History
Direct evangelization was a key part of Maryknoll’s mission in mainland China. It is a system of attracting converts to Catholicism through person-to-person contact and relationship-building. Direct evangelization added a personal touch to someone’s conversion journey – rather than expecting someone to convert to Catholicism of their own accord, the Maryknollers approached people directly with the faith.
Maryknollers used three main methods of direct evangelization. These three methods were used to varying degrees in all Maryknoll mission territories in mainland China.
Method I
In Wuchow, Fr. Bernard Meyer developed a system of catechists and catechism schools to attract converts. Maryknoll trained dozens of local Catholics to be catechists (teachers of Catholic doctrine). The catechists went into far-off communities, spoke to the people about Catholicism, and taught them the catechism. Maryknollers relied on these catechists to develop relationships with new Catholics, especially if there were no Maryknollers nearby. After the local catechist had grown the Catholic community, a Maryknoll Father could come to perform the sacraments, but it was the catechist’s job to help maintain the faith of the community.
Method II
In Kaying, Fr. Francis Ford developed a system of Maryknoller-led evangelization. The Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters lived in villages with few Catholics, teaching about Catholicism and getting to know the community personally. They attracted converts through these personal relationships. Once the number of local Catholics grew, a priest would go to the next village to start the process again. Priests also went on mission trips, visiting several small villages outside their home village to see any Catholics, preach, and offer the sacraments. Catechism schools in Kaying were run directly by Maryknollers, instead of local catechists as in Wuchow. The Maryknoll Sisters were key to direct evangelization in Kaying. The Sisters lived in pairs in remote villages and spoke to the people directly about the Church. This evangelization method was very unusual, as Sisters usually stayed tied to a convent in a city doing institutional works. The Maryknoll Sisters instead lived among the people, bolstered Catholic communities, and connected with local women to train them to be catechists. The Maryknollers recognized that Chinese women were much more likely to befriend the Sisters than the Fathers or Brothers. Once a Sister made a connection with a Chinese woman, often her whole family would follow her into Catholicism.
Method III
In the late 1930s, Maryknollers began new lay-person-led programs of direct evangelization. These were local parish groups called sodalities. Sodalities were groups for lay people which met for specific religious or charitable purposes. Different sodalities met for different reasons. One may be the Bible study group for teens; one may be the committee of women who take care of church decoration; one may be the group of men who raise money for the local hospital. When members of the local community were regular church-goers and members of sodalities, they raised awareness of the Church. Non-Catholics became more aware of the activities and teachings of the Church through their neighbors and friends, and were more likely to participate in Church activities themselves.
Collections Related to Direct Evangelization
MFBA China Missions Collection, Series 1-4
MFBA Mission Diaries Collection, Series 2 Subseries 1 and 4-7
MFBA Newsletters, Series 2 Subseries 1
MFBA China History Project Records, Series 7 Subseries 3-5
MSA China-Hong Kong-Macau Missions Collection, Series 4, 6-8, and 11