In these first two Christian millennia, countless peoples have received the gift of faith, brought it to flower in their daily lives and handed it on in the language of their culture. Whenever a community receives the message of salvation, the Holy Spirit enriches its culture with the transforming power of the Gospel.
The history of the church shows that Christianity does not have simply one cultural expression, but rather, ‘remaining completely true to itself, with unswerving fidelity to the proclamation of the Gospel and the tradition of the church, it will also reflect the different faces of the cultures and peoples in which it is received and takes root.’ In the diversity of peoples who experience the gift of God… the church expresses her genuine catholicity and shows forth the ‘beauty of her varied face.’