Fr. Louis Birabaluge
November 30, 1919, November 30, 2019, one hundred years since pope Benedict XV published Maximum Illud (MI), known as the first missionary Encyclical Letter. MI appeared just after the first world war and not long before the second world war. At that troubled time, the Catholic Church was experiencing a lessening of her missionary zeal, which was a sign of unfaithfulness to the mandate received from Jesus Christ: "Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15). Therefore, in writing MI, the pope wanted the Church of his time to rediscover her missionary nature and her commitment to it. To be precise, two were the main purposes of the Letter: to encourage the Christian people to carry out the mission of the church and to point out methods they could adopt to further the fulfillment of this momentous undertaking (MI 7).
A hundred years later, Pope Francis has declared October 2019, an Extraordinary Missionary Month as a way to do justice to this prophetic Letter of pope Benedict XV. The aim of this special celebration is: “fostering an increased awareness of the Missio ad Gentes and taking up again with renewed fervor the missionary transformation of the Church’s life and pastoral activity” [Pope Francis, Letter to Cardinal Fernando Filoni,
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, October 22, 2017]. Though, the times have changed since MI was published, Pope Francis reminds the Church of today that the challenge to communicate God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ to all nations is still urgent and needs a new and strong commitment.
Some expressions used in MI may sound shocking for our modern mentality. No one believes today that mission is motivated by “the pitiable lot of stupendous number of souls”. People to whom Christians are sent are no longer considered as unfortunate, as they are painted in MI 7. Nevertheless, the missionary spirit and insights flowing from MI may help all Christians today to foster the rediscovery of the missionary nature of the Church.
Since Vatican 2 Council engaged the whole Catholic Church on the journey of interreligious dialogue, important steps have been undertaken by Catholics in view of dialoging with people of other religions. But this openness to value the faith of others has a less positive side of the coin: the temptation to lessen the urgency of the clear proclamation of Jesus Christ as the saviour of the whole World (LK 2: 11). Thus, when Pope Benedict XV said that to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a mandate, a duty, a momentous and a holy charge, that was not to come to an end with the death of the Apostles (MI 1), he is also speaking to the Christians of our time.
MI recalled that the ‘Catholic Church is not an intruder in any country; nor is she alien to any people’ (MI 16). In so doing, the Letter warned those preaching the Gospel in foreign lands against the temptation of preaching their culture and their way of living instead of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nothing more than the Gospel. Even in our modern world, where plurality of cultures is celebrated, the temptation to confuse the Gospel and the culture of those preaching it is still a reality. The weak commitment of missionaries today to the task of the inculturation of the Gospel, the lack of interest in learning the language and the culture of those to whom the Gospel is preached - though MI 24 stress the need of it- are all indications that the culture of those to whom they announce the Gospel is not taken seriously.
In MI, Pope Benedict XV stressed the need of a local clergy suitably trained and worthy of their holy vocation (MI 16). For the pope of the Missions, any missionary, before entering the missionary apostolate, should have a very thorough training (MI 22). Thus, MI carries the concern for a serious and qualified formation in all areas for all missionary agents, especially the local clergy and religious priests, brothers and sisters. The Letter foresaw the consequences of a superficial and below standard formation in the field of evangelization. Today more than at the time of MI, it is clear that there is no way to preach the Gospel with dignity and competence without a broad and serious academic, spiritual and human formation.
Besides the concern for academic formation, in MI the holiness of the missionary is mentioned as an attribute that is indispensable. According to Pope Benedict XV: “the man who preaches God must himself be a man of God. The man who urges others to despise sin must despise it himself. Preaching by example is a far more effective procedure than vocal preaching, especially among unbelievers” (MI 24). What was referred to as an indispensable condition of the preacher is now being discovered as a call and a condition of all baptized: “A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness, for “this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess 4:3)”: Pope Francis, Gaudate et Exultate, On the Call to holiness in Today’s world, n. 19).
Nowadays, it is normal to say that all baptized are missionaries. This idea was already present in MI 31-33. Still, the missionary dimension of the sacrament of baptism is not yet seen and accepted at parish level. There are many lay people and local clergy who continue to think that mission is the work of ‘missionaries’. There are also some missionaries who consider lay people as mere beneficiaries of missionary work. How to help all be baptized to understand that they are all “ missionary disciples” and how to help ‘zealous missionaries’ to grow with the idea that their primary task is to make all baptized “missionaries” is the challenge of our time.
In our Sierra Leonean pastoral context, one activity which has become a tradition during the Mission Month of October is the financial collection. With a bit of courage and creativity, people can become more generous in supporting financially and otherwise the multifaceted mission of the Church. Besides the call for prayer and for missionary vocations, the coming special Missionary Month of October may be an opportunity to foster that initiative received from Pope Benedict XV when he said that ‘the missions need economic help, and a substantial amount of it’ (MI 36).
In this regard, missionaries themselves need conversion. The conversion intended here concerns the missionary life-style. How can missionaries expect financial help from people who believe that the ‘missionaries’ have money? Therefore, the celebration of 100 years of MI must also be a call for renewal of the missionary mentality for all: lay people, religious missionaries and local clergy.
November 30, 1919, November 30, 2019, one hundred years since pope Benedict XV published Maximum Illud (MI), known as the first missionary Encyclical Letter. MI appeared just after the first world war and not long before the second world war. At that troubled time, the Catholic Church was experiencing a lessening of her missionary zeal, which was a sign of unfaithfulness to the mandate received from Jesus Christ: "Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15). Therefore, in writing MI, the pope wanted the Church of his time to rediscover her missionary nature and her commitment to it. To be precise, two were the main purposes of the Letter: to encourage the Christian people to carry out the mission of the church and to point out methods they could adopt to further the fulfillment of this momentous undertaking (MI 7).
A hundred years later, Pope Francis has declared October 2019, an Extraordinary Missionary Month as a way to do justice to this prophetic Letter of pope Benedict XV. The aim of this special celebration is: “fostering an increased awareness of the Missio ad Gentes and taking up again with renewed fervor the missionary transformation of the Church’s life and pastoral activity” [Pope Francis, Letter to Cardinal Fernando Filoni,
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, October 22, 2017]. Though, the times have changed since MI was published, Pope Francis reminds the Church of today that the challenge to communicate God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ to all nations is still urgent and needs a new and strong commitment.
Some expressions used in MI may sound shocking for our modern mentality. No one believes today that mission is motivated by “the pitiable lot of stupendous number of souls”. People to whom Christians are sent are no longer considered as unfortunate, as they are painted in MI 7. Nevertheless, the missionary spirit and insights flowing from MI may help all Christians today to foster the rediscovery of the missionary nature of the Church.
Since Vatican 2 Council engaged the whole Catholic Church on the journey of interreligious dialogue, important steps have been undertaken by Catholics in view of dialoging with people of other religions. But this openness to value the faith of others has a less positive side of the coin: the temptation to lessen the urgency of the clear proclamation of Jesus Christ as the saviour of the whole World (LK 2: 11). Thus, when Pope Benedict XV said that to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a mandate, a duty, a momentous and a holy charge, that was not to come to an end with the death of the Apostles (MI 1), he is also speaking to the Christians of our time.
MI recalled that the ‘Catholic Church is not an intruder in any country; nor is she alien to any people’ (MI 16). In so doing, the Letter warned those preaching the Gospel in foreign lands against the temptation of preaching their culture and their way of living instead of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nothing more than the Gospel. Even in our modern world, where plurality of cultures is celebrated, the temptation to confuse the Gospel and the culture of those preaching it is still a reality. The weak commitment of missionaries today to the task of the inculturation of the Gospel, the lack of interest in learning the language and the culture of those to whom the Gospel is preached - though MI 24 stress the need of it- are all indications that the culture of those to whom they announce the Gospel is not taken seriously.
In MI, Pope Benedict XV stressed the need of a local clergy suitably trained and worthy of their holy vocation (MI 16). For the pope of the Missions, any missionary, before entering the missionary apostolate, should have a very thorough training (MI 22). Thus, MI carries the concern for a serious and qualified formation in all areas for all missionary agents, especially the local clergy and religious priests, brothers and sisters. The Letter foresaw the consequences of a superficial and below standard formation in the field of evangelization. Today more than at the time of MI, it is clear that there is no way to preach the Gospel with dignity and competence without a broad and serious academic, spiritual and human formation.
Besides the concern for academic formation, in MI the holiness of the missionary is mentioned as an attribute that is indispensable. According to Pope Benedict XV: “the man who preaches God must himself be a man of God. The man who urges others to despise sin must despise it himself. Preaching by example is a far more effective procedure than vocal preaching, especially among unbelievers” (MI 24). What was referred to as an indispensable condition of the preacher is now being discovered as a call and a condition of all baptized: “A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness, for “this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess 4:3)”: Pope Francis, Gaudate et Exultate, On the Call to holiness in Today’s world, n. 19).
Nowadays, it is normal to say that all baptized are missionaries. This idea was already present in MI 31-33. Still, the missionary dimension of the sacrament of baptism is not yet seen and accepted at parish level. There are many lay people and local clergy who continue to think that mission is the work of ‘missionaries’. There are also some missionaries who consider lay people as mere beneficiaries of missionary work. How to help all be baptized to understand that they are all “ missionary disciples” and how to help ‘zealous missionaries’ to grow with the idea that their primary task is to make all baptized “missionaries” is the challenge of our time.
In our Sierra Leonean pastoral context, one activity which has become a tradition during the Mission Month of October is the financial collection. With a bit of courage and creativity, people can become more generous in supporting financially and otherwise the multifaceted mission of the Church. Besides the call for prayer and for missionary vocations, the coming special Missionary Month of October may be an opportunity to foster that initiative received from Pope Benedict XV when he said that ‘the missions need economic help, and a substantial amount of it’ (MI 36).
In this regard, missionaries themselves need conversion. The conversion intended here concerns the missionary life-style. How can missionaries expect financial help from people who believe that the ‘missionaries’ have money? Therefore, the celebration of 100 years of MI must also be a call for renewal of the missionary mentality for all: lay people, religious missionaries and local clergy.