Look everywhere

American and Western culture always seems to believe it has the answers to all the problems in the world and church - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Fr. Peter Phan, president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and a frequent lecturer at St. Norbert College in De Pere, has a different idea.

He says Asian nations' diverse religious traditions - commitment to family, stability, respect and a sharing lifestyle - "can renew and strengthen the Catholic Church."

For example, says Fr. Phan, a professor of religion and culture at The Catholic University of America and a native of Vietnam, "When you marry a Vietnamese, you marry a family." That includes its history, ancestors and present members.

He recalls coming to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1975 and seeing a mobile home and thinking it a contradiction in terms. "A home that traveled down the highway at 75 miles per hour" is an alien concept to most Asians because a home is tied to roots and ancestors, he says.

Asian Americans stand between U.S. and Asian cultures and can go beyond the limits of each, Fr. Phan told the Abp. Peter Leo Gerety lecture at Seton Hall University at South Orange, N.J.

Thus, Asian-American Catholics can draw upon theological, cultural and philosophical traditions from Western and Asian culture "to help meet the needs of parish communities," he says.

"That's the gift that God has given this country," he says. "The United States of America is made up of immigrants ... and all of them have had to carve out their part of the future."

Fr. Phan points out that Christianity has Asian roots. "Christ was an Asian - a Middle Easterner ... not a Middle Westerner with blond hair and blue eyes."

Despite that, fewer than 3% of Asians are Christians, he says. If Christ were the head of a big company and "his corporation had captured less than 3% of the continent's market over centuries, I don't think he would be too happy about that."

As Catholics, we need to listen to these diverse voices in line with the catholic nature of our church. Pope John Paul has shown his support of the wisdom of looking to all cultures by naming cardinals from around the world and conducting synods of bishops for the various regions of the world.

It always spells trouble when one person or one group believes it has all the answers. We can find the answers together with the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by following the example of Jesus who eagerly colored outside the lines.