Multiculturalism: The Present and Future of the Church

I arrived almost 9 years ago in Idaho, a state that has allowed me to discover great cultural diversity.  

One of the first events in which I participated was the process leading up to the Fifth Encounter of Hispanic Ministry in the United States. This experience allowed me to get to know and learn about the ethnic and cultural diversity that exists both in this country and in our Diocese of Boise.

Often, as ministry leaders or as leaders of volunteer teams in our communities, we face the challenge of how to maintain and increase the faithful’s participation in the life of the Church.

We constantly talk about how we must be open and “welcome” everyone, but there is a big difference between saying, “You are welcome here,” and saying, “We need you here.” We often behave more like gatekeepers than as those called to open the doors.

We must move from being gatekeepers to being those who open doors. The difference lies in the questions we ask: gatekeepers ask, “Do you know how we do things here?” while those who open doors ask, “What gifts has God placed within you?” Gatekeepers protect their positions; those who open doors develop people to fill those positions. Gatekeepers worry about losing control; those who open doors are excited about multiplying leadership. Gatekeepers say, “Wait until you’re ready;” those who open doors say, “Come and walk with me.”

On many occasions, ethnic and cultural diversity can be a factor that hinders the participation of the faithful. Our parishes and ministries must reflect this multiculturalism; let us look at our neighbors, our schools, and the families who walk through the doors of our church and our ministries. The face of the Church is changing, and that is not something to be feared; it is something we should celebrate.

The Catholic Church is made up of people of all backgrounds: Anglo, Hispanic and Latino, Asian, Indigenous, African, and Caribbean; it is made up of immigrants, urban and rural communities, the affluent, the working class, and the poor. It is truly universal. Therefore, cultural and ethnic diversity is not something we need to add to Catholicism; it is already part of what it means to be Catholic. As the Second Vatican Council notes in “Lumen Gentium” “All people are called to be part of the new People of God… By virtue of this catholicity, each part contributes its own gifts to the others and to the entire Church.” (LG13)

This diversity does not oppose the unity of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church,  reminds us that “from the beginning, this one Church has nevertheless been marked by great diversity, which stems both from the variety of God’s gifts and from the multiplicity of the people who receive them” (CCC 814).

In Revelation 7:9, we read, “After this I saw a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

This shows us that heaven is multicultural. And if our Church and our ministries have the mission of preparing God’s people to reach heaven, perhaps our ministries and our parish communities should begin to resemble heaven a little more.

Dr. Ansel Agustine, alongside members of the Holy Spirit Hispanic Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Southwest Idaho. (ICR photo/Vero Gutiérrez)

I recently attended the National Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, where Dr. Ansel Augustine (Deputy Director of African American Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) shared the following reflection on multiculturalism in the Church and its ministries:

“Building a multicultural Church and ministry requires more than just featuring different faces in our newsletters or event promotions. It requires listening; it requires humility; it requires relationships. It requires embracing the diverse cultural expressions that shape our community and our ministry. Often our institutions say, ‘Everyone is welcome,’ but what that really means is, ‘You’re welcome as long as you learn to be like us.’ A genuine welcome says, ‘Bring your story, share your culture, bring your language, bring your music, bring your questions, bring your experiences, bring your wounds, bring your wisdom—bring your whole self—and together we’ll discover what God is creating among us.’”

Let us open our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit so that we may all work together to be like those who open doors to ensure everyone’s participation in our parishes and ministries; let us work for the multicultural enrichment of our parish communities; let us build bridges, not barriers. May the richness of our cultures and races give impetus to the collaborative pastoral work that is so sorely needed in our communities.