By Frans De Ridder, cicm
We are celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Théophile Verbist, our Founder. Our Taiwan Missionary Community held its recollection from 7 to 9 February 2022. Together we reflected on the charism of our Founder. We remembered and prayed about the two pillars of his foundational charism: The abandoned children in China and the conversion of infidels. I want to share a few words on these two aspects of our missionary priorities two hundred years after the birth of our Founder.
Abandoned Children
CICM in Taiwan was among the pioneers to introduce programs for “special children.” Schools founded and animated by CICM have Special Education Programs. Nowadays, couples expecting a child go for prenatal scanning. If the child has any unusual symptoms or is not the “gender” they want, abortion is the most “common” practice.
There are many children abandoned before they are even born. Abortion is like cancer deeply rooted in Taiwan, among the highest worldwide. It is even considered one of the down-to-earth, practical ways of family planning. Not only is abortion a difficult aspect of this society, but also many people do not want babies at all. More and more young people do not want to get married. I think that it would be a sign of faithfulness to our Founder to be “pro-life.” CICM should strongly advocate for beautiful families where children are considered a blessing in our pastoral care to couples and young people!
Conversion of Infidels
Who are the infidels today? For our Founder and his companions, I assume that the “infidels” were the non-Catholics or non-Christians. In the light of the documents of Vatican II, we believe that we must pay attention to God’s self-revelation in other religions. This calls for greater attention to Interreligious Dialogue. Reading an essay by Cardinal de Kesel of Belgium, I observed his great concern for the growing influence of Islam in Belgium. Number 16 of Lumen Gentium and Nostra Aetate give a strong impetus for us to reflect upon and take initiatives in the area of discovering God’s presence in other religions. Religions have to become partners at the service of God’s Kingdom.
Language Study
However, the point that struck me most was the awareness of how limited our Founder’s command of the Chinese Language must have been. And I do not blame him. He was already in his early forties and hadn’t had any time to learn Chinese before departing for China. Once in China, he was busy organizing the prefecture. He was writing countless letters to Belgium, among many others, for fundraising and vocation promotion so that soon more young missionaries could come to China. In a certain way, he was “lucky” that the Eucharist, the sacraments, and songs and prayers were still in Latin. Then, after hardly two years in the China Mission, our Founder died.
Théophile Verbist had no access to any Language School like us today. The MEP (Missions Étrangères de Paris) can now spend three years in language study. Reflecting upon this aspect of our Founder, I began to admire him even more for his humility and tenacity. Our Founder was almost entirely dependent upon lay helpers and Paul Splingaerd – the legendary young helper in his early twenties and a handyman with a “knack” for languages.
Even for us today, three years of full-time language study is, by far, not yet enough. One of our good friends, a member of the Missionaries of Bethlehem, who died at the age of 90, was asked what was the most challenging part of being a missionary in Taiwan after more than sixty years in the country. Without any hesitation: “the Chinese language...” he sighed.
Language study is one of the most important aspects of inculturation and respect for the “soul” of the people with whom we want to share the Good News. Language study is an essential part of Ongoing Formation. Getting along with day-to-day Chinese is not enough. Unfortunately, many of us are not familiar enough with Chinese literature or the classics of Confucius, Mencius, Zhuang Zhe, Chinese poetry, or Chinese religions.1 Thanks to this recollection about our Founder, I made a new commitment to put in more effort and have the tenacity of our Founder to go on, no matter how little progress I can still make at my age. I turned 82 in April 2022.
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1. Here, I would recommend the book BEYOND EAST AND WEST, (in Dutch, Boven Oost en West) by John Wu.
