MISSIONARY PRESS.
I. MISSIONARY PRESS IN THE HOMELAND
The first missionary reports printed were naturally travel accounts and treatises on the legendary "Prester John" (v.), but soon the missionaries were also the first geographers, ethnologists and historians of the countries of their missions. Suffice it to cite the Historia de las cosas mas notables, ritos y costumbres del gran Regno de la China by Fr. Joan Gonzales de Mendoca (Rome 1585); the work of Nicolas Trigault: De Christiana Expeditione Apud Sinas Suscepta, Ab Societate Jesu. ex P. Matthei Ricci eiusdem Societatis Comentariis Libri V. Ad S. D. N. Paulum V (Augsburg 1616) and, among many others, the publications of Jeronimo Lobo S. J. on Ethiopia and of the Capuchin Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi on Angola and the Congo. Bernardino de Sahagún O. F. M., with his work in 12 vols.: Historia universal de las cosas de Nueva España, on which he labored from 1547 to 1577, earned the honorary title of the greatest ethnographer of the 16th century. A historian of the countries of mission was, for example, the Jesuit Marino
Martini: De bello Tartarico Historia (Antwerp 1654). Fr. Roberto de Nobili is regarded as the initiator of modern investigations into Sanskrit. From the 16th century to the first half of the 18th century were the most favorable times for Catholic missionaries to make European and Asian culture mutually known and to defend the human rights of the natives. Suffice it to recall the activity and the works of Bartolomé Las Casas (v.).
The so-called Cartinhas, that is, small catechisms with a small grammar and an introduction to learning to read, were meant to serve directly the practice of mission. The most celebrated of these Cartinhas is the one compiled by João de Barros: Grammatica da lingua portuguesa com os mandamentos da santa madre Igreja (Lisbon 1539), which served St. Francis Xavier.
The polyglot printing house of the Propaganda printed in the first half of the 17th century Cartinhas in the Arabic and Ethiopic languages. The catechism of Luis de Granada was published in many editions and versions: Breve Tratado en que se declara de la manera que se podrá proponer la doctrina de nuestra Santa Fe, y religión christiana, a los nuevos fieles (Salamanca 1588).
Among the studies of missionary theory and methodology, the following are to be remembered: Nicolaus Herborn: Epitome convertendi gentes Iudiarum ad Fidem Christi adeoque ad Ecclesiam sacrosanctam catholicam et apostolicam (Cologne 1532); by José de Acosta: De procuranda salute Iudorum, libri sex (Salamanca 1588). Protestant mission theorists such as Fabricius, Hoornbeek and Mel made extensive use of them. A theorist was also Tommaso di Gesù (v.) and Filippo Rovenio (v. ROVENIUS PHILIP).
To the Jesuits belongs the merit of having created periodical missionary literature. In 1552 there were published in Rome the Avisi particulari delle Iudie e di Portogallo ricevuti in questi doi anni del 1551 e 1552 da li Reverendi Padri de la copagnia de Jesu. In the following years other missionary letters were published under the title: Avisi della Cina, Avisi del Giappone, Avisi delle Isole Filippine, Copia de alcune littere del Padre Maestro Francesco Xavier (Rome, Ingolstadt 1563; Louvain 1571; Zaragoza 1591). A constant publication thereafter became the Annuae Litterae Societatis Jesu anni 1581 ad Patres et Fratres ejusdem Societatis. Romae. They run from the years 1581 to 1614 and from 1650 to 1654; and they were drawn up in Rome on the basis of the obligatory letters of the provincials and of the Superiors of Mission to the Superior General. The first Franciscan attempt to give a general survey of the missionary activity of the Order was made by Valentin Fricius; Indianischer Religionsstand der gantzen newen Welt beider Indien gegen Auff und Nidergang der Sonnen (Ingolstadt 1588).
The Lettres édifiantes et curieuses (v.) contain mainly material on the missions of the French Jesuits alone. Let us also recall the Annales de l'Association de la Propagation de la Foi (v.).
Various religious Institutes too in the first half of the 19th century began to publish their own missionary periodicals, such as the Lazarists in 1834 with the Annales de la Congrégation de la Mission, the Seminary of the Foreign Missions of Paris in 1841-42 with the Comptes rendus; the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in 1857, the Bulletin de la Congrégation di St Esprit et du S. Coeur de Marie; the Oblates M. I. in 1862 the Missions de la Congrégation des Missionnaires Oblats de Marie Immaculée, restricting the circulation of their journals to their own members so as not to create dissensions with the Work of the Propagation of the Faith. Some other periodicals of lesser importance, such as the Austrian ones of the Leopoldine foundation and of Central Africa, and the one of Cologne for the little negroes, likewise addressed themselves only to the members of their association. The work of Lyon in 1867 began to publish the weekly Les Missions catholiques. Bulletin hebdomadaire de l'Oeuvre de la Propagation de la Foi (v. MISSIONS CATHOLIQUES).
In a short time popular missionary periodicals multiplied more and more. Every missionary Institute today publishes its own missionary periodicals in the most varied countries, in order to awaken missionary vocations and to procure the subsidies necessary for its own missions. A scholarly journal, on the suggestion of Fr. Robert Streit, arose in 1911 through Prof. Schmidlin, namely the Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft (Münster 1911). The same Fr. Streit in 1916 began the publication of the Bibliotheca Missionum, today under the direction of Fr. Giovanni Dindinger and now arrived at vol. XVII. In it all the sources and books on missionary activity are listed and subjected to a critical examination. With Streit and Schmidlin began "missionary science" or "missiology."
It is impossible to enumerate here even only the most important scholarly-missionary publications of recent decades. For this purpose one may consult the volumes of the Bibliografia missionaria, published by the Missionary Union of the Clergy in Italy.
II. THE MISSIONARY PRESS IN MISSION COUNTRIES
It was Mexico that possessed the first printing press outside Europe, through the work of Archbishop Juan de Zumárraga (v.), and the first book printed was the Breve y mas compendiosa Doctrina Christiana en lengua Mexikana y Castellana (1539, "en casa de Juan Comberger"). In 1543 the same man had a Cartinha printed: Doctrina cristiana breve para enseñanza de los niños. In 1557 a Cartinha was printed in Goa: Tratado da Doctrina Christiana estratta per s. Francesco Saverio dalla "Cartinha" di João de Barros.
In Japan, in 1591, one encounters a Flos Sanctorum printed by the Jesuits in Latin characters in the Japanese language: Sanctos no go saguwo no Veli noqui gaqui (Katsusa 1591) in 2 vols., accompanied by a Japanese-Portuguese vocabulary. The celebrated catechism of Fr. Luis de Granada was printed the following year: Fides no doxi to vile amerataru xu no riacu (Amacusa 1592). From the same year is also the Japanese translation of the Doctrina cristiana of the Archbishop of Evora, Theotonio de Braganza: Nipponno Jesus no Companhia no Superior yori Christan ni soto no cotonari no tagaino mondo no gotoqu xidai no vacachi tamo Doctrina (Amacusa 1592), which has as an appendix a Japanese-Portuguese vocabulary. Luis Frois, in the annual letter of 1592, says that a calendar of feast days and fast days for the use of Japanese Christians was printed, and it can be said with certainty that printing in Japanese characters took place in 1591.
In China, Fr. Michele Ruggieri had the Decalogue printed with wooden blocks. From 1584 is another xylographic print by the same Fr. Ruggieri, later revised by Fr. Matteo Ricci, a Dialogo tra un pagano e un missionario, of which 1500 copies were run off. From the preface of Fr. A. Valignano to the work De missione Legatorum Japonensium it is known that the book of Fr. João Bonifacio, Christiani pueri Institutio Adolescentiaeque perfugium, was the first book printed with movable type, apud Linas in Portu Macaensi in Domo Societatis Jesu Anno 1588. Better known is the second book issued from this printing house: De Missione Legatorum Japonensium ad Romanam curiam, rebusq. in Europa ac toto itinere animadversis Dialogus. In Macaensi portu Sinici regni in domo Societatis Jesu. Anno 1590. The account was compiled by Fr. Duarte de Sande from the diaries of the legates and translated into Latin.
From 1595 Matteo Ricci began the series of his great scientific publications in Chinese on theological, historical, mathematical, astronomical and geographical questions, and he also published a treatise on the printing of the West.
In the Philippines the first xylographic prints are from 1593. Doctrina Christiana en letera y lengua china, compuesta por los padres ministros de los sangleyes, de la Orden de santo Domingo. Con licencia, por Ken yong, China, en el parian de Manila, and Doctrina Christiana en lengua espanola y tagale en S. Gabriel de la Orden de S. Domingo. En Manila 1593. In the first half of the 17th century there was an extraordinary development of printing in the mission countries, especially in China and India. Translations of Holy Scripture, of liturgical books and of theological works, ascetical books, biographies and treatises on the natural sciences were published.
To prevent on its part any abuse in its printing house, Propaganda decreed on 7 Sept. 1629 that no work should be executed there without a special decree of the Cardinal Prefect (Decreta C. de Prop. Fide, 1620-75, n. 29, p. 20), and to obviate the difficulties arising from the multiplicity of the various foreign languages, on 3 Feb. 1631 it was established that books in a foreign language should not be printed in the polyglot press unless the manuscript were accompanied by a translation into Latin or Italian (ibid., n. 60, p. 39). Moreover, on 6 Dec. 1655 Propaganda forbade all apostolic missionaries "sub poena privationis officii, vocis activae et passivae, suppressionis eiusdem operis et excommunicationis latae sententiae ipso facto incurrendae ac soli S.mo reservatae" to print books without the prior written permission of Propaganda (ibid., n. 195, pp. 153-64; Collect., I, n. 124 [Rome 1907]). The general Congregation of 28 Feb. 1673 had a copy of the decree of 6 Dec. 1655 sent to the Superiors of all the Orders working in the missions, with the addition "ne typis vulgent ea que ad missiones pertinent" (Acta S. C. de Prop. Fide, 1673 [43] f. 28 v.).
The book of the Procurator General of the Carmelites, Vincenzo Maria di S. Caterina da Siena, Il viaggio all'Indie orientali, printed in Rome itself without the prior permission of Propaganda, gave it occasion to beg the Holy Father to intimate anew the prohibition of printing books in the missions and about the missions (Acta S. C. de Prop. Fide, 1673 [43] ff. 76-76v).
Clement X, with the brief Creditae nobis of 6 Apr. 1673, extended the prohibition of 6 Dec. 1655 to: Libros et scripta in quibus de Missionibus vel de rebus ad Missiones pertinentibus agitur, under penalty of incurring the censures of the decree of 1655, not excluding the members of the Society of Jesus, and this because books saepe falsa et inepta continentes, not without offense to pious and learned men, brought harm to the Church; and this perhaps in relation to the question of the rites.
The particular Congregation on China of 31 July 1673 forbade the translation into Chinese of Holy Scripture (Acta Congr. Partic. dell'Indie orientali, 1672-74 f. 52v, ibid., f. 13; Collect., I, n. 206 [Rome 1907]), whose decree was confirmed by the General Congregation of 20 Nov. 1673 (Acta S. C. de Prop. Fide, 1674 [43], f. 352). Missionary printing, formerly so flourishing, began to decline with the consequent scarcity of catechisms and prayer manuals. For this reason the visitor father of Japan and vice-provincial of China, Domingos Pinheyro, turned to Propaganda, asking permission to have certain books printed "non de controversis Sinicis, sed de rebus piis quales sunt exhortationes ad devotionem et Sanctae Legis observantiam ac Libelli precum et similia" (Decreti della S. Congr. dall'anno 1719 al 1740, f. 546). On 28 Sept. 1739 Propaganda granted it under the condition, however, that such books contain nothing either directly or indirectly against the constitution Ex illa die of 19 March 1715, that the general prepositor of the Jesuits and the bishop or the apostolic vicar of the place of impression should have given permission to print, and should send a copy to Propaganda (Decreti della S. Congr. dall'anno 1719 al 1740, ff. 546v-47). Since Benedict XIV, by the constitution Ex quo singulari of 11 July 1742, had confirmed the constitution of Clement XI Ex illa die, Propaganda on 27 Sept. 1743 decreed that the bishops and apostolic vicars should examine anew all the books already printed in China to see whether they contained principles contrary to the aforesaid constitutions (Acta Congr. Partic. super rebus Sin. et Ind. ab anno 1742 ad 1748, tom. 8 f. 59), and on 8 Oct. 1743 it wrote to them "ut curent omnes libros qui aliquid continent contravium constitutionibus Ex illa die et Ex quo singulari prorsus supprimi, et abolere, nisi corrigi possunt" (Lettere della S. Congr. e di mons. Segret. per le Indie orientali dall'anno 1743 al 1746 [161], ff. 54v-57v). By decree of 28 Dec. 1770 Propaganda granted to the Ordinaries of China and Tonkin that for "parvas doctrinas, catechismos, instructiones, ac preces, quae fidelium usui quotidiano inserviunt" the imprimatur of the Ordinary should suffice (Decreti della S. C. dall'anno 1768 al 1778, ff. 82v-82; Collect., I, Rome 1907, n. 482).
In the Instruction of Propaganda of 8 Sept. 1869 to the apostolic vicars of Eastern India, Propaganda prescribed that printing houses be established in India in order to combat effectively the action of the Protestants, who were flooding the country with their books (Collect. II, n. 1346/39 [Rome 1907]).
On Oct. 18, 1883, the S. Congregation issued an Instruction to the apostolic vicars of China, enjoining upon them the opening of at least one Chinese printing press in every vicariate, so that the books necessary for the spread and the preservation of the Faith could be printed (Collect., II, n. 1606, Rome 1907; XI, ibid. 1917, n. 7). Today, even for the printing of books in mission territories, the prescriptions of the code apply, except for special instructions of a prudential nature. - See plate LXXIX.
Bibliography3 works
Nicola Kowalsky