Cultural diversity and religious plurality

19. What is most noticeable about the world in which the Church carries out her mission of evangelization today is the diversity of cultural situations which have developed from the perspectives of different religions. This affects every continent and every country, since there are ever more frequent intercultural and interreligious exchanges in the global village.

This was brought out in the special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. There Christianity and Islam have come into contact with traditional religions, which are still thriving today, since they permeate African culture and the social life of individuals and communities. When the evangelization of Africa began, the positive cultural values of these religions were not always taken seriously enough to be integrated with the Gospel. Today, particularly since Vatican II, the Church recognizes these religious values and promotes those which are consonant with the Gospel. It is fertile ground for cultivating conversion to Christ. «Africans have a profound religious sense, a sense of the sacred, of the existence of God the Creator and of a spiritual world. The reality of sin in its individual and social forms is very much present in the consciousness of these peoples, as is also the need for rites of purification and expiation» (Ecclesia in Africa, 30-37, 42). The positive values enshrined in these traditional cultures, such as a sense of family, love and respect for life, veneration of ancestors, a sense of solidarity and community, respect for the chief and elders, are a solid basis for the inculturation of faith, whereby the Gospel penetrates the whole of culture and brings it to fruition (cf. Ibid., 59-62). However, the Good News of Christ the Saviour, as expressed in the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12), will offer a firm and resolute challenge to attitudes from these traditions which clash with the Gospel.

20. The countries of the immense continent of Asia have ancient cultures, which are profoundly influenced by non-Christian religions and traditions of wisdom, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, Confucianism and Islam, which need to be considered very carefully. Asia as a whole may well still appear unaffected by the message of Christ, but is that not chiefly because Christianity is still perceived there as a foreign religion introduced by Westerners, which has not been sufficiently adapted, thought through and lived in the cultures of Asia? This shows how broad a pastoral approach to culture in this continent must be.

Many elements of spirituality and mysticism, like holiness, self-denial, chastity, universal love, a love for peace, prayer and contemplation, bliss in God and compassion, which are very much alive in these cultures, can lead on to faith in the God of Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul II recalls this: AIn India particularly, it is the duty of Christians now to draw from this rich heritage the elements compatible with their faith, in order to enrich Christian thought» (Fides et Ratio, 72). Religions are an expression of man's search for God, and evidence of the spiritual dimension of the human being (cf. Nostra Aetate, 2). In a world at the mercy of secularisation, they are a reminder of the divine presence and the importance of spirituality as the living core of cultures.

It is an enormous pastoral challenge to start from these rich cultural traditions, such as the age-old wisdom of China, and to steer their ancient quest for divinity towards an openness to the revelation of the living God, who makes us his partners by grace in Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer.

21. As was highlighted by the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, other large parts of the world whose culture is profoundly shaped by the Gospel message are at the same time a prey to the penetrating influence of materialist and secular life-styles, which manifests itself particularly in the rejection of religion by the middle classes and by men of culture.

The Church asserts the dignity of the human person, is struggling to cleanse society of violence, social injustice, the abuses of which street children are victims, drug trafficking, etc... In this context and affirming her preferential love for the poor and the excluded, the Church is duty-bound to promote a culture of solidarity at every level of society: government institutions, public institutions and private organizations. In striving for greater union between people, between societies and between nations, the Church will associate herself with the efforts of people of good will to build a world that is ever more worthy of the human person. In doing this, she will contribute to: Areducing the negative effects of globalization, such as the domination of the powerful over the weak, especially in the economic sphere, and the loss of the values of local cultures in favor of a misconstrued homogenization» (Ecclesia in America, 55).

In our times, religious ignorance is feeding the different forms of syncretism between ancient and now extinct cults, new religious movements and the Catholic faith. The world's social, economic, cultural and moral ailments serve as a justification for new syncretic ideologies that are increasingly present in many countries. The Church there has taken up these challenges in particular in its work to evangelize poor people, to promote social justice and to evangelize native cultures and the evolving megalopolis-cultures.(¹⁹)

22. The countries where Islam dominates are in a cultural world of their own, although there are differences between the Arab countries and the other countries of Africa and Asia. Islam is not just a religion in the classic sense of the word: it is also essentially a society with its own legislation and traditions, and the whole forms a vast community, or umma, with its own culture and plan for civilisation.

Islam is currently expanding rapidly, particularly due to migratory movements from countries with rapid demographic growth. Countries with a Christian tradition, where, except in Africa, population growth is slower or even negative, often see the increased presence of Muslims as a social, cultural or even religious challenge. Muslim immigrants themselves, at least in some countries, encounter major difficulties as regards social and cultural integration. Furthermore, the alienation of a traditional community often leads C in Islam as in the other religions C to the loss of certain religious practices and to a cultural identity crisis. True collaboration with Muslims on the level of culture in real reciprocity may foster fruitful relationships in Islamic countries and with Muslim communities established in traditionally Christian countries. Such collaboration does not dispense Christians from bearing witness to their christological and trinitarian faith in relation to other expressions of monotheism.

23. Secularized cultures have a profound influence in various parts of the world where the acceleration and complexity of cultural changes have increased. Born in countries with a long Christian tradition, this secularized culture, with its values of solidarity, generous dedication to others, freedom, justice, equality between men and women, an open mind, a spirit of dialogue and a sensitivity to ecological issues, still bears the imprint of these fundamentally Christian values which have imbued culture over the centuries and of which secularization itself brought the fruits to civilization and nourished philosophical reflection. On the eve of the third millennium, the questions of truth, values, existence and meaning with regard to human nature, reveal the limits of a secularization which, in spite of itself, gives rise to a quest for Athe spiritual dimension of life is being sought after as an antidote to dehumanization. This phenomenon C the so-called Areligious revival» C is not without ambiguity, but it also represents an opportunity... Here too there is an AAreopagus» to be evangelized» (Redemptoris Missio, 38).

When secularization transforms itself into secularism (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 55), there is a serious cultural and spiritual crisis, one sign of which is the loss of respect for the person and the spread of a kind of anthropological nihilism which reduces human beings to their instincts and tendencies. This nihilism which nurtures a serious crisis of truth that Ahas been justified in a sense by the terrible experience of evil which has marked our age. Such a dramatic experience has ensured the collapse of rationalist optimism, which viewed history as the triumphant progress of reason, the source of all happiness and freedom; and now, at the end of this century, one of our greatest temptations to despair» (Fides et Ratio, 91). By putting Christ back as the keystone of existence and restoring the place of reason enlightened by faith, a pastoral approach to culture could strengthen Christian identity by a clear and enthusiastic invitation to holiness. In this way, individuals and communities could rediscover a reason for searching in every situation for the Lord who comes, and for the life of the world yet to come (Rev 21-22). Those countries which have recovered their freedom from the stranglehold of Marxist-Leninist atheism have been profoundly scarred by a violent Adeculturation» from the Christian faith: the link between humanity and nature was modified artificially; the creature's dependence on his Creator was denied; the dogmatic and ethical truths of Christian revelation were attacked. This Adeculturation» was followed by a radical questioning of the values essential to Christians. The reductive effects of the secularism that spread through western Europe towards the end of the 1960s are at present contributing to the destructuring of culture in Central and Eastern Europe.

Other countries with traditional pluralistic democracies, against a background of massive social and religious adherence, are experiencing the thrust of a mixture of secularism and popular religious expressions brought in by migratory flows. This is why the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America gave rise to a new missionary awareness.