by David Bingham MHM

Inspired by Ivan Fang’s web site and by Mr.Argius’ talk at the Regional Meeting I find myself inspired to put my own oar into the debate.

1. Christ’s emphasis was on the Kingdom.   Many who encountered Christ were told, explicitly or implicitly, they were “not far from the kingdom”  -  including pagans (the centurion – the Cananite woman).  They were not Catholics and were not baptized.

So the name of the game is God’s Kingdom.   As I see it the Catholic Church is the main and official agent – but not the only agent – unofficial agents also play a role viz; “He who is not against me is for me” (Luke 9,50).

2. The main agent for the spread/growth/ building up of the Kingdom is the Holy Spirit.   We do not have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit, who “blows where ever He(She?) wills.”   God has “programmed” us to seek the good, true and beautiful,(viz.; St.Augustine’s “Man’s heart is restless etc”) but alas the program has been infected by viruses – original sin etc.  Nevertheless the Light of the Spirit still manages to penetrate areas that have not yet known the light of the incarnate Christ, hence the necessity to be open to the insights and truths found in other Faiths/religions.   No doubt that is the role of Frans Baartmans  on the banks of the Ganges.

In September I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the First South East Asian Mission congress in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Before the congress opened I found myself sight seeing in company with one Fr.Prospero Grech, an Augustinian priest, one of the main speakers at the congress.  At one of the  more ornate Buddhist temples he remarked that the purpose of the congress was to do away with all this and replace it with Christianity; - a throw away remark that was not really an accurate description of the congress’ purpose.   Still, my gut reaction was “no”, I for one do not want to see “all this” swept away; - something that was so ancient and so part of the warp and woof of the fabric of Thai society; something that had its beauty and effectively pointed to another dimension of human life.  I had the same feeling when confronted with Buddhism in Burma.   True, to a very large extent it could be said that for the rank and file, its devotional practices are geared to health and wealth in this present existence, but I think often the same could be said for our own Catholic devotees.   It is then when I think the notion of the “bigger ball game” comes in.  “O.K. God, the ball is in your court – you sort out what we are meant to do.”!  (Certainly there are many converts who have found themselves dissatisfied with what Buddhism has to offer by way of explaining the meaning of life. One religious sister facetiously explained to her Buddhist family why she had become a Christian; “I could not face the  prospect of re-incarnation – once round is enough!”)   I have had the same twinge of regret when experiencing Iban traditional pagan festivals; the élan – the exuberance – the expertise of the all night chanters; and yet the problem was the ethos, such as the linkage of the feast of the spirits (gawai antu) to glorification of killing a fellow human being, the epitome of courage!  - and the problem of the semi pornographic nature of the chorus’ to the ritual chants.

I think that Brendan Mulhall’s stress on Asia as the obvious target for mission should take these points into consideration.    Animism, though complex, is a fairly “soft” target for the spread of the gospel – a point made by the anthropologist Jerry Arbuckle.  Certainly in Sarawak and I think also with most African tribes, animism has no sophisticated institutions, scriptures etc as with major religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, which are therefore much more resistant to Christian evangelism.  (successes in the past were perhaps helped by being under the umbrella of colonialism)

     Perhaps in China and Cambodia the edifices of Buddhism and Confucianism have been badly weakened by Communism and Pol Pot, leaving the people more open to an evangelization that would not be destroying a cultural heritage that has already been damaged and undermined.

3. In the game on the huge pitch of eternity, played out by the Holy Spirit, the role of the Catholic Church, and to a greater or lesser extent, all other Christian churches, is to give the Holy Spirit an “anchor” in a physical, institutional and visible presence, without which all is nebulous and potentially totally fragmented.    People like to regard themselves as “spiritual” but shy away from institutional religion, and yet some form of institution is the sine qua non of any human activity, be it secular or religious.   

Institutionally I firmly believe that our Catholic Church has the best legal and historical claim to being the officially divinely authoritive vehicle for passing on the authentic Christian message; - otherwise I should opt out of being a representative of the Church.                                      

The Catholic Church in particular, and to a greater or lesser extent, all other Christian churches, is called upon to manifest the continued incarnational  presence of Christ in the world.   You cannot have the Holy Spirit without Christ, and you cannot have Christ without His Church.  A point stressed in Pope Benedict’s book; “Christ and His Church”.   The Church is His mystical body.  But a body that is bruised, bloodied and muddied on account of the limitations and failings of its human members.  Inevitably the “ball game” played by the institutional Catholic church is on a smaller scale than the eternal one.   At best our perspective is limited; - we only see as in a glass darkly.

4.  “To whom else shall we go, you alone have the message of eternal life”, as Peter said.   As St.Thomas More pointed out to Henry V111’s judges, in spite of its human failings, the Church alone could claim divine institution.   In spite of the endeavours of the ilk of Gerry Noel in the Catholic Herald to prove that many historical papal pronouncements have been misleading, my simple (naïve?) faith believes that the Church is protected from downright error and falsehood and that shaky papal pronouncements did not meet the criteria needed for ex cathedra official declarations of the mind of the Church on vital aspects of Faith or morals.

True, the official magisterium of the Church can act in seemingly  and heavy and ham handed ways, at times causing anguish and suffering; e.g;.the handling of Teillard de Chardin – the sad case of the Chinese rites in the 17^th century etc.etc.    But the alternative is a free for all – a “do it yourself Catholicism”, in which everyone is his or her own pope.   There are already a fair number of would be “infallible popes” in some sections of the Catholic media.

5. The Church is “the container” for the “mysterium Fidei”; but as Richard Rohr urged the participants in a recent clergy retreat at Ushaw College, we must not mistake the container for the contents; and sometimes the contents take us beyond the container.   A case in point would be the Sri Langkan Jesuit, Aloysius Pieris, an expert in Buddhism, who in order to get to the mind and heart of Buddhism forsook all his Christian pre-conceptions, as far as that is possible, and submitted to being enrolled and trained as a Buddhist monk.   Seemingly Buddhism has no place for a soul that gives a person a fixed and eternal identity.  All is flux.  Like waves in the ocean of existence we rise and roll from one identity or incarnation to the next.   Aloysius Peiris announced to us surprised listeners that he had come to the conclusion that Christianity could engage more closely with Buddhism by abandoning the concept of soul as a “thing” that can have separate existence from the body.   He said that was just an import from Platonic thought.  However, God, he did agree, was a non negotiable part of our Faith!           

I pondered this surprising revelation of Fr.Peiris and wondered how it was possible to go along with the idea of Christianity sans souls. I  reflected on the fact that what gave the three persons of the Blessed Trinity their separate identity as persons was rooted in their relationship with each other.  So also all existence is based on various forms of relationship, and amidst the web kaleidoscopic relationships of our personal existence is the pin point of each human being’s special relationship with God, be it known and acknowledged or not.   That pin point of vital and eternal relationship, I try to suggest, could be a way by which we could go along with Fr.Peiris’ “no soul” stance.  i.e. the soul is not a “thing” but a “relationship” – an eternal one, because God is eternal.

6. Inculturation is a watchword for modern evangelization, but often it is a matter of external forms without engaging with the deeper spirit and mentality of the would be evangelised.   Very often it is that Pentecostal and charismatic religion with little interest or sympathy for inculturation on the cultural level has much greater success in engaging on the psychological level than the more liberal and rational mold of western Christianity.   The reason is, in my opinion, that pentecostalists and charismatics take seriously the power of evil spirits and of charms and spells.   

For animism in particular, but also for all major world religions at the popular level, I think, few doubt the reality of evil spirits that have to be placated or exorcised.   I remember Bob O’Neil saying that so often in confession with people from Africa or the Caribbean, it was necessary to understand the  anxiety of a penitent that they are victims of some malicious spirit.   I have found this to be true in Sarawak.   I think that few long time missionaries are inclined to rationalize these fears as just imagination – though imagination certainly can be a factor.

     One of my attempts to get to grips with the fear of evil spirits in catechesis for Sarawak Ibans was to link evil spirits with the seven deadly sins, though somehow the seven became inflated to eleven or twelve; adding such “spirits” as irrational fear, gambling, blind following the prevailing popular opinion of the moment, and the spirit of sheer stupidity, illustrated by a young Iban punk smoking three of four cigarettes at the same time, smoke issuing from his ears and nostrils.    Of all talks given, whether by myself or by the catechists, this was the most popular.    Not only did they hoist in the degree to which lives could be bugged by envy, rage, greed, sloth, greed and lust etc, but, alas, they took great and unholy delight in identifying whom amongst their acquaintances were prey to these evil spirits.   Perish the thought that they also could be victims!   However it did help as an examination of conscience before confession.

7. Ultimately I believe that our Faith transcends all culture.   That in evangelizing, we are not teaching something new, but rescuing an awareness that is hidden deep in every human soul.     Christ’s teaching resonates with something people already know.   God has given every human being the power to recognize the truth; - the main function of our intellect.   The Church’s teaching should and can equally resonate.