Cultural diversity: a richness for the Church

(Vatican Radio) When the Church is open to other cultures’ expressions of the Gospel, it allows for the possibility to learn more about the different aspects of God, said Archbishop Murray Chatlain, reflecting on the Pope’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.

Archbishop Chatlain heads the Archdiocese of Keewatin-LePas, a Canadian archdiocese that includes a large Indigenous population. He previously served the majority-Indigenous faithful of the expansive northern diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith and learned the native language of the northern Dene People.

In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope affirms the value of the various cultural expressions of the Catholic faith. In sections 116 through 118, he affirms that “Christianity does not have simply one cultural expression”.

“In the diversity of peoples who experience the gift of God, each in accordance with its own culture, the Church expresses her genuine catholicity,” he states.

“Through inculturation,” he writes, citing other Church documents, “the Church ‘introduces peoples, together with their cultures, into her own community’, for ‘every culture offers positive values and forms which can enrich the way the Gospel is preached, understood and lived’. In this way, the Church takes up the values of different cultures.”

GREATEST SIN: A LOCKED DOOR
Archbishop Chatlain certainly agrees. Early in the reflections he shared, he recounted a story of a missionary’s initial experience of the Canadian North, which demonstrates a cultural understanding and application of Revelation. After giving a session on the Ten Commandments, the missionary asked the elders to discuss among themselves what they would consider to be the biggest sin. The elders returned to the missionary, saying that they considered the biggest sin to be a locked door.

“In the North, because of the harsh climate, (for) people coming in out of the cold, a locked door can mean death,” explained Archbishop Chatlain. “And so hospitality, sharing, those are essentials in the starkness and fierceness of their (arctic) winters.”

The archbishop emphasized how “the missionary must really be open to the otherness” and conceded that there are sometimes challenges in moving between cultures.

“Yet, the essentials of who Jesus is, our relationship with God the Father and the power of the Spirit, those things get communicated,” he said. “But how they’re expressed is so much affected by the culture.”

“I think the bottom line is recognizing that there are elements of sanctification and God’s presence in both cultures that are expressing or trying to come to grips with the Gospel,” he said about the cultural exchange between the European missionary and the Indigenous person.

“There are also blind spots in both cultures… there is no perfect culture,” he continued. “As we say, no one has the complete picture. We need each other to see more facets of who God really is and his call to us.”


A RESPONSE TO MATERIALISM
He offered an example of how the Indigenous culture of Canada’s North can help to enrich the broader western culture of the Church in Canada. “In the traditional way, an example is gift-gifting,” he said. “If someone comes up to you and says, ‘Oh, those are really beautiful mitts, I really like those mitts,’ you give them the mitts, you share that with them.”

“And in their culture, you don’t ask for something that you don’t need. You don’t ask for extra… And then you share. You give things away,” he said. “I think that speaks to our culture and the effects of materialism, when capitalism is without any boundaries or guidance. “

In the cultural context of the Dene People, he added, one of the biggest insults you can offer a person is to say: “You love things.” The expression teaches that priorities are out of order when someone loves things more than people, he explained.

“So this is just an expression of some of the (Indigenous) culture and what it can offer, I think, to our expression of the Catholic faith and our approach to materialism and things,” he stated. “There can be helpful insights gained, when we really understand a bit of another culture’s perspective.”


Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Murray Chatlain:
Report and interview by Laura Ieraci