inculturation

Inculturation is a term used in Christian missiology referring to the adaptation of the way the Gospel is presented for the specific cultures being evangelized. It is attuned - but not identical - to the term enculturation used in Sociology. The term was popularized by the encyclical Redemptoris Missio of Pope John Paul II (1990), but predates that encyclical. In fact St Paul's speech to the Greeks at the Aeropagus of Athens (Acts 17:22-33) could rightly be considered as the first inculturation attempt. The speech was not well received, according to verse 32: "Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked" (ESV). ( All through its long history, as and when necessary, the message of the Gospel was inculturated. Problems arose when some tried to stop this natural inculturation movement, as when Latin was made a quasi sacred language, when translation of the Bible in the vernacular languages was condemned, when customary veneration of the ancestors (so called 'Chinese Rites') was forbidden in China, etc. Early practitioners of inculturation in the history of missions include St. Patrick in Ireland, Sts. Cyril and Methodius for the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. From after the council of Trent (1545-1563) the movement became more systematic: José de Anchieta for the indigenous people of Brazil, Roberto de Nobili in South-India. Matteo Ricci in China, Alexandre de Rhodes in Vietnam, and countless others. And the movement goes on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inculturation