July 14, 2008 by Dezy
Just thought I'd give my impression of Days in the Diocese as Part of World Youth Day.
I attended part of the Corroboree in Foreshore Park and also the Regional Gathering at St Mary's High School at Gateshead.
I had one of the best weekends of my life. I can only think of other world events such as the Olympic Games and the football World Cup would open people up to experience such authentic cultural exchange.
I dived head first into talking to Pilgrims, mainly Colombian because there were so many of them and I am learning Spanish. I was richly rewarded with open responses. The regional gathering at St Mary's High School was particularly moving for me as groups of South Koreans, Mexicans and Colombians took turns in giving some of their culture to us in return for our hospitality. The South Koreans and Mexicans wore traditional dress (how they fitted them into their backpacks I don't know)and the Colombians just partied and taught us all how to dance Latino.
Both experiences cost me nothing but time and the will to approach people and interact with them. Both events were run by volunteers. They weren't professional by any means but it was a truly authentic and fulfilling experience for me. A performance was a gift and accepted and encouraged by the attendees for what it was. What a shame it was all too fleeting.
It is an indication of what can be created with cultural festivals and the value of bringing people together and opening them up to one another.
It brought a spark of life to us here in the Hunter.
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common humanity vs cultural differences
It sounds like a really moving cultural exchange. It’s great when religion can work to remove barriers between cultural ‘differences’ and unite us in a common humanity.
Do you think Australia has a history of demonstrating hospitality in our culture? Do you think Australia’s cultural ambivalence toward multiculturalism has anything to do with this? What can the Catholic Church and other Churches and faiths do in Australia to foster greater cultural harmony?
I saw a great program on SBS one day about a Catholic and an Islamic school holding inter-faith understanding workshops. It was great and the high school students were very honest (some of the Catholics admitting to stereotyping Muslim women in Hijabs as being oppressed etc – but being proven wrong and Muslim students who thought Catholic’s were not as firm in the morals and the practice of their religion – who were also proven wrong.) Apparently friendships were made and the schools continued to hold events together.
I found some of the recent scenes of a public protest at a Council meeting in Sydney where they were deciding the fate of the building of an Islamic School really disturbing. Yet, this cultural hostility doesn’t seem foreign in Australia and the Catholics faced just as much opposition to their building of Catholic schools (for robbing Australia of secularism).
"Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time." - Marx"Do you think Australia has
"Do you think Australia has a history of demonstrating hospitality in our culture? Do you think Australia’s cultural ambivalence toward multiculturalism has anything to do with this?"
I can't really answer these questions. There's probably examples of both hospitality and hostility in our society.
"What can the Catholic Church and other Churches and faiths do in Australia to foster greater cultural harmony?"
Hmmm, well, institutions can enter into dialogue with each other which I believe they already do. As real commitment to religion is falling dramatically this won't impact the majority of people who see organised religion as being irrellevant to today's society. My personal opinion is that the people within the Catholic Church should just be good at what they do and celebrate life in the way they do and share what they have with others who want to share. It's not up to any religion to have anything to do with a person if the other doesn't want enter into conversation and especially if they are openly hostile. Same goes for any other culture or religion.
However, I think that maybe religious festivals and celebrations are undervalued in our society, as they probably are in most Western Societies. In hispanic countries, religious festivals have become popular tourist attractions. I guess if people hide their faith inside the four walls of a church/temple/synagogue/mosque then it is harder for them to share part of their celebration of life with others who are not directly in that community.
World Youth Day was really an open invitation to celebrate what the pilgrims of Catholic faith have to offer. You can't ask for more than this but I know a lot of people didn't accept the invitation.
Physical environmental influences
I remember the local Catholic Church I used to attend up the Coast occasionally held combined inter faith ceremony’s with the local Indigenous community. The smoking ceremonies were particularly significant to the spirituality of Catholics and Indigenous people. I think they had them at a local beach.
The four walls of a place of worship is really important, but I think it’s nice, and probably would be beneficial, for services to be occasionally held in parks, at beaches, throughout the community (like the World Youth Day events you describe).
Do you think the cultural exchange and experience for the pilgrims would have been different if it was in a formal place of worship, rather than at the Foreshore? Does the physical environment alter the experience?
It is interesting that while the Catholic Church and most Christian Churches display symbols of Christianity in their places of worship – such as Jesus on the cross, Mary and baby Jesus, and the meaningful biblical messages in the glassed windows – while Hillsong and similar Churches refuse to display any Christian imagery in their place of worship (which is built more like an entertainment centre than a Church). Hillsong is the fastest growing Christian faith in Australia and I wonder if it has anything to do with the stark difference in their physical environment compared to other Churches.
"Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time." - Marx
"Do you think the cultural
"Do you think the cultural exchange and experience for the pilgrims would have been different if it was in a formal place of worship, rather than at the Foreshore? Does the physical environment alter the experience?"
The events I went to were not the only ones that pilgrims attended. They were involved in working bee's at schools, attended mass every day in churches and had a special mass for all of them at the cathedral. They also did the normal tourist sight-seeing as well, so I think the would have had a broad cultural exchange.
In terms of specific the design of a cultural activities, I think the location is very important, in terms of how big the crowd will be and what they will be doing. For example, on the foreshore people were getting involved in impromptu games of football and frisbee and just generally strolling and mingling. It was well suited for a crowd that was around 3,000 people at the time I was there. At the school it was a more intimate atmosphere but there was still a lot of mingling and non planned activity but the mass was a focal point and so the environment was more suitable. Around 1,000 people turned up so the space was used well.
wyd
It would be good to see schools used more for events like this (I guess the difficult aspect is getting people to organise the events).
Talking of the context of physical environments for WYD celebrations I was at the Belmont 16 fts for a meeting last night and around 40 pilgrims arrived and randomly broke into song - it sounded lovely and drowned out the awful noise of the poker machines which was a bonus! I don't think all the patrons were happy to hear the celebration - but it's inoffensive music (and to sing is to pray twice) so good on them I reckon.
"Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time." - Marx
cultural space
I've heard from a couple of friends since posting this and they are actually pretty angry about the spontaneous singing by the pilgrims on public transport in Sydney this morning - so obviously it's not everyones cup of tea... It's interesting how we interpret our 'cultural space' and what constitutes a violation of this, while some people welcome spontaneous activities others feel threatened by them.
"Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time." - Marx
The angry reactions are one
hostility
Hmm. Seems strange that the people most vocal about public apathy - such as the Socialist Alliance - cannot see the benefits of having youth engaged in something positive within our society. The Catholic Church have supported many of the political stances of the left in recent years - in opposing the Iraq War, opposing mandatory detention and opposing Work Choices - so I'm pretty surprised at the hostility out there toward the Church from the far left.
"Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time." - Marx