Connecting Altars and Rumah Betang: Inculturative Pastoral Strategies for Dayak Traditional Marriage in Central Kalimantan

Tensions between Dayac customary law and the canonical norms of the Catholic Church often delayed the practice of sacramental marriage in rural parishes. The purpose of this study is to analyze how the priests of the Mater Dei Melata parish community, Central Kalimantan, interpret and accompany Dayak Catholic youth who are in a dilemma between the obligation of honesty and the acceptance of the Sacrament of Marriage. This study uses a qualitative case study combined with Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutic phenomenology through the experiences of 11 deliberately selected informants, which include two priests, two catechists, three Dayak Catholic youth, two traditional leaders and two environmental administrators. The results of the study show that the prohibition of divorce in Dayac customary law can be seen as a semina verbi (seed of the Word), which is in accordance with the nature of the insoluble nature of Catholic marriage. Successful pastoral strategies include the contextual analogy of the "house without a roof", a misericordia (compassion) approach through the tool of convalidatio, as well as policies to ease costs for low-income families. This research also reveals the dimensions of social justice that underlie honest economic burdens and the process of melting the horizons of understanding between canonical and customary authorities. It is concluded that the transition from a normative approach to relational-non-cultural assistance is the key to the effectiveness of pastoral activities of marriage in rural areas based on indigenous communities.

Convalidatio; Inculturation; Dayak Traditional Marriage; Pastoral

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