(Bishop of Kumasi, Ghana)
We often talk about inculturation as if it had to do only with the liturgy. However, inculturation embraces the totality of human life, including morality, spirituality and forms of religious life.
Inculturation should lead us to find ways of handling effectively some of the many evils of our present day society. It should further lead us to a better understanding of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a sacrifice, but as the Roman Mass stands now it is very difficult for my people to easily appreciate the sacrificial aspect of it. It is my conviction that following the format of the traditional sacrifice, in which the sacrifice stands out clearly uninterrupted, would make the Mass more effective for my people. It is therefore being proposed that pastors of Africa should be given the freedom to adopt formats that would lead to a better understanding of the Mass. In Asante, Ghana, for example, the reading of Scripture and the homily could be more effective after Holy Communion.
Inculturation should also open our eyes to the disvalues in what otherwise have been hailed as values in African cultures. For example, the much appreciated African value of communal living, if not well handled, can easily lead to hatred for other ethnic groups.
In this exercise the values of African Traditional Religion could play a key role. Before this can be done, however, the distorted image of traditional religion should be corrected. The use of derogatory terms like paganism, animism, fetishism, idolatry and ancestor worship should be discontinued. Inculturation is not a simple matter. It should be preached in a multi-disciplinary manner, making use of sound theology, biblical scholarship, music, liturgy and the social sciences.
Original
text: English
