WHAT ARE MULTICULTURAL SALESIAN FORMATION COMMUNITIES
The prefix multi- means “many,” and the suffix -al means “of” or “pertaining to.” Therefore, the term multicultural means pertaining to many cultures. If we put this together with communities/study centres, we can conclude that multicultural communities/study centres concern SDB formators and formees/formandis from different cultures.
What is Culture?
I moved to Florida to take a position as a district manager for a grocery store chain. It was a bit of culture shock for me. I’m not used to all the different cultures. In California we have Mexicans and Vietnamese and Japanese, but in Florida they have Cubans and Haitians. I have one store in an area where it’s all Cubans and everybody speaks Spanish. Then, you drive a few blocks and turn the corner and everybody is Haitian and speaks French. And the different groups don’t get along. I’m not used to that. Even if I spoke Spanish fluently it wouldn’t help, because people from the different countries speak Spanish differently, like people from Cuba versus people from Venezuela. They don’t even understand each other. I have a lady friend I spend time with, and we often hang out with her friends from different countries. One night we went to a Greek restaurant and everyone in there was speaking their language, listening to their music, and just doing their thing. I felt very uncomfortable because I didn’t understand any of it. The other night at her place an old man from Puerto Rico was visiting. It was very interesting because he was like a walking encyclopaedia. He talked about the history of all the different cultural groups, why they look the way they do, how they ended up living in different regions. He went on and on for hours. I learned a lot from listening to him.
PETER, 40+-YEAR-OLD WHITE MAN
When someone asks you what culture you are from, how do you reply?
Do you tell them your nationality (e.g., Chinese, Australian)? Do you tell them where your ancestors were from (e.g., “I’m Spanish on my dad’s side, but Filipino on my mother’s”)? Do you refer to your racial group (e.g., “I’m Black”), or do you use a specific ethnic label (e.g., “I’m African American”)? If you answer in one of these ways, you are like most people, who, when asked about culture, reply by stating their race, ethnicity, or country of origin.
Sometimes we use the word culture to mean various types of music, art, and dance. For example, when people refer to the cultural life of a city, they usually have in mind artistic opportunities, such as access to a good museum and a good symphony orchestra, and the quality of the plays that come to town. Other times we use the term culture to refer to such things as food, clothing, history, and traditions.
Yet other times we use the term culture in reference to the regular or expected behaviours of a particular group. We might say “teen culture” to refer to the particular way adolescents act, talk, and dress. It signifies that adolescents behave differently from people of other age groups.
Culture “consists of values and behaviours that are learned and transmitted within an identifiable community . . . and also includes the symbols, artefacts, and products of that community”. In other words, culture usually refers to a particular group of people and includes their values, or guiding beliefs and principles, and behaviours, or typical activities. Those values and behaviours are symbolized in the things that the group of people produces, such as art, music, food, and language. All of those things are passed down from generation to generation.
In summary, we could define culture as the values, beliefs, and practices of a group of people (e.g. Salesian culture), shared through symbols and passed down from generation to generation.
In other words, any of the important or meaningful ways in which we identify ourselves can be viewed as a culture.
“ANY GROUP THAT SHARES A THEME OR ISSUE(S)”
Multicultural communities are concerned with “the socio-religious-educative reactions of individuals and groups caught up in culturally heterogeneous settings” including the “behaviours, perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes” that result from living in such conditions.
What happens when people of different backgrounds interact with one another?
Culture contact is the “critical incidents where people from different cultural, ethnic, or linguistic backgrounds come into social contact with each other.”
Why the need for Multicultural communities?
-The Salesian Society has always been multicultural. European SDBs are already on the decline while SDBs in other countries are on the increase. The SDB census projections suggest that sometime in this century Asian SDBs will become a “majority minority” in the Congregation. In other words Asian SDBs combined will be larger than the European-American SDB numbers. This increasing diversification is due to two primary forces—immigration rates and differential birth rates. A culture-centred perspective has changed the way we look at Don Bosco and his mission across countries.
Multiculturalism challenges us to acknowledge that (a) all formation occurs in a cultural context; (b) until recently, this fact has virtually been ignored by SDBs; and (c) once we understand the nature and contribution of culture, this understanding will dramatically alter and expand the way we understand Salesian formation. One of the main goals of multicultural communities is to recognize that culture is an important contributor to human and religious formation, and to our understanding and study of it.
“It is obvious that a personalised formation requires the presence of teams of qualified formation personnel, who in dialogue and interaction with the young confrere know how to discuss with him his ideas and convictions and to succeed in helping him to come to an understanding of his own motivations and feelings. Unfortunately attention to the human sciences associated with guidance is still neglected and its value underestimated. There are complaints everywhere about the difficulty of finding spiritual directors, formation personnel and teachers who are well-prepared and available. The task of finding the time and the means for the formation of formation guides therefore becomes more compelling”. (The document on Vocational Fragility suggests-Consistency in teams of Formation Guides & need for meaningful community life)
Today the global village is a reality. The facility and ease of movement has made multiculturalism a reality in every sector of society. Many study centres are becoming more and more multicultural not only in students but the staff as well.
It has to be pointed out that the presence of expatriate students in a study centre is indeed a blessing. It gives the whole educative-pastoral community an important first hand experience of living in a multicultural society. Yet it poses a two-fold challenge to both staff and students. On the other hand the study centre has to respond to the needs of expatriate students. The staff needs to respond differently to the expatriate students than to the native-born students. The study centre is also challenged to expand its language boundaries as well as its religious imagination; explore and understand a different socio-political, economic and cultural systems. The expatriate students are, on the other hand, challenged as well to make personal adjustments to the host culture.
Some are quick to point out that students in multicultural study centres are not automatically transformed into multicultural individuals. They become, at least for a period of time, a cultural hybrid; no longer fully a part of one’s birth culture nor fully a member of the host culture. Multicultural study centres are, therefore, considered a mixed blessing. Though there is some truth in this, the experience students undergo in multicultural study centres is a tremendous plus in their personality development when they are aided to reflect their multicultural experience so as to prepare them to the new reality of living and working in a multicultural and globalised world. The temporary experience of being a cultural hybrid would seem then to be a worthwhile sacrifice.
The experience is even more relevant if the students are preparing for church ministry like a seminary or a religious house of formation. Having to live in a community where the charism of the founder or foundress is expressed in different cultures helps one to distinguish charism from the cultural expressions of that charism. There is however a risk: as they encounter new friends, develop new skills and grow in self-confidence they ran the risk of discovering that within this new environment they may not want to continue their vocational path. These students must need to discern their vocational call in this new context with the help of spiritual directors who have a valid multicultural experience.
Understanding the Cultural Context of Formation
One of the major tenets is that all formation occurs in a cultural context. Therefore, to fully understand formation, we must understand its cultural context. Culture influences everything.
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