Jesuit Inculturation in the New World

The Jesuits came to the New World as aliens from a distinctly different realm. Communication with the inhabitants of this new world was impeded not simply by the dissimilarity of their respective languages, but even more by their beliefs and world-views. A platform upon which a valid communication could ensue needed to be constructed that could call upon a mutual and respectful confidence in each other. This trust could only be achieved over time and through selfless actions. The time of the missionaries' arrival was marked by calamitous European events that only exacerbated the intertribal conflicts that were ongoing amid the Native communities. The European invasion would also usher in a new economy that would threaten the resources which had sustained them for eons. Much remained beyond the desires and control of the missionaries. The actions of many of their own countrymen frustrated their missions' goals

The frightening dark forests, sparkling waters with vast torrents, abundant strange wildlife beguiled them with their beauty, but menaced them with their demands. The Jesuits came to the New World as aliens from a distinctly different realm. Communication with the inhabitants of this new world was impeded not simply by the dissimilarity of their respective languages, but even more by their beliefs and world-views. A platform upon which a valid communication could ensue needed to be constructed that could call upon a mutual and respectful confidence in each other. This trust could only be achieved over time and through selfless actions. The time of the missionaries' arrival was marked by calamitous European events that only exacerbated the intertribal conflicts that were ongoing amid the Native communities. The European invasion would also usher in a new economy that would threaten the resources which had sustained them for eons. Much remained beyond the desires and control of the missionaries. The actions of many of their own countrymen frustrated their missions' goals.<

A personal transformation within themselves was called for that could free them from their own biases towards what they saw in the actions of the Native communities. This would inevitably provoke questions about what they had unquestioningly accepted from their own world. Such discovery could only come at considerable cost. They would be required to painstakingly sacrifice much in this endeavor. They would be made vulnerable in a manner unlike that which they had experienced in that world which had previously nurtured them. Relentless questions would pursue them and sometimes excruciatingly so as they wended their way through an unknown labyrinth. Each would have to again don the mantle of the student and seek out his teachers among the mix of his new neighbors. Much of the Native world remained hidden and would have to be assiduously teased out from unfamiliar surroundings. The habitues of this new world would frame unexpected questions and sometimes manifest behaviors that represented the best of humanity. The roots of the Native world lay beneath powerful symbols that had been shaped by countless generations of living. The missionaries would need assistance in deciphering their meanings. These were bold ventures that expanded perceptions of human potential.