We will be publishing a series of essays about the legacy of the ethnic parish for the Catholic Church in America. Many American parishes were originally built for—and by—close-knit ethnic communities. For decades, these parishes served as the center of their neighborhood's communal and liturgical life, but the demographics of these neighborhoods have changed drastically. Some parishes have closed as a result, and others now serve a very different and often much less cohesive community. It is our hope that these essays will help prompt a discussion of the lessons modern parish communities should learn from the older ethnic model. How can we emulate the best points of the ethnic parish, and which of its weaknesses have we inherited? Likewise, which of its strengths and weaknesses were products of a bygone era such that trying to emulate or avoid them is pointless? Finally, how should Catholics today relate to the ethnic history of their parish, their own personal ethnic and religious heritage, or that or their fellow parishioners? An honest assessment of what our parishes have been (and in some places still are) should help us form a clearer understanding of what our parishes can and ought to be today.
The Catholic faith came to America by and large through immigration. Parishes were often organized around ethnic communities which not only haredhared the same faith, but also the same cultural traditions. This tied them together in a particularly strong way. Today, many Catholics in America are concerned that we are losing this strong sense of community in our parishes, even as we rename them “Faith Communities.” Can the tradition of ethnic parishes teach us how to live better in community? Is the ethnic model still viable?
One of the unique aspects of the American Catholic experience is that immigrant Catholics were – and are – cultural outsiders. In their native lands, they were a part of a broad fabric of cultural rituals and traditions. In America, the only way to maintain a connection to their native cultures was to live and work and worship in the same neighborhood and parish. This way, they were able to support each other and keep their culture from becoming just a memory. This led to the mutual self-segregation of the different immigrant communities. Little European nation-states were recreated in American cities. Each one had its own parish church (or churches) to ground the community in the worship of God.
Original Experience in Search of Community
As the original immigrant groups inter-married and assimilated into the broader American culture, the traditional ethnic neighborhoods were gradually lost. Many descendants of European immigrants moved to suburban areas with no specific cultural identity. Although churches were still built to serve a specific area, these new suburban Catholics were not drawn to the church as part of a shared cultural experience outside of Sunday liturgy (which, incidentally, changed dramatically around this time.) The territory of the parish was much larger and the population was less dense, making the communal aspect of the parish diminish.
In search of community, Catholics in recent years have lost loyalty to their “territorial” parishes. The changes in the liturgy meant that the Sunday experience for a Catholic could be chosen according to liturgical preference. Some chose to travel long distances for a Latin Mass, others congregated around a specific charismatic priest. Still others chose parishes based on where their friends attended. Music was a large factor as the difference in liturgical music increased. There were parishes with Gospel music, parishes with Gregorian chant, parishes with the Gather hymnal, or parishes with Charismatic praise and worship. The “territorial” parish, often held together by ethnic ties, was an afterthought as people instead sought “pilgrimage” parishes: parishes that addressed their spiritual and communal needs but that often required travel made convenient by the ubiquity of the automobile.
Because man is a social animal and Christ established a church and not just personal relationships with each of us, our faith grows best when fostered within a community. Religious orders have both a specific charism and an order by which the members live so that every member is supported in a common goal. This is best pursued, as the early monastics realized, when Christians live in the same place. The immigrant neighborhoods naturally had this feature, but it was not ultimately based on a commitment to Christian community, but rather the necessity of ethnic unity in the face of an often hostile society. The cultural ties became more important than the need for Christians to live together and when these became easier to maintain at long distances, the neighborhoods disintegrated.
The focus on cultural ties is also a problem for “pilgrimage” parishes. There are many parishes that serve two or three different communities, each with its own cultural flavor of Catholicism. Trying to unite these communities is difficult because of these cultural differences. Mass is said in different languages, musical preference is different, and very often the communities have a specific charism or vision that is not shared by the others. The members of the different communities do not live in the same area and so there is little likelihood that they will be able to support each other and share the same concerns. Ultimately, there is no specific logic in the organization of the parishes and no underlying Catholic culture that can unify the parish as a whole.
Faith in Christ as the Foundation
This points to a reality that is rarely considered, namely that faith in Jesus Christ demands that we live a certain way, not just spiritually but communally and culturally. The Catholic Faith can be expressed through ethnic traditions, but it is a distinct universal culture which should be the foundation of parish life. Our parishes need to become places where Catholic culture is promoted in all its aspects: prayer, work, art, and quite importantly, the culture of community and social obligation that is unique to the Christian faith. This is best achieved when Christians live near each other and support each other in their pursuit of heaven.
Living with other Catholics in territorial parishes can and should be about more than just creating cultural enclaves, whether ethnic or otherwise. While Catholic culture should pervade these neighborhoods and create strong ties between the members of the community, it should never be in competition or at odds with other parishes. It is prudential that a parish remain small so that the work of community is not overwhelming, but at the same time, the good of the other parishes is also the good of the Church at large and thus good for humanity. Furthermore, the evangelical mission of the Church is not a solo operation and a community of believers can be a leaven for a neighborhood where Jesus Christ is little known.
The model of the ethnic parish can be a good one, as long as we do not succumb to the danger of subordinating the faith to cultural concerns. Our parishes should not be a strip mall of cultural choices where we can pick and choose which “brand” of Catholicism brings us the most comfort. But this can only be true if there is something consistent and unchanging that every parish provides for its members. Unified worship and the social culture that Christianity demands must be at the heart of our neighborhoods and cities so that our own faith may be strengthened and that we might more easily spread the good news of Jesus Christ.
Readers are invited to discuss essays in argumentative and fraternal charity, and are asked to help build up the community of thought and pursuit of truth that Ethika Politika strives to accomplish, which includes correction when necessary. The editors reserve the right to remove comments that do not meet these criteria and/or do not pertain to the subject of the essay.