RERUM ECCLESIAE. - Thus begins the encyclical letter of Pius XI of 28 February 1926, intended to recall in writing the teachings of the Vatican Missionary Exhibition of the Holy Year 1925 (Sylloge de Propaganda Fide, Rome 1909, no. 120, pp. 240-258).
In the introduction, the Holy Father says that the Church, though with varying success, has always sought to win for Jesus Christ as many as were far from him; he then recalls the beneficial effects of the letter of Benedict XV Maximum illud (v.), the Vatican Missionary Exhibition and the institution of the Lateran Missionary Museum, and, noting with sorrow that many are still unbelievers, he admonishes all Christians of their duties in this matter and asks for their generous help. The first part of the encyclical speaks of the missionary duty in general, which it grounds in the virtue of charity, and of the missionary duty in particular, which consists principally in praying for the missions and in awakening and cultivating vocations to the apostolate. To this end it recommends that in every diocese the Missionary Union of the Clergy (v.) and the three Pontifical Missionary Works (v.) be instituted and organized. The second part reminds the heads of missions of the duty to form a numerous and capable native clergy, by founding seminaries, and to instruct the catechists well. It advises the erection of native religious congregations and the introduction of the contemplative Orders. It then gives precise directives on how to distribute the missionary forces in order to follow the tactic of a progressive conquest of the territory.
At the end Pius XI recommends to the Ordinaries of missions, in case of a shortage of missionaries, to call new workers also from other religious families. To the religious Congregations, then, he recalls that the territories are entrusted to them at the good pleasure of the Holy See, which may freely assign them to other institutes, divide them and entrust them to the native clergy or to other Congregations. Lastly he exhorts all the bishops to help the missions by the means suggested.
« EVANGELII PRAECONES ». - The encyclical Evangelii praecones of Pius XII of 2 June 1951 (AAS, 43 [1951], pp. 497-558) refers to the same missionary subject and can be divided into three parts.
The first, after a brief introduction in which it explains the occasion that gave rise to the publication of the encyclical, speaks of the progress achieved in the past twenty-five years as regards the number of conversions, the ecclesiastical organization of the various territories and the ordering of missionary collaboration. It then recalls that in some territories of Asia persecution rages and how much still remains to be accomplished in the field of the apostolate. In the second, after some suggestions of missionary methodology, having described the figure and the preparation of the missionary, it says that the purpose of the missions is to establish the Church there and therefore, in the new territories of conquest, to awaken and prepare a numerous and capable native clergy; to organize Catholic Action, to erect all the various religious and charitable works, to multiply the schools, to promote the press and especially to provide for the solution of the social question according to Catholic principles. In all this activity of the apostolate, the missionary must never forget the principles of a sound accommodation to the usages and customs of peoples. The third part, after having mentioned the fruits obtained by the Exhibition of the Holy Year of 1950, recommends the missionary union of the clergy, the other pontifical missionary works, as well as the apostolic work, and ends by exhorting the clergy and the faithful to help generously the work of the Catholic apostolate.
Bibliography2 works
Saverio Paventi