CATHOLIC MISSIONS. — Before ascending into heaven, the Lord said to His disciples: «As the Father hath sent me, I also send you» (Jn 20:21; 17:18), sending them to teach and baptize all nations. Thus, from the words of Jesus came the name and concept of a mission, from which derive "missionaries" and "apostles" from the corresponding Greek verb. Mission, therefore, derives from the Latin verb *mittere*, meaning "to send." In its common sense, it signifies the act of sending someone to perform an office.
Until the 17th century, however, in ancient documents the missionary activity as well as the missionary were referred to in various ways. Around the mid-16th century, the word "mission" began to be used in a sense increasingly closer to the technical one it assumed at the beginning of the 17th century.
I. THEOLOGICAL AND JURIDICAL CONCEPT.
Theologically, the mission is linked to the words of Holy Scripture, by which the Son is said to be sent by the Father and the Holy Spirit by the Father and the Son (Jn 6:57; 14:16; 16:7; Gal 4:4).
The mission which the Word, image, witness, source of divine light and life, accomplishes through a direct and extraordinary work upon men, continues in a way to develop and perfect the Mystical Body of Christ among all nations, preaching the Gospel to them.
According to the juridical concept, the mission of the Church must also be considered in light of the contingent aspect of the activity it undertakes to fulfill. History shows that such activity, while always remaining the same in its theological elements, has assumed different forms and characteristics. Especially from the 12th century onward, the apostolic activity of the Church in some regions is directed rather toward preserving and perfecting the life of faith and love among Christians, and in other regions toward spreading and propagating it among those who are ignorant of II. In the first case, there is a perfection of the Mystical Body, that is, an internal development of it; in the second case, the Mystical Body develops externally with the conquest of new members and new peoples. Thus, we have internal missions and external or foreign missions (can. 252 § 3). The two do not differ from a dogmatic point of view, but their methodological characteristics and the juridical prescriptions that regulate them lead to a very important distinction for studying their development. With this juridical distinction, however, it is not intended to contradict the dogmatic element of the mission but only to circumscribe the territory and determine the norms of methodology and organization and establish their two specific differences.
II. FOREIGN MISSIONS.
1. Notions
These are that part of the Church’s ministry directed toward planting and establishing the Church among non-Catholics. In this definition, now defended by almost all missiologists, all the required elements are found. Indeed, from it we gather that missions are a specific activity of the Church, which has as its object non-Catholics, whether baptized or unbaptized, to be converted to the true faith with the aim of firmly establishing the Church among them. Discussions among authors have highlighted the various stages of the great work of planting the Church in newly conquered territories.
**CATHOLIC MISSIONS** — Handing over of the Cross to missionaries departing for abroad (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, Monza, 12 Sept. 1848).
The ordinary, through his Church—which is the prolongation of His Incarnation—carries out this work. Christ could indeed have bestowed the divine fruits of Redemption upon all mankind directly, but He willed to do so through a visible Church in which all men gather to cooperate with Him in the salvation of mankind. Thus, Christ and His Church form that supersensible, hidden, and mysterious entity which lives and endures in souls and which St. Paul CRISTO (v.). The term well synthesizes the two aspects of the Church, presented as an organism with its two elements—visible and spiritual: the body and the soul. Its mission, therefore, requires that it be present throughout the world in both its interior and exterior aspects, through that intimate yearning of the humanity assumed by the Word to unite with all men and incorporate them as vital members of His new mystical organism. It thus becomes the ordinary and official means of salvation, and the more compact and universal the visibility of the Church as an external organism, the more resplendent and glorious is the manifestation of Christ, that is, the external glory of the Lord. Consequently, the doctrine of the Mystical Body upholds the necessity of the apostolate both with regard to individuals and peoples, because, due to its social character, it requires that individuals, even as they form social groupings, become part of the Mystical Body of Christ, which over the centuries continues to develop not only through the spiritual perfection of the faithful but also through the acquisition of new members. At the end of the ages, its development will be complete, and the missionary work will be finished, thus contributing to the final triumph of Christ, as described in the Apocalypse. The mission of the Church, therefore, is to give life and to
**CATHOLIC MISSIONS** — Northern gate of the city of Ghishu (vic. Pyong-Yang), through which Fr. Giusto de Bretonnières (later martyred in 1866) entered Korea in 1865, now called the Holy Gate.
Schmidlin maintains that missions are ordered solely toward the conversion of non-Christians; Lange believes that the purpose of missions is not the salvation of souls, which is possible even outside the Church, but the catholicity of the Church; Grentrup, basing himself on juridical elements, thinks that missions are ordered to expand the kingdom of Christ; Charles defends the theory of the planting of the Church; for Glorieux the purpose of missions is the fullness of life of the Church itself; and for de Lubac missions are necessary for the collective, not individual, salvation of men; Hugueny responds to Glorieux by affirming that missions are a matter of life and death for the infidels; van der Mensbrugge holds that missions are ordered to subordinate all men to Christ.
Durand’s opinion is closer to that which is now more accepted among missiologists, for he affirms that just as the Church is a normal but not indispensable means for the salvation of souls, so too missions are a normal but not necessary means for the salvation of the infidels. Capérán likewise states that missions are ordered to bring to the infidels the ordinary means of grace with which the visible Church has been enriched.
Of the elements presented above, some precede and others follow the planting of the Church and thus do not exclude one another; papal documents highlight one or the other, often due to particular needs. The expression of the planting of the Church is already found in some of the Holy Fathers and recalls the Gospel parables, where the Lord compares the preaching of the good news to agriculture, now as the work of sowing and transplanting shoots and trees, now as the cultivation of the vine, which stretches its branches from sea to sea; or He compares it to any other work concerning the earth that can be related to the nascent Church.
The distinction between foreign missions and domestic missions also entails a territorial division, since according to canon 252 foreign missions exist in territories dependent on the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide. This principle has exclusive validity, for in the other canons dealing with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia there is no mention of foreign missions, and therefore canon 1350 is and must be understood in relation to canon 252. Territories dependent on the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church could not be included until the motu proprio of 25 March 1938 (*Sylloge*, ... Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, Rome 1939, no. 206 ter), nor those under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory. The present status of certain territories does not justify an extension of the territory of foreign missions, since this also has repercussions in the sphere of competence of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide itself.
II. CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL ORGANIZATION
The task of spreading Christianity in the Far East in the 13th–14th centuries, entrusted to the initiative of the two great mendicant Orders, was later directed toward the dissidents of the Near East and then to the heretics of central and northern Europe, without any special dicasteries being established for this purpose. It was with the great overseas discoveries that the missionary problem became more acute, and the popes granted extensive privileges in this regard to the crowns of Portugal and Spain, which gave rise to true patronages in the missions (cf. Padroado and Patronato), which immediately received enormous impetus. The first dioceses were erected, with the right of royal nomination of bishops and the burden of all expenses; the sovereigns considered themselves, and were normally regarded as, delegates of the pope. All missionaries had to pass through Spain or, respectively, Lisbon and had to be approved by the religious of the Congregation.The tradition of the Church was maintained: all missionaries had to pass through Spain or, respectively, Lisbon and had to be approved by the religious of the Congregation. To avoid the patronages, Propaganda established the institution of vicars and apostolic delegates, following the example of those already existing in the Netherlands, England, and Scotland. This developed with the creation of apostolic vicariates in Canada (1653), China (1659), Indochina (1669), Siam (1678), and spread to almost all missions. The apostolic vicars, ordinarily endowed with episcopal character, depended directly on Rome, from which they received their faculties. Thus, alongside the jurisdictional dualism of bishops and religious in overseas territories—which had relatively soon faded away—there arose the jurisdictional dualism of Rome and the patronages, with repercussions in mission lands between residential bishops and apostolic vicars: a dualism that gradually diminished, almost disappearing in our own day, as the colonial power of the two Catholic monarchies in the East declined in favor of the Protestant nations of England and Holland and Catholic France.
To make the central organism more effective, Propaganda established within itself several special Congregations: in 1633 the Congregation of Faculties, which in 1637 obtained approval of the fivefold formulary, which remained in force until our own day; in 1640 the special Congregation for Doubts, for their resolution at least in urgent cases, absorbed by the Holy Office; in 1665 the special Congregation for China and in 1671 the Ecclesiastical Conference for the study of the most controversial points of ecclesiastical history. Important was the Congregation for the Correction of Liturgical Books of the Eastern Rite, instituted by Urban VIII. Pius IX on 6 January 1862 established the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide for affairs of the Eastern Rite, with its own secretary and archive; this became in 1917 the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church.
The economic problem was from the outset one of the chief concerns of Propaganda, since it opened the way to greater disengagement of the missions from colonial powers. Proceeds from cardinals’ rings (500 scudi), inheritances, private donations, extraordinary grants from popes and princes constituted the first funds. From the beginning Propaganda granted annual allowances to ordinaries and assisted missions with extraordinary subsidies. Agents and correspondents, especially in maritime ports, were entrusted with delivering funds, aiding passing missionaries, and facilitating their travel arrangements. After the patrimony was dispersed by the Revolution, Pius VII assigned to Propaganda part of the proceeds of the Apostolic Camera. From the end of the 18th century until 1908 there was a stable Prefecture of Economy, whose cardinal prefect presided over economic congresses. Since 1908 the pro-secretary of Economy has presided over the administration office and participates in the economic congresses, which include two cardinals and are presided over by the cardinal prefect.
Until 1666 the cardinals composing the Congregation, each of whom was assigned a territorial sphere to oversee, met *coram Sanctissimo* twice a month; from that year the meetings were held in the house of the prefect or the senior cardinal, and the secretary periodically reported to the pope. For about two centuries the cardinal prefect was not vested with special faculties of his own, being merely the executor of the plenary powers. Subsequently, the prefect was granted a list of personal faculties “for five years,” and finally “during office.” Under Leo XIII there was a further enlargement of the faculties of the Sacred Congregation.
Without substantial internal changes, the organization of the Congregation has been maintained down to our own day. It should be noted only that the Congregation has been able to refine methods of apostolate, among which should be highlighted the ever-growing promotion of indigenous clergy, especially the increase in apostolic delegations and hence the impetus given to periodic episcopal conferences; and the coordination of apostolic work in existing missions through the efforts of the individual delegations. Its competence was greatly altered following the constitution *Sapienti consilio* of Pius X in 1908, and numerous territories were withdrawn from its original competence.
The legislative power and supreme direction and management of affairs belong to the Plenary Congregation of Cardinals composing the Sacred Congregation. The deliberative power is subject to the approval of the Pope, to whom the deliberations of the Plenary Congregation must be referred; its execution normally takes place through the Cardinal Prefect. In the exercise of his duties, he is assisted by the Secretary, the Under-Secretary, and the Pro-Secretary of Economy, all appointed freely by the Pope, and by several study assistants with well-defined tasks. The Sacred Congregation is assisted by a body of consultants of particular competence, chosen from both clergies. Within this body, after the suppression of the pre-existing particular congregations, there now functions only a commission for the revision of the Constitutions of the religious missionary institutes, of national synods, of the regulations of the regional seminaries dependent on it, and of the *Statuta pro missionibus*.
The Secretary has special duties: he attends the Plenary Congregations without the right to vote and then reports to the Pope; he takes part in the weekly meetings together with the Under-Secretary and the minute-writers, as well as in the economic meeting. The Secretary is responsible for the legal representation of the Sacred Congregation and for the high direction of the Urban College of Propaganda Fide. A general historical archive preserves the documents of Propaganda from 1622 onwards.
The general jurisdiction of Propaganda extends to certain countries in Europe; to Asia, excepting Goa-Daman, Macao, and the eastern circumscriptions of Malabar; to Africa, excepting Portuguese territories, the archdioceses of Tunis and Carthage, the dioceses of Constantine and Oran, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia; to various territories in the Americas and Oceania. The ecclesiastical circumscriptions are variously constituted: archdioceses, dioceses, apostolic vicariates, apostolic prefectures, and *missio sui iuris* (of which there are now only two); apostolic prefectures, ordinarily not governed by bishops, represent the beginning of the development of the mission, while apostolic vicariates and dioceses are established taking into account the ascertained development and other particular factors. The Sacred Congregation communicates directly with the Ordinaries; however, between them and the Congregation, the intermediate organism of the Apostolic Delegations functions, embracing either entire nations or divided according to what may be called geopolitical criteria, which have proven to be of great interest.
Currently, the ecclesiastical circumscriptions dependent on Propaganda number about 600; of these, 88, including archdioceses, dioceses, and apostolic vicariates, are entrusted to indigenous clergy. Propaganda also depends on
MISSIONS, CATHOLIC – Introduction of Catholicism into Japan. Painting by Luca Hasegawa – Rome, Lateran Museum.
III. Sacred Art in the Missions – Ancient Christian art (v.) had developed by modeling itself on the manifold expressions of a highly evolved civilization and according to practical criteria proper to each evangelized region. Having then developed in new forms through the following ages, it succeeded in forming almost a spiritual patrimony of the Church, from which it seemed impossible to depart. When, in the 13th century, through the missionary peregrinations of the Franciscans and Dominicans, an attempt was made to enter into contact with the mysterious civilizations of India and the Far East, it was not possible to initiate an artistic movement in their midst; the contacts were too brief at that time.
With the age of the great discoveries, missionaries became involved in the exploits of the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors. Little account was taken of indigenous art even where it existed, and the canons of metropolitan art were imported into the colonies and hence into the missions. This was a natural assertion of the imperialism of the colonizing nations. Portugal built in Ethiopia, India, and Brazil castles, dwellings, and churches according to Portuguese models. Spain transported its own Baroque to Latin America, which, influenced by indigenous art, created the super-Baroque, known as the mission style.
From this work, the missionary movement experienced considerable expansion even in the Far East. But the problem of missionary art was not raised. Following the example of Portuguese and Spanish colonization in America, Western styles were imported into India and the Far East.
In Japan, a school of painting was founded by the Gionis and directed by Fr. H. Nicolao, but it was inspired by Italian models. In China, under the inspiration of the Jesuits, the compositions of the Gospel published in Europe by Fr. Natale were translated into Chinese forms. There were a few other attempts at Chinese Christian composition (e.g., the Madonna in the British Museum and the Museum of Chicago, etc.). The painter G. Castiglione (b. 1688–1766), a Jesuit, under Emperor Cheng Lung transformed his European style according to Chinese character. And within China, there were a few examples of adaptation to the local style. But all this represented sporadic elements of exception. The churches of the major missionary centers often reproduced Western models with little taste.
MISSIONS, CATHOLIC – Introduction of Catholicism into Japan. Painting by Luca Hasegawa – Rome, Lateran Museum.
Tran (1825–99), a man of letters, architect, hydraulic engineer, and governor of a province. “He was,” says Lyautey, “one of those humble heroes who elevate all they touch, born for a great stage, and who, in the absence of this, create one from their smallness.” His constructions in beautiful and pure Annamite style were admired in Phat-Diem (Tonkin). Other fine manifestations occurred in the 19th century in North Africa, where some churches in Algiers, the temple of St. Augustine in Hippo, and the cathedral of Carthage—these last due to Abbot Pugnet—are conceived in an Arab-Byzantine style.
But these rare examples had no sequel. In mission countries, the importation of Western art prevailed, which was esteemed as Christian art in opposition to local pagan art. In 1923, when foreign missions were already mature enough to be transformed into unworthy churches, the Apostolic Delegate thought that in a country possessing the dignity of a great and ancient art, Christian art too should align itself with the new missionary directions, that is, become Chinese; and in a letter to two mission heads, he explicitly raised the problem of missionary art, observing: a) that Western art in China represents a stylistic error; b) that the foreign character of the art contributes to maintaining the prejudice according to which the Catholic religion is considered a foreign religion; c) that the great tradition of Christian art teaches the adoption of the styles of different times and places; d) that Chinese art offers various and beautiful possibilities for adaptation.
However, it was necessary to reinforce theory with practice. Therefore, in 1925, the Delegate called to China the Benedictine artist Fr. Adalberto Gresnigt. He penetrated the spirit of Chinese art, drew up the plans, and directed the construction of the beautiful Catholic University of Peking, the regional seminaries of Hong-Kong and Kaifeng, the church of the Disciples of the Lord in Suanhwafu, and attended to other minor works. A Chinese painter, Cheng Suan-Tu, of exquisite artistic sensibility, composed in pure Chinese
Religious subjects enjoyed great success for their freshness and spiritual grace. The painter was baptized and took the name Luca. Appointed professor of art at the Catholic University of Peking, he gathered around him a family of Christian painters, in which the innocence of the primitives shone forth. Chinese art offered the sacred subject a form full of delicate spirituality, and the sacred subject offered Chinese artists a new, elevated, luminous theme, capable of creating a true renewal of Chinese art. Among the painters to be remembered are: Pu-Chin, Chang-San-Tse, Wang-Su-Ta, Lu-Hung-Niuen, Lo-Hong-Nie, Koang-Chao-Ko.
The Christian art revival in China inspired and encouraged a beautiful Christian artistic flourishing in Japan, Indochina, India, and Indonesia. In Japan, the following painters shone brightly: Luca Hasegawa, Shunkyo, Okayama, Keiji Kondo, Furuya, Takahiro Toda, Yoshimazu, Madama Nakamura, Shimibu, Sadaka, Teresa Kimiko Koseki. In Indochina, the painter Celso Le-Vandé distinguished himself; in India, the painter Da Fonseca and the painter Trindade; in Indonesia, the sculptor Iko. The Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide approved this artistic reform of missionary art with various letters.
This new direction also achieved splendid successes in Africa, especially in the Belgian Congo.
In 1939, Pius XI had organized an exhibition of the art of the missions at the Vatican. This initiative, interrupted by the war, was resumed by Pius XII, who, for the Holy Year 1950, wished that, among other exhibitions, one be organized of Christian art from the missions. This corresponds to the principles proclaimed by the Holy Father in his first encyclical, *Summi Pontificatus*, on missionary adaptation.
For the history of the missions,
V. PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY
See plates LXXII-LXXV.---
III. INTERNAL MISSIONS
Internal missions unfold within the boundaries of dioceses of the already established Church and are regulated by Ordinaries. Since the time of St. Vincent de Paul and later through the work of St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, they have existed under the name of sacred missions (can. 1349 § 1) or parochial missions, aimed both at preserving the faith and good morals among the faithful and at converting non-Catholics who may still be present (can. 1350 § 1).
The Church imposes on pastors of souls the obligation of catechetical instruction to prepare children for the Sacraments of Penance, Confirmation, and the Eucharist (can. 1329-36), as well as of homiletic and Lenten preaching, and in particular of explaining Christian doctrine (can. 1337-48). Finally, it admonishes Ordinaries to ensure that, at least every ten years, all parish priests—even religious—undertake missions for the flock entrusted to their care (can. 1349).
These missions, which must not be confused with the usual Lenten preaching—though often carried out in the form of missions or spiritual exercises for the people—are ordinarily held outside Lent by religious specialized in this type of preaching, such as, for example, the Passionists, the Redemptorists, or by priests who are oblates or grouped in missionary associations, such as the Oblates of Rho (Milan), the Missionaries of St. Maximus of Turin, or the so-called Imperial Missionaries of Rome.
These internal missions, carefully prepared through frequent reminders in Sunday preaching, through propaganda in parish bulletins or sacred notices, and conducted with spiritual unction and various aids, almost always succeed in salutarily stirring consciences and bringing about true conversions and reforms of morals.
In recent times, immoral propaganda, employing every possible means (print, cinema, radio, advertising, rallies, conferences, etc.) and exploiting the general economic distress created by two world wars, has drawn much of the working and agricultural masses away from the Church and Christian practice, casting them into the arms of active and materialist communism, which denies God, the immortality of the soul, future life, and human dignity and freedom. Alongside this propaganda, intensified Protestant proselytism has continued to infiltrate among Catholic masses.
Consequently, as it has become impossible to reach the masses with the word of God through customary traditional forms, other forms of preaching have had to be devised to seek out the masses, who were abandoning the church, in the places where they usually gather—whether for work or for entertainment. Hence, various forms of preaching have emerged that take on the appearance of true missions, as well as others that, under the guise of social or moral assistance, aim to preserve faith and morals.
Thus arose various works of moral assistance by category: ONARMO (National Organization for Moral Assistance), the Apostolate of the Sea, Assistance for Rice-Weeders, etc.; chaplains of industrial establishments; the Work of St. Paul, Pro Deo, etc.; congregations of lay religious living in the world, and other similar female congregations with the purpose of assisting workers and the poor, etc. All this movement and flowering of Catholic works aim above all at the moral and religious assistance of those to whom they are directed, to bring the word of God and the light of the Gospel to those who have strayed from the path of the Church and to lead them back to true faith and the practice of Christian life. Nor should we forget the temporary *peregrinationes Mariae*, which are a true mission stirring the consciences of the slumbering or lost.