Running Header: EXPERIENCING CATHOLICISM 1

Experiencing Catholicism

Comparing Catholicism to Non-Denominational Christianity

Jordan Norman

Salt Lake Community College

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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,

which was a new facet for me to learn about.

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
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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

homily, which is somewhat similar to a sermon but more reflective.

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.

(Martin and Nakayama 2013)

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Questions Range of Values

What is human Basically good Mixture of good and Basically evil
nature? evil
What is the Humans dominate Harmony Nature dominates
relationship between
humans and nature?
What is the Individual Group oriented Collateral
relationship between
humans?
What is the preferred Doing: Stress on Growing: Stress on Being: stress on who
personality? action spiritual growth you are
What is the Future oriented Present oriented Past oriented
orientation toward
time?

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

harmony with nature.

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
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posed on the person. My interpretation would be that Catholicism falls between the individual

and group oriented ranges.

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

still retaining many of the traditions of the past.

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

spurred me to choosing Catholicism.

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

seem more likely that we will become even closer friends.

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Works Cited

Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P2A.HTM#PZ.

Hills, M. D. 2002. Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks Values Orientation Theory. Online Readings

in Psychology and Culture 4: 114.

Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. 2013. How Culture Influences Communication.

In Intercultural Communication in Contexts, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Education, 99

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.