Missionary Mandate Research Articles

Propaganda Fide dan Kebijakan Tentang Imam Diosesan di Wilayah Misi dalam Instruksi La Missione Universale

Diocesan priests’ moving or transferring abroad - at any motives – will affect both positively or negatively to the diocese they leave. Human mobility which is supported by the nowadays advanced and varied transportation facilities, enabling the greater possibility of this mobility. This research is discussing on the instruction of the Propaganda Fide entitled La Missione Universale issued issued on April 25, 2001, which regulates the diocesan priests’ mobility. Through the legal research method, with a juridical-normative approach, this study aims to analyse the degree of legal synchronisation between the instruction and the laws above it. It also analyses the legal synchronisation between the instruction and its implementation at a lower level, namely the follow-up by the Italian Bishops' Conference in the form of agreement document. The research shows that the instruction is corresponding to the laws above it, and its implementation at the diocesan level is in line with the instruction above it. Previously, the moving abroad of a diocesan priest is seen from negative side of the disciplinary point of view only. The instruction now puts it positively in a broader context, that is, in the frame of missionary collaboration and communion among particular Churches. Inter-diocesan co-operation in the form of exchange of priests for a specific pastoral ministry is an effective means to carry out the missionary mandate of the Church. The inter-diocesan collaboration of the priest exchange for a special pastoral service is an effective means to undergo the mission of the Church.

Interreligious dialogue as a myth

The authors aim in this article to show why it is extremely difficult to expect representatives of missionary religions to engage in productive interreligious dialogue. The article demonstrates how the imperative to convert, which is rooted in a sense of epistemic authority that one holds the best version of truth, precludes interreligious dialogue among religionists. The authors note, on the one hand, that the primary condition for any dialogue is that each of those involved come to the dialogue intellectually humble. On the other hand, the authors note that for missionary religionists to embrace intellectual humility requires a fundamental rethink of their claims of epistemological certainty and final epistemic authority. This implies abandoning the missionary mandate and witnessing built on a sense of intellectual certainty and pride. The authors therefore argue that intellectual humility is a necessary condition for productive interreligious dialogue. Because representatives of missionary religions claim certainty about the knowledge they espouse, what is paraded as interreligious dialogue is largely a myth. It will remain a mere concept that yields little to no tangible result unless these representatives embrace intellectual humility, which is more achievable within a secularist framework.Contribution: This research contributes to the seemingly easy but difficult discourse and practice about interreligious dialogue. It brings to the limelight a more appropriate conception of dialogue in the context of interreligious dialogue, and explains how side-lining that conception empties the predominant practice of interreligous dialogue. This contribution is useful to HTS, which focuses on theological and religious studies, as well as critical study of religions.

Missi di Era Disrupsi dan Pandemic

Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God was in His divine mission has prophesied His presence since the fall of the first man from sin. The person of Jesus has always been an interestings discussion and continued until the postmodern era when there was disruption and pandemics. Jesus Christ gave the disciples a missionary mandate to preach the Gospel. Observe the basics mission mandated by Jesus in John 20:21-22. But how is the Christian mission in the era of disruption and pandemics? This paper uses a descriptive methode approach with literature studies and exposition of reference texts as the database. God revealed His love in the mission of sending His Son into the world with a holy purpose to atone for sins. Likewise, Jesus sent disciples in every era encountered to preach the gospel. The Trinity divines God synergizes with the mission of the disciples. From this discussion, it is unequivocal that mission has a biblical basis in every era that existings.

The Western Missionary Instituted Churches: Any room for Dialogue with the African Instituted Churches (AICs) in South Africa?

This study discusses the critical issue of the relationship between Western Missionary Instituted Churches and African culture in Southern Africa. It argues that situated in Africa, dialogue between Western Missionary Instituted Churches and African culture is not an option but rather a matter of necessity in light of their missionary mandate. The necessity for dialogue with African culture has since the 1950s and 1960s been demonstrated by African Initiated Churches’ successful attempts of appropriating critical elements of African culture and values. This development demonstrates that the African context is dynamic with traditions which can enrich the Western Missionary Instituted Churches self-understanding and therefore make them capable of doing mission contextually and ipso facto more relevantly. The article argues that the concept of relationship in the form of a family can enrich the Western Missionary Instituted Churches’ self-understanding and the manner which it can engage mission. An ecclesiology centred on the African concept of family constitutes a key principle for missional praxis in Africa.

Catechesis with the Domestic Church

Catechesis with the Domestic Church Gregory Sobolewski (bio) The third in a series of catechetical directories from the Holy See appeared in June 2020, issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization rather than the Congregation for the Clergy that presented directories in 1971 and 1997. The new iteration continues the typical arrangement: observations on the human condition, essential Catholic doctrines, principles for varied catechetical methods, age-appropriate considerations, and ecclesial assets for forming and assisting catechists. The renamed Directory for Catechesis (abbreviated herein as Directory/2020) defines catechesis as "an ecclesial act, arising from the missionary mandate of the Lord and aimed, as its very name indicates, at making the proclamation of his passion, death, and resurrection continually resound in the heart of every person, so that his life may be transformed."1 Directory/2020 is especially noteworthy for catechists who are interested in understanding the social influences on their hearers, whether they be "their children" or "their students" or "their people." The new directory introduces and considers cultural scenarios that have recently emerged to influence persons worldwide, including urban and rural, ecumenical and pluralistic, digital and socially unequal. While restating its predecessors' twin objectives for catechesis—maturing initial faith and educating the disciple of Christ—Directory/2020 emphasizes the social transformation of Christian believers who are in broad dialogue with their culture as well as their local churches. This article will account for Directory/2020's increased emphasis on social transformation of believers and their Church in two parts: 1) an historical overview of the three directories with attention to their evolving focus on family as domestic church, and 2) a discussion of [End Page 5] domestic church, subsidiarity, and accompaniment as three ambient Catholic principles that can amplify our understanding of the most recent catechetical directory regarding social transformation. I argue that attention by catechists and their formators to the domestic church should prioritize the principle of subsidiarity and the practice of accompaniment in order to promote the social maturation of the Catholic faithful as well as their missionary discipleship. Overview of the General Catechetical Directory (1971), the General Directory for Catechesis (1997), and the Directory for Catechesis (2020) Catechetical directories emerged as a genre of magisterial teaching consequent to the Second Vatican Council's Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church (1965), which stated "this directory will consider the fundamental principles of such [catechetical] instruction, its disposition and the composition of books on the subject. In preparing these directories, special attention should be given to the views which have been expressed both by the commissions and the council Fathers."2 General Catechetical Directory (1971) The Sacred Congregation for the Clergy produced the Directorium Catechisticum Generale in order to provide basic principles of pastoral theology for the ministry of the Word and catechetical maturation of Catholic faithful. While emphasizing doctrinal teaching and including various pastoral methods, this directory taught overall that "catechesis should contribute to the gradual grasping of the whole truth about the divine plan by preparing the faithful for the reading of Sacred Scripture and the learning of tradition."3 Directory/1971 opened with an emphasis that "special pains" had been taken to develop the new integral presentation of Catholic faith [End Page 6] for pastoral action, thereby promoting the council's expectation that local churches would also strive mightily to develop regional catechisms for particular pastoral contexts.4 Berard Marthaler, OFM Conv., observed that a universal catechism, an unfinished project of the First Vatican Council (1869–70), was not endorsed by the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Instead, the "catechetical directory" emerged as the alternate genre and it evolved through consultations among episcopal conferences worldwide that were conducted by the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy.5 This initial directory specified its proportional concerns, given the traditional twofold definition of "faith which is believed" (fides quae creditur) and "faith by which it is believed" (fides qua creditur): It is clear that not all parts of the "Directory" are of the same importance. Those things which are said about divine revelation, the criteria according to which the Christian message is to be expounded, and the more outstanding elements of that same...

Religijski pluralizam kao trajni teološki izazov za Crkvu i njezinu teologiju religija

Sve prisutniji kulturalni i religijski pluralizam neminovno postavlja pitanje odnosa kršćana prema rastućoj religioznoj pluralizaciji društva u kojem žive. U ovom tekstu pokušava se ukazati na teoretski i praktični doprinos koji teološka refleksija može dati kako bi se izazov religijskog pluralizma mogao vidjeti u ispravnom svjetlu tako da iz teoloških razmišljanja može slijediti konkretna politička i religijska praksa u društvu. Polazeći od činjenice da kršćani svagdje u svijetu žive u sva­ko­dnev­nom egzistencijalnom kontaktu sa sljedbenicima drugih religija, Katolička Crkva, počevši od Drugoga vatikanskog koncila, intenzivno raspravlja o teološkom vrjednovanju fenomena religijskog pluralizma i samoshvaćanju kršćanstva naočigled religijske povijesti čovječanstva. Budući da je religijski pluralizam objektivni teološki problem, u prvom dijelu rada autor analizira tri uobičajena religijsko-teološka nacrta ili modela koje nudi današnja teologija religija u pokušaju da odgovori na pitanje kakav bi trebao biti stav Crkve i kršćana prema religijskom pluralizmu: pretkoncilsko stajalište prema drugim religijama (ekskluzivistički ekleziocentrizam), pristup Drugoga vatikanskog koncila i poslijekoncilske teologije (inkluzivistički kristocentrizam) te pogled na druge religije predstavnika takozvane pluralističke teologije religija (pluralistički teocentrizam). U kontekstu religijskog pluralizma Crkva je kao zajednica vjernika pozvana potvrđivati vlastiti kršćanski identitet u dijalogu s postojećim religijama i kulturama u kojima kršćani žive. Stoga se u drugom dijelu rada, osim opisane trostruke klasifikacije pristupa teologiji religija, sažeto predstavljaju religijsko-teološki nacrti dvojice njemačkih katoličkih teologa. To su Klaus von Stosch i njegovo promišljanje o komparativnoj teologiji religija i Karl-Josef Kuschel koji prakticira teološki međureligijski dijalog unutar triju monoteističkih religija (takozvane ‘abrahamske ekumene’). U trećem i završnom dijelu rada, polazeći od relacijskog razumijevanja zahtjeva jedinstvenosti i univerzalnosti kršćanske objave, autor donosi neka zapažanja o naravi misijskog naloga Crkve u ozračju religijskog pluralizma i dijaloga.

Editorial: Christ’s Fourfold Declaration of Authority

In spite of the emphasis in evangelical circles on Christ’s missionary mandate to his disciples in Matthew 28, the bond between the cosmic authority asserted in verse 18 and the church, to which the mission is entrusted in verses 19–20, is not always acknowledged as it should be. Misunderstanding or lack of precision about this point runs the risk of distorting the reason for the missionary mandate, namely by displacing it from its christological focus. We will clarify the precise nature of the bond between Christ’s authority and the church by an examination of the passage’s fourfold declaration of authority, which reinforces the passage in question and uncover how this bond establishes the New Testament church as well. KEYWORDS:

Pentecostalism in Mission and Evangelism Today

AbstractThis article includes Pentecostal mission strategies and missionary approaches. The author has consciously brought out Asian or non‐Western experiences and perspectives. It touches on some new opportunities and challenges for global Pentecostalism or charismatic Christianity in fulfilling the missionary mandate of the church. Finally, the article evaluates how Pentecostal missions add dimensions to global Christianity.

“Noxious Weed”: Persecution in the Development of Korean Christianity

AbstractThe experience of persecution during the late Joseon and Japanese colonial period was not unusual for Korean Christians, who endured living as a minority faith within a hostile context. Like the pre‐Constantinian Christian communities and many Christians today who live in the global South, suspicion and persecution defined their world as openly confessing Christians, and they embraced, as part of converting to Christianity, the stark reality that their faith could incur personal harm in the form of hostility, incarceration, and even death. This article explores how conversion and maintaining Christian faith in a society adverse to Christianity shaped believers’ self‐understanding of the breadth of faith and acceptance of its mortal implications. Focusing on the Catholic and Protestant experience in Korea, Christian believers rigorously tested the country's attitudes against Christianity. In so doing, their experience provokes a critical reflection on the profoundness of the missionary mandate and illuminates the complexity with which their faith is forged as they must confront the brutal reality that they may be, at the very least, arrested. For many Korean Christians during Joseon Dynasty and the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), conversion to Christianity was part of the process that transformed for believers a religious identity that was understood to be potentially detrimental to their relationship with the state.

EKSISTENSI DAKWAH DALAM MERESPON PLURALISME

Da'wah delivered by the Holy Prophet, not only to the ahlul kitab, but to the plural society where he convey the religious message to the people in order to implement the Shari'ah of the religion correctly and responsibly following the guidance of the Qur'an and Hadith towards the creation of a peaceful, secure society , and affluent. The ongoing process makes every individual understand fully that dakwah is a duty with all responsibility and is accompanied by a consequence of obtaining God's approval. The nature of da'wah is not just to invite people to accept what a dai calls for, nor a person's intelligence in the pulpit or the ability to put ideas through writing. Moreover, da'wah is a horizontal relationship with each other that is interdependent. From here, there is another side that must be understood by those who carry out this missionary mandate, given that the duty and responsibility of a dai is a very big thing, let alone the activities of da'wah from time to time, from generation to generation, even from century to century, of course very varied, because will be found various challenges.

Bischof Dominique Rey über die missionarische Pfarrei

This article is based on the reflection of Bishop Dominique Rey on the missionary mandate of the parish in the twenty-first century. Its structure consists of three chapters. The first chapter presents pastoral and academic achievements of Bishop Rey, especially in terms of evangelization. Then the article presents a brief analysis of current threats, to which - according to Dominique Rey – a modern parish is exposed. The third part of the article shows indications formulated by the Bishop of Frejus-Toulon to contribute to the greater awakening of the missionary spirit in each parish community. In his teaching, Dominique Rey also remembers that evangelization must start from deepening our personal relationship with Christ. Every priest in parishes and all parishioners should keep this in mind.

Nurturing a Heart for the New Evangelization: A National Study of Catholic Elementary School Principals in the U.S.

The Catholic Church calls school principals to serve not only as educational leaders and ecclesial ministers, but also as agents of the New Evangelization. Given the Church’s ongoing call for a New Evangelization, it is essential to establish how the principals themselves perceive this missionary mandate; it is also important to explore what elements of the principals’ own faith formation have best equipped them for this unique role and what areas for ongoing growth they themselves identify. This mixed-methods study collected both quantitative and qualitative data through a survey of over 600 Catholic elementary school principals across the U.S.; personal interviews triangulated the data from the survey. The findings of this study identify a high level of comfort among the principals regarding the work of the New Evangelization, as well as a positive correlation among several areas of faith formation and their general confidence about the mission. The study concludes with recommendations for future formation at the service of the New Evangelization.

Aggiornamento and Dialogue: Some Ambiguity from Gaudium et Spes

At the heart of ecclesial mission, and thus of theology, is a diligent reading, discernment, and elevation of the signs of the times in the light of Jesus Christ. Such was the imperative of the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes, that has today been freshly received in the papacy of Francis. Precisely in order to attentively listen to those yearnings of the world, the word of the Council and arguably of Francis’s entire pontificate has been dialogue. Meanwhile, alongside excitement and hope, confusion and controversy continues to surround the legacy of the Council and the assessment of Pope Francis. The most recent Synod on the Family has demonstrated as much. This paper suggests that one of the issues-under-the-issues is the precise meaning of “dialogue,” an ambiguity that can be traced back to Gaudium et spes itself. After considering the positions of Joseph Ratzinger and Edward Schillebeeckx vis-à-vis Gaudium et spes, this paper suggests that, in actuality, two conceptions of dialogue are present in the church’s pastoral constitution. This conciliar ambiguity regarding the precise meaning of dialogue between church and world—whether a bold one-sided kerygmatic proclamation of the Gospel sine glossa or a more reciprocal two-sided mutual learning—is undoubtedly one source of confusion in any discussion of ecclesial mission today and thus merits our further attention. This paper briefly proposes that three fundamental theological questions offer some aid to resolve this key tension in Gaudium et spes: the role of eschatology in the church’s life; the relationship of nature and grace; and where, what, and who the church is. To continue to receive the Council’s teaching on dialogue is essential—the church’s missionary mandate from Christ depends on it.

The Declaration Dominus Iesus

The proclamation of the Gospel to the world (Matthew 28:19) was the missionary mandate given by Christ to the Church as He ascended to Heaven. While significant strides had been made in the past, the Church humbly admits that her universal mission is still far from completion. In the twentieth century, in her continuing effort to evangelize, the Church saw the need to address her relation to the world, particularly to other Christian denominations and the various non-Christian faiths. Through the Second Vatican Council, the Church's dialogue with them resulted in a more open environment. Conversely though, some theologians like Jacques Dupuis construed this openness in a relativist pluralism approach to accommodate the need for a “balanced” view of dialogue between faiths. The Declaration Dominus Iesus, written in the Jubilee Year 2000, was intended to address Christians regarding this increasing tendency of moving away from their central and fundamental faith in Jesus Christ, with whom they are celebrating the year for. This article presents a descriptive and historical overview of the Declaration and its contents, particularly mentioning those theories or positions, which were held erroneous and subsequently countered by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Between boundlessness and locatings of place: young evangelical Christians and their mission

This paper, which is based on the ethnography of a group of young Christian-evangelical missionaries during their missionary training, focuses on particular relations to place that these missionaries have. Beginning with a brief look at religion and transnationality, I demonstrate how the Christian-evangelical can be understood both historically and currently as a transnational phenomenon especially in and through its missionary, boundary-crossing movements. In contrast to the conceptually transnational, the missionary mandate has no relation to localities insofar as it relates to the world as a whole in a manner that is boundless and all-encompassing. The young missionaries therefore find themselves in a dilemma where they are caught between boundlessness and the requirement to locate to specific places when they have to decide on the destinations of their missionary travels. Drawing on empirical material, I outline in this paper the different strategies that the young missionaries adopt in dealing with ...

Działalność Fundacji Pomocy Humanitarnej „Redemptoris Missio” odpowiedzią na wyzwania encykliki Jana Pawła II

Foundation of the Humanitarian Aid „Redemptoris Missio” was established in 1992 r. in Poznan. It is a fruit of the encyclical of John Paul II on the permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate. The foundation forms the specialist medical backup for missionary centers. It organizes the medical and financial help as well as propagates the knowledge about missions and missionaries. It also carries a publishing activity. It gives a witness on the service of lay Christians in the missionary activities.

The Role of Canon Law in the Ecumenical Venture: a Roman Catholic Perspective

One of the main goals of the Second Vatican Council (the 50th anniversary of whose opening will be celebrated in 2012) was the unity of all Christians. Not least among its achievements was the fact that it launched the Catholic Church into the Ecumenical Movement and also paved the way for a global revision of the Church's Code of Canon Law. This article reflects from a Roman Catholic perspective on aspects to do with canon law and ecumenism. It does so in the light of the Council's teaching and reception. Conciliar hermeneutics and questions left open at the Council are considered. In conclusion, the author suggests that greater attention to the Church's charismatic principle and missionary mandate underlined at the Council offers wide scope for continuing exploration among Anglican and Roman Catholic canonists in the cause of unity.

Mission Following the Missionary Mandate of the Risen Christ

The concept of has undergone a familiar change in recent decades. Professor M. Deneken has analysed the phenomenon in a recent study in which he shows the way in which the term is used by priests on World Mission Sunday: From a preaching that insisted on a outreach to other countries it has been changed into a preaching that promotes mission within Christian communities themselves. (1) Without differentiating too much between mission abroad and mission at home we note that there are many problems facing the church today in its unavoidable task to show forth and communicate the love of God to all people and nations. (2) The Cultural Pontifical Council has set these problems in sharp relief in a document published for the 2004 Plenary Assembly. (3) It speaks of the derision and resentment to which the church is exposed in some of the media, of the widespread relativism, practical atheism, indifference, and a vague religiosity having no reference to a personal God, etc. However dark the contemporary religious situation may be in our world, the church never ceases to search for anchor points for the preaching of the gospel. It knows that only the good news of God's love is able to satisfy the thirst for fullness and eternity that God has put in the human heart. The current day conference of the Ecumenical Francophone Association for Missiology is proof of this. The slogan is eloquent: after the Enlightenment: daring to do mission in a Europe in process of construction. dean-Marie Aubert's invitation to participate in this conference with a reflection on mission in the Bible demonstrates that, in this unavoidable endeavour of the church, the Bible cannot be forgotten. The word of God will always be a lamp for our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Given that a comprehensive biblical study of mission, would require much more time than we have available, (4) I shall concentrate on what I consider the most significant texts. Dealing with mission, I have no doubt that the basic texts are those that the gospel writers offer us describing the encounter of the risen Christ with his disciples. Easter is the decisive moment as much in Christian thought as it is in life. F.-X. Durrwell has seen this clearly and has succeeded in communicating it passionately. In article that the author presents as an afternoon offering, conceived as a summary of elements from his many earlier writings, he affirmed categorically: Everything begins with the resurrection of Jesus. 'He has risen!' was the cry of the church at its birth. Faith woke on Easter day, in its encounter with the risen Christ. In our day, that encounter is where the same faith continues to be enlightened. (5) It is worth making a careful reading of the mandate of the risen Christ, as we have it in our four gospels. We will find many elements to enlighten and orientate the church in what is basic to the content and the methods of the mission that it must carry out today. Respecting the most probable chronological order of the texts, we will leave until last that what is offered to us in the canonical appendix of Mark. I. Matthew 28:18-20 MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS The gospel writer St Matthew devotes the concluding narrative of his gospel to the encounter of the risen Christ with his disciples (28:16-20). Being a meeting that has already been announced three times (26:32; 28:7,10), its importance goes without saying. After a type of prelude, that flags up the journey of the eleven disciples to the place originally indicated and the reaction caused by the 'vision' of the risen Christ (vss. 16-17), the words the risen Christ powerfully speaks to them are cast in the form of three brief sentences: the revelation of his universal authority; the mandate; and the revelation and promise of his constant presence (vss. 18-20). This framework makes everything revolve around the missionary mandate, framed between two revelations in close parallelism: the power of the risen Christ, extending to the whole universe and his constant presence with the disciples until the end of the age. …

IDENTITY AND PURPOSE RENEWED: THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND WORLDWIDE MISSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

International Review of MissionVolume 92, Issue 366 p. 393-405 IDENTITY AND PURPOSE RENEWED: THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND WORLDWIDE MISSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY Kenneth R. Ross, Kenneth R. Ross Kenneth R. Ross, formerly Professor of Theology at the University of Malawi, is General Secretary of the Church of Scotland Board of World Mission.Search for more papers by this author Kenneth R. Ross, Kenneth R. Ross Kenneth R. Ross, formerly Professor of Theology at the University of Malawi, is General Secretary of the Church of Scotland Board of World Mission.Search for more papers by this author First published: 25 March 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.2003.tb00413.x Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume92, Issue366July 2003Pages 393-405 RelatedInformation

Franz van de Velde, O.M.I. (1909-2002)

Franz Van de Velde, O.M.I. [Oblates of Mary Immaculate], a Roman Catholic missionary well known in the Kitikmeot and northern Hudson Bay regions, died in Marelbeke, Belgium, on 22 February 2002 at age 92. Member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate religious order, cultural historian, author, and genealogist, Father Franz (Frans) was born in Belgium on 28 November 1909 to Arthur Van de Velde and Gabriella Lanens de Lier. He graduated from a Jesuit secondary school in 1929, but chose to join the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a worldwide missionary order founded in France. He took his first vows as an Oblate on 8 September 1930, in Niewenhove, and was ordained a priest by Bishop Rassneur on 8 September 1933 in Velaines, Belgium. Father Van de Velde received his obedience to minister in the Hudson Bay Apostolic Vicariate in March 1937, and on 26 May 1937, with Bishop Arsène Turquetil, he boarded the Normandie in Le Havre en route to New York, Montreal, and Churchill. After overwintering in Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories, he arrived in Pelly Bay (Kugaaruk) on 23 April 1938. Father Pierre Henry, who had established the Pelly Bay mission on Simpson Peninsula in 1935, introduced him to ministry in the Kitikmeot region. Father Franz spent the next 50 years of his life in the Canadian Arctic, mainly in the Pelly Bay and Kitikmeot region until 1965, when he moved to Igloolik. On 12 April 1958, he became a Canadian citizen in a ceremony at Pelly Bay, with Justice Jack Sissons presiding. His last missionary mandate in the Churchill Hudson Bay Diocese (1969-86) was to Sanerajak (Hall Beach), where he established the Coeur Douloureux et Immaculé de Marie parish in 1969. A Canadian Arctic Producers publication, Canadian Inuit Artifacts, described Ataata Vinivi (his Inuktitut name) as a missionary, ethnologist, author, and explorer. An avid chronicler of many things, he contributed some 35 articles to ESKIMO, the Churchill Hudson Bay diocesan magazine, on a wide range of topics, such as Inuit legends, acts ofrevenge and retribution, hunting stories, snow and its uses, and Arctic wildlife encounters. His article on Inuit rules for sharing seal meat after a hunt has been reprinted in several other journals. A project dear to his heart was the transliteration and translation of the autobiography and memoirs of his faithful guide, Bernard Irqugaqtuq. He held Bernard and his wife Agnes Nullut of Kugaaruk in highest esteem. The celebrated Netsilik Eskimo Film Series, shot in Kugaaruk in the early 1960s, and directed by Dr. Asen Balikci, could not have been made without the help of Father Guy Mary-Rousselière and Father Van de Velde. Currently distributed in video format by the National Film Board of Canada, the film series remains a valuable educational asset to this day. In 1984, the Government of Canada officially adopted the Inuktitut names of 313 Arctic geographic features, a decision based on Father Van de Velde's efforts to record some 600 names he had collected from 1938 to 1958 in the Kugaaruk-Taloyoak-Gjoa Haven area. ... His painstakingly recorded genealogical records of the Pelly Bay people back to the time of Roald Amundsen (1903-06) occupy 4250 handwritten and typed pages. Photographs of elders, now kept in the local government offices of Kugaaruk, came from his vast, carefully annotated photograph collection, now located in the Oblate Archives in Ottawa. ... Father Van de Velde was honoured by Belgium as "Knight in the Order of the Crown" ... in Ottawa on 25 February 1986. He received the Order of Canada award ... on 11 April 1984. ... Father Van de Velde retired from northern parish ministry in 1986 and spent the rest of his life in Belgium. ... On learning of Father Van de Velde's death, Sidonie wrote: ... I remember many things, but most of all his words: Help people, and pray for them! ... Indeed, this legendary figure, described by Bishop Reynald Rouleau as "an example of immense determination," has left an indelible mark on the spiritual and cultural land scape of Nunavut.