Indigenization of catholicism in modern Vietnam

 
PIIS032150750003738-3-1
DOI10.31857/S032150750003738-3
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Occupation: senior lecturer
Affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics – Saint-Petersburg
Address: Russian Federation, St. Petersburg
Journal nameAsia and Africa Today
EditionIssue 2
Pages64-69
AbstractThe article analyzes the processes of localization of Vietnamese Catholicism, namely the issues of the cult of ancestors among Vietnamese Catholics, the veneration of national saints, canonized in 1988 by the Holy See as well as the phenomenon of the «Vietnamese» Our Lady of La Vang, which was re-imaged in 1990-s as an Asian woman dressed in the Vietnamese traditional dress бo dаi by American emigrant Nhan Van. This article examines history of the La Vang Sanctuary, the process of Vietnamization of Our Lady of La Vang. This image is very popular among the Vietnamese Catholics diaspora in USA, because it became an important manifestation of the Vietnamese Catholics identity. The article analyzes the attitude of the Holy See toward the indigenization of the religion among Vietnamese Catholics. In 16-17 centuries the Chinese Rites Controversy became the largest controversy in the history of Catholic Church, but the attitude of the Holy See toward the cult of ancestors changed in 20 century, especially after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Today Vietnamese Catholics have the permission of the Holy See to venerate their ancestors. The homes of today’s Vietnamese Catholics may have an ancestral altar, although it can be easily distinguished from an altar set in a non-Catholic family, since it is less decorated and it usually have no offerings except flowers and candles. The veneration of 117 martyrs also has the features of the ancestral cult.
KeywordsVietnamese culture, Catholicism in Vietnam, Religion in Modern World, Our Lady of La Vang
Publication date25.03.2019
Number of characters23855
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