Catholic missions

CITATION
Paolo Aranha, "Vulgaris seu Universalis: Early Modern Missionary Representations of an Indian Cosmopolitan Space", in "Cosmopolitismes en Asie du Sud: Sources, itinéraires, langues (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles)", eds. Corinne Lefèvre, Ines G. Županov, Jorge Flores, Collection Puruṣārtha 33 (Paris: Éditions de l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 2015): 331-360.

ABSTRACT
Missionary history has been acknowledged in recent years as a fundamental context for the emergence of European Orientalism. In particular, it is becoming clearer the specific cultural relevance of the Catholic missionaries to India, working under the Portuguese Royal Patronage (Padroado Real),  depending from  the Roman Congregation De Propaganda Fide or relying on the support of the French Crown. This chapter analyzes the efforts of the French Capuchin François-Marie de Tours († 1709), essential both in the explosion of the Malabar Rites controversy and for the emergence of a corpus of linguistic knowledge on Hindustānī. I argue that these two aspects are expression of a single and consistent effort at building up a “cosmopolitan” Indian Christianity, characterized by social fluidity across caste divisions, physical mobility along the subcontinental coastlines and an avowed openness towards European influences. On the contrary, the Jesuit missions in India (in particular the ones of Madurai, Mysore and the Carnatic) appear as characterized by an extensive adaptation of Christianity to the local social hierarchies and articulated in the South Asian regional languages, many of which boasting a tradition more prestigious than the one of Hindustānī. However, this chapter hints also at a hitherto almost unknown specific Jesuit engagement with Hindustānī, developed in the Mughal mission according to a project distinct from the one unsuccessfully proposed by François-Marie de Tours.

Many scholars note the exceptional economic and political performance of Botswana relative to other Sub-Saharan African Countries (e.g., Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson 2003; Lange 2009). Since independence Botswana has had one of the highest average growth rates in the world, plus high rule of law, political rights, and social rights relative to other African countries- despite the fact that the same party has won every election since independence. In addition, Botswana is the leading producer of diamonds in the world (in terms of value), yet has not suffered from the “resource curse” that plagues so many major exporters of mineral resources.
In this article I compare the history and development of Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe (three landlocked, former British colonies, with limited post-colonial ethnic diversity) to try to understand why Botswana has done so much better than other similar countries. These matched cases studies undermining arguments for post-colonial economic and political development based on greater exposure to British colonialism, European settlement, healthy climates, British common law, state capacity and diversified economies. Instead the relative influence of Protestant missions relative to European settlers seems crucial for understanding rule of law, protection of indigenous land rights, and the independence of local rules from outside interference. Although the choices of local elites were also important, Protestant missionaries helped create conditions that enabled better institutions.
I completed these case studies as part of the review process for Robert D. Woodberry. 2012. “The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy” American Political Science Review. Among many other things reviewers asked me to complete case studies of India and China and matched case studies from somewhere else in the world. If picked these cases because I knew they had very different political outcomes, but knew almost nothing about their missionary and colonial history. Thus, I thought they would serve as a good test of my theory about Protestant missions and democracy. However, because I wrote them as part of the review process, this article still has the form of an online appendix to the previous article.

Giorgio Maria Ciaceri was a Jesuit missionary from Sicily who spent about ten years in North Africa during the mid Nineteenth century. From his Jesuit center located near Algiers, he travelled all over Algeria and arrived until Tunis where he spent the last period of his journey. His travelogue, published in 1885–86, is almost unknown to scholarly research and is a very rich source for anthropological, ethnographical, historical, social, religious and linguistic information about the countries and the cultures he visited. The  present article deals with his travelogue and attempts to draw the attention to some aspects of his work and in particular to the linguistic issues that it contains.

Giulio Aleni wrote the biography of Matteo Ricci in Chinese in Fuzhou in 1630, twenty years after the death of the founder of the Jesuit mission in China. Aleni's work is a fundamental document for studying Ricci and Jesuit mission from a Chinese viewpoint. Aleni named 55 Chinese officials and scholars who met Ricci. Aleni informs that Ricci kept a diary containing his spiritual musings, and many other precious information that are not found in other sources. The 1630's edition includes other important documents, such as an after-word by Li Jubiao, a short biography of Ricci by Zhang Weishu, high official Wu Daoan's supplication for a piece of land to bury Ricci, and a tomb inscription in honour of Ricci by Wang Yinglin
要旨 ジュリオ・アレーニは中国でのイエズス会創設者マテオ・リッチの没後20年にあたる 1630年に福州にて中国語で彼の伝記を書いた。アレーニの作品は、中国人の視点からリ ッチとイエズス会宣教師を研究する際の基本的文書となっている。アレーニはリッチ が、精神的な憂慮、他の情報源にはない多数の貴重な情報を含む日記をつけていたこと を伝える。1630年版には、Li Jubiaoによる後記、Zhang Weishuによるリッチの短い伝 記、リッチを埋葬するための土地を請う高官のWu Daoanの嘆願、Wang Yinglinによるリ ッチを敬う墓碑銘といった重要な文書が含まれる。

L’Exposition Missionnaire Vaticane de 1925 fut sans doute la plus grande exposition jamais organisée par l’Église catholique. Pourquoi un tel événement dans un contexte d’après guerre et de sécularisation ? C’est la principale question que pose cet article. Derrière le projet d’exhibition d’objets des pays de mission se dessine une stratégie bien orchestrée que le terme romanita  résume. Ce terme convoque tour à tour les notions d’universalité et de centralité qui vont gouverner l’action de Pie XI vis-à-vis des missions. À travers sa principale visée -la propagande-, l’exposition missionnaire de 1925 se révèle un véritable instrument scientifique et politique d’affirmation de la grandeur de l’Église.

Marinus Hubertus van Megen (1887-1954) vertrok als pater Petrus van Megen naar de Cook-eilanden in de Stille Zuidzee, waar hij tussen 1918-1930 werkte op het eiland Atiu. In 1935 schreef hij een boek over zijn belevenissen: "Mijn eiland in de Stille Zuidzee". Later zou hij ook nog 11 jaar werken op Hawaï.

The Catholic danger’: Anti-Catholicism and Swedish national identity in a Nordic perspective

In Sweden, as in other Protestant countries, the gradual dismantling of the legislation on com-pulsory religious adherence saw the politicization of religious issues. In this situation, the im-agery of the old enemy took on new functions. This was very much the case with the notion of the ‘Catholic danger’, which time and again surfaced in the Swedish media and in parlia-mentary debate. In the 1860s and 1870s, Sweden’s harsh religious legislation was liberalized. The Dissenter Act of 1860 legalized conversions to other Christian denominations, but it put in place many obstacles to leaving the Established Church, and many of the legal restrictions were obviously anti-Catholic in intent. Anti-Catholic sentiment was also expressed in con-junction with the legislative proposals and parliamentary debates on the question of religious freedom that preceded the Act concerning Freedom of Religion of 1951. The fact that full re-ligious freedom was introduced so late stemmed largely from fears that the Catholic Church would grow strong under the protection of a more liberal religious legislation. The article ad-dresses anti-Catholic rhetoric in Sweden from the mid nineteenth century to the early 1960s, with a focus on the debates in the media and in parliament. It is shown that there was a shift in the perception of the ‘Catholic danger’. At the beginning of the period, anti-Catholicism was prompted by a desire to shield Protestant religious unity; later the objective became progressively more secular. Even if the Lutheran heritage still played an important role for Swedish cultural identity, common values were no longer motivated by religion, but purely by politics and ideology. Today it is Islam that is portrayed as a threat to the Nordic community of values, and the current anti-Islamic rhetoric is closely allied to that used until the 1960s against Catholicism.

Au début du mandat français en Syrie et au Liban, le Saint-Siège renouvelle ses objectifs et ses moyens d’action dans la région. J’ai étudié ce mouvement à travers les lettres adressées à Rome par Mgr Frediano Giannini, vicaire apostolique d’Alep et délégué apostolique en Syrie de 1905 à 1936. Les rapports de Giannini constituent un bon exemple de la manière dont les missionnaires participent à la production de connaissances sur les communautés chrétiennes orientales. En rendant compte des épreuves et des migrations qui leur sont imposées, Giannini participe au développement d’une nouvelle perception de ces communautés, vues comme des minorités persécutées. Giannini sollicite les autorités françaises pour défendre les intérêts des chrétiens (à la fois les catholiques et les orthodoxes). Sa position est ambiguë : alors qu’il exprime sa nostalgie au sujet du fonctionnement traditionnel du protectorat français, Giannini s’implique lui-même dans le domaine politique (en particulier au moment de l’élaboration de constitutions pour le Liban puis la Syrie) et prend en charge une partie de l’ancien rôle des Français qu’il interprète comme une mise sous tutelle des communautés orientales. Cette ambivalence révèle l’émergence d’une nouvelle politique pontificale, fondée sur un double mouvement d’autonomisation et de centralisation.

At the beginning of the French mandate in Syria and Lebanon, the Holy See developed new aims and means of action. We have studied them through the letters written to Rome by Arch. Frediano Giannini, Vicar Apostolic of Aleppo and Apostolic Delegate to Syria from 1905 to 1936. Giannini’s reports provide a good example of the way missionaries produce knowledge about Eastern Christian communities. He tells about the trials and migrations endured by them, thus taking part in the development of a new perception of Christian communities as persecuted minorities. Giannini turns to French authorities in order to defend Christians’ interests (both Catholics’ and Orthodox’). His position is ambiguous: he feels nostalgic about the traditional French protectorate, and in the same time involves himself in political matters, taking on part of the French former role. This ambivalence reveals the rise of a new pontifical policy, based on increasing autonomy and centralization.

Sommaire :
Giannini et l’expérience fondamentale des violences intercommunautaires: les chrétiens menacés au Moyen-Orient
Giannini critique de la politique mandataire: l’absurdité d’une «politique musulmane»
Giannini prend en charge la défense des chrétiens aux dépens des patriarches
Giannini, Rome et les chrétiens du Proche-Orient: perceptions croisées

... I want to divert briefly to Cairo. There is a scene in Tahani Rashid's excep-tional documentary “El Banat Dol” (Those Girls) where a little girl whispers through her tears: “People are not all the same. ... The girls have names: Touta, Maryam, Reda, Abeer, Donya and Iman. ...

Two Unpublished Reports of Marino Bizzi Archbishop of Antivari on Serbia and Albania (1622). After its foundation (1622) the Congregation of Propaganda Fide assessed the situation in the mission territories immediately, and for this reason they asked not only the papal legates but also the bishops and priests working in missions to provide them with information. These reports are really exciting mainly because apart from the apostolic visitations they had a great impact on the decisions of the Congregation in establishing the mission institutions. The study publishes and analyses two so far unknown reports from 1622 prepared by Marino Bizzi, one of the most significant figures of the high priest generation of the Balkan missions prior to 1622. First, using some new sources as well the author describes the archbishop’s activity, the valuable experience of his visitation, his relationship with the Roman Inquisition, then, an analysis of both reports follows. The analysis clearly shows that Bizzi represented mainly the old mission concept which believed in the conversion of Orthodox Christians. An essential difference can be noted between the reactions of the two Roman high authorities, the Congregation of the Council, and the Congregation of Propaganda Fide: whereas the former encouraged him, the latter saw to his resignation and the nomination of an efficient successor.

Martin Griver’s life provides an intimate glimpse into major events of the nineteenth century – revolution, faith, emigration and colonial expansion. Born in 1814, Griver grew up in the agricultural region of Granollers in the Spanish province of Catalonia. Throughout his youth in the 1820s and 1830s as political instability and anticlericalism engulfed Spain, Griver remained resolute in his vocation for the priesthood. In Barcelona throughout the early 1840s he studied medicine as the profession was rapidly developing from advances in scientific knowledge.

As a newly-ordained priest, Griver travelled to Western Australia in 1849 to become a missionary. The life of a Catholic minister in the colony included travelling the outback administering spiritual and charitable assistance to scattered and isolated Catholic communities. Father Griver wrote detailed reports of significant events during the expansion of the colony as well as the lives of ordinary settlers and the Aboriginal people.

In 1862 Griver was placed in charge of the Catholic community and developed a collaborative leadership style, endeavouring to engage the Anglican-dominated civil officialdom with the ministry and social welfare of Roman Catholicism. For the majority of the nineteenth century, under Griver’s government of the diocese, there was minimal sectarian tension between Catholics and the Protestant denominations in the west. Having demonstrated competence as a leader, Rome appointed him apostolic administrator and subsequently bishop of the Diocese of Perth.

Largely removed from the Irish clerical machinations of the eastern colonies, under Griver’s leadership the pastoral focus of the diocese remained practical and dedicated to providing the congregation with churches, schools and priests. With Griver’s guidance the clergy and religious also maintained a social welfare outreach to the Aboriginal people and a passion for the needs of the poor and the treatment of convicts. The administration of Perth’s second bishop had a spiritual and secular influence on the social, political and religious landscape of Western Australia.

Odhran O’Brien, drawing on the methods of the eminent biographer Professor Richard Holmes, has travelled across Australia and around the globe, accessing historical archives and visiting significant places in his subject’s life to illuminate the story of Perth’s second Catholic bishop. This work reveals Griver’s deep spiritual faith and marked impact on the landscape of a fledgling colony and mission.

The article moots the problem of the reciprocal relations between unity and cultural diversity in the European Union and its implications in the light of the Catholic Church's doctrine. The so-called European values are perceived as a pillar of EU's unity, but their relative character implies, that the EU's identity can be endangered by the emerging cultural diversity. Since the European culture consists of many national and regional cultures, it is of paramount importance to manage the interactions between them, particularly because of the increasing multiculturalism of the European societies. The principle "united in diversity" was defined and implemented in the Catholic Church, especially in its missionary work, where the processes of inculturation are prevalent. The Catholic Church's vision of the principle allows to harmonize the unity and cultural pluralism on the base of fundamental values, which are simultaneously the roots of the European culture. "The spiritual Europe", as a concept presented by the Pope John Paul II and Robert Schuman, is aiming at reconciling the cultural homogeneity based on the common identity and the openness to other cultures, without eliminating their characteristic features and making a point of departure for successful intercultural dialogue.

University of Kent's Centre for Parenting Culture Studies Conference Parenting and personhood: Cross-cultural perspectives on family-life, expertise, and risk management
2016
Conference Topic: Interfaces of parenting cultures and civil society

This paper discusses the teaching of moral values in American Catholic-run missions in East Africa through an evaluation of one Kenyan children’s home for orphaned and vulnerable girls.  By exploring its pastoral culture and educational programme, the paper discusses how moral values inform the curriculum, social norms, behavioural expectations, and 'moral contracts' within the home. 

The findings describe how conflicting moral values of caregivers create tensions over approaches to moral education, despite a shared aspiration for the home to be a model of Christian living.  The findings reveal that Kenyan caregivers’ concerns about the challenges of raising girls in divergent value systems persist.  Kenyan and American caregivers espoused stereotypical views of ‘other’ cultures and expressed resentment.   Further, the way American missionaries perceived Kenyan girls isolates the girls from their cultural heritage and constitutes an injustice.  Two main issues are highlighted: how American missionaries’ own cultural perspectives affected the girls’ education; and whether and how a residential institution can ever really serve the needs of the girls for whom it exists against a backdrop of amalgamated cultural and religious perspectives.  With the ubiquity of Western NGO and government activity in African social services and increased US government funding of faith-based initiatives abroad, it is necessary to understand how children’s values and cultural identities are formulated in missionary settings.  

This paper implements the Capabilities Approach (Nussbaum) to review fieldwork (Gallo) with an understanding and application of affiliation (Sen) and glocalization (Bauman).  This work bridges previous fieldwork to my current doctoral studies by exploring how the findings can facilitate a new values debate.  This paper evaluates how neglecting the cultural needs of East African girls in American Catholic missionary environments can mitigate against their development in residential settings and receipt of a ‘good education’.

In the aftermath of the Kulturkampf, involvement in the German colonial project provided an opportunity for German Catholics to demonstrate their patriotism. In particular, German Catholic missions sought to carve out a role for themselves in the education of African youngsters not just in the new overseas territories in Africa, but also in Germany itself. Prior to the First World War, a handful of youngsters, primarily from Cameroon, were thus educated by the Pallottine Mission at Limburg an der Lahn and by the Benedictine Mission at St Ottilien, near Munich. This article looks at the ways in which these African students were soon used both publicly and privately to promote Catholic missionary work at home in order to secure support from amongst the Catholic elite of Europe, both financial and political, for ventures abroad. This allows for an analysis of domestic missionary promotional practices as well as of evolving representations of colonial Africans during the Imperial period. The article considers public religious ceremonies (primarily baptisms), mission newspaper reports and fundraising tours in order to demonstrate that these African youngsters came to personify an image of the civilized African, who was devout, intellectually capable and hard-working; an image which offered a counterpoint to the more prevalent negative representations of blacks.

In this review, I recommend Curtis' monography on French Catholic women missionaries in the age of imperialism, an elegant and eminently readable combination of microhistory and global history, as a model for a new, actor-centered kind of global history.