Secular and Sacred Worlds

This past Wednesday, I celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass at the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral (read last week’s blog if you want to listen to me rave about gothic cathedrals). It was definitely the perfect location for a solemn and serious mass- nothing like grey walls and gargoyles to help you enter into Lent. During the mass, I began to reflect upon the congregation that had packed into the large church. It was a very international group. Of course, Notre Dame de Paris is a famous cathedral, so it obviously attracts many tourists, but it also hints at a larger and somewhat stranger issue in France- secularity.

This has been probably one of the biggest cultural differences I have experienced since coming to Europe. Back at Notre Dame (de Lac), we are surrounded by faith. We have chapels in our dorms, we take theology classes, we have late night discussions in our section lounges t- there is no doubt that religion is huge part of life at Notre Dame. However, in a country where there are cathedrals at every turn, Europe is predominately secular. For the most part, the new friends I’ve met here aren’t religious and don’t go to church. Talking about faith and religion isn’t common, neither is going to going to mass or other religious services. The majority of people who attend church are people from outside of Europe and I am almost always the youngest person there.

It was a weird adjustment at first. I was afraid to talk about religion with anyone. I would only shyly admit that I was going to church and I was hesitant to mention various observances that I was doing for my faith (like giving something up for Lent). When I posted my blogs on Facebook, I worried about what my European friends would think. Would they see me as a crazy religious American?

Yesterday while visiting a friend at Oxford, I went to a lecture by Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who discussed the intersectionality of the secular and sacred worlds. Though I was battling a touch of jetlag during the lecture, I gleaned some really interesting insights as to how the English think about religion in the America. One of the questions near the end of the lecture concerned how Americans fail to deal with the separation of church and state. Williams spoke disapprovingly about the climate of religion in America. The conversation reminded me of how often people from different places can easily stereotype other countries. How easy is it to only see religion in America as one exact way if you are from a country in Europe?

This made me realize how important it is for us to talk openly about religion. Going abroad is all about a cultural exchange and that can’t take place if you are holding back on things that make you unique. It also made me see the importance in speaking authentically about your own faith life, to share with your new friends not just the wonder and beauty you see in your religion, but also the teachings and ideas you struggle with, so that people can understand the complex variation that are religious beliefs in America. In the same way, I want to undo my own stereotypes of secular Europe. Do my new friends have thoughts or questions about religion? Do they believe that there might be something out there beyond us, even if they can’t put it into words?

There is always danger in seeing just one story or believing a single stereotype. One of the greatest steps in cultural understanding and the abroad experience is understanding why these stereotypes exist and letting them be smashed.