Editing Inculturation (section)

==Papal teachings==

===Leo XIII===
{{see also-text|[[Liturgical Latinisation]]}}
In the late nineteenth century, Pope [[Leo XIII]] fostered inter-cultural diversity, leading to the reintegration of the [[Armenian Catholic Church]] into the Catholic Church in 1879.  He opposed efforts to Latinize the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Rite]] Churches, saying that they constitute a most valuable ancient tradition and symbol of the divine unity of the Catholic Church. His 1894 encyclical ''Praeclara gratulationis'' praised the cultural and liturgical diversity of expressions of faith within the Church. In ''[[Orientalium Dignitas]]'' he repeated the need to preserve and cultivate diversity and declared different cultures to be a treasure.<ref name="Duffy 241">Duffy 241</ref>  He opposed the latinization policies of the Vatican and decreed a number of measures that  preserved the integrity and distinctiveness of other cultural expressions.<ref name="Duffy 241"/>

===Benedict XV and Pius XI===
While [[Pope Pius IX]] and [[Pope Pius X]] tended to be slightly more Latin oriented, [[Benedict XV]] was especially concerned with  the development of missionary activities, which had suffered so much during [[World War I]]. He believed that inculturation was based on development of a domestic clergy in lands where Christianity was new. On November 20, 1919, he appealed to the Catholics of the world, to support missions and especially the development of local clergy, favouring a de-Europeanization of the Catholic missions.<ref>Franzen 382</ref> [[Pope Pius XI]] promoted local clergy in order to better recognize local cultures.  He held a mission congress in Rome in 1922. Each year he personally consecrated newly appointed bishops from Asia, Africa and Latin America.<ref>Franzen 385</ref> At his death 240 dioceses and administrations were led by bishops who were natives of the countries where they served.

===Pius XII===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Tardpio12.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Pius XII with his closest co-worker: Monsignore [[Domenico Tardini]] in October 1958'']] -->

In 1939 [[Pope Pius XII]], within weeks of his coronation, radically [[Pope Pius XII and the Church in China|reverted the 250-year-old Vatican policy]] and permitted the veneration of dead family members in [[China]].<ref name="Franzen 324"/> The December 8, 1939 issuance from  the [[Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith]], issued at the request of Pius XII, stated that  Chinese customs were no longer considered superstitious but rather an honourable way of esteeming one's relatives, and therefore permitted to Catholics.<ref>J Smit, ''Pope Pius XII,'' New York, 1950 pp. 186–187</ref> The Church established twenty new arch-dioceses, seventy-nine dioceses, and thirty-eight apostolic prefect over the next decade. But in 1949, the Communist revolution took over the country and repressed Christianity.<ref>Franzen 325</ref>
 
The introduction of the Gospel means inculturation and not the destruction of local cultures. Pius emphasized this; he wrote in [[Summi Pontificatus]] that a deeper appreciation of various civilizations and their good qualities is necessary to the preaching of the Gospel of Christ.<ref>Evangelii 56</ref> And in his 1944 speech to the directors of the Pontifical Missionary Society, he said: <blockquote>"The herald of the Gospel and messenger of Christ is an apostle. His office does not demand that he transplant European civilization and culture, and no other, to foreign soil, there to take root and propagate itself. His task in dealing with these peoples, who sometimes boast of a very old and highly developed culture of their own, is to teach and form them so that they are ready to accept willingly and in a practical manner the principles of Christian life and morality; principles, I might add, that fit into any culture, provided it be good and sound, and which give that culture greater force in safeguarding human dignity and in gaining human happiness."<ref>Evangelii 60</ref> </blockquote>Inculturation was addressed in his encyclicals ''[[Evangelii praecones]]'' and ''[[Fidei donum]]'', issued on June 2, 1951 and April 21, 1957, respectively. Pius increased the local decision-making of Catholic missions, many of which became independent dioceses. Pius XII demanded recognition of local cultures as fully equal to European culture.<ref>Audience for the directors of mission activities in 1944 A.A.S., 1944, p. 208.</ref><ref>''[[Evangelii praecones]]''. p. 56.</ref> Continuing the line of his predecessors, Pius XII supported the establishment of local administration in Church affairs: in 1950, the hierarchy of Western Africa became independent; in 1951, Southern Africa; and in 1953, British Eastern Africa. Finland, Burma, and French Africa became independent dioceses in 1955.

=== Paul VI===
In the [[Second Vatican Council]], [[Paul VI]] promulgated the decree ''[[Ad gentes]]'', teaching that inculturation imitates the "economy of [[Incarnation]]".<ref>Walker, C. (2009). ''Missionary Pope: The Catholic Church and the Positive Elements of Other Religions in the Magisterium of Paul VI''. IVE Press, New York. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lAmWDAs9hk4C].</ref>

=== John Paul II ===
[[John Paul II]] addressed the issue in several encyclicals and public appearances. The term was used again by the encyclical ''[[Redemptoris Missio]]'' of John Paul II in 1990.

*"The incarnation of the Gospel in native cultures and also the introduction of these cultures into the life of the Church."<ref>John Paul II, encyclical [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_19850602_slavorum-apostoli_en.html Slavorum Apostoli], June 2, 1985, No. 21: AAS 77 (1985), 802–803; [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1996/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_17011987_address-to-pc-culture_en.html Address to the Pontifical Council for Culture plenary assembly], Jan. 17, 1987, No. 5: AAS 79 (1987), 1204–1205.</ref>
*"The intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio_en.html Redemptoris Missio] 52–54.</ref>
*"It is now acknowledged that ''inculturation'' is a theological term which has been defined in ''Redemptoris Missio'' 52 as the on-going dialogue between faith and culture."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/cultr/documents/rc_pc_cultr_01061996_doc_ii-1996-ple_en.html Ethiopia and Inculturation], Brendan Cogavin C.S.Sp.</ref>

=== Benedict XVI===
[[Benedict XVI]], like his predecessor, placed a high regard on the dialogue between cultures and religions. Though he at one point attempted to move from the notion of "inculturation" to "inter-culturality",<ref>Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal (2004). ''[[Truth and Tolerance]]: Christian Belief and World Religions''. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kSrjXVX8quYC].</ref> he would later state that the inculturation of the faith is necessary, as long as the specificity and the integrity of the "culture of faith" are not compromised.<ref>Follo, F. (2010). Inculturation and interculturality in John Paul II and Benedict XVI. ''Oasis'', 29/03/2010. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120130084726/http://www.oasiscenter.eu/ar/node/5610].</ref>