“Todos los pueblos están invitados, gracias a la evangelización, a renovar sus culturas”, afirma el secretario del Consejo Pontificio para la Cultura
"All peoples are invited, thanks to evangelization, to renew their cultures," says the secretary of committee Pontifical Council for Culture.
He stressed at the University of Navarra that the anthropological truth of Christ crucified "is the only universal mediator of communion among peoples".
"All peoples are invited, thanks to evangelization, to renew their cultures which, like all those of the past, are in need of conversion. The presence of the Church in the heart of a people places it in a state of inculturation, that is to say, on the way to the glorious cross". Barthélemy Adoukonou, secretary of committee Pontifical Council for Culture, who gave the closing address lecture 'Evangelization as a service to man and society', at framework of the XXXII International Symposium of Theology.
Bishop Adoukonou affirmed that the anthropological truth of the crucified Christ is the "only universal mediator of communion among peoples. In this sense, he pointed out that evangelization "would consist in proposing 'being the Church of Christ' as the most eminent service to man and society: the Church at that moment will appear as the place where the Cross of Christ shines, a necessary step for every culture that wants to liberate itself and communicate the best of itself".
The need for theology as inculturation
On the other hand, he insisted that the multiculturalism that derives from globalization "is incapable of offering a reason for the openness of cultures among themselves and their relationship of communion in difference. In this way, he explained that so that it does not become "a space for the triumph of the law of the strongest", it is essential "interculturality and its animation as interculturation".
Theology understood as inculturation," he concluded, "is more necessary than ever. Today, where globalization has brought all cultures and religions closer together, a transforming conversion is expected".
The 32nd Theology Symposium explored the influence of social issues on the historical experience of faith, as well as the possible contributions of Christianity to society. Among the speakers were Msgr. Livio Melina, president of the Pontificio Istituto Giovanni Paolo II per studi su matrimonio e famiglia; David Martin, of the London School of Economics and Political Science; and Ernesto Galli della Loggia, of the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane.