Mission of the Church – together with other religions? An Asian example
Asian Catholic bishops have enlarged the interpretation of the missionary understanding of the Catholic Church. The Church’s missionary activity no longer represents a top-down approach, but followers of other religions are welcomed as co-pilgrims and co-workers towards the Kingdom of God.
Arguably the most dynamic and interesting global discussion on the relationship between Christianity and other religions takes place in the Catholic theology of religions. This is especially the case in Asia, where most Christians live in multi-religious contexts. Over many past decades, Asian Catholic Churches have already intensively focused on this matter. Their theological thought on this matter is worth studying.
The stance of the Second Vatican Council on other religions
Ad gentes (“To the Nations”) is the decree on missionary activity issued by the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II). As the title of the decree indicates, its chosen approach is based on the understanding of the Church as the bringer of the Good news to “the nations”. Moreover, the decree reaffirms the necessity of missionary activities and also emphasises that salvation can only be found in Christ. In this approach, non-Christian people need to be evangelised or proclaim the gospel. Other religions at best are like “stepping stones”, awaiting their fulfilment, which is available only in Christ and the gospel. This approach is still the standard position of the theology of religions of the Catholic Church. However, especially after Vatican II, the relationship of the Catholic Church to other religions has been a widely debated issue. Studying documents of these discussions shows that the Catholic Church has not ceased to adhere to the definitions written in Ad gentes.
Asian Catholic bishops’ further steps
The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), founded in 1970, represents the majority of Asia’s local Catholic Churches. In nearly throughout that region, the Catholic Church, together with other Christian communities, constitutes only a small minority population. Thus, churches and Christians in almost all Asian countries rub shoulders with followers of other religions, and Asian Christians are at home with religious pluralism. Since almost all Asian Christians live in multi-religious contexts, the question about the missionary mandate of the Church is inevitably a significant issue for Asian churches. The FABC has extensively discussed this question in its various documents. The Federation is not content with the old mission paradigm of Ad gentes. In this paradigm, those who brought the Christian message to the nations in the East often arrived from the so-called Christian West. Today, the Christian mission in Asia is primarily in the hands of Asians. The missionary activity of the Church takes place by Asians and among Asians. Thus, the earlier paradigm of Ad gentes needs to be enlarged and re-interpreted.
Asian Church in dialogue with Asian contextual realities
In the early years of the FABC, the Asian bishops identified three constitutive dialogue partners of the Church. These partners are Asian cultures, Asian religions, and Asian sociopolitical realities, especially the plight of the poor. In the bishops’ opinion, these three partners are the major contextual realities with whom the Church needs to practise dialogue if it truly wants to become an Asian Church. In short, this means that the dialogue enriches all partners involved in the dialogue. Moreover, this means also that, in dialogue, those practising it learn from one another. With this approach, the Asian Catholic Church accepts that it does not own or comprehend the full truth, but it humbly admits that those other dialogue partners can help the Church to grow in its understanding and, through that, become a Church of Asia, not just a Church in Asia.
Moving towards an enlarged understanding of the mission of the Church
Regarding the missiological thought of the Church, the aforementioned stance means that the Asian Catholic Church readily accepts that, for example, other religions contribute to the missiological understanding, and even missionary activities of the Church. The FABC ventures so far as to accept and welcome followers of other religions as co-pilgrims and co-workers towards the Kingdom of God. With this, the Asian Catholic Church has taken a clear further step from the Vatican II terminology “mission to the nations” (missio ad gentes)to an understanding of the Church as holding that its missionary task takes place primarily “among nations”(missio inter gentes). A close reading of the missiological documents of the FABC can even yield a result where those who do not adhere to the Christian tradition are perceived as partners in mission. Thus, this new approach can even be described as a “mission with nations” (missio cum gentibus).
[T]heologically, this perspective means that the Asian bishops understand that the other religions are not only permitted as existing realities by God but that they even belong to the will of God
At this point, one might want to ask if the FABC has lapsed into uncritical religious pluralism and relativism. An important clue for understanding the thought of the FABC is their contextual theological approach. By observing the life of the adherents of other religions, by reading their respective sacred scriptures, and through dialogue with them, the Asian Catholic bishops have realised that there exists much beauty and truth in these religions. While the purpose of the mission of the Church is to proclaim the good news in words and deeds, the Church should be ready and open to receive the beauty and goodness of other religions. Again, theologically, this perspective means that the Asian bishops understand that the other religions are not only permitted as existing realities by God but that they even belong to the will of God.
Mission mandate of the Church after all this?
Some might also want to ask, if the Church welcomes the followers of other religions and co-pilgrims towards the Kingdom of God, what happens to the proclamation of the gospel about Jesus as the Saviour of the world. In this context, an oft-quoted Bible verse is Jesus calling himself the way, the truth, and the life, and stating that he is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). The Asian Catholic bishops have wrestled with this question. Their answer is that the gospel and Christ are the most precious gifts that the Asian Church can offer to the peoples of Asia. In Christ we can see the face of the loving God in the brightest way. When the Church offers these gifts, it is not done by force or with coercion. This approach calls the Church and followers of Christ to a humble service for Asian people. But since the Asian Church in most Asian countries is just a “tiny flock” (Luke 12:32), it knows that it also needs those who follow another religious tradition to advance the values of the Kingdom of God. In addition, and in response to the challenging words of Jesus as being the way, the truth, and the life, the FABC emphasises that for Asian people, the metaphor of being on the way is more familiar than the metaphor of Jesus being the truth. In multi-religious Asian contexts, absolute truth claims often feel too exclusive. An image of the way can create more space for welcoming people of various faith traditions to join in the same journey. In this view, the Church is also on the way towards a fuller understanding of the truth and the realisation of the Kingdom of God. In this welcoming approach, the Asian Catholic bishops sometimes rename the Kingdom of God as the Kin(g)dom of God, where we are called to have kinship with one another. Therefore, for the Asian Catholic bishops this “Jesus way” is so broad that there is enough space for the adherents of other religions as well.
Kirjoittaja
Jukka Helle, Doctor of Theology, Assistant professor in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong. Subjects taught: Missiology, Asian contextual theologies, spirituality, and liturgy.
Anna PeltonenBibliography
Helle, Jukka, Towards a Truly Catholic and a Truly Asian Church: The Asian Wayfaring Theology of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) 1970-2020. Brill:Leiden: 2022.
Homepage of the FABC: https://fabc.org/
Tan, Jonathan Y., The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC): Bearing Witness to the Gospel and the Reign of God in Asia. Fortress Press: 2021.
Komulainen, Jyri: https://teologia.fi/2015/02/katolisen-kirkon-uskontodialogit/
Jesuit theologian Aloysius Pieris describes how a Buddhist monk found surprising features in the Gospels : https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=0bD4xgw23nI