OCHS Weblog

NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 8, 2008: Om Namah Jesus could well reverberate inside hundreds of Catholic churches in India very soon, if the changing physical face of these places of worship is anything to go by. The Vatican-blessed process of enculturation being implemented by the 168 Catholic dioceses in India has already seen Jesus acquiring the form of a Hindu sage, St John the Baptist with a kamandalu, grottos in the shape of conch shells, and a church in Bangalore that can easily be mistaken for a temple.

Enculturation, broadly speaking, is the indigenization of the Church through the process of assimilating local culture and symbols in construction, layout, interior design, furniture and religious fixtures. So far, around 45 churches across the country have been wholly or partially inculturated.

“Initially, there was a lot of opposition to this from conservative elements in the Church. For them, any dilution of the European element in church construction, or in the murals depicting scenes from the Bible where all the people look European, or in statues or church articles, was totally unacceptable. That has slowly changed with the growing realization that the Church has to incarnate the Gospel in the culture in which it is being preached,” a senior priest from the Archdiocese of Calcutta told Outlook on condition of anonymity.