The Sacred Congregation for the EvanJielization of Peoples or the Propagation of the Faith: The Mission Center of the Catholic Church in Rome

Josef Metzler, O.Ml

he Congregation "Propaganda Fide"-known since Vat­ of the Pontifical Mission Societies, four superiors general of mis­ T ican Council II as the Sacred Congregation for the Evan­ sion-sending orders. In addition there are about thirty senior of­ gelization of Peoples or the Propagation of the Faith-was ficials (minutanti, archivists, stenographers, and other clerks) for founded by Pope Gregory XV on January 6, 1622, though its the management of the daily business of the Congregation. The charter is dated June 22, 1622. Already in the second half of the Congregation also has a section for the administration of the prop­ sixteenth century and at the turn of the century, the popes at­ erties still controlled by it (most of its properties were confiscated tempted to name a commission of cardinals to direct the world­ by the state in 1870) from the gifts and donations of past centuries, wide missionary activity of the Catholic Church, but their efforts which wealthy families and popes had given for the support of the foundered against the opposition of the colonial powers. The new missions. Congregation was given three tasks to accomplish: the propagation For the examination of special questions and the preparation of the faith, the preservation of the faith (that is to say, the or­ of position papers, the Congregation has at its disposition a staff ganization and provision of pastoral care for the Catholic families of about forty consultors. From these and its own specialists, the of the diaspora), and finally, dialogue with other Christian Congregation has formed four commissions, namely, the Theolog­ churches for the purpose of reestablishing Christian unity. Today ical Commission, the Pastoral Commission, the Catechist Commis­ these latter two functions are the responsibility of two other curial sion, and the Legal Commission, which can be called to assemble dicasteries and the Bishops' Conferences. at any time for the examination and study of mission problems. According to the documents of 1622, the following mission In 1626 the Congregation set up its own Polyglot Press to program was set up for the new Congregation: the separation of print and distribute books in as many native languages as possible. missionary work from colonial politics; the exclusion of every Ingoli, the first secretary of the Congregation, had surprisingly form of interference by the temporal powers in missionary con­ modern ideas about the apostolate of the press. The contribution cerns; the sending out of well-qualified and trained missionaries; this press has made to the development of languages and cultures the formation of indigenous priests; the consecration of native can hardly be overestimated. bishops; adaptation to the customs and practices of the peoples. With regard to the latter point, the Sacred Congregation in an In­ struction written in 1659 to its apostolic vicars, said: "Beware of forcing the people to change their way of life, their customs and traditions as long as these are not in open contradiction to religion Announcing and good morals. Is there anything more foolish than to transplant The joint annual meeting of the Eastern Fellowship of Profes­ France, Spain, Italy or any other European country [i.e., its customs sors of Missions and the Eastern Section of the American Soci­ and practices] to China! That is not what you should bring them, ety of Missiology will be November 6 and 7, 1981-the place but the Faith which neither despises nor rejects the life style of and theme to be announced. Please save the dates. For further any people or their customs as long as they are not evil in them­ information regarding membership and the meeting, contact: selves but rather desires their preservation and promotion." It was Dr. Norman A. Horner, Secretary, P.O. Box 2057, Ventnor, NJ not the Congregation's fault that, in spite of these clear directives, 08406. the disastrous "Chinese Rites Controversy" developed. The history of the founding of the Congregation and of its ac­ tivities in the 350 years of its existence was recently published by Herder of Freiburg in three volumes (five half-volumes) under the title Sacrae CongregaHonis de Propaganda Fide Memoria Rerum: 350 Years in the Service of the Missions 1622-1972. It is the work of sixty-five In 1627, at the suggestion of the Congregation, Pope Urban authors from all parts of the world. VIII founded a college (Collegio Urbano) and a university (Ponti­ Vatican Council II defined or described the tasks of the Con­ ficia Universitas Urbaniana) for the formation of native priests. gregation as follows: "to direct and coordinate missionary work Today the latter has Faculties of Theology and Philosophy, a Mis­ and missionary cooperation throughout the world." sion Science Institute with a Department of Jurisprudence and one The present staff of the Congregation is composed of the pre­ of Mission Science, an Institute of Atheism, a Newman Center, and a Linguistics Department. Recently Cardinal Rossi and Arch­ fect, Cardinal Agnelo Rossi (since 1970); the secretary, Archbishop bishop Lourdusamy established an Institute for Catechists and an D. Simon Lourdusamy (assistant secretary in 1971 and secretary Institute for Sisters, which specialize in the training of native cate­ since 1973); members: some forty cardinals, seventeen bishops (among them twelve missionary bishops), four national directors chists and native Sisters, and a Center for Missionary Animation. The Mission Archives of the Congregation (Archivio Storico della Sacra Congregazione per l'Evangelizzazione dei Popoli, Vat­ ican City), with their rich collection of missionary, cultural, lin­ Josef Metzler, O.Ml is archivist at the Historical Archives of the Sacred Congregation guistic, and similar documents, are open to researchers and for theEoangelization of Peoples in Vatican City. students. On January 2, 1979 Cardinal Rossi and Archbishop Lour­

July,1981 127 dusamy opened the archival materials up to the year 1903. Also Pontifical Mission Societies open to researchers and students is the Mission Library containing more than 100,000 volumes and 630 current missiological journals. From the very beginning, the Congregation for the Propagation of The library is now in its new building within the campus of the the Faith has also had the responsibility of providing material sup­ Urban University. port for the missions and missionaries. In the course of centuries Since 1927 the Congregation has had its own Information Ser­ popes, cardinals, and many laypeople established foundations, vice, Agenzia Internazionale Fides, which publishes a bulletin twice a made donations, and gave other gifts to provide this necessary ma­ week in Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German. terial support. Besides, from the very start, the Congregation has Because of the international character of its activities, the constantly urged the faithful to pray and give money sacrificially Congregation has always placed great value on the international for the support of the missions. Already in 1622 thought had been composition of its staff. Today it is the most internationalized of given to the establishment of a World Mission Sunday for this all the curial dicasteries. Working in the Mission Secretariat are the purpose, but the time was not yet ripe for such a proposal. It was prefect, a Brazilian; the secretary, an Indian; the minutantes, from only in 1926 that the great Pope of the Missions, Pius XI, intro­ Italy, Spain, France, Holland, America, Africa, Vietnam, and Yu­ duced a World Mission Sunday at the request of the supreme di­ goslavia; the archivist and the librarian, each a German; Sister sec­ rection of the Pontifical Mission Societies. retaries and stenographers, from the Philippines, Germany, France, In spite of all foundations, donations, and gifts, the Congre­ India, and Italy. gation has always felt a financial pinch. More than once the num­ As of August I, 1980 the following were subject to the direc­ ber of missionaries ready to go to the missions had to be reduced tion and care of the Congregation: 870 ecclesiastical circumscrip­ because of a lack of funds to cover their travel costs and liveli­ tions, consisting of 130 archdioceses, 612 dioceses, 3 abbeys hood. The situation improved when, in 1822, through several ini­ nullius, 63 apostolic vicariates, 60 apostolic prefectures, 1 mission tiatives the Society for the Propagation of the Faith was founded sui juris, and 1 apostolic administracy. in Lyons. Its members pray and give sacrificially for the missions. Similar projects were later established in Germany (in 1839 the The Ecclesiastical Circumscriptions Ludwig-Missionsverein in Bavaria, and in 1841-42 the Franziskus­ Xaverius-Missionsverein in Aachen), in Austria (in 1828 the Leo­ At present the missions under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Con­ poldinenstiftung) as well as in other European countries. These gregation for the Evangelization of Peoples are 870 (6 more than mission aid projects were founded for the support of all the mis­ in 1979), existing in all five continents, as shown in the following sions, while others were established for specific purposes: Mission statistics, as 'of August 1, 1980. Work for Children, founded in 1842 for the support of children in Continent AD D AN AV AP M AA Totals mission lands by the children of Europe; St. Peter's Mission Aid Society for the formation of native priests, founded in 1894-95; Africa 50 282 1 10 11 - 1 355 America 6 22 - 41 11 -- 80 and the Missionary Onion (of the clergy and religious) founded in Asia 63 273 1 11 38 1 - 387 1916. Europe 4 7 1 - --- 12 To ensure better coordination of these mission aid projects, Oceania 7 28 - 1 --- 36 and because the peoples of the so-called Third World preferred to receive material assistance from the Holy Father rather than from Totals 130 612 3 63 60 1 1 870 the colonial powers whose influence and hegemony were coming to an end, Pius XI in 1922 transferred these mission aid projects Of these 870 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 159 are located in re­ (with the exception of Mission Aid for Children) to Rome and gions that today are called "Churches of Silence"; the following grouped them together under the title of Pontifical Mission Soci­ are the data: eties, that is to say, he made them the official mission aid projects of the pope. Twice a year the national directors come together in Country AD D AN AV AP M AA Totals Rome to determine the ordinary and the extraordinary distribution Albania 2 3 1 - - -- 6 of funds. China 20 92 - - 29 - - 141 Vatican Council II has solemnly confirmed the Pontifical Mis­ Khmere - -- 1 2 - - 3 sion Societies and has attributed to them a very great significance North Korea - 2 1 -- - - 3 for a missionary collaboration of all the faithful in the Catholic Laos -- - 4 --- 4 Church. Mongolia -- -- - 1 - 1 The aims to which the Pontifical Mission Societies aspire can Sakhalin - - - - 1 - - 1 be summarized as follows: missionary conscientization, promotion (Karafuto) of missionary vocations, promotion of missionary spirituality Totals 22 97 2 5 32 1 - 159 among the people of God, promotion of the apostolate of the press, and preparation of financial support for the missions. Abbreviations: AA = Apostolic Administracies; AD = Archdio­ ceses; AN = Abbeys Nullius; AP = Apostolic Prefectures; AV = Apostolic Vicariates; D = Dioceses; M = Mission sui juris.

128 International Bulletin of Missionary Research , 'Religious pluralism, if we understand its theological implications, is a challenge to Christian self-righteousness. It confronts us with the unavoidable problem of how to -_·st's confess Christ's lordship in a religiously plural world. The list of contributors represents rich theological orientations. lordship The reader is invited to consider diverse, well thought out views. I welcome the publication and strongly recommend it as a and stimulating theological book written for both lay people and theological students.' , Kosuke Koyama, Be· ous Union Theological Seminary, N. 1': , 'It will be difficult to fmd a more relevant problem for the missiological discussion PluraDsm today than 'Christ's Lordship and Religious Edited by Gerald H. Anderson Pluralism.' It is not only the traditional and Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. problem of Christian missionary outreach Something is significantly new, not among people of other religious only about the reality and extent of persuasions. It is the reality of those people religious pluralism in today's world, coming to live now in so called 'Western ~ but also about the different ways by which Christians experience, inter­ Christian nations.' Religious pluralism is pret, and accept that fact. becoming a fact of life _for all Christians. In Christ's Lordship and Religious Clarity in our witness to Jesus Christ in Pluralism, distinguished contributors daily normal human relations is becoming from Evangelical, main-line Protes­ the issue and the responsibility of every tant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christian. This is not a missiological debate traditions, including John Carman, Donald Dawe, Krister Stendahl, S. J. for experts; this is an attempt to clarify our Samartha, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, style of Christian living among neighbors J. Deotis Roberts, Robert Schreiter, of all persuasions. Fundamental reading Arthur Glasser, Orlando Costas, and for all concerned with pastoral care of the Waldron Scott engage in open and Christian community.' , candid discussion about how God Emilio Castro, World Council of works both within and beyond explicit Churches, Geneva. Christian communities. , 'This book is itself a very informative mirror of theological pluralism. It shows in quality paperback $8.95 a provocative way how far Christian theology can go today in interpreting a problem which is relevant not only for At bookstores, or from the publisher people of other faiths-two-thirds of humanity-but also for our own Christian ORBIS BOOKS Maryknoll, NY 10545 self-understanding.' , Walbert Buhlmann, author of The Write for latest catalog Coming of the Third Church