FAITH AND VARIOUS CULTURES

8 There are some members of the faithful who have had an excellent Christian education who are having difficulty with regard to the way of expressing the faith. They think it is bound up too much with ancient and obsolete formulations and too much tied to Western culture. They are, therefore, seeking a new way of expressing the truths of religion, one which conforms to the present human condition, allows the faith to illumine the realities pressing upon men today, and makes it possible for the Gospel to be brought over to other cultures. The Church certainly has a duty to give ail possible consideration to this aspiration of men.

What is declared in the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church for recently established churches is also valid for all who labor in the ministry of the word: "From the customs and traditions of their people, from their wisdom and their learning, from their arts and sciences, these churches borrow ail those things which can contribute to the glory of their Creator, the revelation of the Savior’s grade, and the proper arrangement of Christian life" (AG, 22; cf. AG, 21; Paul VI, AIloc., August 6, 1969).

Consequently, "by presenting the Gospel message to men in a renewed way, the ministry of the word should show clearly the unity of the divine plan of salvation. Avoiding confusions and simplistic identifications, the message should always show clearly the deep and intimate harmony that exists between God’s salvific plan, fulfilled in Christ the Lord, and human aspirations, between the history of salvation and human history, between the Church, the People of God, and human communities, between God’s revelatory action and man’s experience, between supernatural gifts and charisms and human values" (Comm. 5-s/comm. 2 General Conference of Bishops of Latin America, 1968).