QUITO, Ecuador, NOV. 10, 2002 (Zenit.org).- One of the keys to evangelization among the indigenous peoples of Latin American is to understand the customs and traditions of Native Americans, a bishop says.
Bishop Aivan Guagua of Panama made that observation at the closing of a meeting of Latin American bishops and Native American Catholics in the Ecuadorean Highlands.
The meeting let participants exchange experiences of apostolate and to evaluate the Church’s evangelization work among the indigenous groups.
The Symposium of Dialogue on Indigenous Theology, promoted by the Latin American bishops’ council (CELAM), brought together representatives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and Adveniat (the German Church’s organization for aid to Latin America), along with bishops and experts from 13 South American countries and Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeapin, papal nuncio in Ecuador.
Dozens of Native American catechists from Ecuador attended the congress which, among other things, reflected on theological methods and rites.
On the last day, Oct. 31, Bishop Guagua, Bishop Julio Cabrera of Guatemala, and Bishop Domingo Yanqui of Peru presided over the panel of speakers.
Bishop Guagua explained how one of the Church’s key strategies in Panama was «to achieve a greater rapport with native peoples in their everyday lives, in order to transmit Jesus’ message to them.»
Another key to evangelization is «to understand the customs and traditions of Native Americans, so that catechesis will be more effective,» he said.
Plans were proposed to bring more Native Americans to the Catholic faith, and to block the incursions of sects into some communities. The expressed goals of the meeting were to bring the Gospel to communities («pachacamac»), and to protect the earth («pachamama») and the family («ayllu»).
Native Americans who have been evangelized described how they found Jesus in their own cultural roots, and the Church participated strongly in this work. «Today, we see a Church with a native face and heart,» observed Bishop Nestor Herrera of Machala, Ecuador.
Delfin Tenesaca, a member of the group Indigenous Pastoral Care in Chimborazo province in Ecuador, confirmed that there are 150,000 Native Americans who profess Catholicism in Chimborazo.
