Report on the proceedings of the

2006 FABC-OESC Conference

Catholicism Encountering Confucianism, Taoism and Folk Religions:

A Case of Inter-Religious Dialogue

Taoyuan, Taiwan

March 22-26, 2006

Forty participants from FABC members: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and countries outside Asia, namely: Canada, Chile, DR Congo, Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and U.S.A., with auditors from schools and religious congregations gathered together on March 22-26, 2006 in St. Theresa Activity Center, Taoyuan, Taiwan. The meeting was organized by the Chinese Regional Bishop’s Conference and Fu Jen Catholic University. They hosted the FABC-OESC Conference on the theme: Catholicism Encountering Confucianism, Taoism and Folk Religion: A Case of Inter-Religious Dialogue. The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of the CountyMagistrate of TaipeiCounty (Hon. Chou Hsi-wei), the Archbishop of Taipei (Most Rev. Joseph Cheng), the Charge d’Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature to China (Msgr. Ambrose Madtha) and the President of Fu Jen Catholic University (Dr. Bernard Li). One reason for the meeting was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the document of Vatican II on inter-religious dialogue entitled Nostra Aetate.

The objectives of the conference were:

  1. To provide Christians a deeper understanding of Confucianism, Taoism and Folk Religions.
  2. To share the views of the practitioners of Confucianism, Taoism and Folk Religions on their contributions and challenges to contemporary globalized world.
  3. To understand the spirituality and morality of Confucianism, Taoism and Folk Religions in Taiwan which have ramifications in East and Northeast Asia.

Summarizing the proceedings, below are the highlights:

The plenary discussion brought out the following points that serve as background:

  1. Encounter at the Local Level: Church leaders and educators have been working on dialogue these past years. Efforts of big educational institutions should now go down to the local level where encounter of life normally happens and where concern for the poor paves way for a true dialogue of life.
  2. Sacramentality: Culture brings with it visible expressions of the inner beauty, through arts and symbols. In fact, the idea of sacramentality abounds in the visible expressions of piety in houses of worship, rites and festivals, with colors and designs found in places of faith.
  3. Frontiers of Dialogue: The local Church has always to consider the different frontiers of evangelization: between the poor and the rich, between men and women, between the old and the young, between globalization and national identity, between the good and the bad in the media, between the spiritual/religious and the secular, and so on.
  4. Schoolgrounds: The youth are the main concern of evangelization. Education in schools is the concern of pastors and educators. Chaplains play a major role in promoting values conducive to dialogue. Education is a tool of service for the integral development of the men and women of the millennium.
  5. Witnessing: While endeavors take place in educational institutions, witnesses also can speak loudly, through life and example, and through their commitments to ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. Examples speak louder than what comes from the lips. Life witness of those who once belonged to another faith persuasion and now embrace the way of life of Jesus is what is needed more than mere teachers.

I. Confucianism:

It’s teachings in general challenge Catholicism in the sense that the latter can discover the semina verbi in the former. On the other hand, the Christian notion of discipleship has its dynamic equivalent in Confucianism and vice-versa. The latest revival of Chinese culture and philosophy even in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and others where there is significant Chinese presence among the population calls for more attention to the teachings of Confucius who is very much respected especially in East and Northeast Asia. Hence, the encounter of both Catholicism and Confucianism is one sign of the times. The Church in Asia has to reckon this if it really and truly wants to dedicate itself to the call of the promotion of the Kingdom.

With the Neo-Confucianists in Hong Kong and Taiwan, there is a sense of self-sufficiency.. They think Master Confucius’ moral teaching is sufficient for the life and there is no need to have another didaskalos coming from the West, with the name Jesus. However, Confucius himself admitted candidly that he had no knowledge at all of life beyond death. The eschaton revealed by the Christian faith is an indispensable supplement to Confucianism. Besides, the Christian mystery of Christ’s Crucifixion and of His Cross is another important Ersatz to Confucianism which does not face human sufferings by any way.

II. Taoism

This complex reality called Taoism is best recognized as “the most elevated expression” of indigenous Chinese popular religiosity. In its own way, Taoism is a salvation religion teaching people ways of attaining immortality, that ultimate goal of personal realization characterized by harmony with the Tao, the ground of all being or existence. The Taoist search for immortality is most close to the Christian quest for eternal life, which is a journey of salvation towards the Kingdom of God. Its positive outlook on the human body may be regarded as a corrective to certain negative Christian tendencies to view the body as opposed to the spirit. On the other hand, its emphasis on physical cultivation as an integral part of overall personal well-being may also be seen as an affirmation of the Christian concern for holistic salvation. In the spirit of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, the Church therefore does not reject what is true and good in Taoism.

III. Folk Religions

The diversity of folk religions brings with it difficulties. But in them is found the other faces of God. In the case of examples of Taiwanese folk culture, individualized in the cult of Mazu and in the piety for Guan Gong, we see the unfolding of a communication from above which we cannot reject without violence to religious truth. Folk religion gives us the Divine face from the natural sense of the religiosity of the people

This religiosity of the people is shown in Taiwanese population with following characteristics: to go out from China in order to survive and to have a better life.This migration started during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and it continued till middle twentieth century when the Communists took over mainland China. The consequent characteristic is to deify human persons who played an important role in helping the migrants to survive in crossing the seas (Mazu) and to face new life situation with wisdom and justice (Guan Gong), and nonetheless with compassion and forbearance (Guan Yin). The overarching characteristic is, therefore, as has been said before, to survive and to have a larger and happier life. This popular religiosity towards life can be addressed to what Jesus said “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). This seems to be the meaning and way of evangelizing people with popular religiosity here in Taiwan.

IV. Recommendations

  1. For all those involved in inter-religious dialogue:

a)To continue the spirit of Nostra Aetate– promote the spirit of mutual listening and learning

b)To bring the discipline of Religious Studies into the work of dialogue.

c)To catalogue, publicize and organize our resources (personal and institutional) for dialogue

  1. For Church leaders:

a)To provide active leadership in the promotion of dialogue and be the animators in the work of dialogue

b)To discover creative ways of doing dialogue that are more in keeping with the sign of the times.

c)To be pastorally sensitive to the struggles of those who have decided to embrace the Christian/Catholic faith.

  1. For educators:

a)To promote dialogue between students of different faiths.

b)To design programs for dialogue that would enable students to encounter other religions without fear and a sense of being lost.

c)Toeventually make schools venues for dialogue.

  1. For all people of faith and good will:

a)To be open to the Spirit, to the mysterious workings of God’s providence among peoples with faiths and cultures very different from our own.

b)To be steadfast in faith, in the belief that God’s mercy will make all things possible.

c)To be fervent in hope, in the expectation that the search for unity through dialogue will be realized in God’s own time.

d)To be grounded in love, in the example of Jesus who came that all may be one.

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