Ecclesia in Asia: An Evaluation

Ecclesia in Asia

Introduction

Ecclesia in Asia is a document issued by Pope to serve as a blueprint for the expansion of the Roman
Catholic faith in Asia. It summarizes ideas and conclusions of the Special Asian Synod held in Rome
from April 18 to May 14, 1998. It was officially promulgated by Pope John Paul II in New Delhi, India
on November 6, 1999.

The document stated that “just as in the first millennium the Cross was planted on the soil of
Europe, and in the second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that in the Third Christian
Millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and vital continent of Asia.”

We Asian peoples like to think in symbols and images, and do not indulge so much on analytic
reasoning or speculations; we prefer evocation to demonstration, intuition to argumentation,
wisdom to science. There several cultures here, different kind and coloured people here, numerous
languages exist here and the philosophy and theology and the very mind set of the people are
different from that of the west. Having in mind all these context of cultural and linguistic veracity of
the people of Asia Pope John Paul II inspired by the Holy spirit write this document as it was clear
from the very title itself Post-synodal apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Asia of the Holy Father John
Paul II to the bishops, priests and deacons, men and women in the consecrated life and all the lay
faithful on Jesus Christ the saviour and his mission of love and service in Asia: “…that they may have
life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10)

1. The Structure of the Document

The Exhortation is composed of seven parts dealing with the following themes: the Asian context,
Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit as Lord and Giver of life, proclamation of Jesus in Asia (with a focus on
inculturation), communion and dialogue for mission (with a focus on ecumenical and interreligious
dialogue), the service of human promotion, and Christians as witnesses to the Gospel.

The long document concludes as “The peoples of Asia need Jesus Christ and his Gospel. Asia is
thirsting for the Living water that Jesus alone can give (Jn 4:10-15). The disciples of Christ in Asia
must therefore be unstinting in their efforts to fulfill the mission they have received from the Lord,
who has promised to be with them to the end of the age (Mt 28:20). Trusting in the Lord who will
not fail those whom he has called, the Church in Asia joyfully makes her pilgrim way into the Third
Millennium.”
2. An Evaluation of the Document

2.1 Truly Asian, Authentically Christian

While the Pope sees the crux of the matter as doctrinal (Christo-centrism), the bishops’ interventions
saw their problem as not with Jesus the Christ – who is widely accepted and loved by Asians – but
the presence of a foreign Church burdened by a colonial past. Ecclesia in Asia finds it strange that
Jesus the Asian, has become a foreigner in Asia (EA 20). Apart from the indigenous Churches in the
Near East and Kerala, most remaining Churches are the result of colonial expansion and missionary
outreach working hand-in-hand. Whatever the nuances, however great the social contribution of the
mission Churches in the past, however heroic the sacrifices of cross-cultural missioners over the
centuries, the fact remains in stark clarity: the Latin Churches of Asia are a foreign presence. They
are alien in the official dress of its leaders; alien in its rituals; alien in its formation of cultic and
community leaders in foreign thought patterns in seminaries whose professors are foreign-
educated; alien in its large, often rich, institutions among people who are generally poor; above all
alien in that Christians have had to uproot themselves from their own cultural identity in order to
claim a “hybrid” Christian one. This is a major issue for most Asian bishops. However, Ecclesia in Asia
mentions it in passing in a single sentence as though the problem was over:”… the Church in many
places was still considered as foreign to Asia, and indeed was often associated in people’s minds
with the colonial powers” (EA, 9).

Ecclesia in Asia is surely right in placing Christ at the center rather than the Church, whether Latin or
Oriental. This is not to separate Christ from his body, the Church, but rather to accept the Church as
sign, sacrament and instrument of Christ’s saving presence. The eternal, incarnate, redemptive,
cosmic presence of Christ can neither be confined to, nor controlled by the Church. The central
problem is neither Christ nor his acceptance/rejection by his fellow Asians. The key missiological
problem is rather the Western Church’s alien tone and idiom inherited from colonial times. As for
the how of mission we need time, patience and perseverance in order to move away from insulated,
devotional practices and re-invent ourselves as dynamic diaspora living out a dialogue of life and
action.

2.2 A New Way of Being Church

Another way of making the point for the Asian Synod to have a lasting impact, the Asian Churches
must, with courage and creativity, find new ways of being Church, and hence construct an
alternative ecclesiology. This ecclesiology, in a sort of Copernican revolution, de-centers the Church
in the sense that it makes the center of the Christian life not the Church but the reign of God. Their
mission is not to expand the Church and its structures in order to enlarge the sphere of influence for
the Church but to be a transparent sign and effective instrument of the saving presence of the reign
of God, the reign of justice, peace, and love, of which the Church is a seed. As the Exhortation puts it
well: “Empowered by the Spirit to accomplish Christ‘s salvation on earth, the Church is the seed of
the kingdom of God, and she looks eagerly for its final coming. Her identity and mission are
inseparable from the kingdom of God he Spirit reminds the Church that she is not an end unto
herself: In all that she is and all that she does, she exists to serve Christ and the salvation of the
world” (EA, 17).

2.2.1 Church as a Communion

The Church, both at the local and universal levels, is seen primarily as “a communion of
communities, where laity, religious and clergy recognize and accept each other as sisters and
brothers.” At the heart of the mystery of the Church is the bond of communion uniting God with
humanity and humans with one another, of which the Eucharist is the sign and instrument par
excellence. In this ecclesiology there is an explicit and effective recognition of the fundamental
equality among all the members of the local Church as disciples of Jesus and among all the local
Churches in so far as they are communities of Jesus’ disciples and whose communion constitutes the
universal Church. The communion (koinonia) which constitutes the Church, both at the local and
universal levels, and from which flows the fundamental equality of all Christians, is rooted at its
deepest level in the life of the Trinity in whom there is a perfect communion of equals.18 Unless this
fundamental equality of all Christians is acknowledged and lived through concrete policies and
actions, the Church will not become a communion of communities in Asia. Living out this
fundamental equality is particularly difficult in Asia, not only because the insistence on the
hierarchical structure of the Church tends to obscure and minimize it but also because it goes
against the class consciousness of many Asian societies.

2.2.2 Discipleship of Equals

The understanding of pastoral “discipleship of equals” leads to the second characteristic of the new
way of being Church in Asia, that is, the participatory and collaborative nature of all the ministries in
the Church: “It is a participatory Church where the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to all the faithful –
lay, religious, and cleric alike -are recognized and activated, so that the Church may be built up and
its mission realized. This participatory nature of the Church must be lived out not only in the local
Church but also among all the local Churches, including the Church of Rome, of course, with due
recognition of the papal primacy. In this context it is encouraging to read in the Exhortation the
following affirmation: It is in fact within the perspective of ecclesial communion that the universal
authority of the successor of Peter shines forth more clearly, not primarily as juridical power over
the local churches, but above all as a pastoral primacy at the service of the unity of faith and life of
the whole people of God” (EA, 25). A “pastoral primacy” must do everything possible to foster co-
responsibility and participation of all the local Churches in the triple ministry of teaching,
sanctification, and service in the Church and must be held accountable to this task so that these
words do not remain at the level of pious rhetoric but are productive of concrete structures and
actions. Only in this way can the Church’s teaching office and the pope’s ministry of promoting unity
be effectively exercised, learning from the varied and rich experiences of being Church from all
corners of the globe and welcoming respectful but frank warning and correction when errors of
intellectual narrowness, moral arrogance, and spiritual blindness have been committed.
2.2.3 A Dialogical Spirit

The third characteristic of a new way of being Church in Asia is the dialogical spirit: Built in the hearts
of people, it is a Church that faithfully and lovingly witnesses to the Risen Lord and reaches out to
people of other faiths and persuasions in a dialogue of life towards the integral liberation of all. The
universal church must have in mind the necessity of this triple dialogue. In the dialogue with the
Asian cultures (inculturation), the Exhortation highlights the areas of theology, liturgy, and the Bible
(EA, 22). In the dialogue with other religious traditions, the document emphasizes ecumenical and
interreligious dialogue. It quotes approvingly proposition 41 of the Synod: “Interreligious relations
are best developed in a context of openness to other believers, a willingness to listen and the desire
to respect and understand others in their differences. For all this, love of others is indispensable.
This should result in collaboration, harmony and mutual enrichment” (EA, 31). In the dialogue with
the poor, the Exhortation affirms the necessity of the preferential love of the poor (in particular, the
migrants, indigenous and tribal people, women and children), defense of human life, health care,
education, peacemaking, cancellation of foreign debts, and protection of the environment (EA, 32-
41). There is no doubt that if the Christian Church is to become truly of Asia, Asian Christians must be
engaged, relentlessly and wholeheartedly, in this triple “dialogue of life and heart” and in this way
fulfill their inalienable right and duty of proclaiming Jesus to their fellow Asians.

2.2.4 Being a Prophetic Sign

The fourth and last feature of the new way of being Church in Asia is prophecy: The Church is “a
leaven of transformation in this world and serves as a prophetic sign daring to point beyond this
world to the ineffable Kingdom that is yet fully to come” As far as Asia is concerned, in being “a
leaven of transformation in this world,“ Christianity must give up its ambition, so enthusiastically
endorsed in many missionary quarters at the beginning of the twentieth century, to convert the
majority of Asians to Christ. The report of the demise of Asian religions was premature and vastly
exaggerated. In Asia, where Christians still form but a minuscule part of the population after four
hundred years of mission, and where non-Christian religions have recently staged a vigorous revival,
the prospect of a massive conversion of Asians to the Christian faith is utterly unlikely. Christians in
Asia must come to terms with the fact that they are destined to remain for the foreseeable future a
“small remnant” who must journey with adherents of other religions toward the eschatological
kingdom of God.

The objective of the Church‘s mission of “making disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19) in Asia cannot
therefore be adding as many members to the Church as possible, even though baptism in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19) remains the desirable outcome of
the Church‘s mission. Rather, the primary task of the Church is to become a credible prophetic sign”
of the coming reign of God. This new focus of the Church‘s mission must be the light guiding the
ordering of its priorities and the choice of its policies which must not aim at serving the internal
interests of the Church but the proclamation of the Gospel through the triple dialogue.
The significance of the Asian Synod and Ecclesia in Asia lies, not so much in what they say as in the
recognition that the Churches of Asia have come of age and must continue to pursue the task of
becoming Asian, relentlessly, courageously, creatively. Only in this way can the Christian Church
fulfill its missionary vocation which is the task of the entire Church.33 It is only by living out a new
way of being Church that Asian Christians will make true what the Exhortation states as a fact:
“Contemplating Jesus in his human nature, the peoples of Asia find their deepest questions
answered, their hopes fulfilled, their dignity uplifted and their despair conquered” (EA, 14).

2.3 Ecclesia in Asia and the Biblical Pastoral Ministry

In EA, the explicit reflection on our ministry comes in chapter IV “Jesus the Saviour: Proclaiming the
Gift”, in the section, “The Challenge of Inculturation” (nos. 21-22). Among the key areas of
inculturation, priority is given to theological inculturation: “The Synod expressed encouragement to
theologians in their delicate work of developing an inculturated theology, especially in the area of
Christology.” (EA 22) This is to be undertaken “with courage and faithfulness“. The thrust of the
document in this section is on the inculturation of the Good News. The word inculturation, culture
and related words appear one hundred and one times in the document.

3.0 Conclusion

The significance of the Asian Synod and Ecclesia in Asia lies not so much in what they say as in the
recognition that the Churches of Asia have come of age and must continue to pursue the task of
becoming Asian, courageously and creatively. Only in this way can the Christian Church fulfill its
missionary vocation which is the task of the entire Church. It is only by living out a new way of being
Church that Asian Christians will make true what the Exhortation states as a fact: “Contemplating
Jesus in his human nature, the peoples of Asia find their deepest questions answered, their hopes
fulfilled, their dignity uplifted and their despair conquered” (EA, 14). What the Pontifical Biblical
Commission says about the actualization of the Bible is valid for a dialogic approach to biblical
pastoral ministry. “In any case, the risk of error does not constitute a valid objection against
performing what is a necessary task that of bringing the message of the Bible to the ears and hearts
of the people of our time” (Interpretation of the Bible in Church, p.117). A dialogic proclamation of
the word is not a clearly defined task. It is a venture of hope. It will become an adventure of the
Church in Asia. Today we are here to plant the seeds of a future visioning. Our task is to greet from
distance that future and to keep sowing the seeds and nurture their growth. May this Apostolic
Document strengthen us for such a mission.