Religion in Europe: Catholicism: Missionaries

Sources

The Role of Missionaries. European missionaries to the Americas served two primary purposes. The explorers, monarchs financing the voyages, and missionaries themselves would argue that the more important reason was the Christianizing of the native peoples. Many “heathens” awaited conversion. Missionaries not only would help save “savages” from eternal damnation but also would help fulfill the larger project of spreading Christianity throughout the world, thereby helping to effect the Last Days or second coming of Christ. Sending missionaries to the Americas served a second purpose, too. The Catholic Church wanted to send Catholics to spread the faith all over the world and thus check the growth of Protestantism. Likewise, Protestants used missionaries to disseminate their religious beliefs.

Catholic Success. Catholic missionaries were more successful than Protestants in the sixteenth century, for Catholics had the support of the Church and of monarchs. Dominicans, Franciscans, and especially the Jesuits each saw their endeavors become successful even if their work took time. In contrast French Protestants had trouble establishing themselves in South Carolina and Florida. Later, in the seventeenth century, English Puritans, led most notably by minister John Eliot, realized some of the desired results in ministering to the Native Americans.

Dominicans. The Dominican Order of the Catholic Church began as a preaching order in southern France in the early thirteenth century. It was created, in large part, to address the changes resulting from the transformations of feudal governments to more centralized ones and of economies that were becoming more urban. The Dominicans also responded to the growing impact of lay preachers. Living as mendicant friars according to the rule of St. Augustine, which included dedication to study, the Dominicans stressed the contemplative life and apostolic ministry. To realize the former, they took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. For the latter they stressed evangelism and education; indeed, they stressed mobility and the need to be “in the world.” The Protestant Reformation did much damage to the Dominican Order. However the brothers compensated for this decimation with overseas expansion. The first Dominican friars came to America in 1510. Dominicans were among the founders, with Antonio de Montesinos, of the colony of San Miguel in 1526, near where Jamestown would later be founded. Montesinos, with the support and encouragement of the Dominicans, was a champion of Indian rights. Life, however, proved too difficult, and ultimately the colony failed. Other Dominicans tried to show a modicum of respect for the Native Americans. Bernadino de Minaya, a Dominican who settled in Peru, obtained a papal bull in 1537 which asserted that the natives were not “dumb brutes,” nor were they incapable of learning the Catholic faith. Bartholomé de las Casas, who perhaps more than any other missionary was a champion of charitable treatment of the natives, became a Dominican in 1523. Despite the good work of many Dominicans, others were not as open-minded (and perhaps more typical); one Dominican friar remarked that Indians ate human flesh and were hostile to religion.

Franciscans. The Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church is actually several groups who profess to live according

to the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi. Taking vows of austerity and poverty, the Franciscans held intellectual dominance until the Reformation. Although this was lost, the Franciscans were still an accomplished order.

Zeal. Reforming impulses led to the reinvigoration of the Franciscan order, especially in Spain. Much of their success came in their ambitious missionary activity, again, especially by the Spanish Franciscans. The Franciscans’ imperative was to be “in the world” rather than a cloistered monastic order. Wherever there were Spanish expeditions, so too were there Franciscans. Five Franciscans went to San Domingo with Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1527. In 1539 Franciscans accompanied an expedition to the Gulf of California and another to New Mexico. After the Jesuits’ unsuccessful attempts at conversion in Florida, the Franciscans took advantage of the void and stepped in after 1584.

Activity in the New World. By 1635 approximately five Franciscan groups were supporting forty-five missions and shepherding nearly thirty thousand Indian converts. In many instances the Franciscans had attempted to translate the catechism into native languages and offered elementary schooling to the Indians. However, this was not always the case: in northern Mexico the Franciscan missionaries made no attempt to understand either the language or culture of their intended audience. Without a sensitive understanding of the Native Americans the missionaries were unsuccessful, and their activities were often met with resistance and violence.

Jesuits. The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, an order of the Catholic Church, was founded by St. Ignatius Loyola. Born in Spain, Ignatius Loyola had been educated in the chivalric tradition. After he was severely wounded in the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, Loyola began for the first time to contemplate religious questions. He underwent conversion and was ordained a priest in Paris. Along with fellow students, he created the Society of Jesus. The group made a special vow to God: they would travel anywhere in the world when the Pope so commanded. In this vow they sought to emulate Jesus, who had followed an itinerant life. As missionaries the Jesuits departed from an older view of Catholic orders, which emphasized cloistering, intense study, and reflection and a separation from the world. Christian life, the Jesuits emphasized, was not static. They aimed to effect perfection and salvation in themselves and the general population.

Achieving Their Aims. To achieve this goal the Jesuits placed great importance on teaching, especially through preaching. They believed they were called to preach and thought they could have the most far-reaching effects by preaching in public places. The Jesuits also organized schools; by 1556 they had set up thirty-three schools in Europe. Schools were meant to help “our neighbors,” including the poor. They taught the laity as well as the clergy. Teaching and establishing schools gave the Society of Jesus an evangelical bent. Although the Society was not founded to counter the Reformation, the order became tremendously popular in France, and Jesuits played a major role in keeping France from falling completely into Protestant hands.

Efforts Abroad. Obeying their vows to go anywhere in the world, Spanish Jesuits were particularly active as missionaries in the Americas. They went to Florida in 1527, 1539, and 1549. However, it was not until 1565 that they established a colony of even minimal success. They helped found St. Augustine, Florida, but as living conditions were difficult and they disagreed among themselves and with the lay explorers about how to set up the colony, they were soon replaced by the Franciscans. Spanish Jesuits also went to areas in northern Mexico and the American Southwest. French Jesuits met with greater success. French explorers such as Champlain asked for Jesuit assistance in converting Indians in the vast amounts of land to be colonized. In New France

(Nova Scotia, Acadia, and the St. Lawrence River Valley) the Jesuits established a solid presence. By 1600 the Jesuits had founded nearly 250 schools around the world. While they might have converted many native peoples, it is difficult to know if the Indians truly understood and believed their teachings or were acting diplomatically. Often the Jesuits’ methods included showing the native peoples that their own religious leaders were ineffective and that only the Jesuits could bring about positive change.

Sources

William A. Hinnebusch, The History of the Dominican Order (New York: Alba House, 1973);

Lazaro Iriarte, Franciscan History: The Three Orders of St. Francis of Assisi, translated by Patricia Rose (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1983);

John W. O’Malley, “The Society of Jesus,” in Religious Orders of the Catholic Reformation, edited by Richard L. DeMoen (New York: Fordham University Press, 1994).