Tasks in the Inculturation of Theology: The Filipino Catholic Situation

Abstract

Inculturation in the Philippines, where a Western expression of the Christian faith predominates, is the conscious appropriation and articulation of the Christian faith by using indigenous cultural resources. This concern and process implies undertaking three tasks. First, there is the necessity of relativizing the Euro-American (Graeco-Roman) embodiment of the Christian faith by seeing how it is related to and limited by that Western culture. Second, the critical significance of de-stigmatizing and re-valuing the indigenous culture that had been demeaned by colonial experiences under Spain and the United States must be attended to. Third, for the inculturation of theology to become a reality, reinterpretation of the Christian faith with indigenous categories is a must.