The History of the Functional Structure of the Maryknoll Mission in Musoma and Shinyanga, Tanzania

Carney, Joseph P. (1973) The History of the Functional Structure of the Maryknoll Mission in Musoma and Shinyanga, Tanzania. PhD thesis, St. John's University-New York.

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Abstract

This study is a modern history of the origin and evolution of the Marykno 11 Hiss ion In Tanzania. from 1931 to 1972. It traces the motivation of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll in seeking to begin a mission work· in. Africa from the initiative of a single man, John Considine, in 1931 to a Society policy decision in 1939. The growth to maturity as an American Catholic mission group in Tanzania is portrayed from 1946 to 1972. In those twenty-six years a Maryknoll missioner has witnessed and been a part of drastic change in a number of areas. A rural subsistent agricultural milieu in northwestern Tanzania is gradually being modernized on the social, economic and educational level. Tanzania itself in that time has Progressed from being a British mandate in the colonial capitalistic system to being a Socialist African nation, which recently celebrated ten years of independence and which is regarded by many as a leading spokesman for the cause of human development among the economically poor of the Third World. The Catholic Church in Tanzania has to a great extent been Africanized with forty-two percent of the clergy being Tanzanians. The leadership and the majority of the Episcopal Conference are Tanzanians. The backbone and vitality of the Tanzanian Catholic Church are laymen and laywomen. The Church itself has changed from a structure-bound, hierarchical and clerical-orientated institution to an open and collegially-orientated reality of the People of God, lay people and religious. This study portrays how the Maryknoll Fathers Society structured itself to do the work of Mission during that quarter century of vast change. The work begins with an introductory chapter, which indicates the importance and timeliness of an American missionary society's self awareness in an African Socialist nation, which seems to reflect so many gospel values. The second chapter gives a brief portrayal of the Tanzanian people in Musoma and Shinyanga with whom the Maryknoll priests, Brothers and Sisters work. Chapters three and four reflect the personal interest of John Considine in broadening Maryknoll's horizons to look at the continent of Africa as within Its missionary view in 1931. There Is a Society policy decision in 1939 to actively seek a presence in Tanganyika, which culminates in the acceptance of a mission field in Musoma from the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith in 1946. Once four Maryknoll men began to work in Tanganyika in 1946, a number of options and decisions had to be made for the mission society to structure itself to meet certain needs. Chapter five traces the juridical inheritance of Musoma as a mission responsibility from the White Fathers to the Maryknoll Fathers. Maryknoll's initial imitation of the White Fathers 1 catechet I cal system and its 1 ater evolutions into sma 11 community work, catechetical leadership schools and other forms of the apostolate are related in Chapter six. Chapter seven develops the theme that language study and cultural awareness are keys to reaching a sense of oneness with the Tanzanian people in their religious, social and political 11 t i ca 1 values. The delay in formal structuring to study the languages and culture of the Tanzanian people with its negative effects is cited. Finally, Chapter eight traces Maryknoll's growth to awareness of t he social and economic needs of the Tanzanian people from 1946 to the present and the challenge that it faces in understanding Its own identity as an American missionary society in an African Socialist nation. The conclusions drawn in Chapter nine are based on the material presented and reflect an awareness of Marynolls contribution to the work of Mission in Tanzania and the opportunities with which it is presented in the future. This history is based largely on the missionary records of the Maryknoll Fathers, missiological and historical works concerned with Tanzania and interviews with men who have worked in Musoma and Shinyanga.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Subjects: A General Works > AZ History of Scholarship The Humanities
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: Geoffrey Obatsa
Date Deposited: 06 Oct 2017 10:38
Last Modified: 06 Oct 2017 10:38
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/2449

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