Catholic Missionary History Research Papers (original) (raw)

The original intention of Charles de Foucauld was to prepare the arrival of the missionaries in the Hoggar, by composing a Tuareg lexicon and grammar. Then the collection of poems became for him a goal in itself. The six thousand verses he has collected are one of the few documents that allow us to hear the voice of the Tuaregs of the pre-colonial era.

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- History of Linguistics, Catholic Missionary History, Poetry, Exploration History

During the reign of James II/VII Stuart (1685-1688), the political, diplomatic and cultural relations between the British court and the Italian states flourished as never before. This was due above all to the Roman-Catholic faith of the king and the lively personality of his consort Maria Beatrice d’Este («Mary of Modena»), while the growing English economic power was acquiring commercial dominance in the Mediterranean area. With the help of thousands of unpublished papers, the book by Alessandro Cont reconstructs the British diplomatic network in Italy during this period, the personalities and orientations of the ministers of Italian princes accredited to the court of Whitehall, the queen’s dynastic policy and the peculiar characteristics of her Italian entourage of chaplains, servants, artists and musicians.

This detailed entry provides descriptive information for the manuscript Itinerarium of Jakub Římař (1682–1755) and its significance for the history of Christian-Muslim relations. It was published in the series Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, vol. 14 (Leiden: Brill, 2020), pp. 159–164.
The full Latin title of Římař’s Itinerarium is Itinerarium missionum apostolicarum orientalium Aegypti, Aethiopiae, seu Abyssiniae, aliarumque regionum adjacentium, manu propria conscriptum a R(everendo) P(atre) Jacobo Ržimarž de Cremsirio, which translates as "The travels undertaken on behalf of the Oriental apostolic missions in Egypt, Ethiopia or Abyssinia, and other neighbouring countries, written down by the Reverend Father Jakub Římař of Kroměříž"

Reviews "China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II" by E. B. Sledge (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). This sequel to Sledge's celebrated "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" (1983) has three themes -- how one Marine experienced a short deployment to China in the aftermath of World War II, his return to civilian life, and his discovery of another cultural world -- China. The memoir offers a basic template for how an American can get to know another society. The article also profiles Father Marcel Van Hemelrijck (1904-1981), a Belgian missionary who Sledge's intercultural learning.

This monograph narrates the history of catholic mission in East Africa and Germany during the colonial period featuring chapters on the missionary movement in 19th and 20th c. Germany, the negotiation of a missiony contact zone, education policies, church building and "africanisation" of the mission church in East Africa, and missionary media work in Europe.

de Lisboa (1195-1231), português de nascimento, é um alvo popular deste fervor religioso. O seu culto é um fenómeno popular na Igreja Católica. Para além de celebrações regulares no calendário da igreja, as suas imagens estão em muitos altares de oração e são alvo de cultos festivos. Os missionários portugueses introduziram o catolicismo no Sri Lanka em meados do século XVI. Pode, portanto, presumir-se que a devoção a Santo António de Lisboa neste país foi introduzido juntos dos nativos cristãos pelos missionários portugueses. Esta suposição é suportada pelas crónicas do período da expansão portuguesa, onde Santo António é identificado como o «Santo de Lisboa» e o «Santo português». Há muitas igrejas no Sri Lanka contemporâneo dedicadas a Santo António de Lisboa, o que revela claramente a popularidade deste santo no país. Este estudo pretende traçar os factores históricos adoptados para espalhar a devoção a Santo António de Lisboa, no Sri Lanka, durante os séculos XVI e XVII, o período durante o qual os portugueses evangelizaram as Províncias Marítimas do país, e também tentar compreender o progresso da devoção ao longo das diferentes conquistas temporais e espirituais.

- by Iva Manova
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- Catholic Missionary History, Early Modern Europe, Venetian History, Muslims in Europe

This paper explores concepts and insights on the power, influence, resistance and agency of missionary churches in a colonial setting and answers the question which seems most relevant, or at least of interest, for the study of the Catholic church and Curaçao society in a period of modernization and industrialization (1915-1948) followed by a period of decolonization and emancipation (1948-1973).

Recensión (en español) de dicho libro (en español, traducción del inglés estadounidense).

This is a bio-bibliographical entry on Remedius Prutký (1713–1770), who was a Catholic missionary in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Russia. It was published in the Brill series Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, vol. 14, pp. 178–180, in June 2020.
See a separate entry on Remedius Prutký 's manuscript Itinerarium in the same volume: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2451-9537_cmrii_COM_29394.

Propaedeutic thesis about the Jesuits' perception of colonial violence by the Dutch during the Indonesian Independence War. Focusing on individual Catholic Missionaries, Chaplains and Bishops: Monsignor Willekens SJ of Batavia and Monsignor Soegijapranata SJ. My conclusion is that Jesuit army chaplains and Bishop Willikens did comment on colonial violence, but generally did not consider it to be a structural problem of which the Dutch goverment could be blamed. Bishop Soegijapranata and the Dutch Jesuit magazine 'De Linie' on the other hand did blame the Dutch for the violence and condemned the violence completely.

- by Bas van Nieuwland
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- Catholic Missionary History, Indonesia, Catholicism, Jesuits

This is mainly an archival contribution whose purpose is to reassess the concrete phases of Nobili's education. Here I demonstrate that, contrary to what previous historians repeated, Nobili's involvement with the College Romano was very short. Moreover, I have discovered that, before joining the Society of Jesus, he studied at the Seminario Romano. Nobili's school records are the earliest evidence on his life.
The article also hints at some possible implications that this specific Bildung had on Nobili's later missionary activity in India.

- by Paolo Aranha
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- Religion, History, Intellectual History, Classics

Perutusan kepada Bangsa-Bangsa sudah mati. Ke-mati-an ini menjadi pertanyaan mendalam bagi para misionaris dan para pewarta misi awam mengenai identitas mereka sebagai perpanjangan tangan Kristus. Apabila melihat jauh ke belakang, para misionaris telah berlari cukup jauh dari masa-masa perutusan misioner zaman Bahari hingga saat ini, di mana perutusan kepada mereka yang belum beriman menjadi sasaran utama pertobatan iman akan Kristus.

Paolo Piromalli (1591-1667) came from Siderno in Calabria. He joined the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) in around 1610, and spent the following two decades in Soriano Calabro, Naples, and Rome. In 1631, he was sent by the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide to the mission in Persia and Greater Armenia, for the purpose of bringing the Armenian Orthodox population into union with Rome. As a missionary he was heavily engaged in religious debates with clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church. (...)

- by Dennis Halft OP
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- Armenian Studies, Catholic Missionary History, Armenian History, Armenian Culture

The purpose of the this paper is to highlight key findings from the author's seven year investigation of the archaeology and architectural history of the California mission of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. Findings include the archaeological discovery and recovery of the Neophyte Plaza, Soldiers' Quarters, Sacristy, Narthex, Women's Quarters, and the aqueduct or zanja identified to date by the author at Mission Soledad.

- by Ruben G Mendoza
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- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Architecture, Catholic Missionary History

This paper discusses Aurora College for Women, which was under the management of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Shanghai from 1937 to 1951. It was an American-style university-college like other Sacred Heart colleges in the United States.This paper is crucial to understanding the Chinese Catholic Church in the first half of the twentieth century. It examines the only Catholic university for Chinese women, which has barely been studied. By focusing on Chinese women students, it contributes tremendously to the neglected area of Chinese women (particularly lay women) in the history of the Catholic Church in China before the 1950s. While historians have identified Chinese male elites in the Church, highly educated Chinese women have been ignored in scholarly studies. Thus, this paper is the first of its kind in the study of the Chinese Catholic Church, and attempts to offset the gender bias in the traditional approach to its history.

- by Cindy Yik-yi Chu
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- Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Catholic Missionary History, China
- by Cecilia Cristellon
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- Religion, Comparative Religion, History, European History
- by Massimo Carlo Giannini and +1
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- History, European History, Military History, Intellectual History
- by Idir Ouahes
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- History of Education, Catholic Missionary History, Lebanon, Missionary History

The paper gives an overview of the Catholic Church's missionary efforts to the Aborigines of northern and western Australia up to 1970. It aims to understand the interaction of missions with native culture and the resulting hybrid culture created on the missions. It describes the differing points of view of missionaries and the generations who grew up on the missions. It is argued that the culture created on the missions by the joint efforts of missionaries and local peoples was by and large a positive phase in Australian black history, between the violence of pre-contact times and the dysfunctionality of recent decades. Criticisms of the missions are addressed, such as those arising from their opposition to aspects of native culture and from their involvement in child removals.

Paolo Aranha. ‘Roberto Nobili e Il Dialogo Interreligioso?’ In Roberto De Nobili (1577-1656): Missionario Gesuita Poliziano: Atti Del Convegno Montepuciano 20 Ottobre 2007, edited by Matteo Sanfilippo and Carlo Prezzolini, 137–50.... more

- by Paolo Aranha
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- Religion, History, Theology, Early Modern History

[Mei Oujin 梅欧金]. “Tianzhu shiyi zai Fujian: zai liang ge shijie, liang zhong shijian zhi jian. 天主实义在福建：在两个世界、两种时间之间.” In Lynn Struve (Si Tulin 司徒林), Zhao Shiyu 赵士瑜, and Du Zhengzhen 杜正贞 eds. Shijie shijian yu Dong Ya shijian zhong de Ming Qing bianqian: cong Ming dao Qing shijian de zhongsu 世界时间与东亚时间中的明清变迁-从明到清时间的重塑. Beijing: Sanlian Shudian, 2009, vol. 1, pp. 225-303. [Chinese translation of “Between Two Worlds and Two Times: Teachings of the Lord of Heaven in Fujian.” In Lynn Struve ed., Time, Temporality, and Change of Empires: East Asia from Ming to Qing. Association for Asian Studies-sponsored series Asian Interactions and Comparisons, University of Hawai’i Press, 2005].

- by Eugenio Menegon
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- Catholic Missionary History, Liturgy, Virginity, Calendars

This article demonstrates historically and statistically that conversionary Protestants (CPs) heavily influenced the rise and spread of stable democracy around the world. It argues that CPs were a crucial catalyst initiating the development and spread of religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, and colonial reforms, thereby creating the conditions that made stable democracy more likely. Statistically, the historic prevalence of Protestant missionaries explains about half the variation in democracy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania and removes the impact of most variables that dominate current statistical research about democracy. The association between Protestant missions and democracy is consistent in different continents and subsamples, and it is robust to more than 50 controls and to instrumental variable analyses.

- by Robert D Woodberry
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- Economic History, Economic Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Movements

During the central decades of the XIXth century many catholic religious orders, often with State financial help, sent own members in Africa. The aim was double: to preach christian faith and to spread european civilization. The essay... more

- by Battelli Giuseppe
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- Catholic Missionary History

In 1846 the Vatican assigned responsibility for mission work in Tibet to the Paris-based Missions Étrangères de Paris (MEP). The first MEP missionary visited eastern Tibet in 1847 and established a mission at Bonga (Bang ga) in south eastern Kham in 1854. This paper focuses on the political issues which affected the Tibet mission’s development during the first 20 years of its existence. There are two main themes. The first is the relationship between the mission and the French state: the missionaries expected French diplomats to promote the Catholic cause in both China and Tibet. Their demands raised a second issue: to what extent was the Chinese government in a position to carry out France’s wishes in Tibet, even if it so desired?

- by John Bray
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- Catholic Missionary History, Tibetan History, Kham, Tibet, Eastern Tibet

Españoles - Hispanoamericanos - Filipinos.

This article explores the nature, process and agents of translation in the early modern Philippines. It argues that while translation is often glossed over in the historical records of the Spanish colonial enterprise on the islands, it is, in fact, an underlying procedure through which the linguistic intricacies of the colonial encounter can be explained. The article further contends that given the exigencies of colonization, where the knowledge of languages is often framed within the parameters of religion and polity, the role of colonial translators should be examined in relation to other roles not associated conventionally with their office. It is through such an interrogation that translation is moved from its purported secondariness in the historical discourse into a place of heuristic primacy in narrating the early history of colonialism in the Philippines.

Construction and maintenance activities over the past several decades have exposed a series of possible architectural alignments in an area of Walatowa village (modern Jemez Pueblo) identified in Jemez oral traditions as the location of the “Old Church.” During the summer of 2017, a small team led by Harvard professor Dr. Matt Liebmann and Jemez Pueblo Cultural Resources Manager Chris Toya conducted exploratory excavations with the goal of better understanding these features and their historical context. This field report details the initial results of this work along with early interpretations of the finds and plans for continued collaboration and investigation.

En el Virreinato del Perú existía la arquitectura jesuita que se puede describir como misionera y funcionó en varios ámbitos. Estamos hablando de templos de formas simples que los jesuitas construyeron en lugares donde la nueva fe recién se estaba introduciendo. Dicha arquitectura estaba determinada principalmente por su función, no sufriendo tantas modificaciones regionales, aunque algunos elementos decorativos y algunas variantes de la composición se pueden calificar como soluciones locales. En la ponencia quisiera presentar ambos aspectos mencionados, tanto encontrar los elementos globales de la arquitectura misionera de los jesuitas como destacar su diversidad en las regiones. Me gustaría caracterizar diferentes aspectos como: el mismo proceso de la construcción, la sobrevivencia de la tradición indígena, el uso de las formas y materiales, y también en la variedad de sus decoraciones. En este análisis quisiera centrarme en ejemplos de arquitectura creada por la Compañía de Jesús, en Colombia (Tópaga, Fontibón), Perú (Andahuaylillas y Juli), Bolivia (indios Mojos y Chiquitos), en las famosas misiones guaraníes en la actual Argentina, Paraguay y Brasil, y también en la arquitectura misionera de Chiloé.

- by Ewa Kubiak
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- Architecture, Catholic Missionary History, Colonial America, Jesuits

“More than for the preaching, [the natives] convert for the music”, the first bishop of New Spain famously wrote to Emperor Charles V in 1540. European missionaries were quick to realize that music was a powerful tool for establishing a connection with the natives, and pave the way for their conversion. In this chapter I discuss the interrelation between song, memory, and language in early modern missionary methods. I also reflect on how the growing body of evidence regarding the use of songs in extra-European missions can affect our understanding of parallel phenomena on European soil. In particular, I show how methods involving the use of songs in order to teach the catechism travelled on the triangular route between Europe, the Indies, and what became known as “our Indies” (“le nostre Indie” or “las Indias de por acá”: missionized areas on European soil).

- by Daniele V. Filippi
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- Early Music, Musicology, Catholic Missionary History, Renaissance Studies

The issue of the Catholic presence in the Black Sea (Pontus), mostly through the examination of the missionary activity developed in the 19th century remained a challenge for historical research, as there was little information on secondary sources and published studies. With the systematic study of the rich archival material effort was made to highlight this issue, illuminating the action of the missionary orders who worked in Pontus, but particularly to underline the timeless interest of the Vatican for this region. The systematic missionary activity during the mid-19th century, is connected with the parallel revival of the missionary movement in the West, which gave impetus to the various missionary orders and between them, in that of the Capuchins who was active in Pontus. The missionaries were able to approach the indigenous population, mainly the Armenians, developing an extensive educational, charitable and pastoral work. Apart from this work there have been internal factors in the Ottoman Empire that favored the development of missionary action. Particularly in Asia Minor isolates citizens saw the missionaries as an opportunity for a good education and for improving the standards of their living. Moreover, the reformist air which was blowing in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and the pressures that Great Powers exercised to the Ottoman Empire in order to protect the Christians who lived in the territory radically changed the position of Christians and strengthened the missionary dynamic that had developed. The mission of the Capuchins in Pontus from its establishment in 1845 onwards followed a path of creative expansion and in a short time spread within and along the Black Sea. However the continuous staff shortages, economic recession, the various malpractices, and political events, culminating in the outbreak of the First World War had a negative impact in the presence of the Catholic element in Pontus. The restrictive measures taken during the war, and later from Mustafa Kemal and the Turkish Republic, almost annihilated any hope of a stable and prosperous presence of the Catholics in the Turkish territory. Gradually, the Roman Catholic community and the missionary orders began to decline and shrink, reaching almost to the complete elimination. This study was primarily based on archival material relating to the mission and the general presence of the Catholics to the Black Sea. The bulk of the information comes from the so-called Secret Archives of the Vatican (Archivio Segreto Vaticano), which included among other the files titled Archives of the Delegation of Turkey (Archivio Delegazione Turchia), Secretary of State (Segreteria di Stato) and Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari). Moreover, further research was conducted at the archival collection of the “Congregation for the Evangelization of People (Congregazione per l’ evangelizzazione dei Popoli, Propaganda Fide)”, the Archive of the “Congregation for the Oriental Church (Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali), the General Archives of the Capuchin Order (Archivio generale dell' ordine dei Frati Minori Cappuccini) and the Archives of the Jesuits order (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu).

- by Paul Steffen
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- Catholic Missionary History, History of Missions, Mission Studies, Pastoral Theology

Foundation of the Cuman Catholic Bishopric in 1227 represented the conclusive result of chain reaction consisted of a sequence of historical events that had been initially provoked by the increased conflict within Western Europe between the secular institution of the Holy Roman Empire and the spiritual authority of the Latin Church. The relevant elaboration of ideological basis for the Roman Curia’s political ambitions both strengthened the Holy See’s control over the Catholic Church and contributed to the pontifical claims to immediate subordination addressed to the Eastern Christian communities. In that policy the Holy See’s protectorate provided for the Latin Empire of Constantinople was considered a suitable instrument of political pressure on the Greek Church. However, further weakening of the Catholic empire on the Bosphorus occurred in 1230’s in connection with the aggression of the Bulgarian Tsar, Ivan Asen II, drew the Holy See’s attention to the religious situation in the Balkans, where its main ally and plenipotentiary was the Hungarian king, Andrew II, who acted as an actual executor of the Papal political resolutions. Bilateral cooperation between Hungary and the Holy See was also strengthened by the Andrew II’s loyal implementation of the internal religious reform of the Catholic community considered by the Roman Curia as integral part of the European spiritual revival program. As a consequence, subsequent appearance of the new Dominican preachers in Hungary led to the parallel development of Catholic missionary work among the nomads of Eastern Europe, which resulted in the conversion to Christianity of a substantial part of the Cumans and in the foundation of the new Catholic Bishopric in 1227.

- by Roman Hautala
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- Catholic Missionary History, History of Hungary, Kipchaks - Cumans
- by Dima Hurlbut
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- Religion, Christianity, African Studies, History of Religion

International conference held in Colombo on 22-23 November 2018

- by Wei Jiang and +8
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- Catholic Missionary History, History of Christianity, South Asian History, Missionary History

The missionary organization of the Congregation of the Mission, which is mostly known as the Lazarists, was created by Saint Vincent de Paul in 1625. Later, a women’s branch called the Daughters of Charity was added to the Congregation. The Lazarists started their mission in the Ottoman Empire in 1783. In the beginning, their presence was quite humble, but this changed in the 19th century. The mission in the Ottoman Empire strengthened when the Daughters of Charity joined in 1839. One of the most successful mission of the Lazarists in the Empire was in Syria. The “civil war” of 1860, which mainly took place in the Mount Lebanon and Syria, made a deep impact on the Lazarists mission. Beirut became the center of the Syria mission. Increasing needs, changing demographic structure, and the intervention of the Great Powers to the region offered new opportunities for the Lazarist missions. The priests and the sisters engaged in the most needed fields in Syria and they had such establishments as schools, orphanages, ateliers and hospitals. They could reach the people and give them religious inculcation thanks to these establishments. Thus, they could fulfill their biblical mission of “serve to god”. On the other hand, the Lazarists had a strong French character and they played a significant role in the diffusion of the French culture and language so that they contributed to the increase of the French influence in Syria. Thus, they were also in the “service of France”. In this article, the missions of the Lazarist priests and the Daughter of Charity sisters in Syria, and the contribution of these missions to France’s prestige and influence will be evaluated.
Keywords: Lazarist, Missionary, Catholic, France, Syria
https://tarihci.biz/

- by Tarihci Biz and +1
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- Ottoman History, Catholic Missionary History, Missionary History, Ottoman Empire