{
  "bookName": "HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS",
  "authorName": "BERNARD DE VAULX",
  "publisherName": "HAWTHORN BOOKS PUBLISHERS",
  "publicationYear": 2026,
  "chapterNumber": 7,
  "chapterName": "Before the Establishment of the Congregation of Propaganda",
  "pageFrom": 65,
  "pageTo": 83,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 65,
      "ocrText": "CHAPTER VII\nBEFORE THE\nESTABLISHMENT OF THE\nCONGREGATION OF\nPROPAGANDA\nTHE PARTITION OF THE NEW COUNTRIES\nAND THE INSTITUTION OF THE PATRONATO\nAt the end of the fifteenth century, the discovery of America\nand the East Indies proved that the Scholastic Doctors of the\nMiddle Ages, Alexander of Hales, St Thomas Aquinas and\nSt Albert the Great, had spoken rashly when they declared\nthere was no place in the world in which echoes of the Gospel,\nif not the preaching of missionaries, had not been heard. It\nwas not merely a few savages lost in the heart of the forest\nwho were ignorant of Revelation but a great number of\nnations scattered over immense areas.\nThe Bulls of Alexander VI divided these among the States\nwho had discovered them, that is, Spain and Portugal. The\nBull of 1493 placed the dividing line 100 miles west of the\nAzores and gave Spain all the territories to the west of it and\nPortugal all those to the east. In the following year, the Treaty\nof Tordesillas moved this line 370 miles further west so as to\ngive Brazil, discovered by Cabral, to Portugal. This division\nwas not contested in the West. In the East, on the contrary,",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 66,
      "ocrText": "66 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nwhile Lisbon claimed the right to draw the line from the\nwestern end of Japan as far as New Guinea, Spain moved it\na considerable distance to the west so as to include in her share\nthe Philippines, Indo-China and almost all the Sunda islands.\nSerious conflicts between missionaries from these two countries\narose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a result of\nthis disagreement.\nThe Spanish and Portuguese monarchies were given these\nterritories on condition that they spread the Faith in them, sent\nout missionaries and built churches. They undertook this\nspiritual mission with undeniable fervour, but it earned them\nspecial powers and privileges which were defined in the Bull\nUniversali Ecclesiae (1598). These were known as the\nPatronato, Padroado in Lisbon, Padrao in Madrid. In prac-\ntice, the pope made over to the kings the government of and\nthe responsibility for the Church in the Indies. When the Holy\nSee later claimed its inalienable right to direct the apostolate\nad infideles, difficulties arose, as we shall see.\nTHE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE MISSIONS IN\nAMERICA, THE PHILIPPINES AND THE CONGO\nThe Spaniards first landed in the West Indies and the mis-\nsionaries came immediately after the discoverers. After a few\nfruitless efforts on the part of the Franciscans at Haiti and\nSt Domingo, a new Franciscan party, seventeen in all, arrived\nin 1502. In 1505, the Franciscan mission to the West Indies\nwas raised to the status of a province.\nThe Dominicans sent their first mission in 1510. From 1511\nonwards, the hierarchy was established in the West Indies and\nnumbered three sees. The bishop of St Domingo was a Fran-\nciscan, the bishop of Concepcion de la Vega, a Dominican,\nand shortly after a secular was appointed to Puerto Rico. In\n1513, a Franciscan was appointed to Panama and was the first\nbishop on the mainland. The moving spirit behind this magni-\nficent beginning was Ximenes de Cisneros (1436-1517).",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 67,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 67\nSuch speedy work shows that Spain intended to combine\nspiritual with military conquest. Once Mexico had been con-\nquered (1521), Cortes asked Charles V for sufficient men to\nbegin a rapid and well-organized apostolate. In 1523, the first\ngroup of Franciscans landed under Peter of Ghent. This\nillegitimate son of a Habsburg, at a time when a fine future\nawaited those with the bar sinister, preferred the Lady Poverty\nto honours, imitated the holy founder of his Order by refusing\nthe priesthood and devoted himself entirely to the conversion\nof the Indians. In 1524, the famous mission of the \"Twelve\nApostles\" arrived. They were Franciscans. The first Domini-\ncans landed in 1526 and the Augustinians in 1533. These three\nOrders were to be responsible for almost all of the work of\nevangelizing Mexico until the Jesuits landed in 1572.\nThe first Franciscan missions were to achieve distinction\nthrough one of their friars, Bernard de Sahagun, who was both\nan apostle and a man of learning. With the aid of a group of\nnative scholars whose language he had learned and to whom\nhe had taught his own as well as Latin, he conducted a monu-\nmental inquiry into the religions, customs, laws, fauna and\nflora of Mexico, on lines exactly similar to those of modern\nethnology. It was published after his death with the title\nHistoria general de las cosas de Nueve España. The mission-\naries did not wait for its publication but agreed to adopt the\nsystem of \"the clean sweep\", that is, they did not try to dis-\ncover whether the religion of the natives might contain elements\nof truth. So lively was their horror of the human sacrifices\npractised in this religion that they insisted on their converts\nabandoning it entirely. In any case, Sahagun's work had led\nhim to the same conclusions by the time he had completed it,\nand the reason why he had devoted so much care in bringing\nit to completion was that he might instruct his brethren and\nput them on their guard against any attempt at syncretism.\nAll said and done, these pioneers were a mere handful\nscattered over an immense area. Yet they made numerous\nconverts, using methods that may seem obvious enough today,",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 68,
      "ocrText": "68 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nbut the credit of initiating them at the time must go to the\npioneers alone. They turned their attention first to the children\nso as to make apostles of them, small centres of shining faith\nand purity who were to radiate the light in their own homes.\nWe know from Toribio de Motolinia's Historia de los Indios\nde la Nueva España that some of them even suffered martyr-\ndom for their witness to their faith.\nIn the main, however, the natives of Mexico, apart from a\nfew members of the old aristocracy, accepted the Spanish\nconquerors so passively that the missionaries interpreted what\nwas doubtless merely a mask adopted from fear, distrust or\neven hostility, as a fundamental lack of maturity from both\nthe political and spiritual standpoints. Some of the missionaries\neventually wondered whether they were not in fact dealing\nwith beings without the gift of reason.\nIt was common practice to administer only the sacraments of\nbaptism, penance and matrimony. The missionaries also\nadmitted a fairly large number of their converts to confirmation\nbut were more cautious regarding extreme unction. Doubts\narose, and these at times caused acute distress of mind, as to\nthe Eucharist and the priesthood. There was no general rule\nfor the first which was administered rarely in some places and\nmore frequently in others. In regard to Orders, Indians were\nnot allowed to receive them. This prohibition did not come into\nforce at once, but only after a very interesting experiment had\nbeen tried.\nThe Franciscans, supported by the viceroy, D. Antonio de\nMondoza, attempted from the beginning to recruit a native\nclergy. At the suggestion of Juan de Zumarraga, the bishop of\nMexico, they founded the college of Tlaltelolco in a suburb\nof the capital. They were successful to the extent that their\npupils were usually well gifted, and spoke Latin and Castilian.\nIt was from among their number that Sahagun chose the colla-\nborators he needed for his inquiry. But the seminary soon\ncaused serious anxiety to its founders, who discovered that it\nwas difficult to detach their pupils, even the best of them, from",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 69,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 69\nthe atmosphere of paganism and sensuality in which they had\nbeen born and brought up.\nThe opposite environment could hardly come into existence\nexcept in families which had been Christian for a long period\nand at the time when the representatives of the second or better\nstill the third generation reached adult age. But the most\ndetermined advocates of a native clergy met with very strong\nopposition when the experiment had only just begun. And it\ncame from the colonists and some of the Dominicans. They\ninstanced the scandal caused by a former pupil who apostatized\nand became a preacher of apostasy. According to them,\nTlaltelolco ran the risk of becoming a hot-bed of heresy.\nZumarraga was discouraged, and wrote in 1545 to Charles V:\n\"...as for the college of Santiago, we do not know how long\nit can last, since the Indian students, the best scholars, tendunt\nad nuptias potiusquam ad continentiam\". It disappeared with-\nout producing one priest of Mexican blood. There was no\nsubsequent rescinding of the decision to deny the priesthood\nto natives. The responsibility for the missions rested entirely\non regulars and seculars, all Europeans, whose chief aim was\nto keep the converts under their protection in Christian villages\naway from their natural environment as well as from the bad\nexample given by some of the Spaniards.\nIn South America apostolic work began a little later than\nin Mexico and developed at the same speed and by means of\nsimilar methods.\nThe Order of St Dominic was the first to arrive in Peru\nin 1531. As early as 1544, the Peruvian province of the Friars\nPreachers numbered fifty-five religious, stationed almost ex-\nclusively in various parts of the former Inca empire.\nThe Franciscans arrived in 1540 and founded three houses\nat Quito, Cuzco and Lima. They quickly spread further south\nto Potosi, La Paz, Tucuman and even to the River Plate, the\nregion that was the scene of the amazing apostolate of a\nmissionary who was also a musician, Francis of Solano.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 70,
      "ocrText": "70 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nThe Augustinians established monasteries in Peru in 1551\nand played a considerable part in the evangelization of the\nimmense area extending from Popayan (Colombia) to Potosi\n(Bolivia). The Mercedarians, based also on Peru, advanced as\nfar as the Argentine. Finally, the Jesuits, who landed in Peru\nin about the year 1568, shortly afterwards founded the\nprovinces of Quito, New Granada, Paraguay and Chile.\nLima became the metropolitan see for all this territory.\nAfter 1575 its jurisdiction extended from Central America to\nSouth America (Brazil excluded, since it was a dependency of\nthe Portuguese patronato). There were ten dioceses: Cuzco,\nQuito, Panama, Nicaragua, Popayan, Paraguay, Tucuman,\nCharcas or La Plata, Santiago de Chile and La Imperial (Chile).\nThe first Council met at Lima in 1552. Another in 1567 was\nconcerned with securing for the Indians doctrina, that is the\nteaching of the catechism, public worship and the administra-\ntion of the sacraments. It obliged parish priests to learn the\nlanguage of the country and laid down penalties for those who\nrefused to do so. It forbade confession through an interpreter.\nAnd the Crown ordered the establishment of chairs of quichua,\nthe common language. Ten years after their arrival the Jesuits\nhad already organized a system of language teaching, and\nthere is the frequently quoted case of the illustrious bishop of\nLima, Toribio of Mogrovejo, a great missionary of the period,\nwho was able to address the Incas in their own official language.\nTo provide uniform catechetical teaching, the Council of\n1583 arranged for the translation into the two principal lan-\nguages of a catechism it had drawn up which comprised three\nstages: a simplified course, a course for the majority of children\nand adults, and a higher course for an élite. The Council also\ndecided that there should be one priest for the doctrinas of\nfrom one to two thousand souls, and two for the doctrinas of\nmore than two thousand. Villages of less than a thousand\ninhabitants were to be grouped. It is obvious that the\ndoctrineros, the priests, had a heavy task. It was therefore\narranged that they should be given lay auxiliaries chosen from",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 71,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 71\namong the Indians, the best of whom might become catechists.\nTwo stewards were to be the custodians of the church and the\nsacred vessels and to keep the parish accounts. Finally, super-\nvisors were to be given the duty of notifying the doctrineros of\nbirths and cases of sickness, so that the sacraments could\nbe administered. They were also to report the drunkards and\nsorcerers and to keep order at Mass and during catechism\nsessions. In South America as in Mexico, the apostolate quickly\nmoved towards a system which was already a precursor of the\nReductions.\nWe observe the same similarity in regard to admission to the\nsacraments. Great caution was shown in allowing converts\nto approach the altar rails. Subsequently, this attitude became\nless strict but frequent communion was never the rule. The\nCouncil decided to refuse the priesthood to the Indians on\nthe ground that they were unable to acquire a full understand-\ning of the mysteries of the faith.\nThis vast programme did not remain a dead-letter. It came\nto life. The vigorous faith of large numbers of officials gave it\ninspiration and warmth. Many religious and seculars came out\nfrom Spain and, on the whole, accomplished their mission\nwithout failing in their duty. Before passing a severe judgement\non them, as has been done, we ought to consider the diffi-\nculties they had to face.\nIn the first place, strict honesty obliges us not to view them\nin isolation from their times. The sixteenth century was in\nalmost complete ignorance of civilizations other than that of\nEurope. The latter, so it believed, enjoyed an unquestionable\nsuperiority since it had sprung from Christianity and appeared\nto be the necessary means of propagating it.\nSeveral centuries elapsed before it was admitted that Christ's\nteaching could flourish as completely in the new as in the old\nworld and, during these centuries, natives who had received\nbaptism were not always able to remain faithful to those of\ntheir customs which were not incompatible with Christianity.\nMoreover, how could the missionaries at the period following",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 72,
      "ocrText": "72 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nthe discovery of this new world have solved these difficult\nproblems? If some national custom were to be deserving of\ntoleration without any qualms of conscience whatsoever, they\nwould have needed a profound knowledge of the civilizations\nand religions of the peoples to whom they were speaking.\nThere were other drawbacks, the climate, for instance, the\narea, the lie of the land. The dioceses were so huge and travel\nso difficult that pastoral rounds might last for years. The first\ntwo made by St Toribio of Mogrovejo took six and four years\nrespectively. He died during his last one, in 1606.\nThe total number of religious and seculars, considerable\nthough it is, when considered in isolation, looks paltry when\nwe think that their ministry extended from Panama to Tucu-\nman, a distance of more than 2,500 miles. The clergy were\nbadly distributed. They were too numerous in the cities, whose\npopulation was composed almost solely of Spaniards, and far\ntoo few among the Indians scattered throughout the country-\nside and the sierras. Among the seculars, recruitment was not\ncareful enough, and since discipline was not sufficiently strict\namong the Orders, rivalries weakened their apostolate.\nBut the chief obstacle was perhaps the régime under which\nthe Indians were forced to live. The missionaries taught them\nthe truths of Christianity and prepared them for baptism, but\nat the same time the colonists forced them to work for their\nbenefit and used violence if they judged it necessary. Whether\nthey were enrolled in the repartimientos or the encomiendas,\nChristianity in the temporal order, as far as they could see,\nmeant loss of freedom. It is surely not surprising therefore\nthat some converts openly stated that they did not want to\ngo to Paradise for fear of meeting their oppressors there.\nNeither the campaigns undertaken by some of the missionaries,\nLas Casas and others, nor instructions from Rome and the\nkings, all of which drew attention to the fact that the natives\nwere to be treated as free men, succeeded in making any real\nchange in the régime forced on the natives by the colonists.\nThe quality of the converts was bound to suffer. Paganism",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 73,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 73\nmight be renounced in word, but in fact it remained deep\ndown and disguised under Christian ceremonies. It was there-\nfore all the harder to unearth and to overcome.\nYet, as early as the sixteenth century, the Spanish mission-\naries had accomplished a noble apostolic work. We can accept\nthe word of the great apostle Toribio de Mogrovejo when he\nsays that he confirmed 500,000 people during his second\npastoral round. The Church established in the new world was\nnot merely a brilliant façade. The cathedrals, the more modest\nbuildings, the numerous monasteries that they built, prove that\nthe Spaniards wished to accomplish a work which would last.\nIn the Malayan archipelago of the Philippines, the Spanish\nhad an outstanding success. Madrid questioned whether the\nliteral interpretation of the treaty of Tordesillas (1493) brought\nthe archipelago within the Portuguese domains, as Lisbon\nclaimed. Since the Spice Islands had been assigned to Portugal,\nSpain laid claim to the Philippines and Spaniards landed there,\nunsuccessfully in 1542, and again in 1564, this time for good.\nThey had come from Mexico, the terminus for Pacific trade\nof the galleons sailing from Asia and of the Indian Ocean and\nCape route which depended on the Portuguese monopoly. A\nsmall band of Augustinians had gone with the expedition.\nReinforcements reached the pioneers; Franciscans (1577),\nJesuits (1581), and Dominicans were soon on the scene. Forty\nyears later, the archipelago was Christian, Since there were no\nmines there, European colonists had not come. The Filipinos\nwere able to maintain their agricultural and patriarchal\neconomy and their status was not unlike that found in the\nReductions.\nThe missionaries had no difficulty in winning them over\nfrom a religion which was no more than a rudimentary animism\nwithout any common practices or places of worship. In 1585,\nthere were already 400,000 converts. There were two million\nin 1620 and the clergy who ministered to them, at least in the\nrural parishes, were Filipinos.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 74,
      "ocrText": "74 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nCatholicism was introduced into Brazil in the middle of the\nsixteenth century by the Jesuits with the help of the Portuguese\nCrown.\nThe first group landed at Bahia in 1549. It numbered six\nreligious in all. In the same year, this handful of missionaries,\nunder the direction, it is true, of a very great apostle, Fr de\nNobrega, visited the areas around the old capital of Brazil and\nlaid the foundations of a teaching system of which the first\nresults were the confraternity and the college of Meninos de\nJésus. Fr de Nobrega gathered there some young Indians\ntogether with orphans he had arranged to be sent out from\nPortugal. He hoped that as they studied their religion and their\nrudiments side by side, genuine friendship would spring up\nbetween them, and that the orphans would at the same time\nlearn the Brazilian language and the little Indians Portuguese.\nThe latter would then return home to their villages and spread\nthe Good News. We cannot but admire such a bold project\nwhich was to prepare for the fusion of the races at the moral\nlevel within the framework of Christianity. But difficulties that\narose in the application of the programme, due doubtless to\ninsufficient knowledge of the character of the Indians, caused\nthe confraternity scheme to be abandoned. Only the Jesus\nCollege survived. Its teaching began with reading and advanced\nas far as theology. It served as a seminary for the secular\nclergy, both Portuguese and Creole, and also as a house for the\nformation of the young religious of the Society.\nThe missionaries rapidly brought Christianity to the areas\nnorth and south of Bahia, to the south, as far as São Paulo and\nRio de Janeiro, two cities founded by the Jesuits (and in\nparticular by Fr de Nobrega) and to the north, as far as\nPernambuco (Recife). Faced with a religion without external\nworship or a priesthood and with a political system without\nwritten laws or a hereditary authority, the Jesuits adopted the\n\"clean sweep\" method. The Indians were easily won over from\ntheir practices but their easy-going nature drew them back\nequally quickly if ever the careful watch on them was relaxed.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 75,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 75\nIn order to instruct them and stiffen their characters, it was\nnecessary to group them in Christian villages. But the Indians\nsoon wanted their spiritual leaders to be their temporal leaders\nalso, in recognition of the protection they were giving them.\nThe General of the Jesuits considered it his duty to ask his\nreligious not to follow this course but to avoid undertaking any\npolitical function. Then other difficulties arose. If the Fathers\nceased to rule in the villages, the Indians would be afraid that\nonce they were no longer under their care, they would be\nmaltreated and so would run away to the forests and become\ninaccessible. Eventually things were left as they were so as\nnot to compromise and perhaps ruin an apostolate which had\nbeen organized with so much labour.\nThe Fathers contrived to introduce forms of entertainment\ninto the natives' disciplined and hardworking life. There were\nsongs, dances, masquerades, processions, bull-fights and edify-\ning comedies written by a Spanish Jesuit, Anchieta, \"the\napostle of Brazil\".\nThe liturgy was surrounded with great pomp. Baptisms and\nweddings were celebrated with the splendour of feast days, and\nprocessions were on the scale of huge spectacular demonstra-\ntions to the glory of God.\nThe converts were admitted to all the sacraments, although\nHoly Communion was not given without strict preparation.\nThe Indians were not admitted to Orders for the same reasons\nas in Peru but also for another which was peculiar to Brazil.\nThe missionary zeal of the mother-country, great though it\nwas, could not bridge the gap between its own territory and the\nimmense size of the territories attached to the Crown. It was\nscarcely possible to evangelize more than the coasts and the\nChristian communities there were not sufficiently numerous to\nensure the provision of a native clergy.\nIn the Congo, the missionaries who had accompanied Cao\nconverted the king and queen. The sovereign subsequently\napostatized. On the other hand, his son Alfonso was a man of",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 76,
      "ocrText": "76 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nfirm and active faith. In 1513, he sent an embassy to the pope\nto assure him of his loyalty. One of its members was his son\nHenry. He won great esteem in Portugal and in Rome both for\nhis piety and intelligence and was consecrated a bishop in 1520.\nHe returned to his country with several of his fellow country-\nmen who had been ordained priests in order to work there,\nwith Alfonso's permission, for the preparation of a Congolese\nclergy. But the candidates who were sent to study in the\nmother-country did not persevere or were unable to withstand\na climate so different from their own. After Alfonso's death in\n1543-he had maintained his faith unshaken the Congo\nmission gradually faded away. What then had happened?\nPortugal had neglected the African coastal territories and con-\ncentrated all its efforts on the East Indies, whose future seemed\nmuch more promising. The first nucleus of missionaries had\nnot increased nor been renewed. In any case its members were\nof mediocre quality and had become insufficient for the exer-\ncise of the ministry among converts who had been too hastily\nbaptized. Some of the religious had engaged in trade. Finally,\nthe slave traffic brought complete discredit on Europeans and\ntheir religion.\nFrom 1560 onwards, there were missionaries at Mozambique.\nThey had come since the news had reached them that the Negro\nking wished to become a convert. The three Jesuits in the first\nparty found the chiefs and his subjects very docile and willing\nto be baptized en masse. But during the following year, the\nsuperior was murdered and a general apostasy followed. Subse-\nquently, the Dominicans, in spite of all their efforts, could not\nwin the natives from a kind of syncretism which included odds\nand ends of Islam mixed with their own tribal animism.\nIn Angola, the apostolate begun in 1560 by four Jesuits\nresulted at the end of the sixteenth century in the rise of a\nChristian community of 20,000 converts in Massangano, which\nbecame an episcopal see. But this centre did not develop and in\nthis it was like all the African foundations of the period.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 77,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\n77\nST FRANCIS XAVIER IN INDIA AND JAPAN\nThe Portuguese had gone to India with the object of wresting\nthe monopoly in spices from Venice and the Arabs. But there,\nas in Brazil, they by no means forgot their duties to Catholicism\nas these had been defined in the Bulls.\nIn the initial stages, they thought only of settling in with all\ntheir own institutions. The pagodas were destroyed and the\npagan customs disregarded. The system of the \"clean sweep\"\nwas vigorously applied and eventually led to the use in the\nreligious sphere of the Compelle intrare the natives were\nmade to become Portuguese. But not for long. The arrival of\nSt Francis Xavier opened the way for a more apostolic method.\nThe life of this famous apostle, when purged of all its legen-\ndary accretions, recovers all its meaning and its value as an\nexample. It is still the life of a saint, but this saint, instead of\nhovering in a world of marvels with no practical significance,\nis revealed as a forerunner of things to come.\nGoa-and it was here that he landed on May 6th, 1542-was\nscarcely more than an annexe of Portugal, but with the added\nand disheartening fact that dissolute living and the love of\nlucre, which had grown up because of the distance from the\nmother-country, were scandalously flaunted. However, he was\nin charge of the college that had just been founded there and\ncould not set up his headquarters elsewhere. But as soon as he\nwas able, he escaped to the Fishery coast, where his predeces-\nsors had founded an embryo Christian community but without\nany genuine preparation. Xavier hastened to instruct these\npeople, to solemnize the marriages of the adults and to organize\nChristian groups. This was a task that had to be done before\nall else and it was made difficult by the climate, the almost\ncomplete absence of his brethren and his ignorance of the\nlanguage. Legend says he enjoyed gifts like those the apostles\nreceived at Pentecost, but he himself never hid the fact that he\nwas accompanied by interpreters and that an immense amount\nof work remained to be done. Henceforward, we see that he no",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 78,
      "ocrText": "78 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nlonger shared all the positions taken up by the Portuguese. For\nhim, indeed, there was no question of depriving the Indians of\ntheir nationality, it was Christianity that had to be solidly\nestablished.\nIt was in Japan that the great apostle showed the full\nmeasure of his powers. Thanks to the good offices of three\nJapanese he had known and baptized at Malacca, he succeeded\nin finding a junk which landed him together with two other\nJesuits at Kagoshima in the southern part of the great island\nof Kyushu. It was August 15th, 1549, a date to be remem-\nbered, for he was the first missionary ever to enter Japan. He\nfound the Japanese most interested in Western inventions but\nthought their political situation deplorable. The division of the\nland among numerous principalities perpetually at war with\neach other favoured a state of feudal anarchy which a purely\nnominal sovereign, the Mikado, living a cloistered and wretched\nlife at Kyoto, was unable to bring to an end. St Francis Xavier\nconsidered there was no point in contacting this \"do-nothing\nking\" and decided to go to the daimyo of Yamaguchi. But for\nthis visit he put aside the humble apparel which had hitherto\nensured him a favourable reception throughout the Portuguese\nOrient. He had quickly learned from experience that this\nwould not do. In Japan lack of display would only have dis-\ncredited him. And so he appeared before the daimyo, clothed\nin silk, escorted by Portuguese merchants in similar array, and\nbearing rich presents. This was the right procedure, since he\nwas allotted some land and given permission to preach. A\ndaimyo on the east coast granted him the same facilities in his\nterritory.\nThese first contacts revealed to him the existence of a\nnumerous class of scholars, bonzes and lords, with subtle\nminds, full of curiosity, and formidable in argument. With\npeople like this, it was essential to show that he too was\nlearned and shrewd.\nXavier was now convinced that the system of the \"clean\nsweep\" would be fatal in Japan. Accompanied by Fr Cosmo de",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 79,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 79\nTorres and Brother Juan Fernandez, who acted as interpreter,\nhe began a controversy with these worthies and not without\nsuccess. The important thing to remember is not so much the\nfigure for the number of converts (there were not even a\nthousand in all when he left Japan in November 1551) but the\nexperience he had acquired. It proved that if the apostolate\nwas to be effective, especially among the upper classes, it\nwould need to be based on a profound knowledge of the\nreligion, laws and customs of the country.\nFrancis Xavier had also discovered in Japan the immense\nprestige enjoyed by the Chinese empire. If your religion were\na good one, some of the Japanese had told him, China, a nation\nwhere wisdom flourishes, would already have adopted it. The\ngreat apostle had drawn the conclusion that the conversion of\nthe Chinese empire to Christianity was a work of the first\nimportance. He was about to undertake it when he died at\nSanchoan, a small island in the bay of Canton, on December\n3rd, 1552, not far from Macao where, twenty years later,\nFr Ricci was to arrive and attempt in his turn to force the\ngates of China closed to Europeans since the end of the four-\nteenth century.\nWhen St Francis Xavier left Japan, he was by no means\ncertain of the success of his work. The curiosity shown by his\nhearers had certainly seemed a good sign. In a letter from\nCochin dated January 29th, 1552, he wrote \"... after the\ndaimyo of Yamaguchi had authorized us to preach God's\nlaw, so many people came to ask us questions and to discuss\nthings with us, that my joy and consolation were such that I\nthink I am justified in saying that I had never experienced\nthem to so great an extent during my whole life\".\nNevertheless, this curiosity was awakened at least as much\nby Western science and its applications, such as ships and\ncanons, as by religious problems. In general Christianity was\nreceived as a kind of by-product, on the ground that the religion\nof such clever and industrious men must inevitably be a good",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 80,
      "ocrText": "80 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\none. We must bear in mind that the Japanese had adopted\nBuddhism for similar reasons in the seventh century.\nYet the fact remains that, in 1586, the Christian communities\nof Japan numbered 200,000 converts. By the end of the cen-\ntury, this figure had been increased by 100,000 further conver-\nsions. Such a beginning gave grounds for hope. But in 1638,\nJapan was to close its gates completely against Europe and\nChristianity for more than two centuries. We may well ask why\nand how this was done.\nThe Jesuits, the first missionaries to arrive and the only ones\nuntil 1590, had made their mark because of their knowledge\nand their moral qualities which contrasted sharply with the\nloose living found in the most recent Buddhist houses. They\nhad all applied the method of adaptation. The visitor,\nFr Valignano, had approved it. On the other hand, the \"clean\nsweep\" system prevailed in the Philippines which had passed\nover to the Spanish patronato. This variation in method was\nquite simply due to the difference between the level of intel-\nlectual development among the Manillans as compared with\nthat of the Japanese. It was very desirable that this difference\nshould be maintained; each of the two methods had proved its\nvalue in its own sphere.\nA Jesuit from Manila, Fr Sanchez, on his arrival in Japan,\nrefused to use the method in force there. This refusal filled\nFr Valignano with misgivings. However he succeeded in com-\nmunicating them to the General of the Jesuits and to such good\neffect that the latter decided to keep all the fathers in the\nSpanish patronato away from Japan. But the prohibition was\nonly valid for the Society of Jesus. If religious from another\nOrder succeeded in entering the country, the unity of method\nwould be destroyed. This in fact happened, as an indirect result\nof political events in Japan.\nFollowing upheavals in the country, a dictator, Hideyoshi,\nhad seized power. He showed a tolerant attitude at first, but\nin 1587, in an outburst of temper for a reason unknown, he\ndecreed the expulsion of all the Portuguese. Fr Valignano's",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 81,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 81\nskill succeeded in making the decree a dead letter and preach-\ning could continue. However, the rivalries between Portugal\nand Spain, which soon came to the knowledge of Hideyoshi,\ninduced him to turn them to his own profit. He approached, or\nrather sent messengers to, the Manila authorities. They listened\nto what he had to say and, for his information, sent two\nmissions to the dictator, one under the direction of a Domini-\ncan, the other under a Franciscan. Hideyoshi chose the\nFranciscans and authorized them to preach Christianity in\nJapan. The newcomers certainly behaved as zealous apostles,\nbut they used the \"clean sweep\" method. What Fr Valignano\nhad feared had happened; unity no longer existed.\nFurther, the arrival of the Spaniards led to complications\nof a political nature. A galleon from Manila ran aground on\nthe coast of Tosa to the south of the Japanese archipelago. It\nwas seized by the Japanese authorities. The pilot threatened to\nappeal to his sovereign for reprisals to be taken. This and other\nincidents changed the atmosphere of relative tolerance which\nhad been maintained after a fashion since the edict of 1587.\nThe edict had not been withdrawn and Hideyoshi used it to\ncondemn to death six Franciscans accused of preaching openly\nagainst the religion of the land, together with seventeen of their\nconverts and three Japanese Jesuit brothers. The twenty-six\ncondemned men were put to death by crucifixion at Nagasaki\non February 5th, 1597.\nIeyasu, Hideyoshi's successor, waged a still fiercer battle\nagainst Catholicism. He issued the edict of 1613 which ordered\nall the daimyo to expel Japanese and foreign preachers, to\ndestroy all the churches and to force the converts to apostatize\nat once.\nWe know from the evidence of a Franciscan, Diego of\nSt Francis, that, at the height of this persecution, some of the\nfaithful at the risk of their lives welcomed him with \"in-\ndescribable joy\", and that he gave them the sacraments. After\nthe year 1638, it was all but impossible for missionaries to\nenter the country even in disguise. Five Jesuits, one of them",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 82,
      "ocrText": "82 BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA\nFr Rubin, who had been appointed visitor for Japan, did\nsucceed in landing in August 1642. They were discovered by\nthe spy network operating throughout the islands and put to\ndeath after suffering atrocious torture.\nDuring the sixty or so years that had elapsed since the arrival\nof St Francis Xavier, no agreement had been reached on the\nsubject of the establishment of a Japanese clergy. Fr Valignano\nhad wanted this to be done. His colleague, Fr Cabral, remained\nhesitant for fear that \"Japanese pride\" would not accept\nobedience. This was also the opinion of the coadjutor bishop of\nNagasaki, Don Luis de Cerqueira. He had however done work\ntowards equipping a seminary. He wrote in 1603 to the pope:\n\"The exclusion of the natives from the ministry of the sacra-\nments and the care of souls would have grave disadvantages;\nit would lead to jealousies, mistrust, suspicions, divisions.\" In\nthe event, the persecution outstripped a project which would\ncertainly have encountered reservations at least, if not open\nopposition. When the gates of Japan were finally closed, the\nChristians remained without priests for two centuries.\nFR RICCI AND THE INTRODUCTION OF\nCHRISTIANITY TO CHINA\nWhile Christianity was being expelled from Japan, a Jesuit,\nFr Ricci, in 1583 began introducing it into China and used\nSt Francis Xavier's second method with exemplary intelligence\nand zeal. While making no secret of the fact that he was a\nCatholic priest, he described himself as a scholar, a learned\nmathematician from the West desirous of establishing relations\nwith his peers in the Far East. He became a good Sinologue\nand soon had conversations with some of the mandarins. He\nbaptized several of them. Encouraged by their friendly support\nhe succeeded in advancing to the interior of the empire, to\nNantchag, Nankin and Pekin which he entered in 1601. He was\nable to acquire a piece of land there with the authorization of\nthe emperor. It still exists and is known as the Nant'ang. He\npublished some doctrinal works in 1604. The True Idea of the",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 83,
      "ocrText": "BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA 83\nLord of Heaven, a dialogue between a Christian and a scholar\nin search of truth, and in the same year, Twenty-five Words, a\nlittle treatise on certain of man's duties, and again in 1607,\nTen Paradoxes, a book containing clarifications, commentaries\nand explanations of the moral code and the principal articles\nof Christian belief. At the same time he published scientific\nworks which established his reputation for learning. The con-\nsiderable development of St Francis' second method at\nFr Ricci's hands together with his tact, learning and virtues\nattracted adherents to Catholicism who formed an élite who\nwere able with his help to see that it was possible to remain\nChinese when one had entered the Mystical Body. At his death\nin 1610, the number of his converts stood at 2,000.\nFurther, after examining the traditional rites such as the\nhonours paid to ancestors and to Confucius, he was certain\nthat these were \"certainly not idolatrous and perhaps not\nsuperstitious\". The manner in which he had tolerated them\nwith an easy conscience had been the reason for his success\nwith the upper classes. But his tolerant attitude was soon\ncriticized by other missionaries, and later gave rise to the\nformidable, interminable wrangle over the rites which was to\nbe so detrimental to the work of the apostolate.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}