Philadelphia, Pa., Jun 15, 2012 / 17:34 pm
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles told a gathering of seminary teachers and staff that they must study the American culture in order to form priests who can better serve the Church.
"We need to understand our culture - in order to convert it," the archbishop said June 10 at a conference for seminary formators that was jointly sponsored by Philadelphia's St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and Saint John Vianney Center.
Archbishop Gomez said in his address that seminary staff, faculty, and formation personnel should ensure that the formation they provide is not only multicultural, but counter-cultural, so that the future priests will be able to "counteract our American culture."
He pointed the seminary leaders toward the examples given by some of the first missionaries in America, who were "serious students of the indigenous cultures."