Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

301 GOFP

Appendix C: Cultural Considerations in Ongoing Formation

300 Special Note: While fraternity is a foundational factor for ongoing formation, and the diocese needs to build bridges across cultural divides, these points do not mean that a program should avoid culture or language-specific programming. Drawing together priests of a particular group for fraternity and formation can be an excellent tool promoting the overall goal of fraternity and effective ministry. Those who minister in another culture or find themselves a minority in a dominant culture need bonds with other priests who face similar challenges if they are to thrive in the wider environment. CULTURE AND PLANNING 301 When planning intercultural competency programs or culturally aware general programming, the ongoing formation leadership needs to consider the cultural landscape of the local parishes and clergy. Of course, those in leadership need to understand the effects of their own cultural attitudes and have some sense of the worldview of the major cultures present in a given diocese. Among local communities and clergy, resources of expertise or lived experience may exist. For example, a long-serving international priest from Latin America might assist newly arriving priests in their first years of ministry. An effective pastor might be trained in the gifts and challenges of culture to serve as a mentor to a promising international priest. Small groups of the laity might serve as an ongoing support group for an international priest after he completes the orientation and training process. Small groups of clergy or individual international priests might serve in an advisory capacity to help the ongoing formation leadership plan content. All ongoing formation programming—even if the topic or program does not specifically relate to culture—needs to consider the power of culture in planning and shaping content.

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