Religion and Theology

The religion that I chose to study is Christianity, Roman Catholic Church to be specific. This has to be the largest Christian church with its members numbering to billions worldwide. The Pope is the churchs most highest figure of authority with regards to faith, governance and morality issues, with Pope Benedict XVI being the current figure of authority. The community in this religion consists of ordained ministers and it defines its mission as  spreading the word which they also refer to as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The members of this religion are also know for taking part in social programs worldwide such as the promotion of universities, hospitals, missions, Catholic schools, shelters and other charity events and organizations. The Catholics believe that they are the True church that was founded by Jesus, with an Apostle named Simon Peter as the chief leader of all the other Apostles. They believe that the Pope is the successor of Peter, and that Bishops are successors of the Apostles.

The history of the church goes back as far as 2000 years ago with this religion playing a major role in the civilization of the Western world. In its growth, the church experienced a major split which is known as the Great Schism, where there were two groups formed the Eastern and the Western Catholic churches. One group became independent of the Popes authority and they came to be known as the Orthodox Church. The activities of the this group and their teachings are recored in a book called the Holy Bible with most of their teachings mostly coming from the New Testament. Historians who study Christianity claim that the Catholic Church is traceable to the consecration of Peter by Jesus, but it is also important to note that some of these Christian historians have different views, with some not making a judgment whether the church was founded by Jesus or not. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the true origin of the Catholic Church and thus different theories by different historians. The mission of this church is to spread the faith all over the world based on the command of Jesus. They believe that there is one God who is eternal and exists as three persons that dwell mutually within each other (God the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit). According to the catholics, the word church refers to the people of God. They believe in unity among all Christians irrespective of denomination believing that one may be of a protestant descent, but still believe in the teachings of Christ. They believe that they are guided by the Holy Spirit and thus it is difficult for them to err in matters of doctrine.

I decided to observe the Catholic Church rituals at Old Saint Marys Cathedral, which is located in the middle of downtown close to the Union Square, Nob Hill at the intersection of the Financial District and Chinatown, San Francisco, California. The church has had a long history, having being dedicated in 1854, it has witnessed the Gold Rush, the 1906 Earth quake and the burning down of the original Cathedral. The cathedral is large with the exterior having a clock almost similar to the clock found in London. The front part of the cathedral from the inside contains paintings that are hang, which contain images of people from the old days, dining on long tables.

Before I attended this church service, as I came to know it was called, I took some time to first get myself acquainted with one of the members of the church who happened to be working at that church as a receptionist. I even read a few books that could give me a rough idea of what happens in one of their services, which takes place every Sunday, though I came to learn that there are other services that take place on almost each day of the week, but the Sunday one is the main one, attended by a larger population of its members. Pia Lim is the name of the receptionist that I attended the service with and she is the one who gave me the rough history of the church. She also guided me on what to do, what to wear on the actual service and how to blend in, though the church was very welcoming to visitors. What surprised me was the churchs policy on some of the visitors it allowed in to their midst. Divorced persons, gays and lesbians were all welcome and they were not discriminated against by the church, despite the Christians strict moral values on such issues. They also welcome individuals of any other different faith and race.

Brief outline of the ritual describing step-by-step what occurred
Catholic Mass is the name of the ritual that takes place within this religious group and can only be done within the confinement of the church which is a blessed building. Thus it is a liturgical function. It can also be done in an oratory, which is a structure that has been set aside for prayer and celebration of the Mass. This structure has to be set aside by ecclesiastical authority. Within the Catholic Church, silence is considered to be golden as it is through attention that the essence of prayer can be obtained. Early arrival in the place of worship is considered to enable one to prepare well by calming the mind. Upon entering the church, one notices that there is a font which contains water. I am told that that is holy water, and people dip their fingers into it an make a sign of the cross with that dipped finger over themselves. This is as a reminder of their baptism. Once one has entered the church, as one passes by the tabernacle, one bends the right knee till it touches the ground as a sign of reverence. This is referred to as genuflect. Considering that genuflecting for some individuals may be difficult due to physical constraints, one can just bow to express that reverence.

The mass begins with a procession with a hymn being sung. This process is led by the altar cross and the priest at the end. The Book of Gospels can be found with the candles in between. The cross has to be close to the altar of sacrifice as it represents the sacrifice that was made at the cross by Jesus Christ. After that there was the greetings followed by the Rite of blessing and sprinkling holy water. After that there was an opening prayer followed by a liturgy of the word. The liturgy of the Eucharist then follows. The communion rite is done towards the end of the entire ceremony and it is finally concluded by a concluding rite.

Specific topics about the rituals observed.
The rituals that took place in this religious setting could be classified as prescriptive rituals as they all aimed at prescribing a certain set of actions. This is also proven by the fact that the priests would follow a certain order and as I was informed by my informant, this is what happens at every service hence it is also a periodic ritual. There are a few exceptions that my informant tells me of, such as in the case of special occasions such as Easter and Christmas, where there are some more rituals that take place. These I would describe as occasional rituals. I observe a ritual which they refereed to as the Penitential rite where the members of the church would ask for the forgiveness of God after much reflection of their sins, and they would mutter Lord have mercy over and over. This is followed by the priest blessing and sprinkling water on them. During this particular service that I was in attendance, there were no specific special rites that I witnessed such as the right of passage, though Pia Lim explains to me that there is a baptism that usually takes place. I believe that this is a type of rite of passage and it consist of the three stages. From the explanation that Pia Lim gave me I get to understand that the separation part is where one gives up the sinful life, the transition part is where one transforms into the morals and ways of Christianity and the re-incorporation part is where the baptized individual lives with the Christian community as a family and abides by the morals of the faith.

The church building itself looks like a a building from the past, meaning it looks old in the architectural design. The inside has a high roof and the floor is covered in a red carpet. The front part of the building is raised so that the people standing at the front are easily viewable by the people at the back. The building is also relatively large so as to allow the occupation of a large number of people. The inside of the building also contains marble walls in some parts, especially at the altar which is at the front of the building. The priest sat at the front of the building and so did the singing group or the choir, who were dressed in long white vestments. There were also other old men wearing white cloaks with golden designs at the neck who I believe are some of the leaders of the Church. They were also situated at the front raised part of the building.

There was a ritual known as the Communion, where members of the congregation would move forward, while holding there hands together before them and receive a piece of bread, which they would consume and meditate for a few seconds. Almost all members of the church participated in this ritual, though it was not compulsory. The congregation mostly consisted of old men and women who were of Caucasian descent. Majority of the congregation were males while females were less dominant. Even the leaders in the church were only males of Caucasian descent. Children were rarely seen within the congregation and so was African Americans. Generally the congregation was mixed but the Caucasians dominated. Sitting arrangement for the members of the church was not specific as I noticed men and women mixed in the sitting arrangement.

The predominant symbols within the church was a cross with a man crucified on it. This was Jesus of Nazareth and the Christians believe that he died for the sins of mankind. Within the ritual of the communal, there was the Host and the Chalice which are very important in this ritual and they represent the body and the blood of Christ who was sacrificed. The paintings that were also hang at the wall depicted some aspects of this ritual with 13 people dining at a table with one of them sitting at the head of the table. The music that was sung at the church was sombre and the only instruments that I noticed was an organ. There was no dancing in their music and people sang from certain books that they had and some provided by the church.

The people who run the rituals was the priest and they provided the bread which the members of the church partook of. These priests are ordained and they are chosen and trained for a long period of their lives. They dress in white robes depicting purity. There was no state of unconsciousness within any of their proceedings or rituals and everything was done in an orderly manner.

Comparison between the Catholic Rituals and the Navajo Rituals
The Navajo are a people who are found in the Southwestern part of the United States of America. First off, the Catholic Church believes in God as their supreme being while the Navajo believe in the forces of earth. The Navajo base their spiritual rituals on restoration of health harmony and balance to an individuals life. In a nutshell, the rituals are a means of strengthening weakness and healing illnesses. So according to the Navajo, rituals are all about balance, beauty, health and harmony. The Navajo also turn to traditional medicine men who they believe will heal them of their diseases, and only in extreme cases do they turn to the modern western medicine.

The Christians pray to God, and they confess their sins to a priest who they believe intercedes for them to their higher being. In the event of illness, even the leaders of the church themselves seek modern medical attention. The Catholics are more accepting of the scientific medicine and thus they have no problem with it, unlike the Navajo who believe that Western ways are evil and spoil the balance of nature.

The only similarity that is evident in both these religions is the presence of chanting prayer in their rituals. The medicine man in the Navajo religion does the chanting to aid in the healing. The Catholics also do chants in their prayers for various requests. Both religions also believe in order in their rituals and rituals have to be done on specific times and days by specific people  Priests for Catholics and Medicine men for the Navajo.

Christianity and Buddhism Comparison
Buddhism is a religion that has beliefs in variant traditions and practices which are based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. He is also known as the awakened one as he helped beings achieve nirvana by ending their suffering. The concepts that both the Christians and the Buddhist share is the need to do good, as it plants seeds which one will reap in this life or later life (heaven for Christians and rebirth for Buddhists). What differs is their rituals and the supreme being whom they both serve. It is important to note that discipline is an integral part of both these religions though the details of their rituals differ a lot.