#inculturation

The rule of life laid down for Catholics is not of such a nature that it cannot accommodate itself to the exigencies of various times and places. (VOL. XXIV-13.) The Church has, guided by her Divine Master, a kind and merciful spirit, for which reason from the very beginning she has been what St. Paul said of himself: “I became all things to all men that I might save all.”

History proves clearly that the Apostolic See, to which has been entrusted the mission not only of teaching but of governing the whole Church, has continued “in one and the same doctrine, one and the same sense, and one and the same judgment,” — Const. de fide, Chapter iv.

But in regard to ways of living she has been accustomed to so yield that, the divine principle of morals being kept intact, she has never neglected to accommodate herself to the character and genius of the nations which she embraces.

Who can doubt that she will act in this same spirit again if the salvation of souls requires it? In this matter the Church must be the judge, not private men who are often deceived by the appearance of right. In this, all who wish to escape the blame of our predecessor, Pius the Sixth, must concur. He condemned as injurious to the Church and the spirit of God who guides her the doctrine contained in proposition lxxviii of the Synod of Pistoia, “that the discipline made and approved by the Church should be submitted to examination, as if the Church could frame a code of laws useless or heavier than human liberty can bear.”

The following is a presentation I gave for a ‘Dominican Forum’ lunch hosted by CCLA Investment Managers in the City of London on 12 June 2018. 

Fr Lawrence Lew OP looks at some of the influences, rituals and traditions from the Church and explains where they come from and their relevance in the 21st Century. 

The Met Gala 2018, themed "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination", caused some controversy in the media recently, with its haute couture outfits modelled on the iconography of saints and the sacred vestments of the Catholic liturgy. 

At the same time, it served as a pointed reminder that the richness of our cultural heritage can capture the imagination even of a religiously sceptical secular world. 

What does this say, then, for Catholic attempts to engage non-believers in dialogue? Should we shy away from the more exotic aspects of Catholic practice, or embrace them?

On one hand, today’s topic could be construed quite narrowly. We could limit ourselves to a discussion of the Met Gala 2018, or the exhibition – which I hope to view in August – but although I shall refer to it, I thought I should broaden the focus a little. On the other hand, to speak about culture, the dialogue of cultures and inculturation (as I had initially wanted to) seemed too broad for a short presentation. 

So, this afternoon I will concentrate on material culture, that is, the objects we create and utilise and interact with. As material creatures, these objects say something about us as individuals and as a society, and they also help form us individually and collectively. This, I believe, is what the relatively new study of material culture is concerned with. When speaking about Catholic material culture, I will think principally of the things that we use in the Sacred Liturgy because this is where as individuals and as a community we create and use material objects. In particular, I am interested in how material culture can help engage people with the content of the Catholic Faith, so I shall speak a little about material culture and evangelisation. Finally, I hope to say something about the distinctiveness of Catholic material culture and belief, and the opportunity or challenge this poses in our world today.

When St Thomas Aquinas considers the necessity of the sacraments, he observes that “man is prone to direct his activity chiefly towards material things”. For it belongs to our bodily human nature to interact with material things, and we need to use tools to do things and to shape the material world we inhabit. The sacraments, therefore, are perfectly suited to our human nature as we are “led by things corporeal and sensible to things spiritual and intelligible.” However, we also make and use material things in order to express our spiritual natures, that is to say, we externalise our beliefs, our ideas, our concepts, our history, our identity. Hence, the sacramental rites and Liturgy of the Church have, over two thousand years and spanning many cultures, given rise to a rich and varied range of objects. I would include church buildings among the material objects we interact with, as well as items of clothing, liturgical vessels like the chalice, and finally, the matter for the sacraments themselves: bread, wine, oil, water. 

When it comes to divine worship, the impulse has been to give the very best and finest of material culture, the most beautiful that we can muster, to God. This is fitting if we consider the effort and time taken as a sacrificial act of love for God. Moreover, giving God our best is a reflection of what God has done for us, and an act of gratitude. For God has given us this material world – “the earth and its fullness”, as the psalmist says, comes from God, and he creates it out of love. Indeed, St Thomas would say that God created the material world for the sake of us material creatures, so that he can manifest his wisdom and goodness and love to us through the vast wonder and beauty of the universe! The medieval Gothic cathedral, therefore, was often a representation of the entire cosmos offered up to God in thanks and worship. So Umberto Eco observes, as the cosmos revealed to man the glory of God, so “the cathedrals sought to reiterate this discourse: they “actualised a synthetic vision of man, of his history, of his relation to the universe… The cathedrals, the highest artistic achievement of medieval civilization, became a surrogate for nature” that tells forth the glory of God.

In a materialistic culture such as ours, the Faith-filled motivation behind a great cathedral can be forgotten or ignored. Sometimes the cathedral is viewed along Marxist terms as an example of the power of the Church who used the donations and labour of the poor to build the cathedral. Or the cathedral is said to be a symbol of the oppressive dominance of the Church in medieval society. Or one can enter a church and see only riches and wealth – many have visited St Peter’s Basilica, or even the Rosary Shrine, and then wrongly surmised that the church is rich; but from the very beginning rich works of art to beautify the Liturgy have been given to the church by pious benefactors as acts of devotion to God or a saint. Unfortunately, if one reads the world through a materialistic or corporate lens, then one can and will view church architecture purely in political-economic terms – much depends on the eye of the beholder. 

The people who built the first Gothic cathedrals were aware of this. The central portal of the abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris has this inscription: “Passerby, who is stirred to praise the beauty of these doors, do not let yourself be dazzled by the gold or by the magnificence, but rather by the painstaking work. Here a famous work shines out, but may Heaven deign that this famous work that shines make spirits resplendent so that, with the luminous truth, they may walk toward the true light, where Christ is the true door”. As St Thomas said, through through “corporeal and sensible” things we are to be led to “things spiritual and intelligible”, to Christ. 

In focussing upon material culture and in using them as points for dialogue with our contemporaries, then, it is vital that we keep Christ at the centre; that we allow their beauty to point us to Him who is, as St Augustine said, “Beauty so ancient and so new”. Indeed, in speaking of the created world or of things created by human invention, we can say with St Paul that “all things were created through him and for him” (Col 1:16). So, the beauty of nature, and the marvellous order and logic that scientists find in creation speak of the Logos through whom all things were made. Hence, the bejewelled Gospel book cover or the illuminated Book of Hours points to the surpassing value of the Word of God; the golden monstrance recalls the infinite value of the Eucharist. To gain Christ, St Paul had said: “I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse” (Phil 3:8). And the priestly vestments, ultimately, are about putting on Christ, and acquiring the virtues of the New Man (cf Gal 3:27) as the Priest stands at the Altar in persona Christi. In speaking about icons and religious art, the use of colour also indicates what the Church truly values. Gold (found in the background of icons and mosaic domes, for example) is not, as many people tend to think, a sign of wealth. Nor was it simply to give us a pretty reflective surface for the candlelight. Gold was incorruptible – it did not tarnish – and so it became associated with the spiritual which did not corrupt and with the heavenly realm which was eternal. Hence the saints and Christ are depicted in gold robes or golden environments, as a sign of the closeness of heaven, the eternal, the spiritual. Conversely, for us blue is associated with the sky and so with heaven. Our Lady, therefore, is said to be clothed in blue. But the Bible says she is clothed with the sun, not with blue. Why then, this use of aquamarine? As the name of the colour implies, blue pigment came from across the sea, derived from lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan. It was so costly to obtain that it was more precious than gold. Out of love for Mary, patrons asked that she be painted in blue because they wanted to give her the best, the most priceless pigments they could afford. 

Unfortunately, to many non-believers (and not a few Catholics too), sacred art and architecture can all look like conspicuous consumption; sacred art and chantry chapels regarded as prestige items acquired by the rich and powerful. Indeed, the Met Gala demonstrates to us what happens when the Christocentric focus is removed from the Church’s material culture, when they are no longer used in the Liturgy for divine worship: they become mere precious objet d’art, signs of wealth, adornments for the rich and influential. 

The problem, I think, is that we have been somewhat naive in thinking dialogue is achieved simply because there is a common interest or because one is interested in Catholic material culture. However, Bishop Robert Barron, who is at the forefront of dialogue with our culture, makes an observation about a problematic in this kind of assumption. He notes that the call for dialogue “has come almost exclusively from the church and not from the culture… Rarely if ever have I heard of representatives of the culture eager to submit their manner of thinking and behaviour to the discipline of the church or to make themselves intelligible to religious people”. The result is the kind of display we saw at the Met Gala. In fact, almost twenty years ago, Pope St John Paul II observed that “handing on the Gospel message in today’s world is particularly arduous, mainly because our contemporaries are immersed in cultural contexts that are often alien to an inner spiritual dimension, in situations in which a materialist outlook prevails.” So, we must beware that “culture is not the interpretative lens for the Church”. Rather, as Barron says, “it’s Christ, and everything must be read through him”.

Drawing upon Blessed John Henry Newman’s thought, Barron suggests that “a healthy Church has the power of assimilation, just as a robust organism draws into itself and adapts to its purposes certain features of its world, and it throws off other elements that would compromise or threaten its essential structure. Newman observes that an unhealthy animal will, soon enough, itself be assimilated by the stronger animals around it. So, the Church ought to reach out to the world but never allow the world to set the agenda for the Church. To assimilate is to take in what it can and resist what it must.” 

Pope John Paul II said a similar thing about inculturation. It is “making the Gospel incarnate in different cultures and at the same time introducing peoples, together with their cultures, into her own community”, taking in the best of a culture but rejecting whatever is alien to the Gospel. One thinks, for example, of what St Thomas Aquinas said when he was accused of watering down the Gospel with the pagan philosophy of Aristotle. He replied: “I am turning water into wine”. Indeed, just as grace perfects nature, so a culture can and must be perfected by the Gospel. But this requires confidence in the Truth of the Gospel, a confidence that comes from studying sound theology and knowing the riches of Catholic thought and traditions well, so that we are firmly founded on Christ. At the same time, one must be attentive to the culture, and become opportunistic in using those things that are buzzing in popular culture as bridges to the Gospel, to talk about our Faith and explain Christ to the sceptical.

The first thing one notices about the inculturated [Afro-]Mass is that the whole two- to three-hour ritual (twice the length of the traditional Mass) is accompanied, from beginning to end, by the loud rhythmic drums called atabaques. These tall cylinders are widely associated with the music of samba, as well as the irredeemably un-Christian religions of umbanda and candomblé. It is therefore not surprising that most witnesses, when asked to comment on the inculturated Mass, think first of the drums. They remark on how unusual it is to see such drums —whose very mention provokes a shiver in some— inside the sacred precinct of the church. They also comment on the drum's constant din, the fact that they are played far more during the inculturated Mass than any musical instrument is played during the traditional Mass. When asked to explain the presence of the drums, theologians of the pastoral negro point to the Psalm of David that incites the believer to praise the Lord "with timbrel" (Psalms 150:4). They also insist that bringing the atabaque into the church is an act of cultural revolution, in which the demonized instrument is finally winning the respect it deserves. "For too long," said Frei David, "the atabaque has been seen as the tool of the devil. So by bringing it into the Mass, we are declaring its value, saying 'No! It is a valuable part of African and Afro-Brazilian culture. It is nothing to be ashamed of. It too must take its place in the sun.'" The constancy of the drumming derives from the black pastoral's interpretations of popular culture. "Our understanding," said one black priest, "of sacred rituals in Africa is this: in contrast to European rituals, which value silence at the most sacred moments, there they value the most intense music, noise, and drumming. So in order to show the whole ritual is sacred, that there are no profane moments, it is appropriate to keep the drum going throughout."

The inculturated [Afro-]Mass calls upon celebrants, especially the presiding priest, to wear "African" colors and garments. The priest wears a long, brightly colored shawl, and a "kepi" — a round, flat, multicolored headdress strongly associated in Brazil with the black movement and sometimes with pais-de-santo (ritual leaders) in candomblé. His assistants, other celebrants, and the dancers all wear clothing supposed to evoke "Africa" by virtue of their vibrant colors and loose, flowing fabrics. The notion that bright colors are somehow peculiarly "African" is paramount. One priest went so far as to claim that "in Europe, white symbolizes peace. Of course, it is the Pax Britannica! But we feel this is a continuation of the idea that only white can be good and peaceful. So we were very pleased to learn that in Africa, quite to the contrary, it is not white, but the combination, in harmony, of many different bright colors that represents peace. In Africa the idea is not a single, overpowering white color, but the coexistence of many colors." Often, too, the clergy and laity say that Brazilian blacks naturally prefer vibrant colors. The use of colorful garments in the inculturated Mass is among the least controversial of its ritual innovations. In part, this has to do with the lack of strong religious associations with multicoloredness. But what is more important, the leaders' desire to avoid white clothing sits well with many participants. For white —as all Brazilians know but as the framers of this Mass seem to have temporarily forgotten— happens to be the most sacred color of candomblé; too much white would, once again, raise the spectre of introducing the religion of the devil into the Mass.

1. Pope Francis celebrating the Zaire Use of the Roman Rite, the first Sunday of Advent, 2019. (x) 2. Clergy celebrating the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite in Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore. (x) 3. A priest celebrating the Holy Qurbana according to the Syro-Malabar Rite at Mundelein Seminary, December 2018. (x)

Everything that the Church has to offer must become incarnate in a distinctive way in each part of the world, so that the Bride of Christ can take on a variety of faces that better manifest the inexhaustible riches of God's grace. Preaching must become incarnate, spirituality must become incarnate, ecclesial structures must become incarnate.

- Pope Francis (Querida Amazonia, §6ab)

And the nations, despite a difference of development due to diverse conditions of life and culture, are not destined to break the unity of the human race, but rather to enrich and embellish it by the sharing of their own particular gifts and by that reciprocal interchange of goods which can be possible and efficacious only when a mutual love and lively sense of charity unite all the sons of the same Father and all those redeemed by the same Divine Blood.

- Pope Pius XII (Summi Pontificatus, §43)

Where conformity of mode cannot be had, nations are entitled to their own devotions and ceremonies, provided faith and peace be maintained. Perhaps as a result of a certain diversity devotion will even be increased, since each nation will endeavor with zeal and diligence to make its own rite more splendid […] if you will deign to do this, the sword will cease, as will also the malice of hatred and all evils; and all will know that there is only one religion in a variety of rites [Latin: una religio in varietate rituum]