The aim of this thesis is to ascertain the extent and nature of belonging to the Australian Catholic Church as experienced by immigrants. This experience of belonging was ascertained through the quantitative study of the National Church Life Survey of 2001 and to a lesser extent the Catholic Church Life Survey of 1996. Both surveys were conducted with attenders at a particular Sunday Eucharist and hence measured the experiences only of Catholics who attend Church. This quantitative study was complemented with a qualitative study of a small group of Vietnamese Catholics who were members of a particular parish. The importance of belonging to a religious tradition is that it provides an aspect of an individual’s identity. Identity is many-faceted and formed and reformed in the context of belonging, whether that belonging is to people such as family or to groups of people such as fellow members of a religious tradition. In the process of migration and settlement, the set of primary groups to which an individual belongs is at best disrupted and at worst, lost. Belonging to a religious tradition may provide a constancy of belonging in the immigrant’s life when all other aspects of belonging are being renegotiated during settlement in the host country. In the case of the Catholic Church in Australia, there has been some debate about whether or not the Church has been welcoming of immigrants but little testing of immigrants’ experience of being welcomed and enabled to belong to the Church. The National Church Life Survey provided a unique opportunity to examine the extent and nature of belonging as experienced by immigrant Catholics. Since all respondents to the survey were asked their birthplace, comparisons could readily be made between the experiences of Australian-born Catholics and those Catholics who were born elsewhere. Since nearly 3,000 respondents completed surveys in Italian or Vietnamese, comparisons could also be made between these respondents and those who responded to the survey in English. Finally, comparisons were made between the small group of Vietnamese parishioners who engaged in the qualitative research, and other groups of Catholics. The comparisons were made between all the groups on the issue of belonging. In the survey there was a particular question that asked respondents about their experience of belonging, but there were other questions that indicated the nature of belonging of respondents, and these were used in the analysis. The results of the analyses show that on almost all measures, immigrants belong to the Church to a greater extent than Australian-born Catholics. Immigrants attend Sunday Eucharist in greater proportion than Australian born Catholics. Immigrant Catholics participated more in devotional activities, they reported a greater degree of satisfaction with their faith life and they hold more orthodox beliefs than Australian-born Catholics. However, they did participate less in parish roles and groups than did the Australian-born Catholics. Whilst it may be concluded that this participation is limited because of the barrier of language, the results of this research indicate that this is not the only barrier to participation. Even those immigrants who responded to the English language survey did not participate in parish roles and groups to the extent that Australian-born Catholics did. Further research may be able to ascertain whether cultural barriers outside the scope of this work determine the level of participation of immigrants. This research concludes that since the Second World War, Catholic immigrants have ‘done the work’ of belonging to the Australian Catholic Church. They have done this despite the ‘benign neglect’ of the Church itself and they represent in fact the Church’s ‘most Catholic’ members.

Since the 1960s Australia has experienced a significant demographic shift as large numbers of people have moved from rural areas and large cities to take up residence in small coastal towns. The resulting populations have a number of distinctive features which make them both a challenge and an opportunity for the Church as it seeks to minister effectively. The underlying proposition of this thesis is that since there are distinctive demographic features of these towns, and since the church is called to minister effectively, there may well be approaches or ministry philosophies which enable the church to be more effective in these populations. Distinctive Populations Using data from the 2001 census a comparison between the Australian national figures and those of coastal towns between Newcastle and Tweed Heads showed that overall the population of the coastal towns was older, less formally educated, had lower income levels, more mobile, more likely to be Australian citizens, more likely to be married or divorced, more likely to describe themselves as Christian and members of the Anglican Church than the Australian average. The Survey With the assistance of the National Church Life Survey, thirty churches in coastal towns between Newcastle and Kingscliffe, were contacted. These churches (Anglican and Protestant) were those which had had the highest number of ‘newcomers’ in the 2001 National Church Life Survey. NCLS wrote to these churches on my behalf and invited them to contact me if they were prepared to participate in my study. In the end I interviewed ordained and lay leaders as well as members of six churches. There were a number of features common to these churches including: the ordained leaders had what might be called orthodox theological views; the ordained and lay leaders were clear about the vision and direction of the church; the ordained and lay leaders were in agreement as to the role of the ordained leader – that role was clearly leadership; the welcoming nature of the congregation is vital; and the use of contemporary music and worship style. The Mission of the Church Whilst the mission of the church has been seen in different ways over the past two thousand years, it is clear that the central theme of the teaching and practice of Jesus Christ was the Kingdom or Reign of God. By his teaching and very powerfully through his actions Jesus demonstrated the reality of the new in-breaking reality. The early church was clear that it saw itself as being sent by Jesus to continue his mission of proclaiming the kingdom in the power of the Holy Spirit. Effective Church Given that the mission of the church is to focus on the Kingdom or Reign of God, it is important that this be done in an effective a way as possible. One of the challenges in this is to determine what ‘effective’ means for the church. For some, being effective means numerical growth in church attenders. For others, being effective means being a ‘healthy’ church. My conclusion is that being effective, whilst not dismissing church growth or church health, means an attitude, and that is, being focused on proclaiming the reality of the Kingdom of God. As the church is more focussed on this task, it is effective. Being Effective in Rapidly Growing Coastal Towns There seem to be a number of challenges facing the church in rapidly growing coastal towns as the church seeks to focus on the Kingdom of God. If the kingdom is good news for the poor, the question then is: who are the poor of coastal towns? An immediate need in coastal towns is community for those who are newly arrived, or poor, or otherwise on the margins of the society. The church needs to be a welcoming and inclusive place for those in need, and a place which actually helps people with their physical poverty. The church also needs to confront its own operating model in order to be effective. Too often the church is focused on its own survival and not on the kingdom. The church in its local mode seems like a religious small business. Focus on the ‘growth of the business’ may well lead to a loss of focus on the kingdom. For the church to be effective in rapidly growing coastal towns the church must take seriously the culture of those towns and seek to express its focus on the kingdom in ways that bring good news to the reality of those communities.

The effects of transformations in the cultural context on the structures of the Catholic organization and consequently on the identity and role of priests is explored in this research. The way these transformations affect clergy relationships with the church, diocesan authorities and parishioners, and ultimately the psychological wellbeing of priests, are investigated in the light of recent research and literature. Quantitative and qualitative data from the Catholic Church Life Surveys (CCLS) of 1996 and 2001 is analyzed, together with qualitative data generated through semi-structured interviews. The theoretical underpinning for the interpretation of changing clerical identity and roles and the relationship dynamics is personality theory, including a neoanalytic model (Horney, 1950), and a psychodynamic approach using an iconic reading of Freud (Cozzens, 2000). Social identity theory (Haslam, 2001), and Fowler’s (1996) theory of faith development also contribute to the theoretical framework. The NEO-FFI personality factors (Costa & McCrae, 1992) are used as covariates throughout the analysis. Four major themes are addressed in this research. First, ambiguities in the identity and role of clergy brought about through structural changes in the organization following the Second Vatican Council. Second, cultural changes which challenged the institutional hierarchical structure of the church and some of its theological and ecclesiological positions. Third, the contribution to satisfaction with ministry and personal wellbeing made by priests’ relationships with the organization, diocesan authorities, and parishioners, as well as intimacy with colleagues and friends. Finally, the impact of psychodynamic factors on the spiritual and psychological dimensions of priestly life. It was found that although the sacramental role of priests remains largely intact, their identity as religious and spiritual leaders is under challenge through greater participation in parish life by educated and theologically trained lay people. It is argued that the competence to appropriately express leadership, preach meaningful homilies and promote spiritual growth in parishioners rests on the attainment of mature psychological development and continued faith and spiritual formation. Analysis of personality factors showed that sound organizational and structural supports are needed to assist priests in their personal and professional lives. Over half the priests in the present study were found to be vulnerable to emotional and psychological distress, while others had strong resources to cope with increased ambiguity and complexity in ministry. A review of literature suggests that cultural changes over the last 30 years compound the effects of Vatican II, particularly the patriarchal hierarchical structure of the organisation and teachings on sexual morality that are under pressure from changing attitudes by both clergy and laity. Quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that there is little support by priests for the obligation of celibacy, the successful attainment of which demands a high level of mature psychosexual development. It was argued that without a strong clerical commitment to celibacy, education and training programs currently being implemented in seminaries would be largely ineffectual. Key factors impacting on the relationships of priests with parishioners were found to be first, a decline in the authority of priests, second, the revelations of sexual abuse by priests, and third, the difficulty numbers of clergy have with establishing and maintaining close, intimate relationships. The NEO-FFI factors Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness were found to be significant predictors in the quality of relationships between priests and parishioners, with 30% of clergy experiencing difficulty in these relationships. It was argued that maturity in spiritual, psychological, and psychosexual development was found to impact significantly on clergy personal wellbeing and professional competence, which in turn contributes to satisfaction with ministry.

No description available.

The dissertation concerns with the restrictions on the church life by the State of Czechoslovakia during the years of 1945-1989 with a special regard to restrictions on the celebration of liturgy in South Bohemian Region. Facts that have been gathered from the literature and primarily from the secretaries for the church affairs reports, that have been preserved in the archive funds of Regional National Committee and the South Bohemian Regional National Committee, prove convincingly that the state authorities imposed restrictions on life, pastoral ministry, and the church liturgical celebrations systematically.

Church leaders and other members of the Mystical Body of Christ can avail themselves more to the contemplative gift while undergoing the Paschal Mystery as a team and cultivating spaces of encounter and communion with people in the Church and in the world for deepening union with God and further entry in the process of divinization. Members of the Mystical Body can be more sensitive to the presence of God within themselves and others through devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that offers an entryway for Divine Love to take captive the affections of the will as the contemplative gift is increasingly activated from within each person. This way is shown through the Holy Family and their common spiritual life which offers a model of Church that invites all people to share in their oneness of heart rooted in the Trinity to be love as one family of God.