For the past two weeks I have been offering reflections on the proposed priorities for the Archdiocese that will be considered by the Synod. The first reflection concerned the need for Moral Revitalisation.

The second reflection considered discipleship and evangelisation. This week I want to share some thoughts on the third proposed priority: Catholic Culture and Identity.

This priority is very important because culture and identity are so fundamental to life both civil and spiritual. Culture is an influential component of one’s identity. 

A definition of culture
 
It is always helpful to understand precisely what we are discussing. So let us consider a common definition of culture:
Culture is an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols and rituals by means of which people communicate, perpetuate and foster their knowledge about and their attitudes toward life.

The Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican provides an enormous amount of material on culture for reflection. The Council stated that culture is for many people the means through which the meaning of human nature and life is revealed.

While that is true, the Pontifical Council is quick to point out that while the human person exists in a particular culture, the human person is not exhaustively defined by culture. However, we can never underestimate the power culture can have in our lives. It influences how we think, feel, act and react. Culture can open us to or blind us to the truth.

As Catholics, we believe we have been created in the image and likeness of God. We are therefore called to live in a culture without becoming a prisoner of our culture. We are to live in accord with the truth of our being which is found in the Gospel. Cultures contain sin and therefore require careful discernment. Cultures themselves require evangelisation.

Living a Catholic culture is a challenge because globalisation brings people into contact with different cultures. This can happen in a matter of hours e.g. through modern travel or almost instantly through modern communications. We must remember that as God formed a people that he called his own, he penetrated and purified the prevalent culture and inspired a Covenant culture which lasts to this day.

A definition of identity

Identity is an umbrella term used by the social sciences to describe a person’s understanding of herself/himself in terms of their individuality and difference when compared to others.

Part of personal identity is given to us at birth e.g. gender or nationality. Other aspects of personal identity are formed as we grow and mature. A significant point in all the literature about personal identity is that religion, religious affiliation and spirituality are considered to be important factors in a person’s self-understanding.

The conclusion from the definitions and the literature is that the linkage between culture and identity is very strong. Its power should never be underestimated. While this proposed priority may appear to be somewhat theoretic.

In truth, it must be given serious attention. The need for a sense of belonging is intrinsic to human nature. A sense of belonging contributes to being rooted and secure. A lack of belonging to family, Church, Nation can result in serious complications for the relational life and identity of a person. 

When the concept of Catholic is added to the concepts of culture and identity the universality of the Church brings a significant context to the proposed priority. The Church does not identify with any culture yet operates in every culture.

It challenges error and evil and ceaselessly tries to purify and elevate the morals of humanity. It is committed to the process of establishing an authentic personal identity within and among people by restoring them to Christ.

Guidelines from the Church to the Synod

Assuming the Synod will accept this proposed priority and will discuss steps toward its implementation, I offer some helpful observations/recommendations from the Pontifical Council for Culture on what is involved in the priority:
1) The split between the Gospel and culture is the drama of our time. Humankind’s criteria for judgment must be evangelised;
2) While cultures are subject to change and decay, the primacy of Christ is an unquenchable and permanent source of life;
3) The wave of secularism that is spreading through the different cultures of the world idealises lifestyles that are opposed to the values of the Gospel. The Church must live and translate its own faith into culture;
4) Cultural rootlessness is affecting the personal identity of millions of people who are powerless, marginalised and isolated;
5) The Church must involve itself in modern communications technology to preach the gospel and preserve Catholic identity;
6) To teach younger generations to live with diversity and integrate diversity into their own identity is a major priority for Catholic education;
7) Civilisation and social communion depend on the quality of family life;
8) The world of leisure, sport, travel and tourism are new fora for the evangelisation of culture;
9) The teaching of the Church on the value of work as a means to self-fulfilment must be emphasised in the world of modern economics;
10) The Church must promote a culture of solidarity at every level of society and between nations.

The culture of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Based on the definitions listed above, the interfacing of these three national realities on a daily basis offers an interesting model for societal relationship.

Ordinarily, ecumenical, inter-faith and even relationships based on reason alone have facilitated peaceful interfacing of all these elements within national society.

The proposed pastoral priority of “Catholic Culture and Identity” presents an interesting challenge to the Synod. It requires the Church to look at itself internally to reflect on its present quality of fidelity to the new covenant and also to look at itself externally to reflect on its visibility in the nation and to evaluate the contribution it makes to the life of the nation.