Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

GOFP 286

Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

of the iceberg to visualize the visible outward expressions of culture that float above the surface, as well as the much larger body of culture hidden beneath the surface, where attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors find their origin. These aspects of culture may frequently be unexamined, even unconscious, motivators for behavior and judgments concerning others. 286 At issue is the worldview of the individual, shaped by a life immersed in a given culture. From that environment, an individual absorbs attitudes concerning the relative roles of old and young, male and female, clergy and laity. Here too is the foundation for the individual’s outlook on critical matters like authority, conflict, rights and responsibilities, and so on. When unexamined, such attitudes frequently lead one to consider one’s own viewpoint the norm, or the right way to think and act. For example, a priest from one culture might have a strong sense of deference to authority and therefore wait upon direction from his diocesan bishop or his delegate, while the diocesan bishop or delegate might misunderstand this cultural approach as being lazy or passive because his own culture places greater value on personal initiative. Cultural misunderstandings may be reduced or reconciled when individuals and communities examine their presumptions and dialogue with one another. THE POWER OF FAITH 287 The Catholic Church, with its long history of experience with many cultures, has significant advantages in bridging divides. Of course, that experience is also set in a context of a faith that grappled early on with questions of cultural difference and came to the firm conclusion that God’s plan calls human beings into communion, as one body, while leaving intact their uniqueness and diversity. If the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost may be seen as the healing of Babel, then note that the Babel experience made all alike, whereas Pentecost

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