RIP Bishop Miguel Cinches, SVD (1932-2010)

Bishop Miguel Cinches, SVD, after a lingering illness,  passed away this this afternoon (April 12) at 2:55 pm in a hospital in Manila. He was 78 years old. He was bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Surigao.

He was born in Dauis, Bohol on February 7, 1932 and ordained priest in 1961. He taught philosophy from 1968-1973 here at Divine Word Seminary where he served as rector from 1970 until his election in 1973 as the bishop of the Diocese of Surigao by Pope Paul VI. He served this diocese in Mindanao for 28 years.

A prolific composer of liturgical music, Bishop Cinches was one of the few outstanding musicians of the Philippine SVD. During his seminary years as student and professor, he handled the seminary choir and led it in concert performances both inside and outside the seminary.

Last year, senior SVD members of  Divine Word Seminary, under the direction of Fr. Raul Caga, SVD (himself from Surigao) recorded a CD Album as a tribute to him on the occassion of the 100 years of Philippine SVD. The album entitle, Complines and Vespers is a testimony of his many beautiful words and of his spirituality. These songs can still be heard today in the Tagaytay seminary when the SVD community gathers for its Saturday prayers (complines) and Sunday vespers.

Below is a cut from the album which you can order by sending email to rrandy33@yahoo.com.

The song is the so-called Nunc Dimittis, the Song of Simeon in the Gospel of Luke. At Jesus' presentation, Simeon, a devout and righteous man, was promised that he would not see death before he had see the Lord's Messiah. When he saw Jesus, he took him in his arms and praised God: "Master, now you let your servant go in peace, according to your word" (Luke 2:29) -- wonderful words for Bishop Cinchess who had composed a song out of Simeon's prayer.
[from the album's write-up]

NUNC DIMITTIS

Antiphon: Lord, save us while we are awake,
protect us while we sleep;
and Christ with  whom we keep our watch,
will guard our souls in peace.

At last, all-powerful Master,
you give leave to your servant to go in peace,
according to your promise.

For my eyes have seen your salvation
which you have prepared for all nations

The light you enlighten the Gentiles
and give glory to Israe your people

Glory be to the Father....

Holy Week in Tagaytay City - Schedule of Liturgical Activities at Divine Word Seminary Chapel

TRA and TMF at ABS-CBN's DZMM on Sunday March 14

Tune in to Radio DZMM 630 Khz or Cable Channel 65 (in Tagaytay and Amadeo) on March 14, Sunday at 8:30pm to 10:30 pm - Tagaytay Religious Association (TRA) and the Tagaytay Ministerial Fellowship (TMF) will be guests at Salitang Buhay and discuss the churchers in Tagaytay and their ecumenical partnership in the March 28 Tagaytay Candidates Forum and in the May Elections.

Fundamentals of church-state relations - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Fundamentals of church-state relations - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Tagaytay Candidates Forum

The Tagaytay Religious Association (TRA) is organizing a Candidates Forum for those running for local positions in Tagaytay City. Date: March 28, 2010, 1:00 PM at the SVD Chapel.
For more information, go to
http://www.tagaytayforum.blogspot.com/

Announcement:
Feb 22 (Monday) at 2:30 PM - Talk on PPCRV and Automated Election sponsored by SVD Manila District. Venue: SVD Retreat House

Feb 25 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM - Talk the socio-political condition of the country by Professor Randy David, sponsored by Divine Word School of Theology.

SVD Mission Awards and Other News

The SVD Mission Awardees
with Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, Papal Nuncio

For those who missed the SVD Ordination last Dec, 5, 2009, you can watch the video of the photos uploaded by "Digna" here.  Six SVD deacons were ordained by Bishop Chito Tagle -- new SVD Fathers Benedicto Awitin, Ferdinand Bajao, Dante Barril, Severo Biton, Abraham Borja and Crisostomo Salar. Another classmate was ordained in his home country, Papua New Guinea, Fr. Michael Namba, SVD.


A number of us joined the 2nd National Clergy Congress last January 25-29, 2010. 87 SVDs out of more than 5,500 priests were at the Congress/Retreat presided by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, preacher to the Papal Household.

Some alumni of Divine Word Seminary who were at the Congress

In the afternoon of January 29, the Feast of St. Joseph Freinademetz, we held the much-awaited SVD Mission Awards at St. Jude Catholic School in Manila. Here's a "summary" from the Provincialate notes:

On January 29, 2010, feast day of St. Joseph Freinademetz, the first SVD Mission Awards were handed out in a formal but uplifting awards presentation ceremony held at the Fr. Peter Yang Auditorium of Saint Jude Catholic School Manila. The affair was graced by the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio Edward Joseph Adams. The following awards were given out: The Saint Arnold Janssen Mission Award to Fr. Leo Schmitt SVD; The Communio Mission Award to St. Martin Mission Hospital of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro;The Divine Word Mission Award to Mrs. Beatriz Buenavista Evangelista; The Vivat Cor Iesu Mission Award to Samahang Bagong Buhay Foundation, Incorporated; The Father Peter Yang SVD Mission Award to the St. Jude National Shrine Manila; The Centennial Mission Award to Fr. William Van Kuijk SVD; The Abra Mission Award to the Catechists of Abra; The Saint Joseph Freinademetz Mission Award to Fr. Ewald Dinter SVD; and a Special Recognition to the CICM for helping the SVD in its early years of mission in the Philippines. Each awardee received 50,000 pesos and a gold-plated medallion with the face of the Founder on one side and his favorite prayer in Latin on the other (His life is our life and His mission, our mission). Our special thanks to Fr. Jerome Marquez, SVD and the administration of St. Jude Catholic School; and the SVD Mission Awards Committee under whose watch the search for SVD Mission Awardees was undertaken.

The SVD Mission Awards Committee members were: Fr. Joey Sepe, SVD (head); Fr. Jerome Marquez, SVD; Fr. Randy Flores, SVD; Fr. Aris Martin, SVD, Fr. Bobby Ebisa, SVD. They were assisted by Bro. John Xue (Claretian seminarian), Ms. Ka Ling Yiu, Mr. Camilo Gelido, Frt. Sedfrey Nebres, SVD, Frt. John Paul Marquez, SVD, Mr. Tristan Ferrera, and Mr. Mark Nillo.

Before the end of the ceremonies, the SVD Centennial Book, Witness to the Word: Society of the Divine Word Philippines 1909-2009 (Logos Publications, 2009) with the speech of the SVD historian, Fr. Antolin Uy, SVD, the main editor.

 Emcees: Fr. Aris Martin, SVD and Ms. Mariz Umali of GMA 7

Fr. Antolin Uy, SVD delivering his speech at the SVD Centennial book launching

The Abra Catechists

  

 Awards main director, Fr. Joey Sepe, SVD (5th from left)

From left: Fr. Vic Rayco, SVD  (St. Jude); Fr. Aris,

Fr. Lino Nicasio, SVD (St. Jude), Ms. Mariz Umali,

Ms. Nita Trofeo, and GMA 7 newscaster Raffy Tima

CTS students with awardee Fr. van Kuijk, SVD

Click here for more pictures

Simbang Gabi Homilies 2009

Please click here. Merry Xmas to all!

TRA supports the call of Bishop Ambo David for GMA NOT to Run for Congress

The talk of Bishop Ambo David at the TRA meeting last night was well appreciated by its members. Bishop Ambo explained, in the light of his experience at Synod of Bishops on the Bible, how the Sacred Scripture finds its home in the Church and how Church life is permeated by the Word of God. He argued that after the destruction of Temple of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E, the Synagogue became the new home of the Torah. For the followers of Jesus later on, the home became the new house of the Word--the home becoming the first place of the Church. Today , he says, the Church is the open house for the Word and the world.

This "house" is supported by four pillars -- teaching of the apostles; koinonia or fellowship; breaking of the bread; and the prayers.


He ended his talk narrating how the Church in Pampanga (Diocese of San Fernando) tries to become the real home of the Word, revealing that 500 hectares of church land have already been given up by the Diocese for land reform.

While waiting for his turn to talk, we had an a chance to ask Bishop Ambo some questions on the politics of Pampanga. He confirmed that the GMA is running for Congress; his older brother Prof. Randy David has ditched his plan to run against the President for obvious reasons; and that by running, GMA is going against basic Christian principles of power and decency. He is therefore urging the President not to run for Congress. His prayer: "God save Pampanga!"

The Tagaytay Religious Association (TRA)--an organization of nuns, lay people, priests, and brothers belonging to 100 religious houses, seminaries, houses of formation, retreat houses, convents, secular institutes, and monasteries in Tagaytay and its environs--supports the call of Bishop Pablo Virgilio David for GMA NOT to run for Congress.

Seminarian-members of TRA at a prayer rally (file photo)

Talk of Bishop Ambo David - The Church: The House of the Word

Tagaytay Religious Association (TRA)
Divine Word Seminary
SVD Road
4120 Tagaytay City

Dear fellow TRA members:

Shalom!

In behalf of TRA Council of Officers, I would like to invite you to an afternoon gathering on Nov 30, 2009 (Bonifacio Day - Mon) from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm at the Aula Magna of Divine Word Seminary. Our constitution states that one of the objectives of TRA is to “provide opportunities for spiritual, educational, apostolic, economic, and formational enrichment of all TRA members of the affiliated communities” (Article II, Section 2).

The main talk of the gathering is on “The Church: The House of the Word” by Bishop Pablo “Ambo” David (auxiliary of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga). Bishop Ambo, an Old Testament expert, obtained his doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of Louvain and did courses at the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem (Israel). Member of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God (2008), he is also the former president of the Catholic Biblical Association of the Philippines (CBAP). He teaches at major seminaries and religious formation centers (like Loyola School of Theology and Our Lady of Angels Seminary); serves as the parish priest of the biggest parish in Pampanga (Angeles City); and is the newly appointed chairperson of the Episcopal Commission for Biblical Apostolates (ECBA) [and the younger brother of Philippine Daily Inquirer’s columnist, Prof. Randy David].

Here is the order of the afternoon:
1. 2:00 pm – Registration and Welcome
2. 2:30 – 4:00 – General Meeting of TRA
3. Break
4. 4:20 – 6:00 – Talk of Bishop Ambo

and the agenda of the TRA meeting:
1. TRA activities for honest, peaceful and orderly election in Tagaytay.
2. Socio-political and economic condition of the city.
3. TRA and future relief and rehabilitation operations during and after calamities.
4. Re-creation of retreat teams for the retreat apostolate of TRA.
5. CLAIM’s activities

Each community shall bring own “baon” for the afternoon snacks (KKB). Hot coffee (Barako) will be served. Please be there. Blest be the Lord.

Sincerely,
Fr. Randy Flores, SVD
TRA Chairperson
Email: rrandy33@yahoo.com; Text: 0927-390-9863

45 SVD-ALS take A&E Test

Photo taken as our SVD-ALS test-takers are about to enter
Dasmarinas National High School (Oct 25, 2009, around 6:00 am)

Around 4:00 am yesterday (25 Oct 09, Sunday), I brought our 45 SVD-ALS learners to Dasmarinas National High School to take the Accreditation and Equivalency test (A&E test) being conducted by the Department of Education. The SVD-ALS learners were part of the 4,324 test-takers from the whole province of Cavite, 330 of these were under the 8 learning centers supervised by Arnold Janssen Catholic Mission Foundation led by Fr. Jerome Marquez, SVD of St. Jude Catholic School.

Their instructional managers (teachers) and I expect a high passing rate for the SVD-ALS. Our students were well-prepared and said that the test was "madali" (easy).

The A&E test" is designed to measure competencies of those who have not finished either the formal elementary or secondary education." Those who registered for the test consisted of unemployed/underemployed out-of-school youth and adults;formal schools leavers/drop-outs; persons with physical disabilities; inmates, rebel/soldier integrees; members of cultural minorities; indigenous peoples;Industry-based workers,housewives, helpers, factory, workers, drivers.

The afternoon batch of ALS A&E test-takers

Most of our 45 SVD-ALS learners are formal school leavers (drop-outs) from Tagaytay City, Amadeo and Silang; 2 workers of Divine Word Seminary, 1 housewife; 2 workers of the FMM; and 2 workers of the Dominican Sisters.

With the SVD-ALS inside our compound and being supported by DWST, our seminary does its part in what we SVDs call "prophetic dialogue" with the poor and marginalized.

SVD-ALS during President's Cory's Funeral

What does one benefit after passing the ALS A&E Test? The following came from DepEd's website:

• Enroll as High School Freshman for elementary level passers;
• Enroll in post-secondary courses (tech/voc, two/three/four/five-year course of the
CHED and PASUC member institutions);
• Access to Meralco Foundation, Inc. and TESDA skills training programs; and
• Opportunity to acquire eligibility to government employment positions under CSC
Resolution No. 499.

The ALS, if I may add, is not only about passing the A&E test but, in the modules, there are a lot sessions about good values and moral conduct, becoming good citizens, and the awareness of the issues of justice, peace and integrity of creation (e.g. preserving the environment).

SVD-ALS learners with Father Superior General
(Philippine SVD Centennial at DWST)

In behalf of the 126 SVD-ALS learners (45 of whom were qualified to take the test) let me express my personal gratitude and deep appreciation to the following who lent a hand to make the first batch of SVD-ALS a success:

• Fr. Fred Saniel, SVD, our rector and the rest of the Divine Word Seminary community for the all-out support including the use of the Dispensary building, free use of water and electricity, and basketball gym.
  
• Ma'am Olive Tolentino - our head instructional manager; Perla B. Costa and Ritchelle Q. Razon, our instructional managers. They did an admirable job (in spite of meager remuneration).
  
• Ma'am Gemma Patricio, ALS Supervisor of Arnold Janssen learning centers
• Fr. Jerome Marquez, SVD and the Board of Trustees of the Arnold Janssen Catholic Mission Foundation.
• Fr. Nielo Cantilado, SVD and the provincialate of Philippine Central Province for the significant financial assistance.
• Revs. Jong Biton, Ferds Bajao, and Dante Barril - SVD deacons who assisted in the administration.
• Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD and his friends. Fr. Flavie is tasked to conceptualize the livelihood skill program for "graduates" of SVD-ALS.
  
• Atty Yolly Doblon; Ms. Nini Carbon, and Ms. Seni Basilio, Ms. Tess Tatlonghari (soup kitchen), Ms. Truly Griffiths (Hongkong), and last but not the least, the CTS 2009-2010 students.

From left: Rev. Dante, Rev. Jong, Ma'am Che,
Rev. Ferdie, Ma'am Perla, and Ma'am Olive.
Our SVD deacons will be ordained on Dec. 5, 2009

Our three SVD-ALS instructional managers (teachers)

From: Fr. Randy Flores, SVD - SVD-ALS Site Coordinator.

Seminarians join relief operation for the victims of Ka Ondoy

Members of Divine Word Seminary of Tagaytay Students' Association (DWSTSA)--composed mostly of seminarians in theology have joined the Task Force Ondoy of Ateneo which includes the seminarians' network and the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB). Fr. Alex Muana, SVD (the dean of studies) and Fr. Raul Caga, SVD (the vice-rector) also are with the group in the clearing operations, loading and unloading of relief cargo, and distributing emergency relief goods for the victims of the flood in Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Southern Luzon.

Last night (close to midnight actually), I went to check on a family who live in Jesus de la Pena in Marikina, just a kilometer or two from Provident Village. It took me an hour and a half from Ateneo to Marikina due to the clearing operation going on, the road is now passable although a lot of work will still have to be done. At least relief goods can now be brought easily to the affected families, including potable water.

Along the A. Bonifacio road, I saw this solitary car parked and clearly a victim of Ka Ondoy and with the SVD centennial plate in it, maybe owned by a former SVD seminarian (?). I thought of asking - what could be God's message for us (SVDs and XVDs) that on the 100 years of Philippine SVD such tragedy has come upon us?

Abra violence, Balweg and SVD

A Group of SVD missionaries in the late 70s

Standing from right: Bishop Vic Manuel (+); Conrado Balweg (+)
Fr. Dom Flores (working in Australia); Fr. V. Bartolome (working in US)
Photo taken in front of Arnoldus Library (from the file of Fr. Randy Flores, SVD)

The article is written by Vincent Cabreza and appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 02:08:00 09/30/2009

TO SOME Filipinos, Abra will always be associated with two extremes: Stories of unending political violence and of slain rebel priest Conrado Balweg, a man of the cloth who returned to the path of peace and facilitated the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

To 6,131 priests and brothers today, however, this landlocked province is the gateway to the Catholic Society of the Divine Word (SVD or Societas Verbi Divini), 100 years ago.

That gate has never closed, said Father Jerome Adriatico, SVD North Luzon provincial superior.

“Politics, the kind that promotes greed, must be reinvented here in Abra,” Adriatico said, quoting discussions among fellow SVD priests as to how the congregation hoped to end the province’s notoriety.

Adriatico helped lead the Centennial Mass at the Cathedral of St. James the Elder in Bangued, Abra, last month.

Bangued Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian said the Mass celebrated the first SVD mission station in Cagutungan, a community that evolved into today’s San Isidro town, which was established by Father John Scheiermann and Father Louis Beckert, a five-year veteran of the SVD missions in China.

Adriatico said it was the SVD’s “purposeful mission of creating a community among the Tingguians,” which remains its most powerful legacy.

“[Violence] is the nature of politics [in Abra and parts of Ilocos], but it was not like this [during the] early 20th century. SVD wants to bring back the sense of caring, the sense of unity [we helped develop with] the Tingguians,” he said.(photo file: R. Flores, SVD)

First SVD mission

The first SVD mission in the Philippines tailed by two years the 1907 Philippine mission of the Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae (Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or CICM), said Adriatico.

But like the Belgian-led CICM, the SVD and other European Catholic congregations began sending missionaries to the Philippines in response to a plea made by local parishes that were confronting the end of the Spanish colonial period.

They were meant to serve northern Luzon parishes that were abandoned by friars who began to withdraw to the cities when Filipino priests under their supervision were recruited by the Aglipayan Movement (Philippine Independent Church), Adriatico said.

Abra has always presented itself as a historical case study of how colonial governments tried to pacify the Igorot people in order to get at the fabled gold in their mountains, said history professor Raymundo Rovillos, dean of the College of Social Sciences at the University of the Philippines Baguio.

Religion and the mission stations played a strong part in these efforts, he said.

Abra was visited by Augustinian missionaries as early as 1650, but it was in the last part of the 19th century when Spanish pacification efforts “became intense,” Rovillos said in his essay, “Technologies for Disciplining Bodies and Spaces in Abra,” in the Cordillera Review.

“Because it was the takeoff point for the official Spanish war against the Igorots, Abra became militarily and politically strategic,” he said.

(photo file: R. Flores, SVD)

Tingguian alienation

Adriatico said what SVD intended to do when they took over the Spanish parishes was to remove the alienation of the Tingguian.

Balweg, despite his credentials as leading figure of the communist rebellion in Abra, had always been an important chapter of the SVD story because of his Tingguian roots, Adriatico said.

Balweg was one of the first two Tingguian priests to join the fold, and the SVD, according to American historian Gerard Finin, author of the book, “The Making of the Igorot.”

Finin, deputy-director of the Hawaii-based East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program, said: “Although the SVD order could claim significant achievements in working with Abra’s ‘non-Christians,’ not a single highlander during the first 40 years of missionary work was accepted for theological studies leading to ordination as an SVD priest until Balweg and fellow Tingguian Tito Belisario in the 1960s.”

Adriatico said the rebel priest broke ties with SVD but had maintained a “deep understanding of community” because Balweg eventually fought for the so-called Igorot nation.

Metro Manila Flood photos from Time Magazine

For more images, click on Time Magazine Photo Essay

SVD-initiated distribution center for the victims of Ondoy

The SVD Philippine Central Province is now coordinating help for the worst hit of the SVD parishes in Metro Manila: Smokey Mountain (Balut, Tondo), Dampalit (Malabon), and St. Arnold Janssen Parish (Cainta).

The churches and convents in those places are relatively unscathed but their parishioners could use some help (food, clothes, etc)); this also includes our own employees, some of whom live in the affected areas.

Relief efforts for flood victims are being organized by the SVD Philippine Central Province through the Secretariat of the Characteristic Dimensions (Ben Beltran, Raul Caga, Ring Malbog, and John Regalado). Donations in kind ( used clothes, canned goods, etc) are welcome. You may send them at the Provincialate (Catholic Trade) Manila) or care of the above mentioned office or individuals. Cash donations may also be sent to the following bank account at Allied Banking Corporation: Account name - Divine Word Biblical Center; account number - 0280046648.

You can also course your donation through Divine Word Seminary, SVD Road, 4120 Tagaytay City - Tel. 046-4131253; fax 0464131251; or write: rrandy33@yahoo.com

Note from the SVD Provincialate

All Praise to Thee

Night Prayer: All praise to thee my God this night. For all the blessings of the Light. O keep me keep me king of kings, beneath thine almighty wings. Forgive me Lord through Christ thy Son, the ill that I this day have done, that with the world, myself and thee before I sleep at peace may be.

On the Birth of Mary, Birth of SVD, and Family Feast

Family Feast 1999 (Tagaytay City)

Today (9/8/2009) is of the birthday of Mary and the Birthday of the SVD (9/8/1875). At Divine Word Seminary, to celebrate this day, we usually hold a Family Feast – a sort of intramural games. We, including our employees, are divided into different “families” and compete in three levels: physical (sports), intellectual (quiz bees, essays, poetry); and cultural (drama, song composition). Everything ends in the beach—where the four families, with good food, become one family again.

Such tradition goes back to Arnold Janssen, the Founder.
This year, however, the Family Feast is cancelled—because we have a bigger family feast – the centennial of the Philippine SVD. Last month, the whole “family” went to Abra to join the celebration there.

In 2003, I was invited to preach at the mass in Christ the King Seminary on the occasion of their Family Feast. For those who might want to reflect with the SVD on this day, here’s an excerpt of that:

The Family Feast is an emblematic celebration of two humble birth-events: the birth of Mary and the birth of the SVD.

The birth of heroes and special persons are always surrounded by legends and miraculous stories. Remember the interesting birth narratives in the bible, that of Moses (Exod 2:1-10); Samuel (1 Sam 1:1-28); John the Baptist (Lk 1:5:25); and Jesus (Lk 1:26-38). When the legendary Ilocos hero Lam-ang was born, he could immediately talk and climb tree (was it a guava?); so with the Ilonggo epic hero, Labaw Donggon who was told to be already a mature person (datung tawu) when he was born (cf. E. Damiana, The Filipino Epics, 2001).

The birth of Mary is not found in the Bible but in apocryphal gospels, particularly in the Protoevangelium of James (Proto-Gospel of James), a pseudoepigraphical writing composed in the late second century A.D – more than 150 years after the death of Jesus.

As the story goes, Joachim and Anna, the parents of Mary, were getting old and could not bear a child. Anna was barren. In that culture, that situation is shameful. . But one day, an angel appeared to Anna in the garden at the same time as an angel also appeared to Joachim while pasturing the flock, announcing that Anna shall conceive a child. And so Mary was born and after six months Mary was said to be already walking on her feet. The story is inspired obviously by that of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18.

What is historical though is the fact that the birth of a baby girl is not worth rejoicing in a male-oriented culture, the condition where Mary was born. In the ancient Mediterranean culture, the birth of a son is announced loudly and joyfully by the father (in Hebrew): hinne ben nolad! (“Behold, a son is born!” cf. Rut 4:17; 1 Kgs 13:2; 1 Chron 22:9; Isa 9:5[6]; Jer 20:15; Job 3:3; John 16:21). The birth of a girl did not create such excitement.

In the Protoevangelium of James we have a different story. Anna, upon giving birth, asked her midwife: "What have I brought forth?" The woman said: "A girl." Anna then exclaimed: "My soul has been magnified this day" (similar words of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1).

In any case, this “humbled” birth of Mary could be reflected in her longest recorded words found in the Gospel of Luke, the Magnificat (1:46-56). In that song, she indirectly spoke of her situation “the humiliation of the maidservant” (cf. v. 48.52).

The birth of the SVD as well was set in a “humiliating” and hostile situation. Nineteenth Century Germany was anti-Catholic (cf. J. Alt, XIV). Thus, this first Catholic German missionary society had to begin outside Germany, in Holland (Steyl). The birth of the SVD in a foreign) was foreshadowing the unique international character of this Society.

It was an irony that when Nineteenth Century Germany was becoming ethnocentric in the movement that was called Kulturkampf, the spirit of the Founder was one of openness and generosity. While the German government was confiscating and secularizing Catholic churches’ properties and expelling foreigners (Alt, XIV), Arnold Janssen was envisioning to send German missionaries to foreign lands.

On the positive side, the Nineteenth Century Europe witnessed the progress of sciences. Arnold Janssen, before he commenced his theological studies, trained himself in philosophy, mathematics and natural sciences and taught them after ordination (e.g. physics, mineralogy, zoology and botany, cf. Alt, 16-20; 24-30). Later, he would send his men to study natural sciences, chemistry and geology. One of them went on to study linguistics and became an excellent ethnologist known all over the world for his novel studies on “primitive cultures”—Fr. Wilhelm Schmidt, SVD (1868-1954) the founder of Anthropos Institute and Anthropos, a seminal journal on Cultural Anthropology (cf. E. Brandewie, When Giants Walked the Earth: The Life and Times of Wilhelm Schmidt, SVD (Studia Instituti Anthropos 44; Fribourg, 1990).

Together with the advance of sciences was the flowering of biblical studies especially Protestant Germany in the Nineteenth Century. The works of Julius Wellhausen, Hermann Gunkel, the biblical scholars from the University of Tübingen revolutionized and influenced modern biblical scholarship up to the present time. The historical-critical study of the bible had drawn out both controversies and renewed interests in the Sacred Scripture. The bible as never before was now studied in an objective and scientific manner. Even Arnold Janssen, as attested in his academic records, had taken courses in Biblical Greek and Hebrew (cf. Alt, 14;21), two subjects which most seminarians avoid today. This humble but fervent quest for the explanation and understanding of the Sacred Text in the late Nineteenth Century would have been also a key factor for Arnold Janssen to name his newly born mission congregation, Societas Verbi Divini (“Society of the Divine Word”).