The Asian Fishermen was born on Christmas Day 2021 and started walking on Ash Wednesday 2022. It made its public appearance on Pentecost Sunday.
This blog is written by Catholics in Asia. We offer commentaries, opinions and news analyses of our faith with the view to helping Catholics in our part of the world live the Gospel fully and fruitfully, as Jesus Christ invites us to do so for the sake of our salvation.
Asia is a region of diverse cultures, traditions and tongues. But our access to Catholic content is largely produced in Europe and North America that are designed to reach audiences in those regions.
For Catholics not living in the West, reading and viewing these media outlets may not have access to content that is important to them.
This is especially the case for those in Asia and Africa.
A prime example is inculturation that came to the fore at the Second Vatican Council to spread the Gospel and evangelise people of all cultures. But even today, Catholics still don’t appreciate its importance in making the message of Christ penetrate the world’s various sociocultural milieu, by calling on them “to grow according to all its particular values, as long as these are compatible with the Gospel” (Faith and Inculturation, International Theological Commission, 1988).
Because of inculturation, the Church in Africa (+2.1%) and Asia (+1.8%), according to Vatican statistics, grew at the fastest rates in the world in 2020.
Evangelization and inculturation are naturally and intimately related to each other. The Gospel and evangelization are certainly not identical with culture; they are independent of it. Yet the Kingdom of God comes to people who are profoundly linked to a culture, and the building of the Kingdom cannot avoid borrowing elements from human cultures.
Pope St John Paul II
Another concern is that many news outlets, including not a few Catholic media, tend to adopt a content model that generates controversy to attract readers and viewers to their outlets. This has led many to give subjective, partial opinions to supposed and genuine missteps of the Pope and Church Shepherds.
At times, these successors of the Apostles were even misquoted and even falsely accused of teaching heresies when there is evidence they were not.
The result of such trends is confusion and frustration among Catholics who are unaware of such practices in the media. This is becoming evident among Catholics, including clergy, in Asia, especially in English-speaking communities, who repeat these reports.
The Asian Fishermen’s mission is to explain issues that are important to Catholics in Asia and help them see through the fog of confusion. We do not have the resources at the disposal of popular Catholic media but this won’t hamper us.
We are not the only independent Asian Catholic media. We want to add to what is already good out there in Asia to give readers a wider selection to read. Hopefully, there will be more. There are also reliable archdiocesan media around the region that offer good content.
We are pitching in with our bit part but are a small team of dedicated Catholics who are writing for no wages. Ours is a contribution to what the Church is already doing in the world’s most populous continent, not only to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known but to help others know and love Him more deeply.
We call this blog The Asian Fishermen to remind us of the importance of humility because we cannot do anything without submitting completely to the Holy Spirit.
And while we are not linked to any archdiocese, we are in communion with Christ’s Vicar, the Successor of St Peter and his teaching Magisterium, who, on this Pentecost Sunday of 2022, is Pope Francis and his brother bishops in union with him.
Finally, we trust in the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, the Most Holy Blessed Virgin Mary, and humbly pray, “Come Holy Spirit”, fill us with thy Grace to follow You with faith, hope and charity.
IAN DE COTTA
Editor
5 June 2022