Cardinal Dias says Word of God needed for inculturation and inter-religous dialogue
(October 13, 2008) A top Vatican official has told the ongoing bishops’ synod in
Rome that the Word of God is indispensable for the two important thrusts of evangelization
– namely, inculturation and interreligious dialogue. Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, who
heads the Vatican’s Congregqation for the Evangelization of Peoples, made the point
on Monday morning at the 12th general congregation of the worldwide synod of bishops
that is discussing the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. According
to him, “Inculturation would entail expressing the Gospel in local cultures, but also,
and above all, it would consist in evangelizing the cultures themselves from within.”
“This,” he observed, “is valid for all cultures- for those in mission lands, but also
where traditional Christian cultures have been infected with the pernicious viruses
of secularism, spiritual indifference and relativism.” By perusing and assimilating
the Word of God regularly, he said, Christians can grow in "the mind of Christ" which
is the only antidote to these viruses and can transform characters and cultures from
within, elevating them from the natural to the supernatural, from the human to the
divine. In the same way, the Word of God is invaluable also with regards to inter
religious dialogue. God, the Father of all humankind, wants all His children to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. His Holy Spirit works even outside
the confines of the Church, and leaves "seeds of the Word even in non Christian religions,
giving us the challenge to appreciate "whatever is pure, just, noble and honourable"
in them, and to make those seeds to blossom in the sacred Person of Our Lord Jesus
Christ. Cardinal Dias was among 29 participants who addressed Monday morning’s session
of the Oct. 5-26 synod.