DOCUMENT PRESENTED: "TOWARDS A PASTORAL APPROACH TO CULTURE"

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 1999 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office today, Cardinal Paul Poupard and Fr. Bernard Ardura O. Praem., respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, presented the document "Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture." Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, S.J., archbishop of Milan and member of the council, also participated.

Cardinal Poupard indicated that the document is based on the conviction that "the need for the evangelization of cultures and for the inculturation of the message of the faith is strongly felt today." The text responds to the "numerous requests from bishops coming from various parts of the world. It is the fruit of a collegial effort between bishops and people of culture involved in various fields: scientific, educational, anthropological, theological and artistic."

The document, 80 pages in length, comprises an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. It has been published in French, English and Italian. It carries the signatures of the president and the secretary of the council and is dated May 23, Solemnity of Pentecost.

As Cardinal Poupard explained, the first part presents "the guidelines of the relationship between faith and culture, starting from the Bible; ... The second part (presents) ... an analysis of the challenges and reference points for a pastoral approach to culture; between the traditional cultural areas of the family, education, philosophy and art and the new 'areopagus' of science and the social communications media, between cultural diversity and religious plurality." The third part "offers a series of concrete proposals, ... for an appropriate pastoral approach to culture; from popular piety to cultural heritage, from the parish to centers of theological formation, from Catholic cultural centers to the press, publishing houses, radio, television and the Internet."

For his part, Fr. Ardura indicated that the document "is the result of five years of work," in which consultors and members of the dicastery as well as of several cultural commissions from the various episcopal conferences have participated.

The text was approved at the 1997 plenary assembly and "has benefited from contributions made by the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, especially the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Catholic Education, the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church."

The secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture declared that this pastoral document is aimed above all at bishops, but also at priests, religious and lay persons, "who are committed to announcing the Gospel." The principal objective is to "sensitize (people) to the importance that culture has in announcing the Gospel, promoting renewed commitment and encouraging Churches who have already begun a pastoral approach to culture of this type."

Cardinal Martini indicated that the document "is a good synthesis of what has been said on the relationship between faith and culture since Vatican Council II and, especially, during the magisterium of John Paul II. It helps to identify the large variety of fields in which a pastoral approach to culture may be practiced."

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