VATICAN CITY (CNS): The fact that Jesus became human, challenges Christians to live and express their faith while staying within the context of their own culture, said the head of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
French Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the council, said the Catholic faith “cannot be lived outside the boundaries of, or parallel to, daily life and the culture of a population or a nation”.
“The dynamic of the Incarnation asks that the faith be lived and expressed while fully inserted in the culture and reality that surrounds us,” he said on June 13 at a gathering to mark the council’s 25th anniversary.
At the anniversary celebration, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, head of the Congregation for Clergy, said that in all cultures one could see signs of God’s divine word.
The cardinal also said certain Latin American traditions – such as making pilgrimages to shrines, holding feasts in honor of patron saints and the strong devotion to Mary – have shown that the Catholic faith has become deeply entrenched in the Latin American culture.
Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said that “the sacred liturgy is a privileged area in which inculturation is considered a necessity”.
Cardinal Arinze told the gathering that the adaptations to the Roman rite, approved for use in the Democratic Republic of Congo, deserve special mention in any discussion of inculturation.
What was known for almost 30 years as the “Zairian rite” reflects “the style, genius and cultural expressions of that nation”, he said.
“This fact encourages other countries in Africa to make greater efforts at liturgical inculturation.”
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