{"id":18,"date":"2021-05-05T19:23:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T19:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/catholicisminquebec\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2021-05-15T01:55:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T01:55:41","slug":"chapter-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/catholicisminquebec\/chapter-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A day in the life – Calling Canada home<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Roman Catholic priests worldwide receive the same training and their job duties \u2013 celebrating religious ceremonies, baptizing members, providing spiritual counselling \u2013 are the same no matter where they live. That said they have to know and adapt to the customs of the communities they serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catholic faith is the same everywhere, but it is lived differently based on where you are, explained L\u00e9onard Kapia, a Congolese priest who now works in the Baie-Comeau diocese in Quebec. \u201cThe way that people practice [their religion] depends on their culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to adapt to all these differences; the ways that people see faith itself, the way that people perceive the church,\u201d he said, adding that a person\u2019s opinion of the Catholic Church depends a lot on how the church as an institution  behaved in their country in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priests have to gage all of that and adjust their behaviour toward the people they serve accordingly, Kapia noted. \u201cAnd to do that, we must obviously know their culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A culture that can be, at times, incredibly different from their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n\n\n\n

Catholic celebrations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo look different than the ones here. Mass celebrations are very festive.  People dance and sing even at funerals because the afterlife or the divine is seen as something that should be rejoiced. Photos \u00a9 L\u00e9onard Kapia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting foot in Canada for the first time<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kapia said he was lucky when he arrived in Quebec, because he had a good understanding of Western culture, having lived in Europe before. But that\u2019s not the case for all foreign-born priests that immigrate here. Some experience a strong culture shock when their lifestyle changes significantly from what they were used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anecdotes of cultural misunderstanding<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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