After 1870 a conflict arose between the French and German governments and
the Catholic Church. Because of the repressive measures taken against the
church and the religious orders many congregations sought refuge in safe havens
like Belgium and the Netherlands. This immigration gave a new strong impetus
to the mission in the Netherlands. When youngsters and their parents spoke
with young men and women who were trained to do missionary work in foreign
countries, they were inspired to do the same 'holy work'. Thus the Catholic
mission got a huge boost after about 1880.
The Catholic missionary input has been much higher than the Protestant
one, although the Catholics only formed 36% of the population in 1849 and
their number only increased very slowly afterwards. The number of active
Catholic missionaries continued to rise from 3,159 in 1927 to 7,819 in 1955.16
A provisional survey of Protestant missionaries that I made for the Repertorium
amounts to a number of 1,091 male missionaries and 341 unmarried women
missionaries, sent out from the Netherlands between 1814 and 1960. If we
assume that all Protestant male missionaries were married - a male bachelor was
distrusted by the indigenous population - and as we know that the missionary's
wives did as much missionary work as their husbands, we may conclude that the
number of Protestant missionaries sent out between 1814 and 1960 amounted
to at least 2.443 men and women.17 The Catholic mission was led from Rome
by the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. Its chairman was a cardinal called the
red pope because he was a very influential man. The Propaganda used a system
of 'commissions': a region was assigned to a congregation which meant that
other congregations had no right to that specific region and had to formally ask
for their own. In 1918 cardinal Willem van Rossum, born in the Netherlands,
was appointed prefect [president] of the Propaganda. With the support of pope
Benedictus XV he set up a new missionary policy which aimed at centralising the
funds and the training of an indigenous clergy.18 He did not agree with missions
concentrating on the own colonial possessions and admonished missionaries to
forget their father country as they were working for a supranational organisation,
the Roman Catholic Church.19
Two fronts: home and overseas
Catholic and Protestant missionary work had two sides: the home front and
the active front. The home front consisted of people who organised the work,
trained the future missionaries, donated money and attended prayer sessions.
The societies and congregations published periodicals informing those staying
at home about the activities in foreign countries. Some periodicals were made
specifically for women and children, as these groups were thought to need a
COLONIAL LEGACY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA -
THE DUTCH ARCHIVES
16 Mulders, 'Statistische gegevens per 1 januari 1955', 180.
17 If a woman wanted to marry in the mission they almost always sent in their resignation. Many of these
women were nurses. The number is exclusive most missionaries of the American missionary societies and
some free evangelical churches that became very active in the Netherlands colonial possessions after ca.
1900.
18 See for a short biography: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland, vol. 2 (Den Haag, 1985). Also to be
consulted on: www.huygens.knaw.nlclick to 'biografisch portaal'. A new biography is being written by
Mrs. Dr. Vefie Poels.
19 Boelaars, Indonesianisasi, 78-79 with quotes from the papal encyclical Maximum Illud dating from 1921 and
written partly by Van Rossum himself.
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