Inculturation
At the 1998 Synod for Oceania, Bishop Max Takuira Mariu spoke on behalf of the Maori people “If the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand is to be truly Catholic, we need to be given the freedom to express our Catholicity in the language and the idiom that is ours. Christ must be given the freedom to come alive in us, with us and among us, using our language, painting our images, using idioms that are ours and which speak profoundly to our hearts.” This indicates that a new generation of Maori and Pakeha must seek fresh ways to be Catholic. Rich spiritual heritages must be celebrated whilst making the Gospel come alive in the land. In missionary circles the code word for this is inculturation. The process calls for a re-interpretation of both faith and culture, without being unfaithful to either. It involves an ongoing dialogue between the Gospel and culture. The Gospel challenges the culture, and culture re-expresses insights of the Gospel. For Maori, Pope John Paul II summed it up on his 1986 visit to the South Pacific: ”It is as Maori that the Lord calls you. It is as Maori that you belong to the Church”. Maori will only retain and express their unique identity within an inculturated mission. The challenge for the Church in New Zealand is not just to be a bi-cultural community, but also a community characterised by inculturation. Without a commitment to a genuine process of inculturation, a local church is diminished and impeded in its mission to create respectful dialogue with various cultures of the land. A faith that does not become part of the culture of the land remains alien.
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