Chiquitania – eine lebendige Glaubensgeschichte
Chiquitania – a living history of faith

Summary/Abstract: In the former Jesuit reductions of Chiquitos in today’s eastern Bolivia the Christian faith, economic development, artistic expression and handiwork abilities formed a symbiosis. This symbiosis is rooted in the fundamental idea of the deep relation of evangelization and integral human development, and of the desire to connect indigenous culture with religion. This was realized by communicating the gospel in the context of a dialogical process in which willingness to listen and respect for others was is the necessary condition for any missionary activity.As a result, the Jesuits created a system of “reductions” in order not only to instruct the residents in the Christian faith in their indigenous languages but also to encourage the integration of their art, architecture, religious theater and especially music with the Christian faith. Above all, the liturgy with its solemn musical design in richly decorated churches was developed, which was seen as a successful method of evangelization, utilizing talents available among the Indians. From today’s perspective such a missionary approach is only possible through dialogue, an encounter of cultures approaching each other in mutual respect and merging into a symbiosis of a new religious culture. This approach can only succeed when we are open for today’s world, for being a Christian in church of the future, which maintains the prophetic and missionary dialogue. This is the central message of this article, presenting the missionary Church through the example of Chiquitano-Mission in eastern Bolivia.

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