MISSION FROM COLUMBUS TO THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL 14921989

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MISSION FROM COLUMBUS TO THE FALL OF THE BERLIN
WALL (1492-1989)

• Prophets, Jesuits, Missionary Societies, and New
  Approaches

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MISSION IN THE AGE OF DISCOVERY (1492-1773)
CONQUISTADORS, PROPHETS, AND JESUITS

• Spain and Portugal opened new trade routes to the
  Americas. Dispute over control of lands.
• Pope drew dividing line from north to south
  placing Brazil, Africa, and Asia under Portugal
  control the rest of the Americas and the
  Philippines under Spanish control.
• Pope created a patronage agreement that gave the
  two royal governments the rights and
  responsibilities for mission.
• Back home Spain and Portugal succeeded in
  removing the foothold of Muslim control.
• There was the creation of a massive
  trans-Atlantic slave trade.

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BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS PROPHET IN THE AMERICAS

• Spaniards moved to the Americas and conquered
  Aztecs, Mayans, and Incan empires.
• Spaniards established a plantation system
  (encomienda) whereby the settler had the
  responsibility for teaching the faith to the
  indigenous people under their control as
  indentured laborers.
• Father Antonio Montecinos a Dominican missionary
  spoke out against terrible treatment of the
  Indigenous. Bartolomé de las Casas experienced a
  deep conversion when he heard about the prophetic
  stance of the Dominicans.
• He ceased being a plantation owner, joined the
  Dominican order, and asserted that the indigenous
  were fully human beings.
• He influenced Pope Paul III to write a statement
  on the fundamental human dignity of the Indians
  and King Charles V to write new laws to eliminate
  major abuses.
• Bartolomé de Las Casas became bishop in the area
  of Chiapas in Southern Mexico.

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FRANCIS XAVIER MISSIONARY TO ASIA

• Portugal lacked finances for expansion in Asia.
  China and Japan were able to resist extensive
  foreign intrusion.
• Missionaries in Asia were not absorbed in
  sweeping conquest.
• The Jesuits were initially the main missionaries
  to go to Asia. Their positive attitude toward
  human nature and non-Western cultures led to
  creative approaches to mission.
• Francis Xaviers passion for mission carried him
  by land and sea over ten thousand miles in ten
  years.
• Xavier began his missionary work in India and
  extended it to Malaysia and Japan.
• Xavier realized that God was somehow already
  present in the Japanese people. He accommodated
  the gospel to the culture.
• Because Xavier was respectful of their culture,
  Japanese converts participated very soon in
  mission work among their own people.

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MISSION IN THE AGE OF PROGRESS (1792-1914)
CIVILIZERS, EVANGELIZERS, AND VOLUNTEER SOCIETIES

• After 1773 the state of mission in the Catholic
  Church was dismal. France became the leading
  Catholic nation.
• The French Revolution put a stranglehold on the
  French church. Religious Orders were suppressed.
• Protestantism became the dominant player in
  mission during this period.
• Colonialism expanded to Africa Christianity,
  commerce, and civilization.

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SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER AFRICAN MISSIONARY TO
AFRICANS

• Crowther was captured in Nigeria and brought to
  the Americas as a slave, but rescued from the
  slave ship and taken to Freetown in 1822.
• He became a teacher and an Anglican priest. He
  introduced the use of the local language Yoruba
  and took the lead in translating the bible.
• He became a voice against slavery and developed a
  good working relationship with the Muslims.
• When Africa was divided by Europe, new
  missionaries came and did not support Crowther.
  They eventually pushed him aside and replaced him
  with a European bishop.

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DANIEL COMBONI REGENERATION OF AFRICA BY AFRICANS

• Daniel Camboni went to the Sudan as a missionary
  through the Mazza Institute in Verona.
• In 1864 he drew up a Plan for the Regeneration
  of Africa which included establishing centers in
  Africa for training both Europeans and Africans
  for mission work.
• The institute Comboni founded to carry out this
  vision led to the foundation of two missionary
  congregations of men and women.
• Comboni worked tirelessly to promote his plan for
  Europeans and Africans to do mission together.
  He defended the human dignity and ability of
  Africans especially when imperialism and racism
  became strong.
• Comboni was named a bishop and vicar apostolic of
  Central Africa en 1877.

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MISSION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (1919-1989) THE
EMERGENCE OF WORLD CHRISTIANITY

• By 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall,
  Christianity had become a world phenomenon the
  majority of Christians lived in Africa, Latin
  America, and Asia.
• The Catholic Church accounted for half of the
  worlds Christians, but Christianitys
  geographical location had shifted from North to
  South.
• Both Catholicism and Christianity were being
  shaped by non-Western Christians numbers, vital
  faith, ethical values, worship styles, global
  social justice, etc.
• Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day are icons of this
  age. They incarnated Gods mission of love.
• Mother Teresa focused on responding to the people
  in front of her by loving one person who is
  considered unlovable.
• Dorothy Day focused on both underlying social
  issues and attending to immediate needs through
  the houses of hospitality.

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• What person, movement, or image is inspiriting
  and enriching for your personal understanding of
  mission?
• What did you find more surprising and/or most
  challenging in this chapter?