ASIA: The New Way Of Being Church

MUMBAI, India (UCAN) -- As people recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the news was full of euphoric memories as well as critical analysis. Berlin's Archbishop Cardinal Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky pointed out that there are still fundamental differences across that former East-West border.

People from the West are "far more individualistic in their way of thinking and how they present themselves," the cardinal observed. In contrast, "people who come from East Germany have a way of feeling and thinking that is more collective."

Many in Asia would make a similar differentiation between West and East on the global map. In the East we think in terms of family and community, whereas in the West people seem to be more individualistic. However, this is changing.

The older generation in the West is longing for family and community, while media and market influences the world over lead members of the younger e-generation to make choices that present a great pastoral challenge.

Reading the signs of the times toward the end of the 20th century -- growing individualism and materialism -- while walking the dedicated path of the triple dialogue of faith with economic reality, culture and other religions/faiths, the 5th Plenary Assembly of the FABC in 1990 articulated their vision for the Church in Asia. It envisioned a participatory and co-responsible Church living as a communion of communities.

Several member conferences of the FABC have adopted the vision of a "New Way of Being Church" as their pastoral preference. Along with this, the AsIPA (Asian Integrated pastoral Approach) desk, part of the FABC Office of Laity & Family, has been busy offering training programs and creating modules for use by animators of Small Christian Communities (SCCs) and Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs).

India has adapted AsIPA as DIIPA (Developing an Indian Integral Pastoral Approach). And Bishop Bosco Penha, auxiliary bishop of Bombay, developed another approach in the archdiocese, which he has shared with other dioceses and countries.

In the Philippines, Bukal ng Tipan (wellspring of covenants), a center that promotes lay participation in the Church, has evolved its own methodology to suit the local environment, considering that BECs in the Philippines pre-date AsIPA.

While we were at the recently concluded 5th AsIPA General Assembly in Davao, southern Philippines, the presence of a large number of local BEC leaders reminded us that the seeds of BECs/SCCs were first sown in this region 40 years ago. They were a response to the political crisis that gripped the country during the Marcos reign of terror. The prophetic commitment of the pioneer BEC leaders of that time cannot be forgotten.

Today, the structures for the New Way of Being Church are falling into place. People who are involved appreciate their role in being part of this Church. The change from the old individualistic focus of saving one's soul to living as a faith community is perceptible and is being valued.

Change is a process that requires time and patience. There are several success stories of faith lived in SCCs that continue to give hope and life to this movement in Asia.

Through the association of the German Church agency Missio with the AsIPA project, the Church in Germany has gotten interested in this new way of being Church. Ten Europeans from Germany, Switzerland and Britain were present at the General Assembly to learn how they can adapt this pastoral approach to their own reality, which increasingly is interreligious and intercultural. It is interesting to note this "mission in reverse" - from East to West -- in the Church.

My own experience drawn from several visits to Germany, as well as living in Europe with my daughters' families, gives me the gut feeling that an adapted SCC movement could revive the faith of people there. Coming from India, I note the strong Christian values that underpin European society.

Individualism and materialism seem to be eroding these values, but I sense that people want to forge friendships. They need each other, but are afraid of crossing the "sacred line of privacy."

The big question that needs answering in the West is: Where does privacy end and community start? When children are young, when people are old or in crisis, when we need to celebrate and mourn, we need community.

The Church provides community. But this community has to extend beyond the "walls" of Church. Times have changed. The Church has to recognize that it cannot expect the present generation of young people to return to the old model of the Church. The old ways of thinking and operating a parish form a conceptual Berlin Wall that needs to be broken down so people can live their faith in a way that is more relevant to the times we live in.

There is growing disenchantment among the laity with the quality of priests. These pastors could be the ones who push young people out of the Church in Asia. The SCCs or Faith Communities could help keep people in the Church.

Notable among the qualities of young people everywhere are honesty and eagerness to reach out to help. These are qualities that are needed in building and sustaining a community. If creatively tapped, the Church in both the East and West can give be a vibrant center of a living faith.

The Church needs to take a greater interest in educating the laity by setting aside resources and personnel. Once guidelines are set in place, the adults who are properly formed in living their faith need to be trusted to carry on. They can live their faith in their community without being monitored around the clock to check if they are doing the right or wrong thing. This will increasingly be necessary both in the East and West, where vocations to the priesthood are dwindling.

The SCC/BEC movement in Asia is being carried forward largely by the laity, particularly women at the grassroots level. In dioceses where there are insufficient priests, these lay animators keep the faith of the community alive and minister to pastoral needs, with a priest visiting to celebrate the Eucharist periodically.

It is said that the fall of the Berlin Wall was not a planned action, that it was spontaneous. But the deep longing of the human spirit on both sides to see that wall come down cannot be disputed. That longing then grew into a surge of strength at a perceived cue for action.

It can similarly be hoped that the great longing in people's hearts the world over for building a new world order, for building peace and community, will develop into a movement that will bring about the desired change to make the New Way of Being Church a reality!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Virginia Saldanha lives in Mumbai, India. She is executive secretary of the FABC Office of Laity and Family, and former executive secretary of the Commission for Women in the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.