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32-430: Pierre Charles may refer to: Pierre Charles (Jesuit) (1883–1954), Belgian Jesuit priest, theologian and missiologist. Pierre Charles (boxer) (1903–1966), Belgian heavyweight boxer Pierre Charles (Dominican politician) (1954–2004), Dominican Prime minister. [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with

64-659: A "Missiology", to the point that it was fully accepted as one of the theological subjects in Louvain . If not the first in the Catholic Church, Charles stands however as unique in the French speaking theological area. Almost from the beginning (the first Semaine... in 1923) Charles acted as true animator and promoter of the Semaine missiologique de Louvain begun by Albert Lallemand (1890-1966) In 1926, Charles began

96-465: A certain colonialism through religion: a union that had to be broken. The Catholic missionary, Pope Benedict XV said, presents himself as an ambassador of Christ, not as a messenger of his own nation." Though not an encyclical, it is sometimes identified as the first of five papal encyclicals issued between 1919 and 1959 that redefined the Church’s missionary role. In the second half of the 19th century,

128-470: A separation of the Church's work from political alliances, and the need to develop the resources of local churches to thrive independently once the missionaries withdraw in favor of an indigenous priesthood and episcopacy. It established, according to Cardinal Fernando Filoni , that "the Church could no longer be linked to the reality of that moment where there were so many nationalisms and the desire to promote

160-512: Is remarkably effective in appealing to their mentality and thus attracting them to the Faith. Far better than anyone else he knows the kind of argument they will listen to, and as a result, he often has easy access to places where a foreign priest would not be tolerated." Benedict's message divided the French missions in China into the "Lebbe Faction" and the "French Faction". The leadership of one of

192-589: Is traditional with such documents, it takes its title from the opening words of the original Latin text, meaning "that momentous". Benedict begins by recalling " that momentous and holy charge" found in Mark 16:15: "Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to all creation." It identified the principles and priorities of the Catholic missions. It represented a break with Eurocentric and colonialist thought. It proposed instead an appreciation for cultural differences,

224-708: The Catholic Institute , the Sorbonne , the College of France and the School of higher studies. He thus attended the classes of Henri Bergson and Victor Delbos . Pierre Charles was a professor of Dogmatic theology for the rest of his life in the Jesuit Theologate of Louvain. As a teacher he captivated his students and, although he taught almost all theological treatises, his favourite was that of

256-481: The Incarnation . Solidly based on a deep knowledge of philosophy and theology , and enlivened by deep personal conviction, was always oriented towards a synthesis. His theology thinking inspired his own inner life and shed light upon all human realities. His original approach and ideas crystallized in his best-selling book of meditations: ‘ La prière de toutes les heures ’, published in 1924. Possibly incited by

288-531: The Lovanium University ). Charles was the cheerleading force of all these projects, always ready to help them with his word and pen. In response to multiple requests, he travelled a lot, and his knowledge of mission lands and their peoples taught him how to collaborate with national and international agencies. Charles gave also numerous retreats to priests and religious, enjoying it, because he could better expose his ideas than in pulpit preaching. He

320-900: The St Michael College, Brussels , Pierre entered the noviciate of the Society of Jesus on 23 September 1899, at Tronchiennes . The initial spiritual formation completed, it was clear that he would be destined for intellectual work in the Society of Jesus. For his years of Theological training (1907-1910) the young Jesuit was in Hastings (England) where the French Jesuits had their Theologate in exile. He had among his professors Léonce de Grandmaison and Albert Condamin and as companions: Pierre Rousselot , Joseph Huby, Auguste Valensin, Paul Doncœur and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . He

352-552: The Catholic Church. Noting the end of World War I , Benedict repeated the biblical mandate to go to the ends of the earth and preach the gospel. He recalled the examples of Francis Xavier in India and Bartolomé de las Casas in the Americas and others to show what individuals can do in the service of God. Many missionaries died as martyrs for their faith and many live like saints. He noted great success to date: "Anyone who studies

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384-592: The Churches that find in the so-called missions countries: no one better than them can do a mission. If we take the mission lands, Africa, Asia, Oceania, we see that we have local Churches, "young Churches". As Paul VI said in Uganda: now it is your turn to be missionaries of yourselves. Archbishop Giampietro Dal Toso , president of the Pontifical Mission Societies , said the missionary renewal

416-636: The Evangelization of Peoples that called for renewed consideration of Ad gentes , a 1965 decree of the Second Vatican Council on the missionary activity of the Church. He described Maximum illud as a milestone in the evolution of the Church's missionary work: First there was an aggregate form of colonialism, then something only of the Western Church, now missionary activity is extended to everyone and in particular to

448-681: The Vatican recognized the need to overhaul the administration and spirit of missionary activities. Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius X both tried to curb the authority of the French-dominated Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith . The Belgian missionary to China Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe campaigned for the appointment of indigenous bishops to replace French missionary bishops. He immersed himself in Chinese culture from

480-429: The appointment of two indigenous Chinese as apostolic vicars in 1924. Costantini identified six indigenous Chinese candidates for episcopal appointments and accompanied them to Rome where they received their episcopal consecration from Pius on 28 October 1926. Pius reinforced the principles of Maximum illud in his encyclical Rerum ecclesiae of 8 February 1926. In some regions progress came more quickly. Pius named

512-615: The chains of their blind and violent desires, are enslaved in the most hideous of all forms of slavery, the service of Satan". The Church's view of other religions since Nostra aetate (1965) recognizes shared values and encourages respectful dialogue. In 2017, Pope Francis noted the approaching centennial of this apostolic letter and called for October 2019 to be celebrated as an "Extraordinary Missionary Month". He noted that in Maximum illud Benedict tried to promote evangelization "purified of any colonial overtones and kept far away from

544-604: The encyclical Maximum Illud of Benedict XV (1919) he turned his attention to missionary issues. From 1923, responding to requests coming from the Lemfu Seminary - first ever training centre for seminarians of the Belgian Congo - Charles launches the "Xaveriana" collection, a series of pamphlets that dealt with aspects of missionary life and activities, starting with down-to-earth pastoral issues: polygamy , sorcery , etc. Since then, he has endeavoured to develop

576-419: The expansion of missions. He reviewed the recent history of the missions. The encyclical first turned to the bishops and superiors in charge of the Catholic missions, noting the need to train local clergy. Catholic missionaries are reminded that their goal is a spiritual one, which must be carried out in a selfless way. The pope underlined the necessity of proper preparation for the work in foreign cultures and

608-461: The facts of this great saga cannot help being profoundly impressed by them: by all the stupendous hardships our missionaries have undergone in extending the Faith, the magnificent devotion they have shown, and the overwhelming examples of intrepid endurance they have afforded us. And to anyone who weighs these facts the realization must come as a shock that right now, there still remain in the world immense multitudes of people who dwell in darkness and in

640-517: The first India-born bishop of the Latin rite, the Jesuit Francis T. Roche, in 1923. By the time of his death in 1939, Pius had appointed forty indigenous bishops in missionary lands, the first of the modern era. Later development of Catholic doctrine requires a revision of Benedict's assertion in Maximum illud that the missions targeted those who "lived in ignorance of God, and thus, bound by

672-509: The missionaries a more secure position than any indigenous clergy could enjoy. Many nevertheless recognized that ordaining growing numbers of Chinese nationals to the priesthood was creating greater rivalry than rapprochement with their European counterparts. Benedict's successor, Pope Pope Pius XI , continued to press for a new approach to missionary work. In 1922 he appointed as Apostolic Delegate to China Celso Costantini , who persuaded two European-born bishops to yield territory to allow for

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704-594: The most prominent missionary orders, the German Society of the Divine Word , had contributed to the anti-European Chinese uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion , and then criticized Lebbé and doubted that suitable Chinese candidates could be readied for episcopal ordination promptly. Some resisted the Vatican through inaction or argued that the protected legal status granted foreigners in China gave

736-473: The nationalistic and expansionistic aims that had proved so disastrous". He wrote: "The Apostolic Letter Maximum illud called for transcending national boundaries and bearing witness, with prophetic spirit and evangelical boldness, to God's saving will through the Church’s universal mission." The idea for special recognition of the Church's missionary work derived from a proposal by the Congregation for

768-456: The need to acquire language skills before going there. He requests a continued striving for personal sanctity and praises the selfless work of female religious in the missions. Mission is not only for missionaries: all Catholics must participate, through their Apostolate of Prayer, by supporting vocations, and by helping financially. The encyclical concludes by pointing out several organizations which organize and supervise mission activities within

800-615: The publication of dossiers de l'Action Missionnaire , a means for the dissemination of important documents on missionary problems. It maintained that the essential work of the missions was, in the first place, to "plant" the Church . This is why their primary objective was the establishment of the native clergy. Pius XI continued his efforts and, by consecrating the first indigenous bishops in Africa, China, India, indirectly approved these ideas of Charles. After some Advent sermons preached to

832-495: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pierre_Charles&oldid=916526031 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Pierre Charles (Jesuit) After brilliant studies at

864-640: The same time, the ongoing rivalries of the European powers in Africa and Asia presented a challenge to the missionary enterprise, and the conclusion of World War I represented a break with the colonial past, as the Treaty of Versailles established mandates under the authority of the League of Nations that anticipated an end to colonial rule. Benedict recalled the great apostles of the Gospel who contributed much to

896-472: The shadow of death. According to a recent estimate, the number of non-believers in the world approximates one billion souls." He emphasized the need for missionaries to develop local clergy to extend their work. Anyone who has charge of a mission must to secure and train local candidates for the ministry: "In this policy lies the greatest hope of the new churches. For the local priest, one with his people by birth, by nature, by his sympathies and his aspirations,

928-501: The students of Louvain, he founded with a group of them the Association Universitaire Catholique pour l'Aide aux missions [AUCAM], which would eventually mature into an organization to form African health assistants, and another sister organization "for the scientific progress of agriculture". These associations helped establish (1940) the first Congolese University level institute (which developed into

960-505: The time of his arrival and ordination in 1901, learning the language and adopting native attire. He criticized various foreign religious organizations for the practice of controlling Chinese Catholicism to the benefit of their home countries, proposing the slogan "Return China to the Chinese and the Chinese will go to Christ". He angered his superiors in the Lazarist order by promoting the appointment of bishops of Chinese nationality. At

992-475: Was a distinguished professor and theologian, lecturer and writer, and acknowledged as a Missiology pioneer, particularly in the French speaking area of Europe, and founder of partnerships to assist mission initiatives. Pierre Charles died in the Jesuit theologate of Louvain on 11 February 1954. Maximum illud Maximum illud is an apostolic letter issued by Pope Benedict XV on 30 November 1919. As

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1024-535: Was ordained priest (along with his brother Jean) on 24 August 1910, in Louvain (Belgium). This was followed by another year of Theology . The last year of Jesuit formation, known as " Tertianship ", was made under the direction of Father August Petit , in Tronchiennes (1911-1912). During a further two years of theological specialization at the University of Louvain he went to Paris where he studied at

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