Eurocentric church does not fit Asia say Japan's bishops

Eurocentric church does not fit Asia say Japan’s bishops

Friday, February 21st, 2014

Catholic Church’s teaching are not known in Japan and the Vatican’s Europe-centric views hamper evangelisation efforts where Catholics represent a small minority of the population.

This is the response of Japan’s bishops to the Vatican survey of global Catholics’ view on family issues.

In what CNS describes at as a ‘sometimes pointed’ and ‘blunt’ 15 page report for the October Synod of Bishops, the bishops’ say the Church “often falls short” by “presenting a high threshold for entry and lacking hospitality and practical kindness.”

The bishops say that many of the views in wider society about divorce, remarriage, contraception and abortion are taken for granted in Japan and the efforts to share Catholic views are hampered by the lack of resources the Church has.

They say the appeal to familiar Catholic moral frameworks is unpersuasive.

The report states, “Often when Church leaders cannot present convincing reasons for what they say, they call it “natural law” and demand obedience on their say-so. This has brought the whole concept of natural law into disrepute: ‘If it is natural, why do people need to be taught it?’”

It further adds: “Japanese culture emphasizes societal expectations rather than abstract principles as guides to action. So, though in the West ‘natural law’ may seem ‘natural,’ in Japan it is perceived as abstract and out-of-touch.”

Stressing many times that Japanese Catholics represent only about 0.35 percent of the country’s population and that some 76 percent of those Catholics marry non-Catholics, the Japanese ask the global church to “go beyond” a series of norms and rules that separate Catholics from one another.

“It is necessary to go beyond merely saying to men and women who do not follow Church norms that they are separated from the community and actively provide them with opportunities to encounter the Christian community,” the Japanese report states.

The October 2014 Synod of Bishops was called by Pope Francis last year, and will focus on the theme “Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.”

Sources