The
successful culmination of the visit of Pope John Paul II to New Delhi is a
tribute to India's secular traditions and its great sense of hospitality. But
those who expected him to unfold a new doctrine that takes into account the
religious and cultural diversities that the Asian continent represents seem to
have been disappointed. There has been no further progress from the Catholic
Church's position as enunciated in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council held
in the sixties. The `post-synodal apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Asia' that
the Pontiff gave on Saturday pays glowing tributes to the pluralistic religious
traditions of Asia, where most of the world's major religions were born.
"The church has the deepest respect for these traditions and seeks to
engage in sincere dialogue with their followers."
But the dialogue is necessary not because there
is need for religious co-existence but because "the religious values they
teach await their fulfillment in Jesus Christ." In other words, dialogue is
with a view to furthering the great mission their Lord had entrusted them with
–i.e., to go, preach and baptise. Conversion thus remains the cardinal
objective of the church and it sees in Asia great opportunities because
"it is home to nearly two-thirds of the world's population, with China and
India accounting for almost half the total population of the globe."
Like the Kapucheans who tried in vain to penetrate the
Forbidden City 300 years ago on the mistaken assumption that a group of
faithfuls lived there, Christian missionary ventures in Asia have by and large
been unsuccessful.
The
pontifical document does not explain why Christianity did not appeal to a vast
majority of the Asians despite the fact that St. Thomas reached the Malabar
coast in AD 52 and the first Christian church was built in China in the
beginning of the seventh century. By the end of the first millennium the church
in China was in a state of decline and by the end of the 14th century there was
a drastic diminution of the church in Asia, tiny Kerala being the sole exception.
It fails to explain why this happened except to state that Christianity could
not adapt itself to local cultures. But it overlooks a far weightier reason for
Christianity not taking roots in Asia. The continent is a home of great
civilizations.
For the Hindus of India whose Vedas contain answers to many of the
mysteries of human existence, the simplicity of the Christian doctrine can evoke
only a passing interest.
And
for the Chinese, proud of their ancient civilization, the instant salvation that
Christianity offers is too pedestrian a concept to fire his religious
imagination.
Thus when Ecclesia in Asia hopes that "just as in
the first millennium the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe, and in the
second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that in the Third
Christian Millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and
vital continent," it does not take into account the challenges the rich
religious traditions of Asia pose to the Christian mission. For the Church's new
millennial venture in Asia, it lays great store by inculturation. But the
failure of the celebrated Madurai mission of Robert Nobili, which was the first
major attempt at inculturation, is hardly inspiring for the church, which will
have to find ways to reconvert Europe, which is fast moving out of its orbit.
Maybe it is time for an Ecclesia in Europe.
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