The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2019 The Pilgrims’ Return: The Influence of the Assisi Pilgrimage on High School Participants Christopher Michael Iwancio Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.edu/diss Part of the Educational Leadership Commons The University of San Francisco THE PILGRIMS’ RETURN: THE INFLUENCE OF THE ASSISI PILGRIMAGE ON HIGH SCHOOL PARTICIPANTS A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Department of Leadership Studies Catholic Education Leadership Program In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Fr. Christopher Iwancio OFM Cap. San Francisco May 2019 THE UNIVERISTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Dissertation Abstract The Pilgrims’ Return: The Influence of the Assisi Pilgrimage on High School Participants Catholic schools were founded to assist parents in the passing of the faith to their children (Second Vatican Council, 1965; SCCE, 1994). Despite this mission, research has indicated that in the United States there has been a disassociation Catholics from their faith (Pew, 2008, 2014; Smith and Denton, 2005; St.
Mary’s Press and CARA, 2018). Programming was developed to encourage youths’ faith development and their active membership in the Catholic Church (Denton and Smith, 2005; USCCB, 1997). One program, pilgrimages, has seen an increase in participants across the world (Cleary, 2017; Harris, 2010, Rymarz, 2008). This mixed-method study sought to explore the motivations and influence of the Assisi pilgrimage on participants from St.
Bonaventure High School (pseudonym). The Assisi Pilgrim Survey, an 18 item survey consisting of questions about demographics, religiosity utilizing questions from the National Study of Youth and Religion (2002), and open ended questions were distributed to current students who went (n=24). Race, socio-economic status, and religiosity data were used for purposeful sampling. Eight students participated in semi-structured interviews, in which they also provided photos from their pilgrimage.
The study found that the pilgrims had tourist motivations, social motivations, religious motivations, and Franciscan motivations for attending the pilgrimage. It also found that a number of external factors such as money and family played a role in their desire to attend. Students described their experience as affording them the opportunity to connect to both peers and adults during free time, being able to understand more and to relate ii better to the person of St. Francis by visiting places connected to his life and the Franciscan movement, as well as participating in a number of structured activities that influenced their faith.
This study suggests that pilgrimage was an influential campus ministry program to pilgrims of different backgrounds, and religiosity in a positive way. It affirms the use of pilgrimages as programming alongside retreats and service trips. However, it was found that Campus Ministry programming needs to addresses the needs of students in their day-to-day context, as well as, to develop more resources to allow more marginalized students to attend. iii This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education.
The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Christopher Iwancio May, 1, 2019 Candidate Date Dissertation Committee: Ursula Aldana, Ph. May, 1, 2019 Chairperson Michael Duffy, Ed. May, 1, 2019 Emily Nusbaum, Ph.
May, 1, 2019 Kathryn Barush, D. May, 1, 2019 iv DEDICATION As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. -Luke 24:28-29 This dissertation if dedicated to my father, Paul Iwancio, and my high school teacher, Michael DeMarco, for their dedication to the field of education, for instilling in me the importance of education, and its transformative power of education when society sees it as a basic human right.
And To every one of my teachers, who have dedicated themselves to the vocation of Catholic education. v Acknowledgements When I began my teaching career, a number of the administration team that helped guided me through first year of teaching and taught me ways to use the gifts and talents that I had in better way, were graduates from the Catholic Educational Leadership Program at the University of San Francisco. When I joined the Capuchin Franciscan friars in California, I petitioned them to study at the University of San Francisco. Gini Shimabukero sat down with me and laid out a study plan that I could present to them.
That plan was later altered at the encouragement of Dr. Ursula Aldana, who encouraged me to pursue the doctorate program. For her encouragement and seeing potential in my academic abilities, I am beyond grateful. I am also grateful her patience and guidance as my advisor and dissertation committee chair.
I would like to thank my religious superiors Fr. Matthew Elshoff and Fr. Harold Snider for allowing me to participate in this program. I would also like to thank the friars of Our Lady of Angeles Province for the encouragement and support as I pursued this degree.
Finally to Br. Tran Vu, my guardian, for his care and support of my studies. I am eternally grateful for the many Catholic educators, both living and deceased who encouraged me throughout my education including: Mrs. Betty Penn, Mrs.
JoAnne Morgan, Ms. Kathy Maskell, Mr. Michael De Marco, Mr. Simon Donoghue, Dr.
Ellen Weir, Dr. David Williams, Abbot Placid Solari, O. I would also like to thank the many faculty both past and present at the University of San Francisco including Dr. Jane Bleasdale, Fr.
Ralph Metz, Dr. Jason Hanks, Dr. Doreen Jones, Dr. Nathan Alexander, and Dr.
In addition, I would like to thank Thanh Ngoc Ly, and Carole Vineyard for helping me navigate the University of San Francisco. I would also like to thank the feedback, support, and encourgament of my committee including Dr. Mike Duffy, Dr. Emily Nusbaum, and Dr.
To the many friends and colleagues who journeyed with me at the University of San Francisco including : Sonya Arriola, Alex Macmillian, Scott Roos, Jonjee Sumpaico, Alicia Tapia, Kathleen Quiazon, and the many others who are not mentioned here, thank you for your company and encouragement. Special thank you to Sr. Rudy Trujillo, whose proof reading, suggestions, and editing made this work possible. Finally I would like to thank everyone at the education institutions with which I have been blessed to have been connected including: Shrine of the Little Flower School, Archbishop Curley High School, Belmont Abbey College, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Catholic High School, Junipero Serra High School, St.
Ignatius College Preparatory, and St. Bonaventure High School (pseudonym). vii LIST OF TABLES 1. Cleary (2016) Australian World Youth Day Research Participants……….…47 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1.
Race or Ethnic Demographics……. Religious Service Attendance………………………………………………………………. Importance of Religion…………………………………………………………………………68 4. Closeness or Distance to God…………………………………………………………………69 5.
The defeated knight………………………………………………………………………………76 6. Town of Assisi from La Rocca………………………………………………………………. View from St. Assisi from the Leper Colony…………………………………………………………………85 ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………ii SIGNATURE PAGE…………………………………………………………………….vii LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………….viii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………ix CHAPTER ONE: THE RESEARCH PROBLEM………………………….1 Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………….1 Background and Need………………………………………………………….8 Significance…………………………………………………………………………8 Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………….10 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE…………………………………….…11 Restatement of the Problem………………….12 Studying Youth and Religion………….12 Recent Research of Youth Religiosity…………………….15 Moral Therapuetic Deism…………………….21 Chain of Memory………………………………………………………….22 Passing on the Faith to Youth in the Church………………….24 Mission of Faith Transmission and Schools………….24 The New Evangelization…………………….25 Development of Catholic Schools in the United States…………………….26 Early Youth Ministry……….27 Youth Ministry in the United States………………………….……………28 Development of Youth Ministry in Schools.32 Influence of Campus Ministry Programming in Secondary Schools….37 Development of Pilgrimages…………………………………….………40 Youth Pilgrimages and World Youth Day….50 x CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………….53 Restatement of the Purpose of Study…………………………………………….55 Population and Sampling…………………………………………………………57 Instrumentation and Data Collection………………………….58 First Phase…………………………………………………………………58 Second Phase………………………………………………………………58 Limitations………….………………………62 Background of Researcher……………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………65 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS…………………………………………………….72 Tourist Motivation…………………………………………………………73 Social Motivation………………………………………………………….73 Religious Motivation………………………………………………………74 Franciscan Motivation…………………………………………………….74 Vulnerable Experiences……………………………………………………75 Experiences……………………………………………………………………….75 Visiting Franciscan Places and Meeting St.
Francis………………………75 Francis Made Real……………………………………………….78 Exploring and Making New Connections…………………………………79 Going up to La Rocca……………………………………………80 Climbing up St.82 Sneaking out and Drinking………………………………………84 Faith Experiences…………………………………….85 The Leper Colony…………………………….92 Additional Perspectives of Influence on Faith…………………………….95 Further Analysis……………………………………………………………96 xi Summary………………………………………………………………………….99 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………………………………….…100 Summary of the Study………………………………………………………….107 Conclusions and Implications………………………………………………….112 Recommendations for Future Research…………………………………………113 Recommendations for Future Practice………………………………………….…………132 Appendix A: Letter to Administration………….……133 Appendix B: Minor Consent and Assent Letter………………………….……135 Appendix C: Student over 18 years old Consent Letter………….……139 Appendix D: Assisi Pilgrim Survey ………….……142 Appendix E: Interview Guide………….146 Appendix F: IRB Permission………….148 Appendix G: Permission from School………….…………150 xii 1 CHAPTER I THE RESEARCH PROBLEM Statement of the Problem Catholic schools have been established to assist parents and churches to the pass on the Catholic faith, as well as to help each young person develop as a whole person through participation in religious practice both individually and communally. Schools and churches have developed youth ministry and special programing geared towards young people to foster this growth through activities such as retreats, service projects, and extended trips. Despite this mission, recent research has shown a disassociation of youth from the faith (Pew, 2008; Pew, 2014; Smith and Denton, 2005; St. Mary’s Press and CARA, 2018).
However, there has been a significant increase in youth participation in special religious travel called pilgrimages, but little research has been done on the influence of pilgrimage experiences on Catholic high school students, as part of a youth ministry program (Cleary 2017; Harris, 2010; Rymarz, 2008). Background and Need Despite the efforts of my parents, my local church and my Catholic school, I too fell away from the practice of my faith during high school. I participated in a number of events sponsored by the school and parish that ought to engage youth through dances, retreats, special prayer rituals and other programing. Despite the number of programs, they did not engage me or help me to develop my faith.
However, when a couple of my friends invited me to go on a special religious experience which involved traveling out of state, I found myself returning home as a different person. This led me back to the practice of my faith. 2 Now, having participated in a number of youth pilgrimages as a chaperone, I see that these programs provide a unique opportunity to reach and to influence the lives of young people. Youth ministry seeks to respond to the needs of youth, to help them develop, and to share their talents with others (USCC, 1976).
The role of youth ministry is to empower young people to be disciples, to help them grow into participation in the Church and to foster personal and spiritual growth (USCCB, 1997). Churches, schools, and other organizations use youth ministry to assist parents, the primary educators, in the development of their children (USCCB, 1997). While youth ministry can provide experiences that help young people develop their faith, Aldana (2015) pointed to a need to study the impact of religious programming on the lives of the young people to see if it meets the needs of young people within their particular social and cultural context. While Catholic youth ministry has worked to foster the faith lives of teenagers, recent research has revealed that a disassociation from Catholicism in the United States is significantly high.
The Pew Research Center’s (2008) America’s Changing Religious Landscape study found that Catholicism has lost more adults than other religious groups (p. The Pew Center (2014) reported that between the years of 2007-2014 the number of adult Catholics dropped by approximately four million people (p. Among Catholic teenagers the decline is particularly staggering compared to other religious groups. In 2005, Smith and Denton published an in-depth longitudinal study called the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) to study the spiritual lives of teenagers (13-17 years old).