Contribution short abstract:

This paper examines the dynamic between common(ing) values and common values in the Catholic Church taking canon law students’ paths from the Global South to Rome and back as an empirical example to discuss how values are (re)generated within the oldest global bureaucracy.

Contribution long abstract:

Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has cultivated various forms of common(ing) both material and ideological values, including monastic life, church taxation, and welfare missions. One reason cited for the Church’s enduring presence as a global organization, despite being one of the most controversial institutions of our time, is its practice of inculturation. This enables the Church to maintain core values globally, even amid diverse cultural contexts, by integrating others within its “paternalistic fold” (Norget 2009: 342). The presentation explores the dynamic interplay between common(ing) values and shared values within the Catholic Church, drawing on fieldwork conducted among nuns, monks, and priests from the Global South who are send by their superiors to Rome to study canon law. This education equips them for leadership positions within the Church’s administration, mainly in their home countries. The paper investigates to what extent the internationalization of canon law students in Rome over the past three decades has contributed to a form of common(ing) church property and examines how these processes contribute to the (re)creation of shared values that hold the global Catholic Church together in the twenty-first century.