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to Vietnamese Missionaries in Taiwan Home PageInculturation in the Church is as old as the Gospel itself, and it has never totally ceased to be practised. But it has had some regrettable moments of eclipse. In Vietnam, the ban against ancestor worship imposed on Christians for three centuries had the effect of estranging them from the very foundation of Vietnamese society. This explains why they were considered strangers in their own country and persecuted.
Today, these interdictions no longer exist. Christians can slowly rediscover their Vietnamese roots, and they also have the treasure of the Gospel. Thus they are called to play an important role at this time when modernity is accompanied by serious family and social problems. Their filial piety towards God, who is their Father and the Father of all revealed in Jesus Christ, can only help them in their efforts to share with others in reconstructing family life and therefore the society of today and tomorrow. In the same way, ecclesiology should present the Church as the family of God: the family model is of fundamental value in our culture, and it is in agreement with the actual practice of the Christian communities.
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