Claretian Formation

CLARETIAN MISSIONS IN ASIA AND OCEANIA

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul (Founded in 1982) East Asian Delegation.

In September of 1982 the first two Claretians arrived from the Philippines to South Korea, concretely to Seoul, where they were welcomed by the Maryknoll Fathers. Soon, after an experience of two months’ stay in the Presbyterian Seminary, they moved to stay with the Franciscans because their residence was near the school. The situation was favourable due to the growth of the Korean Church. In 1983 they obtained their first own residence. In 1985 they formed, together with Japan, the East Asian Delegation.

Soon after, they started their pastoral activities in parishes, hospitals and religious communities, as well as their vocation promotion work. In 1987 they accepted a parish in the diocese of Inchon. The number of Christians was about 1,000, mostly peasants and workers. The greatest difficulty is the learning of the language and the adaptation to the cultural reality of Korea. They are trying to go into other non-parochial work, especially among the youth, workers, Justice and Peace groups, the sick, etc. The formation of religious is another challenge they have to meet. The first formation structure they built was the noviciate. In 1992 the first priestly ordination of two Korean Claretians took place.

In 1994 a formation house and a centre for Retreats and Recollections was established in Kwangju, a city of one and a half million inhabitants.

PHILIPPINES

Basilan (Founded in 1951) Province of the Philippines.

This island received the Gospel for the first time in the XVII century from the Spanish Jesuits. All throughout the years its Christian community went through many vicissitudes and was without pastoral attention for long periods of time. Out of its 280,000 inhabitants, only 30% are Catholic and the rest are Moslems, distributed in different ethnic groups or cultural minorities; Yakans, Samals, Badjaos and Tausugs.

Some of the Claretian missionaries expelled from China arrived there in 1951. Some years later, one of them was appointed bishop when the mission was made a Prelature in 1964. For several years, the Claretian USA West Province collaborated with Bishop Querexeta in the eastern part of the Island, and the Betica Province in the western zone. In addition to the pastoral service to the Christians, several schools, clinics and a radio station were opened at the service of the human and cultural development of all the inhabitants of the island. The cultural and religious barriers, lately aggravated by fundamentalist attitudes, have always been a serious challenge to the missionary activity. In addition to English, Visayan and Chabacano (a sort of Creole Spanish language or Pidgin Spanish) spoken by the Christian sector, it was necessary to learn also Yakan, Samal, Badjao and Tausug in order to bring the missionary activity closer to the Moslems. 

Bro. Joseph M. Torres became especially popular through his work in the clinic of Lamitan. In 1972 a new very sad phase began in the history of this young Church, with the declaration of Martial Law on the part of the dictator Marcos and the secessionist rebellion on the part of the Moslems. War broke out with unprecedented violence and death. Just when Moslem fundamentalism was becoming more and more radical, the Church opened up to a dialogue of life with them. During these years the work of indigenisation of clergy and religious was intensified, turning over to them most of our pastoral and cultural institutions, while the Claretians went towards the front lines of the dialogue of life with the Moslem brothers. At present we still keep three small parishes with a Catholic minority of 10%. The main efforts are carried out through many programs among the Moslem cultural minorities, with whom we try to establish an authentic dialogue of life and faith by accepting them with their religion and culture and promoting the cause of reconciliation, of justice and of peace.

INDIA

Kuravilangad-Bangalore (Founded in 1970) Province of Bangalore.

To the south of the immense Indian territory we find one of the most flourishing regions of Christianity: Kerala, of oriental rite, where Kuravilangad belongs. The Congregation saw there the possibility of establishing a mission centre that could in time extend to the entire peninsula. The German Province threw itself into this task from the very beginning and to this end it did not spare any means to bring about this work that appeared to be so promising. The first vocations were sent to Germany for their studies. At present the native missionaries are many and the number of vocations continues increasing. The first Seminary was founded in Kuravilangad in 1970. In 1971 the Claretians are already in Bangalore. In 1982 their missionary activity spreads to Bhattiprolu, Medchal and Nallajerla (Andra Pradesh), a mostly Hindu zone. In 1984 the Province of India is erected and becomes independent from Germany that continues working in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

The Claretian presence in the Northeast of India goes back to the year 1984. The Claretian Missionaries were invited by the Bishop of Tura Meghalaya, a zone inhabited by tribal groups coming from Mongolia, China and Burma whose orography includes great mountains and hills, impenetrable forests, rivers and wild animals… About 50% of the inhabitants are Catholic. Catholicism had arrived to this area one hundred years earlier. In 1986 the house of studies of Shillong was opened. In 1988 the Archbishop of Bangalore invited the Claretians to assume a rural zone of his diocese, an area of 30 sq. km., 40 km. from Bangalore, with only 17 Catholic families. That same year the mission centre of Peddabayalu was opened. This is an exclusively tribal zone of Andra Pradesh, where the very word missionary is suspicious due to earlier political intrigues of the missionaries. For all practical purposes, there are no Catholics in the zone. In 1989 the mission of Wardha, state of Maharashtra, was inaugurated. Also in 1989 the “All Saints” mission was established in Rongra, a centre of 45 villages along the border with Bangladesh. And in the same year the “Saint Anthony M. Claret” mission was assumed in Ampathi, in the centre of the tribal zone of Garo, with 44 villages in a radius of 20 km.

In 1994, a dependent Delegation is established within this Province for the Catholics of Syro-Malabar rite, comprising the houses of Kuravilangad, Wardha and Uythiri missions, and the parishes of Bangalore.

Karumathur (Founded in 1976) Province of Chennai.

In 1974 the native Claretians of India started their first mission in Karumathur, spiritual centre of the Kallars, 25 km. away from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. When the Claretians started working in India in 1970, they considered raising autochthonous vocations as their priority. To this end they placed a missionary in this zone with the intention of establishing a Seminary and a mission. Because the Kallars are poor and dwell in small villages, they started with the “Claret Social Service Centre,” that began by digging out drinking water wells, creating schools and organising health centres.

The Province of India was separated from Germany in 1984, while Karumathur, the zone of Tamil Nadu and the mission of Sri Lanka became that same year a Delegation dependent from Germany. It also kept Barrackpore, diocese of Calcutta, to the north. In Karumathur, in addition to the Seminary, a mission parish is also attended in non-Christian territory, with an impressive work of human promotion among the Hindus.

In 1993 the new Claretian Province of Madras, today Chennai, is created, comprising the Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Orissa areas and South-eastern Bihar. That same year the missions of Silda, Amarda and Tolahar are founded. The Sri Lanka mission continues as a mission of Germany.

INDONESIA

Suai-East Timor (Founded in 1991) Philippine Province.

The first contact with Timor was made through the Timorese residents of the Claretian Parish of Darwin, Australia. In 1987 the first visit to the zone took place with a view to the foundation. East Timor has 13 regions and 12 cities with more than 710,000 inhabitants, of which 90% are Catholic. Fohorem, 20,000 inhabitants, lies about 25 km. from Suai and from here to Dili, capital of East Timor, there are about 205 km. It is a very mountainous zone, with peaks of up to 1,500 m. The roads are not very good. One has to cross about 20 rivers, some of which do not even have a bridge, and wading across them can be an ordeal due to the rains and strong currents. The local language of East Timor is Tetum, although the official language of Indonesia is the Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language). There are about 32 dialects. The people are simple and hardworking. The churches are packed with people during the Eucharistic celebrations, even on weekdays. The Claretians work in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, since the foundation began on May 13.

The Claretians also assumed the region of Bobonaro, about 250,000 inhabitants, adjacent to the mission of Fohorem, also in a mountainous zone (from 1,000 to 3,000 meters high). It is the largest mission territory of the diocese of Dili. Since 1992 the Major Seminary has also been functioning in Kupang, provincial capital in West Timor.

Lately there has been a great increase of vocations. The Claretians too have thrived in this field. We already have Claretian Seminarians and our own Seminary. In 1995 the first 13 native Claretian Seminarians made their first profession. At present a new formation post is being created in Yogyakarta. In 1997 this territory was constituted as a Dependent Delegation of the Philippine Province. In 1999 the first native priest was ordained.

JAPAN

Osaka (Founded in 1951) East Asian Delegation.

Fr. Schweiger proposed to the General Council the foundation of a mission in Japan on the occasion of the Centennial of the Foundation of our Congregation (1949) and of the Canonisation of Fr. Claret (1950). On 9 September 1951, the first Claretian, Fr. Anthony Briskey, arrived in Japan. He was shortly followed by others who lodged in the old diocesan seminary in Osaka, where “at the gate they had prepared for them about 20 pairs of slippers to change their footwear.” The first local government of Imaichi, place of the first foundation, took possession of office in the seminary on 1 November 1951. The transfer to the house of Imaichi took place on 30 December 1951 and the inauguration of the house on 2 January 1952. Soon they decided to build a school. In less than three years they had three houses there, and it became a Visitorship and a Delegation in 1954.

The first difficulties they experienced were the language and the inculturation into a cultural reality so different and rich, and new in the Congregation. Their main work was the parish ministry. They created some kindergartens attached to the parishes in order to connect with the people. From there, the apostolic work was extended to the families and the youth. Expansion was quick: the parishes of Kori, Takatsuki, Hirakata, Kadoma. In 1957 the Keiko Gakuen school was founded; in 1959, the parish of Ibaraki, and in 1962, that of Shijonawate. Later on Nagoya was constituted, the first foundation outside the limits of the diocese of Osaka. At the beginning it was intended as a Seminary, but it only functioned as kindergarten, because that same year the vocation crisis came. Also, the missionary centre of Nagoya became a parish under the name of Midorigaoka, dedicated to Fr. Claret. In 1978 a community was founded in the capital city of Tokyo, dedicated to formation of seminarians and to youth ministry.

The missionary concern has been expanding toward neglected and working-class zones of Osaka, where the missionaries work in ecumenical collaboration with other Christian and non-Christian groups, and with civic organisations. At present they are working in several parishes, a school and in the field of missionary animation and the marginalised world. In 1994 the parish of Ibaraki, where we had been working for 30 years, was turned over to the diocese and a new residence was constructed in a neglected zone of Kamagasaki.

SRI-LANKA

Colombo (Founded in 1991) Province of Germany.

Sri-Lanka started as a Mission of the German Province together with the Indian zone of Tamil Nadu. There were already several native Claretians from Sri Lanka even before June 1991, when the presence of the Claretians became stable in this Asian island which was called Ceylon during the colonial time. The first Sri Lankan Claretian priest was one of those who took residence in Colombo, the capital, in September of 1991.

The work of the Congregation in Sri Lanka had started in the 80’s, through a Sri Lankan religious Sister who was working with the Claretians in India. After her vacation, she brought some young men to India. There they studied the Humanities and Philosophy and made their Noviciate. Since they could not take up the theological studies in India for political reasons, they continued their Theology in the Philippines. Sri Lanka is mostly a Buddhist country (69.5%), but it has a higher percentage of Christians than other Asian countries. With its 7.5% Christians (6.8% Catholics) it is the third Asian country, after the Philippines and Vietnam, with higher number of Christians. The Congregation has a house in Jaffna, to the North of the country, but the pastoral work is next to impossible there because of the veritable civil war that is being waged there, which has already taken many lives of priests, sisters and lay people. For this reason work has already started in the capital and in the Centre among the labourers of the tea plantations. In 1994 a formative community was founded in Guyudeniya (Kandy), and in 1997 the first Noviciate was started.

Since 1993, when the Province of Chennai (Madras) was created, Sri Lanka is the only Mission that remains dependent from Germany.

TAIWAN

Taipei (Funded in 1994) East Asian Delegation.

Since January 15, 1994 the Claretians are in this island as a step towards Continental China. It arose as a fruit of the beatification of our martyrs of Barbastro, some of whom saw their dream of going to China shattered. In Taipei they are presently serving a parish and a residence. For the time being, the greatest difficulty of this mission is the language that requires at least two years of study. The political regime of Continental China does not allow as of now the entrance of foreign missionaries. However, they were able on two occasions to visit the old Claretian mission of Tunki and even to contact a catechist who remembered that mission as it was before the Maoist revolution.