The Culture Concept and the Mission of the Roman Catholic Church

This essay examines how the Roman Catholic Church uses a version of the concept of culture in its evangelizing mission. The field of Christian evangelization is not commonly studied by anthropologists, but it represents a situation parallel to that of international and political development, which h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American anthropologist 1994-12, Vol.96 (4), p.824-832
Main Author: Angrosino, Michael V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Anthropology
Applied anthropology
Bishops
Catholic Church
Catholicism
Catholics
Christianization
Churches
Cultural anthropology
Culture
Ethnology
Forum
Liberalism
Liturgy
Missionaries
Political anthropology
Popular religion
Religion
Religion, magic, witchcraft
Religions, beliefs, worships
Religious change, syncretism
Religious rituals
Rituals
Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholicism
Social action
Sociocultural Factors
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Summary:This essay examines how the Roman Catholic Church uses a version of the concept of culture in its evangelizing mission. The field of Christian evangelization is not commonly studied by anthropologists, but it represents a situation parallel to that of international and political development, which has similarly been informed by the anthropological concept of culture but translates that concept into action in ways that are not always consonant with anthropological theory. The great size and international reach of the Roman Catholic Church commend it to our attention insofar as it draws on a version of the anthropological perspective in its dealings with people in a multicultural society.
ISSN:0002-7294
1548-1433
DOI:10.1525/aa.1994.96.4.02a00050