IN THE MISSIONS. - Even in the revival of missionary apostolate, the regulations concerning neophytes were numerous.
In 1213, Richard, prior of Bermondsey, founded an Hospital of Converts in honor of St. Thomas of Canterbury for Jewish neophytes; and the Dominicans did the same at Oxford. Under Henry III (1216-73), a domus conversorum for catechumens and Jewish neophytes was opened in London. The Council of Basel (1431; sess. XIX, decr. 6 [Mansi, XXIX, pp. 99 ff.]) established a particular method of ministry among neophytes, and Paul III, with the fine bull Cupientes iudaeos (§§ 5-8; 21 March 1542), sanctioned the conciliar decrees. Later, with the bull Illius qui (19 February 1543), at the initiative of St. Ignatius—who, having probably visited London in 1530, had become acquainted with the domus conversorum—there was erected in Rome the “House of Neophytes” of St. John at the Market; and with another bull, In hoc praecelsis fastigio (20 May 1580), Gregory XIII established that near the church of Madonna dei Monti, which still exists. Through the efforts of St. Ignatius as well, various houses for catechumens were erected in the territories of the Portuguese missions.
At the time of the conquest of the New World, mass conversions did not allow for adequate preparation for Baptism, and so the Councils prescribed instruction after it, to the point where today one begins the first step toward the catechumenate. The First Council of Mexico, in 1555, decreed that neophytes, after Baptism, should learn the “four prayers,” namely: the Our Father, Hail Mary, Creed, and Salve Regina (Conc. Mex., can. 1). The same prescription is repeated in the Council of Quito (1570; sess. III, p. 1; IV, ch. 3). The Council of Lima, 1567, decreed that post-Baptismal instruction should serve as preparation for receiving the other Sacraments. In 1585 the Third Council of Mexico established that neophytes should often be given simple sermons drawn from Holy Scripture (lib. I, tit. I, De praedictione Verbi Dei, 3-4). In Spanish America, at first, neophytes were excluded from Communion. It seems that the first “Junta” of Mexico, in 1524, had decreed that Communion should be refused to neophytes even as viaticum (F. A. Lorenzana, Los Concilios Mexicanos, Mexico 1769, p. 4); but the original text has not yet been recovered. Paul III, however, with the bull Veritas ipsa (2 June 1537), established as a fundamental principle that the Indians were true men endowed with human reason; the second “Junta” of Mexico (1539; can. 22) permitted the administration of the Eucharist to Indians, provided they were sufficiently prepared; the First Council of Mexico declared that it could be done, but without obligation; and the First Council of Lima, in 1567, mitigating this decree, allowed that all Indians could receive Easter Communion and viaticum (ch. 58, 59). It was the merit of José de Acosta to have advocated at the time the administration of the Sacraments, as obviously necessary for Christian life from the practical missionary point of view. In the East Indies as well, many neophytes were excluded from Communion, but Alexander VII, with the brief Sacrosancti Apostolatus officii (18 January 1658), severely condemned the abuse (Collectanea S. Congr. de Prop. Fide, I, no. 129).
Indeed, as early as 1645 and 1656, Propaganda had replied to missionaries in China, declaring the obligation of neophytes to observe positive law regarding the reception of the Sacraments, the festive precept, and fasting (Collectanea, I, no. 114, 126). Valuable provisions for the care of neophytes were also given later (cf., e.g.: Collect., II, no. 1346, 31-33). Special mention should be made of the method of the White Fathers, who keep neophytes for another three months after Baptism in order systematically to introduce them to Christian life.