A Joyful Spectrum of Service

In 1853 a small group of nuns arrived on the waterfront of New York City commencing the service of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to New York City and its environs. In time the Dominicans served in health care, education, parish work, and a myriad of social services. The evolution of the Order of Preachers in New York eventually included friars, nuns, sisters, and lay members—a singular distinction. The Dominican roots in New York spread to other parts of the United States and to various foreign missions.

Living Among the Northland Māori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 1844–1846.

If Antoine-Marie Garin is remembered today, it’s likely to be in Nelson, where he was Roman Catholic parish priest for very nearly forty years (1850-89). Born in eastern France, near Lyon, in 1810 to a comfortable middle-class family, Garin trained as a priest for his local diocese but after ordination and three years of parish work he joined the new missionary order, the Society of Mary. Marist priests and brothers had already accompanied Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pompallier to Aotearoa in 1838; Garin was one of a number who arrived early in 1841. In late 1843 Garin went to Mangakāhia, to run the Kaipara mission, and it is his time there which is the subject of this book. It is worth noting here that Garin is one of a significant number of Frenchmen and Frenchwomen from around Lyon who were influential in New Zealand Catholicism, from Pompallier himself to Suzanne Aubert, and, indirectly, the founder of the Society of Mary, Jean-Claude Colin. Garin, therefore, dedicated his Mangakāhia mission to St Irenaeus, Hato Irene, as well as to the Holy Rosary, for St Ireneaus was an early second-century bishop of Lyon.

World Council of Churches towards Migration and Poverty

The article is an outlook on the process of migration from the point of view of the World Council of Churches. It mainly examines the key document of the WCC on this subject: The „other” is my neighbour. Developing an ecumenical response to migration. From Christian perspective the people of God is in constant pilgrimage on this Earth, as proved by story of Israel and in the life of Jesus and his disciples. Migration considerably changes the ecclesial landscape of the country of exodus and of the country of destination. Cultural, linguistic, theological and liturgical enrichment of the countries of settlement means in the same time the impoverishment of the countries abandoned by migrants from the same values. One of the main reasons of migration is poverty. The last however may also be a result of migration, if displacement is caused by war or persecutions. The migrants are often exposed to exploitation and unfair treatment. The diagnosis by WCC leads to issuing of a series of recommendations for the Churches: treating migrants with dignity, providing pastoral support, incorporating migrants into the parish work and liturgical celebrations, etc. By applying the rule of love of one’s neighbour Christians should made every effort to welcome migrants and make them home in the local ecclesial communities.

Jurisdictional Boundaries in the Making: The Case of Parish Diaconal Work in Finland

Diaconal workers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland have traditionally worked on the borderline between parish work and public welfare services. However, the role of parish diaconal workers in social services and nursing services has diminished as the Finnish welfare state has expanded. In conjunction with this downsizing, the so-called intra-church diaconate process has re-demarcated parish diaconal work. Andrew Abbott’s theory of how professional jurisdictions are negotiated in the societal arenas in which different actors are engaged inspired the analysis in this article. Using Thomas F. Gieryn’s concept of boundary work, the jurisdictional settlements that reshape professional parish diaconal work are examined. It is argued that institutional boundary work and disputes over whether the culture of diaconal work is secular or spiritual, serve to renew its cultural jurisdiction.

“I Heard it through the Grapevine”: Analysis of an Anti-Secularization Initative in the Sixteenth-Century Arequipan Countryside, 1584–1600

Franciscan historian Antonine Tibesar’s study of the early evangelical accomplishments of the Franciscan Order in the Andes constitutes a landmark contribution to an insufficiently examined subject. Trying to detach his work from Joachimist debates, Tibesar did not deem the spirituality shared by peninsular friars to be relevant in explaining their poor early evangelical results. Although Tibesar acknowledged such shortcomings, he sustained that they were caused by an apathetic Franciscan engagement in parish work among the Indians. The inexperience of Spanish friars and the turmoil of the civil wars that ravaged the Andes in the aftermath of the conquest greatly explain this situation, he sustains. Additionally, Tibesar advances the idea that the undecided approach towards Indian conversion amongst sixteenth-century Franciscan authorities was the major cause of these first evangelical failures. Troubled by the hardships of life in Indian parishes and concerned about the lack of familiarity with parish administration among the Order’s ranks, the Franciscan establishment sent the friars contradictory orders, thus preventing them from bringing together a more coherent evangelical plan.

“I Heard it through the Grapevine”: Analysis of an Anti-Secularization Initative in the Sixteenth-Century Arequipan Countryside, 1584–1600

Franciscan historian Antonine Tibesar’s study of the early evangelical accomplishments of the Franciscan Order in the Andes constitutes a landmark contribution to an insufficiently examined subject. Trying to detach his work from Joachimist debates, Tibesar did not deem the spirituality shared by peninsular friars to be relevant in explaining their poor early evangelical results. Although Tibesar acknowledged such shortcomings, he sustained that they were caused by an apathetic Franciscan engagement in parish work among the Indians. The inexperience of Spanish friars and the turmoil of the civil wars that ravaged the Andes in the aftermath of the conquest greatly explain this situation, he sustains. Additionally, Tibesar advances the idea that the undecided approach towards Indian conversion amongst sixteenth-century Franciscan authorities was the major cause of these first evangelical failures. Troubled by the hardships of life in Indian parishes and concerned about the lack of familiarity with parish administration among the Order’s ranks, the Franciscan establishment sent the friars contradictory orders, thus preventing them from bringing together a more coherent evangelical plan.

Developing Indigenous Leadership in Miskito Evangelization

The author describes an approach to evangelization motivated both by the shortage of priests and by the need to be relevant in the Miskito setting. Native lay evangelizers, democratically selected by their own peoples, were given training in an institute to become leaders of local groups of believers. Because the men who merited and gained the respect of the group were often older and illiterate, they were usually assisted by younger, literate aids. Periodic meetings of a day or two, and annual sessions for further training became occasions also for development of esprit de corps and for group planning of the pastoral ministry. Priests spend most of their time in the training program, while the native evangelizers carry on most of the day-to-day evangelization and parish work. Other ingredients in this effective, culturally relevant program include frequent youth conferences, and a cooperative program for mutual help in agriculture, health, and other aspects of human welfare. The entire approach is genuinely indigenous and effectively integrated, and is on the whole quite successful, though there are problems.