From 27 to 31 October 2025, a National Course for pastoral ministers from overseas working in England and Wales was held at the Oblate Retreat Centre, Wistaston Hall, Crewe. The event was organised by Missio England and Wales and the Catholic Missionary Union. Twenty-nine participants from various dioceses and religious congregations, representing more than ten countries, took part in the course. Among them was Fr. Suresh Kocheria, a Mill Hill Missionary from India who has recently been appointed to the British Region. The course aimed to help pastoral ministers adapt to their new environment and culture, and to support them in becoming effective pastoral workers in different situations.
John Paul II articulated inculturation as an essential component of evangelization and mission ad gentes. In his address to the bishops of Agra, Guwahati, Imphal and Shillong (1995) he warned that inculturation is “not a hasty or superficial adaptation of customs” but a process that builds communities whose very existence springs from prayer, the sacraments and a life faithful to the Gospel. The same principles appear in his speech to the bishops of Indonesia (1996), where he described liturgical inculturation as a “slow journey” that must respect the “substantial unity of the Roman Rite” while allowing the Gospel to “fully immerse” itself in the local cultural mosaic.
