Culture and Identity

Rationale

Human diversity is the signature of God. While our primary identity is as children of God, multiple realities, including culture, form and shape identity. Cultural competency is essential to fully realizing the inherit dignity and worth of all persons and respecting persons as members of the family of God. 

Action

Add new subparagraph after ¶161. A to include:

B) Culture and Identity  

We believe that our primary identity is as children of God. With that identity comes societal and cultural constructions that have both positive and negative impacts on humanity and the Church. Cultural identity is evolving through history, traditions and experiences. The Church seeks to fully embrace and nurture cultural formation and competency as a means to be fully one body, expressed in multiple ways. Each of us has multiple identities of equal value that intersect to form our complete self. We affirm that no identity or culture has more legitimacy than any other. We call the Church to challenge any hierarchy of cultures or identities. Through relationships within and among cultures we are called to and have the responsibility of learning from each other with dignity, showing mutual respect for our differences and similarities, and beginning to experience ourselves from a diversity of perspectives and viewpoints, not just our own. 

Comments

To share your comments about this legislation, please email GCORR at info@gcorr.org

Downloadable PDF

Use Adobe Reader to download and print Culture and Identity