The article deals with the actional aspect of the enculturation of Christianity in the missionary activity of the Roman Catholic Church. The active aspect of the enculturation of Christianity aims to adaptation of worship and other religious rituals of the Roman Catholic Church among non-Christian peoples and cultures. The active aspect is concluded in searching for new forms of expression of the cult and ritual practice of the Roman Catholic Church and the adaptation of the Catholic worship to cultural and religious realities of a Christianized people. The first part of the article presents theoretical justification for the institutional aspect of the enculturation of Christianity on the basis of analysis of the official decrees of the Second Vatican Council, as well as the encyclical and Apostolic appeals of the Pontiffs of the Roman Catholic Church. Based on historical and modern examples of the enculturation of Christianity in various countries and cultures, the analysis of the field material collected and processed during ethno-religious studies in China, Brazil, and Russia (the Republic of Sakha) is presented in the practical part of the study. Where once the process of enculturation of Christianity was not given so much attention, today this topic is beginning to develop actively both church circles and in terms of academic religious studies and other humanities. Modern methods of the enculturation of Christianity are beginning to be actively implemented in the missionary activities of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia, particularly, Yakutia. New forms of Christian preaching adapted to the mentality, culture, and religious beliefs of the Yakuts are emerging due to the enculturation of Christianity.
Key words: Roman Catholic Church, enculturation of Christianity, evangelization, missionary activity, actional aspect, worship, liturgy, The Second Vatican Council, pastoral constitution, decree, liturgical symbols, The reform of the Sacred Liturgy, traditional culture, transformation of culture, religious faith
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2017.3.5-16
About the author
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Nikolai V. Chirkov – Postgraduate student at Department of Study of Religion and History, Amur State University; of. 412, build.1, 21 Ignatievskoe Shosse, Blagoveschensk, Amur region, Russia. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. |