Pope Francis tackles his topic of “Forms Of Subjection And Of Self-Contempt” in three paragraphs starting with this one:
51. Certain economically prosperous countries tend to be proposed as cultural models for less developed countries; instead, each of those countries should be helped to grow in its own distinct way and to develop its capacity for innovation while respecting the values of its proper culture. A shallow and pathetic desire to imitate others leads to copying and consuming in place of creating, and fosters low national self-esteem.
The Church itself has been complicit in this. I think of certain initiatives in Liturgiam Authenticam that encouraged some nations and cultures to look to European expressions of language above their own. And why? Simply because the Vatican itself lacked expertise in languages off its continent.
In the affluent sectors of many poor countries, and at times in those who have recently emerged from poverty, there is a resistance to native ways of thinking and acting, and a tendency to look down on one’s own cultural identity, as if it were the sole cause of every ill.
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