Hofinger, J.

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archīum.ATENEO (Ateneo de Manila Univ.)

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints Volume 3 Number 2 Article 8 6-28-1955 Institute for Mission Apologies J. Hofinger Follow this and additional works at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/phstudies Recommended Citation Hofinger, J. (1955) "Institute for Mission Apologies," Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints: Vol. 3: No. 2, Article 8. Available at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/phstudies/vol3/iss2/8 This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by the Ateneo Journals at Archīum Ateneo. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints by an authorized editor of Archīum Ateneo. philippine studiesAteneo de Manila University • Loyola Heights, Quezon City • 1108 PhilippinesInstitute for Mission ApologeticsJ. HofingerPhilippine Studies vol. 3, no. 2 (1955): 211–213Copyright © Ateneo de Manila UniversityPhilippine Studies is published by the Ateneo de Manila University. Contents may not be copied or sent via email or other  means to multiple sites and posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s written permission. Users may download and print articles for individual, noncom-mercial use only. However, unless prior permission has been obtained, you may not download an entire issue of a journal, or download multiple copies of articles.Please contact the publisher for any further use of this work at philstudies@admu.edu.ph.http://www.philippinestudies.netNOTES AND COMMENT the doom of a Catholic Church. Their secular instruction is taken from b l u ,  written by PnAahnta, and taught to them by Pro- tssbnb.. . Many readers will have remgdd in this statement an ex- aggerated criticism of the situation which up to recently prevailed in remud lo Religious Instruction in the Public Schools. And they will lament the fact that the writer's indignation caused him to be so careless of his facta. Certainly his statistics are away off. Moreover all the teachers are not Protestants. An unusually large number of the superintendents and principal teachers may be, but the rank and file of the teachers are Catholics. Obviously the pre- sent aystem has been open to some criticism; but one muet be careful not to exaggerate. It is not surprising that some discrepancies are noted be- tween the contemporary Religious Instruction situation and the above description. The remarkable thing is that there should be any resemblance. because the quoted passage is a description of the condition of Catholic children in the English poorhousee in August 1860, and appeared in the Dublin Review for that month from the pen of Father John Morris. It cannot but tickle the fancy of the reader that the Catholic children of this overwhelmingly Catholic nation should encounter, in however small a degree, the treatment meted out to the pauper children of English Catholics, at a time when Catholics were rm underprivileged minority, but recently emancipated, and atill hard- ly safe from physical persecution. It is only fair to add that things in the Philippines have taken a turn for the better and that responsible officials are alert to remove the hindrances which were so widespread a few years ago. Institute for Mission Apologetics "It is an ill wind that blows no one good." The Communist persecution which forcibly expelled thousands of foreign mission- aries from China has also occasioned some few useful by-products. There were some aspects of Missionary work for which i t  was thought-erroneously, perhaps-that men could not be  pared from the active apostolate, a t  least not as a full-time occupation. Among others, there was the problem of how the Faith should be presented to pagans. PHILIPPINE STUDIES Many missionaries had experienced the need for re-vitalizing that presentation-religious instruction, catechesis, initiation-but they lacked the specialized preparation necessary ; the specialists who also had mission experience were usually carrying a full load as professors of theology in seminaries. The enforced exile of those who have both the experience and specialized knowledge offered the opportunity of establishing a RIissionary Catechetieal Re- search Center in Manila, cross-roads of the Missions of the Far  East. Under the direction of Father Franz Burkhardt, S.J., Rector of the Kinghsien Seminary in exile, this group proposes to re-examine the whole problem of religious instruction in pagan lands and thus contribute to the great pastoral revival which is going on in the Church, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to help pas- tors in their Christ-given responsibilty of teaching all nations. The purpose of the center is two-fold: first, to re-think the Christian message itself in order that, by the grace of God, we may give to our fellow-beings, children and adult, a living faith. In Christian countries this important pastoral problem has been the subject of a great deal of research by specialists for some time. In mission countries this problem merite a t  least the same care. For thirty years now, beginning in Germany and France, the objectives in catechetics have been to adapt modern methods to religious instruction. At present catechetics is concentrating on the message ilself. Why strain oneself in teaching a doctrine which ie not at  the same time a way of life? Jesus said: "I am the Way." Why can't His gospel be a beautiful road leading to salvation and not a bone-dry catechism class? How many missionaries have felt that they were not getting their message across because it was too complicated, too much theological speculation, and too little the glad tidings which they were passing on? A multitude of de- tails to be learned, or duties to be known and fulfilled-a burden rather than a liberating message. The problem has to be re- thought in its historical setting and then a solution tried. The second purpose of the Center is to work out in the con- crete pastoral methods. "Among the causes that explain the spirit- *:pl distre~g of modern man there is, by the unanimous admission of those who give it, the lack of method in religious teaching." (P. Motte, Elements de Doctrine Spirituelle). Recently great prog- ress has been made in this field in Christian countries. But what about the missions? Without denying the excellent beginnings made here and there, we must admit that the greater part of the task remains to be done. The Center proposes to study methods now being used in the missions, evaluate them, suggest necessary or useful adaptations. NOTES AND COMMENT The high pedagogical value of a liturgy adapted to the needs of the people, a truly living liturgy for the instruction both of pagans and of neophytes must be obvious to all. The progress already accomplished in Europe will be invaluable. But ought we not to be able to hope even for more? In those Christian commu- nities in the missions where community praying has for a long time had a most special importance, for whom symbols retain a vigor elsewhere unknown, may we not hope for even greater suc- cess with a popular liturgy? We can only hope and pray that this Center, born of persecu- tion, may, with the help of those who oppose materialistic atheism, contribute, as English exiles long ago a t  Douay and Rheims con- tributed, to save the most precious possession of our persecuted Chinese Catholics, their faith in God and respect for the dignity of the human person. 

Institute for Mission Apologies

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Institute for Mission Apologies

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