Doing Mission: The Catholic Experience

Abstract

Concentrating on the “lived experience” of Maryknoll missioners, the author points to distinct changes in the perception of how mission is done. From 1911 until shortly after World War II, evangelization of non-Christians and developing an indigenous Catholic church were the traditional priorities. Mission was seen as a priestly function, and carried out from the top down, under the international oversight of the Propaganda Fide. Changes precipitating a dramatically new orientation, especially after the sixties, were: redeployment of missioners from China and Japan, the crucial experience of Latin America, mission decrees of Vatican II, and the new prominence given to local theology and ministry at the grass-roots. Today's missioners, Casey believes, are being profoundly transformed by the cultural, religious, and political contexts in which they work.