My own perspective is that inculturation should take place primarily in popular devotions. It becomes more problematic when dragged into the official liturgies/sacraments of the Church. Obviously the greatest form of inculturation is the use of local languages. Prior to Vatican II this occurred in popular devotions and songs that accompanied these devotions. Vatican II saw the decline of popular devotions, which now, though, are on the upswing again. But with the decline, inculturation was imposed upon the Mass and other sacraments in an unthinking and uncritical way.
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS LEO XIV
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE
"THEOLOGICAL AND PASTORAL CONGRESS"
ON THE GUADALUPE EVENT IN MEXICO
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you cordially and thank you for your reflection on the sign of perfect inculturation that the Lord bestowed upon his people in Our Lady of Guadalupe. In reflecting on the inculturation of the Gospel, it is fitting to recognize the way in which God himself has manifested himself and offered us salvation.
He has chosen to reveal himself not as an abstract entity nor as a truth imposed from without, but by progressively entering into history and engaging in dialogue with human freedom. “After speaking long ago to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways” (Heb 1:1), God revealed himself fully in Jesus Christ, in whom he not only communicates a message, but also communicates himself. Therefore, as Saint John of the Cross teaches, after Christ there is no other word to expect, nothing more to say, for everything has been said in him (cf. Ascent of Mount Carmel, II, 22, 3-5). Evangelizing consists, above all, in making Jesus Christ present and accessible. Every action of the Church must seek to draw human beings into a living relationship with Him, a relationship that illuminates existence, challenges freedom, and opens a path of conversion, preparing them to receive the gift of faith as a response to the Love that gives meaning to and sustains life in all its dimensions.
However, the proclamation of the Good News always takes place within a concrete experience. Bearing this in mind is to recognize and imitate the logic of the mystery of the Incarnation, by which Christ “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14), assuming our human condition, with all that it entails in its temporal configuration. It follows, then, that the cultural reality of those who receive the proclamation cannot be ignored, and it is understood that inculturation is not a secondary concession or a mere pastoral strategy, but an intrinsic requirement of the Church’s mission. As Saint Paul VI pointed out, the Gospel—and consequently, evangelization—is not identified with any particular culture, but is capable of permeating them all without submitting to any (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 20).
From this conviction, inculturating the Gospel means following the same path that God has traveled: entering with respect and love into the concrete history of peoples so that Christ may be truly known, loved, and welcomed from within their own human and cultural experience. This implies embracing the languages, symbols, ways of thinking, feeling, and expressing themselves of each people, not only as external vehicles for the proclamation, but as real places where grace desires to dwell and act.
However, it is necessary to clarify that inculturation does not equate to the sacralization of cultures or their adoption as the decisive interpretive framework for the Gospel message. Nor can it be reduced to a relativistic accommodation or a superficial adaptation of the Christian message, since no culture, however valuable, can simply identify with Revelation or become the ultimate criterion of faith. To legitimize everything culturally given or to justify practices, worldviews, or structures that contradict the Gospel and the dignity of the person would be to ignore that every culture—like every human reality—must be illuminated and transformed by the grace that flows from the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
Inculturation is, rather, a demanding and purifying process through which the Gospel, remaining whole in its truth, recognizes, discerns, and embraces the seeds of the Word present in cultures, and at the same time purifies and elevates their authentic values, freeing them from that which obscures or distorts them. These seeds of the Word, as traces of the previous action of the Spirit, find in Jesus Christ their criterion of authenticity and their fullness.
From this perspective, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a lesson in divine pedagogy on the inculturation of salvific truth. She does not canonize a culture nor absolutize its categories, but neither does she ignore or despise them: they are embraced, purified, and transfigured to become a place of encounter with Christ. The Virgin of Guadalupe reveals God's way of approaching his people: respectful in its starting point, intelligible in its language, and firm yet gentle in its guidance toward the encounter with the fullness of Truth, with the blessed Fruit of her womb. On the tilma, amidst painted roses, the Good News enters the symbolic world of a people and makes its closeness visible, offering its newness without violence or coercion. Thus, what happened at Tepeyac is presented not as a theory or a tactic, but as a permanent criterion for discerning the evangelizing mission of the Church, called to proclaim the True God for whom we live, without imposing Him, but also without diluting the radical newness of His saving presence.
Today, in many regions of the Americas and the world, the transmission of faith can no longer be taken for granted, particularly in large urban centers and in pluralistic societies, marked by visions of humanity and life that tend to relegate God to the private sphere or to disregard Him altogether. In this context, strengthening pastoral processes requires an inculturation capable of engaging in dialogue with these complex cultural and anthropological realities, without uncritically accepting them, so that it fosters a mature and adult faith, sustained in demanding and often adverse contexts. This implies conceiving the transmission of the faith not as a fragmented repetition of content nor as a merely functional preparation for the sacraments, but as a true path of discipleship, in which a living relationship with Christ forms believers capable of discerning, of giving an account of their hope, and of living the Gospel with freedom and consistency.
Therefore, catechesis becomes an indispensable priority for all pastors (cf. CELAM, Aparecida Document, 295-300). It is called to occupy a central place in the Church's activity, to accompany in a continuous and profound way the process of maturation that leads to a faith truly understood, embraced, and lived personally and consciously, even when this means going against the grain of dominant cultural discourses.
In this Congress, you have sought to rediscover and understand how to properly disseminate the theological content of the Guadalupe event and, consequently, of the Gospel itself. May the example and intercession of so many holy evangelists and pastors who faced this same challenge in their time—Toribio de Mogrovejo, Junípero Serra, Sebastián de Aparicio, Mamá Antula, José de Anchieta, Juan de Palafox, Pedro de San José de Betancur, Roque González, Mariana de Jesús, Francisco Solano, among so many others—grant you light and strength to continue the proclamation today. And may Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization, accompany and inspire every initiative leading up to the 500th anniversary of her apparition. I wholeheartedly impart my blessing to you.
Vatican City, February 5, 2026. Memorial of Saint Philip of Jesus, Mexican protomartyr.
Leo the Poor, 14th
No comments:
Post a Comment