Church and Marriage in an Indonesian Village

This study investigates an apparent misalignment between customary and Church marriage among the Catholic Ata Lio people of Central Flores, Indonesia. An historical survey of the ecclesial situation is made. A detailed anthropological study of customary marriage follows. In the final, theological section, the doctrine and discipline of marriage within the Catholic tradition is seen from the viewpoint both of the Institutional and of the Village Church. The study concludes with an outline of an implicit inculturated theology of marriage as articulated in the vision and practice of the people and its relationship to the theology of the official Church.