Sing4Him
June 14th, 2008, 10:16 AM
Pope: Gospel must be shared in ways that resonate with Asian soul
Archbishop Nicholas Chia of Singapore and bishops/archbishops from Malaysia and Brunei meet with pope in “ad limina” visit.
VATICAN CITY – The Gospel must be presented in Asia in ways that resonate with “the Asian soul” so that it will not be perceived as a foreign import or confused with secular ideals from the West, Pope Benedict XVI said.
“By speaking the truth with love, you can help your fellow citizens to distinguish the wheat of the Gospel from the chaff of materialism and relativism,” he said in a Jun 6 audience with 11 archbishops and bishops from Malaysia, Archbishop Nicholas Chia of Singapore, and Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei vicariate. The pope also met with each bishop privately later. The bishops were on their “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, a series of consultative meetings made approximately every five years.
The pope said Asia represents fertile ground for evangelization since “the peoples of Asia display an intense yearning for God”.
“If the faith is to flourish, however, it needs to strike deep roots in Asian soil, lest it be perceived as a foreign import, alien to the culture and traditions of your people,” he said.
The pope gave St. Paul the Apostle as an example of an “outstanding teacher and courageous witness to the truth of the Gospel” in missionary lands. Like St. Paul, the bishops “are called to present the Christian faith in ways that resonate with the ʻinnate spiritual insight and moral wisdom in the Asian soulʼ so that people will welcome it and make it their own”, he said, quoting Pope John Paul IIʼs 1999 document “Ecclesia in Asia” (“Church in Asia”).
But he said it was important the Gospel message was “in no way confused … with secular principles associated with the Enlightenment”.
The Enlightenmentʼs “dictatorship of positivist reason”, which tries to exclude God from the public arena, must be resisted while its promotion of human rights and freedom of religion should be welcomed, the pope said.
By fostering the Christian understanding of the universal character of human rights, the bishops would be carrying out “an important task of evangelization, since this teaching forms an essential aspect of the Gospel”, he said.
The pope noted that not all the territories offer the same degree of religious liberty and cited “serious difficulties in promoting religious instruction in schools” as an example.
http://www.catholic.org.sg/cn/wordpress/?p=2204
c.o.m.p.r.o.m.i.s.i.n.g. God's Word.
Archbishop Nicholas Chia of Singapore and bishops/archbishops from Malaysia and Brunei meet with pope in “ad limina” visit.
VATICAN CITY – The Gospel must be presented in Asia in ways that resonate with “the Asian soul” so that it will not be perceived as a foreign import or confused with secular ideals from the West, Pope Benedict XVI said.
“By speaking the truth with love, you can help your fellow citizens to distinguish the wheat of the Gospel from the chaff of materialism and relativism,” he said in a Jun 6 audience with 11 archbishops and bishops from Malaysia, Archbishop Nicholas Chia of Singapore, and Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei vicariate. The pope also met with each bishop privately later. The bishops were on their “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, a series of consultative meetings made approximately every five years.
The pope said Asia represents fertile ground for evangelization since “the peoples of Asia display an intense yearning for God”.
“If the faith is to flourish, however, it needs to strike deep roots in Asian soil, lest it be perceived as a foreign import, alien to the culture and traditions of your people,” he said.
The pope gave St. Paul the Apostle as an example of an “outstanding teacher and courageous witness to the truth of the Gospel” in missionary lands. Like St. Paul, the bishops “are called to present the Christian faith in ways that resonate with the ʻinnate spiritual insight and moral wisdom in the Asian soulʼ so that people will welcome it and make it their own”, he said, quoting Pope John Paul IIʼs 1999 document “Ecclesia in Asia” (“Church in Asia”).
But he said it was important the Gospel message was “in no way confused … with secular principles associated with the Enlightenment”.
The Enlightenmentʼs “dictatorship of positivist reason”, which tries to exclude God from the public arena, must be resisted while its promotion of human rights and freedom of religion should be welcomed, the pope said.
By fostering the Christian understanding of the universal character of human rights, the bishops would be carrying out “an important task of evangelization, since this teaching forms an essential aspect of the Gospel”, he said.
The pope noted that not all the territories offer the same degree of religious liberty and cited “serious difficulties in promoting religious instruction in schools” as an example.
http://www.catholic.org.sg/cn/wordpress/?p=2204
c.o.m.p.r.o.m.i.s.i.n.g. God's Word.