Clergy, Indigenous, of the Missions
The specific end of the missions is to establish the Church in territories where it does not yet exist, providing it with the means necessary for its further development. Hence the necessity of forming an indigenous clergy capable of governing the local Church, that is, a sufficient number of priests born in the country and able to exercise their ministry there, even if of different language and race. The Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide has insisted upon this necessity from the very beginning.
Fundamental methodological reasons make it clear that missionaries alone are insufficient for the work of converting and assisting the unbelievers, especially when the number of converts multiplies in proportion greater than that of the missionaries. The indigenous people, moreover, have the right to cultivate their own field and, being more acceptable to their fellow countrymen—whose language they speak—are also better suited for this task. In times of crisis, they are moreover in a position to better ensure the life of the Church.
The formation of an indigenous clergy has been one of the first concerns of the Apostles and, subsequently, of the missionaries who, throughout the centuries, have worked for the conversion of the unbelievers. Errors and deviations from the genuine thought of the Church, if they occurred, were mainly due to the deficient evaluation of many elements and to the prejudices proper to the time.
According to the theological concept of the Church, no prejudice of nationality or race can hinder the formation of an indigenous clergy. Following the example of the ancient and medieval Church and the teaching of the popes themselves, missionaries have always aimed to educate the indigenous people for the priesthood, even if not all difficulties were always adequately overcome. Often this became necessary due to the lack of immigrant personnel, but it was only in the second half of the 19th century that the formation of an indigenous clergy took on the development it has at present.
Indigenous bishops exist in India, Indochina, and China; in Japan, all Ordinaries are indigenous. Insulindia also has a local bishop. Australia and New Zealand are entirely independent of foreign control. In Africa, there are two indigenous bishops and one indigenous apostolic prefect. Indigenous priests are everywhere sufficiently numerous and generally well-formed. The number of Chinese priests exceeds that of foreigners, which made possible in 1946 the establishment of a regular hierarchy.
Various causes have delayed in the past the formation of a more numerous indigenous clergy, among these the lack of an episcopate of adequate proportions in the mission lands. Ecclesiastical circumscriptions included, until the last century, immense territories, and this made the authority of the Ordinary nominal and fictitious for all that part which remained outside the radius of his material activity. Often there was not even an episcopate, sometimes due to obstacles placed by colonial powers. Added to these were the racial prejudices of European governments. In India, the caste system, and in China and Japan, the difficulty of finding young men equally proficient in the local language and sacred sciences, made missionary work in those regions more arduous.
The Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, moreover, was not always able to adequately provide for the formation of an indigenous clergy due to the lack of impartial and timely information. Everything was rendered more difficult by the primitiveness of transportation and postal services, nor were there yet direct representatives such as the present-day delegates and apostolic nuncios.
Modern progress has eliminated many of these causes: territories are proportionate to the radius of effective influence of the Ordinaries, and seminaries are sufficiently numerous. Remaining, however, are other difficulties which only the education of peoples will gradually eliminate. Constancy and perseverance in the vocation, with all the obligations inherent therein and especially that of celibacy, can sometimes encounter obstacles in the character of certain populations. In such cases, the difficulty can be overcome only by a suitable moral and spiritual education. In countries with mixed populations, such as Africa, a particular obstacle is constituted by racial prejudice, but even this will be overcome by the principles of Christian brotherhood.
The indigenous clergy must have the same moral and intellectual formation universally required of all clergy. It is subject, without exception, to the norms of canon law, so as to be rendered capable of all hierarchical offices.
As to the question whether the indigenous clergy should be religious or secular, pontifical documents prescribe the formation of both kinds. In dioceses of common law, secular priests generally govern them, occupying almost all offices directed to the care of souls, and missionaries, although in the great majority religious, are obliged to proportionately promote the development of both clergies. If the best elements were attracted to religious life, the secular clergy would find itself in a condition of inferiority, which would render vocations more difficult and the work of organizing the Church more arduous, due to the consequent difficulty of finding parish priests, directors of schools, teachers in seminaries, and other priests destined for the higher offices of the hierarchical order.
The indigenous clergy must be guided toward all vocations and must not be left on the margins of the mission, avoiding situations proper to some missions in which the entire indigenous clergy is religious. For this reason, the Holy See has established various prescriptions which limit the free entry of young men from the missions into religious institutes.
V. Tav. CXXI.