Paris Foreign Missions Society

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The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (French: Missions Étrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary order. It was established 1658-63.

Its chief founders were Mgr Pallu, Bishop of Heliopolis, Vicar apostolic of Tonkin, and Mgr Lambert de la Motte, Bishop of Beirut, Vicar Apostolic of Cochinchina. Both bishops left France (1660-62) to go to their respective missions, and crossed Persia and India on foot. The object of the new society was and is still the evangelization of non-Christian countries, by founding churches and raising up a native clergy under the jurisdiction of the bishops. In order that the society might recruit members and administer its property, a house was established in 1663 by the priests whom the vicars Apostolic had appointed their agents. This house, whose directors were to form young priests to the apostolic life and transmit to the bishops the offerings made by charity, was, and is still situated in Paris in the Rue de Bac. Known from the beginning as the seminary of Foreign Missions, its secured the approval of Pope Alexander VII, and the legal recognition of the French Government.

Contents 1 1658-1800 2 Nineteenth century 3 Missions of Japan and Korea 3.1 Total number of: 4 Missions of China and Tibet 4.1 Total number of: 5 Missions of Eastern Indo-China 5.1 Total number of: 6 Missions of Western Indo-China 6.1 Total number of: 7 Missions of India 7.1 Total number of: 8 External links

[edit] 1658-1800

The chief events of this period were: the publication of the book Institutions apostoliques, which contains the germ of the principles of the rule, the foundation of the general seminary in Ayutthaya, Siam, the evangelization of Tonkin, Cochinchina, Cambodia, and Siam, where more than 40,000 Christians were baptized, the creation of an institute of Annamite nuns known as "Lovers of the Cross", the establishment of rules among catechists, and the ordination of thirty native priests. Besides these events of purely religious interest there were others in the political order: through their initiative a more active trade was established between Indo-China, the Indies, and France; embassies were sent from place to place; treaties were signed; a French expedition to Siam took possession of Bangkok, Mergin, and Jonselang, and France came close to possessing an Indo-Chinese empire, though failed, with a knock-on effect on the missions.

In the second half of the eighteenth century the Society was charged with the missions which the Jesuits had possessed in India prior to their suppression in Portugal. Many of the Jesuits remained there. The missions thereupon assumed new life, especially in Szechuan, under bishops Pottier and Dufresse, and in Cochinchina, where Mgr Pigneau de Behaine acted as an agent for the king in making a treaty with France. At the end of the eighteenth century the French Revolution halted the growth of the society, which had previously been very rapid. At that time it had six bishops, a score of missionaries, assisted by 135 native priests; in the various missions there were nine seminaries with 250 students, and 300,000 Christians. Each year the number of baptisms rose on an average of 3000 to 3500; that of infant baptisms in articulo mortis was more than 100,000.

[edit] Nineteenth century

Several causes contributed to the rapid growth of the Society in the nineteenth century; chiefly the charity of the Propagation of the Faith and the Society of the Holy Childhood. Each bishop received annually 1200 francs, each mission had its general needs and works allowance, which varied according to its importance, and could amount to from 10,000 to 30,000 francs. The second cause was persecution. Fifteen missionaries died in prison or were beheaded during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the beginning of the nineteenth century; but after that those killed among the missionaries were very numerous. (See Martyr Saints of China).

The best known were:

• 1815
  • Mgr Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, vicar Apostolic of Szechuan
• 1833 to 1838
  • Gagelin
  • Marchand
  • Jaccard
  • Cornay
  • Dumoulin-Borie
• 1850 to 1862
  • Schoeffler
  • Vénard
  • Bonnard
  • Néron
  • Chapdelaine
  • Néel
  • Cuenot, vicar Apostolic of Eastern Cochinchina

These persecutions were described in Europe by books, pamphlets, annals, and journals, inspiring numerous young men either with the desire for martyrdom or that of evangelization. They played a part in inspiring European nations, especially France and England, to intervene in Indochina and China. Another cause of the progress of the missionaries was the ease and frequency of communication in consequence of the invention of steam and the opening of the Suez Canal. A voyage could be made safely in one month which formerly required eight to ten months amid many dangers.

The following table shows the state of the missions at the turn of the Twentieth Century:

[edit] Missions of Japan and Korea Tokio Nagasaki Osaka Hakodate Korea [edit] Total number of: Catholics, 138,624 churches or chapels, 238 bishops and missionaries, 166 native priests, 48 catechists, 517 seminaries, 4 seminarists, 81 communities of men and women, 44, containing 390 persons schools, 161, with 9024 pupils orphanages and work-rooms, 38, with 988 children pharmacies, dispensaries, and hospitals, 19

[edit] Missions of China and Tibet Western Szechuan Eastern Szechuan Southern Szechuan Yunnan Kouy-tcheou Guangdong Kouang-si Southern Manchuria Northern Manchuria [edit] Total number of: Catholics, 272,792 churches or chapels, 1392 bishops and missionaries, 408 native priests, 191 catechists, 998 seminaries, 19 seminarists, 661 communities of men and women, 23, with 222 members schools, 1879, with 31,971 pupils orphanages and work-rooms, 132, with 4134 children pharmacies, dispensaries, and hospitals, 364

[edit] Missions of Eastern Indo-China Tongking Cochinchina Cambodia [edit] Total number of: Catholics, 632,830 churches or chapels, 2609 bishops and missionaries, 365 native priests, 491 catechists, 1153 seminaries, 14 seminarists, 1271 communities of men and women, 91, with 2538 persons schools, 1859, with 58,434 pupils orphanages and work-rooms, 106, with 7217 children pharmacies, dispensaries, and hospitals, 107

[edit] Missions of Western Indo-China Siam Malacca Laos Southern Burma Northern Burma [edit] Total number of: Catholics, 132,226 churches or chapels, 451 bishops and missionaries, 199 native priests, 42 catechists, 242 seminaries, 3 seminarists, 81 communities of men and women, 47, with 529 members schools, 320, with 21,306 pupils orphanages and work-rooms, 132, with 3757 children pharmacies, dispensaries, and hospitals, 86

[edit] Missions of India Pondicherry Mysore Coimbatore Kumbakonam [edit] Total number of: Catholics, 324,050 churches or chapels, 1048 bishops and missionaries, 207 native priests, 67 catechists, 274 seminaries, 4 seminarists, 80 communities of men and women, 54, with 787 members schools, 315, with 18,693 pupils orphanages and work-rooms, 57, with 2046 children pharmacies, dispensaries, and hospitals, 41

A sanatorium for sick missionaries was established in Hong Kong; another in India among the Nilgiri mountains, and a third in France. In Hong Kong there were also a house of spiritual retreat and a printing establishment which published works of art of the Far East - dictionaries, grammars, books of theology, piety, Christian doctrine, and pedagogy. Houses of correspondence, or agencies, were established in the Far East, in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, and one in Marseilles, France.

[edit] External links

• Official Website (French)
• This article incorporates text from the entry Society of Foreign Missions of Paris in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.