1. Is consecrated life truly a way to inculturation?

We answer in the affirmative, but the process is not automatic. Over many centuries, consecrated life has promoted missionary activity with exemplary zeal. It would, however, be historically untrue that it took into consideration cultural values, positive and negative, in its presentation of the Gospel. Often the missionaries did not succeed in involving themselves in the culture of the people among whom they were working. They often remained alien to it. Even today, it is not uncommon to meet among consecrated people some, who without openly decrying the idea of inculturation, consider it to be unrealistic and a waste of time and energy.

Will it ever be possible to separate the Lord and his message from its original jewish base? Is it possible to inculturate the spiritual heritage of a religious institute outside the cultural milieu in which our founders received their mission? It would be unrealistic to believe in a natural affinity between consecrated life and inculturation. Religious institutes must work at convincing themselves that evangelisation supposes inculturation. It must strive to discover the transcendental values of all cultures and learn to perceive them as signs of the Holy Spirit present in creation. It is really only since Vatican II that consecrated life has accepted inculturation as a necessity.