Wednesday, 26th October 2022: A message by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea Curmi at an academic Conference on multiculturalism in Catholic schools entitled ‘Harmonise – Building Bridges’. Dolmen Hotel, Bugibba.
A message by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea Curmi
Thank you, Joanna and Sr Alexandra for organising this Conference, Nadia and Anna Maria for your enlightening reflections, and the school representatives for sharing their findings and their experiences.
On February 24 this year, Pope Francis participated in a webinar with university students from North, Central and South America to discuss with them the topic: Building Bridges North-South. In the encounter, the pope dialogued with 16 university students in four groups of four, who made presentations on migration, the environment and nonviolence.
In his opening remarks for the session, the Pope said: “This is the Christian vocation, to build bridges. Christ came to be the bridge between God the Father and us. If Christians do not build bridges, it means they forgot their own baptism, because to build bridges is part of our vocation.”[1]
The Church and multiculturalism
We have discussed “building bridges” in the context of multiculturalism in the Catholic school today. Multiculturalism has nourished great virtues within the human family, such as understanding, a broader spirit of compassion, and it stands as a reminder to the Church today of its own identity and call within the human family.[2]
Before the Second Vatican Council, the Church’s pastoral response to historical events often was more of a reaction against the world with both bastions raised and entrenchment deepened. The Church ran the risk of becoming a ghetto, a self-contained, disconnected reality within the human family.
The Second Vatican Council adopted a new approach, which in reality was a retrieval and restoration of the Church’s identity and proper engagement with the world. We cannot forget that on the very first day of the Church’s existence, on Pentecost, the peoples and languages of the world were united in the Church (Acts 2:9-11). Over the years the Church has always been at its best when it remained faithful to this call to diversity and multiculturalism. Multiculturalism was the Church’s unique identity. It distinguished the Church from other institutions and cultures.
As has been mentioned today, the name “catholic” precisely means this inclusive “universal” welcome to all peoples, nations, and languages. All people were invited into the Church, even those marginalised at the time like the foreigner, the stranger, public sinners, orphans, widows, the sick and poor – all were welcomed and even considered as “treasures of the Church.” It was a refuge to those isolated by the structures and powers of the world.
In this way, the Church was an original multicultural body. Multiculturalism and the openness it nurtures belong to the very identity of the Church and so should mark its teachings and actions.
Pope Francis has embarked on this special mission to teach and live a renewed understanding of the Church as a multicultural body. The degree to which the Church and her various institutions are faithful to this multiculturalism – this catholic nature – is the degree to which the Church will be effective in the mission entrusted to it by Jesus Christ.
Building bridges through a culture of encounter
Pope Francis on a regular basis has spoken of a culture of encounter as a goal for human society. A society that promotes a culture of encounter facilitates relationships among humans. I quote his Encyclical Fratelli Tutti: “To speak of a ‘culture of encounter’ means that we, as a people, should be passionate about meeting others, seeking points of contact, building bridges, planning a project that includes everyone. This becomes an aspiration and a style of life. The subject of this culture is the people, not simply one part of society that would pacify the rest with the help of professional and media resources.”[3]
Pope Francis explains “The different cultures that have flourished over the centuries need to be preserved, lest our world be impoverished. At the same time, those cultures should be encouraged to be open to new experiences through their encounter with other realities, for the risk of succumbing to cultural sclerosis is always present. That is why ‘we need to communicate with each other, to discover the gifts of each person, to promote that which unites us, and to regard our differences as an opportunity to grow in mutual respect. Patience and trust are called for in such dialogue, permitting individuals, families and communities to hand on the values of their own culture and welcome the good that comes from others’ experiences.”[4]
Building bridges through dialogue
The Local document One Church One Journey – a Process of ecclesial Renewal underlines the importance of building bridges through dialogue: “Building bridges through dialogue reconstitutes an ecclesia measured not by badges of belonging, but by the desire for a shared spirit of friendship and collaboration.”[5]
Pope Francis speaks of a “dialogical realism” in which we remain faithful to our own principles “while recognizing that others also have the right to do likewise”.[6] He mentions two attitudes that must be avoided when engaging in dialogue. The first is “a false notion of tolerance”, which ignores or refuses to acknowledge the real differences that exist between dialogue partners. Out of desire for peace, we might act as if we agree when in fact we have serious disagreements. However, the fact that we disagree is both the basis of the need for dialogue and of the possibility that we can learn from each other.
The second attitude to be avoided is to treat dialogue as if it were a winner-take-all debate. The goal of dialogue is to understand the other and to be understood by the other.
According to Francis, we must enter into dialogue with a growth mindset. We have to stand in the place of others, realize that they believe in the truth of their own tradition, and affirm that they may have insights through which our own lives and worldviews can be enriched. As Pope Francis explains: “Authentic social dialogue involves the ability to respect the other’s point of view and to admit that it may include legitimate convictions and concerns. Based on their identity and experience, others have a contribution to make, and it is desirable that they should articulate their positions for the sake of a more fruitful public debate. When individuals or groups are consistent in their thinking, defend their values and convictions, and develop their arguments, this surely benefits society.”[7]
Building bridges through synodality
We are presently in the synodal process initiated by Pope Francis. It is so much linked to building bridges in a multicultural world.
A synodal vision will help build bridges because it is based on a listening, an encounter and an engaging in dialogue which establishes binding relationships that build the Church. Synodality is an invitation to foster processes of conversion as we listen to one another and to the larger society while reading the signs of the times together. Synodality signifies a more dynamic and inclusive model of being and acting ecclesially. Synodality incudes the diversity of cultures, charisms, gifts and ministries.
Conclusion
I would like to end by quoting a document published by the Congregation for Catholic Education a few years before the one quoted by Nadia which was published this year.[8]
“Education contains a central challenge for the future: to allow various cultural expressions to co-exist and to promote dialogue so as to foster a peaceful society. These aims are achieved in various stages: (1) discovering the multicultural nature of one’s own situation; (2) overcoming prejudices by living and working in harmony; and (3) educating oneself ‘by means of the other’ to a global vision and a sense of citizenship. Fostering encounters between different people helps to create mutual understanding, although it ought not to mean a loss of one’s own identity.
Schools have a great responsibility in this field, called as they are to develop intercultural dialogue in their pedagogical vision. This is a difficult goal, not easy to achieve, and yet it is necessary. Education, by its nature, requires both openness to other cultures, without the loss of one’s own identity, and an acceptance of the other person, to avoid the risk of a limited culture, closed in on itself…In this way, they will be helped to understand differences in a way that does not breed conflict, but allows those differences to become opportunities for mutual enrichment, leading to harmony.”[9]
Let us all be committed to building bridges through a culture of encounter, through dialogue and through synodality. May this project go forward and be strengthened, and may you continue in this journey which is so beneficial to the whole Church.
Joseph Galea Curmi
Auxiliary Bishop
26 October 2022
[1] “Building Bridges: a Synodal Encounter between Pope Francis and University Students” in Loyola University Chicago – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG33xJe9fHM
[2] For the views expressed here, cf Jeffrey F. Kirby “Christians were multicultural before multicultural was cool” in Crux, July 3, 2016.
[3] Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter Fratelli tutti (2020), n. 216.
[4] Fratelli tutti, n. 134.
[5] Archdiocese of Malta, One Church One Journey – A Process of Ecclesial Renewal (Malta: 2020).
[6] Fratelli tutti, n. 221.
[7] Fratelli tutti, n. 203.
[8] Congregation for Catholic Education, The Identity of a Catholic School for the Culture of Dialogue (2022).
[9] Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools. Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love (2013), Introduction.