Catholicism Abroad: Learning About Religion Outside the US

Catholicism is pretty prominent in Chile, with the country historically tied to the religion through Spanish colonialism. So you'll see young people less connected with Catholicism, there's still a pretty strong community in Chile. Additionally, a lot of the cathedrals and churches are historical parts of Chile, with one of the oldest buildings in Chile being a church.  To describe my religious identity, I'm sort of a non-practicing Catholic. Catholicism is a big part of my culture. While I don't go to mass every Sunday, I still participate in Catholic traditions. 

 Religion was not a big thing that I was thinking about when I was studying abroad,  but as I look back on my study abroad journey, I realize that my relationship with Catholicism has changed since studying in Chile.  I was home sick a lot, and one day I happened upon a church where I sat there for an hour, and I felt myself feeling a bit more at home.  I was very fortunate to have so many nearby churches where I lived and where I studied; it ended up helping a lot with my homesickness. Catholicism played a big part in my childhood and is a very prominent part of my culture, so I was surprised that something as small as passing a few minutes in a church helped ease my feelings of missing home.

My cohort was from a variety of different religious beliefs, and it was super cool to meet so many people with differing religions and outlooks on religion.  Everyone was super open to learning more about each other's religions, and it was always a very welcoming environment at the IES Abroad Center, which was super nice. Well, I first started going to Cathedrals to check out the art and statues I ended up finding myself feeling closer to my religion than I was before I had come to Chile. I end up I ended up making a few Chilean friends while traveling, and one time the topic of religion came up.  They were atheists, but we were still able to learn more about each other and their cultural views on religion. It was super cool and I really enjoyed those kinds of conversations. 

Well, I didn't come to Chile with the intention of really exploring my religion or different cultural views on religion. It was super interesting to find myself somehow feeling closer to my religion in a whole different country.  I think a big part of it was just struggling through homesickness, and it became a place where I was able to not only explore local culture through religion but also a place of comfort. Being Mexican American, there's always a picture of La Guadalupana in my house and at our churches, and every church I went to in Latin America had a painting of La Guadalupana. I want to write this piece because I knew homesickness was something I would struggle with, but I didn't expect one of the solutions to be related to religion. There was a diverse view on Catholicism and religion in Chile, and I even got to visit a Baha'i temple during my time there. It was super cool to learn more about different cultural views outside of the us about religion, and also other religions as well.