Accompanying Seminarians in their Intercultural Pastoral Formation at SVDP

Catholic parishes are moving from monocultural patterns to ones called, “shared”, that is, parish communities in which two or more languages or cultural contexts are an integral part of the ministerial life and mission of a particular parish. The U.S. bishops today are very clear about the fact that the Church’s mission is not to Americanize but to evangelize.  This means respecting the languages, customs and styles whereby particular cultures live their Catholic faith.  The cultural diversity of the Church, when properly understood, is not a threat to Church Unity: “In the diversity of peoples who experience the gift of God, each in accordance with its own culture, the Church expresses her genuine catholicity and shows forth the beauty of her varied faces.” (Joy of the Gospel, 116-117).

Working in a culturally diverse Church requires opportunities to reflect on our own cultural values and perspectives and especially to learn cultural dynamics within a faith context.  St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, FL sponsored a process for about 90 seminarians to learn and share about these dynamics to prepare these future priests for ministry.  In collaboration with Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, O.P. and Dr. S. Mary Krysiak Bittár, Professor of Practical Theology at St. Vincent’s, the Congar Institute led this initiative with a team of experienced presenters.  It was my privilege to work alongside, Mr. Edgar Barroso, MDiv, Parish Outreach & Campaign Liaison and Dr. John Chitakure, PhD, DMin., Chief Academic Officer at the Mexican American Catholic College, both with the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Through presentations and activities facilitated by the team, participants articulated and shared their cultural heritage and identities.  In the effort to understand better persons from various cultures, one needs first to embrace one’s own culture.  It is natural for most of us to relate to the world from an ethnocentric perspective, our own cultural references. As the participants at St. Vincent’s learned various cultural parameters among various ethnic communities, they were able to apply this knowledge to identify different views of leadership, communication, conflict resolution, and decision-making processes in a culturally diverse setting.

The seminarians’ enthusiasm to learn and participate throughout the day was a source of inspiration and hope for those of us organizing this event. Living ‘unity in diversity’ is easier said than done.  Our Catholic Church is universal.  In her universality, she gathers in all peoples without exception.  All of us, ordained, religious and laity, are called to find ways in which we become one Catholic community, while celebrating the diversity of cultures and ethnicities.  It is within this frame of mind that we undertake our mission to evangelize.