Faith and culture

Must a convert give up the customs they were raised in?

No, only those that cannot be reconciled with the faith. Cultures are not to be “abolished” by the Gospel “but redeemed and fulfilled”, CCC 1204 and the Church considers what is good and true in other religions “a preparation for the Gospel”. CCC 843 The limit is stated in the same breath: adaptation “requires a conversion of heart and even, where necessary, a breaking with ancestral customs incompatible with the Catholic faith”. CCC 1206

John Paul II gave two tests for what may be kept: “compatibility with the gospel and communion with the universal Church”. Since culture is a human creation “and is therefore marked by sin”, it too needs to be “healed, ennobled and perfected”. Redemptoris Missio 54 What is kept is not left untouched; the Church takes “the good elements that already exist” in a culture and renews them “from within”. Redemptoris Missio 52

Francis applied this to practices that look pagan from outside. “Let us not be quick to describe as superstition or paganism certain religious practices that arise spontaneously from the life of peoples.” Querida Amazonia 78 An indigenous symbol can be taken up “without necessarily considering it as idolatry”, and some festivals have a sacred meaning, “albeit in need of a gradual process of purification or maturation”. Querida Amazonia 79 Nor must a convert take on the missionary’s culture: it is not essential “to impose a specific cultural form, no matter how beautiful or ancient it may be”. Querida Amazonia 69

What cannot change is the core of the sacraments. The liturgy has “an immutable part, a part that is divinely instituted”, and parts the Church may adapt to the cultures of newly evangelised peoples. CCC 1205 In the ninth century Cyril and Methodius translated the Scriptures used in the liturgy into Old Slavonic, in a new alphabet, and Hadrian II approved the Slavonic liturgical books, “which he ordered to be solemnly placed on the altar”. Slavorum Apostoli 5

El Greco, Pentecost, c. 1600. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Acts 2:3

843

The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life." LG 16; cf. NA 2; EN 53.

854

By her very mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God." GS 40 # 2. Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, Cf. RMiss 42 47. continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world," AG 15 # 1. and leads to the foundation of local churches. Cf. RMiss 48-49. It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture. Cf. RMiss 52-54. There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic." AG 6 # 2.

1204

The celebration of the liturgy, therefore, should correspond to the genius and culture of the different peoples. Cf. SC 37-40. In order that the mystery of Christ be "made known to all the nations . . . to bring about the obedience of faith," Rom 16:26. it must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived in all cultures in such a way that they themselves are not abolished by it, but redeemed and fulfilled: Cf. CT 53. It is with and through their own human culture, assumed and transfigured by Christ, that the multitude of God's children has access to the Father, in order to glorify him in the one Spirit.

1205

"In the liturgy, above all that of the sacraments, there is an immutable part, a part that is divinely instituted and of which the Church is the guardian, and parts that can be changed, which the Church has the power and on occasion also the duty to adapt to the cultures of recently evangelized peoples." John Paul II, Vicesimus quintus annus, 16; cf. SC 21.

1206

"Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this matter it is clear that diversity must not damage unity. It must express only fidelity to the common faith, to the sacramental signs that the Church has received from Christ, and to hierarchical communion. Cultural adaptation also requires a conversion of heart and even, where necessary, a breaking with ancestral customs incompatible with the Catholic faith." John Paul 11, Vicesimus quintus annus, 16.

Querida Amazonia Feb 2, 2020
Redemptoris Missio Dec 7, 1990
Slavorum Apostoli Jun 2, 1985

From the Catechism

From the Magisterium