A Mosaic of the SVD China Mission based on Missionary Memoirs
A Mosaic of the SVD China Mission based on Missionary Memoirs

Summary/Abstract: The article is based on the memoirs whose authors are the Divine Word missionaries in China: Fr. George Stenz, Fr. Bruno Hagspiel, Fr. Clifford King, Fr. Johann Bromkamp, Fr. Joseph Henkels. Their texts contain personal experience of missionary work and the description of the socio-cultural missionary activity in the Middle Kingdom. Referring to the diaries, the author presents four issues: 1) the historical context of the Divine Word mission in China; 2) missionary life; 3) missionary work, and 4) meeting with the Chinese. The historical context takes into account Boxer Rebellion, the transformation of the political system (the transition from Empire to the Republic), and the division of the state as a result of civil wars. In spite of the dissolution of the Communist Party (1927), communism strengthened its position during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1941). The vicissitudes of the establishing and development of the mission were closely related to the political situation. The dominant elements are here: a general confusion, uncertainty, social and natural disasters. From the diaries we learn about the most difficult aspects of the missionary life: learning a foreign language, loneliness, traveling with an exposure to a meeting with the gangs of robbers. Missionary work was multitasking: pastoral care, catechesis, charity work and construction. An important element was the formation of catechists. They played an important role of intermediaries between the missionary and the local community. From the writings of missionaries it occurs that a particular impact on the stabilisation of living in a country, engulfed in ideological and economic chaos, had the educational system. In this regard, a number of initiatives were implemented on the basis of foreign funds. A separate chapter is the meeting of a missionary with the implacable China’s reality: the barriers and cultural stereotypes, hostile attitude underpinned by the Chinese communist ideology, the treating of the missionaries as the emissaries of Western imperialism. By taking these challenges, the missionaries have contributed to a better understanding of the Chinese history, culture, religion, and mentality. They adapted the Chinese way of life, trying to remedy the current social problems: infanticide, polygamy, injustice, illiteracy, natural disasters, and poverty. They also sought friendly relations with the Mandarins and the local authorities. Generally, the missionaries’ diaries are a valuable historical source.

• Details
• Contents