The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is a transnational body comprising 14 full member conferences: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos-Cambodia, Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan (Republic of China), Thailand and Vietnam, as well as four associate members: Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia and Nepal.[1] In June 1999, the FABC expects to admit six new associate members from the Confederation of Independent States (CIS): Siberia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, bringing the total number of associate members to ten.[2] The foundation for the FABC was laid at an historic gathering of 180 Asian Catholic bishops at the Asian Catholic Bishops' Meeting in Manila during the visit of Pope Paul VI to East Asia and Southeast Asia in November 1970.[3] The FABC convenes in Plenary Assembly, the highest body, with the participation of all presidents and delegates of member conferences once in every four years.[4] To date, there have been six Plenary Assemblies: FABC I: Evangelization in Modem Day Asia (Taipei, Taiwan, 1974), FABC ll: Prayer - the Life of the Church in Asia (Calcutta, India, 1978), FABC Ill: The Church - A Community of Faith in Asia (Bangkok, Thailand, 1982), FABC IV: The Vocation and Mission of the Laity in the Church and in the World of Asia (Tokyo, Japan, 1986), FABC V: Journeying Together Toward The Third Millennium (Bandung, Indonesia, 1990); and FABC VI: Christian Discipleship in Asia Today: Service to Life (Manila, Philippines, 1995).

    In between these Plenary Assemblies, the FABC has sponsored colloquia on Ministries in the Church (Hong Kong, 1977), and the Church in Asia and Global Transformation (1997); an International Congress on Mission (Manila, 1979), a Consultation on Christian Presence among Muslims in Asia (Varanasi, 1983), an International Theological Colloquium entitled "Being Church in Asia: Journeying with the Spirit into Fuller Life" (Pattaya, Thailand, 1994), several Bishops' Institutes on Lay Apostolate (BILA), Missionary Apostolate (BIMA), Interreligious Affairs on the Theology of Dialogue (BIRA), Social Action (BISA) and Social Communication (BISCOM), as well as the Faith Encounters in Social Action (FEISA).  Programs are developed and executed by seven specialized offices: Office of Evangelization (OE), Office of Social Communications (OSC), Office of Human Development (OHD), Office of Education and Student Chaplaincy (OESC), Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (OEIA), Office of Laity (OL), and Office of Theological Concerns (OTC, formerly known as the Theological Advisory Commission).  An Indian theologian, Felix Wilfred, has remarked that "the FABC has created horizontal communication between the bishops and the bishops' conferences; it has fostered a spirit of collegiality, communion and cooperation among them."[5] At the same time, he acknowledged the fact that the Asian local churches, despite many similarities, are not homogeneous, and therefore "the FABC can speak only in general terms and cannot address itself specifically to concrete situations."[6]

    With that caveat in mind, this essay seeks to investigate the possible resources in the various documents of the FABC[7] for constructing an Asian theology of liturgical inculturation which is at the "service of life"[8] in Asia.  To begin with, one looks in vain in all the documents of the FABC for any significant discussion of liturgical inculturation beyond its many brief references and allusions.  In fact, the eminent missiologist Stephen Bevans has noted that explicit reflections on the general theology of inculturation are "relatively sparse."[9] According to Ladislav Nemet, this lack of any significant discussion is not surprising because it arises out of the preferred FABC approach to inculturation as "a more complex encounter between the Gospel and a local church in the whole Asian reality, made up of religions, cultures, poverty and the poor" (italics in the original).[10] Nemet summarized the approach of the FABC as follows:

The process of inculturation is no longer a question of a search for external adaptation to Asian reality and way of living, but a question of an existential nature: being and living in Asia and with Asians, becoming involved in all the aspects of life, collaborating with all the forces which are working actively to build up the Kingdom (italics in the original).[11]

    In the early documents of the FABC which were produced within the first 15 years after Vatican II, various terms like "adaptation," "indigenization," "incarnation" and "inculturation" were used interchangeably.  It appears that the idea of discussing the relationship between the Christian Gospel and culture was still a novelty within the FABC at this stage, and there was no consistency in the terminology.  For example, the first official reference to the term "inculturation" in the documents of the FABC is article 24 of the Final Statement dated 29 November 1970 of the Asian Bishops' Meeting with Pope Paul VI in Manila:

In the inculturation of the life and message of the Gospel in Asia, there have been hesitations and mistakes in the past, but we are more than ever convinced that dialogue with our fellow Asians whose commitment is to other faiths is increasingly important.  We also urge on all a deep respect for the culture and traditions of our peoples, and express the hope that the catholicity of the Church, the root of our diversity in the oneness of faith, may serve to help Asians remain truly Asian, and yet become fully part of the modem world and the one family of mankind (emphasis added).[12]

We also pledged ourselves to develop an indigenous theology and to do what we can so that the life and message of the Gospel may be ever more incarnate in the rich historic cultures of Asia, so that in the necessary process of modernization and development, Asian Christianity may help to promote all that is "authentically human in these cultures" (emphasis added).[13]

    Subsequently, the FABC held its first Plenary Assembly in 1974 with the theme "Evangelization in Modem Day Asia" and issued two versions of its Final Statement.[14] Article 26 of the unabridged Final Statement states:

Indigenization renders the local church truly present within the life and cultures of our peoples.  Through it, all their human reality is assumed into the life of the Body of Christ, so that all of it may be purified and healed, perfected and fulfilled (emphasis added).[15]

These are the three elements of crucial importance in the task of preaching the Gospel in Asia, today:

- Inculturation, which renders the local church truly present within the life of our people.
- Dialogue with the great Asian religions, which brings them into contact with the Gospel, so that the seed of the Word in them may come to full flower.
- Service of the poor, uniting with them in their struggle for a more human world (italics in the original, emphasis added).[17]

The local church is a church incarnate in a people, a church indigenous and inculturated.  And this means concretely a church in continuous, humble and loving dialogue with the living traditions, the cultures, the religions - in brief, with all the life-realities of the people whose midst it has sunk its root deeply and whose history and life it gladly makes its own.[18]

    At the Second FABC Plenary Assembly in Calcutta in 1978,[19] the FABC clarified its understanding of "inculturation" in articles 10 and 11 of its Final Statement:

10. The handing-on of these values[20]to present and future generations calls for creative assimilation and "translation" into contemporary cultural expression.  For they must serve to create or restore "spaces of silence and worship" in the lives of believing men and women and of renewed communities within contemporary society.

11. This creative labor is, in a genuine sense, what the task of inculturation calls for in many of our countries.  It must assume into the full Christian life of our peoples what is good, noble and living in our cultures and traditions -and thus in our hearts and minds.  Thus, too, it will bring to fulfillment the future harvest of "those seeds which God's own hand has planted in our ancient cultures even before the Gospels were preached to our people" (emphasis added).[21]

We are daily more convinced that the Spirit is leading us in our time, not to some dubious syncretism (which we all rightly reject), but to an integration - profound and organic in character - of all that is best in our traditional ways of prayer and worship, into the treasury of our Christian heritage.  Thus is a fuller catholicity made possible in this age of the Church (FABC II, article 31).[22]

    Following the Second FABC Plenary Assembly, an International Congress on Mission was organized by the FABC in Manila in December 1979.[23] The Second Consensus Report (CPW II) of this Congress entitled "Local Asian Churches and the Tasks of Mission: Inculturation"[24] concluded that:

6. Inculturation is not mere adaptation of a ready-made Christianity into a given situation but rather a creative embodiment of the Word in the local church.  This is the basic and fundamental process of inculturation.

7. Inculturation is a dialogical encounter process understood in its deepest meaning that comes from the salvific movement of the Triune God, because evangelization itself is above all a dialogue between the Gospel message and the given reality (FABC I, 12).  It is a dialogue conducted in humility and mutual support to seek together with our brothers and sisters the fullness of Christ.

8. Inculturation is a discovery of the seeds of the Word which lie hidden in the given cultures and living traditions (cf. AG, 11).  The mutual exchange of their discoveries among the local churches will lead to their enrichment as well as that of the universal Church.

9. As the Incarnation of the Son has been fulfilled in the Paschal Mystery, the inculturation process also involves an experience of death and resurrection. The Church as the messenger of the Gospel on the one hand, the given cultures and traditions of the people on the other, both must be purified, healed and transformed by the saving power of the Gospel (italics in the original, emphasis added).[25]

(a) the use of the Bible by the faithful should be encouraged and promoted;
(b) catechesis should not be merely a handing down of a set of truths but an initiation to the Christian life leading to the development of a spirituality beyond the merely cultic level;
(c) theologizing should be contextual, taking into consideration the ways of thinking and the sets of meanings and values that shape the lives of the people;
(d) efforts should be exerted to foster the contemplative dimension of the Christian faith through a study of the holy writings of Asian cultures and encouragement and guidance in indigenous forms of prayer and asceticism should be provided; and
(e) seasonal festivals and other community celebrations should be given a Christian meaning by interpreting them in the light of faith.[26]

    The Message of the participants at the 1983 Consultation on Christian Presence among Muslims in Asia[27] also referred to inculturation in articles 31 and 32 as follows:

31. Inculturation like dialogue is not a tactic to convert people to one's faith.  It lies at the very core of Christian incarnational faith, life and witness.  It is the existential way a Christian lives and witnesses to his faith in the concrete religious, social and cultural milieu in which providence places him.  Genuine inculturation takes place when Christians live out as individuals and as a community their double heritage of faith and country.  This can come about only through inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue.
32. In a predominantly Muslim cultural situation the Church tries to live, think, feel, speak and worship in ways which spring from faith and the religio-cultural heritage of the people.  Only in such a community can those Muslims who come to visit or to join us feel at home.  In our attempts at inculturation we should always keep in mind the legitimate sensibilities and religious feelings of the Muslims.

    The FABC Bishops' Institute for Interreligious Affairs on the Theology of Dialogue (BIRA), which was set up in 1984, has organized an ongoing series of workshops on the nature and implications of interreligious dialogue in Asia.  The Report of BIRA IV/I which was held in Samphran, Thailand, in October 1984[28 contains a section entitled "Dialogue and lnculturation:"

12. We perceive dialogue as a necessary condition and instrument for inculturation.  To achieve inculturation, dialogue with and the study of religious traditions and the local cultures are expected to carry a preponderant weight.  Two aspects seemed to deserve particular attention:
13. Harmony seems to constitute in a certain sense the intellectual and affective, religious and artistic, personal and societal soul of both persons and institutions in Asia.  Hence the imperative of a study in depth of the theology of harmony in the Asian context leading to interreligious dialogue appeared clear to us.
14. The Church is a "sign" and sacrament (LG, 1).  It seemed important to us to have an objective view of how the Church is viewed by different groups both within and outside the Church in Asia, and to evaluate how effectively Church fulfills, or does not fulfill, the aspirations and needs of the peoples of Asia, particularly the youth.  From this respect the " spirituality" of the Church in the concrete Asian milieu should be seriously reflected upon, leading to both a change in personal and institutional life-style and a sincere commitment to the poor in the true spirit of service (italics in the original, emphasis added).[29]

    The FABC Theological Consultation which met in Hua Hin, Thailand, in 1991 has given a christological and paschal orientation to inculturation in article 35 of its Conclusions:[30]

The same conformity of the Church to her master is the decisive theological foundation for the inculturation of local Churches.  The Son of God became man in Jesus in a particular place at particular time of history, two thousand years ago in Palestine.  Jesus was a Jew, deeply inserted in the culture of his people.  The revelation he conveyed of the mystery of God as well as the way in which he accomplished his messianic and saving mission are steeped in the religious tradition of Israel, even while they fulfill it in an unforeseen manner.  The mystery of the incarnation and the paschal mystery are at once the foundation and the model for the deep insertion of local Churches in the surrounding cultures, in all aspects of their life, celebration, witness and mission.[31]

    Finally, the FABC Office of Theological Concerns also discussed inculturation in relation to the broader picture of the identity of the Asian local churches in its 1991 document entitled Theses on the Local Church: A Theological Reflection in the Asian Context:[32]

A local Church comes into existence and is built up through a deep and mutually enriching encounter between the Gospel and a people with its particular culture and tradition.  In current theological and magisterial language, this is known as inculturation.  Inculturation consists not only in the expression of the Gospel and the Christian faith through the cultural medium, but includes, as well, experiencing, understanding and appropriating them through the cultural resources of a people.  As a result, the concrete shape of the local Church will be, on the one hand, conditioned by the culture, and on the other hand, the culture will be evangelized by the life and witness of the local Church (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 5).[33]

    While it may be argued that these statements are merely a summary of the various statements on inculturation which were made in the earlier documents of the FABC, at the same time the FABC Office of Theological Concems has also made three significant contributions to the discussion on inculturation.  First, it highlighted the challenges of multiculturalism and multiethnicism, and the need for inculturation to promote harmony:

[T]he encounter of the Gospel need not always be with one homogeneous culture.  It could be with a diversity of ethnic, linguistic or cultural groups living in the same locality.  In fact, in some countries in Asia we have in the same local Church the presence of various ethnic and cultural groups.  This mosaic of various languages, cultures and peoples is a great enrichment for the local Church.  The process of inculturation must take into account this concrete situation as well as the evolution and growth which these diverse human groups undergo as part of a region or nation.  In situations of conflict of ethnic or cultural identities, the local Church can serve as an agent of unity and reconciliation.  It will foster the communion of various cultures and traditions and thereby shape its own specific identity as a local Church.  In multiracial, multilinguistic and pluricultural situations the task of inculturation would involve also the promotion of harmony and communion (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 5, article 5.11).[40]

A very important area of inculturation is the liturgy of the Christian community.  Liturgy expresses the faith of the Church (lex orandi lex credendi).  Liturgy must be the outcome of the faith-experience in a particular cultural environment.  In turn, such liturgical experience should flower in a Christian life that is fully inculturated.  Therefore, true liturgical inculturation of the Christian community cannot be done from without and introduced through an external and artificial process; it should spontaneously spring forth from the life of the faith lived fully in the context of the culture and the life-realities of the peoples.  Nevertheless, given the long estrangement of the liturgical life of Asian local Churches from their cultural traditions, at this stage of transition to a fully inculturated ecclesial life, certain liturgical experiments and models are very legitimate and necessary in order to facilitate the process of inculturation by the whole community.  These experiments, however, should not reflect only the concems of a few experts, but rather should be in dialogue with the whole Christian community (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 8, article 8.03).[41]

We recommend more leeway be given in inculturating the liturgy.  Responsible experiments in the liturgy with "control groups," accompanied and fostered by due catechesis, should be encouraged so that new inculturated liturgical expressions may be discovered and developed.  We urge the episcopal conferences eventually to approve and present for general use among their faithful some diverse inculturated liturgical expressions.[42]

The miracle of the Pentecost (Acts 2) provides biblical grounding for the task of inculturation.  Pentecost manifests the Church's unity in the midst of diversity which is Catholic fullness (catholica unitas).  It grounds the authentic catholicity of the Church in the creative power of the Spirit.  The Spirit alone enables the Church to be one amidst the diversity of peoples and races and amidst the multiplicity of human situations.  For the mystery of the Church's catholicity, as it is actualized in history, is ultimately rooted in the presence and action of the Spirit.  Human efforts to create a universal communion without God end up either in the monolithic uniformity of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9) or a chaotic heterogeneity and individualism to which history attests.  Only in the power of the Word and the Spirit can a world of true human communion be built up on our planet, bringing to fulfillment and fruition all the richness of human cultures and their realizations (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 10, article 10.10).[45]

    In any survey of all the documents of the FABC, the theme of the local church[46] stands out as the overarching element in these documents and the cornerstone of all theological reflections by the FABC.  The First FABC Plenary Assembly explained the emphasis on the local church in the following terms: "The primary focus of our task of evangelization then, at this time in our history, is the building up of a truly local church" (FABC I, article 9).[47] The First FABC Plenary Assembly went on to define the "local church" as follows:

10. [T]he local church is the realization and the enfleshment of the Body of Christ in a given people, a given place and time.

11. It is not a community in isolation from other communities of the Church one and catholic.  Rather it seeks communion with all of them.  With them it professes the one faith, shares the one Spirit and the one sacramental life.  In a special way it rejoices in its communion and filial oneness with the See of Peter, which presides over the universal Church in love.

12. The local church is a church incarnate in a people, a church indigenous and inculturated (emphasis added).[48]

    Beginning in the 1980s, the FABC began to explore the idea of church as communion: "the Church is at its deepest level a communion (koinonia) rooted in the life of the Trinity, and thus in its essential reality a sacrament (mysterium et sacramentum) of the loving self-communication of God and the graced response of redeemed mankind in faith, hope and love" (FABC III, article 7.1, italics in the original).[54] This communion is expressed in the Church as "a communion of comn-fitted disciples - be they clergy or laity - working for the liberation of Asia" (FABC IV, article 4.1.3).[55] Subsequently, the FABC coined the phrase "communion of communities":

The Church in Asia will have to be a communion of communities, where laity, Religious and clergy recognize and accept each other as sisters and brothers.  They are called together by the word of God which, regarded as a quasi-sacramental presence of the Risen Lord, leads them to form small Christian communities (e.g., neighborhood groups, Basic Eeclesial Communities and "covenant" communities).  There, they pray and share together the Gospel of Jesus, living it in their daily lives as they support one another and work together, united as they are "in one mind and heart" (FABC V, article 8.1.1).[56]

    According to the FABC, the Asian local churches play a very important role in Christian mission.  In this "new age of mission," evangelization can no longer be seen as a "one-way movement from the 'older churches' to the 'younger churches,' from the churches of the old Christendom to the churches of the colonial lands," but rather, "every local church is and cannot be but missionary.  Every local church is 'sent' by Christ and the Father to bring the Gospel to its surrounding milieux, and to bear it also into all the world.  For every local church this is a primary task." (International Congress on Mission, article 14, italics in original).[60] Accordingly, "the continued building up of the local church [is] the focus of the task of evangelization today, with dialogue as its essential mode' (International Congress on Mission, article 19).[61] Every local church has full autonomy in the way it chooses to respond to its missionary task: "since the context of the local church differs from another, every local church enjoys a legitimate autonomy, while maintaining the universal communion, to shape creatively its own life, structures and fulfill its God-given mission in its cultural environment" (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 8, anicle 8.02).[62]

    At the heart of the task of mission of the Asian local churches is the dialogical encounter between the local churches and the Asian milieu with its triple reality of Asian poverty, cultures and religions:

[A] church in continuous, humble and loving dialogue with the living traditions, the cultures, the great religions - in brief, with all the life-realities of the people in whose midst it has sunk its roots deeply and whose history and life it gladly makes its own seeks to share in whatever truly belongs to that people: its meanings and its values, its aspirations, its thoughts and its language, its songs and its artistry.  -Even its frailties and failings it assumes, so that they too may be healed.  For so did God's Son assume the totality of our fallen human condition (save only for sin) so that He might make it truly His own, and redeem it in His paschal mystery (FABC I, 12).[63]

[T]he acting subject of mission is the local church living and acting in communion with the universal church.  It is the local churches and communities which can discern and work (in dialogue with each other and with other persons of goodwill) the way the Gospel is best proclaimed, the Church set up, the values of God's Kingdom realized in their own place and time.  In fact, it is by responding to and serving the needs of the peoples of Asia that the different Christian communities become truly local Churches (FABC V, article 3.3.1, italics in the original, emphasis added).[66]

    In short, the ecclesiology of the FABC goes beyond the contextualization of the Christian Gospel, sacraments, and apostolic leadership by the local church, to include an ecclesiology which also calls for the local church to engage in a mutual dialogue with and service to the Asian peoples.  Implicit in such an ecclesiology is the acknowledgement and acceptance of a fundamental ontological, soteriological and existential relationship between the Christian Gospel and the Asian peoples with their rich religious and cultural traditions, as well as their daily socioeconomic challenges.  Such a deep and profound ecclesiology enables the local church to move away from the plantatio ecclesiae mentality, i.e., away from "an institution planted in Asia" towards "an evangelizing community of Asia" (Theological Consultation, article 15).[67] Clearly, the FABC has great hopes that the local church is able to be deeply inculturated in the Asia soil to the extent that it becomes not simply a church in Asia, but truly an Asian church (BIRA IV/12, article 50).[68] Otherwise, "if the Asian Churches do not discover their own identity, they will have no future" (Asian Colloquium on Ministries in the Church, article 14(ii).[69]

    Romanticized by exotic legends and travellers' fables for thousands of years, Asia, with two-thirds of the world's population continues to be shrouded in an aura of mystery with its diverse and pluralistic ancient cultures, languages, philosophies and religions.  At the same time, it is facing a "swift and far-reaching transformation, a continent undergoing modernization and profound social change, along with secularization and the breakup of traditional societies" (FABC I, article 4).[70] The FABC has taken a positive approach to such diversity and pluralism in a manner which attempts to avoid a reductionistic exclusivism, because the grace and presence of God pertneate all of creation in a mysterious manner.  For example, it has given a place of reverence and honour to the diverse Asian religious traditions and acknowledged that God has drawn the Asian peoples to Godself through these religious traditions (FABC I, article 15).[71] The FABC also pointed out that:

Christians believe that God's saving will is at work, in many different ways, in all religions.  It has been recognized sinc the time of the apostolic Church, and stated clearly again by the Second Vatican Council, that the Spirit of Christ is active outside the bounds of the visible Church.  God's saving grace is not limited to members of the Church, but is offered to every person.  His grace may lead some to accept baptism and enter the Church, but it cannot be presumed that this must always be the case.  His ways are mysterious and unfathomable, and no one can dictate the direction of His grace (BIRA II, article 12, emphasis added).[72]

[T]he Reign of God is the very reason for the being of the Church.  The Church exists in and for the Kingdom.  The Kingdom, God's gift and initiative, is already begun and is continually being realized, and made present through the Spirit.  Where God is accepted, when the Gospel values are lived, where man is respected... there is the Kingdom. It is far wider than the Church's boundaries.  This already present reality is oriented towards the final manifestation and full perfection of the Reign of God" (BIRA IV/2, article 8.1, emphasis added).[76]

Christian communities in Asia must listen to the Spirit at work in the many communities of believers who live and experience their own faith, who share and celebrate it in their own social, cultural and religious history, and that they (as communities of the Gospel) [sic] must accompany these others "in a common pilgrimage toward the ultimate goal, in relentless quest for the Absolute," and that thus they are to be "sensitively attuned to the work of the Spirit in the resounding symphony of Asian communion" (FABC III, article 8.2).[78]

    Hence, far from being an excuse for putting aside the task of evangelization, the paradigm of the Kingdom of God in Asia challenges the local churches of Asia to work "with the Christians of other Churches, together with our sisters and brothers of other faiths and with all people of goodwill, to make the Kingdom of God more visibly in Asia" (FABC V, article 2.3.9).[80] Elsewhere in the same document, the FABC pointed out that the ultimate goal of mission in Asia is "to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God: to promote the values of the Kingdom such as "justice, peace, love, compassion, equality and brotherhood in these Asian realities.  In short, it is to make the Kingdom of God a reality" (FABC V, article 1.7).[81] The inclusivity of the Kingdom of God holds great appeal to the FABC, which "acknowledge[s] the Kingdom at work in sociopolitical situations and in the cultural and religious traditions of Asia" (Theological Consultation, article 39).[82] For the Asian Catholic bishops, the inclusive nature of the Kingdom of God is able to encompass those people who are followers of Jesus Christ, his life and his teachings and those who continue to remain Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists or Muslims, and who are otherwise excluded from the dialectical setup of present ecclesial structures.[83]

    In a keynote address at BIRA IV/12 in February 1991 the Archbishop Emeritus of Delhi, Angelo Fernandes, pointed out that peoples of other faiths in Asia were not to be regarded as "objects of Christian mission" but rather as "partners in the Asian community, where there must be mutual witness."[84] He explained that the dialogue between the Asian local churches and the peoples of Asia should be seen as a "manifestation of lived Christianity" with its own integrity which leads towards the Kingdom of God.[85] This understanding of dialogue expresses succinctly the FABC's profound understanding of dialogue as a "dialogue of life" which "involves a genuine experience and understanding," and which "demands working, not for them merely (in a paternalistic sense), but with them, to learn from them (for we have much to learn from them!) their real needs and aspirations, as they are enabled to identify and articulate these, and to strive for their fulfilment," (FABC I, article 20).[86] Such a dialogue leads to "receptive pluralism, that is, the many ways of responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit must be continually in conversation with one another.  A relationship of dynamic tension may open the way for mutual information, inspiration, support and correction" (BIRA IV/3, article 16).[87] Dialogue also "demands a total Christ-like self-emptying so that, led by the Spirit, we may be more effective instruments in building up God's Kingdom" (BIRA IV/7, article 16).[88]

    Underlying the call of the FABC for local churches to dialogue with the diverse and pluralistic Asian milieu is the question of whether there are soteriological elements in Asian religions and cultures.  One notes that the Second Vatican Council had acknowledged the existence of soteriological elements in other relgions and cultures[89] which were to be "uncovered,"[90] "set free,"[91] as well as "purified, raised up and perfected"[92] to explain the salvific message of the Christian Gospel to non-European peoples.  However, by the 1970s such an instrumentalization approach to evangelization came to be perceived by many Asian and African churches to be pejorative, manipulative, paternalistic and a form of cultural imperialism or theological chauvinism.[93] This is because it attempted to appropriate, modify and reorient the religious, philosophical and cultural traditions of local communities as ancillae theologiae to propagate the Christian Gospel without regard to their integrity.[94] In particular, the instrumentalization approach presupposed a universal and unchanging depositum fidei.  The values and thought forms of a particular community are used, not because they are inherently holy and graced, but as a convenient platform to present the unchanging depositum fidei.  In this sense, the ontological integrity and the soteriological ethos of the local sociocultural context are not being respected.[95] As the FABC Office of Theological Concerns has explained in no uncertain terms:

[I]t should be clear that culture, which has its basis in God's creation of man and nature, should be respected in its inner purpose and goal and should not be viewed simply as a means for something else.  Nor should individual elements of culture be isolated from the organic whole, Hence, inculturation cannot be a process in which particular elements of a culture are selected to serve as a garb for the Gospel.  This will be a very external and superficial kind of inculturation since it does not respect the inner soul of the culture and its organic character (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 5, article 5.06).[96]

    It is therefore not suprising that in an effort to distance itself from this problem, the FABC has chosen the quintessential Asian trait of dialogue to undergird its fundamental missiological approach in Asia.  At the same time, the FABC has to come to terms with the pervasiveness of Eurocentric ecclesial structures in Asia:

The Church remains foreign in its lifestyle, in its institutional structures, in its worship, in its westem-trained leadership and in its theology.  Christian rituals often remain formal, neither spontaneous nor particularly Asian.  There is a gap between leaders and ordinary believers in the Church, a fortiori with members of other faiths.  The Church has created a powerful priestly caste with little lay participation.  Seminary formation often alienates the seminarian from the people.  Biblical, systematic and historical theology as taught are often unpastoral and unAsian (Theological Consultation, article 13).[98]

Dialogue brings to the local churches in Asia which are in danger of being ghettos an openness to and integration into the mainstream of their cultures.  Christians grow in genuine love for their neighbors of other faiths, and the latter learn to love their Christian neighbors (International Congress on Mission, Consensus Paper III, article 4b).[99]

Here, there is a shifting of the accent from collecting the seeds of the Word in religions and inserting them into the local church, to constructive collaboration and dialogue that can lead to the recognition of the deepest values and aspirations of Asian people, the clarification of meanings and symbols, and the ability to work hand-in-hand in realizing the common destiny of all the nations and people on the continent... Inculturation in such understanding does not mean extracting selected elements from different religions, whether purely philosophical notions or religious values, and the subsequent incorporation of these elements into Christianity; but it is a dialogical process of collaboration and critical interaction for the realization of the fullness of life in Asia (emphasis added).[100]

    As early as 1970, the Asian Bishops' Meeting with Pope Paul VI passed a resolution to engage in "an open, sincere, and continuing dialogue with our brothers of other great religions of Asia, that we may learn from one another how to enrich ourselves spiritually and how to work more effectively together on our common task of total human development" (Asian Bishops' Meeting, resolution 12).[101] Four years later, the First FABC Plenary Assembly developed this nascent perspectivd on dialogue into a call for a triple dialogue with the Asian cultures, religions and the immense multitude of the poor (FABC I, articles 12 and 19).[102] This call for a triple dialogue has been reemphasized at the Fifth FABC Plenary Assembly in Bandung: "mission includes: being with the people, responding to their needs, with sensitiveness to the presence of God in cultures and other religious traditions, and witnessing to the values of God's Kingdom through presence, solidarity, sharing and word.  Mission will mean a dialogue with Asia's poor, with its local cultures, and with other religious traditions" (FABC V, article 3.1.2, emphasis added).[103] Such a dialogue is to be carried out as equal partners with the Asian cultures, religions and the poor:

We enter as equal partners into the dialogue in a mutuality of sharing and enrichment contributing to mutual growth.  It excludes any sense of competition.  Rather, it centers on each other's values.  All the partners in dialogue participate in their own culture, history and time.  Hence, dialogue brings the partners more deeply into their own cultures and bears the characteristics of inculturation (BIRA I, article 12).[104]

    The First FABC Plenary Assembly emphasized that the primary focus of the task of evangelization in Asia is the "building up of a truly local church" (FABC I, article 9)[106] which is "incarnate in a people, indigenous and inculturated," as well as "a church in continous, humble and loving dialogue with the living traditions, the cultures, the religions" (FABC I, article 12).[107] According to the Second FABC Plenary Assembly, the local churches have to be inserted in the context of the cultures of the Asian peoples today (FABC II, article 12).[108] The rationale for local churches engaging in a dialogue with cultures has been explained by the FABC Office of Theological Concems as follows:

Each culture not only provides us with a new approach to the human, but also opens up new avenues for the understanding of the Gospel and its riches, When the Gospel encounters the tradition, experience and culture of a people, its hitherto undiscovered virtualities will surface; riches and meanings as yet hidden will emerge into the light.  That is why it is so important to reinterpret the Gospel through the cultural resources of every people; this reinterpretation truly enriches the Christian tradition.[109]

By living within their particular context according to the "sense of faith aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth" (LG 12), the faithful will learn to express their faith not only in fidelity to the Apostolic Tradition, but also in response to their cultural situations.  This response is the responsibility of the whole community, which discerns God's Word and Spirit in its culture and history.[110]

    It has been pointed out that the FABC has not articulated any comprehensive definition of culture other than a few scattered indirect references in its documents.[112] For example, the First FABC Plenary Assembly made an indirect allusion to an empirical understanding of culture as a people's "meanings and its values, its aspiration, its thoughts and its language, its song and its artistry" (FABC I, article 12).[113] As far as the FABC Office of Theological Concems is concerned, "culture is ultimately the concrete way of being human among a determined people, group or nation,"[114] which is best understood from four perspectives: (i) culture as cultivation of the human spirit, (ii) empirical understanding of culture, (iii) symbolic dimension of culture and (iv) understanding society itself as a cultural reality.[115] On a different note, the Intemational Congress on Mission alluded to the rise of an "urbanindustrial universal culture" which falls in the cracks of traditional Asian cultures (International Congress on Mission, Consensus Paper VIII, article 29).[116] Such a sociological understanding of cultures and subcultures was also adopted by the FABC Office of Theological Concems, when it highlightd the existence of "two types of culture: that of the politically and economically powerful and that of the weak and powerless" (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 7, article 7.05).[117] Finally, the FABC Office of Theological Concerns has also suggested a theological understanding of culture:

For culture, as the product of the human spirit acting on nature and creating various instruments, institutions, social relationships, ways of living, etc., forms part of God's design of creation.  Besides, the culture of every people has a vocation: to contribute, each one in a unique way, to the life and well-being of the one human family.  Every culture manifests in a singular way the richness of the humanum" (Theses on the Local Church, Thesis 5, article 5.05).[118]

    The importance of engaging in a dialogue with the Asian religions was recognized as early as 1970.  Resolution no. 12 of the Asian Bishops'Meeting made this very clear: "We pledge ourselves to an open, sincere, and continuing dialogue with our brothers of other great religions of Asia, that we may learn from one another how to enrich ourselves spiritually and how to work more effectively together on our common task of total human development."[119] It has been suggested that inter-religious dialogue is not merely an activity of Christians in Asia, but rather "it enters into the very definition of what it is to be a Christian in Asia.  To be Christian is not an abstraction, but a contextual reality."[120] Hence, the First FABC Plenary Assembly has emphasized that it is only through dialogue that the Asian local churches are able to give due reverence and honour to these Asian religions and acknowledge that God has drawn these religions to Godself (FABC I, article 15).[121] In giving a privileged place to the religious traditions of the Asian peoples, the First FABC Plenary Assembly pointed out that:

In this dialogue we accept them [=the great religious traditions] as significant and positive elements in the economy of God's design of salvation.  In them we recognize and respect profound spiritual and ethical meanings and values.  Over many centuries they have been the treasuries of the religious experience of our ancestors, from which our contemporaries do not cease to draw light and strength.  They have been (and continue to be) the authentic expression of the noblest longings of their hearts, and the home of their contemplation and prayer.  They have helped to give shape to the histories and cultures of our nations (FABC I, article 14).[122]

Only in dialogue with these religions can we discover in them the seeds of the Word of God (Ad Gentes, chapter I, 9).  This dialogue will allow us to touch the expression and the reality of our peoples' deepest selves, and enable us to find authentic ways of living and expressing our own Christian faith.  It will reveal to us also many riches of our own faith which we perhaps would not have perceived (FABC I, article 16).[123]

    Hence, "interreligious dialogue flows from the nature of the Church, a community in pilgrimage journeying with peoples of other faiths towards the Kingdom that is to come" (BIRA IV/4, article 2).[130] In particular, " religious dialogue is not just a substitute for or a mere preliminary to the proclamation of Christ, but should be the ideal form of evangelization, where in humility and mutual support we seek together with our brothers and sisters that fullness of Christ which is God's plan for the whole of creation, in its entirely [sic] and its great and wonderful diversity" (BIMA I, article 10, emphasis added).[131] As the 1995 FABC Hindu-Christian Seminar explained succinctly:

Beyond the extremes of inclusivism and exclusivism, pluralism is accepted in resonance with the constitutive plurality of reality.  Religions, as they are manifested in history, are complementary perceptions of the inefffable divine mystery, the God-beyond-God.  All religions are visions of the divine mystery.  No particular religion can raise the claim of being the norm for all others.  We religious believers are co-pilgrims, who share intimate spiritual experiences and reflections with one another with concern and compassion, with genuine openness to truth and the freedom of spiritual seekers (sadhakas).  In this process we become increasingly sensitive to human suffering and collaborate in promoting justice, peace and ecological wholeness... We walk together on the path of dialogue and service towards harmony as sisters and brothers bound in one Love and drawn by one Divine Truth (BIRA V/3, article 6).[132]

    The First FABC Plenary Assembly explained that the local churches have to participate in a "dialogue of life" with the poor,[133] which involves a genuine experience and understanding of the poverty, deprivation and oppression of many of the Asian peoples. (FABC I, article 20).[134] This gives rise to a genuine commitment and effort to bring about social justice in the Asian societies (FABC I, article 21).  In so doing, the FABC affirmed the Statement of the 1971 Special Synod of Bishops on Justice in the World[135] and pointed out that "evangelization and the promotion of true human development and liberation, are not only opposed, but make up today the integral preaching of the Gospel, especially in Asia" (FABC I, article 23).[136] Hence, the poor is seen as "ultimately the privileged community and agents of salvation (as has always been the case in the history of salvation)' (International Congress on Mission, article 4).[137] The Sixth FABC Plenary Assembly explains succinctly:

Like Jesus, we 'have to pitch our tents' in the midst of all humanity building a better world, but especially among the suffering and the poor, the marginalized and the downtrodden of Asia.  In profound 'solidarity with suffering humanity' led by the spirit of life, we need to immerse ourselves in Asia's cultures of poverty and deprivation, from whose depths the aspirations for love and ife are most poignant and compelling.  Serving life demands communion with every woman and man seeking and struggling for life, in the way of Jesus' solidarity with humanity (FABC VI, article 14.2).

    The FABC has emphasized that dialogue is "an integral part of evangelization" (BIMA II, article 14),[138] "intrinsic to the very life of the Church," (BIRA I, article 9),[139] an "essential mode of all evangelization" (Message of the 1979 International Congress on Mission, article 19),[140] and "a true expression of the Church's evangelization action" (BIMA II, article 14).[141] At the same time, the FABC has also explained that dialogue does not preclude the need for the proclamation of the Christian Gospel: in fact there could be a moment when "we shall not be timid when God opens the door for us to proclaim explicitly the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior and the answer to the fundamental questions of human existence" (FABC V, article 4.3, italics in the original).[142]

    However, a distinctively Asian approach of proclamation which is sensitive to the Asian sitz-im-leben is needed:

Mission may find its greatest urgency in Asia; it also finds in our continent a distinctive mode.  We affirm, together with others, that "the proclamation of Jesus Christ is the center and primary element of evangelization" (Statement of the FABC All-Asia Conference on Evangelization, Suwon, South Korea, August 24-31, 1988).[143] But the proclamation of Jesus Christ in Asia means, rirst of all, the witness of Christians and of Christian communities to the values of the Kingdom of God, a proclamation through Christlike deeds.  For Christians in Asia, to proclaim Christ means above all to live like him, in the midst of our neighbors of other faiths and persuasions, and to do his deeds by the power of his grace.  Proclamation through dialogue and deeds - this is the first call to the Churches in Asia" (FABC V, art 4. 1, italics in the original, emphasis added).[144]

    Through dialogue, not only the Asian socio-religious realities may be enriched by Christianity, in tum Christianity too may be enriched by the Asian socio-religious realities.  Otherwise, a one-way monologue opens Christianity to the charge of instrumentalization, i.e., appropriating the soteriological elements in Asian socio-religious realities for Christian use, without respecting their integrity within their Asian socio-religious matrix.  Corollary to this view is the observation of the Indian theologian, Felix Wilfred:

Any work of mission which does not recognize what God has been doing with a people, with a country and continent and with their history, is simply and purely arrogance vis-à-vis God's own bounteous gifts... Triumphalism and exclusivism of any kind are diametrically opposed to spirituality.  They fail to recognize and appreciate the thousand flowers God has let grow, flourish and blossom in the garden of the world; they fail to acknowledge in practice the presence and working of the Spirit in the life and history of peoples.[146]

    The FABC's vision of harmony is derived from a finn belief that "there is an Asian approach to reality, a world-view, wherein the whole is the sumtotal of the web of relationships and interaction of the various parts with each other, in a word, harmony, a word which resonates with all Asian cultures" (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, art. 6).[148] In turn, such a vision of harmony is rooted in the foundations of a cosmic harmony and unity within the Asian religio-cultural traditions:

When we look into our traditional cultures and heritages, we note that they are inspired by a vision of unity.  The universe is perceived as an organic whole with the web of relations knitting together each and every part of it.  The nature and the human are not viewed as antagonistic to each other, but as chords in a universal symphony.  The whole reality is maintained in unity through a universal rhyme (Rta; Tao).  This unity of reality is reflected in the human person in that his senses, consciousness and spirit are organically interlinked, one flowing into the other.  When this unity and harmony are manifested in inter-human relationship of justice, order and righteousness, it is considered dharmic (dharma, dhamma).  Sensitivity in human relationships, close ties of love and cooperation in families are highly valued in our cultures.  Furthermore, traditionally, the various groups in Asian societies were held together harmoniously through forces of syncretism, spirit of tolerance, mysticism and through messianic movements (BIRA IV/11, article 6).[149]

In the rich diversity of ancient Asian cultures and faiths is a vision of unity in diversity, a communion of life among diverse peoples... Ours is a vision of holistic life, life that is achieved and entrusted to every person and every community of persons, regardless of gender, creed or culture, class or color... At the heart of our vision of life is the Asian reverential sense of mystery and of the sacred, a spirituality that regards life as sacred and discovers the Transcendent and its gifts even in mundane affairs, in tragedy or victory, in brokennness or wholeness.  This deep interiorirty draws people to experience harmony and inner peace and infuses ethics into all of creation (FABC VI, article 10).[150]

    In addition, Jesus Christ is also seen as "the person of harmony"[155] and the "sacrament of the new harmony"[156] who "was sent to reconcile and reestablish harmony" through "the proclamation of the values of the Reign of God and his Paschal Mystery of life through death" (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, article 5.2.5).[157] The divine plan of salvation calls for the healing of the pain and division caused by sin and evil, and a return once more to the universal harmony through the building of the Kingdom of God which embodies this unity and harmony on earth (BIRA IV/11, articles 8-11).[158] In this respect, the Kingdom of God is viewed as the expression of a theology of harmony: "the Kingdom of God is the core of Christ's proclamation," which "provides the most action-oriented model for fostering harmony within society" (BIRA IV/10, article 6).[159] Hence, the "values of the Kingdom - love, mercy, forgiveness, justice, compassion, unity, peace, as proclaimed by Jesus Christ - are the seeds of the new harmony inaugurated by him" (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, article 5.2.6.).[160]

    Such Trinitarian and cosmic perspectives of harmony give rise to two important theological implications.  First, it leads to a vision of harmony which "acknowledges the sacredness of nature and invites us to live in harmony with nature and to foster its growth" (BIRA IV/12, article 33).[161] This vision of harmony is inspired by a global and universal concern which is "geared ultimately to the well-being and peace of the universe and humankind" (BIRA IV/11, article 21).  Such a vision cries out for harmony in the created world among humans, as well as between humans and their natural environment:

We envision a life with integrity and dignity, a life of compassion for the multitudes, especially for the poor and the needy.  It is a life of solidarity with every form of life and sensitive care for all the earth.  It is thus a life that unites us Asians among ourselves and with the whole of creation into one community of life (FABC VI, article 10).

The ecological question or the harmony and balance of the natural environment in relation to the life of man is a fundamental one.  The destiny of humankind is inextricably bound up with the way they cultivate the earth and share its resources.  Harmony and peace call for respect for the earth.  She is the mother of whose dust we are made and to whose womb we shall all return.  The usurpation of the fruit of the earth by some and deprivation of others of the same results in the rupture of harmony among peoples (BIRA IV/11, article 13).[162]

Believers of all faiths have an urgent responsibility to open themselves once again to the voice of nature and its mystery, to return to their primordial attachment to and respect for nature, to grow in a creation-centered spirituality.  Believers in any place are called to come together in silence and love before creation, to accept the God-given order and harmony of nature, to counteract the forces of exploitation and ruin.  Harinony with nature brings harmony of hearts and harmony in human relationships (BIRA IV/12, article 34).[163]

    Second, harmony has been equated with "communion" (koinonia).[165] On the point, the FABC Office of Theological Concems has explained that "life is love, harmony and communion" (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, article 3.3.2.2).[166] It has also suggested that "the Church as communion is the sacrament of harmony of the humankind" (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, article 3.3.3.1).[167] Accordingly,

the Church has to be at the service of the restoration of the whole creation in its original harmony... Hence, the Church is the community of those who, transformed by the Holy Spirit, are children of God, living in harmony with God and with one another, and are authentic servants of God for the restoration of the whole creation in its original harmony" (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, article 3.3.3.2).[168]

    The fundamental essence of the FABC's theology of harmony arises out of a dialogical encounter: "dialogue is the primary mode for the Church of Asia in the promotion of harmony."[169] As early as 1979, dialogue has been perceived as a means "to promote mutual understanding and harmony" (BIRA I, article 15).[170] Therefore, "a theology of harmony is not a finished product; it is a process that must be carried on in dialogue with persons and groupings of different faith persuasions."[171] Such a dialogical relationship is expressed as follows:

[P]eace and harmony in Asian societies, composed as they are of many cultural, ethnic and linguistic groups, would require recognition of legitimate pluralism and respect for all the groups.  Unity, peace and harmony are to be realized in diversity.  Diversity is not something to be regretted and abolished, ut to be rejoiced over and promoted, since it represents richness and strength.  Harmony is not simply the absence of strife, described as "live and let live." The test of true harmony lies in the acceptance of diversity as richness (BIRA IV/11, article 15, emphasis added).[172]

is (rather) a tentative beginning and an invitation to all to work out a theology of harmony, and a commitment to action in the context of their own national and local situations.  At the same time we realize that the promotion of harmony and commitment to action is not the preserve of the small Christian community of Asia.  It is a common task, and we invite our brothers and sisters of all the different religious and cultural traditions of Asia to join us in this effort to bring human society and the cosmos, with each of us men and women and all other beings, into the Ultimate Hannony (Asian Christian Perspectives on Harmony, article 6).[176]

    The theology of harmony of the FABC also calls for harmony between all the great religions of Asia:

[G]iven the fact that religions in Asia are a powerful force having a hold over the consciences of people and penneating every realm of societal life, they can contribute to weld together peoples and nations or cause division and fragmentation.  Therefore a heavy responsibility is laid on all religions to dialogue with each other.  Peace, hartnony, fellowship and cooperation among religions seem to be a sure way for peace and economy in our Asian societies (BIRA IV/11, article 16).[179]

Samanvaya (harmony) is the spiritual pursuit of the totality of reality in its infinite diversity and radical unity.  Since the ultimate ground of being is unity-in-plurality, the divergent forms of reality are perceived in the convergent rhythm that harmonizes them.  Harmony evolves by respecting the othemess of the other and by acknowledging its significance in relation to the totality.  Consequently, the unique significance of every religion is gratefully and critically perceived within the context of the universal spiritual evolution of humanity (BIRA V/3, article 6).[180]

    The rich and deeply profound Asian contextual theology of the FABC portrays a vision of Christianity which is at the same time catholic (i.e., it is faithful to its founding stories), and local (i.e., these founding stories are being appropriated, contextualized and fused into the local Asia milieu).

    The tradition which is handed down within the founding stories of Christianity is viewed not as fixity, i.e., ahistorical, normative, objective and absolute, but rather as a tradition which is first and foremost the transmission of Christian living in the spirit of Jesus' ethics of the Kingdom of God as recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Christian Gospel.[182] Fidelity to this tradition goes beyond the mere proclamation of the catholicity of the unique redemptive roles of Jesus Christ and the Church Universal.  It also calls for a fidelity to: (i) make present Jesus' radical vision of the Kingdom of God in the kairos of the Asian Sitz-im-Leben, and (ii) the need to appropriate effectively the evangelical tradition of the Kingdom of God into the wider picture of the Asian human drama here and now.[183]

    It is undeniable that the Christian Gospel with its message of the Kingdom of God has had a marginal impact in the lives of many Asians, since Christians account for only approximately 2% of the total population of Asia, with a disproportionate number of Christians living in the Philippines.  As the FABC Office of Theological Concems put it bluntly:

The Christian communities in this part of the world, taken together, do not make up more than 2% of the entire population of Asia.  Except for the Philippines, of whose 60 million population 83% are Catholic and 89% Christian, Christians are minorities in every Asian nation.  The Church in Asia is truly a little flock, pusillus grex, an infinitesimal minority in an ocean of people who profess other religious faiths or belong to other religious traditions.[184]

    In constructing its uniquely Asian contextual theology, the FABC has acknowledged that the Asian continent comprises a rich and colorful mosaic of many of the world's ancient religious, philosophical and socio-cultural traditions.[186] These traditions are still very much alive and influential because they are able to nourish the present spiritual needs of millions of Asians.  In addition, they are very much interwinded within the socio-political and cultural lives of these Asians.  At the same time, the Asian contextual theology of the FABC also seeks to confront the challenges of modernization, urbanization, globalization, post-modemism, secularization, economic and environmental exploitation, poverty, social injustice, political oppression, communalism, ethnic and caste discrimination, as well as other traumatic forms of social, cultural, economic and political breakdowns in the Asian social fabric.[187] By emphasizing the need to evangelize through a dialogical encounter with the three-fold Asian reality of diverse cultures, religious traditions and the multitude of the poor, the FABC is seeking to appropriate and interpret the message of the Kingdom of God in the Christian Gospel in a manner which retrieves and contextualizes the founding stories of Christianity in the present Asian reality, and which addresses the needs and issues of the here and now.

    The contextual theology of the FABC is also well placed to respond to the socio-cultural flux which is shaped by and shaping the Asian local churches in all their political, socio-economical and religio-cultural complexities.[188] In particular, the local church in many parts of Asia has been perceived as a corpus alienum planted by colonial-era missionaries in the local soil.  As article 13 of the 1991 FABC Theological Consultation put it in highly blunt terms:

Prejudices are very much alive in Asia.  As a social institution the Church is perceived as a foreign body in its colonial origins, while other world religions are not.  The lingering colonial image survives in its traditional ecclesiastical structures and economic dependence on the west.  This gives ground for suspicion.  The Church is even sometimes seen as an obstacle or threat to national integration and to religious and cultural identity... The Church remains foreign in its lifestyle, in its institutional structures, in its worship, in its western-trained leadership and in its theology.  Christian rituals often remain formal, neither spontaneous nor particularly Asian (emphasis added).[189]

the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ an