Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Experiencing Catholicism
Jordan Norman
Overview
I grew up in a town in southern Utah. Throughout my childhood, I was always the odd man out
because my family was not Mormon. However, I did not realize how prevalent Catholicism is in
this state until I moved to Salt Lake City. One of my best friends sings with the choir at Saint
Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Park City, Utah. She graciously allowed me tag
along with her to attend mass and gave me a tour of the facility. I will begin with a brief
explanation of the religion as a whole, followed by my experience attending mass. I will then
explain the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck Value Orientation Theory, and my perception of how it
applies to Catholicism.
Religion
Catholicism, though not so well pronounced in Utah, is the largest religion on the planet with
1.29 billion members. (The Pontifical Yearbook 2017 and the Annuarium Statisticum
Ecclesiae 2015, 06.04.2017 2017) They are led by the Bishop of Rome, more commonly known
as the Pope, and the majority of their leadership is based in the Vatican City. (Catechism of the
Catholic Church n.d.) Vatican City is a city-state within the borders of Rome in Italy. Similar to
many other Christian faiths, Catholics believe in the Holy Trinity which is the union of God the
Father; God the Son; and the Holy Spirit. However, differing from many versions of
mainstream Christianity, Catholics also believe that the Virgin Mary is the queen of heaven,
Religious Function
Considering that I had never been to a catholic Mass service before I had no idea what to expect.
It began with a procession of the clergy, followed by what I can only describe as an
EXPERIENCING CATHOLICISM 3
acknowledgment of sin by the congregation. Someone told me later that this portion of the
service is called the Penitential Rite. Next a hymn was sung with a prayer immediately after it.
The lector then read a few passages from the bible. The priest then took the stage and read the
Following the homily was a ceremony called the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The ceremony is
slightly different, but it was essentially what my childhood church called tithing and communion.
Baskets were passed around the congregation for monetary donations, and then the priest
ceremonially consecrates the wine and bread. This consecration ceremony is called the Sanctus.
Following the Sanctus, there was another prayer and another hymn. Upon completion of the
hymn, the priest ate the host and took a sip of the wine and some of the congregation followed
suit. Mass ended with the priest blessing the congregation and sending everyone out to spread the
word of God.
Value Theory
The Value Orientation Theory as designed by Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck pose five pertinent
questions that every cultural and/or religious group must answer. (Hills 2002) The responses to
each of these questions can vary, and the range of the responses reflects the basic value of that
culture. The Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck method requires a larger sample to survey than could
have had any hope to muster for the purposes of this project. However, using the information
provided by the textbook for this intercultural communications course, I have presented the
questions and range of responses associated with each and displayed them in the following chart.
Analysis
Using my time at St. Marys as a reference to answer Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks questions, I
would have to say that human nature falls somewhere between basically evil and a mixture of
good and evil. The priest said, all men are born in sin, but the option of confession and
repentance leads me to think that redemption is possible within their value system.
Based on the extravagant cathedrals and mountains of stained glass, I believe the answer to the
question, What is the relationship between humans and nature?, would be humans dominate.
Yes, there were flowers and plants throughout the building but there did not seem to be much
The relationship between humans is a little more difficult to categorize. The ceremony was
definitely a group focused endeavor and the members of the church that I spoke with all seemed
to be active in charitable organizations. The thing that threw me off though was that all wrong
doing or faults appeared to be handled solo by confession and whatever punishment the clergy
EXPERIENCING CATHOLICISM 5
posed on the person. My interpretation would be that Catholicism falls between the individual
Doing appeared to be the preferred personality. Of the twelve people I spoke with, ten of them
were heavily involved with various charities or support groups. However, orientation to time
seemed split between extremes. My experience showed a preference to focus on the future while
Reflection
Aside from weddings, it has been years since I attended any form of religious ceremony. When I
read through the instructions on this project I admit, I was hesitant. I contemplated finding an
obscure social group to write on instead. It ended up being my choir friends invitation that
I learned that Catholicism is not as different from the religion I grew up with as I initially
thought, at least regarding doctrine. However, mass was a much more formal and ceremonial
affair than the services of my youth. Applying the Value Orientation Theory helped me focus on
the similarities while experiencing the differences simultaneously. Looking back, I see that non-
denominational Christianity shares many of the same value ranges as my interpretation of the
catholic values.
My friend and I have been close for a long time, but I feel like this project actually added a new
facet to my understanding of her and her family. I cannot claim to know even one one-hundredth
of what they do about their faith or their culture, but my experience made me more curious about
that aspect of their lives. The fact that I would be comfortable joining them more often makes it
Works Cited
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P2A.HTM#PZ.
Hills, M. D. 2002. Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks Values Orientation Theory. Online Readings
Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. 2013. How Culture Influences Communication.
107.
The Pontifical Yearbook 2017 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2015, 06.04.2017.
2017. Vatican.
http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/04/06/170406e.html.