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CULTURAL DIVERSITY in the USCATHOLIC CHURCHTODAY
The majority of this presentation is based on the document Embracing the Multicultural Face of
God: Cultural Diversity and Catholic Identity, developed
as a resource by the Committee on Cultural
Diversity in the Church of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
"Today as ever the Church's mission to
proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
promote the life and dignity of each and
every human being has much to do with insight
into cultures."Father Allan F. Deck, S.J.
Former Executive Director for the USCCB Office for Cultural Diversity in the Church
SOME
DEFINITIONS
Culture: The complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by the human personhood as a member of
society."
Cultural Diversity: The respect of, and to different
cultures.
Intercultural : between different cultural
backgrounds.
Intracultural : between factions of one culture.
Cultural generalization:
The tendency to assume that a majority of people in a
particular cultural group hold certain values and beliefs and engage in certain patterns of
behavior.
Multiculturism or ethnic diversity: The promotion of multiple
ethnic cultures.
Communication style:
A set of culturally learned characteristics associated with
both language and learning style, involving such aspects of
communication as formal versus informal, emotional
versus subdued, direct versus indirect, objective versus
subjective, and responses to guilt and accusations.
Culture is always in evolution.
Ethnocentrism:
The tendency that people have to evaluate others from their own cultural
reference.
WHY IS DIVERSITY IMPORTANT
?
We live at a time when the encounter of languages,
races, and cultures is more intense than ever. Mass
media, especially the Internet, travel, immigration,
and an increasingly globalized economy are
bringing people together more and more.
The experience of diversity is therefore,
more characteristic of our times, and brings with it serious challenges and
great opportunities.
FIVE PRIORITY GOALS OF THE USCCB, 2008-2011
1. Strengthening marriage.2. Faith formation and sacramental practice.3. Promotion of vocations to priesthood and consecrated life.4. Life and dignity of the human person.
5. Recognition of cultural diversity with a special emphasis on Hispanic ministry in the spirit of Encuentro 2000.
Food for
Thought
Catholic means Universal.
Encounter of
faith with
culture promoting
justice.
The Church cannot be focused on its mission to evangelize
without being more and more an expert in diversity.
Melting Pot (Assimilation)
vs.
Stew Pot (Adaptation)
The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform your Congregation into a Sacred Community (Ron
Wolfson, Ph.D., Jewish Lights Publishing, New York, January 2006)
The Congregation is a spiritual center for all those who set foot in it. It's a "kehillah kedoshah," a sacred community where,
Relationships are paramount,Worship is engaging,Everyone is constantly learning,Repair of the World is a moral imperative,Healing is offered, and, Personal and institutional transformation is embraced.
They Say, I Say
They say I am brown, I say, I am proud.
They say I only know how to cook,I say, I know how to write a book,
So, don’t judge me by the way I look.
They say I am brown, I say, I am proud.
They say I’m not the future of this nation,I say, stop giving discrimination,
Instead, I’m gonna use my education to help build the human nation.
Excerpt of Diary #103The Freedom Writers’ Diary
SOME DOCUMENTS
Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity (NCCB/USCC - November 15, 2000) Brothers and Sisters Among Us: Pastoral Letter on Racism (NCCB/USCC - November 1979)25th Anniversity of Brothers and Sisters Among Us: Pastoral Letter on Racism (NCCB/USCC - November 2004)Asian and Pacific Presence: Harmony in Faith (NCCB/USCC - November 2001)Strangers No Longer Together on the Journey of Hope: A Pastoral Letter Concerning Migration from the Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States (January 22, 2003)
RESOURCES
