Mission Work in the US

Stewardship Report

The Beginnings

How did Missionhurst-CICM, an exclusive foreign mission Congregation, ever end up in the United States?

By the time of the Second World War (1939-1945),
CICM had missionaries in China, the Congo, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia. World War II put a lot of hardship on our missionary Congregation which had a membership of about 1300, most members being either Belgian (the majority) or Dutch. During these war years contacts between missionaries and the General Government were impossible as Belgium was occupied by the Germans. The missions in the Far East either were, or soon would be, occupied by the Japanese. Young missionaries were unable to leave Belgium and were helping out in parishes and schools there.

Our missions in the Far East were not only cut off from the headquarters in Brussels but also from their main base of financial resources. After the Pearl Harbor disaster at the end of 1941, Holland's and Belgium's governments-in-exile had declared war with Japan and this made all of our missionaries enemy-nationals. They knew that soon they would be interned in concentration camps.

In 1942 Father Joseph Verhaert, Superior of the CICM Procures in China, took the responsibility of sending Father Ernest Dieltiens to the US for the purpose of finding help for our missionaries in China by providing them with Mass stipends from the United States.

Father Dieltiens left China on August 11, 1942 and would reach Miami via South Africa on New Year's Day of 1944. He found a welcome home with the Maryknoll Fathers who graciously returned courtesies extended so often to their missionaries in China by the CICM procurators.

Maryknoll Superiors strongly recommended that our Congregation consider an apostolate among the Afro-Americans of the US as a means of gaining solid ground and making promotion activities possible on a more permanent basis.

US Promotion Work

In May 1945, after the liberation of Belgium, Father Dieltiens was able to get a letter to the General Government in Scheut (Brussels). In this letter he requested that some confreres come and help him in the US Promotion work to get financial support for our missions in the Far East and the Congo. He also strongly suggested that we establish ourselves as missionaries in the US by working among the Afro-Americans. On November 15th the General Government unanimously decided to start a CICM Mission among the Afro-Americans in the US. Father Ernest Dieltiens had already been in contact with Cardinal Dougherty of Philadelphia who expressed his willingness to welcome our men in the Afro-American apostolate in his archdiocese.

Father Dieltiens started negotiations with several dioceses asking permission to buy a Central House - Promotion Center. Only Bishop Ireton of Richmond, Virginia responded favorably and welcomed our men with open arms. He also gave permission for missionary promotion work. In exchange he requested that we take over a mission in Northern Virginia: Culpeper, Orange and Gordonsville, and help in the various parishes of Arlington.

Father Dieltiens was able to buy an 11-acre property in April, 1946. It was called 'Lyonhurst', after a former owner, Mr. Lyons. Father Joseph Spae would later claim that he was the one to suggest changing its name to 'Missionhurst', a name that has become dear to many.

In 1946 sixteen confreres arrived. Most of these were immediately assigned to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia while two were assigned to Afro-American ministry in Columbus, Ohio. In October 1946 two confreres moved to Culpeper, Virginia. Their mission covered three counties! On November 16, 1946 the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith gave official approval for CICM to work as a missionary Congregation among the 'Negroes' in the US. In 1947 ten more confreres were sent and in 1948 an additional twenty-three. Several of these were former China missionaries, who were not able to return to their mission in China. But most were young men with the US as their first mission assignment.

The Chapter of 1947 decided to expand the CICM presence in the US, and in 1948 a large group of confreres were sent to the US: 9 came from Belgium to the US as their first mission; 8 were transferred from China after only a brief stay there because of the worsening conditions in China as a result of the threatening Communist takeover; and 6 were veterans of the China mission and came mostly to help in the Promotion.

Our Situation Today

Today 65 missionaries of the Missionhurst-CICM Institute live and work in the USA. During the first 40 years most of us came from Belgium and Holland. During the last 12 years most newcomers have come from Congo, the Philippines and Indonesia. We are now an international group which colors our missionary presence: we witness to the universal and all-inclusive dimension of divine love by living and working together as brothers.

The original work of mission animation and mission promotion which was started more than fifty years ago continues today. Through our development office we publish Missionhurst Magazine, organize mission appeals and coordinate the fundraising to support our CICM missions in twenty-four countries around the world. Two CICM priests with a dedicated lay staff work at our Missionhurst Promotion Office in Arlington, Virginia.

Our pastoral involvement today is primarily in Hispanic ministry in South Texas: Twenty of our men are in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, eleven in the Diocese of Brownsville. In the city of San Antonio we staff four west-side parishes in the poorest sections of the city. We also serve in four rural parishes outside of San Antonio, in towns along the Highway 35 to Laredo. The confreres come together on Sunday evenings for a social and once a month for a day of recollection.

In the Diocese of Brownsville we have an international CICM team serving parishes in the Rio Grande Valley near the border of Mexico. It is one of the poorest and most needy dioceses in the US.

The confreres meet every Tuesday for a luncheon and once a month for a recollection. In the Hispanic ministry we try to emphasize the formation of Christian leaders, lay ministers, catechists, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), basic Christian communities, evangelizers, community organizing and youth ministry.

In Virginia, we still staff two parishes.

A few members are chaplains in hospitals and schools. Our senior missionaries are actively retired in four CICM houses; two in San Antonio, Texas, and two in Virginia. Many of them help out confreres in parishes or substitute when needed.

Our CICM Formation House is in San Antonio, Texas. CICM seminarians from Congo, Indonesia and the Philippines live as an international CICM community with an American Formator. A six-year program with languages (English and Spanish), acculturation courses and experiences, four years of theology at Oblate school of Theology, pastoral experiences, internship and spiritual formation prepare our young missionaries well for their missionary pastoral presence in the USA.

Finally there is the administrative leadership and the animation task of the Provincial Superior, the Provincial Council and the generous services of the provincial committees for Finances, Justice and Peace, Initial Formation and Senior Confreres.

North American-Born Members

We have five North American confreres who are working in the US Province. All of them spent a number of years in foreign missions. Nine are in other mission provinces (Japan, Congo, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil). The number of our north American-born members may be small compared to some of the other nationalities in the Congregation but they certainly have made an impressive contribution in the missionary task of the Congregation. They have a special place in the hearts of all the members of the US Province who came from other countries.