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Inculturation is a term used in Christian missiology referring to the adaptation of the way the Gospel is presented for the specific cultures being evangelized. It is attuned - but not identical - to the term acculturation used in Sociology. The term was popularized by the encyclical Redemptoris Missio of Pope John Paul II (1990), but predates that encyclical. In fact St Paul's speech to the Greeks at the Aeropagus of Athens (Acts 17:22-33) could rightly be considered as the first inculturation attempt. Not a very successful one, if we go by the reaction of the people: at this mention of rising from the dead, they burst out laughing... All through its long history, as and when necessary, the message of the Gospel was inculturated. Problems arose when some tried to stop this natural inculturation movement, as when Latin was made a quasi sacred language, when translation of the Bible in the vernacular languages was condemned, when customary veneration of the ancestors (so called 'Chinese Rites') was forbidden in China, etc. Early practitioners of inculturation in the history of missions include St. Patrick in Ireland, Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. From after the council of Trent (1545-1563) the movement became more systematic: José de Anchieta for the indigenous people of Brazil, Roberto de Nobili in South-India. Matteo Ricci in China, Alexandre de Rhodes in Vietnam, and countless others. And the movement goes on...

"Inculturation" has been defined different ways - Pope John Paul II addressed the issue in several encyclicals and public appearances.

• "The incarnation of the Gospel in native cultures and also the introduction of these cultures into the life of the Church." ^[1]

• "The intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures." ^[2]

• "It is now acknowledged that inculturation is a theological term which has been defined in Redemptoris Missio 52 as the on-going dialogue between faith and culture." ^[3]

1. ^ John Paul II, encyclical Slavorum Apostoli, June 2, 1985, No. 21: AAS 77 (1985), 802-803; Address to the Pontifical Council for Culture plenary assembly, Jan. 17, 1987, No. 5: AAS 79 (1987), 1204-1205.
2. ^ Redemptoris Missio 52-54.
3. ^ Ethiopia and Inculturation, Brendan Cogavin C.S.Sp.

• Schineller, Peter. A Handbook on Inculturation. New York, 1990.
• Shorter, Aylward. Toward a Theology of Inculturation. Maryknoll, NY, 1988.

• Jesus Living in Mary: Handbook of the Spirituality of St. Louis de Montfort. Chapter: "Inculturation"
• Translation and Inculturation in the Catholic Church by Stephen M. Beall

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