STUDIA LINGUARUM

STUDIA LINGUARUM. – The principal instrument of evangelization is oral preaching in the language of the people to whom one preaches. Speaking through an interpreter can only be a temporary expedient. Consequently, numerous general and particular prescriptions inculcate the obligation incumbent upon every missionary to possess a profound knowledge of the indigenous languages. It is evident from the history of the missions and from the volumes of the Bibliotheca Missionum by Fathers Streit and Dindinger that Catholic missionaries, with few exceptions, have always and everywhere striven to learn the languages and to compile vocabularies, grammars, catechisms, etc., for preaching to peoples in their native language.

Schools of languages were already found in the 13th century among the Dominicans at Murcia and Tunis, established under the impetus of s. Raimondo di Peñafort; in 1281 the study of Hebrew was prescribed at Barcelona, that of Arabic at Valencia, and in 1291 that of Hebrew and Arabic at Xativa. Raimondo Lullo, in his writings and petitions addressed to the Pope, to the Christian princes, and to the University of Paris, ardently advocated the establishment of colleges of languages for future missionaries; he himself founded in 1276 at Miramar, on the island of Majorca, a convent-school for the linguistic training of Franciscans destined for the missions. At his initiative, Clement V established in 1310 chairs of Hebrew, Chaldean, and Arabic, and the Council of Vienne in 1311 decreed the establishment of similar chairs at the Universities of Paris, Oxford, Bologna, and Salamanca.

From the 15th century onward, complaints were made about the missionaries’ deficient knowledge of languages; nevertheless, from the Bibliotheca Missionum it may be inferred that many devoted themselves with great zeal to the study of languages. At the University of Lima (Peru), toward the end of the 16th century, a chair for Indian languages was established. Among the Carmelites and the Franciscans, special colleges for linguistic studies are found in the 17th century. In 1612 the Carmelites established in Rome a higher school for the training of their missionaries, transferred in 1662 to S. Pancrazio. The curriculum included the teaching of languages, especially Oriental languages, as one of its principal subjects. Among the Franciscans of Rome, special schools of Arabic existed from 1625 at S. Bartolomeo dell’Isola and from 1622 at S. Pietro in Montorio. The Franciscan missionary colleges founded toward the end of the 17th century in Mexico—the first being that of Querétaro, established in 1683—and in South America likewise prescribed the study of Indian languages.

In present-day missions, great importance is attached to the linguistic training of missionaries, although it is not provided in special schools. The Franciscans, however, had established a school in Beijing to introduce young missionaries to the Chinese language. The missionary-scientific institute of Propaganda has special chairs of Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Sanskrit.

It succeeded the other two periodicals devoted to similar subjects: Rivista trimestrale di studi filosofici e religiosi, founded and directed by A. Bonucci, and Alle fonti delle religioni, directed by C. Formichi and G. Tucci. It deals with the history of religion in the development it underwent among various peoples and seeks to acquaint readers with lesser-known and more remote forms and stages of civilization. It is open to broadly international collaboration, as well as to all currents of thought and systems, among which—especially concerning the origin of religion—one notes the predominance of preconceived rationalist ideas.

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