In search of spices and Christians, Portuguese traders arrived in China's Canton Province during 1514 and established a settlement in Macao two years later. Over the next several centuries, Catholic missioners such as Jesuits, Franciscans, Augustinians and others arrived in Kwangtung Province and Catholicism there began to flourish.
By 1704, approximately 40,000 Catholics lived in Kwangtung. Two decades later, however, a ban on the Catholic religion was issued throughout China. Churches were confiscated and converts were ordered to renounce their faith. Missioners were expelled, with the exception of several Jesuits at the Peking court.
The church's involvement with China remained in flux for more than 200 years. By 1918, as the Catholic population in Kwangtung expanded to 65,000, a small group of French missionary priests, known as the Parish Foreign Mission Society, or Missions Etrangères de Paris (M.E.P.), were unable to provide sufficient support.
At this same time, the Catholic Foreign Missionary Society of America, more well-known today as Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, had been approved by Pope Pius X. Maryknoll co-founder Father James A. Walsh already had developed relationships with Catholic missioners in China. He sent donations and Mass intentions to them and they provided him with letters and photographs that he published in his magazine, The Field Afar, the predecessor to Maryknoll magazine. This exchange developed friendships and provided Father Walsh with significant information about the mission needs in China.
China Becomes Maryknoll's First Mission
Even before Maryknoll accepted its first seminarians, Father Walsh and fellow co-founder Father Thomas F. Price had agreed that China was the land where missioners would be most needed. But, while they preferred to start in China, most of the country already had been divided among a dozen missionary organizations. The task for Maryknoll was to find a prelate in China willing to yield some assigned territory.
Though Father Walsh continued to exchange correspondence with the many religious contacts he had made in China, he was unable to find a place in China for Maryknoll. He had received unofficial news of a possible district that would be offered to Maryknoll, but, at that point, the offer remained vague. So, he decided to go on a mission-finding tour of the Far East, traveling to China, Japan and Korea, and he asked readers of The Field Afar to pray that the trip would successfully lead to the establishment of a Maryknoll mission.
During each stop of his trip, Father Walsh was courteously received and learned that there was a need for missioners. However, he could not persuade anyone to turn over a portion of territory to Maryknoll. He then placed his hope in two of his best friends and allies in China, Father Lẻon Robert, M.E.P., and Bishop Jean-Baptiste Budes de Guẻbriant.
All three met on December 17, 1917 and agreed on a mission. According to Father Walsh: "...after a short prayer to the Holy Spirit we signed the agreement by which...The Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America should be entrusted with its first mission, that of Yeungkong and Loting in the province of Kwangtung...it was the Christ Child's gift to our young Society."
Father Bernard Meyer MM in ChinaLess than one year later, on September 8, 1918, the first group of Marykollers left for Yeungkong. Father Price led three young priests, Father James E. Walsh, Father Francis X. Ford and Father Bernard F. Meyer. They soon became leaders of new mission areas entrusted to Maryknoll and they supported the development of the apostolate of the Society and the congregation in China.
Maryknoll's Mission Grows
The first mission, however, was far from attractive. It consisted of two civil districts that were not connected. One was on the coast west of Canton and the other in the interior along the West River. The territory mostly was rural and English was of little use. Dispersed among a population of one million Chinese, 680 Catholics lived in small communities. They faced long and harsh winters, typhoons during summer and a variety of vermin and disease, poor living conditions and, eventually, the Communist takeover.
Within a few years, additional territories that connected the two original districts were turned over to Maryknoll. By March 1924, it became the prefecture apostolic of Kongmoon with 10 districts, five of them overseen by Maryknoll, covering 15,445 square miles.
Father James E Walsh with Fr Daniel McShaneDuring the early years, Maryknoll was guided by the M.E.P. priests from who they inherited the territory. After a period of adaptation under the supervision of an older missioner, each Maryknoll priest was sent on his own to a parish that was composed of a central station and several outstations. Most central stations housed a rectory, the church, the dispensary and possibly a convent, a church-run school, an orphanage and a facility to tend to seniors.
As the years passed, Maryknollers received assignments beyond the designated territories. One priest was assigned to Peking to unify the work of missions. Another helped with refugees while a third served with the local bureau of the Red Cross to buy food, inspect food kitchens and aid with medical needs.
Shortly after the end of World War II, one of the original Maryknoll priests to enter China, now Bishop James E. Walsh, accepted the post of executive secretary of the Catholic Central Bureau of China in Shanghai. He chose to remain at his post even after Communists overran the city. Arrested during 1958 and imprisoned until his departure during 1970, he spent some of his time in solitary confinement.
To learn more about Maryknoll's mission in China and in many other countries, visit http://maryknollsociety.org. A book written by Jean-Paul Wiest, Maryknoll in China, was published during 1988 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc. of Armonk, New York, and London, UK.
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Photos: Maryknoll Mission Archives
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