STUDIES OF LANGUAGES. — The principal instrument of evangelization is oral preaching in the language of the people to whom one preaches. Speaking through interpreters can only be a temporary expedient. Therefore, numerous general and particular prescriptions impress upon every missionary the obligation to have a profound knowledge of the indigenous languages. From the history of the missions and from the volumes of the *Biblio-theca Missionum* by Frs. Streit and Dindinger, it appears that Catholic missionaries, with few exceptions, have always and everywhere striven to learn languages, to compile vocabularies, grammars, catechisms, etc., for preaching to peoples in their native tongue.
Language schools already existed in the 13th century among the Dominicans in Murcia and Tunis, established under the impulse of St. Raymond of Peñafort; in 1281 the study of Hebrew was prescribed in Barcelona, that of Arabic in Valencia, and in 1291 that of Hebrew and Arabic in Xàtiva. Raymond Lull, in his writings and petitions addressed to the Pope, to Christian princes, and to the University of Paris, ardently advocated the establishment of language colleges for future missionaries, and he himself founded in 1276 at Miramar on the island of Majorca a convent-study 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 are heard about the deficient knowledge of languages on the part of missionaries, but from the *Biblioteca Missionum* it can be deduced that many devoted themselves with great zeal to the study of languages. At the University of Lima (Peru), towards the end of the 16th century, a chair for Indian languages was established. Among the Carmelites and the Franciscans, special colleges for linguistic studies existed in the 17th century. The Carmelites established in 1612 in Rome an advanced study center for the training of their missionaries, transferred in 1662 to S. Pancrazio. The program included as one of the main subjects the teaching of languages, especially those of the Orient. Among the Franciscans in Rome, from 1625 at S. Bartolomeo dell’Isola and from 1622 at S. Pietro in Montorio, there were special studies of Arabic. Likewise, in the missionary colleges of the Franciscans founded towards the end of the 17th century in Mexico (the first being that of Querétaro, established in 1683) and in South America, the study of Indian languages was prescribed.
In present-day missions, great importance is attached to the linguistic training of missionaries, although this is not done in special schools. The Franciscans, however, had established in Peking a study center to introduce young missionaries to the knowledge of the Chinese language. The missionary-scientific Institute of Propaganda has special chairs of Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Sanskrit.
STUDIES AND MATERIALS IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. — A quarterly journal, founded in Bologna in 1925 at the initiative of C. Formichi, R. Pettazzoni, and G. Tucci; since 1928 it has been under the direction of R. Pettazzoni and is the organ of the School of Historical-Religious Studies at the University of Rome.
It succeeded two other periodicals of similar scope: the *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 evolution it has undergone among various peoples and seeks to make known less familiar and more remote forms and moments of civilization. It is open to broad international collaboration, but also to all currents of ideas and systems, where, especially in the origins of religion, a prevalence of previous rationalist ideas is noted.