A parochial mission or parish mission is a special pastoral effort in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
aimed at preaching to and instructing Catholic followers. These are "home missions" geared toward Catholics, distinguished from apostolic missions to make conversions among non-believers. Such missions may consist of systematic preaching and instruction, extending over a stated number of days, performed by authorized missionaries.
History
Until the beginning of the seventeenth century there existed no organized form of Catholic popular missionary work, as it is now understood. The preaching, for example, of the
mendicant orders, was not reduced to a system until the foundation of the
Congregation of Priests of the Mission by
Vincent de Paul
Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...
. That was in France; in Italy, a century later (1732),
Alphonsus Liguori
Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosop ...
founded his congregation of
Redemptorists
The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...
. About one hundred years later
Gaspar Bufalo (died 1837) founded in Rome the
Congregation of the Most Precious Blood to devote itself exclusively to parochial mission work.
The work was taken up by other orders whose primary end was different: the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, who were the foremost, the
Dominicans,
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
,
Capuchins
Capuchin can refer to:
*Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars
*Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters
*Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...
. After the
Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to:
France under the House of Bourbon:
* Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815)
Spain under the Spanish Bourbons:
* ...
in 1815, a new impetus was given to missionary work by the
Abbé Forbin-Janson, who, with his friend the
Abbé de Rauzan, founded the
Missionaires de France, and by
Charles de Mazenod, who founded the
Oblates of Mary Immaculate
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary Congregation of Papal Right, religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a France, French priest born in Aix-en-Provence ...
, at Marseille, in 1815. In Germany parochial missions had been given sporadically, chiefly by the Jesuits and the Redemptorists, before 1848; after that date they became more general. The bishops everywhere encouraged and urged them. The
Cardinal Archbishop of Mechlin, in 1843, maintained that the people of every parish are entitled to have the benefit of a mission. During this period the German Church had missionaries who devoted themselves entirely to popular mission work:
Peter Roh
Peter Roh (born at Conthey (Gunthis) in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, 14 August 1811; d. at Bonn, Germany, 17 May 1872) was a Swiss Jesuit preacher.
Life
Up to his thirteenth year, Roh spoke only French, so that he had to learn German from a ...
,
Klinkhofström,
Pottgieser. On the expulsion of the Jesuits, Redemptorists and other orders from the German Empire, in 1872, there was an interruption.
In Italy systematic mission work was introduced by the Lazarists during the lifetime of their founder. With the rise of the Redemptorists, the
Passionists
The Passionists, officially named Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720 with a special emphasis on and de ...
, the Fathers of the Precious Blood, and several other congregations, the work spread over the entire peninsula. In Austria they developed during the reign of
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
, but under her successor,
Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
, missions were to a great extent prohibited, and missionaries banished. The Redemptorists were recalled, but could labour only on condition of submitting to official scrutiny. After the
Revolution of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
had spent itself that the Redemptorists, Jesuits, Capuchins, and Franciscans carried on the work of missions, especially in Bohemia and the Tyrol, in Westphalia, Bavaria, and Württemberg. On the expulsion of the Jesuits and Redemptorists, missions were again prohibited. Later, however, Capuchins and Franciscans took up the work, and diocesan priests also entered the field as missionaries and directors of retreats. In 1786,
Clement Mary Hofbauer
Clement Mary Hofbauer (german: Klemens Maria Hofbauer) (26 December 1751 – 15 March 1820) was a Moravian hermit and later a priest of the Redemptorist congregation. He established the presence of his congregation, founded in Italy, north of th ...
, second founder of the Redemptorists, with his friend
Thadäus Hübl, founded a house of the congregation in Warsaw, where King
Stanislaus Poniatowski Stanislav and variants may refer to:
People
*Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.)
Places
* Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine
* Stanislaus County, Cali ...
placed the German national church of St. Benno at their disposal.
After the death of Alphonsus Liguori, his missionaries evangelized the Catholics in the Russian Provinces of
Courland
Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
and
Livonia
Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
, on the invitation of
Monsignor Saluzzo, Apostolic Nuncio in Poland. In Belgium and in the Netherlands the missionary spirit has, with one or two slight interruptions, always been active. The Lazaristsin Great Britain as early as 1640, but penal laws made organized mission work impossible; it resumed about 1850.
In Ireland, missions were recommended by national and provincial synods—e. g., by the Plenary Synod of Thurles, in 1850; by the Synods of Cashel, 1853, and of Tuam, 1854, and the Plenary Synod of Maynooth, 1875. In England they were recommended by the Provincial Council of Westminster, in 1852, and again in 1859; in Scotland by the Plenary Council of 1886. The Plenary Council of Australia, held at Sydney in 1885, and, in Canada, the Provincial Council of Quebec, in 1863, strongly urged parochial missions.
In the United States there was no systematic popular missionary work until about 1860, though missions had been given earlier. The Lazarist Fathers arrived in 1816, the Redemptorists in 1832, and the Passionists in 1852; but the scarcity of priests meant that at first the ordinary spiritual wants of a scattered population took priority. In 1839
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...
sent the Abbé Forbin-Janson on a missionary tour through the United States, where, for two years, he gave missions to the people and retreats to the clergy. In the Second Provincial Council of Cincinnati (1858), the
Second Plenary Council of Baltimore
The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of Catholic bishops in the United States in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland.
During the early history of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States all of the diocese ...
(1866), and the Tenth Provincial Council of Baltimore (1869), parochial missions were strongly recommended. Among the more active missionaries of this period were Fathers Smarius, Weninger, Damen, D. Young, O.P., and Hewit.
"Diocesan apostolates" are groups of priests, selected from the secular clergy, trained for mission work with special reference to the conversion of non-Catholics. They are exempted from ordinary pastoral work, and held in readiness to give missions whenever needed. Under various names—as "Apostolic Missionary Band", "Diocesan Mission Band", etc. -- the system became established in the Archdioceses of New York, St. Louis, St. Paul, and San Francisco, and the Dioceses of Alton, Burlington, Oklahoma, Peoria, Pittsburg, Providence, Richmond, San Antonio, Scranton, and Wheeling.
References
;Attribution
*{{Catholic, wstitle=Catholic Parochial Missions The entry cites:
**AERTNYS, Theologia Pastoralis (Paderborn, 1902). 31, 257-60;
**REMINGER, Pastoraltheologie (Freiburg im Br., 1893), 526-28;
**Theol. prakt. Quartalschrift (1891), 814; (1892), 55,317;
**BUSS, Die Volksmissionen ein Bedürfniss unserer Zeit (Schafhausen, 1851);
**HUFNER, Volksmissionen und Missionserneuerung (Dulmen i. W., 1910);
**KASSIEPE, Die Volksmission (Paderborn, 1909);
**HILARION, Le Missionaire, ou l'art des missions (Paris, 1879);
**BOYLE, St. Vincent de Paul and the Vincentians in Ireland, Scotland and England, A. D. 1628-1909 (London, 1909);
**Irish Eccl. Record (3rd S.), XVI, 577-92; XVII, 417-26;
**Am. Eccl. Review, XI (1894), 81-111, 161-219;
**BOUGAUD, History of St. Vincent de Paul, tr. BRADY (2 vols., New York, 1899).
**Biographies of Alphonsus Liguori, Philip Neri, John of the Cross, Dominic, Francis, Ignatius Loyola, etc.
Types of Roman Catholic organization
Catholic Church organisation
Types of Christian organization
Catholic Church organizations