Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles touches upon what may be considered one of the great questions which the Catholic church has been required to resolve. How does one preach the unchanging faith within time and place that continually changes? The question that faced the early church was the issue of how one became a Christian and what was necessary for this transition. Some argued that since “salvation came from the Jews” (John 4:22) Jewish customs served as a prerequisite for admittance into the Christian faith. Others disagreed, holding that the message was more important than the various ways the message was received. But what if the message and the means were so intertwined that a separation would do harm for both? The struggle is obvious and ongoing. One piece of advice on how to navigate the difficulty came from the 17th century from the Propaganda Fide.
Do not act with zeal, do not put forward any arguments to convince these peoples to change their rites, their customs, or their usages, except if they are evidently contrary to the religion [i.e., Catholic Christianity] and morality. What would be more absurd than to bring France, Spain, Italy, or any other European country to the Chinese? Do not bring to them our countries, but instead bring to them the Faith, a Faith that does not reject or hurt the rites, nor the usages of any people, provided that these are not distasteful, but that instead keeps and protects them.
The propaganda Fide, at this time, relied heavily on the influence of Jesuits. Perhaps we hear Ignatius’ voice in these comments that it is best to operate with good intentions unless otherwise proven wrong.