in any case a wellspring of security and meaning not found in other, secular symbolical referents, be these ideological, artistic, or political, let alone in those 240 proceeding from the official culture.

theologian, therefore, is to give these riches of the sensus fidei the chance to come to full flowering and bear abundant fruit. The reason why the theologian should do this is to help the faith of the poor to express itself clearly [so that it can] be translated into life, through a profound meditation on the plan of salvation as it unfolds itself in the Virgin of the Magnificat.
235 236 237 238

Espn, The Faith of the People, 66. Judd, Fashioning a Vital Synthesis, 118. Wijsen, Popular Christianity in East Africa, Exchange 29, no. 1 (2000): 37-60, 55. See Espn, The Faith of the People, 1-10. In his introduction Espn gives testimony of his change in ideas and attitude vis--vis popular religiosity, though he employs the notion of popular Catholicism. Parker, Popular Religion and Modernization, 88. Ibid., 89.

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By way of illustration Parker voices a songstress i.e., a woman of the people who devotes herself to folkloric music and song who once told him: Faith is the most sublime thing. Faith is the most important thing. Faith is in everybody, in all persons.241 This faith is profoundly rooted in the consistent, multiform presence of God, Who is not only the original Cause of life, but the Force that sustains it. According to Parker, this is the most salient characteristic of Latin American popular religiosity. For the Latin American people life is sacred because it comes from God. Therefore, devotional expressions through popular religious rituals are employed to nourish that life with what Parkers calls a more of meaning.242 The ability to accurately articulate the faith of the people is not the exclusive domain of Latin American theologians. This is demonstrated by Stephen Judd, who spent a considerable part of his missionary life among the Aymara people in the Southern Andes region in Peru. Being among the people and taking their religiosity serious foster mutual bonds of trust and solidarity. It is on the basis of these bonds that the people entrust their soul to their pastors, sharing their lives with them, and enabling them to carefully listen to the heart of their culture(s) and give an accurate articulation of its underlying faith. In such a milieu the pastor-theologian is sometimes compared with what Otto Maduro describes as a religious functionary spontaneously sought out by the masses for the purpose of gathering, systematizing, expressing, and making response to the aspirations and needs of these subordinate classes.243 After going through his own apprenticeship with the Aymara people, Judd discovered the theological significance of Aymara religiosity, with the holy cross as one of its central features.244 This perception from inside opened his eyes for the implicit reference to the paschal mystery, inherent in some popular religious rites and feasts. One example is the Good Friday fiesta of which Judd gives the following account:
In the town of Moho on the north side of Lake Titicaca, the Good Friday celebration presents a reenactment of a ceremony with roots in medieval Spain. The piadosos, a fraternity from the community who dress in white robes, enter the church on Good Friday and proceed to lift the life size statue of the body of Christ from the cross. After cleansing his body with hundreds of small pieces of perfumed cotton, the statue, now in a glass encased coffin, is carried out in procession
241 242

Ibid. See, for example, Ibid., 94-96 where Parker refers to a study in which parents express their views concerning their reasons for baptizing their children. Otto Maduro, Religion and Social Conflicts (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1982), 144. Judd (Fashioning a Vital Synthesis, 118) refers to the study of Jos Luis Gonzales, La religiosidad popular en el Per (Lima: 1984), 65. The study is actually a survey on popular religion in Peru. On the aforementioned page the author concludes that the cross in its diverse forms and its undeniable reference to the passion of Christ constitutes the symbolic nucleus of Peruvian popular religion. Judds own study corroborates this conclusion when he discusses th the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on 14 September, and the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross on 3 May. At these feasts the cross takes on an even greater paschal significance, Judd concludes (p. 119).

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through the streets. At the conclusion of the procession; the cotton is distributed to those assembled. The highly coveted pieces of cotton are kept in the home for protection. When sickness 245 or disaster strikes, they are burned and placed into a medicinal tea.

An outsider would easily dismiss the aspect of the burning of the cloth as superstition. However, as an insider Judd has been able to value this praxis as the people very own way to maintain and actualize their identification with the crucified Christ.246 One can also argue that what underlies this practice is the peoples deep-seated trust that life is sacred and ought to be nurtured physically, religiously and spiritually all the time. According to Virgil Elizondo popular religious practices as in the case of the Aymara people just mentioned, express the deepest identity of the people.247 These practices, he explains, are the ultimate foundation of the peoples innermost being and the common expression of the collective soul of the people. They are its very life-source.248 While they may seem utterly flawed for the outsider, they constitute a source of life for the practitioners who need no explanation. They have retained their inner strength, not so much despite of, but rather thanks to centuries of evangelization efforts.249 These evangelization efforts took place in times different from our contemporary era commonly described as a postmodern time. The postmodern context places new challenges for the Church in her perennial mission to evangelize cultures.250 Some hold
245 246 247

Ibid. Ibid. Virgil Elizondo, Popular Religiosity as Support of Identity: A Pastoral-Psychological Case Study Based on the Mexican American Experience in the USA, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 36-43, 37. Ibid. See Judd (Fashioning a Vital Synthesis, 115) where he attributes the position that perceives the resilience or resistance of popular religious expressions despite of evangelization efforts to those who hold the view of the existence of a dual religious system or syncretism. On the other hand, the position that perceives their perennial viability thanks to the evangelization thrust is attributed to those who classify Andean Christianity as popular religion that derives from its rootedness in the life and worldview of the campesino, and distinguished it from the religion of lites who adhere to the worldview of western Christianity. He ranks himself behind this latter position which he also deems as the most plausible one. Furthermore, Judd explains its raison dtre from a remarkable evangelisation process whereby the Gospel penetrated the ancient cultures despite the contradictions and violence associated with conquest. To no small degree, the genius and heroism of many of the early missionaries overcame their own zeal to win converts, and their appreciation of the values of the indigenous cultures allowed those cultures to express the Gospel on their own terms. Also see Bonino (Popular Piety in Latin America, 151) who explains Latin American popular religiosity in terms of protest against a Spanish Church [that was] transplanted with its buildings, laws, liturgy, feasts and devotions into Latin American soil. From the encounter between Spanish Christianity and the autochthonous cultures and religions of Latin America, a form of popular religiosity ensued that is to some extent the protest of the natives and the mestizos, who have been subjected to a foreign culture, religion and morality, but who use the names and forms of the latter to reconstitute the elements of their own religious and cultural identity. This also explains its persistence despite centuries of Spanish missionary work in Latin America; Castillo, Evangelization in Latin America, Concilium 4, no. 114 (1978): 85-90, 89, makes a similar point. Fitzgerald (Evangelii Nuntiandi and World Religions, 39-40) aptly remarks: Evangelization is not an optional extra for the Church (EN 5), but its very vocation (EN 14-15). There is a right to evangelize and a right to be

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that an ever more acute awareness of inculturation answers this call. We will address this particular theme in more detail in the fourth chapter. We shall then draw largely on various studies by the Philippine liturgist Anscar Chupungco, a former president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute and founder of the Paul VI Institute of Liturgy in the Philippines. He is generally considered as an authority on liturgical matters251 and their cultural embeddings. He has published extensively on the subject of inculturation and its related terminology.252

2.5.

Partial conclusion

The discussion of our thematic field, as has been reflected in this chapter, gives ample evidence of the ambiguities and the vast complexity of popular religiosity, rendering it impossible to perceive in a monolithic fashion. The variety of terms employed in the academic literature to describe our thematic field underscores this observation. Concomitantly, there are also a variety of approaches toward popular religiosity. 253 These approaches did not follow each other in a chronological order but have existed simultaneously and have been at work depending on the socio-historical and cultural circumstances of the time. We propose to distinguish these approaches according to three general characteristics, which may be identified as: (1) Exclusion or condemnation; (2) accommodation or manipulation;254 (3) and inclusion. Regarding the approach of exclusion, Cardinal Norberto Rivera claims that from 1963 to 1973 a movement grew up [within the Church] that tended to ostracize everything that came

evangelized (EN 80). For the Church holds that the multitudes have a right to know the riches of the mystery of Christ (EN53). The Gospel message is not reserved to a small group of the initiated (EN 57).
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See Chupungco, ed., Handbook for Liturgical Studies, vols. 1-5 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997-2000). See, for instance, Id., Liturgies of the Future: The Process and Methods of Inculturation (New York: Paulist, 1989); and his already cited Liturgical Inculturation. For his bibliography up to 1997, see Mark Francis and Keith Pecklers, Bibliography of Anscar J. Chupungco, in Liturgy for the New Millennium: A Commentary on the Revised Sacramentary. Essays in Honor of Anscar Chupungco, eds. Ids (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), 165-68. Cited in Phan, Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 232, n. 47. See Castillo (Evangelization in Latin America, 89-90) who distinguishes between a conservative line which would allow popular piety to carry on uncriticized, and a liberal litist line which rejects popular religion as pagan, superstition and ignores its historical roots among people However, he identifies a third approach toward Latin American popular religiosity which he locates between the first two. It is reflected by an attempt to preach the Gospel which accepts the people as they really are but at the same time urges them to struggle for liberation; cf. Wijzen Popular Christianity, 54. Based on research done in East Africa Wijsen distinguishes four attitudes among pastoral workers toward popular Christianity. He succinctly labels them as: no, yes and no, yes but, and yes. These attitudes are respectively reflected by the following keywords: conversion, adaptation, inculturation, and liberation. In the context of this study the term manipulation implies a certain degree of control exercised over peoples ritual expression that changes, or at least influences their perception and conception in a manner that it harmonizes with orthodox Roman Catholic faith, thus conforming to the laws and the norms of the Church.

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under the heading of popular devotion, piety, popular religiosity....255 He attributes this partly to the urgent need to implement the new liturgical books that required a keen preparation of the faithful to absorb and pursue more deeply the urgings of the Council256 However, we have also seen around this same period an emerging reappraisal for popular religiosity which was spearheaded by the social sciences. It was afterwards that larger sections of the Church began sharing in the positive (re)appraisal of this phenomenon, propelled to a large extent by EN. The accommodation or manipulation approach has deep historical roots that goes way back but was formally confirmed at Vatican II. There, the Council officially enacted the liturgy to superimpose popular religiosity, whereby the latter could only enter the sacred domain of the former, after having gone through the necessary adaptations. This was deemed necessary in order to avoid contradictions with, and intrusions in the liturgy. Cardinal Norberto Rivera, however, indicates a clear paradigm shift in favor of inclusion. According to him this approach had been spurred by the 1976 CELAM meeting in Bogota, on The Church and Popular Religiosity in Latin America. He maintains:
A fundamental milestone on this path of change was the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, in which Paul VI urged a change of attitude on the part of pastors, inviting them to acknowledge the undeniable values of the forms of popular religiosity and to help them to overcome the risks of deviation. This opened a way that became even clearer during the Pontificate of John Paul II, who stated that, popular piety is not a vague feeling, lacking any solid base in doctrine. Often, on the contrary, it is a true expression of a soul of a people touched by grace and shaped by the happy encounter between the work of evangelization and the local culture. This is the way in which the poor, the beloved of the Lord, live and express in all the dimensions of their life the Mystery of the faith that has been communicated to them (Address at Zapopan, Mexico, 30 January 1979).
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There, the Latin American bishops declared that religion of the people, popular religiosity, or popular piety refers to the whole complex of underlying beliefs rooted in God, the basic attitudes that flow from these beliefs, and the expressions that manifest them258 Hence, they officially recognized popular religiosity as a legitimate expression of Christian faith. Yet, they emphasized, it stands in need of Christs Grace. One may add: just as much as official religiosity too is in need thereof. Moreover, the Latin American bishops asserted that popular religiosity is imbued with spiritual richness that enables it to cross-fertilize with the Roman liturgy.

255

Norberto Cardinal Rivera, Place of Popular Devotion L'Osservatore Romano, 4 September 2002; available from http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/ doc_view.cfm?recnum=4616; Internet; accessed 14 January 2004. Ibid.; cf. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 95-96. Ibid. Eagleson and Scharper, eds., Puebla and Beyond, 184.

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The consulted Church documents so far express the finitude of popular religiosity. It is often presented in an ambivalent way, namely as both rich and at the same time deficient. The latter suggests that popular religiosity lacks something and needs to be amplified by another quality. One can infer from these documents what this something that is lacking means. In general these documents stipulate it in terms of: a thirst for God; a true acceptance of faith, and an acute awareness of profound attributes of God that can only be remedied through a proper orientation from a pedagogy of evangelization (EN 48); proper knowledge of the fundamental principles of the faith (GDC 25, EN 52). There also seems to be a lack of a proper knowledge of the mystery of Christ and of His message (CT 54) and a better quality of Christian life at the heart of the Church (PAC 27). This especially concerns the devotees, i.e., those who express their faith primarily in categories peculiar to popular religiosity. Furthermore, the Church documents in general and the Apostolic Exhortation FC in particular reaffirm that popular devotions, especially where they concern the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, through the popular practice of reciting the rosary, constitute a fundamental aspect of Christian life. However, these documents seem to favor the notion of popular devotion or popular piety over popular religiosity. Whenever the latter is employed the documents tone immediately switches from praise to caution, thereby alluding to negative values, potential dangers, errors, and other ills. These are deemed to be obstructive, or even destructive for a full acceptance of faith. In this sense popular religiosity becomes a flawed concept that needs to be purified, enlightening it with the light of Sacred Scripture.259 In the remaining sources documents other than those of the Vatican one can infer a tendency to identify the missing element in terms of: a high social status; high or, at least, moderate income or financial resources; advanced education, etc. These subjects are often considered to constitute the mass of the people who are generally poor. Such an approach to popular religiosity does not completely reflect the rich diversity that characterizes this field. Hence we shall adopt a different approach to our thematic field in the coming chapter in an attempt to highlight another dimension of its richness and diversity. This diversity also illustrates its complexity.

259

Jorge Arturo Cardinal Medina Estevez, Popular Piety and the Life of Faith, L'Osservatore Romano, 4 September 2002; available from http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4614; Internet; accessed 14 January 2004.

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CHAPTER 3. POPULAR RELIGIOSITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CARIBBEAN

In the previous chapter we focused on popular religiosity from three different angles: a socio-cultural, a theological, and a magisterial perspective. Taking the Latin American context as our frame of reference has ushered into an understanding of popular religiosity that proceeded from the poor masses of the population. This one-sided view can be brought into fuller perspective when approached from another perspective. In this chapter we shall shift our focus to the Caribbean context. That sheds a different light on popular religiosity, in that it is presented as a way of life derived from, or inspired by, among others, a particular African-Caribbean spirituality enshrined within African-Caribbean religions. One should note, however, that the Bishops of the Caribbean region, who form the AEC (Antilles Episcopal Conference) has made significant statements in several Pastoral Letters which witness to a keen and thorough affinity with issues affecting contemporary societies.1 These Pastoral Letters deal with important issues regarding the Church in the Caribbean, the people, their cultures and societies. The issue of popular religiosity, particularly in forms inspired by African-Caribbean religions has been addressed at a larger forum, namely at CELAM level. Hence there are no documents from the Caribbean episcopacy that specifically reflect on this particular issue. Therefore, we shall rely on other sources in examining this matter. In light of the broader understanding of popular religiosity, presented in this chapter, our main guiding question here will be: to what extent, and in which way(s) do the African-Caribbean religions influence the Christian people of the region in their appropriation of the Gospel message? This question is important because it can deepen our understanding of the inculturation of the Gospel message, and of the liturgy vis--vis popular religiosity. The following introductory notes may serve as a prelude to a rather complex region with a rich and diverse panorama of religious expressions. A beginning observation is that the Caribbean region exposes conspicuous points of convergence regarding the African influence on the religiosity of the (Christian) people.2

In 1975 the AEC issued her Pastoral Letter entitled Justice and Peace in the a New Caribbean in which she addressed certain aspects of Caribbean life and culture, such as race, class and family-life. In 1982 the Caribbean bishops issued another Pastoral Letter, entitled True Freedom and Development in the Caribbean: A Christian Perspective in which they offered some pastoral guidelines for authentic freedom and progress. Their 1992 Pastoral Letter is entitled Evangelization for a New Caribbean and was written on the occasion of the Quincentenary 1492-1992. See, for the cultural links between Africa and the Caribbean; also see Kortright Davis, Emancipation Still Comin: Explorations in Caribbean Emancipatory Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990), 50-67.

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However, one should not assume automatically that any specific cultural part of contemporary Caribbean societies can easily be traced back to one particular African culture.3 For that reason the level of heterogeneity among the African slaves within any particular location in the New World was far too differentiated.4 Even though the African-Caribbean religions are rooted in the ancestral religions of Africa, and in their forms of expression display vivid resemblance with religions in Africa, there remains to be great differences and diversity among them. It is, therefore, not possible to perceive these religions in a homogenous way. The external forces that helped shape these religions were unique to the respective contexts of the New World in which their development occurred. Knight and Crahan, therefore, keenly observe that the Afro-Caribbean cultures [are] derived from a variety of cultural models, and reflected a broad spectrum of local prevailing circumstances in their new habitat.5 Nevertheless, historically, the trans-Atlantic slave trade contributed largely to the establishment and development of African-Caribbean religions,6 and the self-understanding and understanding of the world of Afro-Caribbean Christians in the New World.7 A discourse on popular religiosity in the Caribbean requires one to duly consider the African-Caribbean religions and the impact they have on the religiosity or spirituality of Caribbean Christian people In this chapter we will, therefore, address the significance of these religions, and their impact on Christianity on the practical level. Moreover, we will argue that African-Caribbean

Cf. Melville Herskovits, The Myth of the Negro Past (New York: Harper, 1941). Melville Herskovits ideas of African retentions in the New World have been criticized for that reason by among others Sidney Mintz and Richard Price who concluded that if Afro-American cultures do in fact share such an integral dynamism, and if, as we shall argue, their social systems have been highly responsive to changing social conditions, one must maintain a skeptical attitude toward claims that many contemporary social or cultural forms represent direct continuities from the African homelands. See Sidney W. Mintz and Richard Price, An Anthropological Approach to the Afro-American Past: A Caribbean Perspective (Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues [ISHI Occasional Papers 2], 1976), 27; for the manner in which the African impact have helped shape Caribbean identity and society see Gordon K. Lewis, Main Currents in Caribbean Thought: The Historical Evolution of Caribbean Society in Its Ideological Aspects, 1492-1900 (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1983). Mintz, The Caribbean as a Socio-cultural Area, in People and Cultures, ed. Horowitz, 17-46, 26. Cf. Knight and Crahan, The African Migration and the Origins of an Afro-American Society and Culture, in Africa and the Caribbean, eds. Ids. , 1-19, 9. See, for example, Simpson, Religious Cults of the Caribbean; Melville J. Herskovits, ed., The New World Negro (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966); Eugene D. Genovese, Roll Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Made (New York: Vintage Books, 1976); Angelina Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten en culten (Roermond: J. J. Romen & Zonen, 1970); Dale Bisnauth, History of Religions in the Caribbean (Kingston: Kingston Publishers Limited, 1989); Richard Price, The Guiana Maroons: A Historical and Bibliographical Introduction (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1976). New world, in the context of this study refers specifically to the area that is identified as the Caribbean region. It thus excludes large sections of Latin America, for instance, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, etc.

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religions have significantly contributed to popular religiosity in the Caribbean where they concern the religious ritual and symbolic expressions of the Afro-Christian people. These, as we will demonstrate, are shaper of a distinct form of Christianity which some refer to as Caribbean Christianity.8 We shall attempt to highlight the thematic field of popular religiosity from the Caribbean point of view in three steps, which are to some extend interrelated. First we shall start with a general overall overview of religious expressions that have their roots in the period of slavery and European colonization. We will discuss these from their proper context, which requires a clear denotation of the region in geographical terms. Then we shall examine these religions in terms of their formative function for contemporary African-Caribbean peoples religiosity, which, as we will advance, has given shape to a distinct form of Caribbean Christianity. And in a third step we shall explore in more concrete terms how this Christianity expresses itself in popular religious rituals. We shall, therefore, revisit the theme of popular religiosity, by focusing on two examples taken from the Surinamese context.

3.1.

African-Caribbean religions in the New World

Two dominant references to African inspired religions in the New World are AfricanCaribbean religions and African-American religions. 9 These are also referred to as AfroCaribbean and Afro-American religions respectively. In this chapter our primary concern lays with African-Caribbean religions. It is therefore necessary to have an adequate description of the locality referred to as the Caribbean region, especially since there is no consensus among scholars what exactly makes up the Caribbean.

Cf. Elizondo, Guadalupe: The Birth of American Mestizo Christianity, LS 26 (2001): 295-312. In this article Elizondo defends the idea of a distinct type of Christianity for Latin America which he calls Mestizo Christianity. According to Elizondo it is a very authentic Christianity, without being an extension and continuation of western Christianity. It has emerged through the power of the Spirit, out of the very prodigious synthesis of European Christianity with Indigenous and African religious traditions - each enriching the other. Similarly some Caribbean authors speak of Caribbean Christianity, however, without articulating any particular definition in great detail. See Christine Barrow and Rhoda Reddock, Religion and Belief Systems, in Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Readings, eds. Ids. (Oxford: James Currey Publishers, 2001), 541-43, particularly Section 9, with contribution of various authors (pp. 544-642); also see Armando Lampe, Naar een geschiedenis van de Caribische theologie, Wereld en Zending 31, no. 1 (2003): 64-74, 64-65.

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3.1.1. Defining the Caribbean

Authors, in general, define and delimitate the Caribbean region in various ways.10 One way is by pointing toward the region that comprises an arc down from Brazil to the Southern United States.11 This perception of the Caribbean which includes countries on the mainland of South America (Brazil, French-Guyana, Suriname, and Guyana) combines geographical (insularity) and sociohistorical factors (for instance, the history of colonialism, the Atlantic slave trade, sugar plantation-economy).12 Another way of defining the Caribbean is done from a geo-historical perspective and includes areas in Europe and the United States of America, apparently because of large communities of Caribbean migrants in these areas. Michael Ramcharan, for instance, includes in the notion of the Caribbean the West Indies archipelago, the Central American isthmus, the Guyanas (French, British, and Dutch), Northern Brazil (Bahia), Southern United States of America (Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi) and sectors of the metropoles (Miami, New York, Toronto, London, Amsterdam).13 Yet, a broader expanded vision of the Caribbean will include countries on both the Central and South American mainland, apart from the twenty-three (nation) islands located in the Caribbean Sea. This way of defining the Caribbean therefore includes countries like Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico.14 In whatever way one chooses to define the Caribbean, one will certainly be confronted with a diversity of cultures, languages and religious expressions.15 These illustrate the complexity of

10

See, for instance, Thomas D. Boswell, The Caribbean: A Geographic Preface, in Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, eds. Richard S. Hilmann and Thomas J. DAgostino (London / Kingston: Lynne Rienner Publishers / Ian Randle Publishers, 2003), 19-50, 19-23. Simpson, Religious Cults of the Caribbean, 292. See M. G. Smith, The Plural Society in the British West Indies (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1965), 19, where the author remarks: The historical conditions which define the area from Brazil to the United States as the broad comparative context of Caribbean studies are well known. They consist of the expansion of Europe to the New World, the common historical patterns of conquest, colonization, peonage or slavery, and the development of multi-racial and multi-cultural societies throughout this area. Also see Stephen Randall, The Historical Context, in Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, eds. Hilmann and DAgostino, 51-83. Michael Ramcharan, A Caribbean Identity: Towards a Wholesome Caribbean Civilisation, in Into the Deep, ed. Id., 6-15, 6. Cf. Noel Titus, Our Caribbean Reality (1), in Caribbean Theology: Preparing For the Challenges Ahead, ed. Howard Gregory (Kingston: Canoe Press University of the West Indies, 1995), 57-64, 58; also cf. Milton A. George, Caribbean Theology in the Making: Idris Hamid, Kortright Davis and the Ongoing Challenges (unpublished masters thesis, Faculty of Theology, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, 2000), 1-18. See Rex Nettleford, The Caribbean: Crossroads of the Americas, in Crossroads of Empire, ed. Cobley, 1-14.

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what some describe as Caribbean reality.16 It is a linguistic melting pot of English-speaking, Spanish-speaking, French-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and Dutch-speaking areas.17

3.1.2. African-Caribbean religions and cults

The above cited definitions or delimitations for the Caribbean justify the position whereby one can speak of both African-Caribbean religions and African-American religions from a Caribbean perspective. However, in the context of this chapter these two terms overlap. Yet when employing the notion of African-Caribbean religions the so-called Black churches in the United States of America are left unconsidered. An example hereof is the Baptist Church founded by Peter Spencer in Delaware. On the other hand, the Winti religion in Suriname and Afro-Brazilian religions generally referred to as Afro-American religions18 can also be listed under the heading of AfricanCaribbean religions.

16

See Titus, Caribbean Reality (1), 57-64, 57 who relates Caribbean reality to the state of existence in the region with specific reference to geography, history, religion, education, and so on, which make up the culture of our many people; Barry Chevannes, Our Caribbean Reality (2), in Gregory (ed.), Caribbean Theology, 65-71 describes Caribbean reality from the perspective of religion and family, with specific emphasis on sexuality; Peter Sjak-Shie, The Hidden Manna and a New Name (A Bible Reflection), in Into the Deep, ed. Ramcharan, 129-32, 129, 130 points out the reality of contemporary Caribbean societies by linking it to its historical past at the one hand, and at the other hand by making a critical assessment of its current state. Thus Sjak-Shie, by referring to the names of Caribbean people claims: We are called Johnston, Charles, Boedhoalall, Cheun Yuan Pui, Adjodimedjo, Brahim, Weswee. All these names, by the very fact that they are called here, in the Caribbean, in the Guyanas refer to a complicated and sad history: the history of slavery, indentured labour, exploitation, poverty and confusion. And in a critical assessment of the present day reality within the Caribbean Sjak-Shie comments: We really live in satanic societies. Satanic in the strict meaning of the word: The place where Satan is enthroned the one who leads people into temptation, confuses them, put them to the test. He is disguised in structures that make the wealthy even wealthier and the poor poorer; disguised in the will to exercise power over people; in violence of all kinds, that by force strives to reach self-set goals; in dominance of men over women; in the flight from reality in hallucigens; in contradictory ideologies and value-systems. One can also include the various Creole languages spoken throughout the Caribbean like, for example, Papiamento in the Dutch Antilles, Kwyol in Saint Lucia, Sranan, Sarnami-Hindi and Javanese in Suriname, and the several Maroon languages and Native American languages. In the Caribbean, Suriname is one of the most linguistically diverse countries where not less than fifteen languages are spoken. Chevannes, however, opposes the denotation of Caribbean reality as a melting pot with substances from Arawak, Chinese, Lebanese, Portuguese and larger shares from India, western Europe and Africa, claiming that this perception is based on a misunderstanding. He insists that Caribbean reality is rather shaped by Africa. This position is a rather contentious one since it ignores the impact European culture(s), for instance, had and still has on social life in the Caribbean (lifestyles, technology, education, etc). On the latter, Sidney W. Mintz, The Caribbean, in People and Cultures, ed. Horowitz, 17-48, 18 had concluded earlier that the societies of the Caribbean are only superficially non-western, taking on their particularity because they are in some ways, and deceptively, among the most western of all countries outside the United States and western Europe. Mintz article was first published in the Journal of World History 9, no. 4 (1966): 912-37. See, for example, Charles J. Wooding, Winti: een Afro-Amerikaanse godsdienst in Suiname. Een cultureel-historische analyse van de religieuze verschijnselen in de Para (Meppel: Krips Repro, 1972); also see Angelina Pollac-Eltz who

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African-Caribbean religions some refer to several of these specifically as cults include, among others, the following: Candombl, Batuque, Shango (also spelled as Xango), Macumba, Pagelana, Catimbo, and Umbanda, all in Brazil19; Winti religion in Suriname; Maria Lionza-cult in Venezuela;20 Santera in Cuba;21 Myalism, Obeah and Convince-cult in Jamaica,22 and also Cumina and Ras Tafari;23 Orisha and the Spiritual (Shouter) Baptist in Trinidad and Tobago;24 Voodoo religion in Haiti; and the Kele-cult on the isle of Saint Lucia.25 All these indicate the rich variety of popular religious expressions in the Caribbean. These religious systems are nowadays practiced freely and publicly, thereby also attracting people from the established (i.e., mainstream) churches with various degrees of adhesion. Elsewhere Simpson makes a fivefold typology for the African-Caribbean religious cults, namely: Neo-African Cults (Haitian Voodoo, the Candombl of Brazil, Cuban Santera and the Shango cult of Trinidad, Recife [Brazil], Grenada and Venezuela); Ancestral Cults (Cumina in Jamaica, Big Drum Dance [Nation Dance] of Grenada and Carriacou, and the Kele cult of Saint Lucia); Revivalist Cults (Revival Zion [Revivalist, Pocomania, Convince] in Jamaica, the Shouters [Spiritual Baptist] of Trinidad, and the Shakers on the isle of Saint Vincent, and the Grenadian

refers to the Afro-Brazilian religions as Afro-American religions: Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten, 69112.
19

See Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten, 69-112, for a general description of these religions; also see Joo Jos Reis, Batuque: African Drumming and Dance between Repression and Concession, Bahia, 1808-1855, Bulletin of Latin American Research 24, no. 2 (2005): 201-14 for more information about the relatively less known Batuque. Ibid., 158-66. See Sankeralli, African Religion in the Spanish Caribbean, in At the Crossroads, ed. Id., 142-44, for a brief introduction to Santera. The first part of this section is written on the basis of a presentation on the Santera of Cuba, made by Lourdes Tomayo Fernandes; also see William R. Bascom, The Focus on Cuban Santera, in People and Cultures, ed. Horowitz, 523-25; Jorge Castillo Guerra, The Dialogue Between Christianity and Afro-Cuban nd Religions, Exchange 32, no. 3 (2003): 250-59, 250-56; and Migene Gonzlez-Wippler, Santera: The Religion, 2 pr. (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1996 [1986]). See Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten, 124-32, for a general description of these religions; also see Monica Schuler, Myalism and the African Religious Tradition in Jamaica, in Africa and the Caribbean, eds. Crahan and Knight, 65-79. See Simpson, Religious Cults, 161-200, for a general description of Cumina; and Ibid., 208-28, for brief description of Ras Tafari; also see Noel Leo Erskine, From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2005). In this study Jamaican-born theologian Noel Erskine constructs a Rastafari theology from the experiences of Rastafarians and Rastafari religion. See Pearl Eintou Springer, Orisa and the Spiritual Baptist Religion in TT [Trinidad and Tobago], in At the Crossroads, ed. Sankaralli, 85-108, for a general description of these religions; also see Frances Henry, Reclaiming African Religions in Trinidad: The Socio-Political Legitimation of the Orisha and Spiritual Baptist Faiths (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago: University of the West Indies Press, 2003), for a detailed description of these religions. See Simpson, Religious Cults, 313-19.

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Revivalists); Spiritualist Cults (Macumba of Brazil and the Umbanda); Religio-Political Cults (Garveyism and the Rastafari movement in Jamaica).26 The Antiguan-born Anglican theologian Kortright Davis adds the following to Simpson grouping: the Kromanti Dance in Jamaica, the Jombee Dance in Montserrat, Obeah in Guyana, and the local cults of the Netherlands Antilles.27 However, Davis omits in specifying these latter local cults. Yet in his perception the various Christian denominations should also be added. This makes us question the nature of the religious concepts these authors use. It concerns the respective terms of cult and religion. Simpson does not make any distinction between these two and uses them interchangeably. Davis presents his additions as expressions of a cultic nature and includes in this terminology various Christian denominations, such as Protestantism, Anglicanism, Catholicism, and Evangelicalism. In the science of religions these denominations are considered to be religions, rather than mere cultic expressions. That is why, for clarity sake, we shall elaborate on the notions of religion and cult. Pollak-Eltz makes an attempt to distinguish these two notions, thereby acknowledging the difficulty in drawing clear demarcations, due to overlaps between religious rites and magical practices which characterize these notions.28 However, in her perception religion ought to be understood as the institutionalized rites for higher beings, and is closely related to a worldview that synthesizes a unified perspective on the origin, meaning, objective and value of both the universe and the human.29 Cults, on the other hand refer to a varied pantheon of gods whereby the rites take place according to the personal regulations of the individual cult leaders.30 Taking this distinction as a point of departure renders, according to Pollak-Eltz the Brazilian Candombl the notion of religion, whereas the Venezuelan Maria-Lionza movement31 receives the predicate of a cult.

26

Simpson, Black Religions in the New World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), 14. The author gives a brief overview of some of these religions in Simpson, Religions of the Caribbean, in The African Diaspora: Interpretive Essays, eds. Martin L. Kilson and Robert I. Rotberg (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press, 1976), 280-311. Davis, Emancipation Still Comin, 52. Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten, 26. Cf. Manuel Mara Marzal, Daily Life in the Indies (Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Centuries), in The Church in Latin America, ed. Dussel, 69-80, 70. Here Marzal looks at religion from both its objective dimension, with a Durkheimian interpretation as a system of beliefs and ritual and ethical practices, which refer to the sacred world and group their adepts in a church and its subjective dimension, thereby utilizing Clifford Geertz perspective as a system of symbols which produces deep and lasting attitudes and motivations in believers, through an overall conception of the meaning of life, manifested as completely real. Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten, 26. See Simpson, Religious Cults, 30-31; also see Pollak-Eltz, The Cult of Maria Lionza in Venezuela, in AfricanCaribbean Religions, ed. Kremser, 115-24, for an enlightening discussion of this cult.

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Nevertheless, these notions remain opaque in describing religious manifestations in the Caribbean; hence, contrary to Pollak-Eltz, Simpson regards Brazilian Candombl to be a cult rather. And where both Pollak-Eltz and Simpson confer in rendering the predicate cult to Haitian Voodoo,32 Mulrain insists that this religious manifestation, just like Christianity is without doubt a religion, a system of beliefs and practices involving the worship of a Supreme Being.33 In the latters perception religions differ from cults on the basis of their state of endurance. Where religions are characterized by a more permanent state, cults tend to be of a more transitory nature, causing them sooner or later to cease to exist.34 Moreover, Mulrain maintains that several religions of the world, Christianity being no exception, began as cults, but have persisted until this day.35 In this way he attributes an equal status to both Christianity and Voodoo religion. The question, however, remains whether any belief system deserves the predicate of religion, solely on the basis of its durability. Furthermore, the word cult also renders its own problematic. In its formal use a cult, according to the Collings Cobuild English Dictionary, is a fairly small religious group, especially one which is considered strange.36 There are two objections that can be raised against this definition. The first concerns the word strange. It is rather questionable who determines what is to be found strange. What may be strange for one may be totally acceptable for another. The second objection concerns the expression fairly small. This is rather contentious. In a country like Brazil, for instance, fairly small cities with an average population size of 100,000 inhabitants easily matches with about ten times the size of some Caribbean islands. What is considered to be great in size or small depends entirely on the perspective whence it is observed.

32

Pollak-Eltz, Afro-Amerikaanse godsdiensten, 135-46, and Simpson, Religious Cults, 231-33. It is noteworthy to remark that Pollak-Eltz even uses the concepts of religion and cult paradoxically by contending that the Vodoun cult is the most well-known Afro-American religion, thereby causing confusion on the interpretation of these religious concepts. Elsewhere Simpson also uses these terms paradoxically when he writes: While it seems unlikely that the Haitian vodun cult began to take definite forms between 1750 and 1790, a full explanation of the origins of this hybrid religion cannot be given. See Simpson, The Belief System of Haitian Vodun, in People and Cultures, ed. Horowitz, 491-521, 491. Mulrain, Theology in Folk Culture, 11. Cf. H. U. E. Thoden van Velzen, Politieke beheersing in de Djuka maatschappij: een studie van een onvolledig machtsoverwicht (Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum, 1966) in which the author discusses the Grantata cult that came up at the end of the nineteenth century in the Marowijne region in the eastern part of the Surinamese hinterland and spread westwards to the Saramacca region, only to last a few decades after which it declined; also see H. U. E. Thoden van Velzen and W. van Wetering, The Great Father and the Danger: Religious Cults, Material Forces, and Collective Fantasies in the World of the Surinamese Maroons. Caribbean Series 9 (Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1988). Mulrain, Theology in Folk Culture, 12. Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, Cobuild series from the bank of English] (London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995), 398.

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The Oxford English Dictionary on the other hand defines cult as: worship; reverential homage rendered to a divine being or beings, but also as a particular form or system of religious worship; especially in reference to its external rites and ceremonies. These definition strikes a more neutral tone by refraining from adopting qualifying terms. As such, the definitions presented in this latter dictionary converge with popular religiosity. This, however, does by no means suggest that popular religiosity is equated with cultic expressions. We can, however, maintain that the religious conglomeration of the Caribbean37 is rather complex. The distinction between religion and cult, as made by Mulrain remains opaque, since it is rather contentious to determine the exact moment when a cult ceases to be as such and thence transforms into a religion. To identify the various belief systems of the Caribbean in terms of religion or cult is rather problematic, with the exception of the world religions. Because of this hazardous situation we suggest the term popular religiosity as an inclusive term that gathers all the religious symbolic and ritual expressions of what is considered as African-Caribbean religions. We consider the concept of popular religiosity to have sufficient breadth that it can harbor the wide variety of religious manifestations in the Caribbean, whether or not these are correctly or inaccurately considered as either cult or religion.

3.2.

Popular religiosity from the Caribbean

From a Caribbean perspective popular religiosity is not only connected with devotions in the Church but also with African-Caribbean religions. Some authors perceive African-Caribbean religions as popular religions, in terms of religions for the less educated, who have not yet reached the refinement of the official religion 38 Therefore, these religions are seen as synonymous to what in earlier days was called paganism or heathenism.39 For that reason, others oppose the perception of African-Caribbean religions as popular religions, arguing that this way of labeling these religions comes from outside. Moreover, it does not correspond with the

37

We chose of the Caribbean rather than in the Caribbean because the various belief systems or their rituals and symbolic expressions travel along with their devotees when they migrate to other regions outside the Caribbean. They are therefore not limited within the Caribbean region. But since their formation has occurred primarily under the Caribbean landscape, they can be deemed as religious expressions from the Caribbean, or of Caribbean people rather. Sigi Wolf, Echos uit een spirituele bron, in Vernooij, Libi nanga bribi: enkele aanzetten tot Surinaamse theologie (Nijmegen: Nijmeegs Instituut voor Missiologie, 2002), 23-34, identifies the African-Caribbean (Afro-Surinamese) Winti religion as a form of popular religion. The title Libi nanga bribi in the Surinames language Sranan, has a double meaning when translated literally. It means both to live with faith and life and faith. It is in this double sense that the editor understands the title. Hesdie S. Zamuel, Popular Religions and Ecumenism, in At the Crossroads, ed. Sankaralli, 6-12, 6.

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experiences and evaluations of the adherents themselves. It is claimed that these adherents of African-Caribbean religions experience their belief systems as official, original and authentic. Similar objections have been raised by representatives of Hindu religious traditions in the Caribbean. Ravindranath Maharaj, for instance, laments the whole definition of popular religion to be an unkind and patronising definition. He further asserts: In the Hindu tradition, what you call popular religion is in part a natural way of expressing and of nurturing and receiving communion.40 Whatever the above claims entail, the general feeling among Caribbean theologian is that African-Caribbean religions are still valuable, not only for their adepts proper, but also for the AfroCaribbean Christians. Among these people there are those who express their religiosity in part through symbols and rituals peculiar to African-Caribbean religions. These religions provide a framework for popular religious ritual and symbolic expressions. Any attempt at evangelization, therefore, necessitates the examination of these religions in order to discern their spiritual richness and their implications for Christian worship in the Caribbean. How do these religions contribute to the popular religious landscape of the Caribbean? How are they related to Christianity? How do they impact the spirituality and religiosity of the Caribbean Christian people? In what way can they enrich Christianity?41 We will address these questions in the following, but far from being exhaustive.

3.2.1. African-Caribbean religions as bases for popular religiosity

A considerable part of Caribbean Christians express their religiosity in varying degrees within a framework of what some authors denote as double religious belonging.42 While some are practicing Christians, they still feel perfectly at home with African-Caribbean religions, or with some derisive forms. Boodoo, for instance, attributes this phenomenon to a state of dislocation, a term he uses to describe not just physical and mental space but a people as a whole [It] historicizes the discontinuity characteristic of the historical, cultural, and cultural [sic] context of the Caribbean, and also adequately describes the nature and state of its current context.43 He argues that in the Caribbean a state of dislocation . forces persons to inhabit multiple worlds
40

Ravindranath Maharaj aka Ravi-ji, Hinduism and Popular Religion, in At the Crossroads, ed. Sankaralli, 151-62, 15455. The author is a poet, activist, and leader of the Hindu Community in Trinidad and Tobago. Cf. John Ganly, ATR Can Enrich Christianity, African Ecclesial Review 41, nos. 2-3 (1999): 96-107. See Michael Amaladoss, Double Religious Belonging: An Anthropological Reflection, East Asian Pastoral Review 39, no. 4 (2002): 297-312; and Sjak-Shie, Onze levensverhalen en het rechte geloof, in Op zoek naar Christelijk geloven, Panda-Cahier, no. 38, id. (Paramaribo: Katechetisch Centrum, R.-K. Bisdom Pararmaribo, 2002), 28-39, 2930; also see Phan, Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 60-81. Boodoo, Understanding Church and Theology, 131.

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and religions, often at the same time.44 However, there are those who strongly oppose multiple religious belonging of the kind just sketched, since they consider forms of African-Caribbean religions as the work of the devil. Hence, in their view, any contact with, or influence from these religions must be avoided. Yet between these two seemingly mutually exclusive positions other varieties do exist. Nevertheless, it can be stated that African-Caribbean religions and Afro-Caribbean Christianity are havens of a popular religiosity that has its base in the former. Hence, alongside Christianity, or irrespective of it, a considerable part of the Caribbean people that consider themselves to be Christians continue abiding by an ethos that is distinctively marked by a cosmology proper to the respective religions. In this regard the Saint Lucian priest and theologian Patrick Anthony points out that despite the fact that large numbers of Caribbean people would claim allegiance to one of the established Christian churches (Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Protestantism, Pentecostalism, Evangelicalism), they still retain the mind-set and belief system of ATR.45 Popular religiosity that is inspired by African-Caribbean religions, therefore, remains to be a living reality within the so-called established Christian churches. In the Caribbean this form of popular religiosity is distinct from a devotional Christianity that finds approval from the Church. It, however, finds expression in the devotions to the saints, but on terms set by the African-Caribbean religions. In an illuminating study on the Orisha religion in Trinidad, James Houk presents an overview of Catholic saints in which Afro-Caribbean people identify particular African deities.46 He explains this on the base of an initial syncretism between Catholicism and the Yoruba-derived African religion [that] occurred on the level of form only.47 He employs therefore the term simple syncretism.48

44 45

Ibid., 132. Patrick A. B. Anthony, Changing Attitudes towards African Traditional Religion, in African-Caribbean Religions, ed. Kremser, 69-84, 73. James T. Houk, Spirits, Blood, and Drums: The Orisha Religion in Trinidad (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995), 185, 188; also see J. Lambert St. Rose, Keep Traditions, Local Customs, Religion and Christianity Together, in Into the Deep, ed. Ramcharan, 44-68, 56. Houk, Spirits, Blood, and Drums, 182. This author distinguishes between simple syncretism and complex syncretism. To explain, he cites Jay D. Edwards, Cultural Syncretism in the Louisiana Creole Cottage, Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 3: 9-29, when stating that the simple syncretism involves the combination of the combination of the visible forms of two previously distinct traditions. On the other hand, complex syncretism involves the blending of meanings, attitudes, and so on from two distinct cultural traditions. (Houk, p. 181). Cf. Springer, Orisa and the Spiritual Baptist, 96-97. According to Springer the African slaves used syncretism as a device for the survival of their religion by matching the attributes of Christian saints to that of the Orisha, for example, St. Michael for Ogun, St. Anthony for Erunmila, etc.

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Apart from devotional Christianity, one can also glean at popular religiosity in the Caribbean from what Armando Lampe identifies as an Afro-Christian religious experience. One can also describe this religious experience as Afro-Christian religiosity. There are Caribbean theologians who, like Lampe, explain the development of this religiosity as a result of the Churchs condescending evaluation of the religious values of the African slaves and their descendants that were derived from African ancestral religiosity.49 Lampe argues that the response of the enslaved Africans to this attitude was to resort to what he calls religious cimarronage. This implies that in order for their religiosity to survive, the slaves overtly made use of public Catholic symbols without abandoning their African religiosity.50 In the words of Lampe:
The slaves gave the impression that they had no African culture in their veins, and the missionaries fell for this pretence that no culture had been brought from Africa. The apartheid approach denied life to both African and Christian traditions; syncretism became the order of the day in Caribbean Christianity, which drew on African as well as Western European sources, giving rise to an Afro51 Christian religious experience.

Not everyone shares this view on the identification of African deities with Roman Catholic saints. The Guyanese theologian Dale Bisnauth, for example, maintains a different explanation for this matter. Contrary to what Lampe claims, Bisnauth attributes the identification of Catholic saints with African deities to the unfinished program of Spanish Catholics for Christianizing the slaves which resulted from a chronic shortage of priests so that an adequate mission among these slaves was not achieved. As a result, in Cuba, many blacks learnt enough of Catholic saints to identify them with their gods or to include them among their pantheon of divinities.52 The large amount of Christians in the Caribbean with African ancestral roots contributes to the existence of an African-oriented cosmology, or cosmologies rather, within the churches of the Caribbean. These cosmologies underlie African-Caribbean religions in Latin America and the Caribbean. They are also at the basis of the religious expressions of a considerable part of the AfroCaribbean Christians. Their connection with African-Caribbean religions can be gleaned from the overlapping and salient features such as, for instance, messages and messengers, dreams, and locutions. Through myths, legends, proverbs, rituals and certain held beliefs Afro-Caribbean people transmit them from one generation to the next.53
49

See, for instance, Erskine, Decolonizing Theology: A Caribbean Perspective (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1981); Davis, Emancipation Still Comin. Cf. Herskovits, African Gods and Catholic Saints in New World Negro Belief, American Anthropologist 39 (1937): 635-43. Lampe, Christianity in the Caribbean, 206. Bisnauth, A History of Religions, 165-67, 165. Mulrain, African Cosmology and Caribbean Christianity, in At the Crossroads, ed. Sankaralli, 46-64, 47. (This article was first published in Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 10, no. 2 (1989).

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A predominant feature of the cosmologies of the Afro-Caribbean people, irrespective of their religious and denominational affiliation, concerns the existence of a spirit world.54 In recent years Caribbean theologians have pondered its occurrence, and have attempted to delineate its theological significance. Hence, several authors have pointed out that, in their cosmologies, Caribbean people perceive reality as composed of both a physical/material and a spiritual/immaterial dimension, intrinsically bound together in an inseparable unity. Mulrain, for example, claims:
The visible world which we may empirically verify through our senses is but one aspect of the whole. The invisible world, though not easily discernable to us human beings, is very real. This unity inherent in the cosmos is also affirmed by the African contention that all life is sacred. There is no rigid distinction between the sacred and the secular. Life is lived in the full gaze of the Creator and of 55 the numerous unseen spiritual beings.

Hence within Afro-Caribbean cosmologies the world of unseen spiritual beings i.e., the spirit world is profoundly intertwined with the physical/material world. Caribbean people in general, it is claimed, do not perceive these two worlds as separate from each other, but as frequently interacting with each other through dreams, visions, and the possession by spirits.56 Since this is an essential component of the cultures of Caribbean people, further elaboration becomes indispensable.

3.2.2. The spirit world and its biblical underpinnings

Until recently the discussion of the spirit world was largely ignored in the Caribbean Church. One of the first attempts where this issue was genuinely considered was made at a seminar organized by the Caribbean Conference of Churches in May 1994 at Lelydorp, a suburb situated about 50 kilometers east of the capital Paramaribo in Suriname. 57 The Moravian Theological Seminary and the Catechetical Centre of the diocese of Paramaribo co-hosted this seminar that lasted several days. Its primary objective was to foster interreligious dialogue among the various religions, and Caribbean ecumenism among the respective denominations and member churches of the C.C.C. This objective sprouted in light of the cultural and religious diversity which
54

See Anthony, ed., Theology in the Caribbean Today 2: The Spirit World, Proceedings, 1995 (Saint Lucia: Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, 1996), especially the illuminating contribution by Henry Charles, The Spirit World: Ethical Implications, in Ibid., 51-57. In this publication Charles, a Trinidadian priest and theologian vindicates a plurality of spirit worlds, which demands further specification when one addresses the spirit world singularly. Mulrain, African Cosmology, 47; also see the enlightening paper of Sjak-Shie, De geestenwereld, in Op zoek naar Christelijk geloven, id., 18-27; Niles, The Study of Popular Religions, 213. Ibid., 49. In 1993 the C.C.C. (Caribbean Conference of Churches) organized a similar seminar on Interreligious Relations and Development in the Caribbean in Georgetown, Guyana.

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hallmarks the Caribbean. At this occasion representatives from Christian churches, Hinduism, Islam, and African-Caribbean religions engaged in dialogue. The unique character of the seminar was reflected by the dialogue between representatives from African-Caribbean religions and Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. For the Caribbean this was a historical landmark since for the first time in the history of religions in the region, African-Caribbean religions were acknowledged as full fledge partners for a dialogue on the base of tolerance and mutual respect.58 During the proceedings of the Lelydorp-seminar it was felt that the spirit world was a common denominator for Caribbean people across religious affiliations. It was dealt with implicitly, but in less than one year later this subject received ample and explicit attention from the Catholic Conference on Theology in the Caribbean Today. At this conference which took place in January 1995 in Trinidad a group of Caribbean Catholic theologians made a bold attempt to get to the heart of what they called: one of the burning issues of Caribbean culture, the world of healing, dreams, locutions, visions, spells, possessions.59 The enumerative and phenomenological circumscription of the spirit world illustrates its complex reality which eludes unequivocal definition and grasp. What makes it more complicated is the multiplicity of its existence. Even in one particular religion or religious tradition several spirit worlds may exist simultaneously because they are construed by humans. Nevertheless, one can still hold that the spirit world comprises an invisible order where gods, angels, saints, demons, and spirits, both benevolent and malevolent, reside and are contingent on the human world. To this, one should add the presence of a sovereign, Almighty God who is the Creator of the universe and all it contains, of all that is seen and unseen, of what ever was, what is, and whatever will be. The spirit world exists because human beings exist. It derives its meaning and content from the beliefs and practices people uphold, and it is reflected in the worldviews of many people. This is seen, for example in the worldview of the some Surinamese maroons living as tribal people in the hinterland. In their worldview:
there is no watertight separation between the natural and the supernatural. Both presuppose and influence each other There exists in the divine and spiritual world a clear hierarchy. At the head of it stand God, the Creator and Sustainer Directly under the Creator God, Anana, there are a host of higher and lower gods (the winti), to whom the supervision of a larger or smaller part of reality is entrusted After the gods follow those lower spirits who can be considered primarily as intermediaries. The spirits of the deceased in any case can be counted within this last group. The gods and the spirits can manifest themselves directly or indirectly in the lives of humans: indirectly through dreams and directly through by taking possession of somebody. Such a manifestation, however, always points toward a disruption of harmony, either within society or in the relationship with the divine or spiritual world. The necessary rituals required by culture should then be
58 59

See Sankaralli, Statement from the Consultation on Popular Religiosity, in At the Crossroads, ed. Id., 203-12. Anthony, Editorial, in The Spirit World, ed. Id., 1.

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performed as to put to order the matter in question and to restore harmony. [There are] supernatural powers which humans can appropriate and can be used positively or negatively against 60 other humans.

One salient feature of the spirit world embedded within this worldview is the existence of a hierarchy of spirits headed by God the Almighty Creator of the universe. He is also the Creator of spirits who have the power to invade human existence. The above outlined worldview bears striking similarities with a biblical worldview as sketched out by Mulrain in the following way:
In Old Testament scripture, God is in control, with a number of spiritual beings angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim under His control. The physical and spirit worlds interact with each other. Prophets, for example, receive messages from God through dreams and visions. In the New Testament, there is the spiritual realm wherein evil spirits need constantly to be brought under 61 Christs control.

Apart from the similarities between these two worldviews (an inherent spirit world with a hierarchy of spirits; the interaction between the natural and the supernatural) there is also difference. It concerns a perspective of salvation through and in Christ that is lacking in the first. In addition there are several objections one can raise against the mechanisms of the spirit world as contained in the former worldview. These objections are related to ethical implications of how this spirit world or several understandings of it are construed. A first objection is that construed as such this spirit world negates or diminishes the personal freedom of the individual. In light of this, Charles aptly remarks:
If people can be controlled and / or invaded, then they are not free, and their actions cease to be human actions; they cannot be responsible for what they do. They are not agents or subjects but entities that are acted on / upon, instruments at the behest of the mercy of external powers.62

The second objection is related to the first. It concerns human activities that cause evil to anchor into the personal lives of others. There are no morally justifiable grounds for such acts that cause human suffering. The affliction of those who suffer is therefore out of all proportion to their guilt,63 as Charles maintains. A third objection is the manipulability in appropriating and employing supernatural powers either positively or negatively against fellow humans. Life and the world, Charles argues, the future, ones plans, can be affected by doing certain things, performing certain rites, saying certain
60

Zamuel, Johannes King, profeet en apostel van het Surinaamse bosland, MISSION 6 (Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 1994), 26. Mulrain, African Cosmology, 56. Charles, Ethical Implications, 55. Ibid.

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prayers.64 Such anti-social deeds are atrocities against humanness since they rob one from his or her human dignity. These objections justify a call for conversion through evangelization. Moreover, they underscore the importance and urgency of the AECs call for a new evangelization in the Caribbean, so that the various cultures can be purified and (re)oriented to Christs salvation. We will continue this line of argument in the following chapters. Antiguan-born theologian Arnold Frances addresses the spirit world from a biblical perspective and with specific reference to demon possession.65 He points out that biblical belief in the world(s) of the spirit(s) has gone through several evolution processes, thus displaying different characteristics. Some of these are endorsed by a particular biblical tradition, others rejected by another biblical tradition. The belief in angels as heralds of a sovereign God, for instance, finds biblical approval whereas the consultation of spirits of the dead is rejected.66 Moreover, a spirit world as reflected in the bible and uphold by the Israelites does not remain static, but changes with the course of time, thereby displaying heterogeneity. This is certainly the case regarding the forces of evil anchoring into human existence.67 Furthermore, according to the prevalent perception of the cosmos shared by the early Christians, the universe comprised of a close unity between the spiritual and the physical world. For a distinguish theologian as John Dominic Crossan, it was a world where divine conceptions were quite acceptable, where, in fact, divine and human, eternal and temporal, heaven, earth, and Hades were marvelously porous and open to one another.68 This perception of the universe was not strange to the ancient Greeks, especially where it concerned a miraculous conception by the divine and human conjunction, as Crossan argues with the case of Apollo and Atia. The overriding

64 65

Ibid. Arnold Francis, The Background and Significance of Demon Possession in the Bible, in The Spirit World, ed. Anthony, 32-50. Cf. Sjak-Shie, De geestenwereld, 21-23. Here Sjak-Shie uses the example from the story of Saul who wanted to consult the spirit of the de deceased Samuel by the woman at Endor, as it is narrated in the first book of Samuel (1 Sm. 28). This act of consulting the spirits of the dead, as framed in a particular representation of the spirit world was rejected by the prophet Isaiah (Is. 8, 16-23). On the other hand, however, the representation of the spirit world that allows the occurrence of angels and demons, as reflected in the story of Jacob at Bethel (Gn. 28), fitted into the scheme of the pertaining biblical tradition; the Greek Fathers of the Church held dissenting views concerning the exegesis and hermeneutics of 1 Sm. 28. However, they commonly accepted the existence of Hades, the (spirit) world of the dead. See therefore: C. Datema et al., eds., Goddelijke wezens uit de aarde. Griekse kerkvaders over de heks van Endor, Christelijke Bronnen 1, trans. and elucidated by M. F. G. Parmentier (Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1989). Francis, The Background and Significance of Demon Possession in the Bible, in The Spirit World, ed. Anthony, 3250. John D. Crossan, The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998), 29.

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conclusion therefore for Crossan is that the early Christians could never have argued that Jesus was uniquely singular because divine conception had happened to him alone in all the world.69 This worldview did not only concern the divine conception of Jesus. Crossan extends it to the post-resurrection period of Jesus and demonstrates that it was a shared worldview, reflected in both canonical and extra-canonical writings dating from the first two centuries A.D. For this, Crossan indexically reconstructed the canonical Gospel into a fourfold typology, thereby incorporating the extra-canonical writings that are related to the pre-resurrected and postresurrected Jesus.70 After a thorough examination of this fourfold typology of the gospels, Crossan gets to an important point. He asserts that both the Greek and the Judaeo-Christian worlds shared the belief in Jesus discourses with his disciples / apostles during both the pre-resurrection and post-resurrection period. Hence, there was no watertight separation between the natural and the spirit world back then either. For the biblical person, the cosmos was heterogeneous thereby showing what Mercea Eliade called ruptures and cracks71 through which the world of the divine (the spirit world) penetrated the human, material world. For Mulrain the biblical worldview with its underlying spirit world strikingly resembles the underlying African-Caribbean worldview from which the spirit world can be retrieved. According to that worldview
the invisible world is structured in such a way that it impinges upon the visible world. There are for example the nature spirits. Among them are earth spirits, who dwell in trees, forests, the seas, rivers, mountains, waterfalls. There are also sky spirits, who inhabit the heavenly places such as the moon, sun and stars. There is a special category referred to as human spirits, but popularly known as 72 ancestors

The just cited studies reveal that the spirit world is as old as mankind and remains to be persistent. It has survived biblical and Judaeo-Christian traditions. It has even withstood the vigor of the Enlightenment and any other form of rationalism, up to the present. Rather than discontinuation, there seems to be continuation in the belief in, and acceptance of a spirit world. Hence, the Church does not only endorse belief in the spirit world through her prayers. Moreover, it is often encoded in prayers, rituals and symbols. The following prayer, in which an underlying
69 70 71

Ibid., 28. Ibid., 31-36. Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion (New York: Harper and Row, 1961); also cf. Gn. 18:1-15. Mulrain, African Cosmology, 48-49. Despite the many religious resemblances between, at the one hand, Surinamese slaves and the Maroon people of Suriname and at the other, African-Caribbean religions elsewhere in the region, as mentioned by de Beet, De eerste Boni-oorlog, 1765-1778, BSB 9 ICAU (Utrecht: Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, 1984), the Surinamese Moravian theologian Hesdy Zamuel identifies a different order in the spirit world of the Maroon people of Suriname. There he distinguishes between gods and spirits. Among the first are: sky gods, water gods, earth gods and forest gods. According to Zamuel (Johannes King, profeet en apostel, 26) the ancestors are of a lower category. Hence they are considered to be spirits, rather than gods.

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spirit world is unfolded, is taken from the Preface of the Roman Catholic liturgy of the All Saints Mass (1 November).
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. Today we keep the festival of your holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother. Around your throne the saints, our brothers and sisters, sing your praise for ever. Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us in your Church gives us inspiration and strength, as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith, eager to meet them. With their great company and all the angels we praise your glory 73 as we cry out with one voice.

This prayer discloses some important features of the underlying spirit world. First, there is the belief in the existence of an all-powerful and ever-living God who is addressed as Father, thereby revealing a close and intimate relationship between the devotee and his God. In the underlying spirit world death does not sever human relations. These are transferred to the spiritual realm. The earthy brothers and sisters continue to perform their acts of praise in honor of the sovereign God. The dead have their abode in the spirit world and they are in communion with the living, which becomes manifest in the Church. Angels, who also abode in the spirit world, share in this communion as well. Through this communion the people gather inspiration and strength from the spirit world. Life on earth is perceived as a journey, a pilgrimage of faith, and the devotees destiny is to be reunited with his loved ones in the spirit world. Hence, we safely contend that the Church does not only endorses belief in the spirit world through her prayers, but also defends its occurrence in her teaching.74 To further our thoughts on the spirit world, we need to consider the implications attached to this concept. When construed as a univocal existential reality the cultural framework from which it is conceived of can lose its significance and relevance for another culture that abides by
73

The Roman Missal for Sundays and Holy Days, ed. concept, rev. 1989 (Newry, N. Ireland: C.B.C. Distributors, 1973), 62; also see the Katholieke gebedenboek, 403 vv. Those prayers provide ample evidence of a worldview that attests to the intervention of angles into human existence. See, for instance, Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 329-336, and nos. 954-958.

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totally different thought- and life patterns. This implies that the spirit world as an existential reality with universal claims does not exist de facto. We can rather construe a particular representation of a spirit world distinct from other representations.75 However, when employing the notion of the spirit world in a Caribbean context, we have in mind the world of unseen entities and forces, the so-called meta-empirical realities, operative in human existence and directly or indirectly affecting people either positively or negatively, through the acts of human beings. Because, irrespective of the differences in religious beliefs and cultural practices among both adepts of African-Caribbean religions and Afro-Caribbean Christians, there still seems to be a common stance toward the world of the spirits. This common stance points to what Frances de Freitas, a Trinidadian religious sister and anthropologist, asserts to be an underlying Caribbean religious world-view. For de Freitas Caribbean people refer to the spirit world in two ways:
a) as spiritual personalities (with gender and other individual characteristics) belonging to different orders with regard to power. These spirits or beings are understood to be good and/or bad and are named differently in various religious traditions. b) as an impersonalized force or power from which both spirits and humans draw. This is referred to as animatism in anthropological literature. This power can be acquired through knowledge or 76 science, ritual, spirit possession, charisms.

Furthermore, the spirit world becomes manifest in consultations of religious specialists who function as mediums between the spiritual and material world, the initiation ceremonies of these specialists, 77 rituals of death and dying, sacred dances, healing practices in, for instance,

75

Cf. Charles, Ethical Implications, 51-57. Here the author, a Trinidadian-born priest and theologian vindicates a plurality of spirit worlds, which demands further specification when one addresses the spirit world singularly. Charles identifies several applications of the spirit world, among which: (1) the sphere of operation and action of the Holy Spirit; (2) as the inter-personal, inter-communal world of relations with those who have gone before (for instance, ancestors, saints); (3) the world of angels and demons; (4) spirit world in Hinduism, Islam, and other world religions; (5) spirit world of the African-Caribbean religions in their various relationships with Christianity. Frances De Freitas, Response to African-Caribbean Approaches to the Spiritual, in The Spirit World, ed. Anthony, 27-31, 29. See, for example, Matheus Kairale ingewijd tot Carabische piyai te Galibi, De Ware Tijd, 7 September 2006, section A5. The author of the article in this Surinamese newspaper is unknown, but wrote on the basis of a report from Nardo Aloema. Author describes the initiation ceremony of the Native American piyai, Matheus Kairale, newly ordained priest of the Piyai religion, which occurred on 3 September 2006. It is noteworthy to remark that, as the first name suggests, this Native American pyai is a baptized Christian. Later Nardo Aloema did confirm to us that the piyai concerned is indeed a baptized Roman Catholic. The following excerpt from aforementioned article illustrates the involvement of the spirit world: During the apprenticeship of an aspirant piyai, learning to communicate with the spirit world is a must And most important is the search for good spirits and interesting them to serve the new piyai as assistants, the so-called Jakuwas

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candombl religion,78 etc. This wide application of the spirit world suggests that a considerable part of the Caribbean people is actually connected as a matter of course with this world.79 It impinges on their everyday life.80 Hence, commitment to institutionalized Christianity is not an adequate measuring stick to assess peoples disposition toward the spirit world. For many, active involvement with the spirit world often depends on the sociocultural or spiritual context of the moment, albeit a circumstance of bereavement or overwhelming gratitude. In an attempt to conceptualize the African-Caribbean spirit world, Jamaican sociologist Barry Chevannes makes a fourfold typology of ritualized attitudes from which one can infer this spirit world, namely: rituals of respect, rituals of empowerment, rituals of containment and rituals of communion. 81 These rituals, Chevannes claims, are part and parcel of everyday life in contemporary Jamaican society. They have their origins in African-Caribbean religions. Even though these religions no longer command the allegiance of the majority of the population, with the exception of Vodun in Haiti, the underlying belief in the spirit world and the concomitant worldview inherent in these religions is still widely distributed among people firmly committed to Christianity 82 Even for these committed Christians everyday life is imbued with a morebetween-heaven-and-earth. Caribbean people conceive of the world as two- or three dimensional: namely the material and social worlds, which we may consider as the physical world, and the spirit world.83 This entails some implications for the Caribbean Church in her mission to evangelize. In this noble mission the Church encounters the African-Caribbean religions that impact the life and faith of the Christian people. Given Vatican IIs acknowledgement of truth in other religious systems and traditions, what are the implications for the Caribbean Church to engage with the task of a new evangelization vis--vis these African-Caribbean religions? In the following section we will address this question. But due to the vastness of the matter we cannot but be incomplete in our discussion.

3.2.3. Caribbean churches and African-Caribbean religions

Caribbean theologians in general stipulate that in the history of Christianity, the Christian churches adopted a hostile attitude toward African-Caribbean religions. This putative attitude
78

See Robert A. Voeks, Sacred Leaves of Candombl: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil (Texas: University of Texas Press, 1997). Sjak-Shie, De geestenwereld, 18. Mulrain, African Cosmology, 59. Chevannes, African-Caribbean Approaches to the Spiritual, in The Spirit World, ed. Anthony, 3-26, 17. Ibid., 16 De Freitas, African-Caribbean Approaches, 28.

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resembled the Churchs attitude toward the indigenous religions in colonial Africa. 84 During slavery, and even long after its abolition, religious beliefs and religious ritual practices of the African slaves and their descendants were perceived in terms of superstition, heathenism, or paganism. These perceptions prevailed, even after various Caribbean nations gained their political independence during the mid-twentieth century. In fact, one author reports that until very recent research findings of a study on the Spiritual Baptists and Shango worshippers in Trinidad revealed that relations are not often free from strain and strife. He notes that a large number of Spiritual Baptists condemn Shango rituals as heathen worship. Shangoists, for their part, claim that Spiritual Baptists copy their ideas and try to steal their power.85 Some authors maintain that the suppression of the religiosity of the enslaved Africans, during the period of colonialism in the Caribbean, was inspired by fear from the side of the planters that their (i.e., the Africans) religious gatherings would incite rebellion.86 Other sources indicate that planters opposed government instructions which allowed missionaries to preach the Gospel to the enslaved Africans (for instance, in the French colonies). These planters argued that the safety of the Whites, fewer in number, surrounded by these people [the enslaved Africans] on their estates and at their mercy, demands that they be kept in the profoundest ignorance.87 The Dutch historian Alex van Stipriaan explains the planters opposition to the conversion of the African slaves in Suriname as part of a policy of segregation.88 Moreover, some planters legitimated their refusal to cooperate with missionaries by appealing to the prevailing idea that:
Heaven was made for no black people; all of them were of the devil; they just had to work and be of pleasure for their masters [the planters]. Because the Whites were children of God and the Negroes

84

See Paul H. Gundani, Views and Attitudes of Missionaries toward African Religion in Southern Africa during the Portuguese Era, Religion and Theology 11, nos. 3-4 (2004): 299-312. Stephen D. Glazier, Changes in the Spiritual Baptist Religion, 1976-1990, in African-Caribbean Religions, ed. Kremser, 107-44, 109. One cannot make general claims on this matter, due to the variety of missionary approaches to the conversion of enslaved Africans, and the diverse stances planters adopted toward missionary initiatives. The socio-historical circumstances on the different locations in the Caribbean were therefore extremely heterogeneous and far too complex. F. R. Augier and Shirley C. Gordon, eds., Sources of West Indian History (London: Longman Group Limited, 1962), 9394. For the English colonial territories see: Ibid., 98-99, as reflected in a letter written by the missionary John Smith from his prison cell to the London Missionary Society, dated 12 January 1824. However, this was no homogenized pattern of conduct, for on other estates missionaries were sometimes encouraged to give religious instruction to the slaves as long as it benefited the masters (see further down). On other estates planters remained indifferent to the conversion of their slaves. See therefore: Ibid., 95. Alex van Stipriaan, Surinaams contrast: roofbouw en overleven in een Carabische plantagekolonie 1750-1863, Caribbean Series 13 (Leiden: KITLV, 1993), 377.

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were all children of the devil, created to plant coffee and sugar for their masters [translation 89 added].

However, this policy was not univocal throughout slavery. Van Stipriaan concludes on the basis of a study of eighteenth and nineteenth century Surinamese plantation society that there was a paradigm shift in the containment and subjection of the African slaves,90 related to their conversion. He finds support for his thesis from an 1827 report of Commissioner-General Van den Bosch. During the eighteenth century the planters used physical violence to contain and subdue the slaves. This approach was replaced by, among others, a better religious education in the nineteenth century. It is difficult to disclose the nature of this education and to reveal in what way it was an improvement of a previous variant. However, some maintain that the objective of this religious education was to further pacify the slaves, rendering them to become docile. In 1821 it was not yet possible for slaves to have a Christian marriage in Suriname.91 But in 1827 the contrary was advocated, based on the argument that the Christianization of the slaves and the marital commitments would discourage slave rebellion and foster solid family life. The latter would strengthen the slaves family attachment to the plantation, thereby greatly diminishing the urge to flee, since it would have been much more difficult for an entire family to run away.92 The Moravian Brethrens seemed most suitable to Christianize the slaves, due to their spirituality of non violence, acquiescence and meekness.93

89

The protestant Rev. Joannes Kals noted this pronunciation by some eighteenth century planters, members his church, in his book Neerlands hooft- en wortel-sonde, het verzuym van de bekeringe der heydenen, aangewesen en ten toon gespreit door drie leerredens gedaan en gemeen gemaakt door drie der voornaamste kerk-voogden in Engeland (1756, p. 350). For this citation, see Lichtveld and Voorhoeve, eds., Spiegel der vaderlandse kooplieden, 146. These planters reacted against the Negro female slave Issabellas refusal to sleep with them, after which they scolded her by calling her a black beast (Black beast and black devil were common expressions of planters to denote the slaves), using the above citation jeeringly. Van Stipriaan, Surinaams contrast, 369-370. Hans Buddingh Geschiedenis van Suriname (Utrecht: Het Spectrum, 1995), 105. Ibid., 378. The author has taken his information from the Algemeen Rijks Archief, Den Haag (ARA): Collectie-Van den Bosch, 108. Up to the present Moravian spirituality in Suriname is hallmarked by submission, which is reflected in the popular saying in Sranan: Sakafasi musu de na krosi fu yu sil (Submission must be the cloth of your soul). Van Stipriaan cites from aforementioned archive source, what may have seemed to be the motivation behind entrusting the Christianization of the slaves to the Moravian Brethren: De leerstellingen der Moravische Broeders schijnen overigens, voor het algemeen belang, de meeste voordelen aan te bieden, omdat zij het gemoed stemmen tot eene geduldige lijdzaamheid en tevredenheid met de aanwezige bestemming en afkeer inboezemen om die gewelddadig te veranderen, (ibid. n. 20).

90 91 92

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The negative attitude some planters held toward African religiosity was emulated by the Church in the Caribbean in varying degree.94 Several authors point to the close ties that existed between the Church and the colonial government, not only in Latin America, but also in the Caribbean. In this line of argument the Haitian ex-priest / president claims:
From the beginning of Haitian History, the Catholic stood side by side with the colonists, who were in confrontation with the slaves. The church was involved in mainly in administering the sacraments; establishing social and health facilities; - engaging in education, building and operating schools, and training teachers.
95

Aristide continues his lamentation as follows:

For most of our [i.e., Haitian] history, there was a collaboration between the political power and religious authority. They embraced in grandiose official celebrations of the te Deum. Despite certain temporary distancing, this collaboration has not changed significantly over our history. Church and 96 state could be perceived as two institutional powers serving one governing class

And in 1975 the bishops of the AEC (Antilles Episcopal Conference) meeting in Guadeloupe acknowledged to past mistakes of the Church in the following way:
We want to confess in all frankness and humility, that the records of our Church ... have not always been as good as it should have been. In spite of the example of many dedicated priests and religious who have lived among the poor and fully shared in their hardships, too often the church we represent has seemed to be on the side of the wealthy and powerful. And, in order to maintain a position of privilege, it has sometimes closed its eyes to wrongs and injustices crying out for redress. In the colonial past the church sometimes acted as if it were a part of the establishment, condoning either openly or by its silence the existing order. And in the post-colonial era the Church in some places has not accepted the need for change with sufficient alacrity and good will. Our church has
94

Cf. Bekye, African Traditional Religion; Chidi Denis Isizoh, Dialogue with African Traditional Religion in SubSaharan Africa: The Changing Attitude of the Catholic Church; available from http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/ changing-attitude.htm; Internet; accessed 23 January 2008. Jean Bertrand Aristide, The Church in Haiti, 110. However, when we critically assess the impact of the education we may conclude that it did not serve the interest of the mass population. How else can the 85% illiteracy rate be explained? Of course the Catholic Church cannot solely be held accountable for this high illiteracy rate, since the State is also responsible for disseminating education for all. Nevertheless, according to Aristide education provided by the Catholic Church generated an elite and accommodated the interest of the ruling class since it was imperative that the status quo be maintained!; In the same line of thought Peter Espeut, Education and the Church: Elements of Inertia or Change, Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 56-67, 64, in analyzing of the Churchs role in the Jamaican education system concludes: the Catholic Church is exercising a preferential option to educate the elite, rather than a preferential option for the poor; Alan F. Kirton, Current Trends in Caribbean Theology and the Role of the Church, Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 98-107, 99-100, a Methodist minister who in the early 1990s was the director of the Caribbean Conference of Churches also commented on the close ties between Church and State in Caribbean church history; also see Hamid, A History of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad, 1868-1968. The Struggles of a Church in Colonial Captivity (San Fernando, Trinidad: St Andrews Theological College, 1980), 12; 234-35. Ibid.; Ibid, 111, Aristide furthermore claims: During the Jean-Claude Duvalier regime, the bishops had enjoyed the privilege of political protection, as to demonstrate the close ties between Church and State in Haiti.

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also been guilty on occasion of acts of racial discrimination and of perpetuating social and class 97 divisions (emphasis added).

Seventeen years later the bishops of the AEC reiterated their confession (i.e., the part that is italicized here above) in their Pastoral Letter on The Observance of the Quincentenary 14921992.98 Msgr. Patrick Anthony of Saint Lucia argues that the prevailing missionary approach on his island, during the days of colonialism and thereafter reflected an anti religious-cultural attitude toward the folk culture that was (and still is) predominantly African oriented. He summarizes this approach in the following words: baptize the pagans, exorcise their customs and where it concerned more sympathetic missionaries, an alternative was, if possible, to Christianize some of the customs.99 Anthony goes further as to sum up the entire radiation of the Church attack on Saint Lucian folk culture which resulted to the following:
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) wakes were banned 100 Solo, Debotte, and Piquant were forbidden Consulting an obeahman and specialization in herbal medicines discouraged Kele, and ancestral blood sacrifice of African origin, was driven underground and In 1860 Mgr. Ethelridge, then Apostolic Administrator of Port-of-Spain (with jurisdiction over Saint Lucia) excommunicated both the La Rose and the La Marguerite flower festival societies and forbade Roman Catholics from either joining or remaining in them. In 1958 Roderick Walcotts play The Banjo Man, based on the La Rose Flower festival and written for the Federal Festival of Arts was banned by the local Roman Catholic authorities.101

(vi)

According to Anthony, until the 1970s the anti religious-cultural attitude of the Church toward Saint Lucian folk culture did not change significantly, despite some individual deviant voices in favor of the local culture. To some extent the Churchs attitude toward African-Caribbean religions, particularly in the past, can be explained in terms of an inability to understand and appreciate indigenous beliefs and African oriented religious expressions in the Caribbean.102 The Church had a hard time to discover,

97 98

Antilles Episcopal Conference, Pastoral Letter Justice and Peace in a New Caribbean (Martinique: AEC, 1975), par. 13. Antilles Episcopal Conference, Pastoral Letter Evangelisation for a New Caribbean (Nassau, The Bahamas: AEC, 14 May 1992), par. 5. Anthony, A Case Study in Indigenization in Out of the Depths, ed. Idris Hamid (San Fernando, Trinidad: Idris Hamid, 1977), 185-213, 191. Solo and Debotte are traditional Saint Lucian dances of which the former involves a couple whereas the latter is performed as a circle dance involving more than just two persons. Anthony, Case Study in Indigenization, 191. See Hans Ucko, Syncretism: A Challenge to an Ecumenical Discussion on Gospel and Culture, in At the Crossroads, 30-45, 38.

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let alone to acknowledge, the existence of seeds of the Word among these indigenous religious expressions. However, one ought not to glorify the past, since not all of African Caribbean religious expressions bear witness of fraternal love. The Church, by its very nature has always had a justified reason to insist on conversion. In some cases this need was, and still is, even more compelling. We may underscore this conviction with the following brief example, taken from the Surinamese context. Within Maroon communities in the Surinamese hinterland, the puru blaka ritual (i.e., a socio-religious event at which local venerations and the end of a mourning period intersect)103 is commonly practiced. The term, which literally translated means removal of black (clothes), signifies the end of the mourning period. The ritual celebration often turns out to be a grand festive ceremony. But it also entails a tremendous financial burden for the relatives, for whom the local customs ordinate abstinence from labor during the entire mourning period which can last up to six months. Since they have no, or limited financial resources available, the puru blaka ceremony often causes the relatives to end up in dire poverty. Hence, there are serious ethical implications involved, and reasons for evangelization, since the effects of this ritual are not always consonant with the spirit of the Gospel. The example given above illustrates the necessity for the local Church to evangelize and to insist on conversion. She has a moral obligation to ensure and facilitate the growth of local Christian communities into authentic and mature forms of Christianity. How can one now perceive Christianity in the Caribbean after 500 years of evangelization? To what extent can one speak of a Caribbean Christianity? These questions constitute the underlying thought of the following section.

3.2.4. Caribbean Christianity

What is generally referred to as Caribbean Christianity is actually a rather intricate phenomenon from the vantage point of Caribbean ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. Therefore, we cannot make absolute claims about the nature of Caribbean Christianity, except for reflecting on some pertinent characteristics without assuming to be exhaustive. Therefore, Christianity in the Caribbean is far too complex, as Caribbean reality and society are by themselves. Hence, one immediate observation is that Caribbean Christianity is distinctively diverse as the countries and islands in the region are; it is rather miscellaneous. Moreover, one can find in one single location Christianity in diverse forms. Two distinct forms that we will reflect on are AfroCaribbean Christianity and Indo-Caribbean Christianity.

103

See Wielzen, Popular Religiosity as Internal Dynamic, 10. We shall elaborate on this ritual under chapter 3.3.3.

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Starting with the Afro-Caribbean Christian person makes it an imperative to consider his or her cosmology which generally has, to some extent, been informed by an African worldview, as we have pointed out above. Likewise, one can assert that Indo-Caribbean Christians have, to some extent, retained an Indian worldview in varying degrees. What these two worldviews have in common is the existence of a spirit world, or varieties thereof rather, that is rooted in the religiosity of their respective ancestors. Apart from these mythological worldviews there also seems to be another type involved that somehow coexists with the former. It is a worldview that seems, from its own inner logic, to deny the existence of a spirit world, or at least places it under severe scrutiny, thereby questioning its raison dtre. It concerns the so-called rationalistic, technocratic-scientific, secularized worldview with its one-dimensional perception of reality. Jason Gordon, a Trinidadian theologian, attests to this in the following way:
We, in the Caribbean, have two competing worlds. One with the heavy traffic between the material and the spiritual, and the other devoid of spirit. One is a monist materialist world view to use metaphysical categories that we have inherited from the Enlightenment. The other, a dualistic world inherited from the fusion of colonial religion and ancestral retentions.104

Although we have just mentioned that the so-called scientific worldview does not allow room for any spirit world, one can still argue whether it really does. Eliade has reminded us that even the a-religious person with his so-called rationalistic worldview still, in the essence of his being, profoundly adheres to a religious oriented line of conduct, though on an unconscious level, since he has simply forgotten at present. According to Eliade modern man, in his search for psychic health and integrity cannot escape coping with his own unconsciousness, where he encounters wandering ghosts and monsters. If Eliades perception is accurate, then one finds reason to accept the implicit existence of a hidden spirit world that underlines this scientific worldview. In his comments on how these two worldviews relate to each other, Sjak-Shie maintains that apparently Caribbean people are capable of retaining a self-understanding, and understanding of the world within these two diverging worldviews, without experiencing any internal conflict.105 They can tap from the mythological worldview and at the same time adhere to the determinants of the scientific worldview. For Afro-Caribbean Christianity there also seems to be a nexus between African cosmology and spirituality, and Caribbean Christianity, expressed in varying degrees. On the one hand, the Spiritual or Shouter Baptists of Trinidad, for instance, perceive themselves (both the leadership and the congregation) as a Christian Church radically rooted in African cosmology in its fundamental

104 105

See Jason Gordon, The Spirit-World: An Ethical Response, in The Spirit World, ed. Anthony, 58-67, 60. Sjak-Shie, De geestenwereld, 23-24.

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insight into spirit.106 On the other hand, the Evangelical churches, also known as Pentecostals, or Electronic churches, largely demonize African-Caribbean religiosity with its underlying African cosmology, and perceive it as the work of the devil.107 While persistently agitating against it, they spare no efforts into harnessing it, even though they paradoxically abide by an ethos that bears striking resemblances with it. Between these two extremes there exist a number of variations in which to varying degrees there is a certain disposition and adhesion to an African cosmology.108 Apart from an African-oriented Caribbean Christianity one also distinguishes what is labeled as Indo-Caribbean Christianity with the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad as its stronghold.109 There Canadian Presbyterian missionaries concentrated their evangelizing efforts among the East Indians,110 which accounts for the persistence of Hindu-Christian songs in their worship up till today.111 It also explains the various Hindi names given to Presbyterian churches in Trinidad such as, for example, the Susamachar (House of Glad Tidings) Presbyterian Church in San Fernando and the Aramalaya (Place of Rest) Presbyterian Church.112 It has been pointed out that one striking feature of this church in Trinidad is its comfortable relationship with both its Presbyterian and

106

Sankaralli, Editors Report: Ogun in the Heart of Christ A Dialogue at Lelydorp, in At the Crossroads, ed. Id., 214-24, 217; also see Springer, Orisa and the Spiritual Baptist, in Ibid., 99. See, for example, Adolphe Bakaman, De waarheid van de leugen: handboek voor leiders in de bevrijdingsbediening (Amsterdam: 2005). In an interview with a journalist the author claims: I have seen what winti means, I know of winti with its disastrous consequences and that is why I have written everything for ministers, fighters, workers in the deliverance ministry. It is for them to have tools to unmask every spirit that torments a person, quoted in Gedurfde publicatie: De waarheid van de leugen, De Ware Tijd, 2 December 2005, Tascha Aveloo. Cf. Anne Marijke Spijkerboer, De reactie van de stadscreolen op het christendom, OSO 5, no. 2 (1986): 129-35, discussing the relation between the African-Caribbean (or Afro-Surinamese) winti religion and Christianity in Suriname. In his doctoral dissertation, completed in 1980 entitled History of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad, Hamid points out that over ninety-five percent of the Presbyterians in Trinidad are East Indians. Moreover, Presbyterians make out 6% of the islands population. More recent sources (2002) however, indicate that Presbyterians make out 3.4% of the total population; available from http://www.reformiert-online.net/weltweit/136_eng.php; Internet; accessed 12 September 2006. Although Presbyterianism came to Trinidad in the early 19th century (the first church was established in 1836 in Port-of-Spain) missionary work among the East Indians only started in 1868 with the arrival of Canadian Presbyterian missionaries. For a detailed history of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad see Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad. Martin Sirju, An Attempt at Indo-Inculturation, in Theology in the Caribbean Today 1: Perspectives, eds. Patrick A. B. Anthony and Joseph E. Harris (Castries, Saint Lucia: Archdiocesan Pastoral Institute, 1995), 75-81, 78. According to Hamid, the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad initially made use of Hindi bhajans (songs of praise) and Indian musical instruments in their liturgy. These bhajans were the Christian hymns sung in Hindi to the original tunes (Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 2 and 177). Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 2.

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Hindu roots.113 Hamid, for instance, claims that the origin of the Prayer Meeting which is widely practiced in the Presbyterian Church actually lies in a Hindu religious form.114 However, the impact western Christianity has had on the religious attitudes and beliefs of converted East Indians in the Caribbean should not be underestimated.115 The Trinidadian publicist Ron Ramdin informs us that even those East Indians who did not convert to Christianity, but attended the Christian Naparima College a secondary school of the Canadian Mission in southern Trinidad found that their [Hindu and/or Muslim] faith had been shaken.116 For some who did convert to Christianity, the education system, especially the secondary education as provided by the western missionaries, reinforced the process of cultural alienation.117 Nevertheless, while overall, many Indo-Caribbean Christians gravitate more and more toward westernized patterns of lifestyle, paradoxically enough, culturally they seem reluctant to lose their identity as Hindus and Muslims.118 Ramdin illustrates this by pointing to, among others, their eating pattern which involves abstinence from pork119 or beef consumption. Moreover, the observance of the Hindu religious praxis of purba120 may serve as another example of how IndoCaribbean Christians have retained elements of their cultural tradition. A comparison between Afro-Caribbean Christianity and Indo-Caribbean Christianity reveals that both religious systems, though culturally different from each other display in varying degree attempts to retranslate the Christian faith in a way that befits the proper cultural fabric, leading to a Christianity with a distinct face. The aforementioned Spiritual or Shouter Baptist Church serves as an example for Afro-Caribbean Christianity. It has a proper liturgy of its own. Indo-Caribbean Christianity, also to some extent has witnessed attempts to have the faithful feel more at home in the prevalent form of worship. As a result, its face too has changed, becoming distinctively different from the form of worship Canadian missionaries introduced in Trinidad and Guyana. Both

113

Jeannie Choy Tate, Reflections on Trinidad: Towards a Rainbow Theology; available http://www.pcusa.org/oga/perspectives/dec02/dec-trinidad.htm; Internet; accessed 12 September 2006. Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 178. Cf. Ibid., 184.

from

114 115 116

Ron Ramdin, Arising From Bondage: A History of the Indo-Caribbean People (London, New York: I. B. Taurus Publishers, 2000), 240. Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 238. Ramdin, Arising From Bondage, 240-41; also see Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 202. We have been alerted to the fact that while pork abstinence is an element of Islam, nowadays it seems that it has become part of a certain Old Testament Biblicism across Christian denominations. Tate (Reflections on Trinidad) explains purba to be an occasion for prayer and celebration during major life events a new home, new job, etc. where friends and members of the congregation gather in a persons home for prayer, dedication and the sharing of a feast.

117 118 119

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cases have examples of a cultural appropriation of the Gospel message, leading to a proper form of worship which has grown organically from the original form(s). However, some authors still argue that the changes in worship did not go deep enough, but remained rather peripheral. Hamid, for instance, has been rather critical toward the introduction of the few adaptations that were allowed for the liturgy of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad. He questions whether these were mere strategies for evangelism, or really served for creating authentic indigenous forms of worship. He concludes that the [Presbyterian] Church was essentially a western organization that was only prepared to tolerate other cultural practices which were considered heathenistic and inferior. In the long run the Church ended with a dominant Canadian stamp.121 He considers this to be miles away from the indigenization ideal which for him means using indigenous experiences to shed light on the biblical faith and in turn allowing that faith to interpret and give meaning to the experiences [thereby involving] a dialectic relationship between Christ and culture.122 As a consequence, Hamid points out, indigenization came to mean Indianization, rather than Caribbeanization, of which the former actually, all too often meant reaching more Indians, Hindus and Muslims, rather than locating the faith in the Indian culture.123 Practically, according to Hamid, that means that a church can only be authentically indigenous when it wears its own garment woven from the collective experiences, native gifts, insights, wisdom, perception, culture and heritage of its people, environment and history.124 Nevertheless, on the subjective level Indo-Caribbean Christians seem to abide by a cosmology that bears striking resemblances with that of their Hindu and Muslim brothers and sisters. They generally share the belief in a spirit world in which unseen intermediary entities are part of daily life reality. On this subjective level Indo-Caribbean Christianity and Afro-Caribbean Christianity converge.125 Yet more systematic research into the subjective experiential level of Caribbean Christianity is required. That can help the churches in the Caribbean to discern the spiritual wealth of their own people more clearly. It can also help in identifying the areas of cultural life which are in dire need of evangelization. On a different note, in more recent times Caribbean theologians have pointed to the close historical ties between mission churches and colonizing powers in the Caribbean. They level their criticism against these churches for helping to maintain the status quo of the time, rather than
121 122 123

Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 178. Ibid., 177. Ibid., 203. It is, however, not clear whether other local Presbyterian theologians share Hamids views as reflected in his study. Ibid., 178. Sjak-Shie (De geestenwereld, 19) observes that a considerable part of Caribbean population accepts the reality of the sprit world as self-evident.

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identifying with the poor and dispossessed people of the Caribbean. With other social scientists they are now challenging the fairy-tale, romantic and triumphal view of mission church history.126 Even though these may be legitimate ways for reclaiming history, one still cannot ignore the fact that the history of Christianity in the Caribbean also has had its blessings. Examples of pioneering efforts from western missionaries to provide healthcare and proper education abound.127 However, we can understand and, to some extent, explain the diversity within Caribbean Christianity from a historical framework as formulated by Trinidadian-born Catholic theologian Gerald Boodoo who asserts:

126

See, for instance, the already cited CEHILA (Commission for the Study of Church History in Latin America) volume edited by Dussel, The Church in Latin America; for the underside of the history of the Presbyterian mission in Trinidad see Hamids earlier cited History of the Presbyterian Church. The above citation is taken from his Preface, page I; also see the brief but critical assessment from Devant Maharaj [i.e., an Executive of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha in Trinidad], Early Christian Attacks Against Trinidad Hindus: The Curse of John Morton in Trinidad, 1868-1912; available from http://www.hindunet.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=15,44&Number=1815&page=0&view=collapsed&sb =5%o=&fpart=1: Internet; accessed 12 September 2006. Futhermore, in an interview with an Afro-Surinamese Protestant minister on 13 September 2006, the concerned minister indignantly informed us about the discoveries he made concerning the atrocities against the African slaves, committed by his Church, when he studied its history. It motivated him to perform a ritual of reconciliation during the Sunday advent services of December 2005. See, Sjak-Shie, Some Notes On Spirituality, in Into the Deep, ed. Ramcharan, 106-10, 110. Moreover, one should also not underestimate the impact certain factions of the Church have had on the political organization and the political consciousness of the Caribbean people, notwithstanding certain conservative elements within the very same Church. Yet sufficient impulses from the more progressive factions of the Church lead to political liberation and reform. See, for instance, Trevor Munroe, The Impact of the Church on the Political Culture of the Caribbean: The Case of Jamaica, Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 83-97, 91-92; also cf. Chevannes Towards an AfroCaribbean Theology: Principles for the Indigenisation of Christianity in the Caribbean, Caribbean Quarterly 37, no. 1 (1991): 45-55,where he relates the historical liberating efforts by native Baptist pastors like Sam Sharpe who is associated with the Great Slave Rebellion of 1831 in Jamaica; for the case of Suriname we can just briefly mention here the significance of the Committee of Christian Churches (CCK) in Suriname when the political independence from The Netherlands was imminent in the mid-1970s and amidst the political turbulences during the period of militarism in the 1980s and wavering democracy of the 1990s. See, for this latter issues, Sjak-Shie, Als een nooit opgedroogde kreek, (Amos 5, 24), in 25 Jaar Kerken in Suriname. Verslag van een conferentie gehouden op 11 november 2000 in Kerkcentrum De Nieuwe Stad, Amsterdam Z.O. (Amsterdam: Werkgroep Suriname van de R. K. parochie De Graankorrel, 2000), 5-22. The sources Shak-Shie employed for his presentation consisted of though not exclusively a battery of reports, memoranda, Pastoral Letters, press releases, etcetera, issued by the CCK during the final three decades of the previous century; in addition we can also point out the significance of societal initiatives taken by the Dutch Redemptorist priest, Fr. Leonardus Weidmann, who germinated trade unionism in Suriname and founded the first Christian-democratic political party, the PSV (Progressieve Surinaamse Volkspartij) in 1946, notwithstanding the many harsh criticisms and opposition suffered from his fellow clergymen. Weidmann is also described as the pioneer of the Algemeen Kiesrecht (i.e., the general right to vote) in Suriname. However, so far little groundbreaking research has been conducted to elucidate the impact of the Churches, or certain factions within the churches rather, on the political history of Suriname; also cf. Hamid, History of the Presbyterian Church, 245. Hamid distinguishes between a colonizing stream and a liberating stream in the Presbyterian Church during colonialism and beyond in Trinidad.

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The theology of the Christian Churches in the Caribbean in terms of their historical reality has basically been a theology of oppression despite the good intentions and works of various Christian persons. However, it is through, and by means of this oppressive situation that the creative resistance of the peoples of the region found explicit expression. Indeed, the peoples of the Caribbean have not and do not always nor wholly accept the theology of instruction of the Churches in the region, in that they often picked and chose what was suited to their survival. At work here, was, and is, a creative selectivity both of the teaching and the opportunities provided by the Churches. In many cases this resulted in combinations of the religious teaching provided by the Churches with Asian and African traditional religious beliefs. So that even when the outward formal presentations of Western Christianity were used, another level of discourse and belief were really meant and given 128 expression.

It is this other level of discourse and belief that has profoundly given shape to several (indigenized) brands of Caribbean Christianity to varying degrees. It is a level of discourse and belief that operates on the base of an own inner logic. From this level the Gospel message was reinterpreted on the base of cosmological concepts foreign to the missionaries. The manner in which Caribbean Christians have been able to accept Christianity must largely be attributed to this reinterpretation. They did so and continue to do so on their own terms, thereby giving testimony to what the Surinamese sociologist Harold Jap-A-Joe aptly calls the hidden Gospel129 in the Caribbean. From the foregoing one can suggests that there are at least two dominant forms of Caribbean Christianity. One form was introduced to the region by western missionaries. It is this form that has become institutionalized in the various denominations throughout the Caribbean. We can even go further to state that this so-called institutionalized form, if keenly observed, has in fact evolved into a localized, or indigenized form of Christianity, since a Christianity without culture does not exist, but is always shaped by its surrounding context.130 In this line of arguing Eduardo Hoornaert, commenting on eighteenth century Christianity in the Brazilian context, contends:
The result of the long cohabitation between Europe and Africa on the sugar plantations, masters and servants, whites and blacks, free people and slaves, was a Christianity which was European but also had African features, which was certainly brown-skinned, very different from the model current in Europe, and alarming to the American, English, German and Dutch travelers who came to Brazil in 131 the nineteenth century

The other form, however, constitutes the undercurrent of the institutionalized form mainly operating on the subjective level within both the conscious and unconscious minds of the
128

Boodoo, On the Christian Presence in the Caribbean, in Theology in the Caribbean Today 1: Perspectives, Proceedings, 1994, eds. Anthony and Harris (Castries, Saint Lucia: Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, 1995), 65-74, 68. Harold Jap-A-Joe, The Hidden Gospel, in Into the Deep, ed. Ramcharan, 73-91. This position is hotly debated in the inculturation discourse. We will return to this in the second part of this study. Eduardo Hoonaert, The Church in Brazil, in The Church in Latin America, ed. Dussel, 185-200,191-92.

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Caribbean Christian people.132 Jap-A-Joe advocates the necessity of sociological research to unveil the hidden gospel which took shape in the Caribbean,133 as reflected in this undercurrent. We propose a multi-disciplinary approach rather, in which both theological research and research from the social sciences are employed to inculturate the hidden gospel into the liturgies and other forms of worship of the churches in the Caribbean. Some Caribbean theologians normally start from the premise that Caribbean Christianity can only be authentic if it reflects the cultures of the people in light of the Gospel. This implies that Caribbean Christianity ought to meet two basic requirements. (1) It should genuinely reflect the Gospel, offering the Caribbean people the perspective of true salvation in Christ. (2) It must be culturally meaningful to the Caribbean people in that it takes the peoples culture(s) seriously, affirming it where necessary, but also putting those elements under scrutiny that oppose or impede Christs message of salvation. For Chevannes, however, an authentic Caribbean Christianity require[s] two things of the Church: a liturgy which is culturally meaningful; and a theology which begins to reflect at least some of the spiritual values which are deeply embedded in our culture.134 This latter requirement renders a problem, related to the attached cultural concept. Caribbean reality, as already pointed out, reflects a multiplicity of cultures and religions, which makes it rather impossible to bring down all the cultural manifestations to one hybrid melting pot. The paramount question for cultural- and religious plural societies as in the Caribbean becomes: what should we understand by the expression our culture? Who exactly are meant by our? Mulrain expresses himself to a certain extent in more neutral terms when he speaks about a liturgy that is culturally meaningful to the Caribbean. He therefore asserts that it should imply:
an expression of Christianity wherein God, as revealed to us in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, is worshipped and adored and wherein some of the African cultural facets which are not in contradiction to the essential gospel message, have been employed to good effect in the communication of that same gospel.135

132

Cf. Sankaralli, Editors Report, 215. Here Sankaralli argues that Caribbean Christianity as a whole has been defined by western and African religious traditions dialectically, thus having been cross-fertilized by both streams of influence. Jap-A-Joe, The Hidden Gospel, 87. Chevannes, Towards an Afro-Caribbean Theology, 46. One can also question whether Christianity can be reduced to liturgy, even though that occupies, without doubt, a central axis for expressing Christian faith. Christianity is also reflected by a distinct spirituality that is inspired by the Gospel. Mulrain, African Cosmology, 56. Even this viewpoint has its own problematic. What exactly should be understood as the essential gospel message? In other words: which aspect(s) of the gospel message is (are) essential? Does this imply that there are other parts which are less essential? Who determines on what criteria which parts are more or less essential?

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The ensuing features of a Caribbean Christianity, according to Mulrain are derived from the following implications for the Caribbean Church when encountering African-Caribbean cultures and religions:
a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Accept the African world-view with its acknowledgement of a Supreme Being and the existence of lesser spiritual beings. Admit the possibility of continuous interaction between the physical and spiritual realms. Admit that the spirit world may communicate with the material world through dreams and visions, as well as spirit possession. Alert itself to the reality of evil and evil forces in the world and the need for protection against the same. Make use, in liturgy, of lively, rhythmic songs and dances. Acknowledge the priestly functions of both men and women. Acknowledge that their role includes caring for the spiritual and physical health of people.
136

When Christianity in the Caribbean is based on these features, the form it adopts is more appropriately rendered by the term Afro-Caribbean Christianity. A clear illustration of this is found in the isle of Saint Lucia where Christians make up about more than ninety percent (97.2) of the population, of which 86.7 percent are Catholics and 86.8 percent of the population ascribing to a black / African origin.137 On this island and in other parts of the Caribbean Christianity also finds expression through a spirituality that is underlined by a distinct Afro-Caribbean cosmology. Lambert St. Rose explains this as follow:
During the colonial era St. Lucians have identified many Europeans saints with their traditional African religious practice. It is not unusual to enter the Cathedral to find a St. Lucian thrown a headlong in dialogue with one of the saints. St. Lucians make monetary rewards to the saints for favors received, and candles in volumes are set burning before their altars everyday and particularly on Fridays. Even the person who hardly ever attends Church services on normal occasions has his or her private devotions to the saints. In the homes of most St. Lucians, it is customary to find an altar dedicated to a particular saint and on these altars one will always find a lighted bowl of vegetable oil. This light is kept burning night and day at the altar of that particular saint. Common among these saints are St. Michael, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and/or St. Rose of Lima, just to name a few. It can be said that St. Lucians developed a spirituality in relation with these saints because they identify in them certain powers they associated with the African deity. Thus, removing them overnight from the altars was like taking away their African heritage again.138

136 137

Ibid., 57.

Data available from http://www.catholiccaribbean.org/articles.asp?id=182; Internet accessed 16 February 2008; also see Lambert St. Rose, Traditions, Local Customs, Religion and Christianity, 47. The author bases himself on Saint Lucian government statistics. Lambert St. Rose, Traditions, Local Customs, Religion and Christianity, 55-56.

138

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Despite the majority of people from African descent who adhere to Christianity in the Caribbean, one cannot negate the existence of an important faction of Christians from East-Indian descent.139 From this latter perspective some speak of Indo-inculturation.140 And in Suriname there are even Christian enclaves with predominantly adherents from the Javanese section of the population. Moreover, the Moravian Church in Suriname still retains a compartmentalized missionary approach toward Chinese church members where it celebrates the liturgy in the HakkaChinese language. Apart from these minority voices which bear the same legitimacy as the majority voices, and have equal right of existence, one should be mindful of the fact that numbers are not criteria of truth and authenticity, nor is massive practice an indication of value.141

3.3.

Popular religiosity revisited: the case of Suriname

Suriname offers a clear example of the religious and ethnic diversity of the Caribbean. Its rich cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity renders it a unique position as vantage point for popular religiosity within the wider Caribbean context. Moreover, African slave imports in Suriname endured much longer in comparison to the English, Spanish and French Caribbean. As a consequence of this longer duration African oriented practices that helped shape AfricanCaribbean popular religiosity had sufficient time to get firmly rooted into social life.142 We will begin this section with briefly outlining the context of ethnic and religious plurality. Then we shall proceed with describing two distinct forms of popular religiosity which find expression in rituals of mourning and burial amongst the Afro-Surinamese and Creole population, and the Maroon population respectively.143 These are the practices of dede oso (wakes) 144 and the already mentioned puru blaka. We choose these two examples because they are well established and socially instituted in the Surinamese society. Of the former, it can be stated that the practice

139

A considerable part of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad, for example, consists of Christians from East-Indian descent. Already in 1898 this church began training East-Indian catechists in Trinidad who played a significant role in the evangelization of their fellow ethnic group members. Martin Sirju, An Attempt at Indo-Inculturation. Hoeben and Wijsen, We Are Not a Carbon Copy, 75. Van Stripiaan, Surinaams contrast, 338. With Afro-Surinamese we refer specifically to persons born in Suriname who have African ancestral roots. The term Creole, refers to persons who have ancestral roots in both Africa and other parts of the world, thus, including the so-called mix-races. We should add that the literal translation of dede oso is house of the dead person. It thus refers to a wake occurring at the deceased persons house, one night prior to his or her funeral or cremation. We should add that the literal translation of dede oso is house of the dead person. It thus refers to a wake occurring at the deceased persons house, one night prior to his or her funeral or cremation.

140 141 142 143

144

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also occurs among Surinamese living in The Netherlands.145 Its occurrence goes back to at least nineteenth century slavery in Suriname, where especially Moravian missionaries zealously tried to Christianize it.146 However, it has retained its stability which one can measure by its widespread occurrence among large sections of Surinamese people in Suriname and in The Netherlands.147 Just like the dede oso, the puru blaka too can be considered as firmly established in Maroon culture and society.

3.3.1. The socio-historical context of ethnic and religious plurality

The Surinamese population is heterogeneous. Inhabitants with roots in Africa, Asia and Europe comprise a large section of the population. The indigenous people form a minority group who still lives in tribal communities scattered in the interior. This also applies to descendants from the African slaves, the so-called Maroons. Religious diversity has been an integral part of the habitat of the Native American people of Suriname, long before colonialism and slavery commenced. And even before the inception of Christianity on the continent, the various Native American peoples had their own creation stories whereupon they based their religious systems. Christianity as an institutionalized form only became apparent in Suriname with the consecration of the first Christian Church which was dedicated as the St. Bridget Anglican Church on 23 July 1651.148 And in 1668, another variant of Christianity appeared on the scene, namely

145

See Marian Stellema, Dinaris: dood en rouwverwerking bij creoolse Surinamers in Nederland, OSO 17, no. 1 (1998): 29-39, 35-37. The Sranan word dinari literally means servant (in Dutch: dienaar) and refers to lay persons (men and women) who are members of a social organization that specializes in ritually preparing the dead body for the funeral or cremation. See ibid., 29-32. See Wim Hoogbergen, Rituelen voor de doden. Europees-Africaanse wortels, OSO 17, no. 1 (1998): 5-22, 15-16. See Henri J. M. Stephen, Dede oso. Dood en rouwverwerking bij Afro-Surinamers in Suriname en Nederland (Amsterdam: Henry Stephen, 2002). Vernooij, Kaart van christelijk Suriname, OSO 21 (2002): 26-34, 26. It is not the place here to give a detailed account of the history of Christianity in Suriname. For a thorough historical overview, however, see M. F. Abbenhuis, De Katholieke Kerk in Suriname (Paramaribo: E. Eykemans C.ss.R., 1956); A. Bossers, Beknopte geschiedenis der Katholieke Missie in Suriname (Gulpen: M. Alberts, 1884); Vernooij, Indianen en Kerken in Suriname: identiteit en autonomie in het binnenland (Paramaribo: Stichting Wetenschappelijke Informatie, 1989; Id., Bosnegers en Katholieke Kerk: van confrontatie naar dialoog, Paramaribo: Stichting Wetenschappelijke Informatie, 1996); Id., De Rooms-Katholieke gemeente in Suriname: handboek van de geschiedenis van de RoomsKatholieke kerk in Suriname, (Paramaribo: Leo Victor, 1998); Jan van der Linde, Het visioen van Hernhut en het Apostolaat der Moravische Broeders in Suriname 1735-1863 (Paramaribo: C. Kersten & Co., 1956); Jan van Raalte, Secularisatie en zending in Suriname: over het secularisatieproces in verband met het zendingswerk van de Evangelische Broedergemeente in Suriname (Wageningen: Veenman, 1973). These are just a selection of some standard works. The brief presentation of the history of Christianity in Suriname in this study cannot be but incomplete and far from exhaustive.

146 147

148

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Calvinism. At that time Christianity had no impact on the religious cosmology of the Native Americans. Christianization of the Native Americans and the African slaves began only after the Moravian Brothers came to Suriname as missionaries in 1735. Initially they had no significant success in their missionary efforts. However, among the newly arrived African slaves were those who had already converted to Catholicism and Islam in Africa.149 The unavoidable interaction between the African slaves in Suriname resulted in what Richard Price calls an inter-African syncretism with more or less European and Native American influence.150 In 1741, the Lutherans received permission from the colonial government to establish a church in Paramaribo.151 Contrary to the Moravian Brothers, the Lutherans never engaged in missionary activities among the Native Americans and African slaves. From 1817 onwards, the Roman Catholic Church established herself permanently in Suriname. Earlier attempts to establish a Catholic mission failed due to a lack of sufficient financial resources and premature deaths of the Dutch missionaries. However, only around 1840 thus, one century after the Moravian Brothers did the Roman Catholic Church manage to engage successfully in her missionary work among the African slaves. Until the end of the 19th century, the Dutch-Reformed Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Moravian Church largely determined the face of Christianity in Suriname. The latter two engaged in extensive missionary activities among the Native Americans and the African slaves and their descendants. According to the Jap-A-Joe, between 1833 and 1863 i.e., the year slavery was abolished in Suriname the African slaves and later ex-slaves massively accepted Christianity, especially the Moravian variant.152 This observation can be explained in part by the fact that after the abolition of slavery, the slaves were required to give proof of a Baptism certificate before they could register their names officially.153 This also explains the Creole face of Christianity in Suriname, which we will further refer to as AfroSurinamese Christianity. The arrival of the Asian indentured laborers and Chinese immigrants resulted in a further differentiation of the ethnic and religious plurality of Suriname. At the beginning of the twentieth
149

See John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992); also see Lampe, Het Christendom op Curaao en in Suriname, OSO 21, no. 2 (2002): 1525, 19; M. Ho Suie Sang and W. Hoogbergen, Afro-Surinaamse moslims, OSO 21, no. 1 (2002): 119-34, 119. Price, The Guiana Maroons, 21. Lampe, Het Christendom, 17. Harold Jap-A-Joe, Convergentie en divergentie: recente ontwikkelingen op het gebied van Afro-Amerikaanse religies in Suriname (Paper presented at the International Conference on the 140th commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Suriname on 1 July 1863), June 2003. Okke ten Hove, Creools-Surinaamse familienamen, OSO 15 (1996): 166-80, 168.

150 151 152

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century, 76 percent of the population confessed to the Christian faith. Hindus and Muslims made up for respectively 16.4 percent and 5.8 percent.154 Toward the end of the twentieth century (1980) the statistics reveal the following percentages concerning religious affiliation: Christians made up for 42.4 percent (Roman Catholics 23 and Moravians 16 percent respectively); Hindus, 26 percent; Muslims, 20 percent.155 The difference with the situation at the beginning of the twentieth century is the presence of the new (semi-)Christian denominations, such as the Jehovah Witnesses, Adventists, and other Evangelicals. From the second half of the twentieth century there has been an increased religious differentiation, which has occurred within Christianity (due to the arrival of the Pentecostal churches in the 1960s), and within Hinduism and Islam as well. A new and noteworthy development took place in 1955 with the arrival of the Bahai faith, which promotes the principle of retaining ones cultural and religious affiliation, even after embracing Bahai religious principles. Bahais claim to respect the dignity of all people and their religious traditions. This is demonstrated by the conviction that Bahai converts do not have to forsake their original religion. Some authors perceive this as an explanation for the smooth reception of the Bahai by the Surinamese population.156 By the end of the 1970s there has been a further proliferation of devotional and spiritual groups which originate from eastern religions. The Brahma Kumaris, Hare Krishna and Sai Baba movements have all drawn both Christians and people of other faiths into their religious system. Further research should uncover what draws Christians to resort to these religious groups. Another variant of this Bahaian-effect is found among several Evangelical churches, whose believers come mostly from the mainstream churches in Suriname. The difference between Bahaism and these Evangelical churches,157 however, is that the latter expect their converts to sever all ties with their former religious grouping.

154

These percentages are derived from table 1: Religious affiliation in Suriname in 1900 (Bron: Koloniaal Verslag 1901); also cf. Jap-A-Joe, Sjak-Shie, and Vernooij, The Quest for Respect: Religion and Emancipation in Twentieth-Century Suriname, in Twentieth-Century Suriname: Continuities and Discontinuities in a New World Society, eds. Rosemarijn Hoefte and Peter Meel (Leiden: KITLV, 2001), 198-219. Wim Hoogbergen and Hans Ramsoedh, Suriname, een religieuze mozaek, OSO 21 (2002): 5-14, 10 (Source: Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek Suriname, 1992). Henna Malmberg-Guicherit, Religie in ontwikkeling, in Sranan, Cultuur in Suriname, eds. Chandra van Binnendijk and Paul Faeber (Amsterdam: Koninklijke Instituut voor de Tropen, 1992), 142-51, 145. Evangelical churches should not be considered as an amalgam because of the many differences (both objectively and subjectively) that characterizes them in terms of organizational level and demographics.

155

156

157

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3.3.2. Dede oso rituals and practice

The Roman Catholic and the Moravian Church have long been considered as popular churches, because of their appeal to broad sections of the population, including the more economically disadvantaged people living in the remotest corners of the hinterland.158 These Christian churches were the first to start western-based education and medical healthcare among the indigenous people and descendants of the enslaved African. Despite the missionary zeal with which they preached the Gospel, to a certain degree the traditional religions still inform and structure the cosmology of their converts.159 The dede oso marks the first time people assemble at the house of the deceased, and it should be seen as a constitutive part of a longer sequence in the mourning period. It includes the ayti dey i.e., the second moment a socio-religious gathering at the home of the deceased occurs, eighth days after the funeral, or cremation and the siksi wiki. This latter occurs six weeks after the funeral, or cremation, and it marks the third time when people come together. Unlike the previous two moments this occasion has an entirely festive character, since it signals the end of the mourning period. Here, the living relatives of the deceased are at the center of attention.160 Of these three moments the dede oso is the most popular amongst the Afro-Surinamese and Creole people.161 The heart of the dede oso is formed by a liturgy.162 This liturgy ought not to be perceived in a strict sense, i.e., officially prescribed or approved by the Church authority. However, one may perceive it as a (popular, i.e., both in the sense of widespread and highly favored by the people) form of worship which occurs primarily through religious songs and prayers, of which the former predominate. It also includes the Lords Prayer, as we shall see shortly. Moreover, from the original understanding of the term leitourgia, meaning work of / for / by the people one may also argue that the term liturgy can be legitimized for the dede oso ritual. One could also see in it a

158

Historically these churches were the only two that made great efforts to convert the Native American people, the enslaved Africans and their descendants to Christianity. While they have become well established they may have been overtaken in their qualification as popular churches by flourishing groups of Evangelical churches. Since a few decades now these latter campaign rather actively in the hinterland, making significant inroads in villages formerly characterized by a strong Roman Catholic or Moravian signature. See Wielzen, Surinaamse volksreligiositeit als locus theologicus, in Libi nanga bribi, ed. Vernooij, 35-48, 40; Bisnauth, History of Religions, 165-93. See Stephen, Dede oso, 27. For the ayti dey ceremony see ibid, 24-26. It is possible that due to economic constraints people more and more have given up on the organization of the aity dey and the siksi wiki, thereby being forced to reserve their resources for the dede oso. This question falls outside the scope of this current study. However, it is an area that still requires to be researched. See Wielzen, Popular Religiosity as Internal Dynamic, 5-9.

159

160 161

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spontaneous attempt to harmonize aspects of the official Churchs liturgy (songs and prayers) with popular religiosity, i.e., a ritual which has its origin in Afro-Surinamese religiosity. Whatever the appropriate terminology for the dede oso, this ritual usually starts at around 8:00 p.m. and can go on up to 6:00 a.m. At the base of the dede oso are fundamental anthropological questions: We are in the midst of grief, what should we do about our grief? How do we cope with it? To whom should we turn in order to find help to get over our grief? The answers to these questions are by their nature theological answers with a popular religious content: we turn to God, for only He knows why we are experiencing this. This response is a common feature in the realm of popular religiosity. Where people do not have an adequate explanation for personal or communal suffering, they attribute the source for overcoming their suffering to an ultimate Power: God. The liturgy of the dede oso commences with prayer and bible reading.163 The singing of religious songs follows this up to around 10:00 p.m. Here, the songs serve the purpose of expressing grief over the deceased member and also to support the prayer for strength to endure grief.164 This first part of the liturgy ends with a prayer which is followed by a break during which some of the relatives serve food and drinks. The second part starts at around 11:00 p.m. following the same pattern as the first. However, here the songs have a more cheerful nature; the idea behind this is to accompany the soul of the departed into heaven with songs.165 A few minutes before midnight someone turns off the light and people sing t Is middernacht (It is midnight). The reason behind switching off the lights is to allow the kabra i.e., spirits of baptized ancestors to come and take the soul of the departed with them to Heaven, or kowru kondre (cold country) in Winti religions terminology. The song is gradually sung in softer tone and by the third verse the melody is hummed, whilst the leader of the dede oso, or someone else, engages in prayer for the deceased member and his or her relatives. The leader then concludes the prayer with the Lords Prayer (Our Father), after which the people gathered sing the final verses of the song. This second part of the liturgy ends with switching on the lights, with which the second break commences. This break can last up to around 1:30 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. Again, people nourish food and drinks.

163 164

Cf. Wim Hoogbergen, Rituelen voor de doden. Europees-Africaanse wortels, OSO 17, no. 1 (1998): 5-22, 20, n. 5. See Stephen, Dede oso, 69-109, which entirely contains songs for the dede oso practice, both in Sranan and Dutch. Some examples are: O pe mi sa go kibri (Oh, Where Shall I Take Refuge), p. 84, no. 25; Blijf mij nabij (Abide With Me), p. 91, no. 36; Rust in vrede (Rest In Peace), p. 94, no. 41. Examples here are: Rust in vrede (Rest in peace), Jesus da boen Masra (Jesus the good Lord), Na Hemel de na prijs (Heaven is the prize).

165

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After the second break, the liturgy exhibits an informal character. Here the deceased member receives specific attention by the recounting of anecdotes related to him/her or other deceased members. People also introduce jokes and riddles and narrate anansi tori tales about a cunning spider which often have a moral connotation. The deceased and other departed members enjoyed these tales. In this phase of the liturgy people also sing religious songs that the deceased favored during his / her life. The purpose of this phase is twofold: on the one hand it is to make grief a bit more bearable for the relatives; and on the other hand it is to honor the deceased. The activities here are part of a bigger ritual, which ultimately serve the purpose of helping the relatives to make a smooth transition in the mourning process. Depending on the remaining number of persons and their enthusiasm, this phase might go on until 6:00 a.m. It also depends on the day of the week: if the morning of the dede oso coincides with a working day people will be inclined to return to their homes earlier, since they need to rest before showing up for work. However, there is no clear demarcation for the closing time of the dede oso. Prior to the dede oso liturgy, someone puts aside some food and drinks for the deceased. Within the concepts of the Winti religion, the relatives must feed the departed for he or she remains a family member. Death does not sever the ties between the relatives and the departed. The people consider him or her as a guest of honor, and therefore, he or she must be the first to receive their food and drinks. At the end of the dede oso, a few relatives take away this food and bury it together with the drink somewhere in the yard. Unlike the official Roman Catholic liturgy, persons adhering to another religion than Christianity are free to participate fully in the dede oso liturgy. Another difference with the official Roman Catholic liturgy is the role of the person who presides. His or her role women are fully eligible to preside is limited to leading the songs. Therefore, he or she ought to possess a thorough knowledge of a wide variety of songs customary at the dede oso. This implies knowing the songs of both the Roman Catholic and the Protestant (Moravian Church) singing tradition. However, ministers from the Moravian Church presided over the dede oso liturgy from an earlier stage.166 Since its inception, the dede oso was inherent in the Winti religion. Even though the Christian churches condemned the latter as idolatry, the Moravian Church made a deliberate attempt to Christianize the dede oso by putting an end to the singing of Winti songs.167 In addition, they introduced Christian songs because the deceased, who were at the centre of the dede oso, were also Christians. On the contrary, the Roman Catholic Church had adopted a more hard-line position toward the dede oso. Until the first half of the twentieth century, the Catholic Church forbade her members to take part in the dede oso. Nevertheless, in recent years, the Catholic
166 167

See Hoogbergen, Rituelen voor de doden, 15-17. Ibid., 15.

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Church has adopted a milder stance, and one may even find a priest nowadays leading the first part of the dede oso.168 We can also look at the relation between the dede oso in its original setting (i.e., the AfroSurinamese Winti religion) and Christianity from a reverse angle. Jap-A-Joe does so when he claims that:
Christianity was not accepted in its European form. It was interpreted according to the worldview prevalent in the inter-African syncretism and became creolised. Christianity was enriched with AfroSurinamese spirituality, which deviated sometimes considerably from official Church doctrine and was therefore not acceptable to Church officials of either the Moravian or the Catholic Church, which meant that it had to go underground
169

This description of the dede oso has brought some findings to the fore. Although the Moravian Church has Christianized the dede oso, it still prevails on the base of concepts inherent in the Winti religion, for instance the concept of family, which consists of both the living and the dead; the idea of serving food to the departed. The meaning of these concepts depends on the perspective from which they are interpreted. Interpretation from the perspective of the Winti religion will yield another meaning than when they are interpreted from a Christian perspective. Whatever the case may be, it seems that for the participants, being Christians does not necessarily or significantly change their cosmology because it is largely informed by the Winti religion. Another observation one can make is that the Roman Catholic Church has changed its position toward the dede oso in the course of history. It went from blunt condemnation to minimal acceptance. Whatever positions the churches adopted, it seems they hardly had any significant impact on the beliefs, convictions and attitudes of the participants. Over the years it has become evident that the dede oso has remained deeply embedded in the popular culture of the AfroSurinamese and Creole people. In death announcements from both local newspapers and radio stations, one can still obtain the details (time, date and location) for the dede oso or the singi neti170 (night of songs / singing). The practice of dede oso is still widely spread. The Roman Catholic

168

Karel Steenbrink and Joop Vernooij, Poetry by Shrinivasi in Context: The Encounter of Popular and Official Hinduism and Christianity in Surinam (sic), Exchange 30, no. 2 (2001): 157-81, 160. Jap-A-Joe, Nationalism and Pentecostalism in Suriname: Two Sides of the Same Coin? (Unpublished paper, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, July 2001); Steenbrink and Vernooij, Poetry by Shrinivasi in Context, 158-60. Singi neti has come into existence when the possibility became available to keep the body of a deceased for a longer period above the ground, before the actual burial date. When burial is not imminent, people still find it necessary to come together with the relatives and spent the night with predominantly singing Christian songs. This happens any night between the death and burial of the deceased, except for the night before the funeral, since only on that night dede oso take place. Unlike the latter, the singi neti does not go on until the following morning, but only lasts a few hours. In recent years this practice has been adopted by other protestant churches, such like the Reformed Church (Hervormde Gemeente) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Suriname, apparently incited by either a process of personal indigenization (the incremental appointment of local ministers in the 1990s) or by

169

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Church has refrained from taking an official stance against the dede oso in recent years. However, it is not unthinkable that this is a pastoral strategy aimed at encouraging a form of popular or spontaneous inculturation. On the other hand, it could also be a sign of prudence on the part of the local Church not to intervene, before a careful study has been conducted into its essentials. Whatever it may be, the motives behind the current stance of the local Church are not explicated in documentation known to us. Nevertheless, it will require a pastoral approach to find avenues through which this popular religious practice can further enrich the sacramental life of the Church. This will necessarily entail a process of catharsis, of purifying the ritual from elements which cannot be harmonized with the truth of the Gospel. A thorough study hereof may reveal in which way it can enrich the local Church, and the level of catechesis and evangelization required to orient this ritual to Christ redemptive love for all. The objective of a pastoral approach toward the dede oso ritual, we think, is to chart ways of imbuing it with new Christian meaning, and discovering its theological significance, or its underlying theology.

3.3.3. The puru blaka ritual

The puru blaka ritually marks the end of the mourning period in Maroon community life. There are no sources known to us from which we can establish the exact origin of this ritual. However, it apparently came into being from a process of syncretism between Maroons from different ethnic backgrounds, who took refuge in the Surinamese hinterland during the period of slavery, where they settled and formed communities.171 Nevertheless, this ritual ceremony still prevails in Maroon Christian villages. The term does not merely suggest the removal of the black clothes; it also indicates a deeper reality in which persons who mourn over a deceased, end the observation of all regulations as prescribed by the local culture. Local veneration of dead persons is part of the religious cosmology of the Maroons. These venerations take place at the puru blaka ceremony. It begins with libations for God, followed by the ancestors and other deceased members of the community. The people believe that these deceased members live with God. Not everyone who dies, though, is entitled to veneration. The person in question must have met the following local criteria, which the community uses: he or she must have abided by the moral and ethical code of the community; he or she must have lived an

an official concern to contain and control this practice in order for it to remain within the limits of ecclesial doctrine.
171

The ritual occurs in various Maroon villages, and it cannot be established with certainty how it developed and spread throughout these various villages. However, examining its origin is beyond the scope of this current study.

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exemplary life; and he or she must have engaged him- or herself in promoting community life. Only such a person can become an intercessor for the community. The puru blaka has a highly festive character as the people celebrate the entry of the deceased into Gado kondre (Gods kingdom). From there he or she can intercede on their behalf because they believe that by being closer to God, his or her prayers are more effective. Besides, since he or she was a living member of the community, he or she knows the struggles that affect that community. That puts him or her in an even better position to intercede on behalf of the community. Because of this new status, the community finds it fit to venerate a deceased member of the community which during life was considered respectable. As a unique local practice, the puru blaka gives Christianity in the Maroon communities a local character. The ceremony begins around 8:00 p.m. and lasts till 6:00 a.m. the following morning. The first part (the first two hours) is directly church related. It comprises mainly of praying and singing of religious songs. Thereafter, the ceremony assumes a more informal character. Overall, it has approximately the same feature as a wake, but differs from it in the sense that it forms a watershed to end the mourning period. At the end the family of the deceased goes to the river for a ritual bath. By cleansing themselves and the black clothes they wore thus far, they ritually wash off the mourning after which they take part in a common meal. This is to strengthen and confirm the common bond. From then on, the relatives of the deceased are entitled to take part in all the community activities by fully engaging themselves again. Traditionally, the relatives would set aside some food for the deceased person. This was interpreted as feeding the spirit of the deceased. There are indications of the persistency of this practice, despite efforts from the Church to put an end to it.172 One clear example of attempts from the side of the responsible clergy is seen in the publication of a brochure entitled: Nyun fasi fu beri nanga hori row. [A new way for funerals and mourning (translation added)].173 One of the most radical steps was the proposal from the clergy to shorten the mourning period from six months to six weeks. This proposal was guided by pastoral motives indicating a concern for the relatives who would have to suffer a loss of income, due to the locally prescribed abstinence from work during the entire mourning period.

172

Pastors to whose care the ministry in the interior regions have been entrusted have unceasingly made efforts to stop the practice of setting aside food for the deceased. They argue, rightfully in fact, that as soon as the person dies, and is taken up to Heaven, his or her material needs also becomes extinct. We have been informed by one pastor that despite of all the catechesis in this regard, people still employ ways to covertly heed to this practice. One can conclude that Christian catechesis and traditional customs are two distinct levels of discourse that abide by their own conventions and inner logic. See Wielzen, Surinaamse volksreligiositeit, 44-47.

173

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Both these examples illustrate the rather powerful impact popular religiosity has on the Christian people of the Caribbean in general, and those of Suriname in particular. This impact may very well vary in degree from one region or sociocultural context to another. Hence a particular formulated pastoral strategy should be context specific, addressing the need of the people concerned, and issues affecting their proper local context.

3.4.

Partial conclusion

In the Caribbean theological discourse one distinguishes three major to some extent interrelated themes. The first theme regards a concern for decolonizing theology.174 It is postulated that European missionaries who came to the Caribbean preached the Gospel to the Caribbean people wrapped in a European cultural package. The missionaries engagement with spreading the Gospel among the Caribbean people contributed to processes of acculturation whereby mostly western European cultural patterns became dominant features in local forms of worship at the institutionalized level. As a consequence African-Caribbean religiosity was driven underground.175 The western cultural patterns, some argue, are still noticeable in liturgical songs, style of worship, vestments, musical instruments, morals, etc, of the mainstream Christian churches in the Caribbean.176 In this line of argument Chevannes claims that the traditional Churches are essentially missionary, which is to say essentially European, in doctrine and worship, and, as such, have failed to indigenise themselves.177 Mulrain puts it more bluntly in this way: The result of imposing several restrictions on African cosmological facets was the creation of Caribbean Christian men, women and children in the image and likeness of Europeans.178 In response, some Caribbean theologians insist on decolonizing theology, as to redress western cultural imperialism. This implies that the Church needs to disassociate itself from what is perceived as colonial theology. The second emphasis in the writings of Caribbean theologians concerns the issue of emancipation. Some speak of an emancipatory theology for the Caribbean that recognizes the

174

See Romney M. Moseley, Decolonizing Theology in the Caribbean: Prospects for Hermeneutical Reconstruction, in Constructive Christian Theology in the Worldwide Church, ed. William R. Barr (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997); also see Erskine, Decolonizing theology; and Lampe, Een geschiedenis van Caribische theologie, 72. Anthony, Case Study in Indigenization, 191. Cf. Mintz, The Caribbean, 18. Chevannes, Towards an Afro-Caribbean Theology, 46; also see Idris Hamid, In Search of New Perspectives (Bridgetown, Barbados: CADEC, 1971); Terry Julien, Christian Mission, Cultural Traditions and Environment, in Out of the Depths, ed. Hamid , 9-27. Mulrain, African Cosmology, 55-56.

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African heritage and the effects of plantation slavery.179 These authors call for a reappraisal of African-Caribbean religious values. A third concern, which grew out of the previous, though to a lesser degree, regarded the reflection on an underlying African cosmology inherent in the religious expressions of AfroCaribbean Christians. Theologians who reflected on the theological significance of AfricanCaribbean religions discovered a cosmological bond between the religiosity of Afro-Caribbean Christians and African-Caribbean religions. These trends in Caribbean theology correspond with the upsurge of third world theologies which at the same time reflect the end of a Eurocentric Christian era.180 Gerald Boodoo also identifies three approaches somehow different from the above sketched which Caribbean theologians employ(ed) as the basis for theological reflection in the Caribbean. The first approach departs from cultural and literary sources as well as analyses of racial and social stratification as a way of understanding the complex cultural patterns of the region. This approach, Boodoo contends is the most dominant position and has been most clearly evidenced in liturgical practices that have been adapted to use the wide range of local expressions available in the region.181 A second approach concerns the struggle for justice in its social, political, and economic forms as central to the Christian message. The implication of such an approach is that theology becomes imbued with a more prophetic role and uses social scientific theory as a basis for understanding existing human relationships.182 The third approach, Boodoo goes on to point out, uses historical method as the basis for theological reflection. Rather than viewing the historical importance of the Caribbean as a theater of personalities or absentee landlords, the region is understood as a geographic space that is shaped by its material relations. By examining the historical condition of the region at length the inter-relating and overlapping cycles of human agency, culture, and economics183 which thence come to the fore, become data for theological reflection. All these approaches contain both

179

Davis, Emancipation Still Comin is very illustrative hereof, particularly his fourth chapter The African Soul in Caribbean Religion, pp. 50-67; also see Hyacinth I. Boothe, A Theological Journey for an Emancipatory Theology, Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 1 (1996): 15-21; Ernle Gordon, Emancipatory Theology (A Theological Journey), Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 1 (1996): 22-37. See Johan Baptist Metz, Standing at the End of the Eurocentric Era of Christianity: A Catholic View, in Doing Theology in a Divided World, eds. Virginia Fabella and Sergio Torres (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985), 85-92. Boodoo, Catholic Theology in the Caribbean Today: Tenth Anniversary Pre-Conference Publication Church in the Caribbean Today (Trinidad: Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, 2002), 3. Ibid. Ibid.

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weaknesses (i.e., prone to various kinds of reductionism) and strengths (i.e., their interdisciplinary character which renders the local context intelligible). However, throughout the history of the New World slavery and thereafter, the churches in the Caribbean have not displayed a common stance or attitude toward slavery and AfricanCaribbean religiosity. There existed a variety of approaches ranging from strong opposition toward African-Caribbean religious expressions to acceptance, or at least toleration of these expressions. The Spiritual Baptists of Trinidad are an example of the latter position.184 Between and beyond these two positions there exists a wide variety of positions. Sometimes one particular church reflected diverging positions toward the same matter. Therefore, to pin down the mainstream churches, or their representative missionaries as collaborators of the colonial regimes or as supporters of the ruling classes with contempt for the religiosity of the lower classes is simply not accurate. Given the rich diversity of contexts, each region, each church, and each situation should be considered as a case on its own.185

184

See Glazier, Changes in the Spiritual Baptist Religion, 1976-1990, 109. Glazier illustrates the position of Spiritual Baptists by pointing out that while Baptists perceive themselves as Christians, they also believe in the power of Shango deities even though they do not feel that African gods should be venerated. Cf. Boodoo (Catholic Theology, 2) who maintains a different view with regard to contemporary Caribbean theology and the Church in the Caribbean, and thus points out: It would be difficult to separate theology in the Caribbean between Roman Catholic and Presbyterian, Anglican or other denominational boundaries. This is so because of our common contexts and heritage as well as our close proximity geographically and intellectually. This observation underscores the complexity of the Caribbean Church and society, and a theological appraisal of the region.

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CHAPTER 4. INCULTURATION IN THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSES AND MAGISTERIAL TEACHINGS

In the second and third chapters we focused on popular religiosity in Latin American and the Caribbean. In our discussion of this theme we employed a two-angled approach. Firstly, we looked at popular religiosity as the religiosity of the masses, and, secondly, we focused on AfricanCaribbean religions and religious systems, and their bearing on the Christian faithful in terms of their ritual and symbolic expressions. We have situated the discussion of our theme in a postmodern context. In this chapter, we shall shift our focus to the theme of inculturation as it unfolds in theological discourses on the relation between (Christian) faith and culture. Since inculturation, as the term already suggests, cannot be perceived in isolation from culture, it becomes important to elaborate on this latter term. We shall, therefore, examine various understandings of culture taken from the social and human sciences, where this concept originates, by discussing the views of, among others, Clifford Geertz (1926-2006),1 an American anthropologist who is generally accepted by the academia as a leading modern (i.e., twentieth century) cultural theorist. Furthermore, since the concept of culture underlies the notion of inculturation, we will also need to look at how theologians employ its meaning in their discourse on inculturation. Two theologians who have done groundbreaking work in this regard are Arij Roest Crollius,2 a former professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and Aylward Shorter,3 a White Father from Great Britain. The latter is a theologian with a strong anthropological background, who has also conducted extensive research among various peoples and cultures in Africa. In addition, we shall also look at the Churchs understanding of the term, as used by Vatican II and in post-Vatican II documents. We will draw on Vatican IIs appreciation of culture from its Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, since that is the only Vatican II document that has devoted an entire chapter to

See Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (New York: Basic Books, 1975). This book is a collection of essays he wrote on the basis of extensive ethnographic research in Southeast Asia and North Africa. Geertz has earned much credit for his theory of thick description in analyzing cultures. He died on 30 October 2006. See Arij Roest Crollius, Inculturation and the Meaning of Culture, in Gregorianum, vol. 61 (1980): 253-73. Roest Crollius has been an important contributor to the series on Inculturation: Working Papers on Living Faith and Culture during the 1980s and 1990s. He has been the editor of several volumes for this series. See Shorter, African Culture and the Christian Church: An Introduction to Social and Pastoral Anthropology (London: Chapman, 1973); Id., Evangelization and Culture (London: Chapman, 1994); and his already cited Theology of Inculturation.

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culture.4 It emphasizes the importance of culture for human development by asserting that only through culture human beings can attain their authentic and full humanity (GS 53). Post-Vatican II documents, such as the documents of Puebla and Santo Domingo, also echo this insight. Our aim in this chapter is to examine how the Gospel and culture relate to each other. For the framework not to collapse, these two pillars must be joined and held together. We identify this uninterrupted and continuous process as an essential feature of inculturation. The relation between the other two pillars, popular religiosity and the liturgy will be examined in the fifth chapter. We will then advance that all four pillars are necessary for the framework, and that they need to remain firmly grounded on their foundation (i.e., the Incarnation) in order to uphold this framework. That also implies that these pillars are held together by a theology rooted in the Churchs tradition5 and in Sacred Scripture. In that light Dei Verbum, no. 24 holds:
Sacred theology rests on the written word of God, together with sacred tradition, as its primary and perpetual foundation. By scrutinizing in the light of faith all truth stored up in the mystery of Christ, 6 theology is most powerfully strengthened and constantly rejuvenated by that word.

That is why the theology that we wish to construct for liturgical inculturation, even though it is contemporary, must necessarily pass the test of tradition and Sacred Scripture. They both presuppose one another; thus, as Jozef Cardinal Ratzinger currently, Pope Benedict XVI comments: Scripture ultimately always only exists una cum traditione which formulation also expresses the fact that not only is Scripture related to tradition, but also that tradition, in its turn, is based upon Scripture.7 For that reason, we shall also examine the concept of inculturation in light of the Bible and the Churchs tradition, as reflected by her missionary history. That requires of us that we pay close attention to its biblical and historical antecedents. We shall do this in two steps. Firstly, we shall look at how the biblical data from both the Old Testament and the New Testament give examples of the relation between (biblical) faith (or the Gospel) and culture. Secondly, we shall examine how the relation between the Gospel and culture has been perceived throughout the history of the Churchs missionary endeavor to non-Christian peoples and cultures.
4

See Pastoral Constitution On the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, chapter II Proper Development of Culture, nos. 53-62. See Loretta Harriman, Foundations for Theology: Establishing Perspectives for Understanding the Nature of Theology, East Asian Pastoral Review 36, no. 4 (1999): 402-23, 405 who declares: Tradition in the theological context means handing over or handing on to others what our ancestors have said about God and all things in the light of this God. For us, our ancestors in faith are those who belonged to the Jewish and Christian religions, or who believed and lived the Judeo-Christian understanding of God. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, no. 24. Henceforth abbreviated as DV. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Chapter VI, Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church, in Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, vol. 3, trans. William Glen-Doepel et al., ed. Herbert Vorgrimler [Org. ed. Das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil, Dokumente und Kommentare Part II, (Freiburg: Herder, 1967), 405-701] (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989), 262-72, 268.

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This biblical and historical examination is important because we believe that it will yield loci for inculturation, which one may, in turn, perceive as the bricks for erecting the theological wall that holds the four pillars together. In this endeavor, we shall frequently employ the works of Shorter (Theology of Inculturation) and Chupungco.8 In addition, we shall examine the manner in which inculturation is envisaged in theological discourses and in magisterial teaching. For the latter, we will focus on Vatican II and post-Vatican II documents. Vatican II documents are especially important because the council constitutes the highest authoritative body for developing and pronouncing the Churchs teaching. Moreover, this examination of biblical, historical, and magisterial (Church documents) data is important because it also provides us with the hermeneutical key for understanding inculturation. The relative newness of the term inculturation itself requires close attention. Therefore, we will examine its meaning by also looking at related terms which have been employed to render the relation between the Gospel and culture intelligible. One of our main sources in this endeavor is Chupungco, who has written extensively about this in connection with the liturgy. However, one notices an evolution of shifting emphases in his works, beginning with the term indigenization, touching upon adaptation, and finally focusing on inculturation.9 The main thrust in this chapter, and in the remaining part of this study, will be that inculturation is essentially a process of conversion, of radically (re)orienting people and cultures to divine salvation offered by God in and through Christ. Inculturation, therefore, needs evangelization, and vice versa, to bring about a new creation. In other words, there exists a dialectic relation between inculturation and evangelization.10 This chapter seeks to expound this relation by focusing on the missionary activity of the Church in the past and the present. Given that the mission of the Church is grounded on the mission of the Word and the Spirit, seen primarily in the Incarnation, an important portion of this chapter will deal with the Churchs understanding of the Incarnation. Furtermore, we will advance the suggestion that the Incarnation is the prime theological basis for inculturation. In fact, as has already been stated, the main objective of this study is to
8 9

Chupungco, Cultural Adaptation of the Liturgy (New York: Paulist Press, 1982), among others. See Chupungco, A Filipino Attempt at Liturgical Indigenization, Ephemerides Liturgicae 91 (1977): 370-76; Id., Adaptation of the Liturgy to the Culture and Traditions of the Peoples, Notitiae 20 (1984): 820-34; and Id., Remarks on the Roman Liturgy and Inculturation, Ecclesia Orans 11, no. 3 (1994): 269- 77. As a former professor of the Pontifical Gregorian University Chupungco has given numerous lectures and seminars on liturgy and inculturation, both at his university and many other places in the world. After his retirement as a university lecturer he also visited the Caribbean where he conducted a seminar in Trinidad See Michael Paul Gallagher, Inculturation: Some Theological Perspectives, International Review of Mission 85, no. 337 (April 1996): 173-80, 174, who holds that when this term was introduced into Roman Catholic theological discourse, it was to pinpoint an aspect of the mission of communicating Christian faith. In other words, inculturation in Christian usage is essentially connected with evangelization. (p. 174).

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construct a theological framework for liturgical inculturation that is based on the Incarnation. Four pillars scaffold this framework, the two back ones being popular religiosity and culture, and the front ones, the Gospel and the Roman liturgy.

4.1.

Mission and its cultural milieu

From the very beginnings of Christianity the concept of mission has been a subject of reflection and discussion. In a missiological context, the Christian churches have often pondered how to translate Christs message of salvation into the cultural categories of the peoples to whom the Gospel had been, was being or would be proclaimed. The need for such a reflection arose from the insight that people who (had) converted to Christianity could effectively embrace the new faith only after they had managed to perceive it as meaningful to their life.11 In this regard, several questions were asked.12 For instance, what would acceptance of Christs message of salvation imply for the cultures of the converts? Which strategies would the Church employ to relate Christianity to non-Christian people with their various cultures? How would these cultures impact Christianity, and vice versa? These questions are as old as Christianity itself and they even determined her history.13 Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), the late American Lutheran theologian from the Evangelical tradition, discussed in Christ and Culture14 many of the issues concerning the relationship between christology, soteriology, missiology and culture, the so-called many-sided debate about Christianity and civilization15 that was prevalent and much debated in the 1950s. His book must therefore be seen as a contribution to that discussion. In this work, Niebuhr developed a fivefold typology that characterizes this relation with five distinct theses: (1) Christ against culture; (2) Christ of culture; (3) Christ above culture; (4) Christ and culture in paradox; and (5) Christ transformer of culture. Niebuhr emphatically positioned himself after the fifth thesis, which,
11 12

Cf. Gaudium et Spes no. 44. See, for instance, Helen, Early Christian Literature: Christ and Culture in the Second and Third Centuries; the Apologies, Apocryphal Acts and Martyr Acts, Routhledge early church monographs (London: Routhledge, 2005). See Pietro Rossano, Voorwoord, in Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 9-14,10. Richard H. Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, Harper torchbooks; The Cloister library 3 (New York: Harper and Row, 1956); also see Takaaki Haraguchi, Reflections on H. Richard Niebuhrs Theoretical Model Concerning the Relationship between Christianity and Culture: Its Applicability to the Japanese Context, Asia Journal of Theology 21, no. 2 (October 2007): 228-41; Jules Gritti, L'expression de la foi dans les cultures humaines (Paris: Centurion, 1975). In the first part of this book Gritti presents various historical examples of the encounter between Christian faith and human culture. The second part consists of elements for a theological reflection on the relationship between faith and culture. Ibid., 1.

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according to Archbishop Angelo Amato showed both the discontinuity between the Gospel and culture, and the possibility of transforming culture through evangelization.16 One notices a parallel between the thesis of Christ as transformer of culture and Vatican IIs teachings on evangelization, as reflected in, among others, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.17 The conciliar Fathers called upon Catholics to play their part in helping to bring their cultures under the dominion of Christ. The Church proclaims a message of universal salvation through and in Christ. The missiological calling of the Church, according to Catholic teaching, integrates two principles that are not always easy to combine. On the one hand, the Church proclaims a message of universal salvation in and through Christ. On the other hand and at the same time, the Church acknowledges the right of existence of the various cultures and nonChristian religions. Moreover, the Church has consistently confessed that she deems valuable and just those elements present in the various cultures that are not in contradiction with the Gospel. Since Vatican II there has been an increasing awareness of the need to reconcile the Churchs teaching of Christ as the source of salvation for the whole world (LG 17) with the acknowledgement of and respect for the various cultures and non-Christian religions or religious traditions.18 Pope Paul VI addressed this question at the opening of the 1974 Synod of Bishops on Evangelization. Christian theologians of different denominations, too, have in the past three to four decades reflected from various angles on the question of the uniqueness of Christ with regard to the universal salvation for humanity, especially vis--vis the non-Christian religions. Some of them have arrived at various positions, some of which do not necessarily conform to the standpoint that the Catholic Church propagates in her magisterial teachings.19 These latter positions have inspired others to make even stronger claims on Christs uniqueness vis--vis the world religions.20
16

Archbishop Angelo Amato, Criteriological Reflections on the Theology of Inculturation, Mission Today 5 (2003): 253-69, 254. See Lumen Gentium, nos. 17, 36; Ad Gentes, no. 9; and Amato (Criteriological Reflections, 254) notes that the models Niebuhr developed could offer useful elements for the understanding of that which Vatican II has called the law of evangelization: Indeed, this kind of adaptation and preaching of the revealed Word must ever be the law of all evangelization (Gaudium et Spes, no. 44). See, for instance, Neckebrouck, Gij alleen de Allerhoogste: Christus en de andere godsdiensten (Leuven: Davidsfonds, 2001); Jacques Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997); Id., Christianity and the Religions: From Confrontation to Dialogue (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002). See, for instance, Paul F. Knitter, No Other Name? A Critical Survey of Christian Attitudes Toward the World Religions, American Society of Missiology Series 7 (Quezon City: Orbis Books, 1985); and, John Hick and Knitter, eds., The Myth of Christian Uniqueness: Toward a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988). See, for instance, Gavin DCosta, ed., Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered: The Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990). Some of the questions the various contributors in this book address are, among others: whether Christian claims concerning the uniqueness of Christ can remain tenable and sustainable; whether it can be illuminating in making sense of religious plurality; whether such claims can still be

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In recent theological developments the question of the uniqueness of Christ, together with the encounter between the Christian faith and culture are discussed extensively, displaying a variety of positions and viewpoints. Another question which has stirred intense debate since the mid-twentieth century regards the salvation potential inherent in non-Christian religions, which is coupled with the difficult question of relating that potential to Christs full and ultimate salvation. These three questions still cause serious theological debate.21 That is why this chapter also deals with the relation between the Church and culture,22 albeit without claiming to be exhaustive. Several terms have been employed to render the problematic of the relation between Christian faith and culture intelligible.23 One such term is inculturation.24 Other related terms have also been used as evangelizing models25 in the encounter between the Christian faith and culture, for instance, acculturation, adaptation, indigenization, and contextualization. Since they can deepen our understanding of the issue at hand, we shall discuss them further on. Moreover, inculturations application to theology necessitates examining its theological basis. The term in-cultur-ation when used in Christian theological circles is linked to the expression of the Christian faith in human cultures. Such a discourse therefore requires an elaboration of the concept of culture.26 Moreover, since the Church is called upon to spare no
made whilst taking interreligious dialogue seriously; and whether such claims form the context of the Good News entrusted to Christians. The contributors to this book answer positive to these questions, though with different nuances; also see Walter Kasper, Absoluteness of Christianity, in Encyclopedia of Theology: The Concise Sacramentum Mundi, ed. Karl Rahner (New York: Seabury Press, 1975), 202-4.
21

Cf. Schreiter, Challenges Today to Mission Ad Gentes (Meeting of the Superiors General of Societies of Apostolic Life, Maryknoll, NY, U.S.A., 1 May 2000); available from http://www.sedos.org/english/schreiter_1.htm; Internet; accessed 28 March 2008. Various authors situate this problematic in the relation between Christianity and culture, Gospel and culture, the Christian faith and culture, etc. At the level of worship it is situated, at least among Roman Catholics, in the relationship between the Roman liturgy and particular cultures. See, for instance, Francis-Vincent, Anthony, Ecclesial Praxis of Inculturation: Toward an Empirical-theological Theory of Inculturizing Praxis (Rome: Libreria Ateneo Salesiano, 1997), 32-56; Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 21-80; Shorter, Toward a Theology, 13-28. In the discussion on inculturation and its related terms we will largely follow the thinking of Neckebrouck and Shorter because of their academic background they both hold PhD degrees in theology and anthropology and the extensive research both have conducted in this field. This, we think, qualifies them with a certain degree of authority when writing on a term that is itself rooted in anthropology. This study looks at inculturation in relation to the liturgy. Therefore, as already pointed out, we will also consult the various works written by Chupungco. For the moment it suffices to indicate that inculturation concerns the interaction between the Christian faith and cultures. Cf. Frans Damen, Het subject van de inculturatie, Wereld en Zending 1 (2002): 31-39. In this study we do not purport to develop a new theory of culture. The concept itself retains such vastness that it is impossible to explain its entire working in a few pages. In stead, our attempt ought to be seen as what it really is, namely an attempt to arrive at a basic understanding of the term in relation to the discussion on inculturation.

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effort in evangelizing peoples and cultures, it becomes important to expound the very notion of culture. Subsequently, we shall discuss various loci for inculturation. These consist of biblical and historical antecedents (loci historici), Vatican II and post-Vatican II documents (loci theologici). Our objective here is to construe the relationship between faith and culture in continuation with the Churchs tradition. In this, we will take the following words of Pope Paul VI into consideration: The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times.27 This statement underscores the necessity of continuously looking for ways in which the inculturation of the Gospel can take root in various cultures and among various peoples. It also requires contemporary theological reflection that can help foster this process.

4.2.

Understanding culture

Cultures do not exist without a group of people because by its very nature a culture is not confined to one individual but embodies, in the words of David Power, a unified whole.28 Without pretending to confine its manifestation to a single definition we can say loosely speaking that culture is a representation of a collective of shared human values. Hence, one can assert that Gods Incarnation in Jesus was contingent on culture. Like every other human being, Jesus too was a cultural being.29 Incarnation and culture are therefore, valuable elements that can shed more light on the theological notion of inculturation. The term culture has its origin in the Latin cultra, which means care, or cultivation.30 However, culture also seems to be derived from the Latin cultus, which means worship, or care directed to the refinement of life in contrast to a state of nature.31 Cultus is commonly translated

27 28

Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 20. Power, Culture and Theology, 40; also cf. Frederik Chr. Brgger, Culture, Language, Text: Culture Studies within the Study of English as a Foreign Language (Norway: Scandinavian University Press, 1992), 35, who expresses the view that a unified whole does not necessarily imply stringent conformity within a particular culture, or exclude discrepancies; and Phan, Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 218-20, who points out that postmodern approaches to culture increasingly criticize the modern approach to culture as a unified whole. Cf. Gritti, L'expression de la foi, 94. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary (based on Andrews Edition of Freunds Latin Dictionary, rev., enl., and in great part rewritten (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955 [1879]), 488, column 3; also see Franz-Joseph Eilers, Communicating Between Cultures: An Introduction to Intercultural Communication (Manila: Divine Word Publications, 1992), 15; and Jose Vidamor Yu, Inculturation of Filipino-Chinese Culture Mentality, Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations, vol. 3 (Rome: Pontificia Universit Gregoriana, 2000), 7. Ibid. According to this dictionary cultra in late Latin also means of religious worship.

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with the English cult. 32 It is not the place here to delve into the original meanings and applications of the term. It suffices to illustrate that this term, from very early on, also contained religious significance; for instance, for Christian authors cultra meant worship.33 Before the human sciences such as cultural anthropology began studying the concept of culture, its denotation was almost exclusively limited to what Bernard Lonergan describes as a universal, classicist understanding:
On the older view culture was conceived not empirically but normatively. It was the opposite of barbarism. It was a matter of acquiring and assimilating the tastes and skills, the ideals, virtues and ideas that were pressed upon one in a good home and through a curriculum in the liberal arts. Its stressed not facts but values. It could not but claim to be universalist. Its classics were immortal works of art, its philosophy was the perennial philosophy, its laws and structures were the deposit of the wisdom and prudence of mankind. Classicist education was a matter of models to be imitated, of ideal characters to be emulated, of eternal verities and universally valid laws. It sought to produce not the mere specialist but the uomo universale that could turn his hand to anything and do it 34 brilliantly.

This classicist understanding of culture implied the mastering of a wide range of knowledge, seen from a cognitivistic and intellectualistic perspective. It appealed to the abstract, logical and intellectual dimensions of reason. Especially intellectuals were considered to be people of culture. Moreover, culture was seen as a western enterprise inspired by a prerogative for the Greek logos.35 In the writings of some African theologians this concept of culture is seen as being part of the missionary enterprise with which large parts of the African continent were converted to Christianity. Conversion was seen as a great civilization offensive which in effect meant acquiring the ability to read and write in a Western cultural mode.36 Hence, an integral aspect of Christian mission was the formation of catholic schools and the expansion and dissemination of catholic education to broad societal levels. This approach equated culture with civilization, as it prevailed in the West.
32

Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society [Fontana books, 3479] (London: Fontana, 1976), 77 points out that cultra, where it is associated with honour with worship, has been developed through cultus. See A. L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions (New York: Vintage Books, 1963), 62; originally published in 1952 as vol. 47, no. 1 of the Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Bernard J. F. Lonergan, Method in Theology (New York: Seabury Press, 1979), 301. See Lukken, Inculturatie van de liturgie, 17. See Marc Depaepe, An Agenda for the History of Colonial Education, in The Colonial Experience in Education: Historical Issues and Perspectives, eds. Antnio Nvoa, Marc Depaepe, and Erwin V. Johanningmeier (Gent: University of Gent, 1995), 15-21, 20; Brian Titley, A Troubled Legacy: The Catholic Church and Indian Residential Schooling in Canada, in Ibid., 335-349.

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As societies develop and change, so too do culture and our understanding of this term. In the nineteenth century ethnologists began collecting and studying ethnographic materials from non-western peoples. In addition, ethnographic research generated the insight that culture exceeds logical and rational thinking, and was a human condition found also among non-western peoples. Nineteenth-century social scientists, however, employed the term culture to designate so-called primitive societies which they distinguished from the so-called civilized societies. It was also used as an alternative to the term civilization. In 1871 Edward Tylor, a British anthropologist who is generally considered as a founding figure of the science of social anthropology, came to define culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.37 According to Herv Carrier, this is one of the first systematic definitions of culture, understood in the anthropological sense.38 Defining culture as such was a major breakthrough since it engendered a shift in the perception of non-western peoples as uncivilized or as people without culture. More importantly, culture came to be seen as a condition of all people and societies. By the mid 1950s ethnographic research, particularly among non-western peoples and civilizations, had established a wide variety of cultural concepts. In that regard the American anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn identified more than one hundred and sixty definitions of culture.39 This implies that the term has been endowed with several meanings over the years, rendering it rather ambiguous.40 Clifford Geertz and others agree that Tylor made significant and lasting contributions to the study of social- and cultural anthropology.41 Yet Geertz still attributes the theoretical diffusion inherent in the overwhelming jungle of culture definitions to, what he calls, the conceptual morass of Tylors cultural theory. 42 He then proposes a semiotic 43 approach to culture. 44
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Edward Burnett Tylor, The Origins of Culture [Harper torchbooks, 33 / part 1 of Primitive Culture] (New York: Harper, 1958 [1871]), 1. Herv Carrier, Understanding Culture: The Ultimate Challenge of the World-Church? in The Church and Culture Since Vatican II: The Experience of North and Latin America, ed. Joseph Gremillion (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1985), 11-30, 14. Kroeber and Kluckhohn, Culture, 291. See Carrier, Understanding Culture, 11-30. In his contribution, Carrier, a former Rector of Romes Gregorian University and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, assesses how over a span of hundred years various definitions of culture evolved. See Paul Bohannan, Social Anthropology (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1971[1963]). Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures, 4. Semiotics or semiology is the study of signs, symbols, and signification. Rather than unfolding what meaning really is, this area of study looks at how meaning is created.

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Subsequently, he defines culture as a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions, expressed in symbolic form by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.45 This definition contains several key notions, for instance, meanings and symbols, which require further explanation in order to render it intelligible. Some authors explain the meaning of symbols by comparing them to signs and pointing out their differences. Others employ signs and symbols interchangeably or synonymously despite their notable differences. However, it is often mentioned that contrary to a symbol, a sign denotes one particular interpretation; thus, signs are interpreted unambiguously. For instance, when one who drives on a highway approaches the traffic-lights and the red light is on, this red light constitutes an imperative to stop. It is a signifier, i.e., a material thing (say, words on a page, a facial expression, or an image) that conveys a message. Signs such as a red light are set up by convention; this explains their unambiguousness. Symbols,46 on the other hand, can be multi-interpretable,47 and what they signify depends on the context in which one uses them; thus, unlike signs, symbols can refer to a variety of things at the same time. Geertz explains this in the following way:
In some hands it [i.e., symbol] is used for anything which signifies something else to someone: dark clouds are the symbolic precursors of an on-coming rain. In others it is used only for explicitly conventional signs of one sort or another: a red flag is a symbol of danger, a white of surrender. In others it is confined to something which expresses in an oblique and figurative manner that which

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Schreiter (Local Theologies, 52) claims that a semiotic approach to culture allows study of the so-called high cultural elements (art, poetry, music, religious belief) and the so-called popular elements (customs, superstitions), and other elements of the cultural systems (social organization, economic and political organization) in a way that allows them to be seen as interlocking and interdependent. Moreover, he continues, its concern for observation of the various sign systems in a culture, and their configuration, allows for a closer look at how the identity [emphasis added] of the culture and the identity of members of the culture are constituted. We have emphasized the word identity to indicate its vast complexity, referred to by the French notion of ocanique. Discussing this term falls outside the scope of this study. Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures, 89; cf. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 5 who defines culture in almost similar terms by stating that it is a transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a pattern capable of development and change, and it belongs to the concept of humanness itself. The word, etymologically speaking, comes from Greek word sumballein which means to join, or to bring together and used to designate the two halves of a broken coin exchanged by contracting partners. It was a token of remembrance. For instance, a host would present his guest with the tessera hospitalis by breaking it up in two, so that whenever they might meet again, they could recognize each other. It was something in and through which one was able to recognize someone already known and actualize the relationship existing between the two. Lukken, Ritueel en menselijke identiteit, in Totems en trends. Over de zin van identificatiesymbolen, Arie de Ruijter et al. (Hilversum: Gooi & Sticht, 1988), 20-34, 23.

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cannot be stated in a direct and literal one, so that there are symbols in poetry but not in science In yet others, however, it is used for any object, act, event, quality, or relation which serves as a vehicle 48 for a conception the conception is the symbols meaning

Others go beyond the so-called distinction between the univocal and multifarious meaning attributed to signs and symbols, respectively. Paul Moyaert,49 for example, advocates a more nuanced position by pointing out that symbols constitute a class of signs. What is represented and made present in a sign is by itself not actually present in the sign. Thus, in this general sense symbols are also signs. (Translation added).50 Therefore, Moyaert distinguishes between nonsymbolic signs and symbols. Symbols, Moyaert argues, derive their strength from their potential to connect the meaning they represent in an unbreakable manner to the sign, in and through which the same meaning finds expression.51 Meaning, as Geertz explains, is a conceptual attribute produced or evoked by signs and symbols. In other words, meaning constitutes the denotative or connotative aspect of signs and symbols. Moreover Geertz definition poignantly expresses the importance of symbols in every culture.52 A semiotic approach to culture is an adequate aid in gaining access to the conceptual world in which our subjects live so that we can, in some extended sense of the term, converse with them.53 A semiotic approach to culture is also relevant to our current study,54 because our research on inculturation focuses substantially on popular religious culture i.e., the world of
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Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures, 91. Paul Moyaert, De mateloosheid van het christendom. Over naastenliefde, betekenisincarnatie en mystieke liefde (SUN: Nijmegen, 1998), 112-15. Ibid., 112. Ibid., 113; also see Id., Iconen en beeldverering. Godsdienst als symbolische praktijk (SUN: Nijmegen, 2007), particularly the first part of his final (4th) chapter Inconen zijn symbolen. Wat wijn symbolen en wat doen ze? (141-72). There he expounds the meaning of symbol by discussing its working from the subjective level. Cf. Duraisamy S. Amalorpavadass Theology Reflections on Inculturation [Part 1], Studia Liturgica 20. (1990): 36-54, 40. This author has also reflected on the importance symbols have for culture. He thus asserts that symbols cover the following dimension of reality: languages and literature, techniques and technology, status and role systems, knowledge systems (philosophy), economic structures, social organizations, common customs and habits, (for instance, dress, food, way of eating, dwelling, some marriage customs, etc.), political systems, artifacts, arts (music, dance, drama, sculpture and architecture, decoration), and common life-style or a whole way of life. In this perception culture becomes essentially a symbolic system. Amalorpavadass, however, briefly describes culture as what a nation considers as the best and the sum-total of its thinking, living, and expression, after Christopher Dawson, Religion and Culture (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1948); or as a way of life, modus vivendi, ethos or lifestyle of a people. Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures, 24. Cf. Wielzen, Inculturatie van de liturgie, 14-22. In that study we advocated a semiotic approach to the cultural context of Suriname based on Schreiters explanation of this concept, as related in n. 25.

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popular religiosity especially in the Caribbean.55 Moreover, since inculturation concerns the dialogal character of the relation between Church and cultures56 a semiotic approach to culture brings out the implied dialogue best. Such an approach deepens our understanding of any culture in particular. Geertzs intention was to overcome the ambiguity of the term culture because he felt that it had acquired a certain aura of ill-repute in social anthropological circles [due to] the multiplicity of its referents and the studied vagueness with which it has all too often been invoked.57 A contemporary understanding of culture, however, gravely questions its univocal interpretation. As we have pointed out in the first chapter of this study, the postmodern view on life stresses pluralism, rather than univocal concepts. In our quest for outlining a contemporary theology, we deem it essential to take heed of the criticism on cultural concepts which represent a univocal interpretation.58 Roest Crollius, for instance, has been rather vocal in this regard. He argued as follows:
A univocal conception of culture would accept only one way of understanding cultural reality and measure all other cultural expressions according to the standards of this culture. In the encounter among cultures, such a conception would bar the way to dialogue, leaving room only for a monologue. This cultural monologue has often characterized the approach of exponents of 59 occidental cultures to cultures other than their own.

Moreover, in his view, inculturation requires an interdisciplinary approach, involving theologians, historians, philosophers and anthropologists who all have their word to say on the encounter between the Christian faith and the cultures of mankind.60 As a result the number of referents of the concept of culture also increases. Therefore, Roest Crollius contends: Maintaining a certain vagueness may then well be the condition of the possibility of any discussion at all. It is difficult to see how one single concept of culture could satisfy all those who speak about it.61
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Cf. Power, Liturgy and Culture Revisited, Worship 69 (1995): 225-43, 241-43. Cf. Roest Crollius, The Meaning of Culture, 272. Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures, 89. The criticism on a univocal conception of cultural cannot the exclusively attributed to postmodern authors, as we will soon demonstrate. Roest Crollius, The Meaning of Culture, 270. Ibid. Ibid., 255; It is not our intention to drive the discussion into a polemical atmosphere. Our intention is to illustrate how the discussion underlines the vastness and depth of the concept of culture. Moreover, the different positions in this discussion are not mutually exclusive. Each contributes valuable insights in the rather difficult concept of culture.

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As for Aylward Shorter culture embraces the whole context of life, and is as relevant to [post]modernity and [post]modern problems, as it is to traditional beliefs and values He continues to assert:
Culture is a mental world, a web of meanings clothed in images and behavioral norms. It is a pattern of human thought and behavior. It is the prism through which a human society views the whole of its experience, domestic, political, social, economic, religious. Culture is learned by the human being in infancy and developed throughout life. It enables the individual to relate cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally to the world, and to communicate this understanding to others. It gives identity to groups of individuals. Culture is therefore an essential aspect of the human phenomenon, indeed a 62 human right.

Some also perceive culture as a way of life of a people. It is the sum total of all those ways of doing things, of thinking about things, of feeling about things, of believing, that make up the life of a people.63 While anthropologist-priest Francisco Claver deems this to be the most accurate description of culture, he still expands this view by asserting that: It is a way of using material things, of behaving, speaking, feeling, thinking, believing, meaning, valuing, symboling.64 Yet another group of social scientists maintain a different perception of culture. They emphasize that cultures are not only characterized in terms of a totality unified by a few basic premises but are also pluralistic and variegated.65 These scientists argue that even deeply held core values are often not void of internal discrepancies. In light of this Victor Turner, a Scottish cultural anthropologist (1920-1983), remarked after his colleague Harold Rosenberg that the culture of any society at any moment is more like a debris, or a fall-out, of past ideological systems, then it is itself a system, a coherent whole.66 He furthermore claimed:
Coherent wholes may exist (but these tend to be lodged in individual heads, sometimes in those of obsessionals or paranoiacs), but human social groups tend to find their openness to the future in the variety of their metaphors for what may be the good life and the contest of their paradigms. If there is order, it is seldom preordained (though transiently bayonets may underpin some political schema); it is achieved the result of conflicting or concurring wills and intelligences, each relying on some convincing paradigm.67

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Shorter, Christianity and the African Imagination: After the African Synod Resources for Inculturation (Nairobi: Pauline Publications, 1996), 16. 63 Joseph P. Fitzpatrick, One Church Many Cultures: The Challenge of Diversity (Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1987), 28
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Francisco Claver, The Encounter Between the Gospel and the Values of Indigenous Peoples in Asia: Challenges of the Future, East Asia Pastoral Review 4 (2002): 350-66, 354. Brgger, Culture, Language, Text, 35. Victor Turner, Drama, Fields and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society, 2 Paperbacks, 1978 [Cornell University Press, 1974]), 14. Ibid.
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Therefore, culture can be seen as constituting dominant and oppositional patterns of beliefs, of which some may mutually conform whereas other may oppose each other, thereby causing conflict, contest, and struggle. This cursory glance at culture illustrates its complexity and the risk of using one particular definition as a working definition for the discussion on inculturation. However, maintaining some degree of vagueness which seems to be inevitable, we can say with David Power that culture includes economic, political, and religious systems. It is whatever is expressed in traditions, beliefs, customs, institutions, art and artifacts, symbols, myths and rites. Its core is the values and the meaning on which human life, individual and collective, is based.68 The value of such a description is that the concept of culture becomes applicable to any category of people. But in light of inculturation it is important to have a keen awareness of the Churchs understanding of culture, both in the past and in the present.69 One can delineate the Churchs contemporary understanding of culture from Vatican II and post-Vatican II documents.

4.2.1. Vatican IIs appreciation of culture

There are theologians who share the opinion that Vatican II serves as a watershed in the Church modern approach to culture.70 Some, however, oppose this perception by indicating that the venerable periti at Vatican II generally lacked an understanding of modernity as a specific cultural formation.71 John Langan, for instance, remarks:
Gaudium et spes is neither the earliest nor the deepest nor the ultimate expression of those forces of modernity and faith which shape the post-Conciliar Church, but it occupies a significant place

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Power, Culture and Theology, 40. This description of culture is far from being exhaustive. It cannot because cultures keep evolving and one can never predict what the future has in store for any particular culture. See Carrier, Understanding Culture, 17-29. In this part Carrier examines the Churchs evolving conception of culture, starting with Leo XII to Pius XII, going all the way toward Vatican II and beyond. Gallagher, Clashing Symbols: An Introduction to Faith and Culture (New York, Paulist Press, 1998), 36. Around the turn of the nineteenth century into the twentieth the prevalent concept of culture was profoundly colored by Western ethnocentricity. Culture and civilization were intertwined and confined to Europe. Western culture was regarded as normative. Thus in the encounter with non-Western cultures, these latter were pushed to the periphery; Shorter (Toward a Theology, 18) claims it was only around the mid-twentieth century that the Church adopted a pluralistic view of culture; Bernard Lambert, Gaudium et Spes and the Travail of Todays Ecclesial Conception, in The Church and Culture, ed. Gremillion, 31-52, 31, notes that the Church is ever aware of societal developments but refrains from making instant pronouncements. The Church is accustomed to encounter the changes of centuries. She experiences them, then sorts them out, and only later makes lasting pronouncements. Tracey Rowland, Culture and the Thomist Tradition; After Vatican II (London / New York: Routledge, 2003), 17.

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because of the moment in history in which it was issued and because of its status as an expression of 72 the mind of the universal Church.

Nevertheless, GS pays explicit attention to the theme of culture. Chapter 2 of part 2 speaks of The proper development of culture.73 This conciliar document represents a pivotal point in the magisterial engagement with the culture of modernity74 GS 53 in particular elaborates the notion of culture. The opening sentences of this paragraph read: Man comes to a true and full humanity only through culture that is through the cultivation of the goods and values of nature. Wherever human life is involved, therefore, nature and culture are quite intimately connected one with the other. Culture, in this sense, is linked to nature.75 And further in this paragraph we read:
The word culture in its general sense indicates everything whereby man develops and perfects his many bodily and spiritual qualities; he strives by his knowledge and his labor, to bring the world itself under his control. He renders social life more human both in the family and the civic community, through improvement of customs and institutions. Throughout the course of time he expresses, communicates and conserves in his works, great spiritual experiences and desires that they might be of advantage to the progress of many, even of the whole human family. Thence it follows that human culture has necessarily a historical and social aspect and the word culture also often assumes a sociological and ethnological sense. According to this sense we speak of a plurality of cultures. Different styles of life and multiple scales of values arise from the diverse manner of using things, of laboring, of expressing oneself, of practicing religion, of forming customs, of establishing laws and juridic institutions of cultivating the sciences, the arts and beauty. Thus the 76 customs handed down to it form the patrimony proper to each human community.

Here, culture is understood as the cultivation of both material and immaterial elements that surround human living. A human person attains full humanity only through culture. But there is more that GS 53 says about culture. It further locates a spiritual dimension in its understanding of the term. Hence, Gallagher asserts that, generally speaking, culture also implies everything whereby man develops and perfects his many bodily and spiritual qualities.77 Through
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J. Langan, Political Hopes and Political Tasks: A Reading of Gaudium et spes after Twenty Years, in Questions of Social Urgency: The Church in the Modern World: Two Decades after Vatican II, ed. J. A. Dwyer (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1986), 102, quoted in Rowland, Culture and Thomist Tradition, 17. See Roberto Tucci, The Proper Development of Culture, in Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, vol. 5, Pastoral Constitution in the Modern World, trans. W. J. OHara, ed. Vorgrimler, 246-87, for a comprehensive commentary. According to Tucci this chapter is unique because unlike the remaining chapters of the second part of this conciliar document it did not really have any prehistory during the preparatory phase of the Council (p. 246). Furthermore, it is the only chapter that explicitly addresses the relations between Church and culture. Rowland, Culture and Thomist Tradition, 11. Cf. Jean-Marie Auzias, L'anthropologie contemporaine: exprience et systme [Collection SUP, le philosophe, vol. 124] (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1976), 111-25, discussing the relation between culture and nature in cultural anthropology. Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 7 December 1965, no. 53. Gallagher, Clashing Symbols, 38.

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culture a person manages to control his or her world. And by improving its customs and institutions the entire human race ultimately progresses in humanity. This way of perceiving culture resonates with the modern anthropological concept as embodied in a whole range of social systems and expressions.78 More importantly, GS recognizes that human culture possesses both material and spiritual values. Therefore, there are links between the Gospel and cultures. GS underlines this by declaring: There are many ties between the message of salvation and human culture. For God, revealing Himself to His people to the extent of a full manifestation of Himself in His Incarnate Son, has spoken according to the culture proper to each epoch.79 Furthermore, as GS 53 highlights, culture is also often interpreted in a sociological and ethnological sense. When related to the human race it means that a plurality of ways of doing, thinking, living, praying, and believing come to the fore. This is situated both historically and sociologically. Therefore, the acknowledgment of the plurality of culture is perceived in time and space. Cultural diversity then is from all ages among all people. With its circumscription of culture, Vatican II moves from a classicist view of culture to two newer horizons: the sense of culture as involving living conditions, social organizations and assumptions, and an acknowledgement of the different forms of life that account for cultural diversity throughout history.80 However, the description of culture in this document remains rather general. Even though it refrains from giving a clear-cut definition,81 it nevertheless implies a favorable attitude to cultural pluralism....82 Indeed, Vatican II maintains a modern view of culture which incorporates, in a perfectly balanced way, the classic as well as the anthropological dimension of culture.83 The surplus value of GS 53 is that it goes beyond a purely aristocratic conception of culture, by clearly rejecting the idea of uncivilized nations.84 The rest of the remaining part on culture in this chapter of GS is divided into three sections. These deal respectively with the contemporary (i.e., modern) cultural context; principles for
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Ibid. Gaudium et Spes, no. 58. Gallagher, Clashing Symbols, 39. Shorter (Toward a Theology, 200) notes: The Councils mission documents, vibrant and innovative as they are, did not offer any definition or analysis of culture, although they made frequent reference to it. Tucci, Proper Development of Culture, 257; see also Roest Crollius (The Meaning of Culture,257) who, with regard to a descriptive notion of culture, remarks: Description implies always a part of contingency, and even the enumeration of constantly recurring factors in descriptive definitions of culture leads to such a variety of notions that a whole book could be filled with them. The latter part of this remark refers to Kroeber and Kluckhohns 1952 work on culture. Carrier, Understanding Culture, 18. Tucci, Proper Development of Culture, 256.

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cultural development; and specific duties and responsibilities of Christians within their proper cultural context. In the first section the document signals a globalizing trend of culture through, among others, commerce between nations and endemic technological advancement that enhances cultural contact between people from various nations. In addition, it addresses the cultural awareness among people from particular cultures. Despite these two interrelated cultural patterns Christians are called upon to play their part in fostering fraternal bonds in order to achieve universal unity among the various races and nations. In sum it can be said that Vatican II presents a modern concept of culture which incorporates the traditional or classical view as well as the anthropological and historical perspective.85

4.2.2. Post-Vatican II documents on culture

In the post-Vatican II documents on culture, the Church basically retains its earlier view as elaborated in GS 53. It is reiterated in EN, in the CELAM conferences of Puebla (1974), and in several of John Paul II addresses to among others the Pontifical Council for Culture.86 In this section we will limit ourselves to a cursory glance on EN, the Puebla documents and the documents on Santo Domingo, where they speak about culture. When we read EN 20 in connection with EN 19 we see that culture informs mankinds criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life. EN 20 goes on to emphasize the necessity of evangelizing human culture or cultures to their core. By explicitly mentioning cultures in the plural, it maintains the pluralistic perspective of GS 53. EN consistently does so. EN 20 also highlights another important element by declaring:
The Gospel, and therefore evangelization, are certainly not identical with culture, and they are independent in regard to all cultures. Nevertheless ... the Gospel and evangelization are not necessarily incompatible with them; rather they are capable of permeating them all without becoming subject to any one of them.

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Carrier, The Church Meeting Cultures: Convergences and Perspectives, in The Church and Culture, ed. Gremillion, 140-52, 151; also see Rowland (Culture and Thomist Tradition, 172, n. 22) where he refers to other sources of Vatican II magisterial teaching on culture, among which are: the Declaration on Christian Education (Gravissumum Educationis), nos. 6 and 8; the Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity (Ad Gentes), nos. 15, 16, 21 and 26; and the Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae), no. 15. See Gremillion, ed., Church and Culture, part 2: Documents of the Church on Culture, 159-316; see especially Paul Poupard, Statements on Church and Culture by John Paul II, 1978-82, [selected and summarized] in Ibid., 223-31; Carrier, Culture in the Discourses of John Paul II, 1983-84, [selected and summarized] in Ibid., 232-34.

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That is what EN envisages with evangelization. It is directed to the entire culture of a people. EN 18 more clearly expresses this view by stating: For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new: ... (emphasis added). Since EN stresses on the evangelization of the entire culture, one can conclude that on the basis of EN 18 culture is perceived as an all-embracing social reality. The Puebla documents corroborate the above view on culture. In the Conclusions under no. 386 Puebla first tries to answer the question of what culture is. In doing so it follows the definition of GS. In that section we read:
The term culture means the specific way in which human beings belonging to a given people cultivate their relationship with nature, with each other, and with God in order to arrive at an authentic and full humanity. It is the shared lifestyle that characterizes different peoples around the 87 earth, and so we can speak about a plurality of cultures (GS 53, EN 20).

Puebla in no. 387 reiterates ENs implicit point of the all-embracing character of culture but phrases it in more explicit terms when it states:
So conceived, culture embraces the whole life of a people. It is the whole web of values that inspire them and of disvalues that debilitate them; insofar as they are shared in common by all the members, they bring them together on the basis of a collective consciousness (EN 18). Culture also embraces the forms in which these values or disvalues find configuration and expression, i.e., customs, language, societal institutions and structures insofar as they are not impeded or 88 suppressed by the intervention of other, dominant cultures.

Noteworthy for the question of inculturation is the way the Puebla documents perceive the core of a culture. No. 389 declares this to be:
The way in which a people affirms or rejects a religious tie with God, that is, in its religious values or disvalues. These values or disvalues have to do with the ultimate meaning of life. Their roots lie in the deeper zone where human beings formulate answers to the basis, ultimate questions that vex 89 them.

This citation implicitly hints at the hidden seeds, the verbi semina which resides in every culture. Therefore evangelization is geared to every culture in order that the hidden seeds are revealed, become manifest to the Glory of God, and to the shame of the devil. This is the quest for inculturation; it calls for a radical transformation from within. This idea is stated more explicitly in the Conclusions of Santo Domingo, as we shall shortly highlight.
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Eagleson and Scharper, eds., Puebla and Beyond, 177. Ibid. Ibid.

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In the remaining numbers of chapter 2.1 (Culture and Cultures) from the Final Document of the Puebla conference (i.e., nos. 391-393) we read in general terms what cultures are about. Much of what is said here is taken from GS 53. It can be briefly summarized as follows: Culture is a social and historical reality subjected to change and continuous dynamic development, which is transmitted by tradition from generation to generation. The Conclusions of the Santo Domingo document go a step further where it speaks about culture. It retakes the idea of evangelizing culture or cultures, but makes it more specific that the goal hereof is to arrive at a Christian culture. This is stated under no. 229 where we read:
Thus, we may speak of a Christian culture when a peoples shared sense of life has been so permeated that the gospel message has been placed at the basis of its thinking, its fundamental principles of life, its criteria for judgment, and its norms for activity (OA 24), and from there is 90 projected into the ethos of a people its institutions and all its structures (OA 20).

The way via which the evangelization of culture is to happen occurs through the process of inculturation, which John Paul II has called the center, means and aim of the new evangelization (Address to the International Council on Catechesis, September 26, 1992).91 Another interesting point in the Conclusions of the Santo Domingo document concerns the role of Mary in the process of evangelization. The document states: Mary, who is the model for the Church, is also a model for the evangelization of culture.92 This point is interesting since it opens vistas for the inculturation in Latin America and the Caribbean, when connected to Our Lady of Guadalupe.93 The Santo Domingo Conclusions also assess culture from its contemporary understanding. It points to the present cultural condition as modern culture as a result of a profound impact from Western culture, whose memory, consciousness, and aspirations are ever present in our prevailing common way of life (no. 252).94 It goes on to list several pastoral challenges posed by both modernity and postmodernity to the evangelization of culture.95

4.2.3. Postmodern perceptions of culture

In the first chapter we have identified the quest for pluralism as a distinctive feature of postmodernity. Postmodern authors also apply the principle of plurality to their conceptualization
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Hennelley, ed., Documents and Commentaries from the Fourth General Conference, 135. Ibid. Ibid. This issue needs further elaboration, but falls outside the scope of this current study. Hennelley, ed., Documents and Commentaries from the Fourth General Conference, 141. Ibid., 142-44.

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of culture. They object to modern views on culture. Lonergan, for instance, can be seen as an adept of the modern school. He claimed that culture is a set of meanings and values informing a common way of life, and there are as many cultures as there are distinct sets of such meanings (emphasis added).96 Such modern cultural concepts eventually received criticism from postmodern authors who argue in favor of a pluralist understanding of culture. Where modern concepts of culture stress on commonalities, homogeneity and a common whole, postmodern concepts rather focus on particularities, heterogeneity and plurality.97 Postmodern authors, therefore, perceive culture rather as a ground of contest in relations.98 Hence, postmodern theories of culture integrate the aspect of power and conflict in their various conceptualizations. According to Peter Phan cultures today are seen more in terms of a historically evolving, fragmented, inconsistent, conflicted, constructed, ever-shifting, and porous social reality. 99 Against this backdrop, Phan continues, the role of power in the shaping of cultural identity is of paramount importance, a factor that the modern concept of culture largely ignores.100 Moreover, the role of power becomes even more acute, since the forging of cultural identity involves groups of people with conflicting interest, and the winners can dictate their cultural terms to the losers.101 In our contemporary time the role of power and conflict in shaping cultural identity has perhaps been most conspicuous after the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. The last two decades of world political history has witnessed an upsurge of ethnic and minority groups claiming the right of self-determination. Some of these groups commonly labeled as separatists have on several occasions succumbed to the use of violence as a way out. Cultural mechanisms, as just sketched, are also at work in the process of globalization. In this regard Phan correctly observes:
In the process of globalization a homogenized culture is created, consolidated by a hyperculture based on consumption, especially of goods exported from the United States, such as clothing (for example, T-shirts, denim jeans, athletic shoes), food (e.g., McDonalds and Coca Cola), and 102 entertainment (e.g., films, video, and music).

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Lonergan, Method in Theology, 301. See Kathryn E. Tanner, Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997), 40-56. Here Tanner presents in detail various postmodern objections to the modern understanding of culture. Schreiter, The New Catholicity: Between the Global and the Local (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997), 54. Phan, Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 220. Ibid. Ibid., 221. Ibid.; also see Amaladoss, Global Homogenization: Can Local Cultures Survive? East Asian Pastoral Review 36, no. 4 (1999): 424-32, 424.

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This spread of a global culture has repercussions for local cultures, in that locally held values hitherto treasured by one generation threatens to retreat into oblivion causing a younger generation to become completely unaware of what an older one claims as the peculiar cultural identity. This confrontation between the global and the local, which also has its bearings on the generation gap, is reminiscent of Samuel Huntingtons Clash of Civilizations.103 This clash ensues into continuous struggle. According to Phan global culture seeks to extend its political and economic dominance, whereas the local culture is forced to struggle for survival and integrity. It does so by devising several strategies of resistance, subversion, compromise, and appropriation.104 Rex Nettleford, a Jamaican writer and creative artist, calls this with reference to the Caribbean the battle for space.105 This, Nettleford argues, turns on just about everything that informs the struggle to make sense of Caribbean existence whether one views this from the point of politics, economics, social development or cultural dynamics.106 This clash between global and local culture is particularly evident in small scale societies in the Caribbean. Derek Boyd, for instance, concludes on the basis of an empirical study on the impact of short-run economic policies engineered and dictated by the IMF on vulnerable groups in Jamaica:
The economic adjustment policies of the 1980s based on deflating economy, massive devaluations, tax increases and government expenditure cuts have had considerable stagflationary effects. The impact on the poor has also been considerable, decline in public services on every front, health, 107 education, housing and water, and increasing costs for what exists.

This cursory glance into how globalization (globalizing culture) impacts local cultures, especially in the Caribbean, underscores the necessity for contemporary theology to take heed of

103

See Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997). Phan, Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 222. See Rex Nettleford, Inward Stretch, Outward Reach: A Voice from the Caribbean (London: Macmillan Press, 1993), 80-90. Ibid., 80; also see ibid., 91-116 (Cultural Resistance in Caribbean Society: Dance and Survival); and ibid., 172-83 (Preserving the Caribbean Heritage: A Challenge for the Caribbean Media). Derek Boyd, The Impact of Adjustment Policies on Vulnerable Groups: The Case of Jamaica, [first published in Adjustment with a Human Face: Ten Country Case Studies, vol. 2 , eds. G. A. Cornea, R. Jolly, and F. Stewart (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 126-55] in Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Readings, eds. Christine Barrow and Rhoda Reddock (Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2001), 973-96, 995; also see Denis Benn, Global and Regional Trends: Impact on Caribbean Development, in Caribbean Public Policy: Regional, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Issues for the 21st Century, ed. Jacqueline Anne Braveboy-Wagner (Boulder, Colorado / Oxford: Westview Press, 1998), 15-26; Ranford W. Palmer, Hemispheric Trends: Regional Impact of the North American Free Trade Area, in Ibid., 27-34; and Jean-Pierre Chardon, Hemispheric Trends: The Impact of Free Trade on the Dependent Caribbean The Case of the French Overseas Departments, in Ibid., 35-62.

104 105

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insights pertaining to cultural developments generated by the social sciences. It therefore calls for an interdisciplinary approach.

4.3.

Inculturation and its related terms

The term inculturation is of recent usage, only appearing on the theological agenda a few decades ago. It has been used as a technical term to render the relationship between Christian faith and culture intelligible. However, theologians have also taken recourse to other related terms in an attempt to conceive of this problem (i.e., introducing Christianity into non-Christian cultures comprehensibly, to the extent that non-Christians can readily accept it). Some of these terms are: acculturation, indigenization, adaptation, incarnation, and contextualization.108 Each of these terms emphasizes particular aspects of the relationship between the Gospel and cultures. With its incremental application in Catholic theology and mission theory, inculturation eventually supplanted most of the related terms, such as indigenization and adaptation. They were considered inadequate to describe the dynamic, yet complex phenomenon of rooting the Gospel in a particular culture. Though inculturation is commonly understood to indicate a profound encounter between the Christian faith and the culture in which the faith is inserted, some, however, widen its scope by asserting its pre-Christian existence, thereby making reference to Old Testament data.109 From this perspective inculturation becomes a phenomenon of all times, and remains indissolubly bound with the encounter between faith and human cultures. As theologians and liturgists began outlining a theology of inculturation, the term itself needs clarification, partly because of its non-theological origin. In an attempt to describe the essential characteristics of inculturation, theologians with an anthropological bend often took recourse to associated terminologies, such as enculturation and acculturation.110 The latter term reflects the relationship between persons of distinctly different cultures who come into contact with one another. In a way inculturation reflects a likewise process in which the Gospel encounters a given culture. The difference, however, with its related terms is that unlike these, the process of inculturation is ongoing. Inculturation never stops because it continuously seeks to bring

108

Cf. Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 21-80; Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 14-28; and Peter Schineller, A Handbook on Inculturation (New York: Paulist Press, 1990), 14-24. See Turkson, Inculturation: A Biblical Perspective. in Inculturation, eds. Turkson and Wijsen, 1-9; and Shorter, Toward a Theology, 104-18. See Roest Crollius, What Is So New About Inculturation? A Concept and Its Implications, Gregorianum, vol. 59 (1979): 721-37.

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about a radical conversion to Christ, by (re)orienting people and cultures to the life-giving message of salvation. In the following we will elaborate on inculturations related terminology. In this endeavor we will largely follow the sequence presented by Neckebrouck in his De derde kerk, thereby maintaining a logical order from less to most preferable terms. This implies that our presentation and discussion of the terminological field occurs in a systematic manner, thereby following the sequence in which various strategies, reflected by the respective terms, have been employed in addressing the problematic of relating the Gospel to a given culture.111 This, however, does not necessarily mean that the rise of a particular strategy entailed, or presupposed the demise of a former. Several of these strategies actually coexisted within the same geographical area, or at times even within the same Church.112 Our terminological field comprises the following seven terms: enculturation and acculturation; adaptation and indigenization; incarnation, contextualization and inculturation.113 We have consciously made a three folded grouping in this sequence, based on the following considerations: The first group is distinct from the rest because the two terms it comprises are in strictu sensu anthropological terms, whereas the others are theological terms. The second group comprises of terms which have apparently become relatively redundant in current Catholic theology, especially where it concerns the discourse on the relation between the Gospel and culture. Finally, we embark on the discussion of the third set of terms since they are generally applied to the entire Church, unlike the terms of the second group, which are related especially to the Young churches in (former) mission territories.

4.3.1. Enculturation
De Azevedo defines enculturation as the process by which the human individual becomes inserted into his/her own culture.114 It is a technical term taken from the discipline of cultural anthropology. Its origin is linked to Melville Herskovits, who wrote: The aspects of the learning experience which mark off man from other creatures, and by means which, initially, and in later life, he achieves competence in his culture, may be called enculturation.115 This indicates
111 112 113

See Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 18. Ibid., 19. Neckebrouck, in his aforementioned work, does not include the terms enculturation, indigenization, and inculturation when discussing the various cultural strategies to construe the relation between the Gospel and a given culture. However, of these, enculturation cannot be regarded as such. Yet we deem its discussion here necessary since it has been fundamental in shaping the concept of inculturation. De Azevedo, Challenges of Modernity, 7. Melville J. Herskovits, Man and His Works: The Science of Cultural Anthropology (New York: Knopf, 1952), 39.

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that enculturation is a lifetime learning process in which the two dominant entities are the individual and his or her culture. How does enculturation help us to envision inculturation? When we transpose the anthropological term enculturation to its missiological counterpart inculturation the latter takes on an entirely different meaning, signifying the process by which the Church becomes inserted in [and hence, part of] a given culture.116 A notable difference is that as a tool in a theological discourse, it [i.e., inculturation] enters into a system of language that is different from that of cultural anthropology [since the former] corresponds to the consideration of the salvific event in Jesus Christ.117 Enculturation, on the contrary, does not concern itself with the message of Christ universal salvation. Another main difference is that with enculturation, the individual does not yet have a culture, and acquires his culture in the process of enculturation, whereas the Church, though it is bound to no particular culture, does not enter into a given culture, unless already linked with elements of another culture.118 The basic characteristics of inculturation are better illustrated by focusing on the points of resemblance, when compared with enculturation. Roest Crollius identifies therefore the following three points: the growth into ones own culture; an ongoing process; and cultural stability and change.119 Concerning the first point Roest Crollius asserts that own culture refers to the culture of the local church, i.e., the culture(s) of the very people among whom she lives. The local church therefore is a Church profoundly ingrained into the culture of its people, as envisaged by EN that declares:
The individual Churches, intimately built up not only of people but also of aspirations, of riches and limitations, of ways of praying, of loving, of looking at life and the world, which distinguish this or that human gathering, have the task of assimilating the essence of the Gospel message and of transposing it, without the slightest betrayal of its essential truth, into the language that these particular people understand, then of proclaiming it in this language (EN 63).

The second point of resemblance indicates that in a similar way as the enculturation process covers the entire life span of an individual, so too does the process of inculturation run throughout the entire life span of the local church. Therefore, all particular churches are confronted with the challenge of inculturation. Moreover, human culture is dynamic since it keeps

116 117 118 119

Roest Crollius, What Is So New, 725. Ibid., 726. Ibid. Ibid., 727-34.

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evolving. Hence, the changes in the peoples culture will represent new choices for the local church, if it is indeed immersed in the culture of the people. The third point, i.e., the relation between stability and change, implies that the enculturation process in the early life stages of a person is quite different from the same process occurring in later (adult) life. In the early stages the person has to learn his culture and is in a way conditioned by his environment, whereas in later life he exercises a greater amount of freedom and can consciously chose which element of culture he wants to adhere to or reject. When transposing this development to the process of inculturation, as experienced by the local church, one distinguishes a preceding phase. The local church does not stand on its own; is in communion with the universal Church. It is this universal Church that extends itself to another particular locality, giving birth to a new Christian community. What actually occurs is a process of acculturation, implying the interaction between two cultures.120 Only after this process the new Christian community that still needs to develop and grow into a local church encounters an experience similar to enculturation. This implies that the local church has to first assimilate the language and symbols of the local culture, after which in a later stage of maturity it can effectively accommodate various elements of the local culture that are not indissolubly bound up with superstition and error. From this organic development Roest Crollius distinguishes three moments in the process of inculturation, which he characterizes as: translation, assimilation, and transformation. Combined together they constitute a process of integration, both in the sense of an integration of the Christian faith and life in a given culture and of the integration of a new expression in the life of the universal Church.121 In sum we can assert that the analogy between enculturation and inculturation has highlighted three basic features of the latter. Firstly, inculturation considers the process in which the Church roots herself in a particular culture and, vice versa, integrates the cultural elements of the local community into the life of the Church. Secondly, inculturation uplifts human culture by purifying it and reorienting it to the gospel. Thirdly, it enriches the universal Church through the adoption of local cultural expressions of the same Christian message that she proclaims.

120

Cf. Chupungco (Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 14) shares the view on acculturation as a preliminary step to inculturation. He further points out: It is indeed unrealistic, if not presumptuous, to embark on liturgical inculturation without going through the process of acculturation. A preliminary comparative study between Christian liturgical forms and corresponding cultural elements has to be instituted before moving to the area of inculturation (Ibid.). Ibid., 735.

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4.3.2. Acculturation
In anthropology acculturation refers to those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups.122 This definition is rather neutral because it does not specify which group confers power or cultural influence unto the other; thus, it leaves this possibility open to both. In addition, it includes the active involvement of both groups in the acculturation process. The meaning of the term changed, however, when it was applied to the context of cultural encounter between Western missionaries and non-Western peoples in the perspective of mission and evangelization. Acculturation was than perceived in terms of power relations. Neckebrouck123 attributes this to the self-understanding of Western people, including European missionaries who were convinced of their own cultural superiority. In missionary praxis it led to the erosion of the aspects of reciprocity and creative assimilation in the classical anthropological definition. Under the influence of colonial ideology, which was congruent with the period of modern missionary expansion, acculturation became synonymous with westernization.124 The general feeling was that the spread of the Gospel entailed the spread of European culture.125 Becoming a Christian did not stop with Baptism. It also entailed, among others, learning to read and write, adopting a Western system for marriages, reviewing ones perception of virtues and vices, and even the replacement of traditional attires for pants and skirt.126 Acculturation implied Western cultural hegemony whereby the receiving culture (i.e., of the various non-Western peoples) accepted Western cultural patterns without creative assimilation. Some scientists allude to this situation when they define acculturation as a situation in which two cultures come into contact with each other and whereby the one supersedes the other

122

Herskovits, Man and His Works, 523; see also Adamo M. Padilla, ed., Acculturation: Theory, Models, and Some New Findings, AAAS selected symposia, vol. 39 (Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 1980); Jean Comby, Bibliographie dhistoire religieuse contemporaine: acculturation du christianisme hors dEurope (Lyon: Universit Jean-Moulin, 1981); Anthony-Emil N. Tachiaos, Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2001). Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 23-24. Ibid., 27. Neckebrouk notes that some missionaries deemed westernization as a necessary precondition before nonWestern peoples could receive the Gospel. They had to be turned into Europeans, as it were, before they could become Christians. Other missionaries, however, abided by an opposite view. In their opinion religious conversion preceded appropriation of (European) civilization. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 20. Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 30.

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(translation added).127 From a liturgical perspective some have defined acculturation as the process whereby cultural elements which are compatible with the Roman liturgy are incorporated into it either as substitutes or illustrations of euchological and ritual elements of the Roman rite.128 Others have used terms such as monoacculturation129 and imposition, though not always in the same context, to express the same mechanisms or power relations as in the colonial expressions of acculturation. In the context of the encounter between Christian faith and cultures acculturation, monoacculturation, and imposition can be seen as forms of transplanting the Church from elsewhere (mainly Europe) to the Third World, thereby producing copies of the Western Church.130 It should be noted, however, that proponents of the acculturation strategy also included people from the receiving cultures. Neckebrouck 131 describes how African Christians have vehemently opposed efforts not rarely by missionaries themselves to assimilate indigenous cultural elements with forms of Christian worship. Compared to their fathers in faith the newly converts seemed more resolute in rejecting certain cultural elements of their own, especially when they felt as if their Christian identity became threatened by a non-Christian environment. However, if we stick to the specific anthropological meaning of acculturation, this term becomes less adequate to envisage the encounter between Christian faith and culture, since, as
127

Auzias, L'anthropologie contemporaine, 124-125; also see D. B. Stout, San Blas Cuna Acculturation: An Introduction, Viking Fund publications in anthropology 9 (New York: Viking fund, 1943), 107. Here Stout concludes that in the acculturation process between Western culture and the culture of the Cuna people of San Blas (i.e., an archipelago consisting of 357 islands located in front of the Panama coast, toward the east of the Panama canal) cultural borrowing have been one-sided, for intercultural diffusion has been overwhelmingly from white to Cuna resulting into adaptation of the latter to the former. Chupungco, Cultural Adaptation, 51. In Id. (Liturgical Inculturation, 27-28) this author, by treading in the footsteps of Shorter, more clearly explains that acculturation is the encounter between two cultures in which they are juxtaposed side by side on a footing of mutual respect and tolerance but without producing an internal change in either; Shorter (Theology of Inculturation, 7) briefly defined acculturation as the encounter between one culture and another, or between cultures. See Kaarina Kailo, Monoculture, Gender and Nationalism: The Kalevala as a Tool of Acculturation, in Ethical Challenges for Teacher Education and Teaching: Special Focus in Gender and Multicultural Issues, online ed., eds. Vappu Sunnari and Rauni Rsnen, (Oulu, Finland: University of Oulu, 2000), 13-37. http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn951425869X/isbn951425869X.pdf (access 23 April 2008). According to Kailo monoacculturation refers to the goals sought after and the strategies used by a particular hegemonic power matrix at any historical moment to control and define reality, values, and tools of socialization and thus secure its own interests. Anthony, Ecclesial Praxis of Inculturation, 37. Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 31-39.

128

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one may argue, the former cannot be identified with Western culture or any particular culture. Therefore, it becomes an imperative to consider other cultural strategies in view of the dynamic relation between Christian faith and culture.

4.3.3. Adaptation
In missiological writings adaptation refers to a cultural strategy employed to relate the Gospel message to non-Western cultures in especially Africa and Asia. It became increasingly heard of and propagated after the acculturation method had seemingly failed to let the Gospel message root itself profoundly into non-Western cultures. The adaptation method was seen as an alternative to replace the acculturation method.132 Placide Tempels, a long-time Flemish missionary working in Africa formulated the fundamental problem the adaptation method sought to address on that continent in his famous La philosophie bantoue in the following way: how to go about engaging in the business of missionary activity among people with the recognition that they are already profoundly shaped by a nonWestern culture with its peculiar cosmology and conceptions about the divine133? This question is connected to another, namely: How should the Gospel be sown so that Christian faith connects to the cultural reality of Africa and roots itself there in a permanent and fruitful way? In Asia the problematic was thought of in an almost similar manner. Already in 1943 E. D. Soper, for instance, raised the question whether Christianity could become indigenous, in the sense of assuming a part of the culture and life of the people. In his view this was the most urgent concern of that time.134 Decades hereafter this concern was still prevalent as a statement by the Catholic Bishops of India from a 1974 document of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) indicates. There the Bishops of India claim:
The Church in India must realize her genuine Indian identity and rid herself of the slur of being foreign which clings to her because of leaning too heavily on foreign support and of the style of life adopted by some of the Christian communities. The Church will realize her Indian identity by adjusting herself to conditions prevailing in the country and developing an indigenous theology. Such a theology will be one of the primary tasks of the local Church, for it reflects on the implications of, 135 and response to, the Word of God within a particular religio-cultural tradition.
132 133 134

Ibid., 50-51. Placide Tempels, La philosophie bantoue (Paris, 1948), 110-11, quoted in Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 46. E. D. Soper, A Philosophy of the Christian World Mission (New York, 1943), 266, quoted in Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 49. Manuel Tejido, ed., His Gospel to Our Peoples Texts, Documents and Other Papers from the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) in connection with the Third General Synod of Bishops, Rome, 1974, vol. 1 (Manila: Cardinal Bea Institute for Ecumenical Studies, 1975), 25.

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In the 1980s some Asian theologians maintained the idea that the evangelization of Asia would not be successful as long as Christianity is presented as being intimately associated with Western culture.136 With this they touched on the crux of the problem the adaptation method sought to resolve. It is based on the premise that the kernel of the Gospel or Christianity is wrapped within a Western cultural husk, which is seen as unavoidable when Western missionaries initially entered non-Western territories to proclaim the Gospel. Adaptation therefore implies undressing the kernel of the Gospel from its Western cultural outfit, and re-clothing it with a cultural attire of the people to whom Jesus message of salvation is brought.137 It means that Christianity, to be rooted permanently and fruitfully in non-Western territories must be translated into the cultural categories of the people to whom it is brought, without losing its essentials. These remain intact, whereas the Western cultural husk is replaced by an indigenous culture design. In other words, Christianity adapts to the surrounding cultural milieu, thereby appropriating an indigenous color that will enable it to root itself in the culture of the people.138 Documents of Vatican II make frequent use of the notion of adaptation.139 It is beyond the scope of this study to explore the meaning of this term in the various documents. An exemption hereof is SC that employed adaptation as a technical term to express the relationship between the Roman liturgy and the local culture. SC 37-40 outline norms for adapting the liturgy to the cultures and traditions of various peoples. There, the term acquired the same meaning as in missiological writings,140 namely cultural adjustment to the people concerned in order to foster full, conscious, and active participation (SC 14)141 from their part.142
136

See Hans Staffner, The Significance of Jesus Christ in Asia, IHS Series, vol. 7: Pastoral, no. 11 (Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1985), 144. See Damen, Subject van de inculturatie, 33. Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 53. See, for instance, Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 37-40, 59, 82; Lumen Gentium, nos. 13, 17; Nostra Aetate, no. 2; Apostolicam Actuositatem, nos. 19, 29; Ad Gentes, nos. 16, 22, 26; Gaudium et Spes, nos., 44, 58, 62. Cf. Hernndez A. Santoz, Adaptacin Misionera, Colleccin misionologica (Bilbao: Siglo de las misiones, 1958). He suggested two different meanings for the term adaptation. One meaning has subjectivist overtones and refers to the person of the missionary who is confronted by the choice to adjust himself personally in a new mission and cultural environment. The other refers to cultural adjustment deemed necessary for an effective presentation of the Gospel in a non-Christian or non-Western environment. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 14 further mentions: In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else. Also see Gabe Huck, Implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: Forty Years Is a Start, Liturgy 19, no. 2 (2004): 11-21, 17-18. Cf. Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 23-24) points to the different meanings of the term in respectively Sacrosanctum Concilium nos. 38-39 and Sacrosanctum Concilium no. 40. The original Latin text initially used the verbs aptatio and accomodatio synonymously. However, in the introductory part of the typical editions of the liturgical book the distinction between these terms was brought back into two separate sections: De Aptationibus, and De Accomodationibus. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), however, had chosen to use for the entire English text one single word, adaptation. The principal difference between aptatio and

137 138 139

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After Vatican II, liturgical adaptation became programmatic within various particular churches resulting to various degrees of successes.143 Much of it though had to do with translating the liturgy into the vernacular of the people.144 These efforts occurred within a context of liturgical renewal.145 However, in the end the adaptation method still did not go as far as to radically transform the various cultures from within, and enabling them to become part and parcel of the life of the Church.146 The concept of adaptation did not go deep enough to help Christianity take root in the various cultures the world over. It was not radical enough, for it hardly succeeded in penetrating more than the superficial levels of culture.147 Some authors even went as far as to claim that adaptation concerned itself with the uncritical submission of cultures to the dominant Eurocentric way of thinking and praying, with the admission that these cultures might have some customs that could be useful in the liturgy.148 Rather than radically transforming culture in order to orient it to the salvific nature of Christ, it accommodated culture by selecting peculiar elements from it for integration into the domains of practical theology. Against this backdrop the bishops of Africa and Madagascar declared at the 1974 Synod:
Our theological thinking must remain faithful to the authentic tradition of the Church and, at the same time, be attentive to the life of our communities and respectful of our traditions and languages, accommodatio is that the former, when approved by the Roman authority, requires that the changes be inserted in the ritual of the local Church, while the latter is a temporary change or modification of the rite made by the minister to accommodate the special interest or needs of various groups.
143

See, for instance, Paul Puthanangady, Inculturation of Liturgy in India Since Vatican II, Concilium 2, no. 162 (1983): 71-77; Amalorpavadass, ed., Post Vatican Liturgical Renewal in India, 1963-December 1968 (Bagalore, 1968); Id., Post Vatican Liturgical Renewal in India at All Levels, vol. 2: 1968-1971 (Bangalore, 1972); Id., Post Vatican Liturgical Renewal in India at All Levels During a Decade, vol. 3 (1971-1973): 1963-1973 (Bangalore, 1976); Id., Post Vatican Liturgical Renewal in India at All Levels, vol. 4 (1974-1976 (Bangalore, 1977), cited in part of the evidence of a programmatic approach to liturgical inculturation in India, between 1968 and 1988, in Jose Mattew Kakkallil, Liturgische inculturatie in India, in Liturgie en inculturatie, ed. Lamberts, 159-69, 163; also see Joseph G. Healy, Inculturation of Liturgy and Worship in Africa, Worship 60, no. 55 (1986): 412-23. See Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 55, 59. See Chupungco, Adaptation of the Liturgy to the Culture and Traditions of Peoples, Notitiae 20 (1984): 820-26; Greco-Roman Culture and Liturgical Adaptation, Notitiae 153 (1978): 202-18. For some examples of successful attempts at liturgical adaptation, see Patrick Chibuko, Liturgical Inculturation: Proposed Pattern, African Ecclesial Review 40, no. 4 (1998): 216-43. Here he discusses respectively the Roman-Swiss Canon/Eucharistic Prayer; Missel Romain pour les Dioceses du Zaire; and the Filipino Tagalog Rite of Marriage. J. M. Waliggo, Making a Church that is Truly African, in Inculturation: Its Meaning and Urgency, eds. Id. et al. (Kampala: Saint Paul Publications-Africa, 1986), 11-31, 11. Gorski, Christology, Inculturation, and Their Missiological Implications, 61. Arbuckle, Inculturation, Not Adaptation, 519; also see Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 59-61.

144 145

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that is our philosophy of life (cf. Ad Gentes, 22: Unitatis Redintegratio 14, 17). Following this idea of mission, the Bishops of Africa and Madagascar consider as being completely out-of-date, the so149 called theology of adaptation. In its stead, they adopt the theology of incarnation.

This theology of incarnation was presented as a new strategy for envisaging the problematic relation between gospel and culture. However, before such a theology could be enacted, another term came in swung in the Catholic theological discourse, namely indigenization.

4.3.4. Indigenization
The term indigenization is coined from the word indigenous and has been employed in both Protestant and Roman Catholic circles. Protestant missionaries working in India and elsewhere already used the term in the earlier part of the twentieth century150 to describe their aim of establishing churches which should be authentically indigenous in governance, financial viability, and ownership of their own mission....151 Indigenization has also been used as a technical term to describe the process in which a local Church grows into maturity by training an indigenous clergy to replace Western missionaries in key positions of staff and administration.152 But the term gained a broader meaning during the Synod of 1974.153 Applied to its theological usage, it reflects aspects of Christianity or Church life that take shape within a particular indigenous culture. It therefore means:
In imitation of the plan of the incarnation, to borrow the words of Ad Gentes 22 and 10, the Church should bind herself to the social and cultural condition, as Christ bound himself, in virtue of his incarnation, to the definite social and cultural conditions of those human beings among whom he dwelt. This means that the Church should transform her structures, rituals and language according to the ways of the people, and thus become an authentic [ local] Church. Only then will she, 154 adorned with the traditions of the people, have her own place in the ecclesiastical communion.

149 150

Statement of the Bishops of Africa, African Ecclesial Review 17, no. 1 (1975): 56-59, 58. See Donald F. Ebright, The National Missionary Society of India, 1905-1942: An Expression of the Movement Toward Indigenization Within the Indian Christian Community (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1944). Brian Stanley, Inculturation: Historical Background, Theological Foundations and Contemporary Questions, Transformation 24, no. 1 (2007): 21-27, 22. See Anthony, Ecclesial Praxis of Inculturation, 39. See P. OConnor, The Bishops Synod and Indigenization, World Mission 26 (1975), 4-12, writing about the 1974 Synod of Bishops at which occasion they discussed the significance of indigenization for the Roman Catholic Church at length, as quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 14. Chupungco, A Filipino Attempt at Liturgical Indigenization, Ephemerides Liturgicae 91 (1977): 370-376, 370-371; cf. Chupungco The Magna Charta of Liturgical Adaptation, Notitiae 14 (1978): 74-89, 84, 87. Here he perceives indigenization as a process of radical adaptation.

151

152 153

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In addition, theologians have employed the term in a liturgical context. It then refers to the process of conferring on Christian liturgy a cultural form that is native to the local community.155 To illustrate this, Indian theologian Amalorpavadass, for instance, asserted that the aim of (liturgical) indigenization is to give to our liturgy a more Indian setting and complexion.156 The term then implies the adoption of local cultural artifacts, such as liturgical vestments, musical instruments, and linguistic tools (vernacularization, i.e., translation of texts into the vernacular for liturgical usage) peculiar to the Indian cultural context. In both its theological and liturgical application indigenization emphasizes an imperative to go native. There are theologians who reject this term because of the in their view derogatory connotation of the word native that clings to it,157 or the rescinded image of colonialism in, for instance, Africa and Asia.158 Others argue that the term can easily transgress into cultural romanticism (i.e., dreaming of a glorious past) and culturalism (i.e., considering indigenous culture as the determining norm of the process of the encounter between the Gospel and culture).159 The comments we have used in this section suggest that indigenization is about fostering the concept of a local Church in any particular environment. But this concept is perceived from one direction, namely from the direction of the Church. The Church ought to become local by rooting herself in the cultures of the people. The implications for the local culture and traditions of the people are not discussed. A genuine local Church must also live up to the demands of the Gospel. It implies an imperative to conversion, an element which seems lacking in written works on indigenization in general. Therefore, this notion falls short to express the dynamic interaction between the Christian faith, as embodied by the Church and cultures. Yet, as a technical term it still finds employment in contemporary theological writings, especially in Protestant circles.160

4.3.5. Incarnation
The method of the incarnation utilizes this term in a technical sense, rather than a doctrinal sense, to envisage the manner in which the Church implants herself in the cultures and traditions
155 156

Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 14. Amalorpavadass, Towards Indigenisation in the Liturgy (Bangalore, 1971), 26-53 quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 14. See Roest Crollius, What Is so New, 723. See Schreiter, Local Theologies, 5. See Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 17. See K. P. Aleaz, Indigenization, in Dictionary of Third World Theologies, eds. Virginia Fabella and R. S. Sugirtharajah (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000), 106-8.

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of various peoples. As a local Church, she assumes the culture of the people amongst whom she lives. In short, she becomes a Church incarnated after the paradigm of Jesus Incarnation. How this actually should occur remains to be a matter on which authors contend by different views. John Taylor, for instance, looks into this matter in the following way:
Either we must think of the Christian Mission in terms of bringing the Muslim, the Hindu, the Animist into Christendom, or we must go with Christ as he stands in the midst of Islam, of Hinduism, of the primal world-view, and watch with him, fearfully and wonderingly, as he becomes dare we say it? 161 Muslim or Hindu or Animist.

Others adopt a less radical approach to the extent that they employ the term incarnation synonymously with inculturation.162 This has particularly been the case when authors refer to the Word of God that became incarnated in Jesus to reveal Gods message of salvation for all. From thence, they point out that the Gospel should be incarnated in every culture, thereby purifying and transforming them in order to bring forth valuable elements for Christian worship. In this way of speaking there seems to be no notable difference between incarnation and inculturation. Another group of authors presents an understanding of the Incarnation in which its scope is widened to include the Paschal Mystery. According to Edward Kilmartin, for instance, the prime analogue of inculturation is the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.163 It is argued that in the encounter between the Gospel of Christ and cultures all elements that are in contradiction to the Word of God, inherent in the latter must die, so that a purified culture can emerge or resurrect. In response to this widened concept of the Incarnation Chupungco argues in favor of a nuanced position hen positing it as a paradigm for inculturation. He, therefore, claims:
The mystery of Christs resurrection [which is an indispensable element of the Incarnation] is not a paradigm of inculturation; unlike the mystery of the incarnation, it cannot be imitated However, it is the underlying motive why the liturgy should be incarnated: in order that the risen Christ, who is now 164 seated at the right hand of God, may continue to be experienced in the Church.

Looking at the relationship between the Church and cultures from this nuanced position sheds an entirely different light on how to envisage the Incarnation in view of (liturgical) inculturation. It implies that instead of perceiving the Incarnation in its strict theological sense synonymously with inculturation, it should rather be seen as a pattern or paradigm for
161 162

John Taylor, The Primal Vision: Christian Presence amid African Religion, 3rd ed. (London: SCM, 1973), 113. Anthony J. Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation: Transforming the Deep Structures of Faith, Irish Theological Quarterly 69, no. 1 (2004): 47-72, 49. Edward Kilmartin, Culture and the Praying Church, Canadian Studies in Liturgy 5 (1990): 62, quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 18; also see Shorter (Toward a Theology, 83-84) discussion of the causal link between the Paschal Mystery and inculturation in which he posits the former as a more satisfactory analogy for the latter (p. 84). Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 18.

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inculturation. In this sense the Incarnation offers a theological basis165 for inculturation. When applying the term incarnation to the liturgy, Chupungco makes a comparison with liturgical adaptation. Based on his argument we can also make the same comparison between incarnation and (liturgical) inculturation. This implies that incarnation deepens our understanding of inculturation in two ways, i.e., as a Christian mystery (doctrinal approach) and as a technical term (pastoral/theological approach).166 As a mystery, it clarifies the why of inculturation, and offers us with a profound insight into the Churchs obligation to engage in an ongoing process of rooting herself in the cultures and traditions of all peoples. What took place when God became human and dwelt among us now takes place when the Church and its liturgy embody the riches of the nations.167 And as a technical term it reinforces our conviction that a necessary condition for inculturation is to embed the liturgy in the local cultures and traditions of the peoples.168

4.3.6. Contextualization
Theologians and missiologists employed the term contextualization169 in an attempt to expand the scope on the cultural context. In their view earlier methods like adaptation, indigenization, and incarnation were more concerned with traditional elements of a culture. They argued that the traditional aspect of culture is just one factor; other factors such as industrialization, urbanization, cultural diversity, modernization and even some aspects of secularization needed consideration since they comprise the broader cultural context. It is this broader cultural context that stands at the basis for reflecting on the encounter between the Gospel and culture.170 Its cultural scope in not just limited to the past, but also considers the present and remains open to the future.171 The contextualization method is concerned with relating the Gospel to the concrete life situations of a given people, living within the entire matrix of a particular cultural context. This context embraces the totality of the political, social, economic and religious layers of the society to which it applies. Hence, this method attempts to
165 166

Ibid. This distinction between a doctrinal and a pastoral/theological approach does by no means imply that the former is void of theological substance. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 18 Ibid. It is generally accepted that the origin of the term contextualization is connected to Staff members of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches (WCC). It was probably coined at the WCCheadquarters in Geneva in 1972. See Roest Crollius, What Is so New, 723, n. 7. Neckebrouck, De derde kerk, 74-75. Cf. Ad Gentes 25, 26.

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communicate the Gospel in word and deed and to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context, presenting Christianity in such a way that it meets peoples deepest needs and penetrates their worldview, thus allowing them to follow Christ and remain 172 within their own culture.

From the perspective of the Third World these deepest needs are related to contemporary issues, ranging from the struggles for justice, to democratization, liberation and social changes ensued from the technological advancement.173 Hence, it considers the multifaceted reality of the context in which people live, work, and worship. Since it has a broader scope its implications are beyond theology, sacramental life, and missionary activity of the Church.174 It therefore includes other theological domains, such as, theological formation, pastoral planning and strategy intertwined within a particular pastoral praxis, and catechesis. Against this backdrop the Nigerian theologian Justine Upkong175 distinguishes between several types of contextualization. Among these are personal contextualization176; liturgical contextualization, for which he mentions the Misa Luba177 as an example; theological contextualization illustrated with different brands of contextual theologies, 178 such as inculturation theology, Black theology, theology of development/political theology, liberation theology, and feminist theology. The theological research in the various local contexts in the past few decades has given rise to a number of other contextual theologies that can easily enlarge Upkongs enumeration. It is also argued that contextualization was already apparent from the inception of the Christian church, even though its vocabulary dates back only to the early 1970s.179 According to this perception, Christians have always had to deal with the reality of contextualization, each time they attempted to communicate the Gospel across language and cultural boundaries. In this line of
172

Darrell L. Whiteman, Contextualization: The Theory, the Gap, the Challenge, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 21, no. 1 (1997): 2-7, 2. Fabella, Contextualization, in Dictionary of Third World Theologies, eds. Fabella and Sugirtharajah, 58-59. Roest Crollius (What Is so New, 732) notes: In its original employment, the term [i.e., contextualization] referred primarily to theological education in non-Western countries, but soon it was felt that the concept could be used also for other aspects of the life and mission of the Church; also see Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 19. Justine S. Upkong, Contextualisation: A Historical Survey, African Ecclesial Review 29, no. 5 (1987): 278-286. Upkong, however, uses the terms personal contextualization and personal indigenization interchangeably, and in both cases these terms mean indigenization. This is a common of the Mass (the liturgical songs) sung in Latin, according to African musical rhythm with African drum accompaniment; also cf. Chupungco (Liturgical Indigenization, 372-376) description of the Misa ng Bayang Pilipino as the Roman Mass in Filipino form, and for which both the terms indigenization and contextualization are seemingly applicable; also Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 20, where contextualized liturgies adopt symbols of protest.. Cf. Schreiter, Local Theologies; Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theologies (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992). Whiteman, The Theory, the Gap, the Challenge. 2.

173 174

175 176

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thinking some assert that a cultureless Christianity does not exist. Every expression of Christianity is culturally loaded, hence informed and determined to varying degrees by its surrounding context.180 Contextualization, thus, impels the Church to be relevant in her entire life and mission to the people of God, wherever they live. It echoes the teachings of Vatican II as laid down in GS and AG. The importance that is attributed to the local context as shaper of the way of being church justifies the idea that contextualization is part of the process of trying to work out ways of worship that resonate better with the cultural context of the worshippers.181 In Roman Catholic circles this process is now known as liturgical inculturation. Before exploring the liturgical dimension of this process, we will first elaborate on the concept of inculturation below.

4.3.7. Inculturation
Before inculturation as a theological concept found its way into a document addressed to the entire Church, several theologians had already adopted it in their writings.182 An early record of the term is found with J. Masson, a former Jesuit professor at the Gregorian University in Rome. In 1962 he wrote about the need for Catholicism that is inculturated, as one of the many forms of faith expression, in the following way: Aujourdhui, alors que, tout justement, lexigence se fait plus urgente dun catholicisme incultur dun faon polymorphe. 183 Some objected to this circumscription because it suggests synonymy between Catholicism and the message of Christ as the object of inculturation.184 Moreover, the exact meaning of the term remained obscure, for lack of a clear definition.
180

See, for instance, Thomas Groome, Inculturation: How to Proceed in a Pastoral Context, Concilium 30, no. 1 (1994): 120-33, 125. See Anita S. Stauffer, Inculturation and Church Architecture, Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 70-80. See Nicolas Standaert, LHistoire dun nologisme: La terme inculturation dans les documents romains, Nouvelle Revue Theologique, vol. 110, no. 4 (1988), 555-70, for the history of the term inculturation. J. Masson, LElgise ouverte sur le monde, NRT 84 (1962): 1032-1043, 1038; cf. Neckebrouck, Progressistische theologie en inculturatie, in Liturgie en inculturatie, ed. Lamberts, 75-109, 76, n. 4. The author claims that contrary to the prevailing perception of J. Masson as the earliest source for the term inculturation other sources provide evidence of a much earlier employment. He refers therefore to R.P. Segura, Linitiation, valeur permanente en vue de linculturation, in Mission et cultures non-chrtiennes, ed. J. Masson (Brugge, 1959); A. Sohier, Inculturation dans le monde chinois, in Ibid. We have, however, traced the first reference in the named book, not edited by J. Masson but by Descle De Brouwer, Mission et cultures non-chrtiennes, Rapports et compte-rendu de la XXIXe Semaine de missiologie, Louvain 1959 [Museum Lessianum. Section missiologigue, vol. 40] (Louvain: privately printed, 1959), 219-35. The article by A. Sohier is absent in this edition. See Leo Amafili, Inculturation: Its Etymology and Problems, Questions Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy 74 (1992): 170-88, 174.

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Furthermore, in 1974 the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) made a strong appeal for an indigenous and inculturated church by declaring:
The local church is a church incarnate in a people, a church indigenous and inculturated. And this means concretely a church in continuous, humble and loving dialogue with the living traditions, the cultures, the religions in brief, with all the life-realities of the people in whose midst it has sunk its 185 roots deeply and whose history and life it gladly makes its own.

The Asian bishops related this statement to the nature of the local Church. For them a significant feature of a local Church is that it is inculturated. Moreover, it remains in continuous dialogue with all the life realities of the people among whom it exists. Apart from lacking a clear definition, this description of inculturation also has its implication as well. The strong emphasis on the cultures, the religions, and living traditions of Asian people that constitute the local Church can yield the assumption that these are normative to the process itself. It does not sufficiently highlight the critical role of the Gospel in this process. Therefore, this description renders the term inculturation problematic, which again underlines the need for a clear definition. Before its definitive inception into the active theological vocabulary of the Church, members of the Society of Jesus had also employed the concept of inculturation, though on a limited scale.186 One of the earliest definitions of inculturation came from Jesuit circles. In a letter to members of his congregation, dated 15 April 1978, the then Superior General, Fr. Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991), defined inculturation as:
The incarnation of the christian life and of the christian message in a particular context, in such a way that this experience not only finds expression through elements proper to the culture in question (this alone would be no more than a superficial adaptation), but becomes a principle that animates, directs and unifies the culture, transforming it and remaking it so as to bring about a new creation.187

This definition poignantly makes clear that inculturation seeks to bring about a radical transformation of culture into a new creation, in a dynamic way.188 Inculturation, therefore,
185

FABC, Final Statement of the First Plenary Assembly of the FABC, Taipei, 22-27 April 1974 His Gospel to Our Peoples , vol. 2 (Manila: Cardinal Bea Institute, 1976), 332, quoted in Roest Crollius, What Is so New, 728; see also, Shorter, Toward a Theology, 10. In the mid-seventies of the previous century the Society of Jesus employed the term during the proceedings of its General Assembly. It appeared several times in the final document issued from this meeting. See Roest Crollius, What Is so New, 722, n. 4. Pedro Arrupe, Letter on Inculturation to the Whole Society of Jesus, Indian Missiological Review 1, no. 1 (1979): 87-95, 87-88. Upkong (Towards A Renewed Approach, 8-24) argues that inculturation must have a transformational impact on the economic, social and political aspects of culture; Lukken (Inculturatie van de liturgie, 25) reinforces this view by asserting that inculturation fundamentally seeks to integrate and transform the economic, political, social and religious life of a people; also cf. Gallagher (Clashing Symbols, 175) who opines: Inculturation is not simply a

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involves the Christianization of culture and the culturing of Christianity.189 This, Gittins asserts, is essentially a work of the Spirit and not simply a rearrangement of structures or the translation of texts.190 In commenting on this definition he first distinguishes between deep structures (i.e., the underpinnings of faith, or core faith values) and surface structures (i.e., the faith praxis liturgy, life).191 For him inculturation is a process of authentic transformation of deep structures into new surface structures, to such extend that the values held at the level of the surface structures reflect the same core faith values of the deep structures.192 He, however, cautions that:
Given that the outcome of inculturation is a new expression of faith (not simply of practice), we must not mistake the latter (a surface structure) with the faith that belongs to the deep structure of our identity. Ideally, the practice(s) [surface structure] will be an authentic and unambiguous expression of what is in the deep structure: but it may not be so; we cannot simply assume it to be so; and we may be quite wrong to think that changes in behaviour are indeed true representations of authentic 193 faith.

Shorter, on the other hand, defines inculturation as the ongoing dialogue between faith and culture or cultures; the creative and dynamic relationship between the Christian message and a culture or cultures.194 In his view this definition implies three underlying features inherent to inculturation: (1) inculturation is an ongoing process that occurs within the entire Church; (2) Christian faith always assumes a particular culture; and (3) the relation between Christian faith and culture is characterized by reciprocity and mutual assimilation. It is hallmarked by a dialogue between partners that fosters mutual understanding and clarifies previously held positions. This implies that both partners have changed due to a growing awareness or understanding of a previous obscure aspect.

matter of changing the culture from the outside: it implies that the Gospel will be firmly and deeply rooted only when it has been received, felt, celebrated, and lived within the deep language of a local culture.
189 190 191 192

Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 57. Ibid., 63 Ibid., 50-53. Cf. John Paul IIs discourse to the bishops of Zaire on 12 April 1983 stating: How is it that a faith which has truly inculturated, is deep and firm, does not succeed in expressing itself in a language, in a catechesis, in theological reflection, in prayer, in the liturgy, in art, in the institutions which are truly related to the African soul? This paradox of inculturation, however, reveals that an inculturated faith has the ability to expressed itself in the areas John Paul II enumerated. If not, the level of depth and maturity becomes rather questionable. Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 56; cf. Amalorpavadass (Theological Reflections on Inculturation, 43), noting that inculturation does not simply entail giving a local cultural expression to Christian elements but rather the totality of one religion interacting and integrating with the totality of a culture which itself could be integrated with another religion. It is about the birth of a new creation within both the culture and the Church indicating that both entities undergo change and transformation in their encounter. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 11.

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Chupungco, however, in an earlier writing defined inculturation as the process whereby a pre-Christian rite is endowed with Christian meaning.195 In a later work he explains more clearly the meaning of inculturation by contrasting it to acculturation, and thereby making use of schematic formulae. Unlike the acculturation formula A + B = AB, he uses for inculturation the formula A + B = C, implying that:
The contact between A and B confers mutual enrichment on the interacting parties, so that A is no longer simply A but C, and likewise B is no longer B but C. However because of the dynamic of transculturation, A does not become B, nor does B become A. Both undergo internal transformation, 196 but in the process they do not lose their identity.

This formula highlights the double movement inherent in inculturation. It portrays a dynamic interaction process in which both entities are transformed into a new entity. Roest Crollius poignantly expresses this idea when he describes the process of inculturation of the Church as:
The integration of the Christian experience of a local Church into the culture of its people, in such a way that this experience not only expresses itself in elements of this culture, but becomes a force that animates, orients and innovates this culture so as to create a new unity and communion, not 197 only within the culture in question but also as an enrichment of the Church universal.

Taken from this description we can attribute the following core characteristics to inculturation. It animates, in other words sets people in motion; it (re)directs attention to Christ; it has innovative power and therefore the potential to renew a culture; finally, it also has creative power as to bring about a new unity and communion within both the cultures involved and Christianity, or the Church universal. Hence we can say that (1) inculturation is an ongoing process of interaction between the Christian message of salvation and the culture or cultures in which it is inserted; (2) this process leads to mutual assimilation between the parties involved, (3) without either loses its identity or essential features.198 For others, however, the third dimension of inculturation constitutes a process of purification of a culture from traces of imperfection, and its

195 196

Chupungco, Cultural Adaptation, 84. Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 30) holds that in inculturation the interaction between cultures progresses in three distinct processes: interaction, mutual assimilation, and transculturation; also see, Mark Millinton, Transculturation: Contrapuntal Notes to Critical Orthodoxy, Bulletin for Latin American Research 26, no. 2 (2007): 256-68. This author assesses current employments of the term transculturation and examines the implications of this term in cultural and human experience. Roest Crollius, What Is So New? 735. Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 29) refers to this third element as transculturation. However, in the process of inculturation between the Gospel and culture, it is not unthinkable that even cultural features hitherto regarded as essential to the peoples culture, need to be eradicated when they oppose Gospel values. It is in fact a requirement that people are liberated from these so-called essentials which keep them in captivity to sin and sinful structures.

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ennoblement by the power of the gospel.199 Therefore, Roest Crollius contends that the aim of inculturation is the creation of a new unity and communion, not only within the culture in question but also as an enrichment of the Church universal.200 These characteristics of inculturation are in varying degrees lacking in the other methods that seek to construe a relation between the Gospel and culture. Unlike these other methods, inculturation avoids the risk of cultural relativism. Briefly explained, one can assert that adaptation to the cultures of the people inhabits the danger of a one-way-street whereby cultures do not need to change. Indigenization also presents the same problem when perceived as adapting the liturgy to indigenous elements of a culture. 201 Contextualization, on the other hand, when overemphasizing the own context, can lead to isolation. For a local Church a possible danger could be that it becomes estranged from the universal Church, thereby running the risk of getting closed up in itself. It is against the backdrop of these considerations that we deem the method of inculturation more appropriate for the perennial task of evangelization. Various Vatican documents202 endorse it as an indispensable method in evangelization today.203 In the following sub-chapter we will further our thoughts on this method by examining its biblical and historical antecedents, and the way Church documents construe of its problematic.

4.4.

Loci for inculturation

People of all times have responded to Gods Word in ways profoundly determined by their cultural upbringing. Human responses to the Word of God are therefore essentially cultural expressions. Inculturation as a process in which cultures encounter the Word of God, inevitably engenders cultural expressions of faith. As such, although inculturation is a neologism, it remains to be a phenomenon of all the time. Therefore, if we consider the process by itself, there is nothing new about inculturation. What is rather new is the state of the question, or the manner in which this question is perceived. 204 It is precisely the more vivid awareness of the dialogical character of

199

Barnes Maurie, Dynamics of Inculturation: A Theologico-Scriptural Perspective, Mission Today 7 (2005): 123-36, 125. Roest Crollius, The Meaning of Culture, 272. See Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 16 See, for instance, Catechesi Tradendae, no. 53; Redemptoris Missio, no. 52. Maurie, Dynamics of Inculturation, 123. See Roest Crollius, Inculturation: Newness and Ongoing Process, in Inculturation: Its Meaning and Urgency, eds. J. M. Waliggo et al., 31-45.

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the relation between Church and cultures 205 which distinguishes inculturation from other methods that construe of this relation. A question for us now is: How can biblical and historical antecedents of inculturation enrich our present-day theological reflection on evangelization, in view of inculturation? This by no means implies a resort to the past in order to find solutions for contemporary challenges. But a consideration of these antecedents can guide us in our effort to remain connected with the long and veritable tradition of the Church relation to culture, without having to glorify the past. It is from this assumption that we embark on this section by starting with examining various loci for inculturation. For that purpose we identify three different sources: the Bible, the Churchs mission history, and Church documents. Our discussion of the biblical data related to inculturation is mainly guided by the insights from Shorters Theology of Inculturation and Mauries brief, but insightful theologico-scriptural reflection on the Dynamics of Inculturation.

4.4.1. Inculturation and the Bible

Inculturation derives its theological statute from its biblical groundings. Without its biblical foundations it would have been impossible to conceive of it in a theological sense. The theological discourse on inculturation focuses in part on its links with both the Old Testament and the New Testament.206 In this section we shall attempt to illustrate how inculturation derives meaning from the Bible. However, one needs to keep in mind that theologians hold different views on what they perceive to be examples of inculturation, related to particular instances recorded in the Bible. There exists a variety of opinions, and what one author claims as a foremost biblical example of inculturation, is received by others with due reservations, or sometimes even repudiated with an argumentation that leads to a contrary position. The examples we provide in this section serve as illustrations for our case, i.e., to explicate the biblical groundings of inculturation without claiming exhaustiveness. 4.4.1.1. Inculturation in the Old Testament

In an attempt to illustrate the perennial character of inculturation Shorter expands its scope beyond Christianity by pointing out examples of it in the Old Testament.207 He, however,
205 206

Roest Crollius, The Meaning of Culture, 272. Cf. Paul Beauchamp et al., Bible and Incultuation, Inculturation: Working Papers on Living Faith and Cultures, vol. 3, ed. Roest Crollius (Rome: Pontifical Gregorian University, 1983). Shorter, Toward a Theology, 104-118.

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uses a slightly different term to indicate the ongoing dialogue between faith and culture or cultures.208 In reference to the text of Is. 55: 6-11, he argues in favor of a particular form of inculturation that takes up the following meaning:
An on-going dialogue between biblical faith and the culture of Israel, this faith having arrived at independently through reflection on Israels history and its encounter with other cultures, without 209 the need for a first insertion of that faith from a previous, non-Israelite cultural form.

Shorter calls this form of inculturation auto-inculturation, since it is God who took the initiative to purify and restore Israels culture.210 Moreover, the faith reflected within Hebrew Scriptures has adopted a non-inculturated form. Earlier Shorter claimed that acculturation becomes a pre-requisite for the Christian inculturation,211 since the Christian faith that people encounter is a faith that was born out of a religious acculturation process involving Jewish, GrecoRoman and European cultures. Another example for Shorter is what he calls the Canaanite inculturation.212 He discusses the period between the exodus and the Babylonian exile, and goes on to demonstrate how Israel appropriated several elements from Canaanite culture, followed by its own reinterpretation thereof. Israel does this in light of its own experience with revelation and liberation by God. Some of the psalms bear witness to this form of inculturation. Shorter cites Ps. 29: 3-9 as an example of a theme (i.e., Gods majestic revelation accompanied by a powerful, thunderous voice) taken over from previous existing Canaanite hymns. The concerned text of this psalm recognizably displays the presence of Canaanite hymnal style and rhythm. In addition, the sapiential literature employed many non-Jewish cultural sources for own usage (for instance, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, and Greek). That explains the strong presence of Greek influence, particularly in the Book of Wisdom.213
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Various authors, in the footstep of Shorter, employ this brief phrase to characterize the concept of inculturation. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 106. Cf. Donald P. Senior and Caroll Stuhlmueller, The Biblical Foundations for Mission (London: SCM, 1983), 37, who opine that this text reflects what they call Gods acculturation. The underlying thought of this biblical text is shaped by the idea that Israels cultural values have become corrupt due to sin, human frailty and prejudice. In order to purify and restore Israels culture and thereby lead the people of the Covenant back to Gods paths, God, in keeping with His promises to David, takes the initiative by sending out His Word to the people of Israel. The authors employed the term Gods acculturation to depict the process embodied in this biblical text. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 5. Ibid., 109-11. Ibid., 115; Maurie (Dynamics of Inculturation, 129) also offers some interesting examples with bibliographical references. The following is a selection from his enumeration on p. 126, n. 23: The very word Bible shows a Phoenician and Greek heritage in it Cf. B. J. Fleischer, Practical Theology and Transformative Learning, in Forging a Better Religious Education in the Third Millennium, ed. James M. Lee (Birmingham: REP, 2000), 203-25; Interracial marriage were common. Abraham, for example, took Hagar an Egyptian woman as his mistress. Moses married a woman from Cush (Num 12:1) who was certainly a black woman Cf. C. P. De Young, Coming Together:

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Rather than pointing out fore post sings of inculturation in the Old Testament, Barnes Maurie outlines a biblical foundation of inculturation in which he perceives the Old Testament as an initial stage towards the full realization of inculturation at incarnation. 214 Based on a schematic presentation of what he calls the dynamics of inculturation, Maurie identifies four distinct stages in which this initial phase occurred. These are: (1) Voluntary election, illustrated by the call of Abraham; (2) covenantal relationship, concurring with the wandering period of the Israelites; (3) Gods liberative intervention, as exemplified by the exodus experience; and (4) the insertion into culture on the basis of the settlement in the promised land. The history of salvation serves as the background and cohesive factor for these four stages. In the first stage God voluntarily takes the initiative by calling Abram from his native Ur to become the Father of a vast nation (Gen 12:1). Maurie notes here that this action reflects the emergence of El or a monotheistic Being. Thus we witness here the beginnings of a people with a culture that had its basis in monotheism.215 The second stage depicts how Yahweh entered into an intimate relationship with his chosen people and how He sealed His predilection for the Israelites with the covenant, which He made with His people at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:1ff).216 Again, here too Yahweh is the One who took the initiative. In the third stage Yahweh demonstrated His faithfulness to the covenant and adapts Himself to the sociohistorical conditions by revealing himself to Moses as a liberating God when He said: I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians ... (Ex 3:8). God did not only liberate His people; he also laid down rules of conduct when He strengthened the covenant at Sinai, saying: From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all nations shall be my very own, for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation (Ex 19:5-6).217 This implied an imperative for His people to do away with all their wrong-doings, in other words, allowing Gods Word to purify their culture.

The Bibles Message in an Age of Diversity (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1983), 4ff.; Many Jewish children bore the name of Baal like, Jeru-Baal (Jud 6:25-31), Mephi-Baal (2 Cor 8:34), Ish-Baal (2 Sam 2:8-11) and others. The Book of the Judges 9,4 records the worship offered to Baal of the Covenant at Shechem Cf. B. W. Anderson, The Living World of the Old Testament (London: Darton-Longman & Todd Ltd., 1976), 105ff.
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Maurie, Dynamics of Inculturation, 126. For Maurie the New Testament is the realization of the most important stage in the dynamics of inculturation in the history of salvation (p. 130). He goes on to posit the the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ as the third and final stage in this dynamics which in his perception can be called a transculturation (p. 134-135). Ibid., 126. Ibid., 127. Ibid.

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Finally, Gods Word impregnated Jewish culture to the extent that it gave birth to new cultural expressions of faith, rooted in the historical consciousness of the people. These expressions illustrate a shift from a God as a distant Other, or the God of the Tent or Ark of the Covenant (a non-residential Being) into a residential Being who the people henceforth experience as central to their lives and culture. This correspond to such titles of God as Rock (Ps 18:31; 28:1; 71:3), Fortress (Ps 18:2; 62:2), stronghold (Ps 9:9; 27:1) ... etc.218 This final stage also vividly portrays the reciprocal character between biblical faith and culture, by demonstrating that Gods Word uplifts the culture to a new creation, and the culture in turn enriches God-talk, or the understanding of God with new cultural expressions. These four stages reveal another important insight, namely that inculturation is essentially the work of God through the workings of the Holy Spirit, and not the achievement of human endeavors. It underscores the idea that any attempt at inculturation ought to be characterized by humble serenity, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and at the same time be at the center of that process. 4.4.1.2. Inculturation in the New Testament

Against the background of the New Testament Maurie explains the dynamics of inculturation as follows:
[It first] begins with voluntary election, that is when the gospel (A) chooses a particular culture. This is followed by the dynamics of relationship based on mutual respect and equality. This is followed by insertion into the culture of the people, which is a dynamic movement from both sides (A B). Finally there is the process of identification (AB) by which the gospel becomes part and parcel of the culture and the people. This is the stage where culture is evangelized and the gospel inculturated. Inculturation does not end here; otherwise it would lead to isolation, instead it opens a community 219 to other cultures and generates sensus ecclesiae.

This explanation highlights that inculturation is not the reflection of an event, or a particular situation. It is rather a process. Nevertheless, some authors perceive the Pentecost event, as related in the Acts of the Apostles, as a New Testament example of inculturation. This example has people from diverse cultural backgrounds hearing the apostles preach the Gospel in their respective mother tongues. The argument here is that the Gospel enters a variety of cultures. These in turn become enriched and accommodate the Gospel message, in the sense that it is proclaimed in new languages which had hitherto not been used for such. But the Gospel message too, in turns accommodates these
218 219

Ibid., 128. Ibid., 125.

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cultural languages. In other words, faith in the risen Lord finds new cultural expressions. Therefore, some perceive Pentecost as the first time the inculturation of the Good News in different cultures220 to have occurred. According to Arbuckle, Jesus Last Supper, as related by the various evangelists, constitutes one of the earliest New Testament example of inculturation. In his view Jesus used the method of functional substitution. Arbuckle explains this as follows:
He preaches in the synagogue and shows himself to be a good Jew by frequenting the temple. At the same time, however, when he uses traditional religious customs, he endows them with new meanings, for instance, at the Last Supper the traditional Passover meal is given a much richer meaning. This is a perfect example of inculturation, that is , a dynamic and critical interaction between the Gospel and cultures, Jesus helps his listeners to discover what is good and what to retain in traditional Jewish life, and what needs to be changed because of his message by the 221 introduction of new meanings.

Francesco Rossi de Gasperis, on the other hand, regards the Church of Jerusalem as the first and primordial example of inculturation.222 He bases this claim on the fact that this Church served as the original starting point for Christian mission to the Hellenistic world; it occupied a privileged position among other churches, seeing that it convened the first council. Furthermore, it is argued that in this Church the Christian rereading of the Old Testament became standard. And since it ultimately presided over the redaction of the New Testament, its culture became the purveyor to the Gospel. Notwithstanding the given that the Jerusalem Church can be seen as an important starting point for Christian mission toward the Gentiles, Shorter opines a contrary position by contending:
The Aramaic-speaking Judeo-Christian Church of Jerusalem was actually an obstacle to inculturation. It was, for example, very slow to develop a Christology, in comparison with other early Christian communities. It did not accept the implications of the universalism of Christ. Its cultural self-criticism did not go far enough. It remained marginal to the whole process of Christian evangelization. The fact is that Christianitys new creation of human cultures only started when the Jewish religious culture 223 was destroyed and the Jerusalem community had ceased to exist.

Shorter tries to substantiate his claim by pointing out that the Church of Jerusalem initially struggled with abiding by the implications of Christ universalism. It found it hard to accept that
220

Martin Maier, Inculturation, Stimmen der Zeit: Die Zeitschrift fur christliche Kultur [English version] (August 2007): 505-506, 506; available from http://www.con-spiration.de/texte/english/2007/maier2-e.html; Internet accessed 18 February 2008. Arbuckle, Earthing the Gospel: An Inculturation Handbook for the Pastoral Worker (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990), 10. See Francesco Rossi de Gasperis, Continuity and Newness in the Faith of the Mother Church of Jerusalem, in Bible and Inculturation, Beauchamp et al., 17-69. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 129.

221

222

223

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Gentile cultures were capable of accepting and absorbing Christs message of salvation. After Jerusalem was captured during the second war of Hadrian in AD 135, the Judeo Christians were dispersed in Transjordan and Syria. Eventually Judeo-Christianity in Jerusalem came to an inglorious end.224 Concerning the Church of Corinth Shorter makes some crucial observations, derived from a cultural reading225 of the New Testament. His observations are meant to bring the claim of the Corinthian Church as a failed example of inculturation a claim held by de Gasperis and others to its proper proportions. To that extent, Shorter points to, among others, the dominance of the Hellenistic culture in Corinth, which seemed to have been impervious to Christianity. Moreover, Shorter claims, the Corinthian Christians, themselves being a composition of diverse cultures, were unable to have any significant impact on the surrounding cultures, let alone to start a serious dialogue that could inspire a transformation of these cultures by the Gospel message. Internal differences and moral issues were decisive factors that had to be reckoned with. Even after several decades these issues had not been resolved, as Clement of Romes letter to the Corinthians, written c. AD 94, testified. According to Shorter that letter revealed that in spite of Pauls magnificent teachings, the situation was unchanged, and that factions were still plaguing the Christian community there. 226 This problematic context has led Shorter to conclude: Inculturation was not even attempted at Corinth, so there was no question of its success or failure.227 His observation is relevant for the idea that depicts inculturation as a process of radical conversion. When looking at New Testament recordings of early Christianitys missionary encounter with non-Jewish culture, Shorter observes a preoccupation from the former to extricate the Gospel from the religious culture of Judaism. This preoccupation prevented early Christianity to seriously consider the religious culture of the non-Jews, which accounts for a lack of dialogue between the two.228 According to Shorter, this has notably been the case with both the Church of Corinth and the Church of Jerusalem. Therefore, he contends that rather than inculturation, acculturation was the order of the day in early Christianitys missionary enterprise. In Christian theology inculturation, however, ultimately aims at transforming human cultures to become Christo-centric. Its adepts ceaselessly try to (re)orient cultures to the
224 225

Ibid., 129-30. A cultural reading implies that one looks closely at the culture of a people and tries to understand from their cultural perspective the reasons that govern their actions, customs, decisions, etc. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 131. Ibid., 130. Ibid., 128.

226 227 228

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universal saving grace of Christ. They do so because Christs salvific event bears universal value for mankind. It is from this observation that the point in question can be seen as a measuring stick for the absence or presence of inculturation. Despite Shorters critical remarks, Schineller maintains that the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49 reflected one of the key moments for inculturation in the history of the Churchs mission.229 The paramount question at this Council concerned the challenge for the Apostolic Church, framed within Jewish culture, to relate to the newly non-Jewish converts stemming from Gentile cultures. Should gentiles aspiring to accept the new religion, or those already converted to Christ adhere to Jewish religio-cultural practices? The outcome was that the Gentile Christians did not have to adhere to Jewish religio-cultural prescriptions in order to profess their faith in Jesus Christ.230 In other words, they did not have to become Jewish Christians but could rather embrace the new faith and still remain rooted within their own respective cultures. In this way Gentile culture remained intact and the form of worship retained its Jewish religio-cultural entourage. Hence, there was a juxtaposition of the two cultures, without the one assimilating with the other. Therefore, strictly speaking the encounter of the Christian message with Gentile culture did not lead to inculturation, as Schineller has it; it rather led to a process of acculturation. Furthermore, Chupungco points out that in the Apostolic Church inculturation was never felt to be an imperative. Christians then were mostly Jews and pagans who still in varying degrees esteemed, or at least felt sympathy for Judaism. These early Christians did not feel compelled to tackle the problem of incorporating pagan culture to the liturgy. The preoccupation at that time was how to preserve the Jewish heritage and at the same time maintain the newness of Christianity.231 The book of Didach, written between 90 and 120, vividly illustrates this tension in the recorded prayer texts. These are deeply embedded in Jewish tradition, but they center on Christ.232 From a cultural reading of the New Testament it becomes rather difficult to make a strong case for inculturation inherent in the New Testament writings. What we see there, however, are examples of how the Apostolic Church exerted to bring the Gospel in non-Jewish cultural milieus. In a real sense, early Christian communities adopted Jewish forms of worship used in the synagogue to give expression of their faith in the risen Christ. This implies that Jewish forms of

229 230

See Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 29-32.

Cf. Nicolas Standaert, Inculturation: The Gospel and the Cultures, trans. Anton Bruggeman (Mechelen: Kerk en Wereld, 1990), 67.
231 232

Chupungco, Greco-Roman Culture and Liturgical Adaptation, Notitiae, vol. 15 (1979): 202-18, 205. Ibid.

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worship as occurring in the synagogue which are at the origin of the Roman liturgy, accommodated the early Christians to give a liturgical expression of their faith in Christ.233

4.4.2. Inculturation in the history of the Churchs missionary activities

Apart from its biblical references some authors find ample evidence of various attempts made to inculturate the Christian faith in cultures the world over. This happened in different periods of the Churchs mission history. The underlying thought is that each time the Gospel enters into another cultural milieu than its own, the receiving culture needs due consideration. Moreover, the reason why it is important to consider the history of the Churchs mission activity is because it constitutes a long adventure of seeking to make real, in new languages and cultures, the revelation of Gods live in Jesus Christ,234 which, as we will later demonstrate, is a fundamental aspect of inculturation. Both individual missionaries and missionary congregations as a whole employed various cultural strategies to implant the Church amidst non-Western peoples. Some authors, however, label several of these approaches as inculturation.235 It would, however, be more appropriate to place that term between inverted commas because it is rather questionable whether the concerned actors were even aware of the implied dialogical character. Hence, often the encounter between the Gospel and the receiving culture remained at the level of acculturation.236 In what is to follow we shall pay attention to the manner in which the Church in her mission history went about introducing the Gospel to peoples and cultures hitherto unfamiliar with Christianity. We will reflect on this missionary enterprise from the Church along five succeeding stages. The main question for this brief historical survey is: how did the Church handle the difficult question of the relationship between faith and culture? This is an important question since it highlights the extent to which inculturation is embedded in the Churchs tradition. Moreover, it is
233 234 235 236

Shorter, Toward a Theology, 132. Gallagher, Some Theological Perspectives, 173. We shall explore the notion of inculturation in the next chapter. See Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 28-44; Shorter, Toward a Theology, 137-76. Gittins (Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 47) begins his article with aptly remarking: There is misunderstanding and disagreement about inculturation, often mistaken for what is really acculturation. And in response to Mark Francis, Hispanic Liturgy in the U.S.: Toward a New Inculturation, Journal of Hispanic Liturgical Theology 8 (2000): 33-54, who argued that the missionary period between the sixteenth and eighteenth century in Latin America could best be characterized as an initial inculturation, Gittins asserts that a social anthropologist would rather assess that to be essentially acculturation in two phases: an encounter between Old World liturgy and New World worldview, followed by a confrontation between Tridentine Catholicism and popular religion or religiosity and the attempted ousting of the latter by the former (or the imposition of Tridentine religion) [p. 64]. Gittins maintains: Deep did not call on deep (Ps 42:7): the deep structures of Christianity and the local peoples culture failed to communicate (p. 64, n. 62).

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indicative for the manner in which we can envisage inculturation hermeneutically. It will become clear that inculturation is essentially a summons to conversion. 4.4.2.1. Christianity and culture during the period of the Apologist Fathers

As the Christian message kept spreading beyond Hellenistic-Jewish frontiers, the numbers of Gentile converts increased. Christianity saw itself confronted with Gentile cultures and it was especially Christian Apologists who sought to uncover the hidden presence of Christ in the cultures of the new converts. A notable example hereof is St Justin the Martyr, who produced a veritable catalogue of pagan types for the cross of Christ, chief among them being the mast to which Odysseus was bound as he sailed past the sirens.237 This way of dealing with Gentile cultures illustrates certain flexibility on the part of the Church in her missionary encounters with these concerned cultures at that time. This flexible approach was a necessity since it was felt that in order to make Christianity acceptable to the new converts it had to be explained in their language and illustrated with rituals with which they were familiar.238 However, the strong influence of the Apologist Fathers on the presentation of Christianity in Gentile cultures makes it arguable whether one should speak of a dialogue or just a monologue. It is not clear what the contribution of the newly converts was to shaping the Christianity that they embraced. Though it was translated into cultural categories which they recognized, it seems input still occurred beyond their influence. The method the Apologist Fathers employed in their missionary endeavor is sometimes referred to as functional substitution. It signifies a process whereby over a period of time a Christian meaning is substituted for a non-Christian understanding of an action or expression.239 Some regard St. Tertullian as a proponent of this strategy since he made use of Roman juridical language to explain certain aspects of the Christian faith, such as Baptism presented as the breaking of a contract with the world. Chupungco explains that Tertullian wanted to impress upon Christians the juridical consequences of baptism.240

237 238 239

Shorter, Toward a Theology, 139. Chupungco, Greco-Roman Culture, 205.

Arbuckle, Inculturation, Not Adaptation, 512; cf. Pierre-Marie Gy, The Inculturation of the Christian Liturgy in the West, Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 8-18, 11 who mentions this method in reverse among Christians of the early centuries. They would, among others, give a Christian religious sense to words taken from ordinary non-religious language. An example hereof is in the word used by Christians to designate prayer: oratio, which in pre-Christian Latin means ordinary words or speech. For a long time the Christians felt it was impossible to use the word preces, which was employed for pagan prayer (p. 11).
240

Chupungco, Greco-Roman Culture, 208.

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St. Ambrose of Milan employed the same technique when he explained the use of oil in the sacraments to confer spiritual power of healing rather than physical strength.241 Although this technique indicates flexibility from the Churchs part toward the encountered cultures, Chupungcos assessment of the writings of St. Justin the Martyr and St. Tertullian shows the opposite. He points out that the Churchs attitude toward pagan cult at that time was one of total contempt for anything connected with idol worship. Pagan gods, rituals and temples were creations of the devil himself, and Christianity could have nothing to do with them.242 There are three possible explanations for the stern stance the Apologist Fathers adopted toward pagan rituals.243 Firstly, Judaisms staunch monotheism apparently had a strong impact on Christianity then, even to the extent of how to value polytheism. Secondly, the concerned Apologist Fathers were themselves converts. It is believed that converts usually display a higher degree of fanaticism when it comes to defending the newly acquired faith against the very original religious systems. And thirdly, the persecution waged against the early Church may have well sparked sentiments of moral and religious superiority among the early Christians against paganism. One can describe the early Churchs approach toward non-Christian peoples in the period of the Apologist Fathers as paradoxical. While the early Church rejected paganism outright, it still made use of non-Christian symbols and rituals to explain certain aspect of the Christian faith. This approach is indicative for a process of careful selection and adoption of Greco-Roman symbols into to worship of the Church. Assimilation and substitution were the two methods (of adaptation) which the Church employed to render Christian worship meaningful and approachable to people from pagan cultures.244 4.4.2.2. Christianity and culture after the Peace of Constantine

During the fourth century, when the Church became intimately linked with secular powers, as a result of the Peace of Constantine, the liturgy adopted rituals of kingship celebrated at Constantinople.245 The Christian liturgy remained unchanged in essence, but was adorned with elements from the imperial court system. Hence, we can assert that in this stage of liturgical development, there was a process of cultural borrowing that evolved beyond the imperial secular cultures. The socio-historical circumstances of that time led to a formalization of the liturgy in the

241 242 243 244 245

Arbuckle, Inculturation, Not Adaptation, 512. Chupungco, Greco-Roman Culture, 206. Ibid., 206-07. Ibid., 211. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 139.

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West where it had appropriated symbols from the imperial court system. Shorter explains this as follows:
The rituals of kingship celebrated at Constantinople, the former Byzantium and now the New Rome, coloured the Christian liturgy and shaped the Churchs hierarchical tradition. When the Western Empire finally collapsed, the imperial mantle descended upon the shoulders of the Pope at the Old 246 Rome and the papal monarchy began to evolve.

But with the rise of the Eastern churches by the middle of the fifth century, a distinct pattern of liturgical diversity emerged.247 At the end of the sixth century, during the reign of Pope Gregory I, the Church displayed a paradoxical stance toward the foreign cultures that it encountered in newly established mission territories. In 595 Gregory I decided to send St. Augustine of Canterbury 248 with several companions to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. They did engage in missionary activities, but, as Shorter aptly remarks, they rode out upon the wave of a superior culture and their Roman ethnocentrism precluded any serious dialogue with the culture of the Anglo-Saxons.249 In 601 Mellitus, a French abbot, set out to join St. Augustine in Britain. For that occasion, Pope Gregory I wrote him a letter with instructions as contained in the following excerpt:
When by Gods help you reach our most reverend brother, Bishop Augustine, we wish you to inform him that we have been giving careful thought to the affairs of the English, and have come to the conclusion that the temples of the idols in that country should on no account be destroyed. He is to destroy the idols, but the temples themselves are to be aspersed with holy water, altars set up, and relics enclosed in them. For if these temples are well built, they are to be purified from devil-worship, and dedicated to the service of the true God. In this way, we hope that the people, seing [sic] that its temples are not destroyed, may abandon idolatry and resort to these places as before, and may come to know and adore the true God. And since they have a custom of sacrificing many oxen to devils, let some other solemnity be substituted in its place, such as a day of Dedication or the Festivals of the holy martyrs whose relics are enshrined there. On such occasions they might well construct shelters of boughs for themselves around the churches that were once temples, and celebrate the solemnity with devout feasting. They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the Devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the Giver of all gifts for his bounty. If the people are allowed some worldly pleasures in this way, they will more readily come to
246 247 248

Ibid. See Herman A. J. Wegman, Riten en mythen: liturgie in de geschiedenis van het christendom (Kampen: Kok, 1991). See Margareth Deanesly, Augustine of Canterbury (London: Nelson, 1964); and Anthony Marett-Crosby, The Foundations of Christian England: Augustine of Canterbury and His Impact (York: Ampleforth Abbey, 1997) for detailed biographical accounts of this saint, who later became known as St. Augustine of Canterbury, probably to avoid being confused with St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church. St. Augustine of Canterbury died on 26 May 604. He was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 589. Hence, the addition of Canterbury. He is considered as the Apostle of the English, a founder of the English Church, and a patron of England. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 141.

249

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desire the joys of the spirit. For it is certainly impossible to eradicate all errors from obstinate minds at one stroke, and whoever wishes to climb to a mountain top climbs gradually step by step and not 250 in one leap

One notices in this letter the strategy of functional substitution at work, alongside with cultural borrowing. The letter advances a positive attitude toward certain aspects of the people (material) culture. It is reminiscent to the accommodation model, which facilitates a slow and gradual insertion from the part of the newly converts into Christianity. Nevertheless, the Latin language and culture were still normative for teaching the faith to the Anglo-Saxon people. In the centuries that followed the Church applied the same policy with subtle nuances, when she set out to evangelize the people of other Western European countries.251 We will soon return to that period. However, in Shorters view the letter does not indicate willingness to dialogue with the Anglo-Saxon culture, nor does it attest to an explicit desire to evangelize this culture from within.252 One may agree or disagree with the adopted strategy. But what is certain is that the letter makes it painstakingly clear that under no condition can the Gospel be compromised when it encounters a particular culture. Rather than taking culture as the point of departure, one ought to give priority to the Word of God as the ultimate criteria for orienting culture to Christ. This criterion has been constant in the Churchs teaching regarding the relation between Gospel and culture. It is therefore enshrined in a long and veritable tradition. 4.4.2.3. Christianity and culture toward the end of the first millennium

John Paul IIs Encyclical Letter Slavorum Apostoli mentions the missionary work of the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius among the Slav people during the ninth century as an extraordinary example of inculturation. According to this Encyclical The work of their evangelization contains both a model of what today is called inculturation, the incarnation of the Gospel in native cultures and also the introduction of these cultures into the life of the Church.253 In the following discussion of the missionary work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius we are guided in large part by Michael Lackos thorough study of the life of these Saints-brothers.254 We
250

Gregory the Great, Letter to Abbot Mellitus, in A History of the English Church and People, Book 1, trans. and with an introduction by Leo Sherley-Price, Bede (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1965 [1955]), 86-87. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 143. Ibid., 141. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Slavorum Apostoli (Rome, 2 June 1985), no. 21.

251 252 253 254

Michael Lacko, Saints Cyril and Methodius (Rome: Slovak Editions Sts. Cyril and Methodius, 1963). In this study Lacko provides both biographical information of these Saints-brothers and a detailed discussion of the individual aspects of their missionary activity.

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deem his work important for our current endeavor because the detailed information it contains concerning the life and work of these Saints-brothers. Moreover, it makes extensive use of primary sources, written in, among others, Slavonic languages which are inaccessible to us. These two brothers were born in Thessalonica, probably in 825 and 826. In 861 they were sent to evangelize the Khazars in Russia. Of these two brothers it was particularly Cyril who was commended for his religious and cultural expertise. But in 863 they went to Moravia, upon the request of Prince Rastislav of Greater Moravia, who had asked Emperor Michael III for a bishop and teacher, first, one who was able to preach the Gospel and explain the true Christian faith in to Slavs in their own language.255 Despite earlier evangelization efforts by Bavarian missionaries, Lacko points out that it is only through the work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius that the Christian faith became definitively established among several Slav nations.256 An important aspect of their missionary enterprise consisted of constructing a Slavonic alphabet. On the basis of the Greek alphabet they constructed a written form for the Slavonic dialect, which previously existed only in oral form.257 After this pioneering effort they managed to translate the Greek and Roman liturgies into Slavonic. However, Lacko claims that it was actually St. Cyril who translated the Gospels and probably other books necessary for the divine Liturgy, for example, the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles and the Liturgicon that is the Book of the Ordinary for the divine Liturgy.258 He undertook this during the time when he was still in Constantinople. Immediately after their arrival in Moravia, St. Cyril advanced his work of translation. Among the works he embarked on were the entire Calendar with a basic portion of the daily Hours (Prime, Tierce, Sext and None), the Psalter, and other liturgical books.259 Nevertheless, it was not until 880
255 256 257

Lacko, Saints Cyril and Methodius, 76. Ibid., 11. See Ibid. 84 where Lacko quotes P. A. Lavrov, Materialy po istoriji vozniknovenija drevnejej slavjanskoj pismennosti (Leningrad: Izdatelstvo Akademiji nauk SSSR, 1930), 162-64, who refers to one of the most earliest Slavonic sources in which the monk Chrabr says: When the Slavs were still pagans, they did not have books, but they read and interpreted by means of tallies and sketches. After their baptism, they began to use Roman and Greek letters for writing the Slavonic language, but this was not suitable. There the matter rested for quite a while. At least, however, God the Creator, Who loves men and wills not to leave them in ignorance but rather leads all to the use of reason and to salvation, showed His love for the Slav people and sent them the Philosopher, St. Constantine, called Cyril, a learned and upright man, who established an alphabet of thirty eight letters for the Slavs (Lacko, p. 84). And although it has been disputed whether the Slavs possessed a written language prior to St Cyrils arrival, Lacko (Ibid.) maintains that philologists have universally acknowledged him (i.e., St. Cyril) to be the founder of the Slavonic script. Ibid., 97. Ibid. Lacko bases himself here on The Slavonic Life of St. Constantine-Cyril Vita Constantini, written shortly after his [i.e., St. Cyril] death, whilst St. Methodius was still alive. Clement of Ochrida is believed to be the author of this work, and it is held that St. Methodius supplied him with authentic information, especially about his younger brothers early years.

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that Pope John VIII gave official approval for the use of the Slavonic language in the liturgy. It is commonly acknowledge that the Slavonic language was first used in the Byzantine rite in the ninth century. And despite clear evidence that the Slavonic language was also used in the Roman rite as early as the tenth century, scholars now agree that the Roman-Slavonic liturgy was initiated simultaneously with the Byzantine-Slavonic [rite], and that the author of both was St. Cyril.260 Moreover, Sts. Cyril and Methodius also created codes of civil and Church law in Slavonic. Finally, After St. Cyrils passing away in 869 St. Methodius embarked on translating the entire Bible into Slavonic.261 One notices a conspicuous contrast between the missionary strategy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius on the one hand, and the missionaries who worked among the Anglo-Saxon people in the seventh century. In the latter case, the Anglo-Saxon people had to conform to a uniform Latinized rite with Latin as the sole liturgical language. The Slavs on the contrary enjoyed the privilege to worship in their own Slavonic language. Shorter attributes this privilege to the Eastern background of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Compared to their Western counterparts, missionaries from the Eastern traditions tended to be more flexible toward the cultures they encountered, due to the cultural pluralism inherent in these traditions.262 Despite their apparent flexibility toward the culture of the Slavs, Shorter points out that their record as paragons of inculturation needs qualification,263 which, of course, does not take away anything from their respectable engagement with the Slav people. Their exertion to translate the Greek and Roman liturgies into Slavonic language was certainly for their time revolutionary. In that way, they broke with the Eastern tradition that hitherto regarded any other language than Aramaic, Greek, and Latin for liturgical uses as a grave aberration. On the other side of the coin, however, they seemed to have been less tolerant toward the pagan Slavs, if compared with the strategy Gregory I enunciated for the Anglo-Saxons. According to another author, St. Cyril, for example, was relentless in destroying the pagan shrines and sacred trees of the Khazars. Moreover, both missionary brothers demanded their converts to break radically with all non-Christian practices.264 This view is supported by The Italian Life Vita Italica, written in Latin in its actual form by Bishop Leo of Ostia [who died in 1115], but based on the

260 261 262 263 264

Ibid., 101. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 144. Ibid., 143. Ibid.

See Elias Voulgarakis, A Lesson in Evangelism: The Lives of Cyril and Methodius, International Review of Mission 74, no. 294 (April 1985): 230-36, 235.

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older sources composed by Bishop Gauderic of Velletri (9th cent.).265 According to the Vita Italica (V.I.VII), after their (i.e., Sts. Cyril and Methodius) arrival in Moravia:
They began diligently to accomplish what they had come to do: to train the young in letters, to teach them ecclesiastical worship, to correct various errors, which they found in the country, and with the sickle of their oratory to cut down and uproot from the land the ruinous thorns of pagan practices 266 and sow the seeds of God (emphasis added).

Nevertheless, it is beyond any doubt that Sts. Cyril and Methodius, with apostolic zeal and groundbreaking effort, contributed significantly to the evangelization of the Slavs. Their translation of the Gospel into the Slav language can be seen as a milestone in that respect. By incarnating the Gospel in the native culture, they contributed significantly to the development of that culture, together with providing it with a formal written form. But the extent to which the culture proper, except for the Slav language, had been allowed to create avenues for enriching Christianity remains questionable. It is unclear to what extent there has been a dialogue between the Gospel and the Slav culture. It is even difficult to establish evidence for a mutual assimilation between the Gospel and that culture. This applies at least to the formative stages of evangelization among the Slavs. David Power reflects on the importance of considering the whole culture, rather than just the language in the work of evangelization. He then contends:
To be truly integrated into the life of any people or civilization, Christian faith needs to receive a poetic and symbolic expression which is indigenous to the culture, not foreign to it. To use the poetic, symbolic, and ritual expressions of a culture to mediate Christian faith requires dialogue, in which several questions are involved. How does a people give voice to its feelings and aspirations when these concern the religious problems? How far can an authentic Christian faith be expressed in symbols taken from a new culture? Or how can a developing culture express its faith in new 267 symbols?

We do not intend to assess whether Sts. Cyril and Methodius did consider all these questions in their evangelization endeavor. Besides, these questions are of our contemporary time and cannot simply be transposed back to the ninth century. Nevertheless, they at least underline that evangelization through inculturation cannot be narrowed down to mere linguistic translations, but comprehends the entire gamut of a culture, including its symbols and rituals. Inculturation, therefore, is also a process of transforming and purifying a culture from within; thus, it enables a cultures potential to be oriented toward the Christian message of salvation. In the words of

265 266 267

Lacko, Saints Cyril and Methodius, 10. Ibid., 93. Power, Culture and Theology, 31,32.

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Chauvet, it is about evangelizing the rite. To remain genuinely Christian, Chauvet insists, rite must be unceasingly evangelized.268 4.4.2.4. Christianity and culture in newly discovered mission territories

Between the tenth and late fifteenth century the Catholic Church missionary battery seemed rather low. The confrontation with non-Christian cultures would reappear rather intensely after the discovery of new mission territories by the Portuguese and the Spaniards. However, this period also witnessed its own internal dialogue between the Christian faith and culture, but now within the boundaries of the Latin Church. One example of a different kind of dialogue that occurred has to do with the philosophical works of Thomas Aquinas, and the profound manner in which it impacted Christianity. The dialogue was mainly between a philosophy inspired by Christianity, and pagan philosophy. In shaping his philosophy Aquinas made use of insights generated by Aristotle, the pagan philosopher. Aquinas own work itself was also influenced by Arabic philosophy. He operated from the principle of appropriating those elements from pagan philosophy that were not tainted or affected by elements opposing gospel values. As Schineller convincingly remarks, Aquinas distinguished between truth and error, the values that were compatible with Christianity and those that were not. By this critical appropriation of Aristotles thought [he] was able to forge a new synthesis of Christianity269 Another type of dialogue that occurred within medieval Europe was that between Christianity and the prevailing pagan cultures with their beliefs in witches and demonic powers. Christianitys answer to these powers of evil was to posit the Cross of Christ as the power to counterattack and ward off their influence, effectuated by the sign of the Cross. 270 Hence, Christianity impacted a culture profoundly marked by fear and superstition, but self it was also impacted by these superstitious beliefs, as evidenced by the devotional practice of the veneration of the Cross. This type of devotional Christianity was embedded within the reigning theology of the Wisdom of the Cross, and the concomitant faith in Christ as the supreme conqueror of evil through His Cross and resurrection.271
268

Chauvet, The Sacraments, 111-13. Here Chauvet speaks of Christian rites, but we would advocate expanding the range for his claim as to include the rites of all cultures that encounter the Gospel of Christ. Ultimately, inculturation seeks to attain a situation whereby the rite becomes inhabited by the word of God and the Spirit (p. 112). Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 32. Cf. Valerie I. J. Flint, The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe (Oxford: Clarendon, 1991). In this book Flint expresses a different view, arguing that the early medieval Church also conceded to several non-Christian practices which were initially condemned as superstitious, or magical. These, Flint maintains, were adopted in the dominant culture for two reasons: (1) to appease current non-Christian opposition; and (2) to enhance Christianity itself. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 149.

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Generally, sixteenth century efforts toward a certain kind of susceptibility for cultures not yet affected by Christianity were slowed down as a result of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). This Council was convened to react to the Reformation that had engendered further divisions within Christianity, after the Great Schism in 1054. In an effort to stop the division that was plaguing the Church, a centralized policy became effective, thereby strengthening the central position of Rome. Therefore, the Church succumbed to a rigid uniformity in both its liturgy and theology. One implication of this centralized policy was the uniform training of priest worldwide.272 In the words of Schineller, Trent strengthened the Catholic world, but, negatively, it rigidified Catholic teaching, stressing the center, Europe and Rome, at the expense of the expanding world with its differences of traditions and cultures.273 The process of vernacularization that swept through especially Protestant countries came to a standstill in Catholic countries and mission territories.274 Trent had set the Contra Reformation in motion, which pushed for a process of liturgical uniformity and standardization in an attempt to safeguard the unity of the Roman Catholic faith. In this context there was no room for liturgical variations in the western Church. Moreover, local rites and usages which could not be proved to have been in existence for more than two hundred years were forbidden.275 In this process of centralization, non-European and non-Christian religio-cultural expressions in especially the newly discovered mission territories were discarded. The newly converted Christians in the mission territories had to embrace a Christianity that by then was profoundly ingrained within European culture.276 Missionaries who preached the Gospel to these people did not distinguish between the Christian faith and European culture. They presented and preached the Gospel in a European package and set the stage for a process of assimilation, which in the words of Roest Crollius was in several instances a one-directional process of cultural assimilation.277
272 273 274

Ibid., 153-54. Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 35. Cf. Anicetus B. Sinaga, Madah Bakti: A Tentative Inculturation in Liturgical Music, East Asian Pastoral Review 30, no. 2 (1993): 120-44, 129, who asserts by way of exception that before Vatican II Catholics in Indonesia celebrated the Mass in Latin, although the readings were in the vernacular. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 153. Cf. Arbuckle, Inculturation, Not Adaptation, 513. Arbuckle distinguishes three historical phases in the Churchs relationship with other non-Christian cultures, up to Vatican II. The period under discussion coincides with his second period, which he denotes as period of inflexibility situated between the fifteenth and the twentieth century. According to Arbuckle this period is characterized by the assumption that Christianity and Western culture were so profoundly intertwined, that for non-Western people, converting to Christianity often implied accepting the European cultural expression of faith. Roest Crollius, The Meaning of Culture, 269.

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Notwithstanding the above mentioned centralized policy, individual missionaries still displayed an attitude of susceptibility toward the foreign cultures they encountered. Two outstanding examples hereof are Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) and Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656). Both were Jesuits and both spend a considerable time of their life as missionaries in Asia. Matteo Ricci,278 an Italian-born, is generally considered as the founder of the Catholic missions in China. His objective was to let the Christian message penetrate Chinese culture from within. His initial efforts consisted of presenting himself to the Chinese people in the attire of a Buddhist monk, thereby hoping to win their hearts and minds more easily for the Gospel message.279 Therefore, he even adopted the lifestyle of these monks. But after he discovered that Buddhism was not the dominant religion in Chinese society, he switched to imitate the Confucian scholars in appearance.280 These were more influential in Chinese society. In addition, Confucian ideas dominated Chinese society. Actually a process of inculturation had already taken place in which Confucian philosophy and Buddhism were the main actors.281 But what the Jesuits aimed at was a transformation of Chinese culture from within and by Christianity. Ricci exerted himself to that end. Therefore, he established the Jesuit mission in Peking. In that endeavor he employed a strategy for which he adopted the attitude that Justin Martyr had taken toward Greek thought in the second century, namely that elements of truth in the culture with which one is in dialogue should be preserved.282 Due to his scientific and mathematical brilliance he eventually gained the curiosity of Confucian intellectuals who had access to the highest imperial circles. Some even claim that he managed to invoke interest from the Chinese emperor Wan-Li.283 Schineller, for instance, holds that his intellectual capacities merited him successful entry to the intellectual circles of China, almost reaching the emperor himself.284 However, we think Riccis method went further than that, since he aspired to achieve a Christian reinterpretation of Chinese culture which could, in turn, provoke a Chinese interpretation
278

See Gianni Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China: The Jesuits Presentation of Christ from Matteo Ricci to Giulio Aleni, Ricci Institute Varits Sionologiques New Series 86 (Taipei: Ricci Institute for Chinese Studies, 1997), 36-42, 105-19, for more details of the life and work of Matteo Ricci; and Jonathan D. Spence, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci ( London: Faber and Faber, 1985). See New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, 2nd ed., s.v. Ricci, Matteo, by F. A. Rouleau. Ibid., 224. See Shorter, Toward a Theology, 157 who writes: Imperial China possessed an ancient and sophisticated culture, articulated in the Confucian philosophy which had already absorbed and transformed the Buddhist faith (Ibid.). Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 35. Rouleau, Ricci, Matteo, 224. Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 35; and Spence (The Memory Palace, 142) notes that in 1601 the named emperor had ordered Ricci to compose a collection of songs, so the eunuchs could have something to sing as they played on the harpsichord that Ricci had presented to the court

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of Christianity presented in this sympathetic Chinese form.285 Therefore, he devoted himself to a profound dialogue with Chinese culture, which also attributed to a well balanced form of worship known to us as the Chinese rites. These rites consisted of three aspects. The first dealt with addressing the Christian God with the traditional Chinese title Lord of Heaven. The second aspect had to do with recurring rituals in honor of Confucius, who even converted Chinese accepted as a founding father within Chinese culture and society. The third aspect regarded the Chinese cult of the dead, whereby families paid tribute to their ancestors by prostrations, ritually burning incense and offering food at their graves. Ricci saw no incompatibility between these acts and Christianity. But after his dead in 1610, a huge controversy erupted concerning the latter two aspects of the Chinese rite with missionaries from another congregation (i.e., Dominicans) as the main adversaries.286 A century after Riccis death Pope Clement IX condemned these rites. The discussion between proponents and antagonists continued and in 1742 Pope Benedict XIV finalized the condemnation with his decree Ex Quo Singularis. However, in 1935 and 1939 the Popes Pius XI and Pius XII successively rescinded this decision, thereby giving formal approval of the Chinese rites. One witnesses from such an act an historic acknowledgment of what Ricci and his contemporaries were aiming at, namely nothing more nor less than inculturation in the true sense of the word.287 Even amidst the controversy, Riccis endeavor inspired imitation by his successors who had been instructed to abide simply by the customs of Father Ricci.288 Roberto de Nobili,289 also an Italian-born, worked as missionary in Southern India. Some describe him as the pioneer of inculturation in India.290 His missionary strategy bears some resemblances with that of Matteo Ricci. Both felt the compelling need and importance to immerse themselves in the local culture in order to touch the hearts of the people they were sent to. As Ricci
285 286

Shorter, Toward a Theology, 158. See David E. Mungello, The Chinese Rites Controversy: Its History and Meaning, Monumenta serica monograph series 33 (Nettetal: Steyler Verlag, 1994 ). Shorter, Toward a Theology, 158; and The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia, rev. and exp. ed., s.v. Ricci, Matteo (1522-1610), by Joseph F. Kelly. Kelly contends that after Riccis death his principle of inculturation was later justified as necessary in missionary outreach (p. 718); Criveller (Preaching Christ in Late Ming China), however, labels The Jesuits Missionary Method (chapter 4), including Riccis method, as accommodation. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work on Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, 1912 ed., Ricci, Matteo, by Joseph Brucker, 37. See Vincent Cronin, A Pearl to India: The Life of Roberto de Nobili (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1959) for a detailed biographical account; and The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 ed., s.v. Malabar Rites, by Brucker. Ruy O. Costa, Introduction: Inculturation, Indigenization, and Contextualization, in One Faith, Many Cultures: Inculturation, Indigenization, and Contextualization, The Boston theological institute annual volume, no. 2, ed. Id. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988), ix-xvii, xiv.

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had initially done to imitate Buddhist monks, so did de Nobili commence with imitating Sadhus (i.e., Hindu holy men respected in Indian society) in both clothing and lifestyle. Just like Ricci, he too soon realized the limitations of this initial strategy.291 Hence, he shifted by presenting himself first shortly as a member of the Ksatriyas (also spelled as Kshatryas, which is the second of the three high castes, and comprising the military class), and later as a Brahmin, whom clothing he imitated, as well as aspects of the lifestyle of these holy men.292 Commenting on this issue, Shorter notes:
De Nobilis plan was to penetrate the caste system itself and to approach the very highest caste of the Brahmins. To do this, he had to approve a variety of cultural practices and to resort to Propaganda Fides distinction between civil and religious rites or customs. This distinction enabled de 293 Nobili to authorize much of Brahmin culture as compatible with the Gospel.

Shorter also offers another striking resemblance by asserting: Like Ricci in China, he aimed at the conversion of the lite, and penetrated the world of scholarship and learning.294 Therefore, he studied Sanskrit and Tamil, hence enabling himself to insert Christian theology into Hindu culture through the religious books he wrote in these languages.295 Shorter remarks that de Nobili was the first European to have possessed a thoroughgoing knowledge of Sanskrit. In addition to that, he had excellent mastery in reading the Hindu Scriptures, the Vedas and the Vendanta, in the original written form. Moreover, de Nobili pioneered in applying the principle of dynamic equivalence as a method of inculturation.296 He, actually, made Catholic terms understandable to the Indians by using Hindu terminology. According to J. Castets,297 de Nobili enriched both Tamil and Telugu vocabulary with appropriate Christian terms, such as Vdam for the Bible.298

291

Since Hindu monks were not allowed to mingle with householders valuable assets for spreading the Gospel among common Indians de Nobili was compelled to adapt his missionary strategy in order to attain a wider reach when proclaiming the message of Christ salvation. See Brucker, Malabar Rites, 559; cf. Roberto de Nobili, Preaching Wisdom to the Wise: Three Treatises by Roberto th de Nobili, S.J., Missionary and Scholar in 17 Century India, no. 19 in Series I: Jesuit Primary Sources in English Translation, trans. and introd. Anand Amaladass and Francis X. Clooney (St. Louis, MO: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2000), 58-59, however, mentions more explicitly that the Kshatriyas comprise kings or chiefs, and royal families. Their role is to pursue as equally primary occupations the government of the state and the conduct of war and arms. (p. 58). Shorter, Toward a Theology, 160. Ibid. See Cronin, A Pearl, 269-70, for a list of books written by de Nobili in Sanskrit. Cf. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 37-44. See The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 ed., s.v. Nobili, Roberto, de, by J. Castets. See Cronin, A Pearl, 89. He notes that for the Tamils Vdam means both the three collections of hymns known as the Vedas, and also religion in general, without reference to a book. When inquirers asked de Nobili what his religion was, they used the term Vdam. De Nobili was able to turn to his advantage this loose use of the word

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Based on the foregoing, it is fair to contend that as an adept of inculturation de Nobili contributed to orient the local culture toward the Christian message of salvation, and at the same time enriched Christianity with expressions associated to Hinduism. He, therefore, succeeded in reintroducing elements of the local culture into the life of the Church. An example hereof is found in Indian cultural attire, associated with the Brahmins, which de Nobili gave a new Christian meaning. There is mention of a three-stringed thread which he apparently wore across the chest just like the Brahmins did. He reinterpreted this facet of the attire, asserting that it represented the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Some, however, identify his method as accommodation in missionary outreach across cultures.299 Initially, the Church was rather suspicious about the way in which de Nobili adapted Christianity to its surrounding Hindu milieu. Pope Gregory XV even had his thoughts and writings scrutinized which led to his suspension to baptize in 1610.300 However, after thirteen years of papal investigation, his suspension was rescinded. According to Schineller, de Nobili practices eventually received recognition with the Church permission for adapting the preaching of the Gospel to the local cultures in Eastern and African countries. And as for Moffett, de Nobilis writings clearly show that however much he might adapt to national and local customs, he was undeviating in his doctrinal orthodoxy301 Cronin supports this view when he writes: Nobili like the early Christians was obliged to adapt himself: not as regard dogma he never did that but as regard Indian customs302 The exemplary manners in which Ricci and de Nobili established Christianity on Chinese and Indian soil respectively, did not evade Romes attention. The missionary work of these two pioneers was keenly observed and scrutinized. With the founding of the Sacred Congregation Propaganda Fide in 1622 came along a growing awareness of the relevance of the local culture for the Church to proclaim Christ message of salvation to all of mankind. The Church was aware that each culture possessed valuable elements that did not necessary oppose the Gospel. Drawing from her long standing tradition of the spermatic Logos she advocated the preservation of these elements, as a means not to offend the people so that they would more readily accept Christianity. We have already seen a forecast of this policy with the official approval of de Nobilis missionary
299

Samuel Hugh Moffett, A History of Christianity in Asia, vol. 2: 1500-1900 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2005), 22. Moffett, also characterizes Riccis method in the same way. See Brucker, Malabar Rites, 559 reporting on the role Fr. Fernando, de Nobilis contemporary, played in raising the tides against his fellow Jesuit. Moffett, History of Christianity, vol. 2, 22; also see Brucker, Malabar Rites, 559, who asserts: While he [i.e., de Nobili] obliged his neophytes to reject all practices involving superstition or savouring in any wise of idolatrous worship, he allowed them to keep their national customs, in as far as these contained nothing wrong and referred to merely political or civil usages. Cronin, A Pearl, 117.

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enterprise among the Indians. Several decades hereafter, in 1659, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith declared in a letter addressed to the Vicars-Apostolic in mission territories the following:
Do not in any way attempt, and do not on any pretext persuade these peoples to change their customs, unless they are openly opposed to religion and good morals. For what could be more absurd than to bring France, Spain, Italy or any other European country over to China? It is not your country but the faith you must bring, that faith which does not reject or belittle the rites or customs of any nation as long as these rites are not evil, but rather desires that they be preserved in their integrity and fostered. It is, as it were, written in the nature of all human beings that the customs of their country and especially their country itself should be esteemed, loved and respected above anything else in the world. There is no greater cause of alienation and hatred than to change the customs of a nation, especially when they go back as far as the memory of the ancestors can 303 reach.

This citation illustrates the Churchs awareness that Western cultural patterns are not essential to proclaiming the Gospel to non-Christian peoples and cultures, and that instead, local customs and rite, as long as they do not contradict the truth of the Gospel, should be adopted, preserved, and respected. Moreover, it also testifies to the distinction made between religious and secular aspects of the local cultures.304 However, this awareness was not always, everywhere, and for everyone self-evident. In practice, there were those among Western missionaries who failed to free themselves from their ethnocentric intransigence. This led to the uprooting of indigenous cultural elements in some places in Africa and America. But on the other hand, non-Christian practices which utterly defied the Gospel (e.g., the practice in some parts of Africa to kill one of the twins shortly after they were born) had to be brought to an end. The history of Christian mission in non-European territories, therefore, displays dark pages on both sides of the field. Notwithstanding these dark pages, the cited statement of Propaganda Fide still presented what Schineller describes as a milestone in the history of missiology.305

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Sacred Congregation De Propaganda Fide Instruction to the Vicars Apostolic of Tonkin and Cochinchina (1659), in The Christian Faith, ed. Dupuis, 430-31, no. 1109. See Shorter, Toward a Theology, 158. The author rightfully observes: The dualism between sacred and secular, which was coming into vogue in Europe after the Wars of Religion, was not applicable to the indigenous cultures encountered by the missionaries. More seriously, however, there was often disagreement in practice as to what did or did not oppose Catholic religion and morality ... The Chinese rites controversy is an exemplary case that illustrates this point blank. Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 37.

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4.4.2.5.

Christianity and culture in the modern era

The nineteenth century up to the Second Vatican Council also reflects memorable instances of the relation between Christianity and non-Western cultures, and how the Church envisaged that relation. Just like with the Reformation of the early sixteenth century, modernization trends emanating from the Enlightenment caused the Church to react fiercely with centralization and standardization measures. One could argue at length whether or not promulgations ensuing from the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) were conducive to the growth and development of the mission territories. The fact remains that Vatican I felt it necessary to come up with measures that would solidify the unity of the Catholic Church. It is important to bear in mind that the lessons learnt from the Reformation were still fresh in the memories of the bishops gathered at Vatican I. In addition, modernization was making profound inroads in virtual all societal sectors, including the Catholic Church. The rise of the modern sciences together with new ideologies (e.g., atheism, communism, capitalism, and liberalism) purported to have the answers for human salvation. Modern sciences boasted the ability to probe into the mysteries of life and declared religion, Christianity in particular, redundant. It is against the backdrop of this briefly sketched social climate that Vatican I was convened. The Catholic Church responded with measures to counter what was perceived as rapidly losing ground to modernity and the modern sciences. One may suggest that the Catholic Church acted out of self-preservation. She became closed in on herself, fortified with the concept of a societas perfecta.306 The 1917 promulgated Code of Canon Law became applicable for the entire Latin Church spread over various regions, continents and cultures. A process of latinization ensued. However, the incremental number of missionary orders operating in mission territories heeded the call for a local clergy in various mission territories. A first cautious, though very clear reaction came from Pope Benedict XV when he issued his Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud dated 30 November 1919. In this Letter, the Pope condemned missionary ethnocentrism and also advocated the training of a local clergy which in his perception would facilitate a more profound establishment of the Church in the mission territories. This would also enhance the process of indigenization. A critical reading of Maximum Illud, however, shows that the Church at that time envisioned non-Western cultures and religions, particularly those within African cultures, with little

306

See Patrick Granfield, The Church as Societas Perfecta in the Schema of Vatican I, Church History, vol. 48, no. 4 (1979): 431-46.

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regard.307 Nevertheless, the Church sought to encourage the growth of a local clergy in her mission territories. A further proliferation of the essence of a local clergy became manifest in the Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius XI Rerum Ecclesiae dated 28 February, 1926. His successor Pius XII continued along the same path. In his Apostolic Letter Evangelii Praecones of 2 June 1951 Pius XII went a step further by advocating the preservation and development of local usages and customs that are not clearly erroneous.308 The Catholic Church was opening up to the non-Western cultures. This was a far cry from Vatican I. But the tide was turning. By the time Vatican II was convened, many mission territories already had to varying degrees a local clergy, though in many dioceses the bishops were missionaries from the West. Many of these played a significant role in promoting the local culture in the work of evangelization. Joseph Blomjous who served as Bishop for the diocese of Mwanza, Tanzania, is an example hereof. He was the initiator of the Africanization of Christianity in East Africa,309 and with others laid the foundation for adapting the Catholic liturgy to Sukuma310 culture. It can be said that documents from Vatican II (e.g., SC and AG) stood at the basis of a renewed openness from the side of the Catholic Church toward the local cultures in the particular mission territories. They inspired theologians around the world, both Catholic and Protestant, to revalue the importance of the local cultures for evangelization in the (former) mission territories. These developments demonstrate how the Church distinguishes between elements of a culture that are not in contradiction with the Christian message of salvation, and those that oppose the Gospel. Moreover, it shows that this distinction is embedded in a longer tradition that goes back beyond Vatican II. However, the importance of Vatican II can be seen in the fact that at this Council there was already a growing awareness of cultural pluralism. A multitude of the convening bishops came from mission territories in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.311 They were ambassadors of a manifold
307 308 309

See Bekye, African Traditional Religions in Church Documents. Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 37. See Joseph Blomjous, Development in Mission Thinking and Practice, 1959-1980: Inculturation and Interculturation, African Ecclesial Review 22, no. 6 (1980): 293-98. Wijsen (Popular Christianity, 37, n. 3) who conducted research among the Sukuma people for his doctoral dissertation [Id., There is Only One God: A Social-scientific and Theological Study of Popular Religion and Evangelization in Sukumuland, Northwest Tanzania (Kampen: Kok, 1993)] notes: The Sukuma people inhabit the area referred to as Usukuma. They number about 6 million and mainly live from small-scale agriculture. Most Sukuma people adhere to the indigenous religion (85%). Some 10% of the population are Catholic, some 3% are Protestant and some 2% are Muslim. One should note, however, that among the very large numbers of bishops present at Vatican I there were , for the first time, those who hailed from outside Europe and its neighboring lands. See Introduction to First Vatican Council (1869-1870); available from http://vaxxine.com/pjm/vaticanI.htm; Internet; accessed 28 March 2007; also see Pius XII, Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, on the Unity of Human Society (Rome: 20 October 1939), no. 43;

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of cultures and traditions. Their presence accorded with the openness to non-Western cultures as reflected in GS.312 Similarly, AG speaks in favor of local cultures, affirming that they already bore seeds of the Logos, even before the encounter with Christianity. Schineller contends that this document is of vital importance for an understanding of inculturation since it brings together the best of recent papal teaching on the meaning and methods of missionary activity.313 In the following section we will further elaborate on the importance of these and other documents as loci theologici for inculturation.

4.4.3. Inculturation in magisterial teaching

Though Vatican II preceded the term inculturation, some of its teachings deal with the driving force behind this term where it concerns the challenge to render the relationship between Christian faith and culture intelligible. Within the context of evangelization, inculturation is related to both the liturgy and the mission activity of the Church. However, the discussion of inculturation in this study gravitates more toward the liturgy, as will come more clearly to the fore in the fifth chapter. It is for that reason that our discussion of inculturation in the magisterial teaching of the Church proceeds from SC. Since the evangelization of cultures serves as a background to this study, we will also employ Vatican IIs mission document AG in examining the position of inculturation in the Churchs teaching. It was after the council that inculturation became established in the magisterial discourse. Therefore, we will also look at how various post-Vatican II documents evaluate this term.
available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/ documents/hf_pxii_enc_20101939_summi-pontificatus_en.html; Internet; access 28 March 2007): And the nations, despite a difference of development due to diverse conditions of life and of culture, are not destined to break the unity of the human race, but rather to enrich and embellish it by the sharing of their own peculiar gifts and by that reciprocal interchange of goods which can be possible and efficacious only when a mutual love and a lively sense of charity unite all the sons of the same Father and all those redeemed by the same Divine Blood (no. 43). This number implicitly attests to cultural diversity among the people; also cf. Rahner, Towards a Fundamental Theological Interpretation of Vatican II, trans. Leo J. ODonovan, Theological Studies 40, no. 4 (December 1979): 716-27, who, nevertheless, insists that at Vatican II the Church appeared for the first time as a world Church in the full sense. (p. 718). Rahner does not deny the fact that at Vatican I there where representatives of Asian or African dioceses. But, he stresses, they were missionary bishops of European or North American origin. At that time there was not yet an indigenous episcopate throughout the world. But at Vatican II we had for the first time a gathering of the world episcopate not as an advisory body for the pope but rather with him and under him the final teaching and decision-making body in the Church. For the first time a world-wide Council with a world-wide episcopate came into existence and functioned independently. (Ibid.).
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We will discuss this and other related documents, and the implication they have for inculturation in the next subchapter. Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 41.

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4.4.3.1.

Inculturation and Vatican II

Our discussion on inculturation in relation to Vatican II is based on the following two conciliar documents: Sacrosanctum Concilium and Ad Gentes. These documents address the adaptation of the liturgy and the Churchs mission activity respectively. We have chosen these two documents against the backdrop of envisaging inculturation as intimately linked to evangelization. We have already pointed out that inculturation has its theological basis in the Incarnation of Christ. And, as EN 16 rightfully states, there is a profound link between Christ, the Church and evangelization. EN 17 further hints at the possibility to define evangelization in terms of proclaiming Christ to those who do not know Him, of preaching, of catechesis, of conferring Baptism and the other sacraments. It, therefore, underscores a fundamental aspect of evangelization, namely, that its aim is to bring people to Christ, and that this is symbolically enacted in the sacraments, such as Baptism and the Eucharist. Therefore, the liturgy and the Churchs mission activity form two prime axes for inculturation. This observation justifies our choice to base our current discussion on both Sacrosanctum Concilium and Ad Gentes. For that discussion we shall make use of distinguished authors widely recognized for their profound knowledge of the pertaining conciliar texts. These and the remaining conciliar documents require knowledge of their origin and history, of their doctrinal basis, and their deeper moral and pastoral implications. Moreover, they demand a serious and profound exegesis in order to qualify one for writing a thorough commentary. One theologian who has been rendered the privilege to comment comprehensively on Sacrosanctum Concilium is the late German Jesuit theologian Josef Andreas Jungmann314 (1889-1975). He was a distinguished professor in Pastoral Theology at the LeopoldFranzens-University at Innsbruck. He also actively engaged himself with the Liturgical Movement, particularly in matters involving the active participation of the laity to the liturgy. In 1960 he served as a member of the Councils Preparation Committee, and in 1962 as a member of Councils Commission for Liturgy Reform. Another distinguished German theologian who received the honors of writing a commentary on Ad Gentes is Heinrich Suso Brechter.315 With others like Bernard Hring he earlier wrote a three volume commentary on the Documents of Vatican II,316 for which he must be credited.

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Josef Andreas Jungmannn, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, in Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, vol. 1, trans. Hilda Graef, W. J. OHara, and Ronald Walls, ed. Vorgrimler, 1-87. Heinrich Suso Brechter, Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity, in Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, vol. 4, trans. Hilda Graef, W. J. OHara, and Ronald Walls, ed. Vorgrimler, 113-81. Brechter et al., Das zweite Vatikanische Konzil: Konstitutionen, Dekrete und Erklrungen, Lateinisch und Deutsch: Kommentare, 3 vols. (Wien: Herder, 1966-1967).

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Though none of the documents of Vatican II explicitly mentions the term inculturation there was a keen awareness of the necessity to adapt the liturgy to the genius and traditions of the people. According to VL 52, the Sacred Constitution on the Liturgy had in mind an inculturation of the Roman rite when it gave norms for the adaptation of the liturgy to the mentality and needs of different peoples. This was also the case when it provided for a degree of adaptation in the liturgical books and when it envisaged the possibility of more profound adaptations in some circumstances, especially in mission countries. SC 37-40 vividly expresses the need for inculturation, but employs the term adaptation. Hence, Chupungco refers to this section of Sacrosanctum Concilium as the Magna Charta of liturgical adaptation.317 This section of Sacrosantum Concilium (i.e., nos. 37-40) has been the basis on which theologians and liturgists the world over have with zealous effort engaged in liturgical renewal, in an effort to foster the Faithfulls involvement in the Roman liturgy, in various cultural contexts. It is anchored within the overall program of the Council, which is explicated in SC 1 as the desired reform of the liturgy....318 In that light, SC 1 lists as one of the aims of the Council: to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change.319 In light of the above, Jungmann notes that prior to when Vatican II was convened, the liturgical movement had already been concerned with the renewal of Christian thought and life out of the sources which flowed into the liturgy. This was taken up by the Council that wanted the sources themselves to flow more richly by means of adaptation to the needs of the time.320 The Council called for a reform of the Roman liturgy, so that the Christian people may more surely derive an abundance of graces from the sacred liturgy [which] is made up of immutable elements, divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change. These latter elements, as SC 21 further points out, not only may but ought to be changed with the passage of time if they have suffered from the intrusion of anything out of harmony with the inner nature of the liturgy or have become pointless. Another important element in this restoration, which SC 21 further highlights is that both texts and rites should be so drawn up so that they express more clearly the holy things which they signify and that the Christian people, as far as possible, are able to understand them with ease and to take part in the rites fully, actively, and as befits a community.321

317 318 319 320 321

Chupungco, The Magna Charta, 74-89. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 8. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 1. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 8. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 21.

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The reform of the liturgy, however, first begins with the revision of the liturgical books.322 It has the eight century classical reform of the Roman rite by the Franco-Germanic churches as its paradigm.323 SC 25 underlines that the reform should be evidenced by the revision of all liturgical books, as Jungmann points out.324 It can therefore be labeled as the theoretical component of the reform which the council envisaged. This reform remains at the level of adaptation. But it also has practical consequences for peoples lives, their cultures and faith. That is why the reform also has a practical component. It is in the combination of both of these two components where inculturation is situated. Its axes constitute both the revised typical editions of the liturgical books (i.e., the theoretical component), and the modified liturgical praxis as inspired by the culture and traditions of the people (i.e., the practical component). It can be argued that a way for rendering texts and rites understandable to the Christian people is by adapting them to their culture and genius. This has become the driving force behind various attempts at (liturgical) inculturation. Many of these attempts find inspiration from Vatican II. Any attempt at inculturation which is related to the liturgy in particular, will inevitably engender changes in the liturgical celebration. Sometimes these changes can be rather profound or perceived as such. In other cases they can be deemed superficial. Whatever the nature or the extent of these changes in the liturgy, they cannot alter the substantial unity of the Roman liturgy as indicated in SC 38 which declares:
Provisions shall also be made, even in the revision of liturgical books, for legitimate variations and adaptations to different groups, regions, and peoples, especially in mission lands, provided the substantial unity of the Roman Rite is preserved; this should be borne in mind when rites are drawn 325 up and rubrics devised.

SC 22 indicates the extent to which individual bishops and national or regional Episcopal conferences can effect liturgical changes in view of the process of inculturation. These changes pertain to specific areas of the liturgy, namely: feasts of their own, administration of the sacraments and sacramentals, language and sacred music.326 One can also glean at the driving force behind inculturation from what SC 34 prescribes. There we read: The rites should be marked by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear, and
322

Chunpungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 22) holds that the term revision refers to the postconciliar and preliminary work of amending the Tridentine typical editions in harmony with the classical form of the Roman Rite before they are presented to local churches for adaptation. Also see Id., A Historical Survey of Liturgical Adaptation, Notitiae 174 (1981): 28-43, 33, where Chupungco claims that in SC Vatican II decreed the revision of the Tridentine books so that they would better express the nature and objectives of the rites; and Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 63. See Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 21-22. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 20. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 38. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 20.

323 324 325 326

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unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the peoples powers of comprehension and as a rule not require much explanation.327 This prescription calls for adapting or reforming the rites to the genius of the Roman culture which is marked by brevity and sobriety. In adopting the cultural features of the Romans, that culture not only becomes enriched with a particular form of worship; the Christian faith itself, as becomes visible in the liturgical celebration, receives a new cultural expression; thus, it also gets enriched with a new (Roman) cultural form. Jungmann articulates this idea as follow:
The forms of the Roman liturgy, as they were developed at the end of the Roman Empire, though they have shrunk in many ways, have not been altered. To them have been added new forms from later cultures which in the meanwhile have also become extinct. This is responsible for the fact that much in the existing content of our liturgy could be explained only with the help of historical and archaeological knowledge, and therefore remained unintelligible to the majority of the faithful. Without prejudicing our loyalty to the essential content of tradition, the reform should work towards a form of worship which speaks for itself and does not require much explanation. This means that ornamentations, which originate from the style of royal courts and from the urge for pomp or even from the form of piety of earlier times, should disappear, and that the holy mysteries should be given a simple expression closely connected with the life and feeling of the people. Unnecessary ceremoniousness should be avoided. This need not imply renunciation of beauty. The phrase noble simplicity which was composed in the Commission instead of simplicity and clarity 328 happily describes the ideal which should be aimed at (emphasis added).

We have cited Jungmanns commentary on SC 34 in its entirety because it succinctly explains how inculturation works in a given culture, and in relation to the Roman liturgy. Several aspects are highlighted in Jungmanns explanation, which are important for the question of inculturation. A first observation is that in the past there have been various forms of the Roman liturgy which existed simultaneously and where shaped by the culture in which they occurred. This observation is crucial for understanding that liturgical forms or rites are fundamentally cultural expressions of faith. Secondly, transplanting a particular cultural form of the Roman rite to another cultural milieu in extenso, thus, non-adapted, runs the risk of remaining beyond the majority of the faithfuls comprehension. The outcome of reforming the liturgy one may say, of inculturating the liturgy is that for a particular people of a particular time, conditioned by a particular culture, the nature of that outcome speaks of itself. This implies that adapting the liturgy (to the culture and genius of the people) eventually leads to a multiplicity of Roman liturgical forms (i.e., in the cultural expression). In these forms, the expression given to the holy mysteries celebrated in the liturgy

327 328

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 34. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 23-24.

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reflects the life and feeling of the people, in other words, it is connected with their cultural sensibilities.329 One immediate concern at the council regarding the reform of the Roman rites was the question of language to be used in the sacred liturgy. According to Jungmann that, for decades, had again and again been the centre of ideas of reform, and [was] the most difficult point in the liturgical reform of the Council330 There, the most diametrically opposed standpoints came to the fore, from exclusive adherence to Latin as bond of unity and safeguard for orthodoxy in faith to the demand for exclusive use of the mother tongue.331 Vatican II dealt with this question in a compromising way, declaring in SC 36:
Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites. But since the use of the mother tongue, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or other parts of the liturgy, frequently may be of great advantage to the people, the limits of its use may be extended. This will apply in the first place to the readings and instructions and to some of the prayers and chants, according to the regulations on this matter to be laid down for each case in 332 subsequent chapters.

SC 36 further clearly outlines the norms that such embarkations should meet, which includes the supervision by the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority and the final approval/confirmation required from the Apostolic See. In SC 37-40 Vatican II dealt more concretely with adaptations of the liturgy to other regions, especially those areas where the young churches had become established. Even though in the past there had been various attempts to adapt the liturgy to the culture of a particular people, the Roman liturgy was still considered to be a liturgy of Western Europe, which according to Jungmann prevailed as late as the sixteenth century [sic].333 With the Church spreading in non-European
329

Cf. DPPL, no. 27, which in light of the above mentions: Gregory the Great undertook a major liturgical reform which sought to offer the Roman people structures which resonated with popular sensibilities while, at the same time, remaining securely based on the celebration of the divine mysteries. He gave wise directives to ensure that the conversion of new nations did not happen without regard for their own cultural traditions. Indeed, the Liturgy itself could be enriched by new legitimate cultic expressions and the noble expressions of artistic genius harmonized with more humble popular sensibilities. By using the classical example of Gregory the Great, the DPPL underlines the idea that inculturation, both in the past and in the present, whilst aimed at bringing about a profound conversion of people, does acknowledge the existence of semina verbi in the peoples cultures and traditions. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 25. Ibid. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 36. Cf. Hoeben and Wijsen, (We Are Not a Carbon Copy, 73) who pointed out that according to several observers neither the Lineamenta nor the Instrumentum Laboris preceding the 1994 Special Bishops Synod for Africa, held at Vatican City, recognized the right for African peoples to be different. They objected the idea to postulate fundamental equality between all peoples as the best impetus for dialogue of any type and for any process of inculturation arguing that where it concerns matters of the church, the danger is real that equal is to be read as

330 331 332 333

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regions, tensions between faith praxis, inspired and informed by the proper culture, and the prescribed Roman liturgy came to the fore. This situation justified the need to adapt the liturgy to the local cultural context. According to Jungmann SC 37 provides the theoretical basis for the adaptation of the Roman liturgy.
It consists in the rejection of all attempts of earlier epochs at Europeanization and in the affirmation of indigenous values of other cultures in phrases which are taken from Pius XIIs encyclical Summi Pontificatus [AAS 31 (1939), pp. 428f.] Just as the Church of the first centuries adopted, in a necessary process, forms from the Greco-Roman culture even for the structure of her public worship, insofar as they were suitable, in the same way there is no reason why the ways of life and 334 the needs of new nations should not also play a role on the basis of a reformed Roman liturgy.

This theoretical basis paved the way for a reciprocal relation between the Roman liturgy and the culture of the people of especially the so-called mission territories. It is a relation of give and take whereby the culture becomes imbued with the Christian faith and the liturgy as an expression of that faith adopts elements from that particular culture, so long as they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit (SC 37).335 And as SC 38 declares in the following lines:
Provisions shall also be made, even in the revision of liturgical books, for legitimate variations and adaptations to different groups, regions, and peoples, especially in mission lands, provided the substantial unity of the Roman Rite is preserved; this should be borne in mind when rites are drawn 336 up and rubrics devised.

In his comment on this just cited paragraph Jungmann asserts that it marks a transition from the strict unity of the Roman liturgy to a substantial unity and ... extensive variation in individual cases.337 What is meant exactly by the substantial unity of the Roman liturgy has been a hot item for decades among theologians and liturgists since the council. However, in a later document (i.e., VL) the Church affirms that the substantial unity is currently expressed in the typical editions of liturgical books, published by authority of the supreme pontiff and in the liturgical books approved by the Episcopal conferences for their areas and confirmed by the Apostolic See.338 This implies that attempts to inculturate the liturgy receive their legitimacy and authenticity from the typical

European. They further insisted: A good number of Church leaders, including a certain quotum of non-Europeans, still think that the universal Church has to be equated with the Roman Church (p. 73).
334 335 336 337 338

Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 27. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 37. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 38. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 27. Varietates Legitimae, no. 36.

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editions and other approved liturgical books. It also indicates that inculturation falls under the shared responsibility of the Apostolic See and the Episcopal conferences. SC 39 illustrates with some examples, without being exhaustive, where adaptation/inculturation is to occur. It, therefore, mentions: the administration of the sacraments, the sacramentals, processions, liturgical language, sacred music, and the arts, ...339 Jungmann elaborates hereupon by identifying the following pertaining areas: those rites ... which entail a particularly close encounter with indigenous custom, as it tends to be almost everywhere with birth, attainment of youth, marriage, funeral beginning of the new year and the sowing of harvest seasons.340 SC 40 finally discusses circumstances which require a more radical adaptation of the liturgy. As such, it goes a step further than the previous paragraphs that are intended to make simple liturgical adaptations possible in a pastoral context by providing latitude in the liturgical books. Thence, the priest or bishop may conduct the suitable adaptation in conformity with the liturgical regulations and providing that the substantial unity of the Roman liturgy prevails. Jungmann, however, holds that SC 40 deals with those cases in which a desired adaptation is no longer possible within the legal framework intended for it and hence calls for the collaboration of the highest legislative instance.341 It authorizes the Episcopal conferences to adopt elements of the culture and traditions of the people into divine worship, which after prudent and careful examinations are found appropriate therefore. However, these first ought to be submitted to the Apostolic See for approval and endorsement before they can become effective. The council has deferred from squeezing the work of adapting the liturgy to the cultures and genius of the people into a particular timeframe. It rather perceives such as a continuous process and challenge. It therefore promotes pastoral-liturgical action in SC 43-46, as a sign of the providential dispositions of God in our time, as a movement of the Holy Spirit in His Church. It is today a distinguishing mark of the Churchs life, indeed of the whole tenor of contemporary religious thought and action (SC 43).342 It does so by building forth on the work of the liturgical movement out of which it had emerged. As a continuous process inculturation neatly connects to the pastoral-liturgical action which the council envisaged. This last section of the first chapter of SC provides the framework therefore. It calls for organizational measures which enables the continuation of the work of the liturgical movement, by setting up liturgical commissions consisting of competent experts, both lay and clergy, in the individual bishops conferences. These
339 340 341 342

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 39. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 27-28. Ibid., 28. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 43.

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commissions primary objectives are to regulate pastoral-liturgical action throughout the territory, and to promote studies and necessary experiments whenever there is question of adaptations to be proposed to the Apostolic See (SC 44).343 Inculturation is also seen as the Churchs mission to root the Gospel into human culture, thereby purifying it and transforming it from within. In this way inculturation becomes a method toward evangelization; a means to achieve salvation for humanity by fostering conversion to Christ. Even though the term inculturation does not occur in any of the conciliar documents, one can still obtain from Ad Gentes insight into the relationship between inculturation and evangelization. Therefore, this council document is also relevant for an examination of inculturation in light of Vatican II. The Church mission is seen as having its root in Gods mission to send His Son into the world. As Suso Brechter maintains, the incarnation is the origin and model of all missionary work [and it] remains the starting point, the sole origin, the source of every other mission. In it lies the origin of the whole missionary spirit.344 The Church mission to proclaim the Gospel it also rooted in Scripture. It is patterned after Jesus who said of himself: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed me, to bring good news to the poor. He sent me, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind (Lk 4:18). And again: The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost (Lk 19:10). Of this (i.e., what Jesus himself had preached) AG 3 says that it [i.e., the good news of the Gospel] must be proclaimed and spread to the ends of the earth (Acts 1: 8), starting from Jerusalem (cf. Lk 24:27), so that what was accomplished for the salvation of all men may, in the course of time, achieve its universal effect.345 AG 4 continues: To do this, Christ sent the Holy Spirit from the Father to exercise inwardly his saving influence, and to promote the spread of the Church.346 Moreover, AG 6 emphasizes that the proper goal of the Churchs missionary activity is evangelization, and the planting of the Church among those peoples and groups where it has not yet taken root.347 The latter occurs primarily by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Concerning its achievement AG 19 spells out:
The work of planting the Church in a given human community reaches a certain goal when the congregation of the faithful already rooted in social life and somewhat conformed to the local
343 344 345 346 347

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 44. Brechter, Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity, 115. Ad Gentes, no. 3. Ad Gentes, no. 4. Ad Gentes, no. 6. The aim of planting the Church by conducting missionary activity stands in a long tradition already recognized by St Thomas Aquinas who speaks of the apostolic duty of planting the Church. This aim has ever since reoccurred repeatedly in magisterial documents. See Ad Gentes chapter 1, n. 14.

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culture, enjoys a certain firmness and stability. That is to say, it is already equipped with its own supple [sic] (perhaps still insufficient) of local priests, Religious, and lay men, and is endowed with these institutions and ministries which are necessary for leading and expanding the life of the people 348 of God under the guidance of their own bishop.

AG 1 explains the reason for the Church to proclaim, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole earth as the Churchs mission to be a universal sacrament of salvation. It bases this standpoint on LG 48 that reads:
Christ, having been lifted up from the earth has drawn all to Himself. Rising from the dead He sent His life-giving Spirit upon His disciples and through Him has established His Body which is the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, He is continually active in the world that He might lead men to the Church and through it joins them to Himself and that He might make them partakers of His glorious life by nourishing them with His own Body and Blood. Therefore the promised restoration which we are awaiting has already begun in Christ, is carried forward in the mission of the Holy Spirit and through Him continues in the Church in which we learn the meaning of our terrestrial life through our faith, while we perform with hope in the future the 349 work committed to us in this world by the Father, and thus work out our salvation.

In AG 1 the Church declares her obligation to make sure that the kingdom of God is proclaimed and to all the nations of the earth, and is established within the entire world. The Church feels her urgent vocation to save and renew every creature, that all things may be restored in Christ and all men may constitute one family in Him and one people of God.350 This entire undertaking stems from Jesus commission as phrased in Mk 16:15. This missionary demand characterizes the nature of the Church as a Pilgrim Church (LG 1); hence, it belongs to the inner dynamic of the Church to spread the message of Christs salvation to the entire world. The Church cannot be church unless she strives to fulfill Jesus promise of salvation to humanity. In doing so she encounters a variety of cultures and non-Christian religions. This missionary activity derives its reason from the will of God, who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:45)351 The Church has the sacred duty to preach the Gospel; hence, from her very nature, the Church is intrinsically missionary. She is bound to do so during the entire time span between the first and second coming of Christ (AG 9, cf. Mk 13:10). AG 3 acknowledges Gods hidden presence in the lives and cultures of various peoples who hitherto have not received the Gospel. Since God had revealed Himself fully in and through Jesus, it is toward His live, death and resurrection that these peoples their lives and cultures must be oriented. In doing so, Gods hidden presence becomes manifest through the encounter with Christ.
348 349 350 351

Ad Gentes, no. 19. Lumen Gentium, no. 48. Ad Gentes, no. 1. Ad Gentes, no. 7.

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It requires that the Church implant[s] herself into these groups for the same motive which led Christ to bind Himself, in virtue of His Incarnation, to certain social and cultural conditions of those human beings among whom He dwelt (AG 10).352 The motive of which the document speaks about here, concerns the will of the Father that all men be saved through Christ. And the urgent need therefore is seen in the following:
The Gospel message has not yet, or hardly yet, been heard by two million human beings (and their number is increasing daily), who are formed into large and distinct groups by permanent cultural ties, by ancient religious traditions, and by firm bonds of social necessity. Some of these men are followers of one of the great religions, but others remain strangers to the very knowledge of God, 353 while still others expressly deny His existence, and sometimes even attack it.

The Church, however, needs the liturgy (sacraments) to mark entrance of the newly converts to the Catholic faith. At the same time these newly converts should be able to grasp the liturgy intelligibly. The liturgy, therefore, should be culturally meaningful to these converts. It is from this insight propelled, among others by SC 21, that one can grasp the necessity of inculturation in the missionary activity of the Church. Within this context liturgical inculturation goes hand in hand with the inculturation of the Gospel. An inculturated liturgy ritually symbolizes and effectuates the initiation of the converts in the Church in a, for them, culturally meaningful way. AG 3 further highlights the fact that even before the arrival of the Gospel of Jesus in the non-Christian territories the Holy Spirit was already working there through the hearts and minds of the people. Their religious ideas and practices, however, needed to be enlightened and purified, even though according to Gods universal saving plan they may serve to guide men towards the true God or as a preparation for the gospel,354 as Brechter comments. AG 9 more clearly expresses the need to enlighten pertaining cultural elements by declaring:
But whatever truth and grace are to be found among the nations, as a sort of secret presence of God, He frees from all taint of evil and restores to Christ its maker, who overthrows the devil's domain and wards off the manifold malice of vice. And so, whatever good is found to be sown in the hearts and minds of men, or in the rites and cultures peculiar to various peoples, not only is not lost, but is healed, uplifted, and perfected for the glory of God, the shame of the demon, and the bliss of 355 men.

352 353 354 355

Ad Gentes, no. 10. Ibid. Brechter, Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity, 114. Ad Gentes, no. 9.

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Moreover, the Church has the task of awakening faith by preaching the gospel and, in the catechumenate, of preparing adults to receive the sacraments of initiation [which] should take place by a solemn liturgical rite.356 One may say that the mission activity of the Church as spelled out in Ad Gentes brings liturgy and catechesis together in the evangelization of people and their cultures. It is at this level where inculturation presents itself both as a challenge and a necessity for the (local) Church. The evangelization of people and their cultures is not limited to non-Christians, or those cultures which have not yet been penetrated by the Gospel; it also includes the people of God with their cultures and traditions; hence, the process of evangelization requires not only Baptism but also faith. Not a faith that is once and for all inserted into a culture. That would imply a superficial adaptation. It requires inculturation, rather, so that the faith can become embodied, i.e., incarnated and expressed in the life of the faithful. Evangelization cannot remain at the level where it produces sheer cultural expressions of the Christian message. It needs inculturation in order for the faith to become a principle that animates, directs and unifies a culture, transforming it so as to bring about a new creation.357 4.4.3.2. Inculturation in post-Vatican II documents

Numerous post-Vatican II documents discuss the meaning, process, methods and guidelines of inculturation in relation to the Roman liturgy. Among these are included: John Paul IIs Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae (1979), his Encyclical Epistle Slavorum Apostoli (1985), Redemptoris Missio (1990), and Fides et Ratio (1998); the Conclusions of CELAM IV at Santo Domingo (1992); the International Theological Commissions Faith and Inculturation (1988); the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Instruction on Inculturation and the Roman Liturgy (Varietates Legitimae, 1994); John Paul IIs Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations following the Special Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops for Africa (1994), Asia (1998), America (1999), and Oceania (1999); the Congregation for the Clergys General Directory for Catechesis, part 4 (1997); the Pontifical Council for Cultures Toward a Pastoral Approach to Culture (1999) and the numerous statements of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) since 1970. All these documents represent a broad theological and magisterial field in which inculturation is situated. Rather than discussing each of these documents separately, we think it
356

Brechter, Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity, 133; also see Ad Gentes, no. 14 that emphatically decrees: Those who, through the Church, have accepted from God a belief in Christ are admitted to the catechumenate by liturgical rites. Fr. Arrupe, Letter to the Whole Society, 2.

357

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suffices to limit the discussion to the following: Catechesi Tradendae because in this magisterial document the term inculturation has been coined for the very first time; Slavorum Apostoli because this Letter perceives the apostolic work of Sts Cyril and Methodius as a classic example of inculturation; Redemptoris Missio because it employs New Testament data as both sources and examples of inculturation; and CELAM IV because it emphatically addresses the problem of inculturation in the contemporary Latin American and Caribbean context. Moreover, these documents, together, reflect a significant part of the Churchs apostolic tradition, ranging from the early Churchs mission activity to our present time. They make similar claims about the process of inculturation though with various nuances thereby showing no significant discrepancies in the magisterial teaching related to this term. The concept of inculturation entered magisterial teaching in CT 53 which states, that it expresses very well one factor of the great mystery of the Incarnation.358 In Catechesi Tradendae inculturation is connected to catechesis. Like evangelization, catechesis too is a necessary condition for bringing the power of the Gospel into the very heart of culture and cultures (CT 53). This article further states:
For this purpose, catechesis will seek to know these cultures and their essential components; it will learn their most significant expressions; it will respect their particular values and riches. In this manner it will be able to offer these cultures the knowledge of the hidden mystery and help them to bring forth from their own living tradition original expressions of Christian life, celebration and thought.

Inculturation, therefore, is intimately linked to catechesis. It can only be effective in connection with a catechesis that on the one hand is probing a culture and having a proper appraisal of it; on the other hand, seeks to imbue culture with Christian meaning and enabling it to bring forth genuine expressions of Christian morals and ideals. In fact, catechesis is indispensable to inculturation since it is through it that cultures become enriched with gospel values, and become liberated from sinful and oppressive elements. The success of any process of inculturation is, therefore, contingent on an effective catechesis and evangelization. History has in several instances attests to the need for catechesis and evangelization if inculturation is to lead to somewhere. In his Encyclical Letter Slavorum Apostoli,359 John Paul II asserts that the evangelizing and catechetical efforts of Sts. Cyril and Methodius contains both a
358

See AAS 71 (1979) p. 607 for John Paul IIs address to the members of the Biblical Commission where he used the term for the first time, and later quoted in Catechesi Tradendae, no. 53. [Address is also in Beauchamp et al., Bible and Inculturation, xi-xiii]. However, this article does not specify exactly which factor of the great mystery of the Incarnation inculturation expresses. We have already discussed the missionary work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among the Slavs, thus in stead of repeating a biographical account, we think it suffices to concentrate on the value this magisterial document has for inculturation.

359

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model of what today is called inculturation the incarnation of the Gospel in native cultures and also the introduction of these cultures into the life of the Church.360 This Encyclical Letter reinforces the importance of their pioneering endeavors for the culture of the Slav by stating:
By incarnating the Gospel in the native culture of the peoples which they were evangelizing, Saints Cyril and Methodius were especially meritorious for the formation and development of that same culture, or rather of many cultures.... Furthermore, the translation of the sacred books, carried out by Cyril and Methodius together with their pupils, conferred a capacity and cultural dignity upon the Old Slavonic liturgical language, which became for many hundreds of years not only the 361 ecclesiastical but also the official and literary language....

This Letter underlines the idea that inculturation through evangelization bridges the split between the Gospel and culture. It does so by establishing links through which, on the one hand, the culture is renewed and impregnated with the Gospel. On the other hand, worship receives a new dimension in that it becomes enriched with expressions that originate from another culture. Furthermore, this Letter goes beyond giving praise to Cyril and Methodius for their missionary activities among the Slavs. It also perceives their work as an essential task of the Church, which is urgent today in the ... form of inculturation.362 However, Redemptoris Missio goes further into history and sees in several of Pauls speeches, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, examples of the inculturation of the Gospel. In that light, RM 25 refers to the following:
The speeches in Lystra and Athens (cf. Acts 14:15-17; 17:22-31) are acknowledged as models for their evangelization of the Gentiles. In these speeches Paul enters into dialogue with the cultural and religious values of different peoples. To the Lycaonians, who practiced a cosmic religion, he speaks of religious experiences related to the cosmos. With the Greeks he discusses philosophy and quotes their own poets (cf. Acts 17:18, 26-28). The God whom Paul wishes to reveal is already present in their lives; indeed, this God has created them and mysteriously guides nations and history. But if they are to recognize the true God, they must abandon the false gods which they themselves have made and open themselves to the One whom God has sent to remedy their ignorance and satisfy the longings of their hearts.363

And in RM 52 we read the implications stemming from the Churchs encounter with various cultures as she sets out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations, throughout her history. As a result she becomes involved in the process of inculturation which Redemptoris Missio points out, is particularly urgent today. This process has far-reaching implications since it is not a matter of purely external adaptation, but on the contrary implies the intimate
360 361 362 363

John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Slavorum Apostoli (Rome: 2 June 1985), no. 21. Ibid. Ibid., no. 26. Redemptoris Missio, no. 25.

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transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures.364 Moreover, it is a profound and allembracing ... [process], which involves the Christian message and also the Churchs reflection and practice. But at the same time it is a difficult process, for it must in no way compromise the distinctiveness and integrity of the Christian faith.365 A distinctive feature of inculturation, as one is able to delineate from the above description, is that it establishes a reciprocal relationship between the Church and the culture(s) in which she is implanted. For that reason RM 52 further attests:
Through inculturation the Church makes the Gospel incarnate in different cultures and at the same time introduces peoples, together with their cultures, into her own community. She transmits to them her own values, at the same time taking the good elements that already exist in them and renewing them from within. Through inculturation the Church, for her part, becomes a more 366 intelligible sign of what she is, and a more effective instrument of mission.

While this process occurs at the level of the local Church it also has its bearings on the universal Church since the latter becomes enriched with forms of expression and values in the various sectors of Christian life, such as evangelization, worship, theology and charitable works. She comes to know and to express better the mystery of Christ, all the while being motivated to continual renewal.367 It is a slow journey which accompanies the whole of missionary life. It also involves those working in the Churchs mission ad gentes, the Christian communities as they develop, and the bishops, who have the task of providing discernment and encouragement for its implementation.368 As the process of inculturation progresses, local churches involved therein become more and more equipped to express their Christian experience in original ways and forms that are consonant with their own cultural traditions, provided that those traditions are in harmony with the objective requirements of the faith itself.369 It is therefore essential that this process is inspired by the Gospel, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, if it is to lead to a variety of

364 365 366

Extraordinary Assembly of 1985, Final Report, II, D, 4 as quoted in Redemptoris Missio, no. 52. Redemptoris Missio, no. 52. Ibid. It refers for this quotation to respectively: Catechesi Tradendae, no. 53 (AAS 71 [1979], 1320); Slavorum Apostoli, no. 21 (AAS 77 [1985] 802f.); Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 20. Ibid. John Paul refers for these themes to the documents ensuing from some of his pastoral visits to Africa and Asia, such as: Address to the Bishops of Zaire, Kinshasa, 3 May 1980, 4-6: AAS 72 (1980), 432-435; Address to the Bishops of Kenya, Nairobi, 7 May 1980, 6: AAS 72 (1980), 497; Address to the Bishops of India, Delhi, 1 February 1986, 5: AAS 78 (1986), 748f. Ibid., with reference to Ad Gentes no. 22 regarding the role of bishops in this process. Redemptoris Missio, no. 53.

367

368 369

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legitimate expressions of the Catholic faith as a result of translating the Gospel message into the language of the people.370 Furthermore, RM 54 highlights two fundamental principles which serve as basic guidelines to the process of inculturation. These are: compatibility with the Gospel and communion with the universal Church.371 These guidelines also ensure that inculturation processes occur in conformity to magisterial teaching. Even though local bishops have a peculiar responsibility in the process of inculturation, this process still must involve the whole people of God, and not just a few experts, since the people reflect the authentic sensus fidei which must never be lost sight of.372 This is an important given, if inculturation is to be an expression of the community's life, one which must mature within the community itself, rather than being exclusively the result of erudite research. The safeguarding of traditional values is the work of a mature faith.373 In assessing the faith of the Christian people of Latin America and the Caribbean, as it filters through the celebration of the liturgy, the bishops gathered at CELAM IV in Santo Domingo arrived at a rather pessimistic conclusion when addressing the liturgical implications of inculturation. In the Conference Conclusions they lament under paragraph 43:
The process of a sound inculturation of the liturgy is still being neglected, and consequently liturgical celebrations are still for many people a ritualistic and private matter that does not make them conscious of the transforming presence of Christ and the Spirit, nor does it translate into a 374 commitment in solidarity to transform the world.

370

Ibid. It refers here to Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 63 that stipulates: The individual Churches, intimately built up not only of people but also of aspirations, of riches and limitations, of ways of praying, of loving, of looking at life and the world, which distinguish this or that human gathering, have the task of assimilating the essence of the Gospel message and of transposing it, without the slightest betrayal of its essential truth, into the language that these particular people understand, then of proclaiming it in this language. It is, however, important to note that Evangelii Nuntiandi no. 63 also stresses that the word language should be understood here less in the semantic or literary sense than in the sense which one may call anthropological or cultural. Moreover, Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 63 makes it emphatically clear that evangelization (through inculturation) loses much of its force and effectiveness if it does not take into consideration the actual people to whom it is addresses [sic], if it does not use their language, their signs and symbols, if it does not answer the questions they ask, and if it does not have an impact on their concrete life. In addition, the same effect occurs when a local Church loses her bond with the universal Church, or when the Gospel is compromised by the local culture. It is therefore that Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 64 emphasizes the importance for the local Church to remain in communion with the universal Church in the process of inculturation. These insights have been filtered back into Redemptoris Missio, no. 53. Redemptoris Missio no. 54 refers in this regard to Familiaris Consortio, no. 10 which speaks of inculturation in the context of marriage and the family. Ibid., (i.e., Redemptoris Missio, no. 54). Ibid. Hennelley, ed., Documents and Commentaries from the Fourth General Conference, 88.

371

372 373 374

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According to the bishops a new evangelization of culture is indispensable which has been hitherto hampered by a lack of doctrinal formation and a shallow life of faith [that] make many Catholics an easy target for the secularism, hedonism, and consumerism ....375 Its aim is to form people and communities whose faith is mature and to respond to the new situation we are facing as a result of the social and cultural changes of modernity. It must take into account urbanization, poverty, and marginalization.376 According to the bishops gathered at CELAM IV the task of the new evangelization is:
To arouse a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ and the Church on the part of a vast numbers of baptized men and women whose Christianity is devoid of vitality, who have lost a living sense of faith, or no longer consider themselves members of the Church and live a life far removed from Christ 377 and his gospel (emphasis quoted from RM 33).

It therefore requires a renewed spirituality which, illuminated by the light of the faith that is being proclaimed, may encourage genuine human development through Gods wisdom and be the leaven of a Christian culture.378 That is why the bishops, in their Pastoral Directions, further recommend:
Our local Churches, which reach full expression in the liturgy, and above all in the eucharist, ought to promote a serious and continuing liturgical formation for Gods people at all levels, so that they may live the liturgy spiritually, consciously, and actively. This formation ought to take into account the living presence of Christ in the celebration, its paschal and festive value, the active role of the assembly, and its missionary thrust.379

And on the parish level a new evangelization implies apart from celebrating the liturgy, a mission to evangelize, to foster human development, and to promote the inculturation of the faith in families, in Christian base communities, apostolic groups, and movements, and in society through all of these.380 Ultimately, what is at stake is a profound evangelization of culture which finds expression in the process of inculturation.381 It is in that light that the bishops at CELAM VI perceive the inculturation of the Gospel as a means to respond to the challenge of embarking on the new evangelization. The urgency thereof is felt from what Pope Paul VI had signaled in EN 20 as the great divide, the drama of modern time presented by the split between the Gospel and culture. The bishops at CELAM IV, however, employ a different phrasing which does not essentially differ from Paul VIs claim. They describe the current situation as a cultural crisis of unsuspected
375 376 377 378 379 380 381

Ibid.; CELAM IV, no. 44. Ibid., 82, CELAM IV, no. 26. Ibid. Ibid., 88; CELAM IV, no. 45. Ibid., 89; CELAM IV, no. 51. Ibid., 91; CELAM IV, no. 58. Ibid., 135; CELAM IV, no. 229.

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dimensions a quote taken from OA 21 in which gospel values and even basic human values are vanishing.382 For the CELAM bishops the inculturation of the Gospel means a process that entails recognizing those gospel values that have been maintained more or less pure in present-day culture and recognizing those new values that are congruent with the message of Christ. And its aim is to bring society to discover the Christian nature of those values, to esteem them, and to maintain them as values. It also seeks to incorporate gospel values that are not present in the culture, either because they have been obscured, or have even disappeared. 383 Through inculturation the Gospel becomes incarnated in the peoples culture, and thence faith seeks to correct their errors and prevent syncretism.384 Paragraphs 232-236 point out some of these errors, among which are corruption, and the culture of death, violence and terrorism, drug addiction and drug traffic[ing]. 385 These aberrations underscore the urgent need for the evangelization of culture through inculturation. In a theological sense inculturation is a process conducted on the basis of the gospel from within each people and community by means of language and symbols that are comprehensible and that the Church regards as appropriate.386 With the Gospel firmly at the heart of the inculturation process, the CELAM bishops employ the term inculturated evangelization. It implies the following: (1) letting the Gospel permeating urban culture both in the large cities and in rural areas affected by this culture; (2) incarnating the Gospel in indigenous and African American cultures; (3) aided by an effective educational activity and modern communication systems. 387 This modern and programmatic approach, as ambitious as it is, also presents huge challenges to the Latin American and Caribbean Church. In his opening address of CELAM Conference at Santo Domingo John Paul had already posit the holy Virgin of Guadalupe as an impressive example of a perfectly inculturated evangelization.388 He reiterates this claim in his post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (1999).389 Several of the themes related to inculturation, or rather, an inculturated evangelization in the Santo Domingo documents resonate in Ecclesia in America. In chapter 6 of
382 383 384 385 386 387 388

Ibid., 136; CELAM IV, no. 230. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., 137. Ibid., 139; CELAM IV, no. 243. Ibid., 153-154; CELAM IV, nos. 298-302. John Paul II, Address at the Opening of the Fourth General Conference of Latin American Bishops (October 12, 1992), 24: AAS 85 (1993), 826. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (Mexico City: 22 January 1999), par. 11.

389

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this latter document, for instance, John Paul II depicts the new evangelization390 as the primary objective of the contemporary mission of the Church in America which takes account of, among others: the challenge of the sects,391 the evangelization of culture,392 and evangelization of centers of education and evangelization through the media,393 both as practical consequences of an inculturated evangelization. Chapters 2 and 5 of Ecclesia in America discuss other themes which have also received attention at CELAM IV. Among these are the following: the problem of growing urbanization394; the fight against corruption395; the drug problem396; the culture of death397; and discrimination against indigenous people and those of African descent.398 Reading the Santo Domingo Conclusions in connection with Ecclesia in America reinforces the idea that inculturation ultimately seeks not only to transform human cultures to their core, but also tries to foster personal conversion to Christ. That is why inculturation needs evangelization. An inculturation without evangelization leads to a superficial adaptation, even when it has catechesis and liturgy as its primary axes.

4.4.4. Levels of inculturation in theological and magisterial discourses

Having examined the theme of inculturation as it unfolds in theological discourses and magisterial teaching we have observed three main levels on which this notion occurs. At the first level, the concept is used to refer to the factual given that religious ideas and practices always exist within cultural matrices. This means that Christian ideas have already been adopted and adapted by the different peoples of the Christian world. Caribbean Christians have inculturated Christianity in their own ways, with or without the blessings of the Magisterium. At the second level, the concept refers to a conscious practice, sometimes even a missionary strategy, to convey the Christian message in newly encountered cultures and traditions, in as successtful a way as possible.
390 391

See John Paul II, Ecclesia in America, no. 73, and cf. CELAM IV, chapter 1 of part II. See John Paul II, Ecclesia in America, no. 73, and cf. Hennelley, ed., Documents and Commentaries from the Fourth General Conference, 111-14; CELAM IV, nos. 139-152. See Ibid., 70 and cf. CELAM IV, nos. 293-295. See Ibid., 71; 72, and cf. CELAM IV, no. 300. See Ibid., 21, and cf. CELAM IV, nos. 255-256. See Ibid., 23; 60, and cf. CELAM IV, no. 233. See Ibid., 24; 61, and cf. CELAM IV, no. 235. See Ibid., 63, and cf. CELAM IV, no. 26; 235. See Ibid., 64, and cf. CELAM IV, no. 248-251.

392 393 394 395 396 397 398

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At the third level, the idea of inculturation has been used in conjunction with that of the Incarnation of Gods Word in Jesus. This is clearly enunciated in: AG 10: The Church, sent by Christ to reveal and to communicate the love of God to all men and
nations, is aware that there still remains a gigantic missionary task for her to accomplish.... The Church, in order to be able to offer all of them the mystery of salvation and the life brought by God, must implant herself into these groups for the same motive which led Christ to bind Himself, in virtue of His Incarnation, to certain social and cultural conditions of those human beings among whom He dwelt (emphasis added).399

AG 22: In harmony with the economy of the Incarnation, the young churches, rooted in Christ and
built up on the foundation of the Apostles, take to themselves in a wonderful exchange all the riches of the nations which were given to Christ as an inheritance (cf. Ps. 2:8). They borrow from the customs and traditions of their people, from their wisdom and their learning, from their arts and disciplines, all those things which can contribute to the glory of their Creator, or enhance the grace of their Savior, or 400 dispose Christian life the way it should be (emphasis added). CT 53: As I said recently to the members of the Biblical Commission: The term acculturation or inculturation may be a neologism, but it expresses very well one factor of the great mystery of the 401 Incarnation (emphasis added}.

The above magisterial statements hint with increasing clarity to the awareness that Gods Incarnation in Jesus included the inculturation of the Word, the reason for this being that humans do not exist in a cultural vacuum. The Word could become human only if and when it became a given human person in space and time, i.e., within the coordinates of history and culture. Said otherwise, if human beings were meant to perceive the resonance of the Eternal Word of God as being addressed to them, then the unheard Word had to engraft itself into a familiar language. To the Jews, the Word became a Jew. It is very important to note that unlike the first two levels, which do not carry a theologically binding weight for Christian reflection and praxis, the third level is essentially theological and normative for Christians. It is our suggestion that it is precisely on the relationship between Incarnation and inculturation that a truly Christian theology of liturgical inculturation must be founded. This is why we shall now elaborate on the Christian understanding of the Incarnation of Gods Word through the Spirit in Jesus.

399 400 401

Ad Gentes, no. 10. Ad Gentes, no. 22. Catechesi Tradendae, no. 53.

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4.5.

Understanding the Incarnation

The Incarnation means that the Pre-existent Logos became flesh, that is, He assumed an additional nature, namely, a human nature. It refers to the event, recorded in the Gospel according to John, where we read: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). This verse of scripture is said to be one of the most significant and memorable sentences ever penned.402 In addition David MacLeod claims: It is the central New Testament text (locus classicus) on the doctrine of the Incarnation 403 This doctrine has undeniably constituted the very core of Christianity for the larger part throughout Christian history.404 Etymologically, the English word incarnation means en-fleshing.405 It goes back to the Latin Vulgate scriptural verse Et verbum caro factum est. The noun caro, then, is from the root carn- (flesh). The Latin dictionary, however, translates caro with flesh (animal or vegetable).406 Others have pointed out that the English word incarnation without its definite article the stems from the Old French word incarnatio which, in turn, originated from the Latin in-carno. This Latin term means to make flesh.407 The verb to incarnate literally means to enflesh, take flesh, or clothe with flesh.408 Followers of Christ coined this term in the first two or three centuries of Christianity. They used it as a technical theological term to express the meaning of the Greek phrase in John 1:14, sarx egeneto, which says that the Word became flesh, or became human.409 Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Incarnation has been subjected to vigorous debate in the past as well as in the present. Even during the days of St. Justin Martyr (d. c. 165) there were Jewish intellectuals who opposed the idea of God becoming human. Gerald OCollins explains: Their monotheistic faith and sense of intrinsic otherness of God made them judge it quite incredible and impossible to think of God deigning to be born a human being and end up dying
402 403

Bruce Milne, The Message of John: The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1993), 46. David J. MacLeod, The Incarnation of the Word John 1:14, Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 161 (January-March 2004): 7288; 73. Brian Hebblethwaite, The Incarnation: Collected Essays in Christology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 1. Ibid., 16. One distinguishes between the Incarnation and incarnation. The first speaks of God becoming human and is a strict Christian concept, whereas the latter is a notion also found in non-Christian religions such as Hinduism (avatars) and Buddhism (nirvana). In these non-Christian religions the concept is used without the definite article the and generally refers to the assumption of human or material form by divine beings. Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary, 294. Literally it means of animals. Ibid., 917, 2 column. The event of becoming incarnate is rendered by the Latin word incarntus, whereas inarnr is the word for to be made flesh. George John Hoynacki, And the Word Was Made Flesh, Asia Journal of Theology 7 (1993): 12. Ibid.
nd

404

405

406 407

408 409

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on the cross (Dialogue with Trypho, 68).410 Later Origen of Alexandria (d. c. 254), one of the most distinguished of the early Fathers of the Christian Church, defended the Incarnation against antagonists such as Celsus a pagan intellectual who maintained that it was impossible for God to incarnate, since divine and human nature could never be united in Christ. According to OCollins the very notion of incarnation appeared to embody logically contradictory ideas.411 Similar claims, OCollins goes on to point out, have been uttered throughout the centuries. Some theologians have, in recent time, given voice to the opinion that deems the doctrine of the Incarnation to be incoherent and self-contradictory. This group included theologians like Norman Pittenger and John Robinson.412 Later other theologians joined their voices and went a step further to declare the doctrine of the Incarnation to be a myth. This group includes theologians like John Hick, Maurice Wiles, Frances Young, Michael Goulder, Don Cupitt, and Dennis Nineham.413 They used the term myth as to mean a story which is told but which is not literally true, or an idea or image which is applied to someone or something but which does not literally apply, but which invites a particular attitude in its hearers.414 In less than two decades after the appearance of The Myth of God Incarnate Hick, who had been one of the frontrunners of the mythographers,415 stirred the debate further with a work entitled The Metaphor of God Incarnate. He argued that because the idea of divine incarnation had become devoid of literal meaning it could still be used as a metaphor. This, Hick maintained, is done in the same way as when it is said:
Joan of Arc incarnated the resurgent spirit of France in 1429, or that George Washington incarnated the spirit of American Independence in 1776, or that Winston Churchill incarnated the British will to
410

Gerald OCollins, The Incarnation: The Critical Issues, in The Incarnation, eds. Stephen T. Davis, Daniel Kendall, and Gerald OCollins (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 1-26, 7. Ibid. See, Norman Pittenger, Christology Reconsidered (London: SCM Press, 1970); John A. T. Robinson, The Human Face of God, 2nd ed. (London: SCM Press, 1973). See John Hick, Jesus and the World Religions, in The Myth of God Incarnate, ed. John Hick (London: SCM Press, 1976), 167-85; Maurice Wiles, Christianity without Incarnation?, in Myth of God Incarnate, ed. Hick, 1-12; Wiles, A Survey of the Issues in the Myth Debate, in Incarnation and Myth, ed. Michael Goulder (London: SCM Press, 1979), 1-12; Frances Young, A Cloud of Witness, in Myth of God Incarnate, ed. Hick, 13-47; Michael Goulder, Jesus, the Man of Universal Destiny, in Myth of God Incarnate, ed. Hick, 48-63; Don Cupitt, The Christ of Christendom, in Myth of God Incarnate, ed. John Hick (London: SCM Press, 1976), 133-47; Cupitt, Jesus and the Meaning of God, in Incarnation and Myth, ed. Goulder, 31-40; and Dennis Nineham, Epilogue, in Myth of God Incarnate, ed. Hick, 186-204. Hick, Jesus and World Religions, 178; cf. Goulder, foreword to Incarnation and Myth: The Debate Continued, by Id., ed., vii-xi, vii. He argued that the term myth should be understood as a story of profound meaning by which people guide their lives rather than a fairy-tale, meaning not true as popularly understood. Robert G. Crawford, The Saga of the Incarnation (Pretoria: University of South Africa, 1985), xi, used this term to denote the proponents of the Myth-theory.

411 412

413

414

415

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resist Hitler in 1940 [In this way] we are using a natural and effective metaphor which communicates something important about the characters and historical roles of St Joan, Washington and Churchill. It says something that is capable of being true or false true or false in the sense that 416 a metaphor is appropriate and illuminating or inappropriate and misleading.

According to Ross Langmead these theologians with their dissenting views on the doctrine of the Incarnation represent a non-incarnational Christology because they are unclear about or deny Jesus divinity.417 Don Cupitt represents such a view when he points to the so-called mutual exclusive predicates in the Incarnation, by claiming: the eternal God and an historical man are two beings of quite different ontological status. It is quite unintelligible to declare them identical.418 OCollins succinctly responded to this claim as follows: Mutually exclusive characteristics are being simultaneously attributed to him but not within the same frame of reference.419 Furthermore, OCollins acknowledges that the Incarnation is a paradox but, he insists, not a blatant logical contradiction. This belief, he argues, has not been shown to be metaphysically impossible or logically incoherent like talk of a married bachelor or a square circle.420 It is not our aim to enter into a polemic discussion on the Incarnation. It suffices to point out that the Incarnation is perceived in various ways. This observation requires us to provide the necessary clarity on the meaning we attach to it in this study. Our understanding of the Incarnation concurs with the Churchs teaching hereof.421 Despite the various readings, the doctrine of the Incarnation still remains at the centre of the Christian churches teaching. The CCC under numbers 422-429 clearly underscores its centrality. CCC 427 emphatically phrases the centrality of the mystery of Christ by declaring: In catechesis Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God, is
416

Hick, The Metaphor of God Incarnate (London: SCM Press, 1993), 104-5; also see Janet Martin Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), 15. For her a metaphor is a figure of speech whereby we speak about one thing in terms which are seen to be suggestive of another. Ross Langmead, The Word Made Flesh: Towards an Incarnational Missiology (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2004), 31-34. The position of this group can be summarized in the following points made by Langmead: (1) they argued that the incarnation is only one interpretation of the significance of Jesus of Nazareth which has never been justified or stated intelligibly; (2) they sought to show that the majority of critical biblical scholarship does not think that Jesus ever believed himself to be divine; (3) they argued that early Christology grew rapidly in a setting where exceptional people were readily granted divine honors and where Gods supernatural intervention was a natural way of thinking; (4) they argued that metaphysical assertions that Jesus Christ was both man and God not only used a philosophical framework we no longer accept, but struggled to be coherent even at the time the church formulated and accepted the claims; (5) they suggested that incarnation still has a use as a metaphor or myth, meaning that Jesus was a human person who embodied Gods self-giving love, but they denied that the incarnation has any literal meaning or metaphysical reference. Cupitt, The Finality of Christ, Theology 78 (1975): 618-28, 625. OCollins, Christology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 234; and [reiterated in] Id., The Incarnation, 8. Id., The Incarnation, 8. Cf., Ibid., 3, presenting both a realistic understanding of this doctrine, i.e., as a belief about a specific and unique event that happened only once in human history, and in the strong sense of the union between true divinity and full humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.

417

418 419 420 421

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taught everything else is taught with reference to him and it is Christ alone who teaches422 However, earlier the CCC also mentions:
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the hierarchy of truths of faith 423 [GCD 43].

Jacques Dupuis424 holds that it is intended that both mysteries are inseparable and constitute an indivisible whole. And, to show their intimate connection even better, it could have been explained that the mystery of Gods inner life is manifested to us as Gods self-revelation and self-gift in his incarnate Son.425 Nevertheless, the centrality of Jn 1:14 (the Word became flesh) for understanding the Incarnation of Jesus, demands that each word must be examined carefully. Among biblical scholars there is a consensus that the Word is the Eternal Logos, God self, as pointed out in the prologue of the Gospel according to John (Jn 1:1).426 When in the doctrine of the Incarnation the Church teaches that God came into the world in the man Jesus, she spells out her faith that in Him both divine and human nature are present. This doctrine, from its inception at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, contains the following main truths, as noted by MacLeod:
The Lords humanity was complete, in contrast to Appolinarianism [after Appollinarius (A.D. 310390), bishop of Laodicea], which taught that the divine Logos took the place of a human spirit in the man Jesus. The Lord Jesus was completely a man body, soul and spirit. Yes, Christ is God, but He is also man He is both. His humanity was real and permanent, as against various forms of Docetism. The Lords divine and human natures remain unchanged and unmixed, each fulfilling its role according to its proper laws, in contrast to Eutychianism [after Eutyches (A.D. 378-454), abbot in Constantinople], which taught that the Incarnation produced a third nature, a kind of deified humanity in which the properties of true human nature are lost. The Lords human and divine natures were united in one person, in contrast to Nestorianism [after Nestorius (d. ca. A.D. 451),

422 423

Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 427. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 234; also see Catherine M. LaCugna, The Doctrine of the Trinity (Paragraphs 232-267), in Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, ed. Michal J. Walsh (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1994), 66-80, for the historical development of this doctrine, its practical dimensions, and the Catechism of the Catholic Churchs evaluation and presentation of it. Dupuis, The Incarnation of the Son of God (Paragraphs 422-511), in Commentary on the Catechism, ed. Walsh, 112-26, 112. Ibid.

424

425 426

MacLeod (Incarnation of the Word, 73) based his argument that the repetition of Word in verse 14 is tied to verse 1, on the insights of Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John: The Greek Text with Introduction and Notes (London: John Murray, 1908), 1:19.

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monk at Antioch, and for a time the bishop of Constantinople], which taught that Jesus had two 427 personalities or was two persons.

Concerning the word became, MacLeod observed that in the Greek translation it means to assume. Hence, the Word assumed human nature. However, the word became does not imply that after the Incarnation the Word had stopped being what He was before. In order to illustrate this point MacLeod uses the following example:
One could say, The oak tree became a staircase, or The boy became an adult. In these examples the oak tree and the boy cease to be what they were. But the verb can be used in another way. When someone says, John Smith became a physician, he is not implying that John Smith thereby 428 ceased to be John Smith.

This explanation clarifies429 to a certain degree the co-existence of divine and human nature in Jesus. It highlights that in and through Jesus, God is at work through the power of the Holy Spirit, in terms of the old theological notion of perichoresis.430 This, however, happens in an unrepeatable form. Regarding the word flesh MacLeod observes that the Greek noun (sarx) denotes the soft parts of the body (skin, muscle, fat) as opposed to blood and bones.431 It was actually from this strict sense that a broader interpretation ensued, thus arriving to depict a total human being enlivened by body, soul (Jn 12:27), and spirit (Jn 11:33). MacLeod agreed with scholars on the opinion that this term stresses the transitoriness and mortality of human life.432

427 428 429

Ibid., 76. C. E. B. Cranfield, John l14: became, Expository Times 93 (1982): 215, in MacLeod, Incarnation of the Word, 75. Clarifies here does not mean that with this example the how and why of the Incarnation have been probed into. This would be an oversimplification of one of the greatest mysteries within Christianity. For example, the question on the relation between Jesus and the Second Person of the Trinity is not answered by this example. See therefore, John Lamont, The Nature of the Hypostatic Union, Heythrop Journal 47, no. 1 (2006): 1625; see also Hebblethwaite, The Incarnation, 1. This author asserts that the doctrine of the Incarnation did not come about overnight but was hammered out over five centuries of passionate debate, enshrined in the classical Christian creeds, explored and articulated in the great systematic theologies See Hebblethwaite, The Incarnation, 11. The term stems from a Greek word that means encircling or encompassing. It acquired the technical sense in theology of mutual interpenetration. Taken over from its less happy usage in Christology into Trinitarian theology, it was used by Pseudo Cyril [of Alexandria] and John of Damascus to refer tot the co-inherence of the three persons in the one eternal God. (p. 1); also see Oliver D. Crisp, Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) who uses the term nature-perichoresis, attributing to it more or less the same meaning as above. MacLeod, Incarnation of the Word, 74.

430

431 432

See, for instance, Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel According to St. John: The Greek Text with Introduction and Notes (London: John Murray, 1908), 1:19, in MacLeod, Incarnation of the Word, 75.

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However, Langmead provides a more elaborative argument why the noun sarx as used in the Gospel according to John should be understood as denoting the complete human person.433 He first points to the three different meanings of sarx in the New Testament: (1) literal flesh, as in meat or the human body; (2) the entire human person, thus, a finite human being born into this world; and (3) humanitys sinful mode of existence, alluding to a dichotomy between a sinful flesh and a graceful spirit, and as used by Paul. He then looks at the structure of Johns Gospel and indicates, contrary to Paul a positive usage of the noun, based on Gods decision to assume human flesh. He goes on to point out that sarx simply is often employed to indicate what is human and natural (Jn 1:13, 3:6; 17:2; 8:15). He finally concludes that in John 1:14 this term reflects the entire human person. The Word became flesh therefore means that the Word became human. The theological discussions and positions concerning the doctrine of the Incarnation indicate that apart from the doctrinal understanding there are other theological understandings of this central Christological notion. Employing it in a theological discussion on inculturation therefore requires clarity of the particular understanding attached to it. For that purpose, we need to look at how the Church conceives of this doctrine in her magisterial teaching. We turn to the CCC, therefore, since according to Dupuis, its aim is to present an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine.434 The CCC begins its discussion on the Incarnation by first answering to the why of the Incarnation in the following way:
456 With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. 457 The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins: the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world, and he was revealed to take away sins [I Jn 4:14; 3:5]. 458 The Word became flesh so that thus we might know Gods love: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him [I Jn 4:9]. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life [Jn 3:16]. 459 The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness 460 The Word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature [2 Pt 1:4]: For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God [St
433

Langmead, The Word Made Flesh, 26-27; also see Dupuis, Incarnation of the Son, 119, who holds that sarx, just like kensis (in the form of a slave of the Pauline hymn) expresses the incarnate Sons deep identification with the concrete condition of humankind (p. 119). Dupuis, Incarnation of the Son, 113.

434

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Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 19, 1: PG 7/1, 939]. For the Son of God became man so that we might become God [St Athanasius, de inc. 54, 3: PG 25, 192B]. The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods 435 [St. Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57, 1-4].

This portion of the CCC emphatically makes clear that the Churchs teaching on the why of the Incarnation is profoundly rooted in both Sacred Scripture and her Apostolic tradition. It derives its answer to the why of the incarnation from, among others, the Nicene Creed (For us human beings and for our salvation)436 and develops it further from Johns Gospel, the first letter of John, and writings from St. Irenaeus; hence, the incarnation of Gods Son is willed by God for our salvation, indeed, manifesting Gods love for us.437 Furthermore, the above cited passages from the CCC attest to the given that Christians have understood Jesus being in incarnational terms ever since the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, as reflected in: I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. After explaining the why of the Incarnation the CCC goes on to explain this central doctrine of the Church in more detail, in the following way:
461 Taking up St. Johns expression, The Word became flesh [Jn 12:14], the Church calls Incarnation the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross [Phil 2:58]. 462 The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery: Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God [Heb 10:5-7, 438 citing Ps 40:6-8 ([7-9] LXX)].

435 436

Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 456-460. The First General Council of Nicaea; Symbol of Nicaea (325), in The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church, Sixth rev. and enl. ed. Joseph Neuner and Jacques Dupuis [ed.] (New York: Alba House, 1996), 6, no. 7. Dupuis, Incarnation of the Son, 118; also see OCollins, The Incarnation, 17, who by referring to the Apostolic tradition identifies both our salvation and Gods love as motives for the why of the Incarnation. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 461-462.

437

438

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Over time, an orthodoxy developed within the Catholic Church regarding the faith in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.439 Not only did the Church officially declare that he is both divine and human (two natures); she also explains that in him there was but one person at work (God-theSon). The CCC restates the ecumenical teaching as follows:
468 After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christs human nature a kind of personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople in 553, confessed that there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity [Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 424]. Thus everything in Christs human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but also his sufferings and even his death: He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity 440 [Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 432; cf. DS 424; Council of Ephesus, DS 255].

This doctrine of the Incarnation has become the most distinctive mark of Christianity, that which differentiates the Christian understanding of the mystery and meaning of Jesus from its Jewish and Islamic counterparts. As the CCC rightly states:
463 Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God [1 Jn 4:2]. Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings 441 the mystery of our religion: He was manifested in the flesh [1 Tim 3:6].

However, the mystery of the Incarnation and the mystery of the Trinity go hand in hand and qualify one another, as we have already pointed out.442 While in Jesus Christ there are two natures (divine and human) but only one person (the divine), in the Deity there are three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), but only one nature (the divine). If, as we have argued, the Incarnation is the prime theological basis for inculturation, how then should we conceive of their relatedness? Some suggest that inculturation should be perceived in analogy to the Incarnation. It implies that in analogy of the Word assuming flesh in a particular culture, the Gospel, or the Christian faith becomes rooted in any particular culture.443 In other

439

See Dupuis, ed. The Christian Faith, particularly the first section dealing with the various Symbols and profession of faith, such as in the Apostolic tradition of Hippolytus (c. 215-217), 3, no. 2; the Symbol of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, 5, no. 6; the Symbol of Constantinople (381), 9, no. 12; going beyond the profession of faith of Paul VI (1968), 25, no. 39/4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 468. Ibid., 463. Dupuis (The Incarnation of the Son, 125, n. 1) duly remarks that the Catechism of the Catholic Church, however, considers the mystery of the Trinity as the most fundamental and essential teaching in the hierarchy of truths of the faith (no. 234, emphasis added), but that this is not to be understood as contradistinguishing the Trinity from the mystery of Christ (p. 125). Cf. Gallagher (Some Theological Perspectives, 176) who speaks of inculturation in terms of an imitatation (so to speak, according to this author) of the Incarnation, in order to give flesh to the gospel again in different cultures.

440 441 442

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words, how can the Christian faith assume the culture of a people where it finds itself in order to become culturally meaningful to that people, without losing its power and salvific value? Just as how Jesus took a critical stance toward the culture in which he grew up, so too does inculturation imply a critical stance toward a given culture. Others point out that when God came through Jesus, He did so as a cultural being; a living human being who was shaped by the Jewish culture; who spoke the cultural language of His people,444 and clothed himself in the cultural attire common to His fellow Jews. At the Last Supper, he used the cultural products of His people. Moreover, He used the cultic meal ritual expressions which were common in Jewish culture.445 Chupungco, for instance, insists:
[Jesus], in assuming the condition of man, except sin, bound himself to the history, culture, traditions, and religion of his own people [Jesus] assumed what not only was pertained to the human race, but also what was proper to the human race. He inherited its natural traits, its genius, its spiritual endowments and its peculiar mode of self-expression. He was a Jew in every way, except in sin. The historicity of the incarnation demanded that he identify himself with his own people in 446 heart and mind, in flesh and blood.

As such, the Incarnation can also be seen in terms of God assuming a cultural existence in Jesus, bound to a particular time, place and culture.447 Chupungco, however, goes beyond perceiving the relation between the Incarnation and inculturation in terms of a mere analogy. He holds that inculturation is an incarnational imperative, rather than a concession of Vatican II.448 It is, therefore, not enough to simply conceive of the Incarnation as a model for inculturation. The Incarnation is the very reason for inculturation. Because of the Incarnation, inculturation must occur. This idea is reflected indirectly in the CCC in the following way:
689 The One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God [cf. Gal 4:6]. Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from them, in both the

Gallagher, however, does not imply that the Incarnation is imitatable, but uses it as an image to explain what inculturation is about.
444

Eugene Hillman, Many Paths: A Catholic Approach to Religious Pluralism (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987), 47, notes: Jesus of Nazareth, Gods good news, was not presented through alien linguistic and religious systems brought down from heaven. The message came through the flesh of a particular ethnic group; it was verbalized in a provincial dialect intelligible to the people on the spot. It was expounded in metaphors fashioned from the experiences of shepherds and fishermen against a background of preconceptions and assumptions that were hardly universal. (p. 47). Gerald A. Arbuckle, Inculturation, Not Adaptation: Time to Change Terminology, Worship 60 (1986): 511-20, 512. Chupungco, Cultural Adaptation, 58-59; also see Dupuis, Incarnation of the Son, 120-23, writing about the true humanity of Jesus. Langmead, The Word Made Flesh, 162. Chupungco, Cultural Adaptation, 62.

445 446

447 448

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inner life of the Trinity and his gift of love for the world. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the 449 Spirit who reveals him.

It is precisely this divine mission, perpetuated till the end of time that founds the mission of the Church. The Church is bound to this joint mission of the Son and the Spirit, in order to promote the salvation of humanity, thereby responding to the why of the Incarnation. As indicated by the letter to the Hebrews (1:1-3), the inner rationale of the Incarnation, as the joint mission of Gods Word and His Spirit, is one of increasing revelation:
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of Gods glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

With the Incarnation the intentionality of history becomes revealed: what had been implicit or hinted at from the beginning of creation became visible and palpable. Or, in the language of the Johannine epistles:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us (1 Jn 1,1-3).

In the same way as the Incarnation brings two poles (God and humanity) that at times seem to be opposites into communion, so too does the Incarnation bring about a total fellowship (koinonia) between the Creator and His creatures. The First epistle of John (1:3-4) hints at this:
What we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our 450 joy may be complete.

The Church, by her very nature is called to promote this fellowship between God and humanity. In other words, she is called to undo the split between Gospel and culture. Incarnation, as gleaned from CCC no. 689, is all about mission, about reaching out to the other as a sign of love, and about affirming and lifting the other, bringing him or her into a global, life-giving fellowship. Just as God has reached out to humanity in divine love, by giving his Son as ransom for all, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life

449 450

Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 689. Senior et al., eds., The Catholic Study Bible / The New American Bible, 388.

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[Jn 3:16],451 so too the Church, as the People of God, has the obligation to reach out to all, in other to foster the fellowship, not only between humans, but ultimately between God and humanity. As the CCC teaches, this fellowship is graphically made visible in and through the mystery of the Incarnation:
702 From the beginning until the fullness of time [Gal 4:4], the joint mission of the Fathers Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. Gods Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, who has spoken through the prophets, wants to tell us about Christ [cf. 2 Cor 3:14; Jn 5:39, 46].

Even though the passage from the hidden to the revealed has already occurred in a seminal way in Jesus Christ, it must still continually be enacted in history in and through the Church. This happens when the Church proclaims the Gospel of Jesus to all the nations, as Jesus himself mandated. In the work of evangelization, the Church encounters peoples cultures. And in order to proclaim the truth of the Gospel effectively to the different peoples, the Church needs inculturation, and needs to be inculturated, or incarnated in the various cultures. Hence, there is a dialectic relation between evangelization and inculturation that finds its raison dtre in the Incarnation. One can also glean the incarnational imperative of inculturation from Dei Verbum where it reminds us that:
In His goodness and wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9) by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18; 2 Peter 1:4). Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God (see Col. 1:15, 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38), so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is 452 both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation (DV 2).

This article attempts to describe what Christian faith means when it speaks of revelation or appeals to revelation.453 Its core is the Incarnation through which God finally reveals himself and His divine will to humanity, after he had spoken through the prophets in many and varied ways. Thence He sent His Son, the eternal Word, who enlightens all men, so that He might dwell among men and tell them of the innermost being of God (see John 1:1-18). Jesus Christ, therefore,
451 452 453

Ibid., 152. Dei Verbum, no. 2. Ratzinger Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: Origin and Background, in Commentary On the Documents of Vatican II, vol. 3, ed. Vorgrimler, 155-272, 170.

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the Word made flesh, was sent as a man to men [DV 4] in order to proclaim Gods words454 and to complete the work of salvation which His Father gave Him to do (see Jn 5:36; Jn 17:4) [DV 4]. One may now ask what this divine will of God entails. Of this DV 6 says:
Through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate Himself and the eternal decisions of His will regarding the salvation of men. That is to say, He chose to share with them 455 those divine treasures which totally transcend the understanding of the human mind.

Gods divine will, therefore, entails the salvation of humankind in and through Christ. DV 7 goes on explaining the how of the salvation by declaring:
In His gracious goodness, God has seen to it that what He had revealed for the salvation of all nations would abide perpetually in its full integrity and be handed on to all generations. Therefore Christ the Lord in whom the full revelation of the supreme God is brought to completion (see Cor. 1:20; 3:13; 4:6), commissioned the Apostles to preach to all men that Gospel which is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching, [cf. Matt. 28:19-20, and Mark 16:15; Council of Trent, session IV, Decree on Scriptural Canons: Denzinger 783 (1501)] and to impart to them heavenly gifts. This Gospel had been promised in former times through the prophets, and Christ Himself had fulfilled it and promulgated it with His lips. This commission was faithfully fulfilled by the Apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The commission was fulfilled, too, by those Apostles and apostolic men who under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit committed the message of salvation to writing. [cf. Council of Trent, loc. cit.; First Vatican Council, session III, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Chap. 2, On revelation: Denzinger 1787 (3005)]. But in order to keep the Gospel forever whole and alive within the Church, the Apostles left bishops as their successors, handing over to them the authority to teach in their own place. [St. Irenaeus, Against Heretics III, 3, 1: PG 7, 848; Harvey, 2, p. 9].This sacred tradition, therefore, and Sacred Scripture of both the Old and New Testaments are like a mirror in which the pilgrim Church on earth looks at God, from whom she has received everything, until she is brought finally to see 456 Him as He is, face to face (see 1 John 3:2).

According to Ratzinger, Dei Verbum, rather than employing juridical and legal terms, offers an historical and sacramental account of the Christian reality, pointing out the reality and saving character of the word of Christ, which is not only a summons, but primarily the plenitude from which the saving activity comes and from which alone the nature of the Christian summons is to

454

In his commentary on Dei Verbum, no. 4 Ratzinger (Ibid., 175) notes that instead of words [of the prophets], we have the Word. Christ no longer speaks merely of God, but he is himself the speech of God Dei Verbum, no. 6. Dei Verbum, no. 7.

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be understood.457 Hence, one could say that the incarnational imperative of inculturation is also rooted in divine revelation.

4.6.

Partial conclusion

Inculturation is a concern for the entire Church. Some even claim that it is indeed a defining characteristic of the mission of the Church.458 Through inculturation the Church exercises her mandate to bring the light of Christ who is the Light of nations to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church (LG 1).459 The very foundation of the Church is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the peoples of the earth, and to be a universal sacrament of salvation. Yet inculturation remains to be a difficult and delicate task, 460 as John Paul II mentioned in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa. The theological discourses and the magisterial teaching on inculturation show a variety of nuances related to this concept. Some theologians speak of the inculturation of the Church, with which they mean the insertion and rooting of an ecclesial community into a particular culture thereby giving birth to a local Church. Roest Crollius, for example, notes:
The inculturation of the church is the integration of the Christian experience of a local church in the culture of its people, in such a way that this experience not only comes to be expressed in elements of that culture but becomes a force that animates, orients, and innovates that culture, to the point of creating a new unity and communion, not only in the culture in question, but also as an enriching 461 of the universal church.

Others speak of inculturation of the Christian faith, or of the Gospel by which is meant that Christ message of salvation becomes deeply rooted into a given culture, imbuing it with Christian meaning or Gospel values. 462 And, again, others maintain that it is the liturgy that needs inculturation.463 This way of perceiving inculturation (of something) can very well obscure the fact that it involves a process in which a dynamic relationship between faith and culture evolves. This process is intimately linked to evangelization. Actually, inculturation and evangelization are
457 458

Ratzinger Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 181. Schineller, Inculturation: A Difficult and Delicate Task, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 20, no. 3 (1996): 109-11, 111. Lumen Gentium, no. 1. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa (Yaounde, Cameroon: 14 September 1995), no. 62. Roest Crollius, Inculturazione della fede: La problematica attuale, in Inculturazione della fede: Saggi interdisciplinary, ed. Bartolomeo Genero (Naples: Edizioni Dehoniane, 1981), 31-32, trans and quoted in Gorski, Christology, Inculturation, and Their Missiological Implications, 61. See CELAM IV, no. 230. See, for instance, the already cited works of Chupungco, particularly his book Liturgical Inculturation.

459 460 461

462 463

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dialectically related. They go hand in hand and qualify one another.464 Both are rooted in Divine revelation. It is because of the Incarnation that the Church must unceasingly evangelize through inculturation, and inculturate through evangelization, seeking to transform cultures from within, by bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to all strata of humanity. This is absolutely necessary because every culture is affected by sin and is therefore in need of Christ message of salvation.465 Cultures also impact peoples life. Inculturation seeks to transform cultures and peoples life so that they more fully reflect the light. In our view, inculturation first of all seeks to evangelize culture. It is the duty of the Church to evangelize among all the peoples ceaselessly between the first and second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that by hearing the message of salvation the whole world may believe, by believing it may hope, and by hoping it may love (DV 1).466 Moreover, just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and persecution, so too the Church is called to follow the same route that it might communicate the fruits of salvation to men (LG 8).467 The process of inculturation, one may say, is therefore essentially a continuous process of conversion. It requires, according to Schineller, a dying to the old and a moving to the new. There is an emptying, a letting go, so that something new and unknown, untested, can be born.468 It is a process rooted in the Incarnation of the Word in Jesus, which is also the analogy for construing the dynamic relationship between faith and culture. Only when inculturation profoundly transforms a culture, can Christianity or the Christian faith become rooted in that culture. That is why inculturation ought to be seen as a process in which the deep structures of faith become tangible in human cultures and embodied in the concrete lives of both individuals and groups of people. The Incarnation shows indeed, is the way in which God offers His wondrous love to the world and elicits a likewise response from us.

464 465

Cf. Amalorpavadass, Theological Reflections on Inculturation, 40. See Redemptoris Missio, no. 54 that puts it as follows: Since culture is a human creation and is therefore marked by sin, it too needs to be healed, ennobled and perfected (Lumen Gentium, no. 17). Dei Verbum, no. 1. Lumen Gentium, no. 8. Schineller, A Difficult and Delicate Task, 111.

466 467 468

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CHAPTER 5. LITURGICAL INCULTURATION AND POPULAR RELIGIOSITY

In the previous chapter we have examined the concept of inculturation as it evolved in magisterial teaching and subsequent theological discourses. We have also advanced that inculturation is rooted in the Incarnation of Jesus, which hence constitutes its theological basis. As a summon to conversion, inculturation becomes an incarnational imperative for the Church, since it is through an inculturated evangelization that peoples lives are (re)oriented to Christ and to the salvation He has promised to us. In addition, we have identified loci historici and loci theologi for inculturation. We then identified those as bricks for erecting the theological wall for our construction of a theology of liturgical inculturation. We have also expounded the relation between the two pillars of the theological framework, namely the Gospel and culture. In this chapter we shall present the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity as the two remaining pillars that scaffold the theological framework; we will also examine their relation in light of the overarching relation between liturgy and culture. The main guiding question here will be: How does the Roman liturgy intersect with popular religiosity, in light of the process of liturgical inculturation? Or put differently: to what extent does liturgical inculturation foster personal communion with God in a given culture? Consequently, we shall also examine the implications of this encounter for both the liturgy and popular religiosity. We will employ works of Chupungco and Power as main sources for examining this question. Moreover, we shall consult the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (DPPL), since we deem it to be the only post-Vatican II document that explicitly addresses this relation. Furthermore, our examination of the harmonization between the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity starts from the example of liturgical inculturation which involves the Eucharistic celebration. Secondly, we shall pay close attention to sacramentals, which we think, also provide a valuable avenue for liturgical inculturation. For that purpose we shall briefly examine some examples on that level, from the international theological literature that reflects attempts in that regard. We shall approach our main guiding question by breaking it down into three sub-questions: (1) Why is liturgical inculturation necessary vis--vis popular religiosity?1 (2) What is the purpose of liturgical inculturation? (3) How can we ascertain that the process of liturgical inculturation meets the requirements of the Gospel? These sub-questions will highlight the importance and centrality

After we have demonstrated the necessity of inculturation in the previous chapter, it will now be our objective to illustrate this in the practical pastoral field of the liturgy, and to highlight how it becomes concrete in the life of the local Church.

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of the mystery of Christ for any Christian theology. Furthermore, these questions are important because they underlie the dynamic relation between liturgy and culture, which will be first to be elaborated on. In that endeavor we will consult David Powers work entitled Worship: Culture and Theology, which we deem important for our cause, since therein he comprehensively addresses this relation by demonstrating how theology becomes a bridge between liturgy and culture. 2 Another author who has recently explored this relation is the German theologian Michael Kunzler,3 a visiting professor at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome since 1999. His work, entitled The Churchs Liturgy thoroughly introduces the reader into the Roman liturgy, within the broader framework of both Eastern and Western liturgies. Its central theme is the life-creating communication between God and human beings,4 which occurs within the dynamic relation between liturgy and culture. We will elaborate on this communication from Kunzlers work. We shall first base our elaboration of the just mentioned relation on the premise that Christ, as the primordial sacrament of God,5 mediates between God and humanity. The Church is therefore seen as the sacrament of the risen Christ.6 As such, the Church mediates Christs salvation through the sacraments celebrated in the liturgy.7 The liturgy, therefore, offers the concrete embodiment for encountering Christ in the life of the Church, especially through the sacraments.8
2

See Power, Culture and Theology, 67-84 [in particular]; Id. Liturgy and Culture will also serve as our frame of reference. See Michael Kunzler, The Churchs Liturgy, Handbooks of Catholic theology, trans. Placed Murray, Henry OShea, and Cilian S [Originally published as Die Liturgie der Kirche, 1995] (London: Continuum, 2001), 83. AMATECAs (i.e., an internal series of Handbooks of Catholic Theology, which includes Kunzlers book) introduction at the back cover of the book. See Edward C. F. A. Schillebeeckx, Christ, The Sacrament of the Encounter with God, 11 impr. (London: Sheed and Ward, 1989 [1963]), 7-45; and Jungmann (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,12) explains the reason for denoting the Church as such by stating: The Church and ecclesial life are of a sacramental structure, continuously joining together the visible and the invisible. Ibid., 47-89. We shall later expound the role and nature of the Church in the economy of salvation. Therefore, we shall employ the theological insights of theological giants like Rahner (Universality of the Church, in Encyclopedia of Theology, ed. Id., 225-27) and Schillebeeckx. Schillebeeckx (Christ, The Sacrament, 40-45) explains the sacraments as the earthly prolongation of Christs glorified bodiliness, through which we encounter the glorified man Jesus by way of a visible form on earth, since they are the visible and tangible embodiment of the heavenly saving action of Christ. (p. 44). He further asserts: In an earthly embodiment which we can see and touch, the heavenly Christ sacramentalizes i.e., indicating the personal act of Christ who through his Church gives visible shape to his invisible saving activity or gift of grace, and thereby makes himself present to us both his continual intersession for us and his active gift of grace (p. 45) (emphasis added). However, one can hear the Thomist metaphysical scheme ringing through this description,
th

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Secondly, when people decide to participate in the liturgy, they do not come as a tabula rasa, but carry with them a life profoundly ingrained into a particular culture. A life too, shaped by a particular cosmology, which often underlies a particular form of religiosity. In this chapter we shall identify this form of religiosity as popular religiosity, which, as one may argue, can also be perceived as a religiosity profoundly affected by popular culture, beliefs and practices. This implies that the subjects of popular religiosity are both Christians and non-Christians alike,9 as we have demonstrated in chapter 3. One could therefore say that in Christian worship liturgy and culture encounter one another.10 Hence we shall pay closer attention to the relation between liturgy and culture because from this relation the need for liturgical inculturation presents itself as a permanent task.11 Since liturgical inculturation entails a perennial mission for the Church, 12 from the perspective of evangelization, there is need to examine this notion in detail. We will do that by

which perceives the sacrament as a visible sign of invisible grace. This observation is illustrated by Schillebeeckxs conclusion that the sacraments are the visible realization on earth of Christs mystery of saving worship which he underscores with the following quotation: What was visible in Christ has now passed over into the sacraments of the Church, from St. Leo the Great, Quod conspicuum erat in Cristo transivit in Ecclesiae sacramenta. (Sermo LXXIV, 2 [PL, 54, col. 398].). (Ibid.). Nevertheless, we think Schillebeeckx convincingly argues in favor of a personal communion with God, encountered through the sacraments. Thus, while not diverting completely from the classical scholastic approach that perceived the sacraments in pure (meta)physical categories (cause and effect) Schillebeeckx exerts himself positively and constructively to take up the study of the Churchs sacraments, with the concept of human, personal encounter (p. 3) as the basis for his reflection. In that way he shows esteem for the Churchs tradition, but yet does not hesitate to venture into a new direction, by perceiving the sacraments as the properly human mode of encountering God. (p. 6); also see Andr Haquin, Naar een fundamentele theologie van de sacramenten: van E. Schillebeeckx tot L.-M. Chauvet, in Hedendaagse accenten in de sacramentologie, Nik-reeks 32, trans. and ed. Lamberts (Leuven / Amersfoort: Acco, 1993), 65-85. In this article Haquin gives an account of the shift from a classical, Thomist approach to a (post)modern understanding of the sacraments, and the need from which this shift sprang. In referring to Schillebeeckxs 1952 published doctoral dissertation (De sacramentele heilseconomie, Antwerpen) Haquin says of it that it is a Thomist approach of the sacraments, but actualized and completed from the perspective of contemporary culture, particularly from phenomenology and personalism (p. 70, translation added). He further discusses Chauvets embarkation to radicalize this approach by employing insights from the human sciences, such as the linguistics and cultural anthropology to charter out a peculiar and appropriate cultural theology (p. 76).
9

The underlying thought here is that a person is perceived as essentially a homo religiosis. The liturgy, of whatever type or form, is always the product of a particular culture, since it is the work of humans (leitourgia) who themselves stem from a given culture. As such, the celebration of the liturgy always implies an encounter between cultures, namely the culture from which the liturgy has been born and the culture(s) of the worshippers. Post-Vatican II documents such as Catechesi Tradendae, Redemptoris Missio and Varietates Legitimae all affirm and underscore the necessity of continuing the work of inculturation, as we will later demonstrate. Cf. Vicesimus Quintus Annus no. 16 (4 December 1988): AAS, 81 (1989), 912. In this Apostolic Letter, John Paul II asserts that the attempt to make the liturgy take root in different cultures is an important task for liturgical renewal.

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discussing the appropriate theological discourse on this matter and by tapping into magisterial teaching on this issue as it is spelled out in, among others, Varietates Legitimae. An important task in our endeavor is to expound how the four pillars of our framework are rooted in the Incarnation, which, as we have already noted is the prime theological basis for liturgical inculturation. In this chapter we shall highlight the notion of liturgical inculturation in light of the mystery of Christ with its theological ramifications. It therefore means that in the process of rooting the liturgy in a given culture, people of that culture profoundly encounter the risen Christ in the Spirit when they participate in the celebration of the liturgy. In a final analysis, after we outline the general features of the framework, we shall apply such a framework to a particular element taken from popular culture. It concerns the phenomenon of the evil eye, which, as the consulted literature suggests, is a common concern among various peoples, including broad sections of Latin American and Caribbean people. In our analysis we will apply this popular belief to the ministry of infant Baptism, as a concrete illustration of the intersection between the Roman liturgy and culture. This will be a test case for applying the framework to the concrete practical life situation of the people of God. It will also illustrate the implications of liturgical inculturation when Christian faith and culture encounter one another.

5.1.

Liturgy and culture

Since the liturgy is celebrated through the concrete participation of people, even when a priest celebrates a private Mass, it always happens through the exigencies of culture. The very shape of the liturgy is already a product of culture. Therefore, liturgy is unthinkable, without culture and its achievements.13 Throughout the history of the liturgy cultural artifacts have become interwoven with the ars celebrandi.14 Speech, music, and song, the plastic arts, including architecture, irrefutably stand as cultural witnesses of various epochs15 in the history of the liturgy. Moreover, the way in which people respond to Gods invitation in the liturgy explicated in, among others, prayer, thanksgiving and sacrifice is therefore always a cultural response. Nevertheless, there also seems to be a particular tension between liturgy and culture. This relation is not always harmonious. Liturgy could at times be so at odd with the culture of a people that it does not evoke a sense of the Holy; neither does it foster community spirit and fellowship

13 14 15

Kunzler, The Churchs Liturgy, 83. See Lamberts, Ars Celebrandi: The Art of Celebrating the Liturgy, Studies in Liturgy 17 (Leuven: Peeters, 2002). Kunzler, The Churchs Liturgy, 83.

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among the participants.16 In that case there seems to be an unbridgeable gap between the liturgy and the culture(s) of the participants.17 How can this gap be bridged? Vatican II outlined active participation and adaptation as two major orientations for liturgical reform in an attempt to tackle this problem.18 In this study we will go beyond these two orientations by looking at this question from the perspective of liturgical inculturation, for which, according to Chupungco, the cultural pattern of a people has a principle role to play.19 In doing so, we will first concentrate on the nature of the liturgy as it unfolds in Sacrocanctum Concilium, our main reference guide20 and on what it entails. In a second step we will look at how the liturgy intersects with culture, but more precisely, with popular religiosity. We will approach this question through the liturgical celebration of sacramentals.

5.1.1. The Liturgy as the mediating body of the mystery of Christ

SC 6 explicitly explains how the mystery of Christ unfolds itself in the Church. It shows that the liturgy embodies the twofold mission of Christ, namely the proclamation of the Gospel of Gods gift of salvation and to mediate it by means of sacrifice and sacraments.21 This twofold mission which Christ had entrusted to the apostles perpetuates and finds its fulfillment in the Church as the People of God gather together in worship. Hence Jungmann notes:
The liturgy of the Church is thus already described and aligned in the context of the economy of salvation. Public worship is not an external command which must be obeyed; rather, it is the point at 22 which the mystery of Christ continues to operate. It is the heart of ecclesial life.

16 17 18

See Power, Culture and Theology, 55-57; also Pecklers, Worship, 139-61. Cf. Donald Gray, Bridging the Gap: Presidential Address, Studia Liturgica 20 (1990): 1-7. See Pecklers, 40 Years of Liturgical Reform: Shaping Roman Catholic Worship for the 21st Century, Worship 79, no. 3 (May 2005): 194-209, 197. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 35. For Chupungco the cultural pattern of a people is the typical mode of thinking, speaking, and expressing oneself through rites, symbols, and art forms. It affects societys values and ideology, social and family tradition, socioeconomic life, and political system. Cultural pattern cuts across everything that constitutes the life of a society. It is a peoples prescribed system of reflecting on, verbalizing, and ritualizing the values, traditions, and experiences of life (p. 35). Hence, the process of liturgical inculturation has profound repercussions for a peoples culture. Our examination of the nature of the liturgy is aided by Jungmanns commentary on this conciliar document. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 12; and Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 6: He sent his apostles, filled with the Holy Sprit. This He did that, by preaching the gospel to every creature [cf. Mark 16:15], they might proclaim, that the Son of God, by His death and resurrection, had freed us from the power of Satan [cf. Acts 26:18] and from death, and brought us into the kingdom of His Father. His purpose also was that they might accomplish the work of salvation which they had proclaimed, by means of sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves. Ibid.

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SC 7 explains the nature of the liturgy by linking it to Christs priestly office. As such, the liturgy embodies our encounter with Christ, the first liturgist.23 The liturgy, thus, makes Christ present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross [Council of Trent, Session XXII, Doctrine on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, c. 2], but especially under the eucharistic species.24 Furthermore, by His power Christ is also present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes [cf. St. Augustine, Tractatus in Ioannem, VI, n. 7]. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.25 And, finally, Christ is present when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20).26 This four-fold representation of Christ constitutes the core of the liturgy.
[I]t embraces the priestly act of Christ, which forms its backbone and animates it and is its visible sign. And like this act itself, it embraces a twofold movement: on the one hand, the sanctification of man, descending from above, which occurs in a remarkable manner in the sacraments, and on the other hand, the entire worship, ascending from the sanctified congregation, which is offered to God by the Church It also embraces Scripture-reading and the proclamation of the Word insofar as they 27 are associated with worship as their basis.

Hence, Jungmann rightly observes that the liturgy propels the sanctification of man, which finds its fulfillment in the glorification of God, in the prayer and sacrifice of the Church.28 That is why the Council decreed:
[T]he liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of the man is signified by signs perceptible to the senses, and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs; in the liturgy the whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and His members. From this it follows that every liturgical celebration because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church 29 can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Ibid., 13. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7. Ibid. Ibid. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 14. Ibid. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7.

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The last paragraph of this article emphatically points to the sacred nature of the liturgy which is beyond all other activities of the Church. Hence, it is in and through the liturgy that Gods promise of salvation is mediated. A promise that finds its fulfillment at the end of time, the eschaton, and of which the earthly liturgy gives us a foretaste, as SC 8 so beautifully expresses:
In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle [cf. Apoc. 21:2; Col. 3:1; Heb. 8:2T]; we sing a hymn to the Lords glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory [cf. Phil. 3:20; 30 Col. 3:4].

The liturgy is, therefore, the continuation of the work of Christ, on ending his visible presence on earth, committed to the Church and which remains her commission till he comes again.31 By our participation at the liturgy, we at the same time commence with taking part in the heavenly liturgy, where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father.

5.1.2. The double movements of the liturgy

In imitation of the symbol of the Cross, one can observe two double movements that intersect in the celebration of the liturgy. The horizontal axis it constitutes the movement of sending and receiving. The vertical axis regards the movement of katabasis and anabasis.32 We find it necessary to elaborate on both these movements because they highlight the cultural grounding of the liturgy. We will advance the idea that these movements are indispensable for the process of liturgical inculturation. 5.1.2.1. The horizontal movement of sending and receiving

SC 9, in combination with SC 10, vividly expresses the movement of sending and receiving which is intimately bound with the nature of the liturgy. We therefore need to recall these articles in their entirety, starting with SC 9 which reads:

30

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 8; also see Kunzler (The Churchs Liturgy, 18-22) where he discusses the nature of the heavenly and earthly liturgy. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 14. See Kunzler (The Churchs Liturgy, 3) who explains that these two concepts describe, in complementary fashion, the essence of liturgy as dialogue between God and man. Katabasis is described as Gods descent into our world, whereas anabasis reflects our response to Gods invitation in worship. Thus, they both constitute a vertical movement, so to speak.

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The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Before men can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and to conversion: How then are they to call upon him in whom they have not yet believed? But how are they to believe him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear if no one preaches? And how are men to preach unless they be sent? (Rom. 10:1415). Therefore the Church announces the good tidings of salvation to those who do not believe, so that all men may know the true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and may be converted from their ways, doing penance (Cf. John 17:3; Luke 24:27; Acts 2:38). To believers also the Church must ever preach faith and penance, she must prepare them for the sacraments, teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded (Cf. Matt. 28:20), and invite them to all the works of charity, piety, and the apostolate. For all these works make it clear that Christs faithful, though not of this world, 33 are to be the light of the world and to glorify the Father before men.

As a forecast of the heavenly liturgy, the earthly liturgy cannot be a private affair, sustaining the individual spiritual needs of people. By its very nature, the liturgy concerns the faithful community en masse. Therefore, the celebration of the liturgy necessitates an assembling community. The existence of such a community is not self-evident. It is the fruit of the labor of the Churchs mission activity, born out of the witness of the apostles and their proclamation of Jesus as Lord.34 It is by proclaiming the Good News, and by the power of the Holy Spirit that people are drawn to the liturgy. There is thus an organic unity between proclamation and sanctification which can be seen in a movement backwards, thus, one finds sanctification in the liturgy by actively taking part, enabled by his or her conversion to Christ, which in turn is sparked by hearing the Good News that those who were sent preach. But the process does not stop with peoples participation in the liturgy. The Church as the People of God is also sent to bear witness of the Gospel to the multitude of peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ,35 as one can read in AG 6 where it states:
Under a hierarchy of their own, together with the faithful people, and adequately fitted out with requisites for living a full Christian life, they [i.e., the particular churches] should make their contribution to the good of the whole Church. The chief means of the planting referred to is the 36 preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

33 34 35

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 9. See Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 15. Cf. Power, Culture and Theology, 34. According to Power one of the conditions for a Christian religion which mediates faith is the act of witness. He thus asserts: Without a witness of life on the part of its disciples, a religion cannot succeed. This constitutes the spiritual and living experience which is communicated through religious practices, and is the ultimate factor which makes religion credible. (p. 34). Ad Gentes, no. 6.

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AG 11 spells out more clearly what this role of the faithful in the Churchs mission activity entails:
The Church must be present in these groups through her children, who dwell among them or who are sent to them. For all Christians, wherever they live, are bound to show forth, by the example of their lives and by the witness of the word, that new man put on at baptism and that power of the 37 Holy Spirit by which they have been strengthened at Confirmation.

It is in the liturgical celebration of the sacraments (Baptism and Confirmation) that Christians receive the Holy Spirit38 to go out and proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ, as on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). From the liturgy Christians are sent into the world to witness with their lives about Christs message of salvation, so that people who do not yet belief in Him may, by hearing the Good News, open their hearts for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of Christian labor (i.e., of their sending into the world) is that people give heed to the Gospel by their decision to follow Christ. It is by sending that the Church receives people in the liturgy. There is therefore, a dialectic relation between sending and receiving. The movement of receiving (i.e., from the Churchs vantage point) runs through the catechumenate, or other catechetical preparation programs, to the baptismal font in the liturgy. In light of this, SC 10 states:
Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper. The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful, filled with the paschal sacraments, to be one in holiness (Postcommunion for both Masses of Easter Sunday); it prays that they may hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith (Collect of the Mass for Tuesday of Easter Week); the renewal in the eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the

37

Ad Gentes, no. 11, (emphasis added); and Evangelii Nuntiandi no. 21 reinforces this role in the following way: All Christians are called to witness, and in this way they can be real evangelizers. We are thinking especially of the responsibility incumbent on immigrants in the country that receives them. A concrete example of how one bears witness to the Gospel in this regard is when one engages in parish based ministry such as engaging in RCIA programs or other programs linked to the catechumenate. See Ad Gentes, no. 14: Then, when the sacraments of Christian initiation have freed them from the power of darkness (cf. Col. 1:13),(5) having died with Christ been buried with Him and risen together with Him (cf. Rom. 6:411; Col. 2:12-13; 1 Peter 3:21-22; Mark 16:16), they receive the Spirit (cf. 1 Thess. 3:5-7; Acts 8:14-17) of adoption of sons and celebrate the remembrance of the Lords death and resurrection together with the whole People of God.

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glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is 39 achieved in the most efficacious possible way.

According to Jungmann, this article, as with many others, was hotly debated among the council Fathers, where it concerns the liturgy as summit and fountain of all the Churchs activities.40 Nevertheless, it was clear from the start that the liturgy constitutes a central dimension of the Churchs life, for it is the arena where both the sanctification of man and the glorification of God occur. It is in the liturgy where sending and receiving intersects, which is perhaps more clearly expressed in AG 15 as follows
The Holy Spirit, who calls all men to Christ by the seeds of the Lord and by the preaching of the Gospel, stirs up in their hearts a submission to the faith Who in the womb of the baptismal font, He begets to a new life those who believe in Christ, He gathers them into the one People of God which 41 is a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people (1 Peter 2:9).

This article deals with the formation and building up of the Christian community. It underscores that it is the Holy Spirit Who inspires people to follow Christ in preaching Gods Kingdom, and that it is the same Spirit Who touches peoples hearts to be receptive to the message of Christs salvation, thereby seeking conversion and sanctification. More importantly, Brechter points out that it does not suffice to lead as many people as possible to faith by preaching and conversion, and simply to show them an individual way of salvation. Only as a Christian community is the Church implanted in a non-Christian land and becomes a sign of Gods epiphany among men.42 It therefore implies that the liturgy seeks to foster communion among people, not just in a numerical way, but by uniting people in the life-giving message of Christ. Furthermore, this article insists: This congregation of the faithful, endowed with the riches of its own nations culture, should be deeply rooted in the people.43 One can argue that this also obtains for the liturgy, which, as has been an underlying theme of Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Liturgical Movement, ought not to remain foreign to the people. This Movement thus forcefully advocated the active participation of the people,44 which, as one may suggest, can only become viable if the liturgy inhabits their culture, i.e., those aspects that are not in disharmony with the Gospel.

39 40

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 10. See Jungmann (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 15) who points out that some Fathers opined that the summit and goals of the activity of the Church was the salvation of souls and the glory of God, and that the fountain being Christ and the Holy Ghost. These Fathers insisted that the liturgy was rather a means than an end. (p. 15). Ad Gentes, no. 15; also see Lumen Gentium, no. 9. Brechter, Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity, 144. Ad Gentes, no. 15. See Power, Culture and Theology, 55.

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When Brechter asserts that in building up the Christian community, it is crucial to face and avert the danger of cultural up-rootedness from the very start, he is in fact referring to the evangelizing work of missionaries in non-Christian countries. Yet we deem this principle also applicable to the liturgy because it emphatically reflects the Councils call to adapt the liturgy to the genius and traditions of the people, for which, according to Jungmann, SC 37 furnishes the theoretical basis.45 He comments on this article as follows:
It [i.e., SC 37] consists in the rejection of all attempts of earlier epochs at Europeanization and in the affirmation of indigenous values of other cultures in phrases which are taken from Pius XIIs encyclical Summi Pontificatus [AAS 31 (1939), pp. 428 f.] Just as the Church of the first centuries adopted in a necessary process, forms from the Graeco-Roman culture even for the structure of her public worship, insofar as they were suitable, in the same way there is no reason why the ways of life and the needs of new nations should not also play a role on the basis of a reformed Roman 46 liturgy.

It must be noted that peoples way of life is shaped by their culture, and as such poignantly reflects their culture. Admitting those areas of a particular way of life that harmonize with the true spirit of the liturgy, has in fact, always and everywhere been a constitutive element of the liturgy. This is so because the earthly liturgy remains to be a human design; thus, it is a cultural product and, therefore, always embedded in culture. The problem, however, is how to discern which aspects of a given culture contribute to render worship meaningful for a people, and at the same time foster their involvement. And how must one go about celebrating the liturgy, such that it remains faithful to its own spirit, and yet shows appreciation of the culture(s) of its participants? We think that the extent to which liturgy reflects both the horizontal movement of sending and receiving, and the vertical movement of katabasis and anabasis is indicative of its authenticity, regardless the culture in which it is celebrated.47 In order to illustrate this point further, we need to elaborate on the aspects of katabasis and anabasis as they come to the fore in the liturgy. 5.1.2.2. The vertical movement of katabasis and anabasis

Kunzler points to the fact that in post-Vatican II liturgical theology48 katabasis and anabasis have become significant concepts. According to him these concepts reflect in a complementary
45 46 47

Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 27. Ibid. It can also be pointed out that the Holy Spirit does not operate in a vacuum, but through the hands and hearts of human beings who are always shaped and informed by a particular culture. See David W. Fagerberg, What is Liturgical Theology: A Study in Methodology (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992) for a comprehensive guide into this concept; also see Dwight Vogel, ed., Primary Sources of Liturgical Theology: A Reader (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000); and Kevin W. Erwin, Liturgical Theology: A Primer (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990).

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manner, the essence of liturgy as dialogue between God and man. Only the divine descent (katabasis or salvation [redemption] aspect) renders possible the human ascent (anabasis or worshipping [adoring] aspect of liturgy) in praise, petition and celebration.49 SC 7 poignantly represents this view on the liturgy which it perceives as the ultimate ground where God is glorified and human beings are sanctified. This view also reflects the turning from a cultic to a dialogic definition of liturgy.50 It supersedes a one-sided cultic understanding of worship,51 and goes beyond the classical view on liturgy (leitourgia) as work of / for the people with its utter profane origin.52 Furthermore, Kunzler emphasizes that katabasis and anabasis are two modes of viewing the one and same reality,53 when liturgy is perceived as dialogue. The unity of Katabasis and Anabasis, of soteria and latreia consists of the communication of divine life to man and his insertion into the divine fullness of life.54 In this manner of communication it is God Who takes the initiative. Yet, as Kunzler rightly observes, God does not need honour as a (worshipping) achievement by man. He is honoured when man has life, when his divine doxa proves its power by the fact of giving man a share in his fullness of life.55 Hence anabasis finds its profound motive in katabasis or as Kunzler phrases it: it is Katabasis which makes Anabasis possible.56 This is in line with the why of the Incarnation: for us men and our salvation. It is God who loved us first, thus turning to man, by actually becoming human in Jesus. Consequently, as Kunzler points out:
Mans anabasis is a response to the divine katabasis. Gods descent first makes possible mans ascent to God in praise and petition, sacrifice and penance. The latreutic dimension of the liturgy, i.e., the worship of God by the human person, is indeed one aspect of anabasis but the latter is by no means exhausted by this worship. God has no need of human praise. If he discloses himself by katabasis, if he comes forth from the inaccessible light of the divinity, he does so in order to enter into a relationship with his creation. Anabasis, the human response to Gods love of his people and of the world, is the acceptance of this invitation to communication, which means participation by

49 50 51 52

Kunzler, The Churchs Liturgy, 3. Ibid., 4. Ibid., 6. See Ibid., 13. Here Kunzler discusses the profane origin of the concept of liturgy, by also pointing to its general meaning as service, as the Septuagint and Hellenistic Judaism understood it. Ibid., 4. Ibid. Ibid. Kunzler underscores this point by referring to Irenaeus of Lyon who said: The glory of God is man fully alive, the life of man is the vision of God. (Adv. haer. IV, 20,7 SChr 100, 648: Gloria enim Dei vivens homo, vita autem hominis visio Dei). Ibid.

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the creature in the divine life. Just as God manifests himself in katabasis, anabasis happens no 57 differently in that through it man manifests himself.

Liturgy in this dialogical sense is thus perceived as Gods divine invitation to man who [i.e., God self] brings about salvation in the world through Christ in the Holy Spirit,58 and mans response by worshiping God, through word, symbol and sacrament. As such, the liturgy attains its greatest fullness in the celebration of the Eucharist,59 from which, especially, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.60 The katabatic and anabatic scheme is also grafted in SC 11, which reads:
But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain (Cf. 2 Cor. 6:1). Pastors of souls must therefore realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its 61 effects.

According to Jungmann, this article brings to mind that true worship presupposes, on the part of the faithful, corresponding preparation followed by collaboration.62 This observation is important for it demonstrates the possibility for human persons to decline Gods invitation which is offered freely and gratuitously to receive divine grace, even when participating in the liturgy. It implies that divine grace, mediated through Christ in the liturgy, is not poured automatically, but is contingent on peoples susceptibility and willingness to open their hearts to God. It further means a readiness to conversion and contrition. And finally, it portrays the logical sequence of the katabatic and anabatic movement in which God takes the initiative for the divinization of man and the world, and this initiative occurs in his service, in Gods service to the world; in the liturgy Gods descent (katabasis) into the world takes place for the adoption of life-giving and divinizing

57 58 59 60

Ibid., 76. Ibid., 13. Ibid., 14. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 10. While it is it beyond any doubt that the celebration of the Eucharist is liturgy, theologians seem to differ in the opinion whether liturgy can be solely limited to the Eucharist and the celebration of the other sacraments. Thus Kunzler (The Churchs Liturgy, 14-15) briefly presents a range in which the concept of liturgy occurs in theological and magisterial usage with differing nuances. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 11. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 16.

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communication.63 Therefore, Christian liturgy, as Kunzler contends, implies that the work of God for the many concerns all (katabasis dimension) and the encounter of men with God in praise, thanksgiving, adoration and petition (anabasis dimension) is the affair of all.64 It can thus be said that in analogy to the symbol of the Cross, the vertical katabaticanabatic movement cross-fertilizes with the horizontal sending-receiving movement when Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit, resolve to resolutely promote the Gospel of life in this world by actively bearing witness to it with their concrete lives.65 This demands a liturgy that fosters the incarnation of the Gospel in the life and culture(s) of a given people, uninterruptedly thus, anchored in a continuous process of inculturation. Furthermore, the cultural grounding of the liturgy could very well be explained from the katabasis-anabasis scheme. There is, according to Kunzler, an inner connection between liturgy and culture, in that mans anabatic answer to Gods katabatic address to him is possible only as human self-expression within and through the medium of [the] world in which man finds himself.66

5.2.

Liturgy and popular religiosity encountering one another

We will now examine the relation between the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity from the overarching framework that configures liturgy and culture in a broader field. To begin with, we should point out that it is argued that popular devotions and liturgical piety have always been constitutive elements of the worshiping community from the beginning of Christianity.67 Ricardo Ramrez, for example, claimed in the early 1980s that throughout the Churchs history the Roman liturgy has had both points of convergence and divergence with popular religiosity.68 Moreover, other studies claim that Christianity has for centuries known two types of religious practice, namely, one type that was shaped by the religiosity of the savants, and the other which is

63 64 65

Kunzler, The Churchs Liturgy, 15. Ibid. Brechter (Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity, 126) rightly notes that this duty of bearing witness is incumbent on all who have been baptized and confirmed, all believers in Christ wherever they live, even apart from any official missionary commission. Ibid., 84. E. Cattaneo, Proposta di uno schema sui rapporti fra la liturgia e piet popolare nella Chiesa occidentale, Liturgia e religiosit populare, 79, quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 97. Ricardo Ramrez, Fiesta, Worship and Family (San Antonio: MACC Distribution Center, 1981), 10 as quoted in James L. Empereur, Popular Religion and the Liturgy: The State of the Question, Liturgical Ministry 7 (1998): 105-20, 111.

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constituted by the religious practices of ordinary people.69 Yet it remains rather difficult to conceptualize Christian religious practices along such a clear-cut dichotomy.70 In line with this thinking Power asserts: A perfect and complete typology is hard to give, and the relation between knowledge, social class, and piety is quite mixed.71 Nevertheless, as we have demonstrated above, liturgy always has a cultural grounding. So too does popular religiosity. Thus culture is the common ground for an encounter between the liturgy and popular religiosity. However, some theologians claim that the post-Vatican II liturgy rather displays a juxtaposition of the liturgy and popular religiosity. Power, 72 for example, observes:
The gap between liturgy and those devotions which draw and touch people is perhaps most obvious at a time such as Holy Week. On the one hand, the liturgical ceremonies give an improved representation of the paschal mystery. On the other, the crowds are more numerous and involved in such manifestations as the stations of the cross, the procession of the dead Christ, or the encuentro between the Risen Jesus and his Mother, which for some people is the real climax to this 73 week.

69

Raoul Manselli, La religion populaire au moyen ge: problmes de mthode et dhistoire, Confrences Albert-leGrand (Montreal: Institut d'Etudes mdivales, 1975), 11-41; also see Empereur, Popular Religion and the Liturgy, 107 who claims that certain assemblies have two parallel liturgical traditions that help them to articulate their religious experiences ritually. Empereur refers to a liturgical tradition rooted in the popular religious faith expressions, and another which is reflected in the typical editions of the liturgical books. Cf. Espn, The Faith of the People, 5 where, in reference to Latin American popular Catholicism he argues that popular Catholicism cannot simply be identified with the sum of Latino devotions. (p. 5). It comprises a variety of forms, which renders it rather problematic to perceive religiosity comprising just two main patterns. Power, Culture and Theology, 59. Power (Liturgy and Culture, 238) distinguishes between popular devotion and popular religiosity. For him devotion refers to ways of worshipping and celebrating that have developed since the advent of Christianity and are the peoples alternative to a formal liturgy that is in expression and celebration foreign to them. Due to their alienated experience from the formal liturgy, people have searched and found ways of expressing belief in what was preached to them of Christ, Mary and the saints (p. 239). That ultimately gave shape to peculiar forms of popular devotions. Popular religiosity, on the other hand, refers to the native and traditional religiosity of peoples (p. 283). It thus refers to something more ancient and deep-rooted, even as it is subject to constant accommodation and change, in keeping with the peoples social condition (p. 238). Also see Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 102) who opines about popular devotion that among the forms of popular religiosity, it carries the distinction of being encouraged by the Church. In this study, as we have already pointed out in chapter 2, we employ the term popular religiosity as a broad concept which includes the (religious) practices of devotions and piety among people in general, and particularly among Christians. Power, Culture and Theology, 57; also see Empereur (Popular Religion and Liturgy, 113) who claims: In fact, after Vatican II, the [Latin American] people did not experience the official liturgy in the way the official Church thought it should be experiencing it. The clergy implemented the new liturgy but the people continued to experience something else in their domestic celebrations.

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To underline that his observation is not confined to the high seasons of the liturgical year, but in fact obtains as regular praxis, Power uses the following example:
On any Sunday morning in the Quiapo church in Manila, it is possible to take note of the abyss that separates the priest in the sanctuary celebrating Mass from the line of people doing reverence to the Black Nazarene at the rear of the church. They feel closer to the Lord in kissing his suffering feet 74 than they do at the moment of the Eucharistic memorial.

Lamberts75 makes a similar observation when he remarks that in the latter part of the 1960s and during the early 1970s liturgists committed themselves to execute the reform of the Roman liturgy through, for instance, the translation of the revised typical editions of the liturgical books. This went along with little regard for popular religiosity, while outside of the liturgical field the topic received greater attention. However, eventually liturgists became aware of a great distance between the liturgy as envisaged by the council and popular religiosity. In the same vein Pecklers, in reference to immigrants (mostly non-European people who migrate to North America and Western Europe), signals a disparity between the celebration of the Mass and the immigrants experience of the Holy. He insists:
These newcomers are deeply respectful of Church tradition. They observe traditional practices of baptizing their children and burying their dead. But the real experience of God the real church happens elsewhere, at domestic events such as the levantada, or in processions and on pilgrimages, 76 and as they pray at home altars and shrines.

Apparently this problematic i.e., the disparity between a prescribed liturgy and peoples practical faith experience has from early on been felt in the life of the Church and the faith community. Jean Evenou, for example, explains that when the liturgy becomes enigmatic and unapproachable to people thus when its relevance for their faith experience becomes obscure they often resort to devotions that render more religious meaning to their existence. Thus he argues, that the Way of the Cross, which was a simplified version of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, was more meaningful to generations of Christians, then the Good Friday liturgy, which was beyond their understanding.77

74 75

Ibid. Lamberts, Volkreligie en liturgie: nood aan en kansen voor evangelisatie, in Volksreligie, liturgie en evangelisatie, ed. Id., 215-40, 215-16. Pecklers, Worship, 160; Empereur, (Popular Religion and the Liturgy, 107) explains that the levantada is a religious practice occurring in the household of Latino people. It refers to the event of taking Jesus out of the crib, dressing him as a boy, and placing him in a chair to reign over the household. It occurs usually around the time of the feast of Presentation (2 February). Jean Evenou, Processions, Pilgrimages, Popular Religion, in The Church at Prayer: An Introduction to the Liturgy, New edition, vol. 3: The Sacraments, Robert Cabi et al. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1988), 241-62, 257. (Original title: LEglise en prire, III: les sacraments, 1961).

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Another observation Power makes is that in the celebration of the sacraments, for instance, of Baptism and Marriage, these celebrations have turned into a family affair involving just the close family and kin, accompanied by their respective intimate friends, rather than being a parish based community celebration. He therefore concludes that the great events of the churchs worship, the sacraments, are either private matters or the concern of a closely knit kinship.78 These observations underscore the need to develop a theology of liturgical inculturation which seeks to bridge the gap, not only between the Gospel and culture but also between the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity. Some authors even suggest that the integration of these latter two constitutes the liturgical task of the first part of the third millennium and a necessary component of postmodern liturgy.79 To underline this, James Empereur asserts that the challenge for liturgical inculturation reinforces the imperative of bringing the liturgy and popular religion together into a real wedding of symbolic traditions.80 And according to Chupungco it is through inculturation that liturgy and popular religiosity should enter into the dynamic of interaction and mutual assimilation in order to be enriched with each others pertinent qualities.81 He perceives that as the best method to transform popular religiosity into an authentic vehicle of the gospel.82 Since popular religiosity comprises various manners in which people exert themselves to communicate with the divine,83 the liturgy as the supreme venue for mans sanctification, thus need not be juxtaposed with it, but in a process of cross-fertilization can even strengthen peoples quest for the Holy. 84 U.S. Hispanic theologian Roberto Goizueta emphatically expresses this

78

Ibid. However, we think that while this observation may hold for several churches in the West, it may not always obtain for places distinctively marked by traditional life patterns. Thus in several maroon villages in the hinterland of Suriname, Baptism, for instance, is regarded as essentially a community affair, involving the entire Christian community. We have observed such cases in an ecclesial base community in Hanas Lust, an outskirt just 20 kilometers outside of Paramaribo. The congregation consists entirely of maroons from the Aucaner population. Our observation comes from field research conducted at various locations around Paramaribo from August 2005 to December 2006. The techniques we employed are open interviews and participant observation. Empereur, Popular Religion and Liturgy, 105. Ibid. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 99. Chupungco bases this standpoint on the Document of Puebla that advocated a mutual and enriching exchange between the liturgy and popular devotion (Document no. 465, as quoted in Ibid., and referred to in n. 7). Furthermore, Chupungco contends: Liturgists who write on popular religiosity are unanimous in affirming the need or what Puebla describes as a reciprocal relationship between liturgy and popular religiosity (see Ibid., n. 8). Ibid. We need to remind the reader that the Latin American bishops, at their CELAM III gathering in Puebla, have in no uncertain terms declared Latin American popular religiosity to be an expression of the Catholic faith. See Robert W. Hovda, Liturgys Sine Qua Non: A Sense of the Holy, Worship 64, no. 4 (July 1990): 348-53. In this article Hovda claims that liturgy exists to enable people to experience a sense of the Holy through the following liturgical symbols: the assembly, the Bible, and the very act of worship.

79 80 81

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thought when he claims: Popular Catholicism is the liturgical celebration of life as an end in itself, life as praxis. 85 However, one cannot automatically assume the salvific power of popular religiosity in and by itself. In other words, it is not self-evident that popular religiosity brings people to Christ. Thus, we need to consider ways, in relation with the liturgy, how that can become feasible.

5.2.1. Bridging the gap between liturgy and popular religiosity

Some authors contend that the tension which exists between the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity is part and parcel of a bigger rupture between religion and culture. In this line of thought, Ramrez notes the following:
The dialectical relationship between popular religiosity and the Churchs official liturgy reflects the tension between religion and culture. The Church throughout the history has received into her liturgy diverse rites and celebrations from peoples religion. Liturgy and the peoples religion are two different lines which do not always run parallel, but at times appear to cross, touch, mingle or 86 become distant.

This tension justifies a concern for harmonizing the liturgy with popular religiosity. At Vatican II this concern has also been explicated, though not treated in detail, which of course is not the intention of an ecclesial Council. One rather finds guidelines in Sacrosanctum Concilium which provide the framework for attempting such an endeavor.87 Thus SC 11-13 constitutes a theoretical base for harmonizing the Roman liturgy with popular religiosity. SC 11 first draws the attention to the fact that when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration.88 For that reason, the Council
85

Roberto S. Goizueta, Caminemos con Jess: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995), 105. Ramrez, Fiesta, Worship and Family, 10, quoted in Empereur, Popular Religion and Liturgy, 111. The underlying thought of Ramrez work, according to Empereur, is that Hispanic popular religious practices can bring something to the Roman liturgy, that they are a form of liturgical inculturation called for by the Second Vatican Council, and therefore, they are deserving of great respect. (Empereur, p. 111). Concerning the first aspect of this thought, it must be noted that it comprises just one side of the coin. The other side of the same coin i.e., in view of liturgical inculturation is that the liturgy as well has something to bring to popular religiosity, namely its mediating role in the sanctification of the people. Cf. DPPL, the second part that presents guidelines for the harmonization of popular piety with the liturgy (nos. 93287). No. 93 notes that these guidelines are offered to facilitate the translation into concrete pastoral action of those principles outlined above [nos. 76-92], so as ensure consistency and fruitfulness in pastoral activity. These guidelines echo several fundamental presuppositions, of which no. 93 mentions: the superiority of the Liturgy in respect to other forms of cult; the dignity and legitimacy of popular piety; the pastoral need to avoid any opposition between the Liturgy and popular piety, insurance that their various forms are not confused, so as to eschew the development of hybrid celebrations. One can view this as an attempt to avoid rubricism, which in turn can stifle the active participation on the part of the faithful.

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stresses the importance of a full, conscious, and active participation on the part of the faithful, so that they can become enriched by the effects emanating from the liturgical celebration (SC 11). In SC 12 the Council judges, however, that spiritual life is not limited solely to participation in the liturgy.89 It thus expresses the thought that devotions are not confined to the objective form of the liturgy, and that a healthy spiritual life calls for the nurture of personal piety.90 This, in fact, opens the door for popular religiosity to (re-)enter the sacred domain of the liturgy. SC 13 finally sets out the principle and criteria for allowing forms of popular religiosity into the liturgy.91 There the Church emphatically states:
Popular devotions of the Christian people are to be highly endorsed, provided they accord with the laws and norms of the Church, above all when they are ordered by the Apostolic See. Devotions proper to particular Churches also have a special dignity if they are undertaken by mandate of the bishops according to customs or books lawfully approved. But these devotions should be so fashioned that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far 92 surpasses any of them.

While the Church acknowledges the inherent spiritual values of popular devotions,93 it clearly outlines the norms for harmonizing popular religiosity with the liturgy. According to Jungmann, the devotions the Council had in mind referred, above all to:
[F]orms like the Station of the Cross and the Rosary, which have so very often been recommended by the Holy See; further, also the manifold prayers and pious exercises, which are at the disposal of the faithful for private or public use and some of which carry indulgences, and finally the different 94 triduums and novenas which are held at many places at different times of the year.

It is important to be keenly aware of the terms above all, because they indicate that the devotions mentioned are not exhaustive. This implies that other forms of popular religiosity, even if they are of pre-Christian or non-Christian origin, are not to be excluded. In addition, the Council

89 90 91

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 12. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 16. See Power, Sacrament: The Language, 23 stating that the principles formulated for adapting the liturgy to especially non-Western cultures which thus includes the harmonization of popular religiosity with the liturgy resonate in several revisions of liturgical books made so far, especially those designed for holy matrimony and funerals. Nevertheless, Power makes a crucial observation when he points out: How these [the principles] are to be respected, drawing resources from a variety of cultures while still remaining within the substantial unity of the Roman Rite [see Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 38], is somewhat enigmatic. His point underscores the complex and delicate task of liturgical inculturation, as we have noted before, especially where it concerns the field of popular religiosity. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13; cf. Schreiter, Local Theologies, 125. Cf. DPPL, nos. 61-64. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 16.

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acknowledges that devotions and rites proper to the individual churches contain a special dignity if they are undertaken by mandate of the bishops according to customs or books lawfully approved.95 The overriding principle, however, is that whatever forms of popular religiosity are to be admitted to the domain of the liturgy, they should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them.96 One could object that not all forms of popular religiosity are in some fashion derived from the liturgy, which makes it rather difficult for these to be considered worthy of being harmonized with the liturgy. While the legitimacy of this objection cannot be disputed, we still think that the door to the sacred domain of the liturgy is not entirely closed for such forms of popular religiosity if we take SC 61 into consideration, which emphatically asserts that in the liturgy: There is hardly any proper use of material things which cannot thus be directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.97 Moreover, the history of Christianity accounts numerous examples of pre-Christian cultic elements which eventually found their way into the life of the Church. In light of this, Power makes the following observation:
From early Christian centuries in Europe, the religious needs of the common people have been influenced by pre-Christian cult Many a devotion to a saint took the place of a pagan divinity or spirits cult. The four seasons of the year and the four seasons or stages of a persons life acquired in Christianity a vast number of rituals which had their precedents in pre-Christian times.98

In addition, Power insists that pre-Christian cults were accommodated in one way or another in the new religion [i.e., Christianity].99 Evenou makes a similar claim when he points out that for their funerals Christians adopted the funerary rites of the Romans, while permeating them, sometimes imperceptibly, with their own radically new faith in the resurrection.100 And
95

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13. Jungmann (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 17) notes that this paragraph was phrased in this way to counter the fear that the entire wild growth of very peripheral forms of devotions, prevalent in some countries, might find its way to the well-tended garden of the liturgy This fear could not be overcome by reference to well-ordered diocesan prayer books (which, it must be admitted, are not widely known) and to the function of the bishop. (p. 17) . Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13. (Emphasis added). Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 61. Power, Culture and Theology, 59. Ibid. Evenou, Processions, Pilgrimages, Popular Religion, in The Church at Prayer: An Introduction To the Liturgy, vol. 3: The Sacraments, eds., Robert Cabi et al. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1988), 241-62, 261. (Original title: LEglise en prire, III: les sacraments, 1961); also see Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 112) who, in reference of the adaptation of the classical Roman Rite to the culture fo the Franco-Germanic people between the eighth and the tenth century, notes: Historically and in actual practice, the role played by the culture of local Churches in the formation of the liturgy is by no means negligible. The bottom line is that the form, style, and language of popular religiosity should not be regarded as unsuitable for liturgical use merely because they show no affinity to the classical Roman liturgy (p. 112).

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others opine that several rites for the dying and blessings have developed from devotional practices that have their origin in pre-Christian religious practices. The revised post-Vatican II Book of Blessings corroborates this given where, according to Power, it recognizes that many forms of blessing belong to the people homes, but the edition typical has the savor of desk work.101 Furthermore, Power uses the example of the devotion to the Santo Nio which is widespread among Roman Catholics in the Philippines, and argues that there is a link that goes back from it to the devotion to Batalak, a pre-Christian godhead.102 These examples, however, attest that even the Christian faithful value forms of popular religiosity that are not necessarily derived or linked to the liturgy in any way. But enjoying the esteem of Christian people does not imply that they can simply be dragged into the liturgy. Since they are born out of the fabric of culture, and every culture is affected by sin, these forms too are not free from sin. Hence, John Paul II, in his September 2001 address to the Congregation of Divine Worship and the discipline of the Sacraments, declared:
Forms of popular religiosity can sometimes appear to be corrupted by factors that are inconsistent with Catholic doctrine. In such cases, they must be patiently and prudently purified through contacts with those responsible and through careful and respectful catechesis unless radical inconsistencies 103 call for immediate and decisive measures.

Therefore, they too need evangelization before any attempt is made to harmonize them to the liturgy. They need purification where necessary so that the hidden seed of Gods Word they inherently possess, may shine forth and thus become more clearly revealed. On a different note, the DPPL takes another cue when it points to genuine forms of popular piety which are derived from the faith, rather than from the liturgy, as to be valued and promoted. In no. 4 from the extracts taken from John Paul IIs address to the Plenary Meeting of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament, it says the following about these forms of piety:
Such authentic expressions of popular piety are not at odds with the centrality of the Sacred Liturgy. Rather, in promoting the faith of the people, who regard popular piety as a natural religious 104 expression, they predispose the people for the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries.

And in the previous section of no. 5 John Paul II lays down the principles that govern the harmonization between the liturgy and popular religiosity in the following way:

101 102 103

Power, Liturgy and Culture, 240. Power, Culture and Theology, 59. John Paul II, Address to the Plenary Meeting of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, DPPL, no. 5 [Excerpt] (Rome: 21 September, 2001). Ibid., no. 4.

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The correct relationship between these two expressions of faith must be based on certain firm principles, the first of which recognizes that the Liturgy is the centre of the Churchs life and cannot be substituted by, or placed on a par with, any other form of religious expression. Moreover, it is important to reaffirm that popular religiosity, even if not always evident, naturally culminates in the celebration of the Liturgy towards which it should ideally be oriented.105

These two criteria constitute the hermeneutical principle that renders the harmonization between the liturgy and popular religiosity both liturgically and culturally meaningful. While the first criterion reaffirms Vatican IIs teaching of the primacy of liturgy (SC 10), it also highlights that popular religiosity, in order to play its part in the sanctification of people, is called to fruition, which occurs in virtue of the sacred liturgy. It is against this backdrop that the Latin American and Caribbean bishops at their CELAM III gathering in Puebla emphasized the need for the liturgy to cross-fertilize with common peoples piety, or religiosity,106 which according to Francis seems to be a basic necessity for real inculturation.107 Such a mutual enrichment, Chupungco insists, will give a more human countenance to the liturgy and more solid theological and ecclesial foundation to popular religiosity.108 It is therefore important to note, Chupungco continues, that at the one hand, not every element of popular religiosity is liturgically suitable or even capable of expressing the nature and purpose of the liturgy.109 And at the other hand, we may not, in the name of adaptation or inculturation, transform the liturgy into a form of popular religiosity.110 He goes on to emphasize:
But neither may we continue to ignore the gap that exists between the official worship of the Church and the popular worship in the Church. The difference between the two must always exist, and inculturation must not eradicate it lest an irreparable imbalance in the prayer life of the Church be created. But the gap between them has to be bridged, in order to make the liturgy more accessible to people and popular religiosity richer in doctrine and spirituality.111

We think, one way to bridge the existing gap between the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity is by approaching this question via the area of sacramentals, of which it is said that they

105 106 107

Ibid., no. 5. See Puebla documents, no. 465, as quoted by Eagleson and Sharper, Puebla and Beyond, 188. Francis, Hispanic Liturgy, 50, quoted in Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 67; also see DPPL, no. 91 which goes even further by claiming: Indeed, popular piety is the first and most fundamental form of the faiths inculturation, and should be continually guided and oriented by the Liturgy, which, in its turn, nourishes the faith through the heart. This citation is taken from J. Ratzinger, Commento teologico, in Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The Message from Fatima, (Rome: Libreria Editrice, 2000), 32-44, 35. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 100. Ibid., 119. Ibid. Ibid.

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have been instituted by the Church.112 Some of these, it is claimed, have their origin in popular religiosity.113 Before entering the domain of sacramentals we think it is opportune to briefly pay attention to how the DPPL situates the historical setting in which the Roman liturgy was related to popular religiosity. Historically, the relationship between the Roman liturgy and popular piety demonstrates a high degree of dynamism with the Church modifying her position in different eras.114 The first traces of a dynamic interaction between the liturgy and popular piety are found in the apostolic period and the immediate following years thereafter. This interaction was on a par with a profound fusion between the liturgy and popular piety, which the DPPL describes as cultic realities.115 One particular dimension of these cultic realities is illustrated by, for example, what the DPPL calls signs of Christological devotions.116 The DPPL refers here to a variety of biblically inspired formulae Christians used to express their faith in Jesus as Lord, Savior, and Christ.117 It states that these expressions are to be located outside the context of the liturgy.118

112

See Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 60; also cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1668, which mentions that they are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life; a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands; the sign of the cross; or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism). Cf. Power, (Liturgy and Culture, 138) who goes even further to claim that it is often in the practice of popular devotion that many peoples have in fact retained rites and expressions of prechristian religion. However, it is not clear which devotions Power actually refers to. But the point he raises is importantbecause it opens up vistas or perspectives for these rites to cross-fertilize with the liturgy on the basis of popular devotions that acquire a sacramental meaning. Cf. Giuseppe Ruggieri, Popular Faith, Ecclesiastical Strategy and Religious Needs, Concilium 4, no. 186 (1986): 97104. Cf. Jozef Lamberts, De Constitutie over de liturgie en het volkskatholicisme, Bij geloof, eds., van Uden, et al., 21136, 213-15. In discussing the relation between popular Catholicism and the liturgy, in light of Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 37, Lamberts argues that even though the concerned paragraph does not speak of popular Catholicism as such, there are still points of contact regarding the question of integrating popular religious elements in the liturgy. The experiences of early Christianity can be taken as a paradigm or model therefore. DPPL, no. 23 Some examples are the following expressions: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me; Lord if you wish, you can heal me; Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom; My Lord and my God; Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Forms of Christological devotions continue to exist in our present day societies. In many parts of the Caribbean region a common expression people use when they find themselves in a predicament is: Jesus, Mary and Joseph, please come to my aid. But also within the context of the liturgy we have observed the persisting occurrence of these forms. Thus, in Suriname and other regions in the Caribbean, it is a common practice for Christians to whisper at the Elevation of the Host during the Eucharist the following sentence: Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me, while making the sign of the cross. Some people use the variation: Jesus, Son of Mary

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From the second century onwards expressions of popular piety spontaneously found their way into the liturgy. These did not come only from Jewish religiocultural origin, but also from Greek-Roman and other cultural backgrounds. Thus this period mirrors the actual incorporation of popular religious elements into the liturgy, notwithstanding their non-Christian origin, but on the basis of a mutual enrichment. According to the DPPL, the fourth century witnessed a process of adaptation whereby local churches, guided by clear pastoral and evangelizing principles did not hesitate to absorb into the Liturgy certain purified solemn and festive cultic elements deriving from the pagan world.119 These principles dealt with ensuring that the adopted elements (1) could move the mind and imaginations of the people; (2) did not contradict the Gospel or the integrity of Christian worship; (3) and could transform into genuine cultic expressions oriented toward Christ and his saving grace. What remains remarkable, though, is the initiating role of the local churches in the entire enterprise of enriching the liturgy with cultural elements originating from their own (often) nonChristian surrounding milieu.120 In this period the liturgy and popular piety did not just simply merge spontaneously. Rather, several local churches made deliberate attempts to adopt cultic elements, thus far regarded as heathen, into their liturgies. They actively steered and engineered that process. This process culminated during the papacy of Gregory the Great (590-604). These historical examples of how the Church integrated non-Christian (cultural) elements in the Roman (Latin) liturgy can serve as a paradigm for contemporary approaches toward liturgical inculturation. If one of the objectives for reforming the liturgy has been to foster the laitys active participation in the liturgy which indeed it was then we cannot overlook the importance of enriching the liturgy with those very cultural elements that are constitutive for peoples identity. In this regard, Lamberts strongly argues in favor of making people experience the goodness of their proper rituals and interpreting them in a Christian way by integrating them in the liturgy, in addition to a liturgical catechesis aimed at fully experiencing what he calls an ecclesial liturgy.121 That would contribute to bridge the gap between these two cultic realities. Especially where it regards the sacramental life of the Church vistas are opened to bridge this gap. Hence we will now turn to this area to examine how sacramentals can constitute an intermediate role between the Roman liturgy and the peoples religiosity.

119 120

DPPL, no. 24 Cf. Lamberts, De Constitutie over de liturgie, 214, who notes that the process of adaptation did not only entail the adoption of pagan cultic elements but also the formation of distinct liturgical rites in the various regions of the ancient Christian East. Lamberts, De Constitutie over de liturgie, 220.

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5.2.2. Sacramentals as stepping stones between popular religiosity and the liturgy
The Roman liturgy is not confined to the Eucharist and the celebration of the other sacraments. Apart from the sacraments the Church also acknowledges the value of sacramentals for the worshiping community. In the third chapter of the Sacred Constitution on the Liturgy the council discusses both the sacraments and the sacramentals together, and stipulates what the latter are, namely:
Sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the Churchs intercession. By them men are disposed to 122 receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy.

According to Chupungco sacramentals occupy a certain hierarchical level in the scheme of the Churchs sacramental life. Based on Vatican IIs circumscription of sacramentals, Chupungco identifies three basic points which are included in this scheme: first, sacramentals resemble the sacraments; second; they dispose the faithful to receive the chief effect of the sacraments; and third, they make holy various occasions in human life.123 In light of these points Chupungco claims:
They lead the faithful to the sacraments, they remind them of the effect and obligations flowing from the sacraments, and they extend in time and in various situations of life the experience of Christs saving mysteries. The nature and effects of sacramentals are so grafted on to the 124 sacraments that it is difficult to speak of them in isolation.

Even though they do not occupy the same rank as the sacraments, they are nonetheless regarded as true liturgical celebration, an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ, an action of Christ the Priest and of the Church, which he associates with himself.125 And in comparing them to the sacraments, the CCC asserts: Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Churchs prayer they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to co-operate with it.126

122

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 60; cf. CIC [Codex Iuris Canonici, 1983], can. 1166. One notices from the above description the impact of scholasticism which perceives the sacraments as dispensers of grace, rather then mediating grace. This definitively had its bearing on defining the sacramentals. It is explained by the fact that the Church has partly copied the classical definition of sacramentals by the 1917 Code of Canon Law, as Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 56) remarks in passing. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 60-61. Ibid., 60. Ibid., 61. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1670.

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However, when looked at from the perspective of the liturgical celebration, there seems to be no difference between sacraments and sacramentals, in terms of their efficacy, as the Sacred Constitution states:
Thus, for well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event in their lives; they are given access to the stream of divine grace which flows from the paschal mystery of the passion, death, the resurrection of Christ, the font from which 127 all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power

This conciliar teaching reinforces the point that sacramentals can be seen as valuable stepping stones for harmonizing popular religiosity with the liturgy. They can lead to the glorification of God and the sanctification of humans. Moreover, even though sacramentals do not occupy the same hierarchical rank as the sacraments, their liturgical celebration also enacts Christs presence,128 who is always present in his Church, especially in its liturgical celebrations, as SC 7 stipulates. Though they are not instituted personally by Christ, they belong to the body of official worship attributed to his priestly office.129 Nevertheless, the Italian liturgical theologian Salvatore Marsili points out: Between the eucharistic real presence and the other real presences there is no difference with regard to the presence of Christ and the reality of his presence. The difference lies in the manner in which these various presences are made real.130 It is from and within their peculiar manner that they are seen as means of human sanctification, which like the sacraments draw their power from the paschal mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ (SC 61). According to Chupungco, they are above all liturgical activities or celebrations of the worshiping community.131 Based on these considerations, we can examine the harmonization of the Roman liturgy with popular religiosity as occurring from the sacramentals, by starting with examples of liturgical inculturation involving the Eucharistic celebration, which serve as a model or orientation point. In that way, an inculturated Eucharistic celebration can be a reference guide for harmonizing the Roman liturgy with popular religiosity, related to the sacramentals of the Church. We shall soon continue along this path.

127

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 61. Concerning Christs real presence in the liturgical celebrations of sacraments and sacramentals Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 62) refers to Paul VIs Encyclical Mysterium Fidei, in which he pointed out that Christs real presence in the Mass does not exclude the other kinds, enacted in the liturgical celebrations of sacramentals, as though they were not real, but because it is real par excellence, since it is substantial, in the sense that Christ whole and entire, God and man, becomes present. (Mysterium Fidei, no. 39). Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 58) contends: Like the sacraments, they [sacramentals] are sacred signs that are performed or celebrated as liturgical rites to signify effects, particularly of a spiritual kind. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 61. Salvatore Marsili, La liturgia presenza di Cristo, Anamnesis 1 (Casale Monferrato, 1988), 94, trans. and quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 62. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 56.

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The CCC identifies various forms of sacramentals among which blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first. 132 It differentiates between blessings with lasting importance, since they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use,133 and those that are invoked for immediate practical usage, such as grace before meal. In whatever form they occur, they imply that the person invoking Gods blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. And in Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father with every spiritual blessing.134 The primacy of blessings can also be observed from the use of objects in the celebration of worship, such as water, candles, ashes, and palm branches. These objects acquire their status as sacramentals, only after the Church confers Gods blessing on them. Hence, water becomes holy water, and candles, ashes and palm branches become sacramental after their blessing, respectively on the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, Ash Wednesday, and Palm Sunday.135 It is therefore clear that objects which are considered sacramentals derive their status from their liturgical usage. Hence Chupungco points out: Medals and the rosary are less appropriately called sacramentals, since they have no part in the liturgy.136 Apart from blessings, Lamberts contends that processions and pilgrimages also fall under the heading of sacramentals. They in fact constitute an important domain within the broader field of popular religiosity.137 And in the Constitution on the Liturgy one finds other examples such as the rite of the Consecration of Virgins (SC 80), funeral rites (SC 81), and the rite for the Burial of infants (SC 82). The council calls for the revision of these sacramentals (rites) which takes into account the primary principle of enabling the faithful to participate intelligently, actively, and easily; the circumstances of our own days must also be considered.138 An important addition
132 133 134 135

Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1671; also see Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 79. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1672. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1671. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 56; also see Cipriano Vagaggini, Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy: A General Treatise on the Theology of Liturgy (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1976), 86. Based on the 1917 Codexs distinction between objects (res) and actions (actiones) for the sacramentals, Vagaggini explains their difference by pointing out that the first remain even after the blessing has been performed, whereas the latter pass with the action itself with which they have been constituted. Ibid. See Lamberts, Inleiding: een colloquium over volksreligie, liturgie en evangelisatie, Volksreligie, liturgie en evangelisatie, Nik-reeks 42, 7-18, 13, in reference to Chupungco Liturgical Inculturation. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 79. The revision called for also obtains for the seven sacraments. The general principle for this revision is articulated in Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 63. And in the previous article (i.e., SC 62) one finds the reason why this revision is called for: With the passage of time, however, there have crept into the rites of the sacraments and sacramentals certain features which have rendered their nature and purpose far from clear to the people of today. The revision therefore aims at clarifying the deeper intentions of the rites, namely what they signify, in order to foster a full, conscious, and active participation on the part of the people, so that they can be

136 137

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concerns the following lines from SC 79: When rituals are revised, as laid down in Art. 63, new sacramentals may also be added as the need for these becomes apparent. This implies that the sacramentals which the Constitution on the Liturgy mentions are not exhaustive. New ones can be introduced into the liturgy that originate from the cultures and traditions of the various peoples, thus from the broader field of popular religiosity. SC 65 hints at this when it states:
In mission lands it is found that some of the peoples already make use of initiation rites. Elements from these, when capable of being adapted to Christian ritual, may be admitted along with those already found in Christian tradition, according to the norm laid down in Art. 37-40, of this 139 Constitution.

However, it is important to note that what the Council envisages here is not entirely a plan for the future, but it builds on a venerable tradition. In fact, in the history of the Church there are examples which illustrate how devotions rooted in peculiar religio-cultural backgrounds eventually became interwoven with the celebration of the liturgy, to the extent that they are now deemed as sacramentals. Power provides some examples.140 A classical example concerns the influence popular devotion had on Good Friday observances which eventually led to an ecclesial sanctioned practice of the veneration of the Cross. Initially, Christians in Jerusalem abided by a liturgy of the word and prayer. This, however, did not satisfy the religious needs of visiting pilgrims, for they desired to venerate the true Cross and this merited the attendance of the bishop and the assistance of deacons.141 When Rome later gained possession of a relic of the cross, its veneration ensued. The bishop of Rome led the faithful in this act of worship and hence, veneration of the cross became a standard part of Good Friday observance wherever the Roman Rite was practiced.142 This example demonstrates how popular devotion enriched the Roman liturgy, in this case, the liturgy of Good Friday, which consisted prior of a service of the Word and prayer. Despite the clear distinction Power makes between popular devotion and popular religiosity, he still does not exclude the possibility of a strong and direct link between the latter and sacramentals. He thus argues:
In the Rituale Romanum of 1614, Title V, chapter VII, after the more traditional reading of the passion and psalms, there are three prayers addressed to Jesus Christ which come from the popular books having to do with the art of dying. Here, too, different peoples have their own deathbed

celebrated most effectively which, in turn, may enable the faithful to receive the graces in a fruitful manner, to worship God duly, and to practice charity (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 59).
139 140 141 142

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 65. See Power, Liturgy and Culture, 239-40. Ibid., 239. Ibid.

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observances, some of them with prechristian roots, especially where the link between generations is 143 affected. These, too, can help shape the inculturation of the rites for the dying.

Moreover, Power even seems to advocate a synthesis between popular religiosity and sacramentals when he speaks of blessings as an acknowledgement of good things and respect for the inherent order of life and for traditional values.144 He thus asserts: By attending to the practice of blessings in which peoples continue to express their traditional religious sense and values, work on the inculturation of the Book of Blessings presents a rich field for taking popular worship into the Churchs liturgy.145 Thus sacramentals which originate (in part) from popular religiosity, can serve as a stepping stone for harmonizing popular religious values with the liturgy. Others perceive a link between popular religiosity and the liturgy, from their interpretation of the former. Thus, according to Sartore, popular religiosity constitutes a set of spiritual attitudes and cultic expression which are variedly connected to the liturgy.146 It (re-)enters the liturgical domain when it mixes with practices of popular devotions that the Church acknowledges as sacramentals. According to Power, it resurfaces in, among others, blessings and pilgrimages or in marks of respect to the dead that survive beyond the advent of Christianity among nonEurocentered peoples.147 As for Evenou, popular religiosity constitutes a collection of behaviors and ritual practices that are more or less in harmony with the prescriptions of the hierarchic authorities. 148 Nonetheless, unlike popular devotions that receive the Churchs approval, popular religiosity tends to ascribe to its own prerogative and logic. Evenou gives the following explanation:
The saints whom the Church regards as the most important have not always enjoyed the same popularity among the faithful: St. Anthony of Padua, for example, is better known than an apostle like St. Bartholomew. The saints most cultivated are those who have a reputation as protectors and healer. The local feast of a saint is an occasion for liturgical celebrations that are prolonged by festivities outside the church: Mass and fair go together. Relic, images, and statues may occupy a disproportionately large place in devotion, and the veneration of the saints can include quite unorthodox practices in which survivals of ancient pre-Christian rites connected with springs, trees, 149 and fire can be seen.

143 144 145 146 147 148 149

Ibid., 240. Ibid., 241. Ibid. Sartore, Le manifestazioni della religiosit populare, 232, quoted in Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 100. Power, Liturgy and Culture, 239. Evenou, Processions, Pilgrimages, Popular Religion, 256. Ibid., 259.

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In addition, Power makes a significant observation when he contends that in turning to popular devotion, one often finds therein embedded the residue of prechristian religiosity.150 This remark underlines the idea that popular devotion and popular religiosity are not always clearly demarcated from one another, but are rather often closely knit and intermingled. Moreover, as seen from the descriptions Sartore and Evenou give of popular religiosity, sacramentals may play an important role, namely as stepping stone, in establishing a synthesis between the liturgy and popular religiosity. Harmonizing the post-Vatican II liturgy with popular religiosity (or at least attempts thereof), has in fact already taken shape in some particular churches, and is also reflected in numerous studies.151 Perhaps one of the most well-known examples is found with the Zairian Mass,152 or the Roman Missal for use in the dioceses of Zaire,153 as it is officially referred to. Power deems it as a clear instance of liturgical inculturation within the unity of the Roman Rite, being called indeed the Roman Mass for use in the dioceses of that country.154 He briefly discusses this Mass which text the Zairian episcopacy ratified in November 1986, in Kinshasa, and which was finally approved by the Roman authorities in 1989. He gives the following outline:
In that rite, the use of African music and bodily movement is worked into the fabric of the liturgy. There are also significant changes in the order of celebration, such as the placement of the rite of

150 151

Ibid. See, for instance, David William Antonio, An Inculturation Model of the Catholic Marriage Ritual (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002). This study began as a doctoral dissertation project, under supervision of Power at the Catholic University of America, and was later published by Liturgical Press in a shortened form. In this study Antonio presents a model for adapting the Catholic marriage ritual to the language and culture of the Ilocano people of the Philippines. See D. R. Whitt, Varietates Legitimae and an African-American Liturgical Tradition, Worship 71, no. 6 (November, 1996): 504-37, 528 who opines that this Mass is universally held to constitute a major inculturation. Also see Raymond Moloney, The Zairean Mass and Inculturation, Worship 62, no. 5 (September 1988): 433-42, for an elucidating discussion hereof, involving its history and structure, and an assessment of its characteristics. However, it must be noted that not everyone shares a positive evaluation of the Zairian Mass. Moloney notes that one archbishop in Africa has described this Mass as nothing more than the Latin rite with some local changes in vestment and song (p. 440). [Quoted in Mpongo Mpoto Mamba L. Le rite zairois: quelques-unes de ses caractristiques, in Mediations africaines du sacr: Actes du troisime colloque international (Kingshasa: Facult de thologie catholique, 1987), 507-14, 513, from Msgr. Vandame in La croix (06 December 1985), p. 7]. Moloney also notes that in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, people normally refer to this Mass as the Zairean rite, and contends: The truth, it seems to me, lies between these two judgments (Ibid.). Also see Chris Nwaka Egbulem, An African Interpretation of Liturgical Inculturation: The Rite Zairois, in A Promise of Presence, eds. M. Downey and R. Fragomeni (Washington, DC: Pastoral Press, 1992), 227-50. Congregation for Divine Worship, Le Missel Romain pour les dioceses du Zare, Notitiae 24 (1988): 455-72, as cited by Power (Liturgy and Culture, 227, n. 6). Power, Liturgy and Culture, 235.

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penance and reconciliation at the end of the Liturgy of the Word, and the invocation of ancestors in 155 the opening rite of the entire celebration.

However one wishes to evaluate this Mass, it irrefutably demonstrates a fruitful harmonization between popular religiosity and the liturgy, as illustrated by the invocation of ancestors. Nonetheless, Power cautions:
This is no mere incorporation of ancestors into the veneration of saints, nor a comparison between them and the patriarchs of Israel. It is a living and ritual acknowledgement of the role of ancestors in establishing kinship and heritage for African peoples, and of their living presence among the 156 people.

This critical observation highlights that liturgical inculturation is not just about simply incorporating local cultural elements into the liturgy. That would undermine the essential feature of an ongoing process which is inherent to this concept. It would entail that after several local cultural elements have been incorporated, the task of liturgical inculturation would have been completed. Hence, we need to go beyond the mere adoption of cultural elements in envisaging liturgical inculturation.157 That also applies to, for instance, the introduction of local dances or attires, musical instruments,158 and the use of certain proverbs in rendering the Gospel message culturally meaningful. We need to go beyond the visible structures of faith, and instead focus on the deep structures of faith that will give proof of a real transformation of culture, by the Gospel. In light of this Gittins cautions:
Visible surface structures may be too quickly identified with the deep structures assumed to underlie them, and modifications in liturgy or behaviour may appear to indicate deep structural changes in individuals or communities, when in fact they are ambiguous or merely mimicking faith. It is easier to change behaviour than belief, and the way we belief is sometime quite contradictory to 159 the faith our mouths proclaim.

Another example of the integration of popular religious practices with the liturgy that Power gives is taken from funeral practices by which some Filipino people apparently ardent
155 156 157

Ibid., 227. Ibid., 241-42. Incorporating cultural elements into the liturgy would simply lead to producing cultural elements of the Christian message, as Fr. Arrupe points out in his famous definition of inculturation. It would thus be no more than a superficial adaptation. Cf. Simon M. Baluleete, Inculturation: African Drums Are Not Enough, African Ecclesial Review 27, no. 5 (October 1985): 286-88. At the beginning of this article, Baluleete, a Ugandan diocesan priest who has contributed frequently to the AFER publications, refers to another article in the December 1984 issue of this periodical, in which Fr. Kagiso Afagbegee reiterated the concern among many African theologians that when it comes to inculturation, African drums are not enough. They do not reflect or impart a genuine conversion of people to the Gospel of Christ, and thus often mask a discrepancy between the language of theology (catechesis) and the language of worship (Baluleete, p. 287). Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 56.

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Catholics included abide.160 These practices include libation, meal sharing, and the setting aside of food for the deceased, which, according to Power expresses the abiding communion that the living feel with her or him.161 Power suggests that the atang or food for the dead could well be included in the prayer of the table blessing. And even though the actual beliefs of people in the afterlife and in the nature of the relation between the living and the dead may result from some confusion between the Christian and the prechristian, as Power observes, blessing the food in the name of the risen Christ can bring this hope to the roots of culture.162 Empereur too relates several examples of the integration of popular religiosity with the Roman liturgy. These are taken from a variety of sources related to Latin American and U.S. Hispanic devotion and theological reflection. One striking example regards the ritual celebration of the Quince Aos,163 of which there exists a variety of interpretations. Empereur favors the view of the authors of Primero Dios164 who interpret it as one of the rites of later childhood and adolescence. It is placed alongside the celebration of first Communion, adolescent catechesis and confirmation, and the sacrament of reconciliation.165 According to Empereur this work is the most thorough attempt to integrate the practice into the official rites of the Church. It represents the most sophisticated theological understanding of the practice.166 In Primero Dios the authors describe the introduction of this rite spoken out by one of the parents as follows:
[1] On this special day, we parents thank God for so many wonderful things that we have experienced throughout the past fifteen years. [2] In this Eucharist we say: Thank you, Lord, for having given us sons and daughters like N. and N. [3] We have loved them like you, Lord, love themeven before they were born. [4] Like their baptism, their presentation to our parish family today is very important because it signals that they have come to an important turning point in their lives. [5] As we did at their baptism, we, again, want to consecrate and commend them to God. [6] In the presence of this assembly, we ask that they always be held in God's loving hand and that they be protected from all danger. [7] We pray for their happiness and that God grant that their most 167 beautiful dreams become a reality.

160 161 162 163 164

Power, Liturgy and Culture, 242. Ibid. Ibid. See Empereur, Popular Religion and the Liturgy, 116-20, for a detailed analysis of this practice. Arturo Prez-Rodrguez and Mark R. Francis, Primero Dios: Hispanic Liturgical Resource (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1997). Empereur, Popular Religion and the Liturgy, 117. Ibid. Prez-Rodrguez and Francis, Primero Dios, 89, quoted in Empereur, Popular Religion and the Liturgy, 117. The numbering is his.

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Empereur notes that this text, which is spoken out after the Gospel reading, captures the various theological dimensions of the practice these authors wish to communicate.168 According to him this text summarizes what the authors hope is the ideal integration of the Quince Aos and the Eucharistic liturgy. These examples are interesting because they demonstrate that liturgical inculturation can be approached from at least two levels, namely from the official level (inculturation from above), as illustrated by the rite zairois, and from the spontaneous interaction between faith and culture occurring from the side of the people (inculturation from below). Some theologians refer to this latter approach as popular inculturation.169 Others employ the terms prescriptive inculturation and spontaneous inculturation, respectively. 170 However, we think the value popular or spontaneous inculturation has for the growth of the Christian community should not be underestimated; but we also think that this approach to inculturation still contains the risk of deviating into religious practices which may obscure the perspective of human sanctification through Christ, and the concomitant glorification of God. It will therefore have a hard time integrating with the liturgy. Hence, it is our contention that for the development of a theology of liturgical inculturation, one should first turn toward the sources rooted in, or connected to the Churchs tradition and teaching. These sources are important because they have Sacred Scripture at their base, and it is there where the footprint of Gods full revelation in Jesus is to be found.171 This, however, by no means is intended to negate or belittle the operation of the Holy Spirit in the
168 169

Empereur, Popular Religion and the Liturgy, 117 See, for instance, Laurenti Magesa, The Present and Future of Inculturation in Eastern Africa, in Inculturation, eds. Turkson and Wijsen, 57-71, 58-59. Magesa argues that contrary to the official approach or process of inculturation which relies on an intellectual analysis of principles and directives of Church teaching (p. 57), the popular approach or process has been basically intuitive and spontaneous, arising from within the African heart and soul (p. 58). Thus it evolves as a way of being, not primarily as a project of thinking or mathematical calculation (Ibid.). He concludes that even though official pronouncements, catechesis and other pastoral strategies have definitely impinged on the popular praxis of the Christian faith, inculturation on this level has been deeper and spiritually more meaningful (p. 70). Also see Hoeben and Wijsen, We Are Not a Carbon Copy, 75-76. These authors claim that popular inculturation represents nothing less than the sensus fidelium, it is the faith of the Church (p. 75). However, they point out that popular inculturation is not complete or perfect, but at the same time emphasize that the same obtains for official Christianity. [Cf. Power, Culture and Theology, 58: Liturgy itself cannot be seen as the celebration of ideal forms of worship. Its own renewal has only to gain from being more closely in tune with some of the practices of popular piety.] They further opine that a thorough evaluation of popular inculturation might be far more informative about the inculturative process than any seminar and conference which might approach the issue from the official point of view. The task then of popular and official inculturation is to recognize both as relative but valid processes of inculturating the gospel which challenge and fertilize each other (Ibid.). Hence they emphasize that importance should be given to the dialectic which concerns official inculturation and popular inculturation in Africa. These two poles ought to be the partners in a discussion on inculturation (p. 76). See Francis, Hispanic Liturgy, 33-54, cited by Gittins (Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 69). See Dei Verbum, no. 18 which highlights that among all the Scriptures, even those of the New Testament, the gospels have a special preeminence, and rightly so, for they are the principle witness for the life and teaching of the incarnate Word, our savior.

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individual and communitarian life of people. But since peoples life is profoundly shaped by and ingrained within culture, and no culture can free itself on its own merits from sin, popular inculturation runs the risk of alienating people from the life-giving grace that flows from Christ in the celebration of the liturgy.172 Conversely, it must be noted that brushing aside or ignoring the peoples culture and historical reality is as risky as uncritically embracing them and taking that as norm or starting point for inculturation.173 If the liturgy remains unreformed, or is not being renewed or inculturated in the culture(s) of the assembled faithful, it runs the same risk of alienating the worshipping community from itself.174 Such a liturgy obscures the grace that flows naturally (i.e., by the power of the Holy Spirit) from it like from a font. It is therefore essential that in the process of liturgical renewal, the socio-cultural and historical reality of a given people is acknowledged and accounted for.175 In that light, Power remarks:
People who in the celebration of sacraments have known a cultural domination, linked with the economic and political suppression of their lives, bring that history with them to the liturgy. It is this domination which is at issue, and not only the retrieval of values of ancient cultures previously ignored. The people are marked in their being by the confusion of cultures imposed upon them, and have now to find their own voice in their prayers to God in Christ, a voice that Christ takes as his 176 own.

172

Cf. Walbert Bhlmann, The Church of the Future: A model for the Year 2001, trans. Dame Mary Groves [original title: Welt Kirche: Neue Dimensionen Modell fuer das Jahr 2001] (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986), 156-57. Here Bhlmann articulates the voice of theologians who assert the necessity to take risks, when it concerns the growth of the Christian community. He contends: Third world theologians must be granted the right to risk heresy; it has been a constituent part of history. Mistakes will probably be corrected in the companion, the koinonia, of other theologians and bishops. And Chupungco (Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 21) shows that despite being a classic example of liturgical inculturation, the Franco-Germanic liturgy of the Carolingian era practiced the blessing of the instruments of ordeal which was not only bizarre, but also a risk of inculturation. So, even if inculturation involves a certain risk, Chupungco emphasizes that the bottom line remains to take the necessary risk with prudence, which he claims, is a virtue that grows on sound tradition and pastoral circumspection and ensures the legitimacy of progress (p. 21). See Gittins (Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 64) who states: It is clear that inculturation requires dialogue, between insiders and outsiders, between local people and theologians. It is also clear that this has not happened in the past; that the culture has not been listened to so much as dictated to, and that the peoples actual culture or social reality has hardly been taken seriously, as Paul VI insisted was so necessary [see Evangelii Nuntiandi, no, 63]. When this happens, people develop alternative ways to communicate with the divine, of which some may not adequately, or at all make it possible for them to derive more certainly an abundance of graces from the sacred liturgy. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 21). Cf. Jude Abidemi Asanbe, Evangelization: Challenges and the Prospects for the Church in Africa, African Ecclesial Review 47, no. 3 (2005): 199-218, 202; also cf. Varietates Legitimae, nos. 29-30. Power, Liturgy and Culture, 232-33.

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This acknowledgement is essential, if the Gospel is to effectively transform peoples lives and cultures to their core.177 Hence, it is important that in attending to liturgical inculturation those responsible must ask who are the subjects and authors of this inculturation, not simply what can be incorporated.178 Ultimately, we think it is the Holy Spirit who leads people through Christ to the Triune God, by gathering them together for the liturgical celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals. The same Spirit works as a driving force to propel the peoples conscious and active involvement in the process of liturgical inculturation. In order to examine how this becomes possible, it would be useful to clarify at this point what liturgical inculturation actually stands for, what it really aims at, and how it becomes visible in the local Church in relation to popular religiosity. We shall focus on these questions in the following sub-chapter.

5.3.

What is liturgical inculturation?

In this section we shall look at how the concept of liturgical inculturation is conceptualized in both theological discourses and magisterial teaching in order to examine what it essentially represents and what its implications are for human culture. We shall, therefore, discuss writings from Pierre-Mary Gy (Inculturation of Christian Liturgy in the West), Chupungco (e.g., Liturgical Inculturation), Patrick Chibuko (Liturgical Inculturation: Proposed Pattern), and Power (Liturgy and Culture). These authors have devoted specific attention to the theme of liturgical inculturation, though in varying degrees. We have chosen them for two reasons: firstly, they are generally lauded as distinguish theologians; and secondly, their writings on liturgical inculturation reflect different cultural contexts, thus approaching the issue from different vantage points, which, taken all together, sheds a broader light on the theme. Our discussion from the works of these authors will somehow show some overlapping. Of these authors, both Gy and Chupungcos works are grafted on historical models of liturgical inculturation. Furthermore, we shall depart from a rather broad understanding of the liturgy. That implies that liturgy is seen beyond the celebration of the Eucharist. It includes the liturgy of the other sacraments.179
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Gallagher (Clashing Symbols, 175) emphasizes that this happens only when the Gospel is received, felt, celebrated, and lived within the deep language of a local culture. Power, Liturgy and Culture, 232; and Id., Culture and Theology, 70: In treating liturgical inculturation, we need to be aware of the fact that the fundamental symbolic modes of perceiving and experiencing reality are culturally specified. See Lamberts, Hoogtepunt en bron: inleiding tot de liturgie (Averbode: Altiora, 1991), 14, who describes liturgy in a broad sense, and thereby includes those material aspects that are connected to the liturgy, such as liturgical objects, liturgical spaces, and liturgical feasts; also see Carine Dujardin, Liturgie en inculturatie in de Chinamissie (1870-1940): in het keurslijf van de Ritenstrijd, in Liturgie en inculturatie, ed. Lamberts, 139-57, who utilized the same broad understanding of liturgy in named article.

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Vatican II decreed that the liturgy as summit and source of the Churchs life needs to be adapted to the various customs and cultures of peoples. One of the major steps into that direction was the introduction of the vernacular in the celebration of the liturgy. Before the closure of the council, Inter Oecumenici (26 September 1964) appeared as the first document, to give instructions about the right implementation of the Sacred Constitution on the Liturgy.180 The five consecutive documents that have been published for that purpose are indicative for the enormous concern on the part of the Church to steer the process of liturgical inculturation, acknowledged to be a delicate and difficult task.181 And as Chupungco notes, it witnesses the Holy Sees continued adherence to conciliar decrees.182 In various degrees and to various extents these documents speak of liturgical inculturation. Among these, Varietates Legitimae addresses the topic in a most comprehensive manner.183 According to Chupungco this Instruction had been in preparation since the beginning of the 1970s.184 Another post-Vatican II document that discusses the theme of liturgical inculturation is John Paul IIs Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quantus Annus. We shall discuss both these two latter documents under the heading of the magisterial teaching on liturgical inculturation. Our study of liturgical inculturation starts with taking heed of a significant remark from Gittens who writes:
People of many cultures have (re-)appropriated their own forms of embodiment, finding them entirely compatible with the liturgy. But is this really inculturation? Insofar as it assimilates indigenous social forms into the liturgy, it creates acculturated liturgies: but the litmus test is

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Sacred Congregation of Rites (Consilium), Instruction on Implementing Liturgcal Norms Inter Oecumenici (Rome: Sacred Congregation of Rites, 26 September 1964); available from http://www.adoremus.org/Interoecumenici.html; Internet; accessed 15 November 2007. Nos. 40-43, 57-59 and 61 directly address the use of the vernacular in the liturgy and the way particular churches should go about translating liturgical text from Latin into the vernacular. These adaptations are to be in conformity with what has been decreed earlier in Sacrosanctum Concilium on those related passages. They became effective from 7 March 1965. Cf. Redemptoris Missio, no. 76 that speaks of inculturation as a complex issue. Chunpungco, Remarks on The Roman Liturgy and Inculturation, Ecclesia Orans, vol. 11, no. 3 (1994): 269-77, 269. The first three Instructions did not employ the term inculturation, but rather used the prevalent term adaptation. Varietates Legitimae is the only document among the five Roman Instructions which explicitly employs the term inculturation in relation to the liturgy. On the other hand, the term inculturation only appears three times in Liturgiam Authenticam, namely, twice in no. 5 where the Roman Rite itself is perceived as a precious example and an instrument of true inculturation and the translation of liturgical texts into vernacular languages as part of [T]he work of inculturation; and in no. 6 which also discusses the translation of liturgical texts into vernacular languages as process of liturgical inculturation. Chupungco, Remarks on The Roman Liturgy, 269.

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whether transformed liturgies produce transformed lives, whether they generate authentic worship 185 rather than renewed performance: the distinction is critical.

We take this insight as our lead in this study. Inculturated liturgies186 can be judged from the fruits they bear. Liturgical inculturation can thus be assessed from the extent to which it leads to transforming peoples lives and cultures. The yardstick for measuring liturgical inculturation, and in fact, for the inculturation of the entire Christian faith, will thus be the increase in life of those addressed by the Son of God.187 According to Kunzler, this is specifically Christian, and, therefore, it is what every inculturation of Christian faith, and with it, of the liturgy, must articulate undiminished for the new culture188 In this regard, the Gospel narrative in which Jesus warns against false prophets offering God-talk that lacks any real perspective on salvation, thereby indicating: By their fruits you will know them (Mt 7:16),189 can serve as a good analogy for constructing a theology of liturgical inculturation in the life of the local Church. The fundamental question here is: to what extent does such a theology reckon for the celebration of the liturgy to foster a profound encounter with the risen Christ who enables people to share in the fullness of the Trinity? We will, in due course, examine the implications for a theology of liturgical inculturation, which in our view must necessarily be incarnational and Trinitarian if it wants to enact such an encounter.

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Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 67-68; Chupungco (Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 15) makes a similar claim as we have shown in the previous chapter by defining liturgical acculturation as the interaction between the Roman liturgy and the culture of the local church. This interaction, he emphasizes, is an initial approach which needs to be completed by the process of inculturation. The dynamics of cultural interaction should develop into the dynamics of cultural insertion and interior assimilation of cultural forms. In other words, acculturation should lead to inculturation. Cf. Kunzler, The Churchs Liturgy, 85-87; and Van Tongeren, Liturgie in context: de vernieuwing van de liturgie en de voortgang ervan als een continu proces, TvL 81 (1997): 178-98. It must be noted that with the terminology of inculturated liturgies we do not imply that this is a process arrived at after a certain point in time. Rather, liturgy continually needs reform and renewalbecause it is also in part the work of people who remain finite human beings. The art of liturgical inculturation is therefore a permanent task, as Kunzler argues for. Nevertheless, Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 37) opines that an inculturated liturgy is one whose shape, language, rites, symbols, and artistic expressions reflect the cultural pattern of the local Church. But since cultural patterns are not static, but change over time, the need for ongoing renewal presents itself even for these so-called inculturated liturgies. Ibid., 86. This increase in life, Kunzler argues must come from God and stand against the dangerous temptation to acquire, by means of culture, a high-handed self-regarding glory (p. 86). Ibid. Senior et al., eds., The Catholic Study Bible / The New American Bible, 18. The context of this biblical passage is to warn against people who claim to speak in Gods name, but offer a message of deceit rather than truth. Those Christian disciples who claimed to speak on behalf of God were considered as prophets. They were presumably an important group within the church of Matthew. As in the case of the Old Testament prophets, there were both true and false ones, and for Matthew the difference could be recognized by the quality of their deeds, the fruits. The mention of fruits leads to the comparison with trees, some producing good fruit, others bad. (P. 18 of New Testament part).

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5.3.1. Liturgical inculturation in theological discourses

When in the wake of Vatican II, instructions concerning the right applications for the adaptation of the liturgy190 to the culture and genius of the people came out, the concept of inculturation also began to capture the attention of liturgists. According to Mark Francis, the focus on the interaction between human cultures and the liturgical expression of faith was a natural consequence of the fundamental orientation of the Council toward a rapprochement with contemporary world.191 Many liturgists were inspired by SC 37 that declares: Even in the liturgy the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters that do not affect the faith or the good of the whole community; rather the Church respects and fosters the genius and talents of the various races and peoples.192 It was soon felt that translating the Latin typical editions into the vernacular was not enough to foster the faithfulls involvement in the liturgy the world over. 193 If the active participation of the faithful in the liturgy was to be encouraged, then the culture of the people concerned needed due consideration. In the words of Power, what was considered an ideal [i.e., a reformed liturgy in the vernacular of the people] did not always hit a responsive chord among the people.194 Francis expresses a similar thought as follows: [F]or inculturation to be successful, the people themselves must be brought into the process. Rather than ... imposition, ... inculturation must be done with respect for and in constant conversation with the religious practice of the

190

Since the Constitution on the Liturgy employed the term adaptation, this term soon became the common word for describing the manner in which the liturgy should assimilate cultural elements of its surrounding environment. Chupungco, for example, employed the notion of liturgical adaptation especially in his earlier writings. See, Chupungco, Adaptation of the Liturgy to the Culture and Traditions of the People, Notitiae 20 (1984): 820-834; Id., Cultural Adaptation; Id., Greco-Roman Culture and Liturgical Adaptation. Notitiae 153 (1979): 202-218; Id., A Historical Survey of Liturgical Adaptation. Notitiae 174 (1981): 28-43; Id., The Magna Carta of Liturgical Adaptation. Notitiae 14 (1978): 74-89. However, in his later writings he shifted toward using the term inculturation. Verietates Legitimae eventually corroborated the shift in terminology when in no. 4 it declared: The change of vocabulary is understandable, even in the liturgical sphere. The expression adaptation, taken from missionary terminology, could lead one to think of modifications of a somewhat transitory and external nature. 191 Francis, Liturgical Inculturation: The State of the Question, Liturgical Ministry 6 (1997): 97-107, 97. Here Francis presents an overview of the various perceptions on liturgical inculturation developed since Vatican II.
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Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 37. Cf. Consilium, Instruction Comme le prvoit: On the Translation of Liturgical Texts for Celebrations with a Congregation, 25 January 1969, no. 15; and Pecklers, Vatican II and the Liturgical Renewal: An Unfinished Agenda, East Asian Pastoral Review 42, nos. 1-2 (2005): 43-66, who raised the following question: is it fair, even possible, to import Roman texts into a non-Roman world and simply translate them into local idiom, or is not something more substantial needed (p. ..)? This demonstrates that the issue has not lost its actuality, and is still relevant to local churches, since it continuous to pose a challenge that has not yet been resolved. Power, Culture and Theology, 56. Another noteworthy observation Power makes was that the vernacularization of the liturgy did not necessarily promoted active participation on the part of the people. Neither did it foster the community spirit among the faithful.

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people. Inculturation [is] dialogue.195 In the ensuing theological literature this opinion began to be heard increasingly. Meanwhile, the movement toward liturgical inculturation gained momentum from three distinctive liturgical congresses devoted to it. In 1989 the Societas Liturgica convened the first symposium at its Twelfth Congress held in York, England on 18 August of that year.196 This was followed by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Katholischer Liturgikdozenten im deutschen Sprachgebiet in 1990.197 And in 1991 the Liturgical Institute of Sant Anselmo in Rome was the organizer.198 These meetings, in turn gave impetus to the pertaining theological discourse. In their initial approach to liturgical inculturation theologians and liturgists resorted to a general definition of inculturation and hence, applied it to the liturgy.199 In practice, much of what has been hailed as liturgical inculturation was in fact an exercise in adorning the Roman liturgy with local cultural elements. 200 Hence the appropriate label would rather be liturgical adaptation,201 or in some cases acculturation,202 thus where the Roman liturgy and local cultural elements were juxtaposed. This observation underscores the need for a critical examination of how liturgical inculturation is conceptualized by various authors. The late Pierre-Mary Gy located the origin of liturgical inculturation in the Apostolic Church.203 He distinguished four periods or stages for liturgical inculturation in the history of the

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Francis, Hispanic Liturgy, 50, quoted in Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 67. See Paul F. Bradshaw, ed. review of Studia Liturgica 20 (Liturgical Ecumenical Center Trust: Grave, The Netherlands, 1990). See F. Schneider, Inkulturation nur fr die Dritte Welt? Fachtagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Katholischer Liturgikdozenten im deutschen Sprachgebiet, Liturgische Jahrbuch 41 (1991): 1-6. Cf. A. Hollaardt, Een congres over culturele aanpassing van de liturgie. Sant Anselmo 6-10 mei 1991, Tijdschrift voor liturgie 75 (1991): 416-24. Francis, The State of the Question, 102. Cf. Baluleete, African Drums Not Enough, 286-88; and Chibuko, Liturgical Inculturation: Proposed Pattern, 227. See, for instance, Elochukwu Uzukwu, African Symbols and Christian Liturgical Celebration, Worship 65, no. 2 (1991): 98-112, who perceives African liturgical inculturation as integrating appropriate gestures food and drink that resonates better to the local culture than bread and wine into the faith expression of African Christian communities. Since, in this way the liturgy accommodates certain cultural elements, it is better to speak of liturgical adaptation (i.e., the liturgy adapts itself to a local culture), rather than liturgical inculturation. See Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 70. Gy, Inculturation of Christian Liturgy, 9. In Gys view Christian inculturation is from the very beginning liturgical since it began with translating Jewish forms of worship partly into Hellenistic cultural categories. Chupungco (Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 16), however, argues that if the breaking of bread, baptism, laying on of hands, and anointing of the sick in the New Testament are accepted as instances of inculturation, as Roest Crollius (What Is So New About Inculturation) and others have demonstrated, then the practice dates back to Christ and his first disciples (p. 16).

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Western Church.204 The first period occurred during the first two centuries A. D. at the time when Christians of Jewish and pagan origin were united in the same Church. For Gy, this period constituted a formative stage for liturgical inculturation which he denotes as fundamental inculturation. It consisted of two interrelated facts, of which the first concerned the structure of the Christian liturgy that is rooted in Jewish ritual notwithstanding a radical reinterpretation.205 And secondly, this reinterpretation took place at least partly within the process of Christian inculturation in the Hellenistic world.206 Nevertheless, it is in this formative stage of liturgical inculturation that the Eucharist i.e., as thanksgiving ritual was separated from the Jewish paschal meal ritual. Moreover, Gy suggested that the transformation of the berakah to eucharistia did occur partly in Hellenistic circles. However, Gy maintained that the first cultural transfer of Christianity into a non-JudeoChristian environment represents the first inculturation, the foundation for all the rest, which gave form within the Christian liturgy to its essential difference in relation to its Jewish antecedents, that is, the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of the dead and risen Jesus.207 This initial phase is significant for a theology of liturgical inculturation because it reveals the perennial nature inherent to the process of incarnating the liturgy in the cultures of peoples. Thus a distinctive character of liturgical inculturation should always and everywhere be its reference to the Paschal Mystery in worship. Chupungco, points to another significant element which a theology of liturgical inculturation should underline, and which also points to the Paschal Mystery of Christ.208 It has to do with the essence of Christs anamnesis209 as an integral aspect of the liturgical celebration. Next to this key notion in Christian worship is the basic liturgical term epiclesis that can be defined as the prayer of the Church invoking the presence of the Holy Spirit. It asks the Father to send the
204

We will limit our current discussion to the first and intial phase of liturgical inculturation in the West. The remaining three phases, according to Gy, are: (1) the inculturation of Christianity before the fourth century, in which Christians formed a minority vis--vis a pagan majority; (2) the earlier part of the fourth century which saw the expansion of Christianity alongside its integration with the classical cultural heritage; (3) Christianitys encounter with both new cultures and new cultural periods, encounters which took account of the preceding stages. For an elaboraton of all these stages, see Gy, Inculturation of Christian Liturgy, 10-17. Ibid., 9. Ibid. Ibid., 10. See Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 42) who emphasizes that the Paschal Mystery is always present in every liturgial rite, though in various degrees and under different aspects in the celebration. At Mass the focus is Christs sacrifice on the cross; at baptism, on his burial and resurrection; at confirmation, on his act of sending the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.... However, this same mystery is expressed in different outward forms according to the meaning and purpose of each liturgical rite (p. 42). See, ibid., 38. Here Chupungco states that anamnesis is commonly defined as the ritual memorial of Christs paschal mystery.

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Holy Spirit on the sacramental elements and on the people, who receive the sacraments in order that the Holy Spirit may consecrate them to God and make them holy.210 Though these two basic terms are immediately applicable to the Eucharist, they also apply to other sacramental forms of worship, in which the sacraments proper are not celebrated. Therefore, it is our contention that this latter term too should be an integral aspect of a theology of liturgical inculturation. In this way the celebration of the liturgy, and thus liturgical inculturation, becomes engrafted in the Churchs apostolic tradition.211 Chupungco also emphasizes the importance of heeding to tradition when undertaking the renewal of the liturgy. Thus he claims that failure to comply [with this general norm] could lead to liturgical and theological misfortunes.212 He underscores this point with the following example:
When infant confirmation became the normal practice after the sixth century, the kiss of peace, which the bishop gave previously to the confirmed adult, was for some reason revised to a light fatherly pat on the cheek of the child. By the thirteenth century in France and the Germanic region, the gesture evolved into a slap similar to what a man received when he was vested as a knight. In theological thinking confirmation began to be regarded as the sacrament that vested children with grace to do battle as soldiers of Christ. The passage from kiss to slap is one of the mishaps of inculturation, and the shift of emphasis from the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit to a 213 military sacrament is one of the tenacious misfortunes of sacramental theology.

However, in the course of time several definitions of liturgical inculturation have come to see the light. Chupungco, for example, explains it from the side of the liturgy as follows:
[T]he process of inserting the texts and rites of the liturgy into the framework of the local culture. As a result, the texts and rites assimilate the peoples thought, language, value, ritual, symbolic, and artistic pattern [It] is basically the assimilation by the liturgy of local cultural patterns. It means that liturgy and culture share the same pattern of thinking, speaking, and expressing themselves through rites, symbols, and artistic forms. In short, the liturgy is inserted into the culture, history, and tradition of the people among whom the Church dwells. It begins to think, speak, and ritualize 214 according to the local cultural pattern.

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Ibid., 39 Cf. Van Tongeren, Liturgie in context, 189-93, who puts forward the valid argument that the Churchs tradition ought not be possited as the exclusive norm for the liturgy, but that the prevalent context needs due consideration as well. Also see, Id., Van Tongeren, De inculturatie van de liturgie tot (stil)stand gebracht? Kanttekeningen bij een Romeins document over liturgie en inculturatie, Jaarboek voor Liturgie-onderzoek 12 (1996): 164-86, 167-70. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 33. Ibid., 33-34. Ibid., 30. It is important to take notice of Chupungcos remark that this definition is given from the side of the liturgy and that defining liturgical inculturation from the side of culture deserves a separate study (Ibid.). This distinction is absent from his earlier definition of the term in Id., (Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 17), which is basically the same as the later one.

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This process involves the the dynamic translation of the Roman liturgy215 to the cultures in which it operates. Chupungco illustrates this with two historical examples of liturgical inculturation, namely the classical Roman liturgy, which gained ascendancy in the Western world, [and] flourished in Rome between the fifth and eighth centuries.216 Its distinctive characteristics were the simplicity, brevity and sobriety217 of its texts which reflected the thought and language pattern of the people for whom they were composed.218 Another example is the Franco-Germanic liturgy which developed primarily through contact with the classical shape of the Roman liturgy. The latters texts and rites had been reworked in order to accommodate the local peoples temperament, which at that time was in diametric opposition to Roman sobriety.219 According to Chupungco it resulted into a hybrid liturgy that kept the essential of the Roman model, while investing it with a new and vigorous cultural form.220 One could remark that these examples of liturgical inculturation highlight just one side of a coin, namely the liturgical side. Since inculturation is perceived as a reciprocal process of a dynamic encounter between the Christian message of salvation and a culture or cultures, the other side of the same coin, namely the cultural side, also needs clarification.221 In other words, how are we to define liturgical inculturation from the side of culture? This question is important because the process of liturgical inculturation has its bearings on both the liturgy and the culture in which the
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Chupungco, Remarks on The Roman Liturgy, 275. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 30. The main authors in this process were the popes Gelatius, Vigilius, Leo the Great, and Gregory the Great. Concerning the latter, DPPL, no. 27 notes: Gregory the Great undertook a major liturgical reform which sought to offer the Roman people structures which resonated with popular sensibilities while, at the same time, remaining securely based on the celebration of the divine mysteries. He gave wise directives to ensure that the conversion of new nations did not happen without regard for their own cultural traditions. Indeed, the Liturgy itself could be enriched by new legitimate cultic expressions and the noble expressions of artistic genius harmonized with more humble popular sensibilities. In ibid., 36 Chupungco states: Liturgical research made a positive contribution when it identified the elements of sobriety, directness, brevity, simplicity, and practical sense as the constitutive elements of the Roman cultural pattern. He retrieved this information from Edmund Bishop, Liturgica Historica: Papers on the History and Religious Life of the Western Church (Oxford: Clarendon, 1962), 2-9 where he describes The Genius of the Roman Rite, and from Theodor Klauser, A Short History of the Western Liturgy: An Account and Some Reflections (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), 59-68 that treats the classical traits of Roman euchology. Ibid., 31. Ibid. Ibid. See the definitions of inculturation given by, for instance, Crollius (What Is So New, 735) and Arrupe (Letter on Inculturation) in which they emphasize the implications for both sides of the coin. Arrupe, in his famous definition points out that the Christian message finds elements proper to the culture in question, and as a principle that animates, directs, and unifies the culture, transforming it ... Roest Crollius defines the term in almost similar fashion.

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liturgy is celebrated. Defining liturgical inculturation in a way that highlights how and to what extent the liturgy adapts itself to the cultural pattern of a given people, by incorporating, or accommodating some of its cultural elements, remains at the level of adaptation, of the superficial externals. It does not go deep enough as to penetrate a peoples culture and transforming it. Thus, some important questions remain: what are the implications for a peoples culture in the process of liturgical inculturation? How does the liturgy affect their daily lives, their cultural patterns, their ethics and moral codes? Should it not be equally important to examine how a given culture is transformed from within, in order to be able to live up to the demands of the Gospel preached in the celebration of the liturgy? These questions are also important for constructing a theology of liturgical inculturation. They underscore the necessity to also consider the side of culture in defining liturgical inculturation. Against the backdrop of the just mentioned considerations, let us now look at another definition of liturgical inculturation which seeks to fill the cultural lacuna. It is one that African theologian Chibuko presents when he writes:
Basically, liturgical inculturation is a process whereby liturgy and culture share the same pattern of thinking, speaking and expressing themselves through rites, symbols and artistic forms. The liturgy is, as it were, inserted into the culture, history and tradition of the people among whom the Church resides to enable them to begin to automatically think, speak and ritualize according to the Gospel 222 message.

One may notice that this definition is reminiscent of Chupungcos definition. Indeed, Chibuko bases himself on Chupungcos standpoint, at least in part, since there is a subtle but fundamental difference between the two. Where Chupungco chooses to define liturgical inculturation from the side of the liturgy, Chibuko approaches it from both sides. In his definition liturgy assumes certain elements from the peoples cultural pattern in the ensuing process, as in Chupungcos definition. However, with Chupungco, this happens after the liturgy is inserted into the cultural fabric of the people that constitute the local Church. It is therefore a logical consequence of inserting the liturgy into the entire culture and history of a people. In other words, inserting the liturgy into the cultural pattern of a people is for its (i.e., the liturgy) own enrichment. Chibuko, on the other hand, takes an entirely different approach by implicitly asserting that the insertion of the liturgy in the culture of the people happens as a condition to enable them to imbibe the Gospel message. Thus, inserting the liturgy does not serve its own enrichment alone, but also the peoples enrichment, who, after being inspired by the Gospel message, can in fact renew their own culture from within. Hence, culture too becomes enriched, and imbued with the Gospel.

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In a later writing, Chibuko expresses the implication of the process of liturgical inculturation for the peoples culture even more forcefully. He then argues as follows:
The Liturgy has to be planned in such a way that it transforms the peoples distorted worldview into Christs master view of reality. This can only be achieved through Liturgical Inculturation whereby texts and rites of the Reformed Liturgy of Vatican II are systematically inserted into the framework 223 of the local culture.

The implication of liturgical inculturation for the people and their cultural pattern is therefore not a mere cultural adaptation, but a profound transformation of their lives and culture from within. Powers view on liturgical inculturation connects neatly to the idea of a radical transformation of cultures and the peoples lives, as a result. Thus he perceives liturgical inculturation as a way of evangelization by claiming that it is in fact part of the program of an inculturated evangelization,224 as enunciated by the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean at the 1992 CELAM conference in Santo Domingo. Furthermore, Power, on the basis of both the Santo Domingo Final Conclusions, and the Synod on Africa, held in Rome in 1994, suggests three possible starting-points for liturgical inculturation.225 Firstly, one can start from ritual and symbolic expressions that translate as it were, traditional forms into expressions more amenable to a culture. Secondly, liturgical inculturation may involve the integration of specific religious perceptions and rites, conditioned by a particular (local) culture into the liturgy. And thirdly, in analogy of the incarnation of Christ, Church and the Gospel among a given people, religious rituals that stand at the core of a culture could be taken as starting point. Concerning this third option, Power observes:
In this third way of looking at Christ and culture, more attention is given to the historically inculturated mode of Christs appearance on earth. More attention is also given to the need for those who preach the gospel and celebrate the liturgy to be themselves converted to cultures in order to learn truth from them. More room is likewise left wherein to acknowledge the fault in the

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Id., A Practical Approach to Liturgical Inculturation, African Ecclesial Review 43, nos. 1-2 (2001): 2-27, 6; also cf. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation: The Future That Awaits Us; available from https: //www.valpo.edu/ils/ chupungco2.pdf; Internet; accessed 13 January 2005. In this later writing Chupungco also highlights the implications on both sides of the coin. Immediately after defining liturgical inculturation as a process whereby pertinent elements of a local culture are integrated into the worship of a local Church, he clarifies the term integration as follows: Integration means that culture will influence the way prayer formularies are composed and proclaimed, ritual actions are performed, and the message is expressed in art forms. Integration can also mean that local rites, symbols, and festivals, after due critique and Christian reinterpretation, will become part of the liturgical worship of a local Church. In this way, Chupungco acknowledges that liturgical inculturation works as a double-edge sword that cuts both ways. Power, Liturgy and Culture, 232. See ibid., 236.

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first steps of evangelization by the Church that contributed to the Western domination of people 226 and cultures.

However, these starting-points must necessarily lead to the final and definitive aim of liturgical inculturation, which according to Power is the conversion of peoples to the gospel at the roots of their culture.227 Just as Power locates the terminus a quo for liturgical inculturation in the local culture, Chupungco too claims:
The process of inculturating the liturgy in the framework of popular religiosity implies reception on the part of the liturgy of the chief features that characterize popular religiosity. These features are ... festive and dramatic, spontaneous and creative, personal yet communitarian, otherworldly yet 228 profoundly human, symbolic yet immediate.

But, in fact, in Chupungcos perception, that is only one of two starting-points for liturgical inculturation. The other starting-point is represented by the typical editions of Vatican IIs liturgical books. These two starting-points constitute two opposite ends. Chupungco then visualizes the process of liturgical inculturation as lighting a candle at both ends. The idea is to make both ends meet in a literal, not idiomatic, sense.229 The inherent process of liturgical inculturation itself is seen as an effort to make them [both ends] meet and interact, so that from their union a new terminus ad quem, a liturgy for the local Church, may be brought into existence.230 However, it is our contention that, liturgical inculturation should be approached from both sides (i.e., from the side of the Church and her liturgy, and the local culture side). In that endeavor, one should never lose sight of the objective to have the preaching of the Gospel transforming peoples lives and the rites they abide by. However, it is not enough to baptize elements from local cultures: this can still produce formalism,231 as Gittins rightly asserts. Neither does it suffice to translate liturgical texts into the vernacular, unless those texts actually help to modify peoples faith responses: they must not simply be pleasing to the ear but contribute to the transformation of lives.232 Moreover, modified texts have no intrinsic power to convert. Only the Spirit will convert a culture because culture means people and core values, not simply elements such as language, dress, or movement.233 One could add to this latter list: religious rites, rituals and
226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233

Ibid. Ibid., 228. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 112. Ibid., 33. Ibid.; also cf. Francis, The State of the Question, 102-3. Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 65. Ibid. Ibid.

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perceptions. What ultimately holds for liturgical inculturation is that the Christian faith becomes embodied, i.e., incarnated and expressed in the peoples life,234 in such a way that it animates, transforms and renews their culture, rites and traditions. And in turn their anabatic response to Gods life-giving grace, off-springing from the liturgy, and mediated through the sacraments and sacramentals, finds articulation from these renewed culture, rites, and traditions.

5.3.2. Liturgical inculturation in magisterial teaching

In this section we shall now proceed to examine the meaning liturgical inculturation receives in Church documents that reflect her magisterial teaching. We shall, therefore, turn to John Paul IIs 1988 Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus and the fourth Roman Instruction Varietates Legitimae which are among recent Church documents that devote ample attention to the phenomenon of liturgical inculturation. It can even be said that the former is one of the scarce post-Vatican II papal documents that addresses the relation between liturgical inculturation and popular religiosity. 235 In these documents much of the Councils teaching concerning the adaptation of the liturgy to the cultures and traditions of the peoples is filtered through. Hence, these documents are significant for elucidating the concept of liturgical inculturation from the perspective of the magisterial teaching. Moreover, they are important for constructing a theology of liturgical inculturation that seeks to safeguard fidelity to the Gospel and communion with the universal Church. John Paul II wrote his Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus on the occasion of the commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the Sacred Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium. In this Apostolic Letter John Paul II addresses the theme of liturgical inculturation by employing the terms liturgical reform and renewal. In the second part of this Letter we come across the term adaptation, which marks its close affinity with the Constitution on the Liturgy.
234

Cf. Joseph Mattam, The Message of Jesus and Our Customary Theological Language: An Indian Approach to A New Language in Theology and Inculturation, Exchange 34, no. 3 (2005): 116-34, who makes a significant remark by stating that what ultimately matters is an authentic life, based on a faith-response to the Gospel of Jesus (p. 131). In his view that should entail, among others, a new life style for us and a critique of peoples greed, our greed and our concumerism (p. 132). Though some of his insights may certainly not receive unanimous acclamation for instance his aparent downplaying of the importance of Church doctrine Mattam, a Jesuit emeritus professor in theology (b. 1936) living in India, still makes a valuable contribution when he advocates a new language in theology and inculturation that resonates fully with the struggle for life and human dignity on the part of the poor. Also see Pablo Richard, Inculturation Defends Human, Cosmic Life, National Catholic Reporter (19 December 1997); available from http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/121997/121997c.htm; Internet; accessed 20 February 2006. In this document John Paul II rather employs the term adaptation which had also been used in Sacrosanctum Concilium, and in which light this Letter is written. And in no. 18 he uses the term popular Christian devotion, in relation to the liturgy.

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From the very beginning of this Apostolic Letter, John Paul II reiterates the fundamental objective that guided the reform of the liturgy, as set out in SC 1 in the following terms:
To impart an ever increasing vigour to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions that are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of 236 humanity into the household of the Church.

An underlying theme of the Apostolic Letter is to throw light on the importance of the conciliar Constitution, twenty-five years later, during which both the Church and society have experienced profound and rapid changes...237 Another significant facet that this Apostolic Letter highlights which we also deem important for developing a theology of liturgical inculturation is that efforts to renew the liturgy are in accord with the Churchs tradition. More importantly, liturgical renewal goes hand in hand with the renewal of the Church.238 The former contributes to the latter, as John Paul II reiterates what he had written earlier on this matter when he stated: A very close and organic bond exists between the renewal of the Liturgy and the renewal of the whole life of the Church. The Church not only acts but also expresses herself in the Liturgy and draws from the Liturgy the strength for her life.239 In addition, John Paul II reaffirmed the general norms that guided the reform of the liturgical rites and the typical editions of the liturgical books after the Council, which he sums up as fidelity to tradition and openness to legitimate development.240 The liturgical renewal is perennially undergirded by several firm principles, which are: the re-enactment of the Paschal Mystery of Christ in the Liturgy of the Church; the presence of the word of God; and in liturgical celebration expressing the nature of the Church as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.241 These principles constitute the basis from which norms and guidelines evolve to govern the renewal of the liturgical life.242 Among these guidelines for renewing the liturgical life are: the introduction of the vernacular in the liturgy so that every individual can understand and proclaim in his or her mother tongue the wonders of God (cf. Acts 2:11); and the adaptation to the assembly and to individuals, with the possibility of openness to the traditions

236

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 1, quoted in John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus (Rome: 4 December 1988), no. 1. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 2 See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, nos. 3-4. John Paul II, Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), 13; AAS 72 (1980), 146, quoted in Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 4. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 4, in reference to Sacrosanctum Conciulium, no. 23. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, nos. 6, 8 and 9 respectively. See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 10.

237 238 239

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and cultures of different peoples,243 made possible by space created for that purpose in the liturgical books. However, the Letter acknowledges various difficulties which the application of the reformed liturgy has met with.244 Nevertheless, it also signals positive results, such as:
The immense effort undertaken throughout the world to provide the Christian people with translations of the Bible, the Missal and other liturgical books, and the increased participation of 245 the faithful by prayer and song, gesture and silence, in the Eucharist and the other sacraments.

But next to these positive results John Paul II notes several erroneous manners in which the reformed liturgy has been dealt with. He thus enumerates the following:
[I]llicit omissions or additions, rites invented outside the framework of established norms; postures or songs which are not conducive to faith or to a sense of the sacred; abuses in the practice of general absolution; confusion between the ministerial priesthood, linked with Ordination, and the 246 common priesthood of the faithful, which has its foundation in Baptism.

After summing up these liturgical abominations, John Paul II goes on to caution:

It cannot be tolerated that certain priests should take upon themselves the right to compose profane readings for texts from Sacred Scripture. Initiatives of this sort, far from being linked with the liturgical reform as such, or with the books which have issued from it, are in direct contradiction to it, disfigure it and deprive the Christian people of the genuine treasures of the Liturgy of the 247 Church.

This warning can also be seen as a way to ensure that the future of liturgical inculturation the Letter speaks here of renewal is firmly engrafted on the guidelines and principles enunciated in the Constitution on the Liturgy. According to John Paul II that requires the biblical and liturgical formation of the people of God, and the adaptation of the liturgy to different cultures.248 In addition, the future of liturgical inculturation necessitates that efforts in that regard respond to the need of our time, and requires an obligation to take account of popular Christian devotion and its relation to liturgical life.249 Though all these tasks are indispensable for the process of liturgical inculturation, Varietates Legitimae perceives especially the adaptation of the liturgy to different cultures as an important task for liturgical renewal.250
243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250

Ibid. See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 11. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 12. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 13. Ibid. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, nos. 15 and 16 respectively. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, nos. 17 and 18 respectively. Varietates Legitimae, no. 2.

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Vicesimus Quintus Annus also provides a hermeneutical key to interpret the magisterial teaching on liturgical inculturation. It is therefore important to pay closer attention to the manner in which John Paul II envisaged the work of liturgical adaptation in this Letter. He builds therefore on the Constitutions principle that stipulates the path which Episcopal conferences should follow.251 He then goes on to list three possible areas in which liturgical inculturation is to occur, or has already in part occurred. These areas are: (1) the adaptation of languages; (2) the adaptation of rites, which, John Paul II acknowledged is a more delicate matter but equally necessary. (3) And, finally, the significant task of continuing to implant the Liturgy in certain cultures, welcoming from them those expressions which are compatible with aspects of the true and authentic spirit of the Liturgy, in respect for the substantial unity of the Roman Rite as expressed in the liturgical books.252 An important consideration in this process of liturgical inculturation is:
[I]n the Liturgy, and notably that of the sacraments, there is a part which is unchangeable because it is of divine institution, and of which the Church is the guardian. There are also parts open to change, which the Church has the power and on occasion also the duty to adapt to the cultures of recently 253 evangelized peoples.

When duly considered, liturgical inculturation then ultimately leads to liturgical diversity, which, as John Paul II acknowledged, can, on the one hand be a source of enrichment, and on the other hand, can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings and even divisions. 254 Nonetheless, John Paul II pointed out, Diversity must not damage unity. It can only gain expression in fidelity to the common Faith, to the sacramental signs that the Church has received from Christ and to hierarchical communion.255 These considerations, so far, reflect the implications on the part of the liturgy, once the process of liturgical inculturation is enacted. But, as the notion of inculturation properly invokes, this process also triggers implications on the part of the culture in which the liturgy is incarnated or implanted. In this regard, John Paul II speaks of cultural adaptation. In other words, culture needs to be adapted in order to harmonize with the true and authentic spirit of the liturgy. Hence, giving heed to the Gospel message of salvation requires conversion of heart and, where necessary, a breaking with ancestral customs incompatible with the Catholic faith. 256 This
251 252

See Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 39. Varietates Legitimae, no. 16. These adaptations are placed in light of Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 37-40, the socalled magna charta of liturgical adaptation. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 16; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 21. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.

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fundamental requirement corroborates our point to perceive liturgical inculturation, especially in the area of popular religiosity, as a necessary process of conversion. It is a process that further requires, in the words of John Paul II, a serious formation in theology, history and culture, as well as sound judgment in discerning what is necessary or useful and what is not useful or even dangerous to faith.257 That is, what we think, a theology of liturgical inculturation ought to reflect. Ultimately such a process of liturgical inculturation will yield, on the part of the people a progressive maturing in faith, which in turn enhances the very process of liturgical inculturation, thus by a faith that encompasses spiritual discernment, theological lucidity, and a sense of the universal Church, acting in broad harmony.258 But how does the process of liturgical inculturation resonate with popular religiosity, as envisaged by this Apostolic Letter? Here the scope on popular religiosity is initially limited to those Christian devotions of the people that are in some fashion related to the Churchs liturgical life. The Letter emphasizes the importance of taking account of these popular Christian devotions in order to safeguard the [liturgical] form and ensure the promotion of the Liturgy.259 Following in the steps of his predecessor who affirmed the inherent rich values of this popular devotion, by reason of which it should not be ignored or treated with indifference or contempt,260 John Paul II underlines that as such, it expresses the religious attitude towards God.261 However, one cannot assume that such a religious attitude is informed by a mature Christian faith. It could very well be that peoples religious attitude toward God is distinctively characterized by superstition, fear, or dread. When such is the case, whereby people occasionally feel the need to bargain their way out of misery and despair, through, for instance, petition, prayer and fasting, then there is need for evangelizing these devotions, so that the faith which it expresses may become an ever more mature and authentic act. 262 The act of evangelization, just referred to, does not only concern the devotions and pious exercises of the Christian people as envisaged by Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13.263 It includes other forms of devotions which the Letter does not specify. But since it explicitly mentions the devotions of the Christian people, and also refers to those peculiar to the local churches, one may assume that those other forms of devotion are taken from the religious rites and traditions of
257 258

Ibid. John Paul II, Address to the Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo and Molise on ad limina visit (24 April 1986), 3-7: AAS 78 (1986, pp. 1140-43); also cf. Whitt, An African-American Liturgical Tradition, 520. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 18; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 1 Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 48. See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 18. Ibid. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13 refers here to the following two types of devotions, namely (1) those of the Christian people, and (2) those that are proper to the particular churches. This distinction is somewhat opaque.

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the peoples, which do not necessarily accord with the law and norm of the Church, or in some fashion derived from the sacred liturgy. For pastoral reasons these latter devotions should not be done away with, since they potentially inhabit seeds of the Word. Hence, they too stand in need of evangelization, so that they can be purified and be directed towards the Liturgy as the offering of the people.264 When that happens, the process of liturgical inculturation is running its due course. The fourth Instruction on Inculturation and the Roman Liturgy, Varietates Legitimae, elaborates on liturgical inculturation in more detail.265 Our intention here is not to evaluate Varietates Legitimaes stance on liturgical inculturation, but to focus, rather, on its understanding and presentation of this matter.266 Hence we can say that it provides precise principles and the definitive canonical procedure for what is now called liturgical inculturation.267 It starts with pointing out in connection with the Constitution on the Liturgy that liturgical differences in the Roman Rite existed in the past and are acknowledged in the present. It then reiterates the Councils claim that even in the Liturgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters that do not affect the faith or the good of the whole community.268 Furthermore, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) that authored this document describes the nature of this Instruction as follows:
The norms for the adaptation of the liturgy to the temperament and conditions of different peoples, which were given in Articles 37-40 of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, are here defined; certain principles expressed in general terms in those articles are explained more precisely, the directives are set out in a more appropriate way and the order to be followed is clearly set out, so 269 that in future this will be considered the only correct procedure.

This statement renders Varietates Legitimae a pioneering character for liturgical inculturation in the magisterial teaching of the post-Vatican II Church, for it seeks to offer the modus operandi as to how to procedure future attempts at liturgical inculturation. Episcopal
264

Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 18. Here John Paul II refers to his Address to the Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo and Molise on the ad limina visit (24 April 1986), 3-7: AAS 78 (1986. pp. 1140-1143). The introductory part together with the first chapter of this Instruction explore in general the term inculturation, whereas the remaining chapters (i.e., chapters 2-4) are more explicitly devoted to its liturgical dimension, namely to liturgical inculturation. However, from the third chapter onwards, this Instruction makes a shift in terminology from inculturation to adaptation, probably in an attempt to maintain continuity with the conciliar Constitution on the Liturgy. See Phan, Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 225-32, for a critical assessment of Varietates Legitimae, from a postmodern perspective; and Van Tongeren, De inculturatie van de liturgie tot (stil)stand gebracht, 176-85; Nathan Mitchell, The Amen Corner, Worship 68 (1994): 369-77; Julian Saldanha, Instruction on Liturgical Inculturation, Vidyajyoti 60 (1996): 618-21. Whitt, An African-American Liturgical Tradtion, 520. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 37 as quoted in Varietates Legitimae, no. 1. Varietates Legitimae, no. 3.

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conferences of the particular churches have a pivotal role to play in this process, namely in initiating and implementing those adaptations that are already foreseen in the revised Roman rubrics, as well as those of a more profound nature. The CDWDS reserves to herself the role of assisting bishops and Episcopal conferences by monitoring the process, as to ensure that it occurs according to the law. Against this backdrop it discusses liturgical inculturation as a response to the pastoral needs of peoples of different cultures.270 The CDWDS is not only concerned with a methodology for liturgical inculturation. It also offers a theological framework necessary for the various Episcopal conferences, within which they can operate. It is rather compelling, since it specifies guidelines, requirements, preliminary conditions, and principles for liturgical inculturation. The Instruction first makes several preliminary observations regarding the notion of inculturation, for which it draws on insights from, for instance, Redemptoris Missio on this matter. It then proceeds with some theoretical considerations about the inculturation process throughout salvation history (VL 9-20). Moreover, it outlines in concrete terms how liturgical inculturation became embodied in the life of the Church in an earlier period. Thus it points out:
The creation and development of the forms of Christian celebration developed gradually according to local conditions in the great cultural areas where the good news was proclaimed. Thus were born distinct liturgical families of the churches of the West and of the East. Their rich patrimony preserves faithfully the Christian tradition in its fullness. The church of the West has sometimes drawn elements of its liturgy from the patrimony of the liturgical families of the East. The church of Rome adopted in its liturgy the living language of the people, first Greek and then Latin, and, like other Latin churches, accepted into its worship important events of social life and gave them a Christian significance. During the course of the centuries, the Roman rite has known how to integrate texts, chants, gestures and rites from various sources and to adapt itself in local cultures in mission 271 territories, even if at certain periods a desire for liturgical uniformity obscured this fact.

These historical facts of how the Church assumed cultural elements from her surrounding milieu and elsewhere into her own worship had an undeniable impact on Vatican II as is reflected in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. There the Church proclaims: Whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, it is not only saved from destruction but it is also cleansed, raised up and made perfect unto the glory of God, the
270

Varietates Legitimae, no. 70; also see Whitt, An African-American Liturgical Tradition, 505, noting that this Instruction demonstrates the Holy Sees great sensitivity to the needs of diverse communities of Latin Catholic faithful to worship in accord with their own cultures, even to the extent of doing so according to specifically adapted liturgical books. One could add that it also reflects both esteem and appreciation from the Churchs part for human cultures and the genius of a people. Cf. DPPL, no. 63 which gives another reason for the magisterial esteem of popular pietybecause of perceiving it as a product from a harmonious fusion of the Gospel message with a particular culture. Varietates Legitimae, no. 17.

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confounding of the devil, and the happiness of mankind.272 The implication this has for the liturgy is that wherever it is celebrated, it should be done in a manner that does not alienate people from the Church. However, it should [also] transcend the particularity of race and nation. It must be capable of expressing itself in every human culture, all the while maintaining its identity through fidelity to the tradition which comes to it from the Lord.273 In this interacting process with human culture, the liturgy, like the Gospel, must respect cultures, but at the same time invite them to purify and sanctify themselves. 274 Christians always and everywhere had to deal with the challenge to reconcile the renunciations demanded by faith in Christ with fidelity to the culture and traditions of the people to which they belonged. 275 Hence, the following important theological principle for liturgical inculturation:
The discernment exercised during the course of the churchs history remains necessary, so that through the liturgy the work of salvation accomplished by Christ may continue faithfully in the 276 church by the power of the Spirit in different countries and times and in different human cultures.

Hereafter, the Instruction proceeds with outlining the requirements and preliminary conditions for liturgical inculturation (VL 21-32). But prior to setting out the norms and conditions, the CDWDS observes that liturgical inculturation, in the words of Whitt, constitutes one aspect of inculturating the Gospel and calls for integrating the permanent values of a given peoples culture into the ways they live the faith.277 Moreover, it states that liturgical inculturation must be the fruit of a progressive maturity in the faith of the people.278 The requirements and preliminary conditions for liturgical inculturation, as the CDWDS envisages, are intimately bound with the nature of the liturgy. It implies that the liturgy is, in fact the privileged place where Christians meet God and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ.279 The nature of the liturgy, in its turn, is also intimately bound with the nature of the Church, since it is above all in the liturgy that the nature of the church is manifested.280 An important requirement for liturgical inculturation in general and for a theology of liturgical inculturation in particular, is that the liturgy must always signify the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, the glorification of God the Father and the sanctification of mankind by the power of the Holy
272 273

Lumen Gentium, no. 17, as quoted in Varietates Legitimae, no. 18. Varietates Legitimae, no. 18. Here, this document refers to other magisterial sources such as Catechesi Tradendae, nos. 52-53; Redemptoris Missio, nos. 53-54; Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1204-1206. Varietates Legitimae, no. 19. Varietates Legitimae, no. 20. Ibid. Whitt, An African-American Liturgical Tradition,520, after Varietates Legitimae, no. 5. Varietates Legitimae, no. 5. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 7, quoted in Varietates Legitimae, no. 21. Varietates Legitimae, no. 22, after Sacrosanctum Concilum, no. 2, and Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 9.

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Spirit.281 Hence, the process of liturgical inculturation ought to reflect in worship the anamnesis of the passion, the resurrection, and the glorification of the Lord Jesus.282 And since it is through the liturgy that the nature of the Church is revealed, another important requirement for liturgical inculturation and for the theology that undergirds it, is that it fosters unity between the local and the universal Church, not only in belief and sacramentals, but also in those practices received through the church as part of the uninterrupted apostolic tradition.283 The act of worship in which the process of liturgical inculturation becomes tangible and visible, therefore necessarily ought to reflect orthodoxy of the faith, not only to avoid errors, but also to pass on the faith in its integrity so that the rule of prayer (lex orandi) of the church may correspond to rule of faith (lex credendi).284 It is against this backdrop that the CDWDS declares in this Instruction:
However deep inculturation may go, the liturgy cannot do without legislation and vigilance on the part of those who have received this responsibility in the church: the Apostolic See and, according to the prescriptions of the law, the episcopal conference for its territory and the bishop for his 285 diocese.

It implies that the very process of liturgical inculturation necessitates a legislative framework for the organization of worship, the preparation of texts and the celebration of rites.286 Sr. M. Gerard Nwagwu, who holds a doctorate degree in Canon Law from the Gregorian University, articulates the canonical implications for liturgical inculturation. She does so by starting from the following observation:
Canonical norms and liturgical celebration are closely related since the ecclesial community that celebrates the liturgy is the same one that is also regulated by norm. Liturgy ... is governed by laws which form part of ecclesial discipline and canonical regulations... The demand and call for liturgical 287 inculturation in the Church today has, therefore, a backing in the canonical field.

She further points out that canonical legislation not only promotes the process of liturgical inculturation, but can in some cases also hamper that process. Hence, she concludes with the following bold claim: Since liturgical laws are meant to direct these inculturation initiatives and
281 282 283 284

Varietates Legitimae, no. 24, after Sacrosanctum Concicium, no. 7 that endorses this magisterial standppoint. Cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 6, 47, 56, 102, and 106; and Roman Missal, General Instruction, nos. 1, 7, and 8. Varietates Legitimae, no. 26. Varietates Legitimae, no. 27; also cf. Roman Missal, General Instruction, Prooemium, 2; Paul VI, Discourse to the Consilium for the Application of the Constitution on the Liturgy, Oct. 13, 1966: AAS 58 (1966), 1146; Oct. 14, 1968: AAS 60 (1968), 734. Ibid.; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 22, 36, 40, and 44-46; Canons 47ff and 838. Ibid.; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 22, 26, 28, 40, and 128; Code of Canon Law, Canon 2. M. Gerard Nwagwu, A Canonical Perspective of Liturgical Inculturation in Africa, African Ecclesial Review 43, nos. 1-2 (2001): 56-65, 56.

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not to stifle them, where the latter is the case, the laws would need to be revisited along with the theology that informs them.288 Nevertheless, the Instruction points to what it regards as a preliminary condition for liturgical inculturation, the following: The translation of the Bible, or at least of the biblical texts used in the liturgy, is the first necessary step in the process of the inculturation of the liturgy.289 This also necessitates the translation of the typical editions of the Roman liturgical books,290 which constitutes the terminus a quo of liturgical inculturation, at least from the side of the liturgy.291 Another preliminary condition for liturgical inculturation, as envisaged by the CDWDS, concerns its interdisciplinary approach. Harmonizing local cultural values with the liturgy requires from those appointed by Episcopal conferences292 to guide the process of liturgical inculturation competency in the liturgical tradition of the Roman rite, as well as competency in the appropriate cultural field. Therefore, the process itself requires preliminary studies of a historical, anthropological, exegetical and theological character. However, these studies need to be examined in the light of the pastoral experience of the local clergy, especially those born in the country.293 And were this process leads to changes in rites or texts judged to be necessary, they must harmonize with the rest of the liturgical life.294 Moreover, they should be so drawn up that they express more clearly the holy things they signify and so that the Christian people, as far as possible, may be able to understand them with ease and to take part in the rites fully, actively and as befits a community.295

288 289 290

Ibid., 65. Varietates Legitimae, no. 28; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 35, and 36; Canon 825.1 The translation of the typical editions of the liturgical books into the vernacular of the various peoples has been an integral part of the work of revising and renewing the Roman liturgy. This work of translation into the mother tongue of the people was deemed necessary because it is the language which conveys the mentality and the culture of a people, that one can reach the soul, mold it in the Christian spirit and allow to share more deeply in the prayer of the church. (Ibid.; also cf. Varietates Legitimae, no. 53; Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 20; and Redemptoris Missio, no. 53). From the side of culture, as we have observed above, the process of liturgical inculturation presupposes the reception of the sacred Scripture into a given culture. (Ibid.; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 24; Catechesi Tradendae, no. 55). The aim hereof is to let the Gospel penetrate a given culture and its values as to renew and transform it from within. See Varietates Legitimae, nos. 31 and 32, for the Episcopal Conferences responsibility of the process of liturgical inculturation. Varietates Legitimae, no. 30; also cf. Ad Gentes, nos. 16, and 17. See Varietates Legitimae, no. 32. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 21, reiterated in Varietates Legitimae, no. 35.

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The CDWDS presents this latter as a first general principle for liturgical inculturation. It is the goal by which the inculturation of the Roman liturgy is to be guided, and also serves as the basis for the general renewal of the liturgy envisioned by Vatican II. Apart from this first general principle, the CDWDS stipulates as a second principle that the process of liturgical inculturation should maintain the substantial unity of the Roman rite.296 Of this substantial unity it says that it is currently expressed in the typical editions of liturgical books, published by authority of the supreme pontiff and in the liturgical books approved by the episcopal conferences for their areas and confirmed by the Apostolic See.297 And a third general responsibility for liturgical inculturation (i.e., for making changes and adaptations in the Roman rite in order to suite local cultural conditions) falls within the authority of the Holy See, which exercises it through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.298 But this authority also belongs, within the limits fixed by law, to episcopal conferences 299 and to the diocesan bishop. 300 By firmly fixing the authority for liturgical inculturation into the higher echelons of the Churchs hierarchy, this Instruction not only remains faithful to what Vatican II stipulates in this regard; it also takes a stance against popular inculturation.301 After having presented and discussed the general principles for liturgical inculturation, the Instruction goes on to identify certain adaptations which can be made during the process. These adaptations are related to the language of the celebrating community, 302 its local musical

296 297 298

Varietates Legitimae, no. 36; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 37-40. Ibid.; also cf. Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 16. Varietates Legitimae, no. 37; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 22; Canons 838.1 and 838.2; John Paul II, Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, 62, 64.3: AAS 80 (1988), 876-877; Vicesimus Quintus Annus, 19 Cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 22; and Canons 447ff and 838.1 and 838.3; Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 20. Varietates Legitimae, no. 37; also cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 22; and Canons 838.1 and 838.4; Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 21 Cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 22, which declares: No other person, not even if he is a priest, may on his own initiative add, remove or change anything in the liturgy. Varietates Legitimae, no. 37 does not only reiterate this magisterial claim, but elaborate further: Inculturation is not left to the personal initiative of celebrants or to the collective initiative of an assembly. On this latter stance it further remarks: The situation is different when, in the liturgical books published after the constitution, the introductions and the rubrics envisaged adaptations and the possibility of leaving a choice to the pastoral sensitivity of the one presiding, for example, when it says if it is opportune, in these or similar terms, also, according to circumstances, either ... or, if convenient, normally, the most suitable form can be chosen. In making a choice, the celebrant should seek the good of the assembly, taking into account the spiritual preparation and mentality of the participants rather than his own preferences or the easiest solution. In celebrations for particular groups, other possibilities are available. Nonetheless, prudence and discretion are always called for in order to avoid the breaking up of the local church into little churches or chapels closed in upon themselves (n. 82). Varietates Legitimae, no. 39.

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traditions,303 gestures and postures (which express the attitude of humanity before God),304 external (bodily) expressions (for instance, handclapping, rhythmic swaying and dance movements),305 art (which helps the faithful to celebrate, meet God and pray),306 and various manifestations of popular devotion.307 According to Whitt, these adaptations signify the Holy Sees great sensitivity to the needs of diverse communities of Latin Catholic faithful to worship in accord with their own cultures, even to the extent of doing according to specially adapted liturgical books.308 In connection with these adaptations, which ought to be made with necessary prudence,309 the Instruction also identifies certain areas within which they can occur. For that purpose the Instruction differentiates between adaptations in the liturgical books, and those of a more radical nature and as envisaged by SC 40.310 The former provides ample possibilities for maintaining local customs and admitting popular usages.311 The latter, on the other hand, goes further than what the general instructions and the praenotanda of the liturgical books envisage. These adaptations, however, do not envisage a transformation of the Roman rite, but are made within the context of the Roman rite.312 The Instruction speaks of liturgical inculturation as a process in which both the Roman liturgy and the local culture mutually enrich one another. It builds therefore on Sacrosanctum Concilium where the council envisaged the admission of rites or gestures according to local custom into rituals of Christian initiation, marriage and funerals.313 However, these local cultural elements should not contradict the nature of the liturgy. In order to ensure that they do not intrude into the liturgy, the adopted cultural elements stand in need of purification, where necessary, since the Christian liturgy cannot accept magic rites, superstition, spiritism, vengeance
303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311

Varietates Legitimae, no. 40. Varietates Legitimae, no. 41. Varietates Legitimae, no. 42. Varietates Legitimae, nos. 43, and 44. Varietates Legitimae, no. 45. Whitt, An African-American Liturgical Tradition, 505. See Varietates Legitimae, nos. 46-51. See Varietates Legitimae, nos. 53-61, and nos. 63, and 64 respectively. Varietates Legitimae, no. 56. Of this category the Instruction mentions, among others, adaptations referred to in the Roman Missal General Instruction and related to the Eucharist (no. 54); other sacraments and sacramentals (no. 55); rites of Christian initiation (no. 56); marriage rites (no. 57); funerary rites (no. 58); and blessings of persons, places or things (no. 59). Varietates Legitimae, no. 63. Varietates Legitimae, no. 48. The Instruction refers in this regard to Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 65, 77, and 81; also Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, Praenotanda, 30-31, 79-81, 88-89; Ordo Celebrandi Matrimonium, editio typica altera, Praenotanda, 41-44; Ordo Exsequiarum, Praenotanda, 21-22.

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or rites with a sexual connotation.314 In this way both the liturgy and the culture are renewed and enriched. There are several passages in the Instruction which reflect the aspect of reciprocity and mutual enrichment inherent to how CDWDS understands and depicts liturgical inculturation. One example hereof is found with no. 33 that reads:
As particular churches, especially the young churches, deepen their understanding of the liturgical heritage they have received from the Roman church that gave them birth, they will be able in turn to find in their own cultural heritage appropriate forms that can be integrated into the Roman rite 315 where this is judged useful and necessary.

Another example concerns the use of (local) musical forms, melodies and musical instruments (apart from the pipe organ) in worship. The Instruction reiterates SCs stance in this matter when it states that they can be used in divine worship as long as they are suitable, or can be made suitable, for sacred use, and provided they are in accord with the dignity of the place of worship and truly contribute to the uplifting of the faithful.316 This statement is important because it reflects a general norm for harmonizing popular religiosity with the liturgy. It in fact articulates the general norm laid down in SC 37. Thus it implies that elements from popular religiosity ought to be made suitable first, before they can harmonize with the liturgy. Such elements cannot simply be dragged into the liturgy, because by its nature, (the liturgy) is superior to them.317 In light of the just cited conciliar teaching, the Instruction emphatically states: The introduction of devotional practices into the liturgical celebrations under the pretext of inculturation cannot be allowed...318 This demonstrates a tension between harmonizing popular religiosity and the liturgy, on the one hand, and introducing cultural elements into the liturgy, on the other hand, seeing that devotional practices are indeed elements of a given (religious) culture. A theology for liturgical inculturation will seek to transform this tension into a healthy crossfertilization between the Roman liturgy and popular religiosity.319 It, therefore, ought to heed to
314 315 316

Ibid. Varietates Legitimae, no. 33. Varietates Legitimae, no. 40, after Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 120; also see Varietates Legitimae, no. 39 concerning elements in the language of the people [which] can properly be introduced into liturgical celebrations ...; no. 56 that speaks of the rites of Christian initiation, [which] episcopal conferences are to examine with care and prudence [to determine] what can properly be admitted from the traditions and character of each people; and no. 58 that speaks of incorporating the customs of different cultures in funeral rituals. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13. Varietates Legitimae, no. 45. Cf. DPPL, nos. 50-58 that discuss the relation between the liturgy and popular religiosity (or popular piety which term this document employs here) in light of Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 13.

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the required magisterial principles, as John Paul II phrased succinctly in his September 2001 address to the Plenary Meeting of the CDWDS.320 Such a healthy cross-fertilization further requires that the concerned elements of (popular) culture or popular religiosity are renewed, purified where necessary, and imbued with Christian meaning.321 Moreover, in some cases it may require a radical break with the past in order to find a (new) orientation in Christ our Lord and Redeemer.322 Nevertheless, Chupungco remarks with regard to Varietates Legitimae, no. 45 that one should distinguish between incorporating popular devotions wholesome into the liturgy, and employing their language and ritual patterns for the sake of a more popular and less classical form of worship. This may prove valuable in places where popular devotions are a vibrant element of religious life.323 This observation is significant since in some places it seems that cultures and their symbols and rituals are preserved and kept alive in and through popular devotions. These devotions keep the peoples faith alive. 324 Therefore, they cannot be discarded if liturgical inculturation is to take the culture of a people serious. The process of liturgical inculturation thus has far-reaching and profound implications for peoples life and culture, as well as for the Churchs worship. It has profound bearings on the life and faith of the Christian people. Hence, it requires necessary prudence on the part of the local ordinary and Episcopal conferences that play a pivotal role in this process. The same prudence is also required when constructing a theology of liturgical inculturation that seeks to bridge the gap between the Roman liturgy and the peoples culture.

5.4.

Outlining a theology of liturgical inculturation

Our examination of liturgical inculturation from both theological discourses and magisterial teaching has, so far, yielded several vital insights which are significant for constructing a theology
320

See John Paul II, Address to the Plenary Meeting of the CDWDS (21 September 2001), no. 5 from Extracts cited in DPPL. See DPPL, no. 12, which explains the necessity hereof as follows: The Gospel is the measure against which all expressions of Christian piety both old and new must be measured. The task of evaluating devotional exercises and practices, and of purifying them when necessary, must be conducted against this criterion so as to ensure their proper relationship with the Christian mystery. John Paul II in the his just mentioned addressed also asserts that purification should happen patiently and prudently ... through contacts with those responsible and through careful and respectful catechesis unless radical inconsistencies call for immediate and decisive measures. (No. 5 of Excerpts from his Message, as quoted in DPPL). Cf. Varietates Legitimae, no. 48. Chupungco, Remarks on The Roman Liturgy, 276. See John Packiaraj, Inculturation and Liturgical Spirituality, East Asian Pastoral Review 30, nos. 3-4 (1993): 218-32, 221.

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that undergirds the process. Among these are the given that liturgical inculturation is rooted in the Incarnation and points to the Paschal Mystery of Christ. It finds its raison dtre from divine revelation in which God has made known His will for universal salvation in and through Christ. As a consequence, it entails a perennial mission for the Church to evangelize cultures and the entire human race, so that all will be drawn to Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit in order to be united with God the Father. Moreover, the process of liturgical inculturation leads to new expressions for worshipping God in Spirit and in truth. As such, this process also inevitably leads to a plurality of liturgical expressions in rites and texts.325 At the same time all these liturgical expressions on their part express one Catholic and Apostolic faith, though rooted in a diversity of cultures and traditions. Liturgical inculturation, therefore, leads to unity in diversity. In order now to outline a theology of liturgical inculturation, we think one should start from the bottom up, thus from its foundations. Hence, we shall first embark on identifying and discussing the theological foundations for liturgical inculturation, based on our previous discussion in chapter four and in part of this current chapter. We shall then illustrate that together with, and related to the Incarnation as the prime theological foundation for liturgical inculturation, the Paschal Mystery too serves as such. Both constitute the Christological foundation of a theology of liturgical inculturation. We shall also advance that this foundation has an ecclesiological, soteriological, and pneumatological dimension. The magisterial documents we have examined may serve as a comprehensive guide for liturgical inculturation, since they clarify the norms, and issue guidelines and principles that need to be abided by in the ensueing process. These are indispensable for constructing a theology that helps foster diversity but at the same time maintain the unity of the Roman Catholic faith. Equally important, however, is the question of methodology because liturgical inculturation is essentially a process. Though processes can evolve naturally and spontaneously, this process cannot be left by itself, but must be undertaken methodically; thus, with a particular method or methods. Moreover, Chupungco affirms from his experience that method is the quintessence of inculturation. Therefore, correct method is the key to correct inculturation [without which] we cannot shape the future of inculturation.326 For that reason we shall also discuss various methods required for the construction of a theology of liturgical inculturation. We are indebted to Chupungcos insight on this matter.

325

Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 123) states that the aim of liturgical inculturation is to graft liturgical texts and rites onto the cultural pattern of the local church. Id., The Future That Awaits Us.

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5.4.1. Theological foundation of liturgical inculturation

The process of liturgical inculturation should be based on firm theological principles, as outlined by the fourth Roman Instruction.327 Hence, a theology of liturgical inculturation should also reflect these principles. It should start with Christianitys founding God-experience, which, according to Harriman, is the whole life of the human and historical person, Jesus of Nazareth: his ministry, passion, death and resurrection.328 This founding God-experience configures in Christian worship, of which anamesis and epiclesis are distinctive characteristics. Furthermore, John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus articulated principles that should undergird the work of liturgical renewal.329 All these principles, which are related to the Paschal Mystery, the Word of God, and the nature of the Church, point back toward the Christological foundation. This latter is the prime theological foundation for liturgical inculturation, and it embodies the following dimensions: ecclesiological dimension, soteriological and pneumatological dimension, as we will shortly demonstrate. The Christological foundation, in turn, is related to the mystery of the Holy Trinity, from whence its basic orientation springs.330 Hence, before we embark on elaborating the Christological foundation, we should emphasize that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity remains yet another important dimension of a theology of liturgical inculturation. It is to recall what we have pointed out in the previous chapter the central mystery of Christian faith and life (CCC 234). Since Christian worship is the liturgical and cultural expression of that faith, this doctrine becomes essential for a theology of liturgical inculturation. Jonathan Tan Yun-ka, a Chinese Malaysian theologian, for instance, argues that the liturgy unmistakably points, or should point to the Trinity.331 His argument, for which he largely bases himself on documents of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), runs as follows:

327 328

See Varietates Legitimae, nos. 21-27; also Chupungco, Remarks on The Roman Liturgy, 271-72. Harriman, Foundations for Theology, 409; also cf. Amalorpavadass (Theological Reflections on Inculturation, 3738) who points out that there are two ways to start with theologizing, namely from a conceptual frame of reference (theological treatises) and from an existential, experiential approach. Hence, Amalorpavadoss differentiates between a theological approach (from Christianity to culture, p. 46-54) and an anthropological approach (from culture to Christianity) which he develops in his second part (p. 116-36). In fact we think both approaches should inform and strenghten each other in a dialectic process. Constructing a theology on the basis of either of these two alone should be complemented by insights gererated from and reflections on the other. See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, nos. 6, 8 and 9. However, one should note that the ecclesiological, soteriological, and pneumatological dimensions are intimately connected with the Incarnation, from which they receive their theological grounding. Jonathan, Tan Yun-ka, Constructing an Asian Theology of Liturgical Inculturation From the Documents of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), East Asian Pastoral Review 36, no. 4 (1999): 383-401, 388.

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If one accepts that: (i) the Church is at its deepest level a communion (koinonia) rooted in the life of the Trinity, and thus in its essential reality a sacrament (mysterium et sacramentum) of the loving self-communication of God and the graced response of redeemed mankind in faith, hope and love (FABC III, article 7.1), (ii) its eucharistic assembly is the paradigmatic realization of its inner life as participation in the mystery of Christ, the people of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit: the Church from the Trinity (Ecclesia de Trinitate) (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 4, article 4.02), and (iii) liturgy is always an act of the Churchs self-understanding and self-expression, therefore at 332 its deepest roots, liturgical worship is, or ought to be, trinitarian in orientation.

This argument confers with the magisterial teaching as stipulated in the CCC that speaks of the liturgy as work of the Holy Trinity.333 It presents the liturgy as an act of worship whereby the assembled community gives thanks, praise and honor to God Who imparts His divine blessing unto mankind and the whole of creation. Thus the CCC states:
In the Churchs liturgy the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated. The Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings of creation and salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his 334 Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit.

In this way the CCC succinctly explains the Trinitarian nature of the liturgy.335 It further highlights that the truth of the Holy Trinity has, from the very beginning been at the very root of the Churchs living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in preaching, catechesis and prayer of the Church.336 Moreover, all sacramental blessings are performed and requested in the name of the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, while the Incarnation of Christ is the prime theological base of a theology of liturgical inculturation, as we have contended in the previous chapter, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity remains at the heart of such a theology. It stands as a model of unity in diversity. In analogy to the three Persons of the Trinity Who are One, but distinct and not mixed, a theology of liturgical
332

Ibid. The respective sources from which Tan Yun-ka qoutes are: Gaudencio B. Rosales and Catalino G. Arevalo, For All The Peoples of Asia: Documents From 1970-1991 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992), 56; FABC, Theses on the Local Church: A Theological Reflection in the Asian Context, FABC Papers, no. 60 (Hong Kong: FABC, 1991); Irwin, Context and Text, 48. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1077-1108. One notices that the Catechism of the Catholic Church begins its second part (The celebration of the Christian mystery) immediately with highlighting the importance of the Trinity in the liturgical life of the Church, even before addressing the sacraments. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1082. Cf. Jean Corbon, The Wellspring of Worship, trans. Matthew J. OConnell [original title: Liturgie de source] (New York: Paulist Press, 1988), 1-74; also cf. LaCugna, Trinity and Liturgy, in Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, ed. Fink, 1293-96. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 249. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also points out that the Trinitarian formulation of Eucharistic liturgy: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all has its origin in the early Apostolic tradition.

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inculturation envisions the building up of one Church, yet distinctly materialized in a variety of local Churches, and one Roman Catholic liturgy, celebrated distinctively in and according to diverse cultural patterns. In deriving its inspiration from the Holy Trinity, liturgical inculturation inevitably leads to liturgical pluralism within the one and same Church or the one and same Roman rite, as the CDWDS would prefer to have it. 5.4.1.1. Christological foundation (the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery)

Some authors point out that the Christological foundation of a theology of liturgical inculturation comprises next to the Incarnation, the Pascal Mystery of Christ.337 While Jesus Incarnation and His entire life divinely reveals the fullness of Gods love for creation, and His (i.e., God) desire to save humanity, it is through His passion, death and resurrection that this divine promise has been enacted. Shorter phrases the latter part of this thought in the following way: The work of human salvation was accomplished principally through the Pascal Mystery, the redeeming death of Christ and his resurrection-ascension to glory as Lord.338 Hence, each episode of Christs existence is contingent on one another. That is why Shorter contends: The Paschal Mystery is inseparable from the Incarnation, as its goal and purpose.339 However, it is through our faith in the risen Lord, in the liturgical celebration of the Paschal Mystery that we are sanctified in the liturgy. The Pascal Mystery of Jesus passion, His resurrection from the dead and glorious ascension thus, in effect, rendered the salvation of humanity and Gods glorification.340 The council used this term in a biblical historical context. According to Jungmann it signifies that in the celebration of the liturgy the history of salvation is carried forth.341 Thus the Paschal Mystery describes the real kernel of Christian order of salvation: the act with which Christ has redeemed us and which is the activity of the Church.342 SC 6 presents a rich theological content of the Pascal Mystery. It first highlights that through Baptism, people are plunged into the paschal mystery of Christ: they die with Him, are
337 338

See, for instance, Shorter, Toward A Theology, 83; Tan Yun-ka, Constructing an Asian Theology, 390-91. Ibid. (Emphasis added). When the notion of Incarnation is used as an analogy for inculturation, Shorter argues that limiting it to Jesus earthly life renders serious inadequacies such as to overlook the on-going dialogue between the Gospel and culture, as inherent to the inculturation process. Thus he argues in favor of widening the concept of the Incarnation (not the doctrine) as to include the whole Christian mystery, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and their consequences for humanity (p. 81-82). Thus, in order to let the analogy between the Incarnation and inculturation work properly, Shorter emphasizes that the whole mystery of Christ, passion, death and resurrection, has to be applied in analogy to the process of inculturation. It is only when this is done that an Christological understanding of inculturation becomes possible (p. 82-83). Ibid. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 5. Jungmann, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 11. Ibid., 11-12.

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buried with Him, and rise with Him [Cf. Rom. 6:4; Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1; 2 Tim. 2:11]; they receive the spirit of adoption as sons...343 This statement is significant for a theology of liturgical inculturation because it poignantly expresses the objective, which is to die unto sin in order that new life may be restored. Liturgical inculturation poses a prophetic threat to the status quo of the powers of evil. While it summons people to conversion, to retract from sin and to eradicate the sinful structures and elements of their own cultures and traditions, it also appeals to the Church to take a hard look unto its own forms of worship and to ask: do they promote life, do they foster the spiritual wellbeing of the people, do they encourage and invite to an active, full and conscious participation on the peoples part? Do they inspire the faithful to live their lives in an evangelical spirit, and challenge the community of the Christian faithful to become the salt and the light of their own cultural milieu?344 In order to arrive at an affirmative answer to these questions, the existing forms of worship too or those elements rather, that are alien to the worshipping community stand in need of dying unto themselves. Local churches should thus rid themselves from elements that hamper the full, active and conscious participation of the people.345 It is the dying of these for the worshipping community irrelevant elements in culture and liturgy, that renders our escape of missing Gods divine promise of salvation, as it was by dying He destroyed our death and, rising, he restored our life.346 As Jesus lived a life of service to the poor and needy, suffered rejection and death, and was resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, so too, Schineller argues, inculturation of gospel values may mean dying to ones limited cultural views and being open to the new, rich directions in which God calls.347 Therefore, liturgical inculturation implies this putting off of the old and putting on of the new.348 Furthermore, SC 6 decrees what the celebration of the Paschal Mystery entails:
Reading those things which were in all the scriptures concerning him (Luke 24:27), celebrating the eucharist in which the victory and triumph of his death are again made present [Council of Trent,
343 344

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 6. Cf. Mt 5:13-14; also John Paul II, Message of the Holy Father to the Youth of the World on the Occasion of the XVII World Youth Day (Toronto, 18-28 July 2002), which theme was chosen from the just mentioned biblical passage, and explicated under nos. 2-3 in the Papal Letter; available from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/ youth/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_20010731_xvii-worldyouth-day_en.html; Internet; accessed 22 November 2008. See Aloysius Pieris, Inculturation: Some Critical Reflections, Vidyajyoti 57 (1993): 645 who challenged the Asian local churches to take a hard look at their own liturgies and ways of worship in an act of self-confrontation, where he aptly stated: Show me how you celebrate your Eucharist and I shall tell you what kind of church you are. Quoted in Tan Yun-ka, Constructing an Asian Theology, 386. Easter Preface of the Roman Missal, quoted in Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 5; also cf. Jn 12:24: Amen, amen , I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 49. Ibid., 48-9.

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Session XIII, Decree on the Holy Eucharist, c.5], and at the same time giving thanks to God for his unspeakable gift (2 Cor. 9:15) in Christ Jesus, in praise of his glory (Eph. 1:12), through the power 349 of the Holy Spirit.

This part of SC 6 further illustrates the theological rich content, as it brings together several theological principles for liturgical inculturation which are: the presence of the Word of God,350 the re-enactment of the Paschal Mystery (Christs anamnesis),351 and the implied sanctification and explicit expression of Gods glorification in worship.352 Moreover, some theologians argue that Christology is the main issue on the theological agenda of inculturation, rather than ecclesiology. For Gorski, for example, what ultimately matters, is how the knowledge of God revealed in Jesus Christ affects the deeper levels of culture, that is, its world vision (cosmovision), its value system, and its patterns of relationships.353 It thus boils down to discipleship, which he elaborates as follows:
Only a community that has come to know Jesus and love him, and desires to follow him in communion with his other disciples in the universal church, is capable of transforming its own culture as a true and life-giving expression of Christian life and faith. If a local church community has not yet experienced how the Christian faith transforms the depths of its own culture, how can it 354 reach out missionally beyond its own frontiers?

Nevertheless, a fuller understanding of the process of liturgical inculturation and the theology that supports it necessitates one to also ponder the ecclesiological implications. If importance is only directed toward the implications for the people, in terms of how they should appropriate and internalize the Gospel message, we would be dealing rather with a process of enculturation, that is, evangelizing and catechizing people to become good Catholics. How is one to live a life of faith and to offer good works of charity and justice, if his or her heart has not been touched by the Gospel and moved by the Holy Spirit? And how is ones heart to be touched by the Gospel, if it is not preached and proclaimed? If persons are not called together by the power of the Holy Spirit to hear the Good News and celebrate the mystery of Christ, how will they be able to come to know Jesus and love him? These questions imply that in order to deepen our understanding of the process of liturgical inculturation we should also examine the ecclesiological, soteriological and pneumatological foundations of its underlying theology.

349 350 351 352 353 354

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 6. See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 8; Varietates Legitimae, no. 23. See Vicesimus Quintus Annus, no. 6, Varietates Legitimae, no. 24. See Varietates Legitimae, no. 21. Gorski, Christology, Inculturation, and Their Missiological Implications, 61. Ibid.

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5.4.1.2.

Ecclesiological dimension

While Jesus is the subject-matter of inculturation,355 the local Church is the appropriate body to construct a theology of liturgical inculturation.356 Hence, in discussing the construction of such a theology, we cannot ignore the importance of the role and value of the local Church in this regard. Even though the council did not speak of the role of local churches in this endeavor, it however, attributed significant responsibility on the part of the ecclesiastical authority in matters with regard to initiating and promoting the renewal of the liturgy. This pertains particularly to the area of more radical changes.357 The French theologian Marie-Joseph le Guillou also highlighted the importance of the ecclesiological foundation for theology when he observed that Fundamental theology considers the Church as the foundation and necessary condition of theology and of the disciplines which depend upon it...358 In addition, ecclesiology bears theological significance for its role as the permanent mediator of revelation and the subject of faith.359 Furthermore, as a universal sacrament of salvation (LG 48) the mission of the Church consists primarily in preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to all peoples. The Church desires to establish a communion between God and the human race by exerting herself to reveal to the world the mystery of the Lord.360 According to Le Guillou, the word mystery here means the act whereby God manifests his love in the wisdom incarnate of Jesus Christ, to bring mankind to

355 356

See Shorter, Toward A Theology, 75. See Tan Yun-ka, Constructing an Asian Theology, 394, relating this point to an Asian theology of liturgical inculturation; also see Michel DeVerteuil, A Theological Method for the Caribbean Today, in Into the Deep: Towards a Caribbean Theology, ed. Michael Ramcharan (San Fernando, Trinidad: CEPAC, 1995), 113-24; and Diane Jagdeo, Community Theology As a Methodology, in Into the Deep, ed. Michael Ramcharan, 125-28. See, for instance, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 22,2 that stipulates that the regulation of the liturgy within certain defined limits belongs also to various kinds of competent territorial bodies of bishops legitimately established. And no. 39 that imparts the responsibility unto the local Ordinaries to specify the adaptations in and for the typical editions of the liturgical books; also no. 40 that deals with the more radical adaptations within the liturgy. Marie-Joseph le Guillou, Ecclesiology, in Encyclopedia of Theology, ed. Rahner, 209-21, 209-10. Ibid., 210. This author points toward the intimate link between faith and the Church as becomes visible in the sacrament of Baptism. Lumen Gentium, no. 8.

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glory.361 It implies that the saving incarnation takes effect in the Church through the preaching of the word and through the sacraments, thus leading it to the glory of heaven.362 An important note in this regard is that the Church derives her origin from the Holy Trinity. Hence Le Guillou contends:
As mystery and sacrament the Church is always to be seen as proceeding from its source, which is the Trinity. It appears in the divine thought which establishes it in Jesus Christ and it descends from Gods presence to become the messianic people of God (Lumen Gentium, art. 9). It is sent to the scattered, imperfect and potential people of God, the human race called to the salvation already purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ and even now permeated by the action of grace. As the bearer of the gift made to the world by God in Jesus Christ, the Church thus draws the principle of its 363 universal dynamism from the Trinity.

This fundamental characteristic of the Church constitutes her very nature. It is the basis for the absolute necessity of missionary activity.364 Vatican IIs missionary decree tells us what this latter is by stating:
Missionary activity is nothing else and nothing less than an epiphany, or a manifesting of Gods decree, and its fulfillment in the world and in world history, in the course of which God, by means of mission, manifestly works out the history of salvation. By the preaching of the word and by the celebration of the sacraments, the center and summit of which is the most holy Eucharist, He brings 365 about the presence of Christ, the author of salvation.

What follows immediately after this quotation is rather significant for grasping the ecclesiological dimension of liturgical inculturation. Here the decree unambiguously declared:
But whatever truth and grace are to be found among the nations, as a sort of secret presence of God, He frees from all taint of evil and restores to Christ its maker, who overthrows the devils domain and wards off the manifold malice of vice. And so, whatever good is found to be sown in the

361

Le Guillou, Ecclesiology, 210-11; also see Brennan R. Hill, Christian Faith and the Environment: Making Vital Connections (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 128-29 where he explains that the Greek word mysterion comes from the root meaning to close ones mouth, that is, to be secretive. The Hebrew scriptures use the word sod to refer to Gods hidden plan for salvation, which is gradually revealed through history (128). Hill further explains the meaning of the word in relation to pagan religions, the New Testament usage of the term and current secular usage thereof. Ibid., 211. Ibid., 212; also see Ad Gentes, no. 2 that states: The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father. And Lumen Gentium, no. 1 gives as reason for the Churchs mission to the world: so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ. Also cf. Amaladoss, The Trinity on Mission, in Mission Is a Must: Intercultural Theology and the Mission of the Church, Church and Theology in Context, no. 40, eds. Frans Wijsen and Peter Nissen (Amsterdam / New York: Editions Rodopi B.V., 2002), 99-106. Le Guillou, Ecclesiology, 218; Also see Lumen Gentium, no. 17; and Ad Gentes, no. 2. Ad Gentes, no. 9.

362 363

364 365

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hearts and minds of men, or in the rites and cultures peculiar to various peoples, not only is not lost, but is healed, uplifted, and perfected for the glory of God, the shame of the demon, and the bliss of 366 men.

This latter part also pertains to the Churchs mission activity. It underlines the universal character of the Churchs mission, which indeed is a mission to the world with its variety of races and cultures. For the local Church this implies, in the words of Gorski, that the local ecclesial community draws from its culture new expressions of its Christian faith in catechesis and liturgy and in forms of ministry and church structure.367 When this implication is applied to the liturgy, the process of liturgical inculturation begins to take shape. In this process, inculturation, as described in the previous chapter, becomes a method for evangelization. Moreover, celebrating the liturgy entails for the worshipping community an imperative to go out and witness the truth of the Gospel. The council did express this imperative in the Constitution on the Liturgy, as follows:
While the liturgy daily builds up those who are within into [sic] a holy temple of the Lord, into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit (cf. Eph 2:21-22), to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph 4:13), at the same time it marvelously strengthens their power to preach Christ, and thus shows forth the Church to those who are outside as a sign lifted up among the nations (cf. Is. 11:12) under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together (cf. Jn 11:526), until there is 368 one sheepfold and one shepherd (cf. John 10:16).

In this way the local community effectively puts the Churchs mission activity into action. By witnessing with their lives Christians extend Jesus promise of salvation to people of all strata of society. In this way the universality of the Church becomes visible. Hence, Rahner pointed out that in a purely dogmatic and always valid sense, the Church can be called world-wide or universal because it is intended for all men whether or not they belong to or will belong to the Church (since Pentecost) in the sense of full membership of the Church in its existence as a social institution.369 This understanding of the universality of the Church implies two facts, which Rahner described as follows:
In the first place the Church is for all men the sacramentum salutis, whether they belong actually and fully to the visible unity of the Church or not. In other words, the grace of God in Christ, without which absolutely no one finds supernatural salvation in Gods triune life, has its historical and eschatological manifestation (even for the unbaptized) in the Church. Secondly, no human being can in principle be exempted from the obligation of belonging to the visible unity of the Church. This 370 second point follows immediately form the necessity of the Church and of baptism for salvation.

366 367 368 369 370

Ibid. Gorski, Christology, Inculturation, and Their Missiological Implications, 61. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 2. Rahner, Universality of the Church, 225. Ibid.

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It is important to note the reason why Rahner formulated the second implication as above. He gives therefore the following explanation:
If, however, many individual human beings inculpably until their death fail to belong in an actual visible way to the Church, it is impossible to say that in regard to every single human being God has a will which directly imposes an actual obligation upon this human being of visible membership of the Church. Otherwise God would have to give him such a possibility of fulfilling this will that he could 371 only fail to do so by his own fault

It means that the Church by its nature necessarily has to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to all men, so that by hearing and believing, they can be reconciled with God in Christ. At the same time, Gods promise of salvation is not limited to Christians, since also non-Christians can receive salvation in Christ. This brings us to examine the soteriological dimension of liturgical inculturation that pays closer attention to this matter. 5.4.1.3. Soteriological dimension

The starting point for the Churchs missionary activity lies within the universal salvific will of God. It is out of love for His people that God desires the salvation of humanity through Christ. Therefore, the Church has become the earthly sacrament of the heavenly Christ, a sacrament for the salvation of all.372 A rather difficult question in this regard concerns the notion of being a sacrament of universal salvation, thus including non-Christians. Theologians in the past and present have grappled with this question.373 Vatican II has come a long way to spell out its view on the matter. In several of her documents the Church declares its teaching on this matter. In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church we read:
The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohammedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things (cf. Acts 17,25-28), and as Saviour wills that all men be saved (cf. Acts 17,2528). Those also can attain to [sic] salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to
371 372 373

Ibid. See Schillebeeckx, Christ, The Sacrament. See Shorter, Toward a Theology, 89-103, for a brief outline on the matter in which he discusses the manner in which several authors have dealt with it, among which St Francis Xavier, St Thomas Aquinas, Karl Rahner and Piet Fransen. Also see the works of Hick and Knitter (The Myth of Christian Uniqueness), DCosta and the contributors to his edited volume (Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered), and Dupuis (Christianity and the Religions), which we have referred to in the previous chapter. For our current purpose we shall focus on Vatican IIs position and postconciliar contributions on the matter, which remains a rather complex issue.

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do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience (cfr. Epist. S.S.C.S. Officii ad Archiep [Boston: Denz. 3869-72]). Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and 374 with His grace strive to live a good life.

In her Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church Vatican II declares:

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, Himself a man, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim 2:45), neither is there salvation in any other (Acts 4:12). Therefore though God in ways known to Himself can lead those inculpably ignorant of the Gospel to find that faith without which it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6), yet a necessity lies upon the 375 Church (1 Cor. 9:16), and at the same time a sacred duty, to preach the Gospel.

And in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World we read:
For, since Christ died for all men (cf. Rom. 8:32), and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to 376 every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.

These conciliar passages illustrate the inclusive approach Vatican II adopted regarding Christ salvation for all vis--vis the world religions, religious systems and cosmologies or visions of life. It acknowledges Christ as the only mediator of Gods plan of salvation, without shutting out those who have no knowledge of His Gospel. It testifies to a dramatic change of attitude if compared to the early Churchs adagio: extra ecclesiam nulla salus 377 that for more than a millennium impacted her relation toward other religions. Rahner commented on this new approach as follows:
Doctrinally, the Council did two things which are of fundamental significance for a world-wide missionary effort. In the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions [Nostra Aetate], a truly positive evaluation of the great world religions is initiated for the first time in the doctrinal history of the Church. Furthermore the documents on the Church [Lumen Gentium], on the missions [Ad Gentes], and on the Church in the modern world [Gaudium et Spes] proclaim a universal and effective salvific will of God which is limited by the evil decision of the human

374 375 376 377

Lumen Gentium, no. 16. Ad Gentes, no. 7. Gaudium et Spes, no. 22. This adagio was based on the biblically undergirded and inspired conviction that Baptism was the sole key to salvation. Thus a person could only be saved by Baptism, and hence, from being a Church member. The logical conclusion, therefore, was that for those unbaptized in the Triune Name of God, and thus being outside the Church, there was no salvation. However, the new vision concerning universal salvation for all in Christ, as articulated in the various conciliar documents, by no means implies a breach with the principle of the past, namely that explicit membership of the Church was necessary for salvation. The principle has been reinterpreted in subsequent periods, in light of the prevalent theological presuppositions.

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conscience and nothing else. This implies the possibility of a properly salvific revelation-faith even 378 beyond the Christian revelatory word.

From the above understanding one can detect a shift from limiting Gods plan of salvation to the Church and her members, to a more open attitude toward other religions, which does not exclude the possibility of Gods saving presence therein. Even in those religions the Holy Spirit remains at work, molding the hearts of people whenever they dispose themselves to be virtuous. This new thinking on the part of the Church did not come overnight, but is, according to Shorter, the outcome of a long process of maturation as the Church reflects on the deeper implications of the tradition of Faith.379 What is even more is that the council in her Declaration on Religious Freedom explicitly asserts that the human person has a right to religious freedom [which] means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or social groups and of any human power380 This right to religious freedom, the council further declares, has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.381 This understanding has its base in Scripture and tradition (the Fathers of the Church), and is thus phrased by the council in the following way:
It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that mans response to God in faith must be free: no one therefore is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will. This doctrine is contained in the word of God and it was constantly proclaimed by the Fathers of the Church. The act 382 of faith is of its very nature a free act.

The point we want to make here is that the conciliar teaching of the Church regarding the claim of universal salvation through Christ does not exclude the possibility of salvation potential, in whatever degree, inherent to other religions, including popular religiosity that is rooted in traditional, pre-Christian, cosmic, or primal religions.383 If we can agree that the Holy Spirit is also

378 379 380 381 382 383

Rahner, Towards a Fundamental Theological Interpretation, 720. Shorter, Toward a Theology, 90. Dignitatis Humanae, no. 2. Ibid. Dignitatis Humanae, no. 10. See P. N. Wachege, Inculturation and Salvation Within the African Context, African Ecclesial Review 43, nos. 1-2 (February-April 2001): 28-40; Jos M. de Mesa, Primal Religion and Popular Religiosity, East Asian Pastoral Review 37, no. 1 (2000): 73-82, in which he argues in favor of acknowledging the work of the Spirit in the culture and religiosity of the indigenous (Philippine) people; also see Gerrit Brand, Salvation in African Christian Theology: A Typology of Existing Approaches, Exchange 28, no. 3 (1999): 194-223. On the base of writings from African theologians Brand differentiates between anthropological, social, cultural, ontological, and vitalistic accounts of salvation, which are in various degrees inherent to African Traditional Religions; and Ashley Smith, Sin and Salvation: A Contemporary View From a Corner of the South, Caribbean Journal of Religious Studies 17, no. 2 (September 1996): 20-31.

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present in these religions and religious systems (e.g., those outlined in chapter 3),384 and that the same Spirit leads people to salvation in Christ, then one cannot ignore its bearings on liturgical inculturation. The implication hereof would be that the soteriological dimension of a theology of liturgical inculturation should be understood as broad enough as, at least not to exclude the salvific and liberative values of traditional and primal religions. These religions can contribute to a deeper and broader understanding of Christ universal salvation. Hence, the need for interreligious and intercultural dialogue presents itself. A theology of liturgical inculturation will reflect the manner in which salvific and liberative values inherent to the culture and religiosity of a given people can enrich the liturgical and sacramental life of the local Church. Such a theology will seek to understand the presence of the Holy Spirit in the culture(s) and tradition(s) of the people. 5.4.1.4. Pneumatological dimension

Whatever activity the Church initiates, or the people of God engages in for the good and salvation of humanity, is done only with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who moves peoples hearts in contemplation and action. The Holy Spirit is the driving force behind all the Churchs activities.385 Without the Holy Spirit, the Church collapses, and the theological framework of liturgical inculturation implodes. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, both the edifying and vivifying principle that upholds this framework. While Christ continues to be the sub-matter of liturgical inculturation, it is the Holy Spirit that authors this process. The same Spirit that anointed Jesus to preach the Gospel to the poor and to heal the contrite of heart386 now enjoins the Christian people to take up the difficult and delicate task of liturgical inculturation. The Spirit who has been present in the world from the beginning of creation, is now manifested in the seeds of the Word, in the traces of truth, which are present in every culture and religion of the world,387 as Ladislav Nemet contends. Moreover, Nemet argues:
These manifestations of the Spirit in the world on the one hand, and the action of the same Spirit in local churches on the other, bring about the realization of the true Catholicity of the Church, the integration of noble elements of the world in a new synthesis of the Gospel leading towards a new 388 creation in a local church.

384 385

See Ad Gentes, no. 9: Whatever truth and grace are to be found among the nations These activities include the conciliar call to liturgical renewal, of which we have already stated that it constitutes a perennial mission of the Church. See Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 5. Ladislav Nemet, Inculturation in the FABC Documents, East Asian Pastoral Review 31, nos. 1-2 (1994): 77-94. Ibid.

386 387 388

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This is a vital aspect of liturgical inculturation.389 It is a process that not only draws individuals into the womb of the Church through the water of Baptism and by the power of the Holy Spirit, but also enriches the liturgy with cultural elements taken from the peoples cultures and traditions. The council acknowledges this to be the work of the Holy Spirit when it declared in the Sacred Constitution:
Zeal for the promotion and restoration of the liturgy is rightly held to be a sign of the providential dispositions of God in our time, as a movement of the Holy Spirit in His Church. It is today a distinguishing mark of the Church's life, indeed of the whole tenor of contemporary religious thought 390 and action.

In this way the council affirms that attempts at liturgical inculturation derive their power and authenticity from the Holy Spirit. It is the same Spirit that guides the Church to proclaim the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as John Paul testifies in his Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, where he states: The power of the Holy Spirit guides the church into all truth (cf. Jn. 16:13), enabling her to go into the world in order to bear witness to Christ with confident resolve.391 The Church therefore needs the Holy Spirit to evangelize. Under the driving force of the Holy Spirit does evangelization contribute to the interior transformation of all people of good will whose hearts are open to the Holy Spirits action.392 Moreover, at the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, the Church asserted that inculturation is intimately linked with evangelization. This conviction found expression in Ecclesia in Africa in the following way:
The Synod considers inculturation an urgent priority in the life of the particular churches for a firm rooting of the gospel in Africa. [Cf. Propositio 29]. It is a requirement for evangelization, [Propositio 30] a path toward full evangelization [Propositio 32] and one of the greatest challenges for the 393 church on the continent on the eve of the third millennium. [Cf. Propositio 33].

This citation underscores the idea that the Holy Spirit is also at work in the process of inculturation, where it involves the evangelization of people and cultures. Based on this insight it is our contention that there is a pneumatological dimension that underlies the process of inculturation, and of which the liturgy constitutes an important area. This latter corresponds with the councils view that stipulates it [i.e., the liturgy] as the outstanding means whereby the

389

See Peter Phan, Culture and the Liturgy, for the pneumatoligical dimension of liturgical inculturation; available from: http://members.cox.net/vientrietdao/bao/ancestor.html; Internet; access 21 February 2006; also see Tan Yun-ka, Constructing an Asian Theology, 391-92. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 43. Ecclesia in Africa, no. 57. Ecclesia in Africa, no. 55. Ecclesia in Africa, no. 59.

390 391 392 393

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faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.394

5.4.2. Theological methods for liturgical inculturation

According to Chupungco there are various methods that can be employed in guiding the process of liturgical inculturation, and which, in fact, have been employed successfully in historical and contemporary models of inculturation.395 Among these, Chupungco highlights the following: dynamic equivalence, creative assimilation, and organic progression.396 For Chupungco, dynamic equivalence implies replacing an element of the Roman liturgy with something in the local culture that has an equal meaning and value.397 It depends entirely on the typical editions of the Roman liturgical books, and as such ensures a faithful transmission of the doctrine of faith.398 As a result the form of worship arrived at by employing this method could be rightly considered as Roman liturgy, since the qualifying condition therefore appears to be adherence to the doctrinal and spiritual content presented in the typical editions of the liturgical books.399 Unlike dynamic equivalence, the method of creative assimilation, which according to Chupungco should not be regarded as the ordinary method of liturgical inculturation,400 does not seek to replace a fixed element of the Roman liturgy, but concerns itself with the integration of pertinent rites, symbols, and linguistic expressions, religious or otherwise, into the liturgy.401 However, the effective employment of this method requires a system of biblical typology, through which the integrated cultural elements acquire a new Christian interpretation. They are thus reinterpreted in light of sacred Scripture and hence imbued with new Christian meaning. To
394 395 396 397

Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 2. See Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 37. See ibid., 37-51 for a detailed description and explanation of these three methods. Ibid., 37; In Leysipisi, the Sranan translation of the Roman lectionary, there are several examples of how the translators applied the method of dynamic equivalence. For a discussion hereof, see Vernooij, Lomsu, 60ff. See, ibid., 38. Chupungco (ibid., 41), further explains that the liturgy contains both elements that can be replaced, and those that are unchangeable (after Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 21). Therefore, to know what may be changed and what must stay, it is important to make a distinction, insofar as this is possible, between the theological content and the liturgical form of a rite (p. 41). Ibid., 123. Ibid., 45. The reason therefore ought to be sought in Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 38-39, and 63b, which stipulate that the substantial unity of the Roman rite be preserved under all circumstances, and that adaptations can only be made within the limits set by the typical editions. Chupungco, Two Methods of Liturgical Inculturation, in Christian Worship: Unity in Cultural Diversity, ed. S. Anita Stauffer (Geneva: Lutheran World Federation, 1996), 78-79, as quoted in Phan, Asian Perpectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 234-35.

398

399 400

401

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illustrate this method, Chupungco gives a classic example of the Roman custom to feed newborn infants with milk and honey, in an attempt to ward off evil spirits, or to symbolize the childs acceptance into the family. He thus explains:
The author of the third-century Apostolic Tradition reinterpreted this practice in the light of the promise that God would lead the chosen people into a land flowing with milk and honey. When creatively integrated into the rite of Communion, the cup of milk and honey assured the Churchs newborn sons and daughters that passing through the waters of baptism they had crossed over to the new land of promise.402

The method of organic progression, Chupungco claims, concerns the work of supplementing and completing the shape of the liturgy established by the Constitution on the Liturgy and by the Holy See after the council.403 The need for this method is felt from existing lacunae in both the Constitution on the Liturgy and the revised typical editions, since neither can foresee and provide for all the particular circumstances of the local churches.404 According to Chupungco, SC 23 underlies this method by declaring: Care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing. This implies that apart from delivering on the options and suggestions provided by the typical editions, this method can also lead to the creation of new rites. Against this backdrop Chupungco contends:
The work of organic progression should continue on the level of the local Churches. The typical editions normally offer a wide range of options and possibilities. But the breadth of inculturation should not be hemmed in by the provisions contained in a document. The typical editions cannot possibly envisage for a local Church all the options and possibilities of inculturation. Thus their provision will prove insufficient and at times also deficient when placed vis--vis the demand for a 405 truly inculturated liturgy.

In brief, this method is progressive because of the new shape it gives to the liturgy.406 And it is organic because its result complies with the basic intention of the liturgical documents and, on a wider breadth, with the nature and tradition of the liturgy.407 In other words, organic
402 403 404

Id., The Future That Awaits Us. Id., Liturgical Inculturation, 47. Phan, Asian Perpectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 253; also see Chupungco, Liturgical Incuturation, 49 where he indicates the following lacunae on the part of the Constitution of the Liturgy: the adaptation of the order of the Mass; the question of repeating the rite of anointment during the same illness; and the possibility of using any kind of plant oil for the sacrament of the sick. And on the part of the revised typical editions of the liturgical books one major lacuna still concerns the rite of marriage, for which despite being revised in 1969 and again in 1990, the latter still includes the provision that the formularies of the Roman rite can be adapted, or as the case may be, supplemented (including the questions before the consent and the acutal words of consent). [Ordo celebrandi matrimonium, editio typica altera (Vatican City, 1991), no. 41, p. 9, as quoted in ibid.]. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 50. Ibid., 48. Ibid.

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progression enriches the typical editions, and at the same time makes it possible for the local Church to have a liturgy that becomes more and more the cultural expression of its own congregation. Furthermore, Chupungco suggests that the dynamic translation of the Roman liturgy408 or inculturation alone cannot fully satisfy all the requirements for a truly renewed liturgy of a local Church.409 Thus one needs to go beyond inculturation and the concomitant methods described above. It is at this point where Chupungco introduces the concept of liturgical creativity, which in fact is not a new notion in the history of the Church, as she has always used her creative skill in shaping new rites in order to transmit the message in ways that could be understood and appreciated by the worshiping community.410 But since Christian life is richer in content and scope than the Roman liturgy,411 the renewal envisaged by the council will inevitably lead to alternative liturgies whose aim is to give expression to those facets of liturgical tradition or [post]modern life that are not considered by the Roman rite.412 Shaping these alternative liturgy requires liturgical creativity. Chupungco finds support for this claim from the 1969 Instruction Comme le prvoit that stipulates: texts translated from another language are clearly not sufficient for the celebration of a fully renewed liturgy. The creation of new texts will be necessary.413 Based on this affirmation, Chupungco asserts with regard to liturgical creativity:
We are dealing here with liturgical rites formed independently of the provision, whether explicit or implicit, of the typical editions of the Roman books. ...Such rites, if they are to be recognized by the Church as forms of official worship must have some basis in or reference to liturgical tradition and 414 must follow the principles concerning Christian worship.

Chupungco, therefore, fittingly remarks: Liturgical creativity does not mean the total disregard for tradition or any preexisting liturgical material. It simply means that it is concerned

408

See ibid., 123, where he explains that this dynamic translation does not change the content, it reexpresses it. What changes, though, is the shape, the pattern of thought and language, the cultural expression (p. 123). Ibid., 54. Ibid., 53. Ibid. Ibid. Consilium, Instruction Comme le prvoit, no. 43; Chupungco (Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 22) claims that this same principle for textual creativity applies to rituals or even to the entire rite itself. Examples hereof are the rites of mariage and funeral, of which he says: even if these have been inculturated on the basis of the Roman liturgy, [they] can [still] prove to be culturally inadequate. That is why Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 77 has given the Conferences of Bishops the option to draw up a completely new rite of marriage in accord with the usages of place and people (p. 22). Thus liturgical inculturation may require the composition of new texts and rites that may not fully translate what the typical editions prescribe or suggest. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 51.

409 410 411 412 413

414

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with new liturgical forms not based on the Roman typical editions.415 These new liturgical forms comprise both texts and sacramentals (rites) devised by the local Church. That is in total agreement with the spirit of the council which does not see the inculturation of the existing sacramentals as a final goal of liturgical renewal. The reason therefore, according to Chupungco, is that there will be occasions when a local Church will experience the need for new sacramentals, for new forms of Gods continuing presence in the rhythm of daily life outside the sphere of the sacraments.416 An important contribution Chupungco made to the discourse on liturgical inculturation concerns the insight that the dynamic translation of the Roman liturgy, whether that entails the translation of the existing typical edition, or the incorporation of local cultural elements, even though necessary, is not enough. The renewal of the liturgy inevitably requires creativity. This, Chupungco claims, has always been an inherent feature of the Churchs worship, [and] is sometimes not a mere option but an imperative for a local Church that wants its liturgy to be relevant and have impact on the life of the faithful.417

5.5.

A concrete case: the evil eye and infant Baptism

A significant question toward the end of this study now, is the following: how do we go about applying a theological framework for the harmonization between popular religiosity and the Roman liturgy. In other words, how can we give a theological legitimation for a fruitful exchange between popular religiosity and the liturgy in light of liturgical inculturation that corresponds with the Churchs magisterial teaching? We shall make an attempt in that respect by focusing on the phenomenon of the evil eye and examine in which way(s) it can be related to infant Baptism.418 The reason for choosing the evil eye as an illustration of popular religiosity has to do with the fact that it is widespread, both in the sense of occurring among people of various social classes (which
415

Ibid., 52; also cf. Ruth C. Duck, Creativity, Liturgical, in The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, ed. Peter E. Fink (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1990), 302 who gives the following broad definition: Liturgical creativity is the process by which succeeding generations make traditions of Christian worship their own, through exercise of the gifts of the Spirit in the church. Creativity in worship means calling forth the gifts of leaders and all participants. Among these gifts are the ability to write and speak prayers which express the faith and praise of the community; the ability to use space, the visual arts, and movement for fitting praise of God; and musical gifts. Duck further remarks that liturgical creativity should not be confused with liturgical innovation, since the goal is not to entertain through the novel; but to call forth authentic contemporary praise of God, whether in local, denominational, or ecumenicial settings (ibid). Ibid., 94. Ibid., 53-54. Through field research conducted in Suriname we have been able to establish evidence for the widespread belief in the evil eye there. This belief in the evil also seems to occur in Curaao and other parts of the Caribbean region. The consulted literature suggests that it is a universal phenomenon, though not existing in every part of the world.

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makes it popular), and in the sense that it is known in many parts of the world. Relating this practice to infant Baptism thus gives this study as we hope an international character, since it can be applied and contextualized in various cultures. Our discussion of the evil eye is primarily guided by the scholarly essay of Alan Dundes419 (1938 2005) who had been a folklorist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The evil eye has for a long period been object of study by a wide range of academic disciplines. Dundess edited volume (The Evil Eye: A Folklore Casebook) clearly demonstrates this point. It includes essays from anthropologists, psychiatrists, biblical scholars, classicists, folklorists, missionaries, ophthalmologists, and sociologists, all devoted to the question of the evil eye and other related subjects.420 All these disciplines shed their peculiar light on this phenomenon. The strong academic interest for the evil eye suggests that it is a phenomenon that cannot simply be dismissed, but needs to be taken seriously. Dundess article seems to be one of the most thought-provoking academic essays on the evil eye, for he examines a variety of sources dating from classical antiquity to the modern period (both cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary). Moreover, Dundes constructed a new theory for interpreting and understanding this widespread belief and practice, based on his thorough study of a magnitude of sources related to this matter. And unlike the majority of sources that, as he noted, consist solely of anecdotal reporting of various incidents, Dundes attempted to explain the evil eye belief complex in terms of a holistic integrated theory.421 In this sub-chapter we shall elaborate on the phenomenon of the evil eye, based on Dundess wet and dry theory. We shall also use the Surinamese context as our frame of reference, since that is the context we are most familiar with, and where we have conducted part of our research. It therefore means that our examination of the relationship between popular religiosity and liturgy is directly related to the Surinamese local Church. Our examination of this

419

Alan Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye: An Essay in Indo-European and Semitic Worldview, in The Evil Eye: A Folklore Casebook, Garland Folklore Casebooks vol. 2, ed. Id. (New York / London: Garland Publishing, 1981), 257312; first published in Id., Interpreting Folklore (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980), 93-133. See the preface to this volume, i.e., ibid., xiii. Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 262; also cf. Frederick Thomas Elworthy, The Evil Eye: An Account of This Ancient and Widespread Superstition [original publication: London: Murray, 1895] (New York: Julien Press, 1986 ed. [1958]), in which several theories are advanced; and Aaron Brav, The Evil Eye Among the Hebrews, in A Folklore Casebook, ed. Dundes, 44-54, 50-51ff. [Reprinted from Ophthalmology 5 (1908): 427-35]. In this article Brav briefly discusses the ghost theory that depends upon the belief that numerous evil spirits exist in the eye which at certain occasions, under provocation, may do harm to others, cause disease and even death (p. 50). Another, more scientific one is the theory of evaporation, for which he gives the following explanation: The eye, like the skin, has pores through which some waste products evaporate. This vapor is highly poisonous in nature and may produce disease and even death According to this theory, we all have the power to overlook; thus a good man may occasionally possess an evil eye against his own will (ibid. 50-51).

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relationship will start from seeking to imbue the efforts to combat the effects of the evil eye with new Christian meaning.

5.5.1. The evil eye

There exists a variety of denotations, interpretations and understandings of the evil eye. Some perceive it as a uniform folk belief complex422; others as a universal superstition423; or, an ancient and widespread superstition 424 ; or even a disease interpretation within the supernatural realm.425 In addition, some associate the evil eye with popular religiosity within Islamic countries.426 And for yet others it is not limited to those countries, but occurs within a diversity of cultures and religions.427 The existing variety of interpretations surrounding the occurrence of the evil eye can be attributed to the geographical zones where this phenomenon occurs.428 It is generally associated with envy, which seems to be the most common and accepted theory.429 However, Dundes noted that this [i.e., attributing its effects to envy], is not sufficient in and of itself to explain the complex in all its concrete detail.430 Nevertheless, Dundes maintained that belief in the evil eye is based upon the idea that an individual, male or female, has the power, voluntarily or involuntarily, to cause harm to another individual or his property merely by looking at or praising that person property.431 As a result, the evil eye victim suffers illness, or even death. And the object that has been affected can deteriorate. Thus Dundes claimed:

422 423

Ibid., 258. Helmut Schoeck, The Evil Eye: Forms and Dynamics of a Universal Superstition, in A Folklore Casebook, ed. Dundes, 192-200. [Reprinted from Emory University Quarterly 11 (1955): 153-61]. Elworthy, The Evil Eye. Annechien Limburg-Okken and Salh Sidali, Intakeprocedures: voorbeeld van een anamneseprotocol, in Transculturele psychiatrie en psychotherapie: handboek voor hulpverlening en beleid, eds. Joop de Jong and Margo van den Berg, 129-45 ( Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger B.V., 1996). Cor Hoffer, Samenwerking tussen artsen en hulpverleners enerzijds en islamitische genezers anderzijds: mogelijkheden en onmogelijkheden, in Transculturele psychiatrie en psychotherapie, eds. De Jong and van den Berg, 255-70. See Cecil G. Helman, Culture, Health and Illness: An Introduction for Health Professionals (Bristol: John Wright & Sons, 1984), 78. See Dundes, ed., A Folklore Casebook with the contributions of the various authors related to a particular country. See Schoeck, The Evil Eye: Forms and Dynamics, 192, where it is argued that conventional theory of the evil eye is basically concerned with envy, specifically the fear that someone elses envy of ones own good fortune may bring about misfortune. [From editors introductory note]. See Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 263-64. Ibid., 258.

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Typically, the victims good fortune, good health, or good looks or unguarded comments about them invite or provoke an attack by someone with the evil eye. If the object attacked is animate, it may fall ill. Inanimate objects such as buildings or rocks may crack or burst. Symptoms of illness caused by the evil eye include loss of appetite, excessive yawning, hiccoughs, vomiting, and fever. If the object attacked is a cow, its milk may dry up; if a plant or a fruit tree, it may suddenly wither and 432 die.

These convictions are deeply rooted in folklore and other forms of popular religiosity. In evil eye cultures people resort to preventive measures in order to ward off the effects of the evil eye, and have developed techniques to diagnose its occurrence433 and to effectively combat it.434 Dundes pointed out that the preventive measures include wearing apotropaic amulets, making specific hand gestures or spitting, and uttering protective verbal formulas before or after praising or complimenting a person, especially an infant.435 The occurrence of the evil eye and the adopted measures to ward off the effects of the evil eye has long been a field of research interest. Although scholarly interest dates back as far as the Antiquity, Dundes argued that modern scholarship related to the evil eye may have started with Otto Jahns 1855 pioneering essay entitled ber den Aberglauben des bsen Blicks bei den Altern.436 However, of peculiar interest for our current study is a theological approach to the phenomenon of the evil eye.437 In this regard it must be noted that some scholars have identified several references to the evil eye in the Bible.438 According to Schoeck these references prove that the underlying emotion or sentiment the imputed motive is envy.439 Thus he argues:
In Matt. 20:15 the employer chides the worker who has complained about the more generous treatment of fellow workers, Is thine eye evil? The Greek adjective for evil used in this context

432 433

Ibid. See, for instance, Wayland D. Hand, The Evil Eye in Its Folk Medical Aspects: A Survey of North America, in A Folklore Casebook, ed. Dundes, 169-80, 172-73. [Reprinted from the Actas del XLI Congreso de Americanistas, Mexico, 2 al 7 septiembre de 1974, vol. 3 (Mexico, 1976), 183-89]. Ibid., 174-76. Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 258; also see Elworthy, The Evil Eye, 410-30ff. The massive scientific literature that exists on this subject signify that its occurrence cannot be taken lightly, but also deserves scientific interest from theology. For a brief overview of modern literature reflecting the scientific research on the evil eye, see Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 261-62ff. Our aim is not to study the evil eye as such, but to examine its relevance for a theology of liturgical inculturation. See, for instance, Proverbs (23:1-8) and the Evil Eye in The Wisdom of Sirach, in A Folklore Casebook, ed. Dundes, 41-43. [Reprinted from The Holy Bible and The Apocrypha, trans. Edgar J. Goodspeed (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938), 249, 282-83, 290]; also Proverbs 28:22; Mk 7:21-22; also cf. A. Stewart Woodburne, The evil Eye in South Indian Folklore, in A Folklore Casebook, ed. Dundes, 55-65. [Reprinted from the International Review of Missions, 24 (1935): 237-47] who claimed that this belief is not only very common in India, but also recognized in the sacred books of Hinduism and Islam (p. 56). Schoeck, The Evil Eye: Forms and Dynamics, 194.

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means among other things, harmful, dangerous. From the situation it follows that the worker was 440 envious. Therefore, the employer, in fact, asked: Will your eyes cast evil on the favored ones?

It is perhaps from this motive that some also refer to the evil eye as the invidious eye or the envious eye, thereby signaling that the perpetrator is someone who is jealous, envious or covetous, even though the sickness is usually transmitted without intention.441 Nevertheless, others question the apparent biblical evidence of the evil eye. Brav, for example, strongly opposed this view, claiming that it is nowhere mentioned in Biblical writings. He ascribed its occurrence to Talmudic and Midrashic writings, and argues that in order to give it an authoritative force the writers of the Talmud have tried to inject it into the Bible by means of interpretation.442 To underscore his claim Bras gave several examples of Talmudic interpretation of biblical writing in light of belief in the evil eye. Hence he argued:
Thus, for instance, the sentence, And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness [Deut 7:15], is so interpreted as to mean the evil eye [Baba M., 107-b]. ... Jacobs advice to his children not to enter Egypt by one gate is also taken as a warning against the influence of the evil eye [Genesis R. Xc, 1]. The Midrashic version is, Ye are strong, ye are nice, enter not the gates of the city together, do not stand at one place so that the evil eye may not overpower you [Midrash, Gen. R., 53: Jalkut Genes 443 14; Num. R., 12-6].

The underlying idea is that belief in the evil eye can in no way be reconciled with sacred Scripture. Nevertheless, Brav asserted that this superstition is of theologic [sic] origin,444 which he clarified by stating: The ancient Hebrews, as well as many other nations, also considered disease to be the direct punishment from God for the shortcomings of men.445 Others have employed in a slightly different fashion a theological interpretation for the evil eye, therefore stating: When someone is jealous, he makes a complaint that is heard by God, and if the person who is being complained against is proud or ungenerous, then God judges him and lowers him.446

440

Ibid. One should, however, be careful about making or adhering uncritically to comments on and interpretations of biblical texts, especially in the absence of proper hermeneutics and exegesis. See Catherine Yronwode, The Evil Eye; available from http://www.luckymojo.com/evileye.html; Internet; accessed 12 February 2005; also see Schoeck, The Evil Eye: Forms and Dynamics, 194, who argues that there is a linguistic link between the word envy and the evil eye. Thus he contends: The Latin word invidia, from which envy derives [or invidious], consists of the verb videre, to see, and the prefix in, meaning against as well as negation. On the other hand, in German ... the casting of the evil eye (der bsen Blick) is often called verneiden, which is an emphatic dialect form of the verb neiden, to envy. And Dundes (Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 263) arrives at the same conclusion about the linguistic link between envy and the evil eye. Brav, Evil Eye Among the Hebrews, 46. Ibid. Ibid., 45. Ibid. Quoted in Yronwode, The Evil Eye.

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Yet the challenge remains how to approach this phenomenon theologically in our contemporary time. In other words: what is the theological significance of relating the evil eye to the baptismal ministry and liturgy of the Church? Dundes wet and dry theory can open up vistas for delineating the theological significance of the evil eye in relation to infant Baptism, through the symbolic link of water. How did Dundes arrive at his theory? After thoroughly examining various beliefs and practices concerning the evil eye from the Antiquity to the modern times as encoded in a wide range of sources from various parts of the world, Dundes observed the centrality of fluids involved in many of the related practices. The symptoms of the harm caused by the evil eye indicate a loss of fluids. Thus, fruit trees wither and die as a loss of sap; cows and goats formerly producing an abundance of milk cease from doing so, since the udders dry up; infants struck by the evil eye become sick, they vomit and get dehydrated as a result of losing fluid. And according to some beliefs even men can become impotent, i.e., their semen dries up, as the result of an evil eye attack. Hence, Dundes argued that the most common effect of the evil eye is a drying up process.447 In order to counter this process people have devised methods that symbolize the restoring or safeguarding of liquids, such as spitting and bathing, or amulets representing gestures for instance, the manu fico, or manu cornuto to counter male impotency.448 Therefore, water in the form of particular liquids emphatically becomes a life-giving principle against the evil eye. Dundes highlighted this point as follows:
Water is, of course, necessary for the sustenance of life it is the metaphorical and symbolic quests for water that are most relevant to our consideration of the evil eye... In any case, the magic liquid can cure wounds and even bring the dead to life. It can also rejuvenate; making the old young again. If the passage of life consists of the gradual diminution of finite fluids, then the only logical way to reverse the process would be to increase ones fluid supply. Whether fluids were taken internally (by drinking) or externally (by bathing, baptism, or being anointed), the life-giving or renewing principle 449 is basically the same.

Water is associated with life, whereas dryness symbolizes death.450 It is an empirical fact that the loss of liquid inevitably leads to ones death. Dundess study and its underlying theory affirm the ancient conviction that the evil eye constitutes a threat to the body fluids... [and] a

447 448

Dundes Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 274. We cannot discuss in detail all the objects, and methods involve in countering the evil eye, since that is an area for anthropologists. Elworthys earlier cited book, contains numerous illustrations of objects employed to counter the effects of the evil eye, including the mano fico and the mano cornuto. Also see Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 276, pointing out the amulets and the various gestures employed to prevent or counter evil eye signify the production of some form of liquid. Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 273. Cf. Ezekiel 37. (The valley of dry bones) [emphasis added].

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person with the evil eye is thus one who is dried out; in need of liquid refreshment.451 Dundes goes on to claim: Once it is understood that the evil eye belief complex depends upon the balance of liquid equilibrium, it becomes possible to gain insight into various apotropaic techniques...452 One popular way of countering the effects of an evil eye attack from infants in Suriname, is to bath the child with a Reckitts Blue tablet, popularly known in Suriname as blauwsel.453 It is fabricated through a chemical process, and as an end product composes mainly of synthetic ultramarine and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or baking soda.454 For its utilization it is inserted into water, causing it thereby to turn blue, with which the child is bathed. This practice still occurs today. Thus an important question arises, whether the Reckitts Blue tablet can be blessed by a priest, just as candles, rosaries and medallions are blessed for private usage. Another important question regards the nature of the evil eye. It is frequently referred to as superstition, especially in the old literature. But is it really based on superstition? Several decades ago Wayland Hand (1907 1986), who had been a Professor in Germanic language and folklore at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) opined: As in other magical diseases, the evil eye does not respond to the ministration of the usual medical practitioners.455 However, in recent time it has been taken more seriously, especially in the field of transcultural psychiatry.456
451 452 453

Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 275. Ibid. Cf. Ibid., 284, where Dundes noted, on the base of an earlier study by Edward Westermarck [Ritual and Belief in Morocco, vol. 1 (London: Macmillan, 1926), 440]: In Turkey and surrounding areas, for example, blue eyes are considered to be dangerous, perhaps evil eyes Yet the color blue in the Near East is also regarded as protective against the evil eye. It signifies the like against like principle. In this case, blue against blue. This principle clarifies why many amulets used to protect against the evil eye are in the shape of an eye, as Campbell Bonner [Studies in Magical Amulets Chiefly Graeco-Egyptian (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1950), 97] observed, when he reported that the commonest of all amulets to ward off the evil eye consists of an apotropaic design which has been found on numerous monuments, and which though subject to slight variations, remains the same through several centuries. It represents the eye, wide open (Quoted in Dundes, Wet and Dry, the Evil Eye, 284). We are informed that Reckitt's Blue is a very old product which was used as a whitener, to help delay the yellowing effect on cotton that gets older. The color of this product is aquamarine blue. Product information available from http://www.carbolicsoap.com/ reckitts-blue-p-864.html; Internet; accessed 21 December 2008. Hand, Evil Eye in Folk Medical Aspects, 174. Hand was generally recognized as an international scholar of folklore see a tribute to him by Frances Cattermole-Tally, Obituary: Wayland Debs Hand (1907-1986), Journal of American Folklore, vol. 102, no. 404 (1989): 183-85 who, according to Dundes was also renowned for his extensive bibliographical knowledge of published as well as unpublished sources mentioning the evil eye. [Editors introductory notes, p. 169]. See, for instance, A. Y. Jessurun and B. C. M. Raes, Een Antilliaanse Psychose? Behandeling van een psychose die door de patint geduid word als zwarte magie, Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie 47, no. 11 (2005): 807-11. The authors, both being psychiatrists Raes is also professor of forensic psychiatry at the Free University of Amsterdam and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (The Netherlands) demonstrate the continuous academic interest from the human and social sciences for peoples cultural and cosmological backgrounds, in relation to a particular spirit world. Related insights generated by the disciplines of medical anthropology and transcultural psychiatry can prove to be

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We think it can better be grouped under the heading of the spirit world, which in the worldview of many civilizations today still constitutes a real world,457 as we have argued in chapter 3. Whilst taking the spirit world serious, we should also not ignore the Churchs teaching when relating popular religiosity to the liturgy. At this point we may recall the councils teaching where the Church declared:
Anything in these peoples way of life which is not indissolubly bound up with superstition and error she studies with sympathy and, if possible, preserves intact. Sometimes in fact she admits such 458 things into the liturgy itself, so long as they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit.

Is belief in the evil eye indissolubly bound up with superstition and error? This is not an easy question, as Chupungco has poignantly articulated when he wrote:
At times it is not easy to draw the line between superstition and some misguided expressions of religiosity. Furthermore there are religious or pseudoreligious and psychic manifestations which defy classification under the category of superstition and error. At this point it is useful to observe that a cultural element can in fact be severed from superstition and hence be admitted into the liturgy... In other words, the process of inculturation will have to take into account not only the doctrine of the 459 faith but also the requirements of Christian liturgy.

This latter remark of Chupungco can serve as a crucial guide in the process of liturgical inculturation where it concerns harmonizing popular religiosity with the liturgy. We have discussed the aspects of anabasis and katabasis as crucial concepts in the liturgy. One could thus regard the sanctification of people as a fundamental feature of Christian liturgy. Put differently, authentic liturgy always at least in potential leads to the glorification of the Triune God and the sanctification of the worshiping community. Chupungcos apt remark that cultural elements, even
valuable for a theology that seeks to understand human culture, which by itself contains many riches that need to be brought under the dominion of Christ. For a brief introduction into the field of transcultural psychiatry, see R. Giel, Het algemene in de transculturele psychiatrie, in Winti-religie: een Afro-Surinaamse godsdienst in Nederland, eds. F. E. R. Derveld and H. Noordegraaf (De Horstink: Amersfoort / Leuven, 1988), 125-31; also see Helman, Culture, Health, and Illness, 141-66, noting that it is the study, and comparison, of mental illness in different cultures (p. 141); and Robert A. Hahn, Sickness and Healing: An Anthropological Perspective (New Haven: Yale University, 1995), especially pp. 76-98 on The Role of Society and Culture in Sickness and Healing.
457

Cf. Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing (Toronto: Bantam Books, 1982), who distinguishes between Ordinary State of Consciousness (OSC) and Shamanic State of Consciousness (SSC) as keys to understanding ordinary reality and nonordinary reality. To illustrate the difference between OSC and SSC Harner refers to animals, thus claiming: Dragons, griffins, and other animals that would be considered mythical by us in the OSC are real in the SSC. The idea that there are mythical animals is a useful and valid construct in OSC life, but superfluous and irrelevant in SSC experiences. The myth of the SSC is ordinary reality; and the myth of the OSC is nonordinary reality. (See his introduction, p. xvi). Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 37. Chupungco, Definition of Liturgical Inculturation, 17-18. One could state that the elements of anamnesis and epiclesis, the celebraton of the Paschal Mystery, reading and proclaiming the Word of God, and the active participation of the faithful in the liturgy are among the aspects the celebration of (Catholic) Christian liturgy requires.

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when they are indissolubly bound with superstition or error, can in fact be severed from superstition and hence be admitted to the liturgy is supported by Vatican IIs teaching where the Church declared: Whatever goods lies... in the cultures of diverse peoples, it is not only saved from destruction but it is also cleansed, raised up and made perfect unto the glory of God, the confounding of the devil, and the happiness of mankind.460 If bathing a child with Reckitts Blue in order to liberate it from the destructive and devastating effects of the evil eye is considered as a good that lies in the culture of the people, in this case, the people of Suriname, how can we then proceed to imbue this practice with Christian meaning, or highlight its theological significance? We think the latter i.e., examining its theological significance should start with acknowledging its utilization for curing the child as one of the many treasures that a bountiful God has distributed among the nations, and for which all Christians must endeavor to bring them under the dominion of God their Savior.461 Only after its theological significance is highlighted can it be integrated meaningfully in the life of the local Church. It should, therefore, be reinterpreted in light of Gods desire for universal salvation through Christ. Thus, it should be given a new Christian meaning, which implies a process of catharsis fundamental to the very process of liturgical inculturation.

5.5.2. Toward a Christian reinterpretation of the use of Reckitts Blue

We shall now attempt to arrive at a Christian reinterpretation of the employment of Reckitts Blue destined for countering the effects of evil eye on infants. Chupungco, as we may recall, has introduced a key notion therefore, namely a system of biblical typology, aligned to the method of creative assimilation.462 Thus we shall attempt to apply such a system, in order to arrive at a new Christian interpretation for this practice. We can summarize this practice as follows: When a baby is believed to have been afflicted with the evil eye, the mother prepares a

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Lumen Gentium, no. 17. One can detect the liturgical significance that underlies this passage, namely the glorification of God and the sanctification of humankind, i.e., the happiness of mankind. Ad Gentes, no. 11. See Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 44-46; and Id., The Future That Awaits Us. Even though Chupungco asserted that creative assimilation should not be regarded as the ordinary method of liturgical inculturation (ibid., 45), Phan (Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, 235, n. 59) points out that four years after that assertion Chupungco reprioritized this method, hence changing his view on the matter. Chupungco (Two Methods of Liturgical Inculturation, 81) then perceived it as ideal in those instances, where the liturgical rite is too austere and sober, if not impoverished. In the liturgy people need to see, feel, touch, taste, act.

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bath and inserts Reckitts Blue into the water. The mother then baths the child with the water. Thereafter she disposes of the water, outside the house.463 There are certain elements which can be employed in view of biblical typology. The first and primary referent is the water that is used to bath the child. The water is a symbol of cleansing, in this case, from the evil that has befallen the child. It can also refer to Baptism, either as remembrance or as a prelude toward the liturgical celebration of this sacrament, where what is said [namely, that this particular child truly becomes a child of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit] really happens to the child and the community that is present.464 In this sense the water brings into memory that this child has already been definitively redeemed from sin, in case it has already been baptized, and hence, evil can no longer have its final say over him or her, but rather Gods grace. In case the child has not yet been baptized the water also points to the future possibility of receiving new life in the Spirit,465 of receiving Gods gift freely and gratuitously with Baptism.466 Thus it could prefigure Baptism. Again, if the child has already been baptized, the water used for countering the evil eye brings into memory that this particular child has already been reborn as son / daughter of God.467 Hence, since his or her name is written in the palm of God hands, he or she will ultimately be freed from the captivity of the evil eye. Furthermore, as a child of God, he or she has received Gods irrevocable yes for his or her life, which cannot be made undone by whatever evil power. In other words, evil no longer has power over this child. Hence, there is a good reason for hope to regain strength and vitality in Gods name. Having been buried in Christ death, the child, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will rise with Christ from the deathly power caused by the dryness of the evil eye. From time immemorial water has been a symbol of the source of life and fruitfulness.468 From the beginning of creation Gods ruach enlivened the water, making it the wellspring of all holiness.469 It is this water that restores the life of the child, through faith in God and in the power of His Spirit; thus, it re-enlivens him or her.
463

See Sylvia Pessireron, Zwangerschap in zeven Nederlandse culturen: gewoonten en gebruiken tijdens en na zwangerschap in de Nederlandse, Surinaamse, Turkse, Marokkaanse, Indonesische, Chinese en Antilliaanse cultuur (Utrecht: Seram Press, 1996), especially the section under Suriname. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 45. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1213. Cf. Power (Sacrament: The Language) in which study he employs the notion of gift-exchange to illustrate the sacramental relation between God and humanity (an encounter) in the sacraments; also see Chauvet (Symbol and Sacrament) who employs the same concept as a central framework for understanding the nature of the sacraments in terms of gift-exchange. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1213. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1217. Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of Water, as quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1218.

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The blue water also serves as a powerful symbol of redemption by the power of Gods Spirit. By association, one could argue that it also points to Israels passage through the Sea, after the Spirit of the Lord led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. After crossing the sea, they definitively left behind the oppressive and sinful powers of Egyptian slavery (Ex 14:10-31). Hence, bathing the child with the blue water becomes reminiscent of the crossing of the sea. The child literally goes through the blue water,470 and is hence liberated from an oppressive and deathly yoke. Thus the child experiences Gods power; the same mighty hand that led the Israelites through the waters of the sea out of bondage to redemption will now redeem this child from the evil eye, through water and the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this symbolism Baptism signifies communion with Christs death.471 Thus bathing the child with the blue water also powerfully evokes the memory of having him or her going through death, after which he or she reborns in Christ, in whom he or she is redeemed. Resorting to biblical typology, when bathing the child who has already been baptized with Reckitts Blue, may strengthen the faith of the parents in God as the Ultimate Giver and Sustainer of life. A Christian reinterpretation of the use of Reckitts Blue may also increase their hope for redemption in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit (and diminish their fear for the evil eye). For the unbaptized child and the concerned parents it may mark the beginning of a process of evangelization, which leads to conversion and Baptism,472 ultimately culminating in partaking in the celebration of the Eucharist, the source and fountain of all life. In this regard, the Christian members of the local community have an important role to fulfill, in that they can bear witness of the Gospel473 and prepare the road to Baptism for this particular child, by giving testimony of the words of Peter, the apostle, who said: Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.474 They can also convey the message that liberating the child from the evil eye signifies a praeparatio
470

Paradoxically, the child, whilst going through the blue water, also goes through dryness, thus symbolically reenacting the passage of the Israelites through the dry ground of the Red Sea. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1220. Cf. Jn 3:5 where Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. See Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 70, where he claims that by identifying Jesus commandments, the Christian community touches the deep structures of the Gospel. But these deep structures, Gittins insists, should be transformed into the living faith of Christians (p. 71). Also cf. Redemptoris Missio, no. 23, where John Paul II noted: In Luke, mission is presented as witness [cf. Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8], centered especially on the resurrection [cf. Acts 1:22]. The missionary is invited to believe in the transforming power of the Gospel and to proclaim what Luke presents so well, that is, conversion to Gods love and mercy, the experience of a complete liberation which goes to the root of all evil, namely sin. Acts 2:38.

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evangelii; a foretaste of eternal salvation,475 for which Baptism is necessary, as the Lord Himself has affirmed.476 Moreover, they can assure the parents of the (postmodern) Christian conviction that it is God Who first has seen the child, long before the evil eye fixed its devastating gaze on him or her.477 Hence, God as the first One to look at this child, will in His unlimited goodness, look after his or her wellbeing. In other words, God does not take away His divine look from the child; He does not turn away His face from us. He will see to it that this childs health is restored, since this child is His gift to the parents. In short, the family of the child, whether baptized or not, is called to faith. But, as the CCC points out, faith needs the community of believers [since] it is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe.478 Hence, there are some pastoral implications in linking the use of Reckitts Blue to the liturgical and sacramental life of the local Church, which we shall elaborate under the following section.

5.5.3. Pastoral implications

Harmonizing popular religiosity with the liturgy, in light of a theology of liturgical inculturation that seeks to reinterpret the use of Reckitts Blue in a Christian manner will have its bearing on the wider Christian community because the liturgy is the expression of the faith and Christian life479 of that community. The implications are felt both on the pastoral level of the baptismal ministry, i.e., in preparing the parent(s)480 of the child for receiving this sacrament, thus the so-called baptismal catechesis, and on the level of the liturgical celebration of the sacrament.

475

See Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 27 that emphasizes that this is not an immanent salvation, meeting material or even spiritual needs, restricted to the framework of temporal existence and completely identified with temporal desires, hopes, affairs and struggles, but a salvation which exceeds all these limits in order to reach fulfillment in a communion with the one and only divine Absolute: a transcendent and eschatological salvation, which indeed has its beginning in this life but which is fulfilled in eternity. And Evangelii Nuntiandi, no 33 emphatically states that liberation which evangelization proclaims ... cannot be contained in the simple and restricted dimension of economics, politics, social or cultural life; it must envisage the whole man, in all his aspects, right up to and including his openness to the absolute, even the divine Absolute. See Mc 16:16; and Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1257. Cf. Leijssen (With the Silent Glimmer, 30) noting on the base of Jean-Luc Marions phenomenology, that ultimately the acknowledgment of Gods gift takes precedence and happens first. The believer experiences and assents that this attitude of faith is Gods self-giving. The believer finds him- or herself in the position of the one to whom is given. God looks at us first in the icon. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1253. Varietates Legitimae, no. 47. In the Surinamese context there is often just one parent, or grandparent involved in requesting the sacrament of Baptism for the child, i.e., either the mother, or the grandmother.

476 477

478 479 480

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Peoples motivation for requesting Baptism today may not always confer with what the sacrament implies, namely faith in Christ as the mediator between God and His people. Hence, Chauvet remarks:
Whereas the ritual of baptism, for instance, insistently proclaims that baptism is the sacrament of faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, 481 numerous people who ask for the sacraments are so faraway form this faith

Chauvets observation is also applicable to some extent to the Surinamese context. There, one main motivation for parent(s) to request the sacrament of Baptism is to protect the child.482 Though it is rarely made explicit, an insider would grasp immediately without doubt what is implied, namely the protection against evil and evil forces. This is so because the spirit world is to a large extent, yet in varying degrees, still part and parcel of the religious worldview of Surinamese people, as we argued in the third chapter. Hence Chauvets observation of the disparity between motivation and faith content also holds water for the Surinamese context. Perhaps the disparity in the Surinamese context does not go as far as Chauvet suggests of his fellow countrymen, but the frequent calls for moral re-armament (morele herbewapening) by various Surinamese religious leaders toward the general public, and politicians in particular, may be a valuable indicator hereof.483 However, in order not to divert from the point we are trying to make we can contend that whatever the disparity consists of whether it regards a moral issue, or a cognitive issue related to faith, or a magical issue the need for catechesis is indispensable in preparing for Baptism. It is no coincidence that the renewed ordo, or rite for infant Baptism, which has been in use from March 1994 onwards in the Diocese of Paramaribo translated the Prayer of exorcism of the revised Roman typical edition with Prayer for protection (Gebed om bescherming). It thus aptly reflects the peoples sensitivity. One may argue that what ultimately underlies this sensitivity is a sense of fear. Fear for the spirit world with its unknown and hostile forces that can anchor themselves in the life of individuals has been a stark reality for many people. Infants are regarded especially vulnerable to these forces, hence they should be protected. This clarifies, among others,
481 482

Chauvet, The Sacraments, 175. Cf. ibid. Chauvet pointed out on the base of statistics of twenty years (1958-1978) survey from his own country (France) that clearly the motivation and legitimization of the request lay beneath the content of the faith which they should presuppose according to orthodox theology. We do not intend to engage in a comparative study between the French and the Surinamese context. However, despite the different starting points and presuppositions, to a certain extent a disparity between the motivation of the request and the content of the faith serves as a common denominator. See Sjak-Shie, Als een nooit opgedroogde kreek, (Amos 5, 24), 19-20. Furthermore, one may object that the comparison just made equals comparing oranges with apples, since the French context regards matters of knowledge of the faith content, whereas the Surinamese context regards moral behavior. We can respond to this objection by pointing out that moral behavior reflects the level of embodied faith, the latter being the result of, among others, catechesis (evangelization) and religious upbringing.

483

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the protective measures, such as the use of the ogri-ay krara (evil eye bead), which is a black bead that is pinned on the dress of babies and believed to keep the child safe from the evil eye, and the use of Reckitts Blue.484 Having noted that fear often underlies the reason why people request the sacrament of Baptism for their children,485 one could argue that a proper catechesis can be instructive in overcoming this fear, in helping people grow and mature in their faith. Such a catechesis, therefore, ought to take the peoples culture seriously. It should be an inculturated catechesis, which, according to Chupungco, presupposes an inculturated liturgy.486 Such a catechesis does not hesitate to address the spirit world, even whilst preparing people for a profound encounter with Christ so that they can experience Baptism as a present or a gift from God expressed in human language and symbol487. In line with this argument the Swiss theologian Phillipe Chanson bluntly claims that the most important challenge of the Church in the Caribbean is to take the magical-religious world serious.488 It is our contention that an inculturated catechesis should indeed connect to the peoples culture, i.e., their cultural mentality and underlying worldview if it wants to have affinity with the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted...489
484

It should be noted, however, that the practice of pinning the ogri-ay krara to the cloth of the baby occurs primarily among Afro-Surinamese, but is also extended to other ethnic groups. Maroons, however, frequently employ a dark (black, brown, or blue) cord which it tied around the childs waste. There seems to be different interpretations for this practice though. Some argue that it is an apotropaic attribute, whereas others claim that it is employed as a technique to ensure and monitor the proper growth of the child. If the cord remains loosen for too long, it signifies poor growth. As for the use of Reckitts Blue, it should also be noted that a portion of it is used in its original form by applying it to a hidden part of the body, for instance, under the feet, or on the skull between the childs hairs. Nevertheless, fear seems to be a significant underlying motive behind these measures. Others may dispute this assertion, arguing that rather than fear, it is a genuine and profound concern for the well-being of the child that underlies peoples motives to resort to protective measures. Whatever the case, we think these two options are not mutually exclusive. In order to guard ourselves from making generalizations, we must emphasize that there are also people who make a conscious decision based on a thorough catechesis and motivated by a profound desire to encounter Gods love, not just for themselves, but also for their children. Several priests and laypersons have made commendable efforts in this regard. Groups such as Marriage Encounter and the Charismatic Renewal also contribute to this conscious decision that some people make. Chupungco, Liturgical Inculturation, 169; also cf. Cf. John Paul II, Discourse to the Bishops of Zaire on 12 April 1983, no. 5: AAS 75 (1983), 620: How is it that a faith which has truly matured, is deep and firm, does not succeed in expressing itself in a language, in a catechesis, in theological reflection, in prayer, in the liturgy, in art, in the institutions which are truly related to the African soul of your compatriots? There is the key to the important and complex question of the liturgy, to mention just one area. Satisfactory progress in this domain can only be the fruit of a progressive growth in faith, linked with spiritual discernment, theological clarity, a sense of the universal church. (Quoted in Varietates Legitimae, n. 18, emphasis added). Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 45. Philippe Chanson, De magisch-religieuze wereld van de Antillen, Wereld en Zending 4 (2000): 43-51. Gaudium et Spes, no. 1.

485

486

487 488 489

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Furthermore, we think that an inculturated catechesis builds on what the entire Christian tradition has always and everywhere proclaimed, namely that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.490 It is therefore based on Gods love as gift,491 about which St. Paul gave the following beautiful testimony:
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against Gods chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? ... No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ 492 Jesus our Lord.

Hence, we discard ourselves from fear and embrace hope. The reason, therefore, as Leijssen points out, is that we experience ourselves as being loved by God, endowed with the gift of Gods love, which is expressed most intensely in the person of Jesus.493 This fundamental experience of having been chosen by God first, out of pure love, leads us to a surrender, the origin of faith (Kierkegaard), the letting go of certainties [and fears] in order to cling to what has been promised to us from revelation.494 If people do not only see themselves as God-given, but also creation and the world, in which God gives Himself to us as gift, then it becomes possible to experience creation as being fully-loaded with sacramentality.495 Hence, the water and the Reckitts Blue tablet that people use to repel the effects of the evil eye are worthy to be blessed. The sacramental blessing of Reckitts Blue can render an authentic relationship with Christ. In this way it no longer points to its own (self-perceived) efficacy, but points to Jesus who came so that we may have life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10).

490 491 492 493 494

Jn 3:16. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 33. Rom 8:31b-35; 37-39. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer, 29. Ibid., 32. Leijsen also speaks of the individual acknowledging him- or herself to be in the position of someone to whom is given (les adonns) [which implies] that he or she opens up to the Other who gives (p. 34). See ibid., 26; also cf. Dorothy McDougall, The Cosmos as Primary Sacrament: An Ecological Perspective for Sacramental Theology, in Contemporary Contours, eds. Boeven and Leijssen, 233-41; and Mathai Kadavil, The World as Sacrament: Sacramentality of Creation from the Perspective of Leonardo Boff, Alexander Schmemann and Saint Ephrem. Textes et tudes Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy, vol. 20 (Leuven: Peeters, 2005).

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Nevertheless, determining a possible format or a rite for the blessing of Reckitts Blue which is at the level of the liturgical celebration of the sacrament is a matter for the competent ecclesial authorities. It is the responsibility of the proper Episcopal conference to determine with prudence which cultural elements can be used to cross-fertilize with the liturgy.496 What the outcome of such an endeavor will be remains largely unknown. The idea, however, is not totally inconceivable. A proper way to introduce the blessing of Reckitts Blue into a liturgical celebration, would be, it seems, through integration within the Book of Blessings. It implies two things. First of all, it requires the evangelization of the practice, through an inculturated catechesis that focuses on Gods will for universal salvation through Christ and on a Christian reinterpretation of the practice, as we have outlined above. Secondly, and in this sequence, the formulation of the blessing is taken at hand, after which it may be followed by the proper procedure for insertion into the Book of Blessings. After having gone through a cathartic process of evangelization and Christian reinterpretation, it will be ripe to be cross-fertilized with the liturgy. However, there still remain some vital questions to be put forward. How can we envision the blessing of Reckitts Blue in, let us say, the rite for infant Baptism? In which part of the liturgy should it be best inserted? Is it wise to remain at the level of juxtaposition between this blessing and the baptismal liturgy? To what extent can the blessing of the Reckitts Blue develop into a separate rite of blessing? What are the criteria for it? And to what extent can one engage in linking this blessing with the Order for the Blessing of (Sick) Children, contained in the Book of Blessings?497 These and other related questions which, due to the confinements of this current study, we cannot address here deserve a serious interdisciplinary study program and profound liturgical-theological research so that the liturgical use of Reckitts Blue can be directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.498 On a different note, the question can be asked in which way a theology of liturgical inculturation, as advanced in this study, enriches the universal Church. In other words, what does the Caribbean Church have to offer to the world Church? Pessimists may ask: What good can come from the Caribbean? A region that still grapples with wounds and scars inflicted by a history of slavery and indentured labor, in short, by colonialism and postcolonial exploitation. These were the factors that gave birth to a forced [] context where commodification and exploitation are foundational and endemic to its reality.499 A region, too, that still in many ways abounds in
496

See Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 40; Varietates Legitimae, no. 31; and nos. 62; 65-69 for the procedures that ought to be followed in this respect. See ICEL, Book of Blessings (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1989), 129-31. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 61. Boodoo, Gospel and Culture, 17.

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attitudes of colonial dependence and imitations [which] still persist even since the achievement of political independence.500 Amidst the social reality of the region, Caribbean theologians have in the 1970s searched for new perspectives501 directed toward the total and integral liberation and development of Caribbean people. At the same time this was also a search for the right method for doing theology in the Caribbean; it was a search for a Caribbean theology rooted in the socio- and historical condition of the people of the region. In the words of Hamid, Caribbean theologians then took upon themselves to recall the religious intuitions of our people, subjecting these to scrutiny and articulating them through the symbols of faith and life.502 Such attempts were repeated in the 1990s. That decade saw a restart in theological reflection on the socio- and historical condition of the Caribbean people after what Boodoo calls the lost decades of the 1980s, during which hardly any contextual theological enterprise appeared on the Caribbean horizon. However, since the 1990s there have been various attempts to push forward theological reflection in the Caribbean, and to come up with authentic, contextualized forms for doing theology in the region. With this current study we have moved beyond searching for a theological method at the service of contextual theology in the Caribbean today. We have explored the method of liturgical inculturation and applied it to the broad field of popular religiosity, as a vital and legitimate source of spiritual well-being for the Caribbean people. The case of the evil eye has been illustrative since it points out that not only the spiritual well-being, but also the physical well-being of the weakest among the people is a genuine concern within certain forms of popular religiosity. It retells the story of Gods care for His people, not just for the poor, but also for the weakest, the little ones. This reflects some of the accents present in Marks Gospel, such as in the following passage:
And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Then he embraced them and blessed 503 them, placing his hands on them (Mk 10:13-16).

This preferential option for the little ones resonates with popular religiosity in the Caribbean as related to the beliefs and practices surrounding the evil eye. Underlying these beliefs and practices is the deep-seated conviction that these little ones must be protected at all times because of their utter vulnerability. That is why among Afro-Surinamese people the first birthday
500

Arthur C. Dayfoot, Themes from West Indian Church History in Colonial and Post-colonial Times, in Nation Dance, ed. Taylor, 79-88, 81. See Hamid, In Search of New Perspectives. Ibid., ix. Senior et al., eds., The Catholic Study Bible / The New American Bible, 84.

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of a child has profound cultural significance. It is believed that the child has surpassed the critical point of being susceptible to evil influences, both in a corporeal and spiritual sense. For this reason the first birthday of a child never remains unnoticed, but gives reason to abundant celebration.504 In this study we have outlined not only the contours, but also some of the principles of a theology of liturgical inculturation that can purify, sustain, and enhance popular religiosity in the Caribbean. Our research offers a concrete example of how the magisterial teachings can be used as theological sources. We have attempted to rhyme the Roman liturgy with popular religiosity, making a deliberate effort to go beyond confrontation. A liturgico-theological proposal such as this will have more chance of actually being taken up within the body of accepted or official theology if it is not perceived as unduly endangering the body of accepted truths. By treading such a careful path, we have sought to underline the value of popular religiosity as a way to tap into the spiritual aspirations of the people. Continuous reflection and research upon this vital source will open vistas for opportunities to cross-fertilize with the liturgy, and will help to find new forms of prayers and rituals that can enrich the Church at large, all to the glory of God and the sanctification of His people.

504

Cf. Petronella Breinburg, Communicating with Our Gods: The Language of Winti, in Nation Dance, ed. Taylor, 3239. Breinburg discusses the cultural meaning of birthday celebrations among Afro-Surinamese and the potential danger of misinterpretation by outsiders (p. 33).

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GENERAL CONCLUSION

At the end of this dissertation we would like to restate the most significant findings and or considerations of our study. They can be seen as points of concern for a theological agenda of liturgical inculturation. They are essential features of our contribution to the theological reflection on liturgical inculturation, especially in the Caribbean. The first finding is that a contemporary theology that touches on matters concerning the liturgy calls for a reinterpretation of peoples thirst for the divine. Their spiritual yearnings express themselves in a symbolic and ritual language that exceeds the forms and levels of spoken language. A contemporary theology should seek to translate the Churchs liturgico-sacramental language into the proper symbolic and ritual language that foster peoples involvement with the liturgical celebration of the whole Paschal Mystery. Their involvement, however, requires an inculturated catechesis1 that not only condemns what does not accord with the truth of the Gospel, but also values and acknowledges the proper spiritual richness and goodness that a bountiful God has spread among the nations within their peculiar cultural and religious systems. A second finding is that popular religiosity, as studied by the human and social sciences, theologians, and the Magisterium, is a complex phenomenon. It can be grouped according to a threefold typology: exclusion or condemnation, accommodation or manipulation, and inclusion. A contemporary theology of liturgical inculturation that involves the harmonization between popular religiosity and the Roman liturgy is better suited for an inclusive approach, since it acknowledges the presence of the Holy Spirit in peoples cultures, traditions, and religiosity. This inclusion, however, does not remain blind for the practices, customs and believes of people that are not in harmony with the truth of the Gospel. It rather seeks to correct and purify these where necessary, before they can be brought to a level worthy of Gods praise. In so doing, it uses Church doctrine based on Sacred Scripture and the Apostolic tradition as its lens through which it evaluates the peoples religiosity. However, to understand and value the richness of popular religiosity, a contemporary theology needs to dialogue with the human and social sciences that have culture (of which the peoples religiosity is a facet) as their object of research. These sciences can provide theology with a deeper understanding of popular religiosity as it occurs in its entire breadth. Moreover, they can contribute to a further reappraisal, and hence increase a sense of appreciation for what may be

One should note that every liturgical celebration has an implicit catechetical or pedagogical dimension insofar as they seek to support and promote the faith growth of the participants, for instance, through the Scripture readings, the preaching of the word of God, as well as through song and symbols.

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seen as the hidden presence of the Holy Spirit,2 and reveal Gods presence in absence among the nations. In this way, popular religiosity can be seen as inculturated faith, a faith arrived at from the happy encounter between the work of evangelization and the local culture.3 But faith needs maturation, and constant renewal. Hence, like the very process of inculturation, an inculturated faith too is in need of continuous renewal. When popular religiosity is seen as such, it becomes easier to fit it into the scheme of liturgical inculturation. The third finding is that there exists a dialectical relation between inculturation and evangelization, with both having a common origin in Gods divine revelation in Jesus Christ. They are also inextricably bound with the mission of the Church, which is to proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of the entire human race. As Jesus received His mission to proclaim Gods kingdom from the Father, the Church received her (com)mission to proclaim the Gospel from Christ.4 The Church is thus divinely sent to the nations of the world to be unto them a universal sacrament of salvation. 5 Inculturation is todays method of evangelization. Contemporary time has given rise to an increased awareness of the necessity of an inculturated evangelization as the proper mode for touching peoples hearts and winning them for the love of Christ. Because of Gods divine revelation and because of her mandate from Christ, the Church has a moral and spiritual obligation to evangelize through inculturation, and to inculturate through evangelization. She does so by rooting the Gospel in peoples lives and cultures, for which she receives impetus from the liturgy, the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit.6 The liturgy is also the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows.7 Hence, from the liturgy, the faithful derive their baptismal birthright to evangelize in order that all peoples may be brought into union with God. Both evangelization and inculturation are incarnational imperatives, because the Church cannot deny anyone the right to hear the Good News of the Lord and to have his or her life transformed in light of the salvation Jesus has promised. The liturgy remains one of the main areas for inculturation. It is in this area that the local Church expresses her faith in the risen Christ. The old adagio lex orandi lex credendi retains its vital force for every time and in every society. The postconciliar document Comme le prvoit reminds us that:

2 3

Cf. Jap-A-Joe, The Hidden Gospel, in Into the Deep, ed. Ramcharan, 73-91. John Paul II, Address at Zapopan, Mexico, 30 January 1979, quoted in Place of Popular Devotion, by Norberto Cardinal Rivera. Cf. Mt 27: 1-10; Mk 16:16. Ad Gentes, no. 1; Lumen Gentium, no. 48. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 14. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 10.

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The prayer of the Church is always the prayer of some actual community, assembled here and now. It is not sufficient that a formula handed down from some other time or region be translated verbatim, even if accurately, for liturgical use. The formula translated must become the genuine prayer of the 8 congregation and in it each of its members should be able to find and express himself of herself.

That is why liturgy cannot be reduced to an abstract set of prayers and rubrics which is eternally valid for all times and places, [it is] rather the manner in which people in specific historical, social and cultural circumstances express their faith through symbolic ritual.9 Vatican II expresses this view by stipulating that the liturgy is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.10 The fourth finding is that liturgical inculturation ultimately seeks the conversion of hearts and the purification of cultures from within, so that all peoples can receive salvation in Christ, through Baptism in water and in Spirit, in the Triune Name of God. Liturgical inculturation is thus necessary to foster conscious and active participation by the faithful in the liturgy.11 As such, the celebration of the liturgy, in a way that reflects the genius of a people, appeals much better to their consciousness i.e., through the reading and preaching of Gods Word concerning the necessity to bear witness of Christs love with their actual lives, so that Gods divine will for salvation can be extended to all. Liturgical inculturation also presupposes the renewal of the Church, which implies a birthing experience from water and blood, hence, giving birth to a new creation. It implies a correlation between the renewal of the liturgy, the Church, the faithful and their culture. This way, the Gospel of the Incarnation, as a katabatic and anabatic movement, can be engrafted on the hearts of the faithful. The more the liturgy becomes a source of wholeness and homecoming for the faithful, letting the Gospel and their culture cross-fertilize one another, the better equipped the faithful will be to act in the world as Christians.12 In that way they become the salt of the earth, inspiring the transformation of lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus, to the glory and honor of God the Father. Through the Spirit people are gathered to give

8 9

Comme le prvoit, no. 857. John F. Badovin, Liturgy in Ancient Jerusalem, Alcuin / GROW Liturgical Study, vol. 9, Grove Liturgical Study, vol. 57 (Baltimore, Nottingham: Grove Books, 1989), 5, quoted in Tan Yun-ka, Constructing an Asian Theology of Liturgical Inculturation from the Documents of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), East Asian Pastoral Review, vol. 36, no. 4 (1999): 383-401, 385. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 2. Chupungco (Liturgical Inculturation, 67) holds that active participation is the pastoral principle of liturgical inculturation. It pervades the entire program of conciliar reform [and] underlies every conciliar legislation on the revision of liturgical rites and texts (ibid.). Josef Andreas Jungman, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 9.

10 11

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praise and glory to God, in their own proper cultural modes. This whole process of renewal and rebirth is revealed by the Paschal Mystery and celebrated by the liturgy. In short, a contemporary theology of liturgical inculturation should have its basis in the Incarnation of the Word in Jesus, the Christ, and be rooted in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. All identified dimensions are related to these two fundamental features, which together constitute an organic unity. The fifth finding, resulting from the previous one, is that an incarnational and therefore Trinitarian theology has an essential ecclesiological dimension. Christians are those who perceive their lives as being in a continuous relationship with the Father, through the Son in the Spirit. The God that is a divine community of Persons sharing one nature, will, and knowledge creates community and fellowship among the faithful. The ecclesiological dimension means concretely that the local Church functions as the author of any theology of liturgical inculturation. Christ has promised to be with His Apostolic Church until the end of time. The sixth finding is that liturgical inculturation always has a soteriological dimension, referred to as our salvation through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, according to the will of the Father. This is a consequence of the renewal and rebirthing potentials that accompanies the Incarnational experience, seen from the point of view of the Paschal Mystery. As in the Incarnation, so too do soteriology and pneumatology go hand in hand in the life of the Church and her liturgy. Without the Holy Spirit, personal lives cannot be transformed, nor find their sanctification in the Church, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. The seventh finding, which is linked with the previous, is that liturgical inculturation is more than a method or strategy of evangelization. If inculturation means the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration into Christianity13 as John Paul II has pointed out, then liturgical inculturation is really the fruit of a set of processes [that] happens not when faith is inserted, but when faith is embodied incarnated and expressed in the life of the faithful.14 It involves the dynamic translation of the deep structures of Christianity ... into the deep structures of peoples lives or cultures ... [from where the former] generate transformations of the surface structures of peoples actual lives, so that they mirror the imperatives of the gospel more clearly,15 as Gittins contends. For him the so-called gospel values constitute the deep structures of Christianity, which he identifies in virtues like forgiveness and reconciliation,
13 14

Redemptoris Missio, no. 52. Gittins, Beyond Liturgical Inculturation, 70; also see Redemptoris Missio, no. 54 that corroborates Gittinss point, where it states that inculturation must be an expression of the communitys life. Ibid.

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hospitality and inclusion, thanksgiving (eucharistia) and worship (latria), or love of God and neighbor. More directly, Gittins continuous, they can be found in the commands of Jesus who said, if you love me, keep my commandments: identifying the commandments of Jesus touches the deep structures of the Gospel.16 Apart from these gospel values there are other values more directly related to the Holy Spirit. One receives these as gifts from the Holy Spirit, the so-called fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). These too, according to Gittins, are core values that constitute the deep structures of Christianity. However, they need to be embodied, lest they remain idea(l)s disparate from the self. Liturgical inculturation seeks to incarnate these values in the life of the people. These values often already permeate the cultures of the people. But only when they are embodied, and orient people to the salvation Christ has promised us, does faith becomes truly inculturated. When this faith is liturgically celebrated, then liturgical inculturation has achieved its fullest potential. An eight finding is that when popular religiosity is properly studied, it shows more points of contact with the Gospel than one may have previously assumed. Our treatment of the evil eye phenomenon is an example hereof. On a final note, we may conclude with Harriman that a theology of liturgical inculturation must by necessity be sacramental; it must be communal; it should tread the path of dialogue with cultures and the social sciences, and must be contextual.17 It does so for the glory of God and the sanctification and salvation of His people.

16 17

Ibid. Harriman, Foundations for Theology, 420-21.