Abstract
This introductory chapter discusses the theory of inculturation/indigenization. Paradoxically, the result of indigenization has had reverse effects making the Taiwan Church more global and universal than before. The indigenization of the Taiwan Church in various ways was possible in the first place because of the influx of large groups of church experts from Mainland China. Significant events in the iconic years of 1949 and 2015 in Taiwan and the Taiwan Church are discussed in the context of the Church’s inculturation. This chapter also introduces the characteristics of each writer in the volume in terms of their special academic disciplines depicting different aspects of the Taiwan Catholic Church and revealing the multifaceted aspects of Catholicism through history, philosophy, social science, linguistics, music and literature.
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Notes
- 1.
Spoken by Hong Kong’s first Chinese Bishop, an Oxford scholar, Bishop Francis Hsu , who expressed this view during the first FABC . In Chap. 4 on indigenization, there is a detailed discussion on this issue.
- 2.
The head of the family sent notification for the funeral of her husband and the wedding of her daughter on the same invitation card. Guests were reminded not to wear mourning dress but banquet attire for the Holy Mass.
- 3.
It is true that Taiwanese very much avoid the sentiment of death. In Chap. 6 on liturgical languages Huang Mincheng raises this question.
- 4.
The figure was given by the office of the Archbishop Office in the Archdiocese of Taipei in February 2015.
- 5.
In July 2015, the author was informed by a Macau priest who was involved in the newly established translation team which was unable to do serious translation due to limitations in language ability of members of the team.
- 6.
Lin tabulated the figures offered by other authors and made his own analysis. He came to the conclusion that two million was the nearest number of Mainlanders who fled to Taiwan following the 1949 Revolution.
- 7.
These figures were given by the Taipei Archbishop’s Office in February 2015 upon request.
References
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Leung, B.K.F. (2018). The Introduction. In: So, F., Leung, B., Mylod, E. (eds) The Catholic Church in Taiwan. Christianity in Modern China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6668-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6668-9_1
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