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.

Belonging: the case of immigrants and the Australian Catholic Church

This thesis addresses the growing need to understand the religious perspectives of forcibly displaced persons. It looks at the subject in terms of a journey and how a small group of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe retell their journey stories with theological significance. The research asks how these refugees correlate their experiences of faith and displacement. The answer comes as a synthesis that juxtaposes displacement and salvific events. Applying Simone Weil’s idea of decreation to the data from in-depth interviews, the research looks at the individual journeys of refugees and traces these as a journey from creation to re-creation. Aspects of the journey develop at each level. As a creation, the imago Dei connects the person to God. A decreation takes place through displacement that leads the person away from their humanity in a downward spiral of dehumanization. Yet, the decreation of displacement is more than a list of needs and responsibilities; at its vortex is the possibility of a redemptive relationship. Re-creation takes place through a synthesis of displacement and salvific events, and the critical moment is when refugees recognize God's story in their personal story. The faith experience is not a static event; it becomes redemptive as it continues in a dialogical process of relating the journey to God and community. Finally, the result of this synthesis of re-creation and its redemptive process is a new reality that finds expression in shalom, being welcomed, and finding renewed purpose.

From gravity to grace: finding a redemptive voice among displaced Christians in Europe

This study offers a response to the question facing the Australian Anglican Church about how the mission of Anglican schools is aligned with the mission of the whole Church. The study explores two Anglican school principals' faith formation leadership, as they engage in this mission. Fundamental to understanding the context of this study is awareness of Anglicanism's broad variety of expression balanced with unity through Scripture, Reason and Tradition. In spite of differences, the Anglican Church seeks the 'Via Media', the middle way, held together in a dynamic tension of debate. Anglican school principals lead faith formation in this context of diversity, which leads to the purpose of this study: to explore two Australian Anglican school principals' perceptions of their role and capability as school leaders of faith formation within the Anglican Church's mission. The three questions guiding this study relate to the ways in which the principals understand their role, their capability for the role, and the ways in which the Anglican Church has equipped them to be faith formation leaders in their schools. Various Anglican sources note that these questions have been on the Anglican Church's agenda for several decades. A recent report on the governance relationship between an Australian Anglican Diocese and its schools noted lack of Anglican identity and role definition of schools' mission in the Church as significant issues (Nicholson, 2007), and this appears to be the case in faith formation leadership also. Underpinning this study are assumptions that the nurturing of the Christian faith in the Anglican tradition is a core task of Anglican schools as agents of Anglican mission, and that the principal of an Anglican school plays a key role in leading faith formation by authentic personal Christian witness. In this study, Anglican school faith formation leadership has been explored in cultural and symbolic dimensions of leadership.;Catholic and Lutheran schools' faith formation leadership practices are reviewed to inform the study. This exploratory, qualitative study has an orientation of social constructionism, seeking two purposively sampled Australian Anglican school principals? perceptions from an open research stance. A theoretical framework of symbolic interactionsism has valued the participants' context. A phenomenological research methodology has used data gathering methods of interview, survey questionnaire, observation and documentary analysis. The study indicates that areas for further study include the shared faith formation leadership roles of principals and school chaplains; the fostering of a culture of research about Anglican school faith leadership; the provision of professional mentoring for principals; the relationship of principals to the Anglican Church; and provision by the Anglican Church of guiding statements and training to equip principals for their faith leadership roles.

An exploration of the role of school principals in faith formation leadership within the educational mission of two Australian Anglican schools

Christian religious educators in the Religious Education Association are challenged to reclaim their theological nerve and their partnership in public conversations about the educational p...

The clue to christian religious education: uniting theology and education, 1950 to the present

This chapter outlines the challenge of defining theological education and enquires about the interrelationship that exists between adult theological education and professional practice. It considers the professional teacher as theological learner, and specifically when an engagement with theology emerges from the professional context. Drawing on Humphrey’s (Journal of Practice Teaching & Learning 8(3):7–27, 2008) research, reasons are suggested for why the concept of the ‘faith closet’ might hold resonance for theological and faith formation approaches to professional practice in church schools. This is contrasted with an approach to adult theological education that seeks a hermeneutical-dialogical-participatory encounter with Christian theology. The chapter concludes that it is this latter approach that holds relevance for speaking with those ‘on the ground’ and enabling professionals to connect and apply theological thinking to professional practice and personal identity.

Theological Education and Professional Practice

(1984). THEOLOGY AND BELONGING: CHRISTIAN IDENTITY AND THE DOING OF THEOLOGY. Religious Education: Vol. 79, No. 3, pp. 392-413.

Lucien Richard

Papers

Theology and belonging: christian identity and the doing of theology