VATICAN CITY (UCAN) -- Asian traditions such as ancestor veneration could greatly benefit the work of evangelization if they are incorporated into the life of the Church, several Vietnamese bishops have told the Synod for Asia.

In the past, the "ancestor cult" was seen as a form of belief, but today it is considered a cultural and moral characteristic of social and family life, Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The of Hue said April 24 in his intervention on challenges to inculturation.

The Church in Vietnam must take the cult into consideration to be able to dialogue, proclaim the Good News and march together with its people, he said.

"We must courageously begin to introduce customs and traditions of veneration of ancestors into the life of the Church, especially in liturgy and sacramental rituals," said the archbishop from central Vietnam.

The ban on ancestor worship for three centuries estranged Christians from "the very foundation of Vietnamese society," Bishop Barthelemy Nguyen Son Lam of Thanh Hoa told synod participants.

Today, Christians are slowly rediscovering their Vietnamese roots, he added.

Inculturation in theology, liturgy and the sacred arts is a major problem for the Church in Asia, where the majority belong to non-Christian cultural and religious traditions, said Bishop Paul Nguyen Van Hoa of Nha Trang.

The Church's "exclusive Christocentrism" is not the right way to realize the positive contribution of other religious founders, and does not favor interreligious dialogue, he added.

"Contact with non-Christian Asia invites us to look at (Christ) in other contexts as well, especially from the cosmic and historical point of view," Bishop Hoa explained.

The mission of the synod is not to enter theological debates on history or theology, but to provide pastoral indications for evangelization, Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Hanoi said April 28.

The peoples of Asia "have a deep religious experience, which we must learn to know and appreciate," and evangelization is a dialogue of life with them, said the president of the Vietnam Bishops' Conference.

Bishop Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh said the Vietnam Church and its faith life during 50 years under the communist regime were highlighted by greater participation in catechism, devotional practices, liturgical activities and reception of the Sacraments.

Catholics have adapted themselves to the environment in both rural and urban areas, cooperating with others to build a new Vietnam, he said.

However, Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Da Lat observed that, as Vietnam emerges from a market economy which has boosted growth and investments, "customs and good morals" tend to disappear in the face of material progress.

Calling the proclamation of the Good News the very essence of the Church, the Da Lat bishop stressed the evangelizing mission to members of ethnic minorities who live in all Vietnam dioceses.

Bishop Emmanuel Le Phong Thuan of Can Tho said that in its evangelizing activities, the Church must foster the dignity and the promotion of the human person in the economic, cultural and communication fields.

Humility, love and acceptance of the cross are the attitudes that Bishop Jean-Baptiste Bui Tuan of Long Xuyen developed as a means of evangelization.

He said it was not "religion" but the Good News that he preached, adding that such attitudes were the lessons he drew from 23 years' experience as bishop in a diocese where the majority are Buddhists.

Archbishop Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, vice president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in the Vatican, and Rome-based Monsignor Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, vice-director of the International Center for Missionary Animation, also presented interventions at the synod.

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