Christian-Muslim dialogue in practice: the Story of a French Canadian Mission to Indonesia, 1974-83.

Foisy, Catherine

Vatican II (1962-65) radically changed the Catholic Church's self-understanding, as well as its relation to the world. In the postcolonial context of emancipated Third World countries, missionaries were facing new challenges. The need to enter into dialogue across cultures and religions became a defining feature of contemporary mission. (1) In the early 1970s the Quebec Foreign Mission Society (QFMS) reviewed its constitutions and reassessed its objectives and understanding of mission. The Society became aware of the inconsistency of its serving almost exclusively in countries that were already mostly Christian, and thus the 1973 General Assembly decided to open a new mission in an environment that was both non-Christian and poverty-stricken. From 1974 to 1983 eight missionary priests were sent to a new missionary project in the Diocese of Medan, in Indonesia. This article explores the extent to which this experience was in line with conciliar teachings on mission and interreligious dialogue, but it also shows the influence of internal and external factors on the project's fate. I utilize Society archives and official publications, as well as interviews conducted with several members of the Indonesian project. First, I summarize the main teachings of Vatican II on both mission and interreligious dialogue. Next, I consider the project's most important features and greatest challenges. Finally, I evaluate the project in light of conciliar teachings. I argue that although this project was marginal in the Society, it became a milestone in its renewal process.

Mission and Interreligious Dialogue

The Second Vatican Council resulted from internal and external factors pressing the church to review its relation to modernity. (2) The concepts of aggiornamento (bringing up to date) and ressourcement (return to the sources) helped the conciliar fathers to enter into Pope John XXIII's project. Both concepts rest on the conviction that Catholic tradition is rich enough to face and promote change, contrary to the impression given by Vatican I (1869-70). (3) According to John W. O'Malley, ressourcement is the most crucial element for understanding Vatican II. (4) By going back to the sources of the church, especially patristic sources, the Council effectively changed the tone of the church from legalistic and judicial to pastoral.

On August 6, 1964, Pope Paul VI promulgated his first encyclical on the church, Ecclesiam suam, which promoted an attitude among Catholics of respect, openness, and readiness to engage in dialogue with the world ([section]50). Dialogue requires that the church deepen its self-understanding ([section]9). To avoid the pitfalls of "a watering down or whittling away of truth" or of syncretism, Catholics engaged in dialogue should search for the truth and maintain their "vital bond of union with Christ" ([section][section]88, 35). The call for dialogue is tied to mission, and the conception of dialogue is rooted in the experience of salvation, which comes from God's desire for all of humanity ([section][section]64, 70). The pope reminds Catholics that dialogue cannot be limited, self-seeking, or coercive, but it must remain open to anyone who does not clearly reject it, and it must be persevering ([section]77). Paul VI sees in dialogue a method characterized by clarity, meekness, confidence, and prudence that Catholics should use to establish spiritual contacts with their contemporaries ([section]78). Finally, he specifically addresses dialogue with Jews and Muslims, who should be admired "for all that is good and true in their worship of God" ([section]106). He reminds Catholics of the need to clearly and openly declare their conviction that the Christian religion is the one and only true religion, "and it is our hope that it will be acknowledged as such by all who look for God and worship Him" ([section]107). Nonetheless, the pope stands by the teachings of his predecessor in making clear that an attitude of openness is required for Catholics to engage in dialogue ([section]108).

What are the main teachings of the conciliar fathers on mission and interreligious dialogue? First, the church is missionary by nature, and every Catholic is on mission (Ad gentes [1964], [section]17). The two main conceptions of mission circulating in university circles over the first half of the twentieth century--plantatio ecclesiae (the planting of the church) and the conversion of souls--have received full recognition in Ad gentes, which also specified, in line with Gaudium et spes, that mission includes simple presence among brothers and sisters. Recalling that "people look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved riddles of human existence" (Nostra aetate [1965], [section]1), the fathers restated the church's high regard for Muslims. Points of convergence can be established between the two religions: the worship of one God, their sharing of the same father in faith, Abraham, and the veneration of Jesus as a prophet. The council fathers pleaded for mutual understanding in order to preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice, and moral values. This declaration was also a strong appeal for the recognition of the equal value and dignity of every human being, without regard for his or her religion, race, or condition of life. (5)

Doing Mission in a Poor, Non-Christian Milieu

As mentioned, one outcome of Vatican II was a deliberate and extended reconsideration on the part of QFMS of the order's missional engagements in light of its constitutions and understanding of mission.

The foundation, development, and aggiornamento of an apostolic society. The bishops of the province of Quebec founded the QFMS in Montreal in 1921 to represent the Church of Quebec abroad. The Society sent its first members to Manchuria, China, on September 11, 1925. (6) In 1937 the Society accepted a mission in southern Philippines, and five years later, priests of the QFMS arrived in Cuba. Given the rather difficult political situation in China at the end of the 1940s, the Society closed its work there and opened a new mission in Japan in 1948. This particular context and recommendations from the Vatican led the Society to diversify its horizons, and it opened a new mission in Honduras in 1955, and then in Peru in 1956. (7) After fifty years of existence and an ecumenical council calling for an aggiornamento of its structures and members, (8) what was the Society's specific institutional context at the beginning of the 1970s, a period marked by a decrease in vocations in Quebec?

The 1973 General Assembly witnessed stark debate over the discrepancies between the Society's practice and its stated goals. In the end, however, it affirmed its intention to move forward in facing the missionary challenges. Fundamental questions were raised during the assembly with respect to the countries where the Society was present. Given that only Japan was a non-Christian country, was the Society actually following its original vision to minister to non-Christians? Following agreement by the members of the assembly "to give priority to the first announcement of the Gospel, the training of new Christian communities, and the promotion of local leaders ready to take up full responsibility of these communities as soon as possible," (9) they prepared to launch a new project in a poor and non-Christian environment within the coming year. Mgr. Jean-Louis Martin was put in charge of this new mission. (10)

Contributing to the local church through evangelization and dialogue. The Diocese of Medan in northwestern Sumatra met the criteria set by the General Assembly. In the words of Martin, it was "so strongly Muslim that, in certain places, we could not even mention the name of Jesus." (11) For their first two years in Medan, Society members quietly studied the culture, learned Bahasa Indonesia, the national language, as well as Batak dialects, especially Karo and Toba--all the while looking for the best ways to serve the people and the church. (12) The diocese was entering another phase of its indigenization process, and the Society was free to add its own color, since "there were large sectors where Church servants could not go because of a lack of personnel. Consequently, some areas were abandoned, and there were great needs." (13) In 1976 a first contract was signed with the diocesan authorities. The Quebecois missionaries were put in charge of fifty-five Christian communities of unequal size, scattered across an area about 600 kilometers (375 miles) in length, and they agreed to work toward the creation of other communities. More specifically, the local church asked that they (1) do specific work with youth and university students, (2) make sure that each member took charge of several of the fifty-five Christian communities, (3) work with Muslims and other non-Christians, and (4) initiate new projects and contribute to renewing pastoral action through the training of local leaders or the development of socio-ecclesial projects such as cooperatives. With respect to Christian-Muslim dialogue, "In the majority of cases, time had not yet come for dialogue with words." (14) Martin remembers that "what we could do was to train people, Indonesians themselves, who will then, when the time is right, dialogue with Muslims through works, common celebrations, and maybe doctrine." (15)

The missionary action toward non-Christians began with the Bataks, whose animist beliefs were not recognized by Indonesia's ideology of Pancasila. (16) Several members of the project got more directly involved with Muslims in Banda Aceh and Belawan. Martin, Gregoire Vignola, and Marcel Beaulieu remained in the area of Medan, while Magella Coulombe started to work with the Bataks-Karos in Binjei in a concerted attempt to counter the Islamic push in this area. Jean-Yves Isabel headed to Banda Aceh to serve the small and isolated Catholic communities of this region and was later joined by Rheal Desy. And Bertrand Roy and Raymond Desrochers established themselves in the port city of Belawan, where they shared the responsibility of the city's dozen Christian communities.

Desrochers and Roy lived in Belawan from December 1976 to the end of 1983. Over the course of his stay in Belawan, Roy focused on the training of laypeople so they could fully assume responsibilities for the Christian communities there. This training included "opening them to the missionary dimension of their Christian faith, in the perspective of dialogue with Muslims." This aspect of the training sessions was not easy for Catholics who were "living in a Muslim environment, where there were all sorts of conflicts between Catholics and Muslims." (17) Several months later, Roy introduced a special issue of Missions etrangeres on Indonesia by recalling his experience of a meeting of Muslims: "Tonight, they unite because they believe in the One who announces a kingdom of peace and justice. This invitee from the other end of the world, seated in a corner and trying to follow the conversation, is there for the same reason." (18)

Desrochers spent time daily at the port, where he listened, prayed, helped, and tried to be a brother to any of the men from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds who were working on ships. "Every time I leave for the port, I ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and for good discernment in every situation ... so that he uses me for the purpose of revealing to these people, through another ordinary human being, God's love and understanding." (19)

In addition, he went weekly to the local prison. There, in collaboration with the head of the prison, a practicing Muslim, Desrochers answered questions from the prisoners. This experience challenged his faith. "So how do I express my views, my thoughts, and my faith in front of someone who thinks differently from me? If I'm not able to say certain things, then why is that? If mission includes conversion, am I ready to tell this to people? If I'm not able to express some things, where is the problem? Maybe it's not only that I'm shy; maybe it's because my motivations are not right." (20)

In the case of Banda Aceh, where Christians constituted only 1 percent of the entire population, they unexpectedly, because of the excellent reputation of their schools, had an important influence on the larger community. Still, the influence of Islam was felt in every aspect of the people's daily life. In that context, what could Jean-Yves Isabel accomplish? He toured the isolated Christian communities of Aceh and trained laypeople to take up ministerial responsibilities when he could not be present. With respect to Muslims, he "smoothly established a deeper relationship with the students and professors of Darussalam University." (21) In 1980 Isabel noted encouraging improvements in his dialogue with Muslims, especially through discussion groups he held with Muslim groups. In Isabel's view, "This is a remarkable success. We compared elements of both religions, but also came to a point where we became witness to our respective faith, which requires a deep friendship." This experience also influenced his Muslim friends, who shared it with their university colleagues. This led to a path-breaking opportunity: Isabel was invited to join the faculty of Muslim theology. He concluded his article with these reflective remarks: "To invite a Catholic priest to become a member of the faculty of Muslim theology is, especially in Banda Aceh, an extraordinary gesture of trust." (22)

On the other end of the spectrum of dialogue, Magella Coulombe became involved with the Bataks-Karos in the area of Binjei, where he was free to work openly with the Christian communities in seeking to expand their numbers, mainly because the Bataks "usually find more similarities between their values, way of life, traditions, and customs and Catholicism than with Islam." (23) This experience shows how varied the results can be of engaging in interreligious dialogue.

A heart-breaking decision; or, how the Society left Indonesia. Although the experience of the Society in the Diocese of Medan was rich and positive in terms of understanding more deeply the issues involved in interreligious dialogue, it required a series of adaptations and reorientations, as Jean-Louis Martin underscored in 1978. He was almost prophetic that year when he wrote, "Nothing is sure, given the political atmosphere, which could change and force foreigners to leave the country within six or seven years." (24) At the turn of the 1980s, the biggest issue confronting the missionaries was the renewal of their visas. According to an old law that the Indonesian government had decided to enforce, foreigners could not stay longer than four and a half years in Indonesia under their current visas. At that point they had two choices: leave the country, or become Indonesian citizens. President Suharto insisted that the church needed to become Indonesian, a point the Quebecois missionaries were very sensitive to. As recalled by Desrochers, Isabel, and Roy, this situation led members to have intense discussion concerning their future, balancing the needs of the local church with the meaning of missionary work, especially if it meant they had to become Indonesians. In the meantime, "The Indonesians made it clear that a condition for becoming Indonesian was to abandon one's former citizenship rights." (25)

By the end of 1983, everyone had decided to leave Indonesia, choosing not to change their citizenship. But although they left, no one felt their work had been in vain. Building upon the Indonesian project, in 1984 the Society opened a new mission in Sudan, which allowed it to deepen its practice and understanding of interreligious dialogue with Muslims.

Renewing the Society from Its Margins

In terms of Vatican II teachings, these men pursued their mission in the Diocese of Medan as a presence and a witness to Christ in daily encounters, specifically through their socially oriented projects. (26) In that sense, they also pursued mission as the advent of the kingdom of God on earth through the transformation of people's life conditions, no matter what their beliefs. At the level of these works, there is a potential for dialogue with people of different faiths, as noted by Muslim theologian Rabiatu Ammah. (27) In the Society's Indonesian experience, members of the group helped focus the local church on evangelization, served the existing Christian communities, worked to develop others, and thus indirectly countered the impact of Islamic missionary efforts. They did so in a highly collaborative manner, wanting to work in terms of their own orientation as a renewed Society--namely, to develop a strong local church and Christian communities through the training of indigenous laypeople and clergy.

In terms of dialogue with Muslims, two elements were key to the QFMS experience in Indonesia. First, they initiated friendship with Muslims through basic human contacts, such as practicing English, from which paths of dialogue became possible. The dialogue on the subject of religious faith, particularly between university students and professors and Jean-Yves Isabel, confirms a trend noted elsewhere: relations between more educated Christians and Muslims tend to be more positive and fruitful. (28) Second, as recommended in Ecclesiam suam, Quebecois missionaries intentionally embraced clarity, meekness, confidence, and prudence in their dialogue with Muslims. According to the Council, those engaged in interreligious dialogue must review their own faith, something Raymond Desrochers learned from his mission with a Muslim to prisoners.

Another factor that should be taken into account in assessing the contribution of the Indonesian project in the overall renewal process of the QFMS is the project's relatively limited size. At that time (the late 1970s and early 1980s), it was the Society's smallest project, involving only eight members. In contrast, fifty members were then in the Philippines, and between ten and thirty each were serving in the missions in Honduras, Peru, Japan, and Cuba. (29) Also, it was the Society's only mission work both taking place in an environment of poverty and being directed primarily to non-Christians. Throughout, the work in Indonesia was faithful to the main orientation spelled out in the Society's General Assembly of 1973, namely, co-responsibility with the local church, which meant that they implicitly agreed to accept the role of temporary servants.

Conclusion

What have we learned from this study regarding Christian-Muslim dialogue and mission in the postconciliar context? First, this project proved to be both a way to return to the Society's original impulse to send missionaries to non-Christians and a way to experience the renewal called for by the church. Second, the most important feature of this work in Indonesia is the experience of mission as a presence, which took a wide range of forms. It proved to be the best way to enter into dialogue with the non-Christians of the Diocese of Medan, both Bataks and Muslims. Third, at the request of the local diocesan authorities, the members of QFMS engaged in work with Muslims. Their experience demonstrates that, despite political conditions that would seem to exclude interreligious dialogue, an attitude of brotherhood can help bridge between the two sides, even at the level of faith and belief. (30)

As with many other studies on Christian-Muslim dialogue in the context of mission, this article has focused on the experience of priests. (31) Women, however, "differ from men in the ways they are human and religious, and it follows therefore that interreligious dialogue characterized by 'feminine inclusivity will differ fundamentally from male-centered interreligious dialogue.'" (32) In light of this difference, a promising topic for future research would be Christian-Muslim dialogue in the Maghreb and subSaharan Africa as experienced by female missionaries such as the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa.

Notes

(1.) See David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1991), 368-519; Francis Anekwe Oborji, Concepts of Mission: The Evolution of Contemporary Missiology (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2006).

(2.) According to theologian Gilles Routhier, "Vatican II cannot be understood without reference to the renewal movements that came before, and as such, it represents a new beginning, a moment of synthesis that also led to seeking new challenges" (Vatican II au Canada: Enracinement et reception [Saint-Laurent: Fides, 2001], 11-12). The renewal movements that transformed the Roman Catholic Church from inside over the course of the first half of the twentieth century--catechetical, liturgical, missionary, patristic, and philosemitic--worked to counter the influence of antimodernist discourse within the church by taking into account the scientific advancement of the humanities and social sciences.

(3.) According to church historian Etienne Fouilloux, the matrix of contemporary Catholicism can be traced back to the way Rome interpreted most aspects of the modern world, leading to the Holy Office's condemnation of sixty-five propositions subsumed in to the term "modernism," which the Vatican described as "the synthesis of all heresies" (Une eglise en quete de liberte: La pensee catholique francaise entre modernisme et Vatican II [1914-1962] [Paris: Desclee de Brouwer, 1998], 10).

(4.) John W. O'Malley, What Happened at Vatican II (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2008), 15-52.

(5.) "We cannot truly pray to God the Father of all if we treat any people as other than sisters and brothers, for all are created in God's image" (Nostra aetate, [section] 5), a viewpoint that also reflects Dignitatis humanae (1965).

(6.) Upon agreement reached with Mgr. J.-M. Blois, vicar apostolic of Mukden, Louis Lapierre, Eugene Berichon, and Leo Lomme were the first to go on mission in the name of the QFMS. In 1929 the Society was put in charge of the apostolic prefecture of Szepingkai, erected on portions of the vicariates of Jehol and Mukden, Manchuria.

(7.) Inhisencyclical Evangelii praecones (1951),Pope Pius XII encouraged missionary institutes to consider territories of apostolate such as Latin America, even though most of its population was Catholic. He was concerned to counter the negative effects of materialistic atheism, freemasonry, and the push of Protestantism in the continent ([section][section] 17-18).

(8.) Ecclesiae sanctae (August 6,1966) called for the implementation of the Council's teachings by religious institutes, asking them to organize a special general chapter for that purpose ([section][section]-6).

(9.) QFMS, Documents of the Sixth General Assembly, 1973, 8.

(10.) Martin, only thirty-nine years old at the time of his appointment, was responsible for the training of seminarians (1967-73) in Quebec and had previously served in Peru (1959-67).

(11.) Mgr. Jean-Louis Martin, interview by author, March 24, 2011, at the QFMS, Laval (Pont-Viau).

(12.) This attitude is consistent with the conclusion Stanislaw Grodz draws from the analysis of a new mission of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in an African Muslim country: "It certainly makes a difference whether a missionary arrives almost as an agent of a mighty development investor, or whether he comes as a hired worker who may be more inclined to listen to and learn from the local people and who would certainly be dependent on them" ("'Vie with Each Other in Good Works': What Can a Roman Catholic Missionary Order Learn from Entering into Closer Contact with Muslims?", Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 18 [2007]: 212).

(13.) Martin interview.

(14.) Though initially Monsignors Van den Hurk and Pius were not keen on asking the Quebecois missionaries to work with the Muslims, in a diocesan assembly of February 1976 the bishops finally asked the QFMS priests if they, would give it a try (Jean-Louis Martin, "Les Pretres des Missions-Etrangeres: Serviteurs de l'Evangile dans l'Eglise de Medan," Missions etrangreres 17 [1976]: 3-6); quotation from Martin, interview by author, March 24, 2011.

(15.) Martin interview.

(16.) Pancasila was the state ideology implemented in 1945, at the time of Indonesian independence. It is based on the five principles of belief in one supreme God, humanitarianism, national unity, democracy led by the wisdom of deliberations in representative bodies, and social justice for all people. According to this ideological system, in order to be fully recognized as citizens, every Indonesian must belong to a religion accepted by the state, namely, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism, or Catholicism. This policy created conditions for missionary activity toward the Bataks in the area of Medan, first by Lutheran Protestants and, since the end of the Second World War, by Catholics.

(17.) Bertrand Roy, interview by author, February 11, 2010, at the QFMS.

(18.) Bertrand Roy, "Petites et moyennes entreprises a Sumatra," Missions etrangeres 19 (1979): 3.

(19.) Raymond Desrochers, "Une journee au port de Belawan," Missions etrangeres 19 (1979): 15.

(20.) Raymond Desrochers, interview by author, March 25, 2011, at the International Centre for Missionary Training, Montreal.

(21.) Jean-Yves Isabel, "Sur le perron de la Mecque," Missions etrangeres 19 (1979): 17.

(22.) Jean-Yves Isabel, "L'Indonesie: Conflits et dialogue," Missions etrangeres 19 (1980): 26. The late 1970s saw the uprising and development of a nationalist movement in Aceh, especially around the group Aceh Merkeda, which advocated nationalizing the natural resources of the area and demanded recognition as being able to govern themselves as part of a decentralized model of governance. This was at odds with the type of governmental structures established in 1965 by the New Order regime (Edward Aspinall, Islam and Nation: Separatist Rebellion in Aceh, Indonesia [Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press], 18-83).

(23.) Isabel, "L'Indonesie," 26.

(24.) Jean-Louis Martin, "Le second de bord," Missions etrangeres 18 (1978): 12. Also in 1978 Bertrand Roy wrote, "For now, 25 percent of our team is waiting for the famous visa.... It is becoming harder for missionaries to obtain a visa to enter Indonesia" ("Courrier de nos missionnaires," Missions etrangeres 18 [1978]: 28).

(25.) Isabel, "L'Indonesie," 24.

(26.) Some missionaries had become especially active with cooperatives in the rural sectors of Medan, as this initiative was part of a larger diocesan orientation that stressed social justice. See Jean-Yves Isabel, "Un metre de terre vaut plus qu'un mayam d'or," Missions etrangeres 20 (1983): 7-10.

(27.) Rabiatu Ammah, "Christian-Muslim Relations in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa," Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 18 (2007): 143.

(28.) Jerome Bocquet, Missionnaires francais en terre d'Islam: Damas, 1860-1914 (Paris: Les Indes savantes, 2005); Oissila Saaidia, Clercs catholiques et oulemas sunnites dans la premiere moitie du XXe siecle: Discours croises (Paris: Geuthner, 2004).

(29.) General Archives of the QFMS, Statistics of personnel per country, Laval (Pont-Viau), Canada.

(30.) "To conclude, I would say that we have to replace Christology in a Trinitarian perspective. The category 'filiation' can be fruitful in the pursuit of this endeavor. We could develop the following: every human being is called to become who he/she is, son or daughter of the same Father.... It puts emphasis on the quality of human relations. The purpose of mission is that people become aware of the filial dimension of their being" (Genevieve Comeau, "Mission et religions: Le point de vue catholique [1963-1999]," in L'alterite religieuse: Un defi pour la mission chretienne, XVIIIe--XXe siecles, ed. Francoise Jacquin and Jean-Francois Zorn [Paris: Karthala, 2001], 375).

(31.) See Bernard Heyberger and Remy Madinier, L'Islam des marges: Mission chretienne et espaces peripheriques du monde musulman, XVIe-XXe siecles (Paris: Karthala, 2011); Anne-Noelle Clement, Le Verbe s'est fait frere: Christian de Cherge et le dialogue islamo-chretien (Montrouge: Bayard, 2010); Christian Salenson, Une theologie de l'esperance (Paris: Bayard/Centurion, 2009); Ussama Samir Makdisi, Artillery of Heaven: American Mission aries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ. Press, 2008).

(32.) Ammah, "Christian-Muslim Relations," 152, citing Christa W. Anbeck, review of "Women Speaking, Women Listening: Women in Interreligious Dialogue," Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 2, no. 1 (1992): 89-91.

Catherine Foisy, a Canadian political scientist and sociologist, is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh. Her doctoral dissertation at Concordia University, Montreal (Humanities, 2012), focused on transformations within French Canadian missionary activity from 1945 to 1980.

--foisy_catou@yahoo.ca