Does Catholicism appears too white?

  • Thread starter Thread starter UnityofTrinity
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
U

UnityofTrinity

Guest
I love Catholicism, especially the very European ones (even though I’m an Asian), but lots of people in the East have problems with Catholicism or Christianity in general because they appears to be too Euro-centric. From the clothings to the rituals and the candles…, how should you counter this?
 
A silly thought suppose, but the first thing that popped into my mind was that ‘white’ is many colors.

"White light is the name given to what the human eye sees when all the colors that make up the visible light spectrum are combined. The visible light spectrum is made up of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet light. When white light is shined through a prism, it is broken into these separate colors of the visible light spectrum. Most people commonly refer to white light simply as “light.”’ wisegeek.com/what-is-white-light.htm

I believe that fire is a symbolism accepted by many cultures, as are food and drink (bread and wine) oil, and so on.
Jesus Himself, and the first Apostles weren’t ‘white’, but from an ancient Near Eastern race en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews
The symbols and rituals came from this ancient world. Therefore, while the symbols, rituals and the candles may be perceived as ‘white’, their origin is not.
 
I do see what you mean since the Catholic Church has much of its roots in Europe. The Catholic Church is the most beautiful church in the entire world and it consists of people of every nationality and race.

One should also remember that the Church started with the Jewish People and it grew from there. Also remember the the word Catholic really means Universial.
 
Trishie said:
A silly thought suppose, but the first thing that popped into my mind was that ‘white’ is many colors.

"White light is the name given to what the human eye sees when all the colors that make up the visible light spectrum are combined. The visible light spectrum is made up of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet light. When white light is shined through a prism, it is broken into these separate colors of the visible light spectrum. Most people commonly refer to white light simply as “light.”’ wisegeek.com/what-is-white-light.htm

I believe that fire is a symbolism accepted by many cultures, as are food and drink (bread and wine) oil, and so on.
Jesus Himself, and the first Apostles weren’t ‘white’, but from an ancient Near Eastern race en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews
The symbols and rituals came from this ancient world. Therefore, while the symbols, rituals and the candles may be perceived as ‘white’, their origin is not.
Click to expand...
Beautiful post!
 
UnityofTrinity said:
I love Catholicism, especially the very European ones (even though I’m an Asian), but lots of people in the East have problems with Catholicism or Christianity in general because they appears to be too Euro-centric. From the clothings to the rituals and the candles…, how should you counter this?
Click to expand...
Catholics live all over the world, and they don’t wear all the same clothes.
 
The most quickly growing Catholic population is in Africa.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Africa

The largest Catholic population by % is in South America at 27.87% of the worldwide Catholic population.

There are ~120,860,699 million Catholics in Asia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_by_country#Asia

The Catholic Church is the Universal Church, and is for all people. Those who say the Church is too Euro-centric are incorrect, and possibly too Asian-centric themselves. The Japanese come to mind first, as fiercely anti-Christian who brutally suppressed it, and China is an atheistic communist nation, Russia has always been deeply rooted in the Russian Orthodox Church and was behind the iron curtain for very long.

There are many historical, political, and cultural reasons as to why the Church has not spread as much as one would hope to Central Asia, but it is not for lack of effort on the Church’s part. Hopefully the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization recently created by the Holy Father will find a way to address these issues.

Just some food for thought.

God Bless,
Paul
 
UnityofTrinity said:
I love Catholicism, especially the very European ones (even though I’m an Asian), but lots of people in the East have problems with Catholicism or Christianity in general because they appears to be too Euro-centric. From the clothings to the rituals and the candles…, how should you counter this?
Click to expand...
Bring up the many Hispanic, Asian, Black, Native American Indian, and all other types of Non-White Catholics. Bring up how the majority of Latin America is Catholic. Make them Google “Syro Malabar Catholic Church” and look at the images.

Also bring up that Jesus wasn’t white 😉

God bless :byzsoc:

David
 
Jesus was Asian! 👍 So were the apostles! 👍

Yes, Israel is a part of Asia! 👍
 
I don’t think we need a full defense of Catholicism and how un-racist the church is. We all know all races are welcome, it’s the Universal church. But I do think in the Roman church, there can be a feeling of ‘whiteness’ I’m ethnic and grew up in Australia, I’ve been involved in a lot of Catholic youth stuff and have met many bishops and a number of Cardinals, been around the whole Catholic ‘scene’ and there does seem to be a dominance of European/white culture. Even the pro-life movement here is I guess is white, and most Catholics seem to be middle to upper class white people. Catholicism doesn’t seem relevant to the ethnic lower class and Aboriginal people, it seems too ‘proper.’ The new ‘non-denominational’ churches around here have done so much better at evangelisation than our church and I think a lot of that has to do with the dominant old-school white culture that pervades through the Church. I know that the history of Catholicism in Australia is all white, so what can you do eh? but a lot of my family who were baptised Catholic just don’t feel welcome in the church, the priests and bishops, and the majority of practising Catholics just seem to live in a different world to us. I know it’s different in each country, but it just seems like the Catholic culture here isn’t very welcoming to us ethnic people.
 
I think it depends on the region in which you live. In my area, the majority of Catholic parishes are predominantly Hispanic. My parish, for example is probably about 85 to 90% Hispanic.
 
Journey322 said:
I think it depends on the region in which you live. In my area, the majority of Catholic parishes are predominantly Hispanic. My parish, for example is probably about 85 to 90% Hispanic.
Click to expand...
Hispanic liturgies sure don’t look very “Anglo” to me. One ought to go sometime to a Mass where the people are all Vietnamese. Not “Euro” at all. I think it varies a lot depending on where one is.

I have seen attempts at “mixed culture” Masses, and it doesn’t seem to work too well. Neither fish nor fowl, and alien to everybody.

There are also “cultural differences” even among white folks. In my own parish, for example, the convert daughter of a Baptist preacher plays the hammer dulcimer (very well, too) at various times in the Mass, but particularly at Communion. Since we have a lot of converts from Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches, and since everybody is about half hillbilly anyway, if not more so, it works. I’m not too sure how some of the ultra, ultra “cultural” Masses in some urban parishes I have attended, would work around here.
 
Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan from Vietnam is under consideration for canonization after 13 years in a concentration camp, 9 in solitary confinement. If you read his biography, Miracle of Hope: Political Prisoner, Prophet of Peace, he recognized for himself the pre-Christian values of Confucianism and in the Confucian social order. He is in good standing with the Pope; one can read his works converted to spiritual exercises: Testimony of Hope: Spiritual Exercises of John Paul II. He is also in good standing with Mary as his entry and escape were on her feast days.

So its not wrong to be concerned about this if he also was. Just remind yourself that if someone foreign were in a Catholic church from your culture, say a south Indian person, they might also think of it as too East Asian centric.
 
I know what you mean. However, you have to remember that Catholic Christianity is a big deal in Africa and they keep their African traditions. Same thing in the middle east (even though Christians are persecuted there) and even in china. There are also eastern rites within the catholic church. You should do some research on them they are very interesting and humble. I think I heard somewhere that there is a Chinese christian rite that is forming. Im not sure if they are a independent church or if they are in communion with rome though. Just remember that you don’t have to be “western” to be a christian.
 
I’m sorry some Asians feel this way. In some African countries, the majority of people are Catholics. I live in the Philippines which is 85% Catholic and which has been Catholic for 500 years. I am at a loss why they feel this way. Much about Catholicism, including its rituals and customs goes back to ancient times when in fact none of the European countries existing today existed and there was no general European civilization. I wonder if there is some historical reason in some Asian places why Catholicism is now identified with Europe?
 
UnityofTrinity said:
I love Catholicism, especially the very European ones (even though I’m an Asian), but lots of people in the East have problems with Catholicism or Christianity in general because they appears to be too Euro-centric. From the clothings to the rituals and the candles…, how should you counter this?
Click to expand...
Well… for what it’s worth… the Far East is historically and culturally xenophobic.

If this is ever and issue… remind whoever it is that the Catholic faith was much more prominent in the Middle Kingdom in the 6th-century than most folks realise.
 
UnityofTrinity said:
I love Catholicism, especially the very European ones (even though I’m an Asian), but lots of people in the East have problems with Catholicism or Christianity in general because they appears to be too Euro-centric. From the clothings to the rituals and the candles…, how should you counter this?
Click to expand...
Just to elaborate further on something followingtheway brought up in Post #7…

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

The vast majority of people who live in Mexico, Central America, and South America are Catholic. They are non-whites who have fully meshed Catholicism with many aspects of their local cultures (including clothing, music, food, dance and rituals). The result is a very beautiful expression of Catholic spirituality which is unique unto themselves (and can still be shared with others). The same sort of thing can (and does) happen anywhere, including Asia.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

(Scene from a typical Latin American procession on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top