"Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity
The study addresses from a sociocultural-historical, in particular a missiological and medical perspective the question if Catholic hospitals in Matabeleland, affected by the dramatic down-turn of Zimbabwe’s economy since 2000, did whatever they could to continue offering quality services to their p...
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ftunivsafrica:oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/25994 2023-05-15T17:37:18+02:00 "Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity Bischoff, Richard Karl Kritzinger, J. N. J. (Johannes Nicolaas Jacobus), 1950- 2018-12 1 online resource (xvi, 679 leaves) : illustrations, photographs, map application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25994 en eng http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25994 Medical mission Matabeleland Rhodesia Zimbabwe Zambesi Mission Society of Jesus African education Colonialism Secular modernity History of medicine 282.6891 Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Zimbabwe Jesuits -- Education -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Colonial influence Education -- Zimbabwe -- History -- 19th century Thesis 2018 ftunivsafrica 2021-12-30T07:08:05Z The study addresses from a sociocultural-historical, in particular a missiological and medical perspective the question if Catholic hospitals in Matabeleland, affected by the dramatic down-turn of Zimbabwe’s economy since 2000, did whatever they could to continue offering quality services to their patients. It starts with a portrayal of the emergence of secular modernity in the North-Atlantic World, as regards its view of the world as solely governed by natural laws, and of people as capable of taking destiny into their own hands, unperturbed by spiritual forces. The question is explored how the Christian Occident could end up there, following its development through the Middle Ages, and its expansion by missionary activity, by preaching the Word, but also by military force. Next, the achievements of pre-1900 Western medicine are examined, to identify if/how missionaries in Africa could have benefited. The study describes how professional medicine did not become part of the early Zambesi Mission, not because of its curative shortcomings, but for spiritual reasons, insofar as the Jesuits did not follow the European trend to let worldly well-being take the place of eternal salvation. Vis-à-vis their other-than-modern view of life, suffering, and (self-)sacrifice, the promises of medicine appeared just trivial. Submissiveness to authority, both ecclesiastical and worldly, is identified as the core principle that informed the Jesuits’ educational approach towards Africans in all their efforts at conversions. The missionaries thereby colluded with colonialist thinking, in not attempting to make their pupils grow into self-confident, independent thinkers in their own right. In this educational tradition, grafted onto a pre-modern local culture, the study finds the reason why Zimbabwean medical staff, as managers of their clinics or hospitals, have shown little readiness to proactively prioritise the intrinsic needs of their institutions and push for corrective measures, prepared even to challenge their superiors when encountering aberrations in the health system, locally as well as higher up. The study asks if the Church could have opted for a different educational approach, considering the prevailing socio-economic and cultural framework conditions; finally, which options present-day Zimbabweans have to choose from, regarding their country’s future development. Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology D. Th. (Missiology) Thesis North Atlantic University of South Africa: UNISA Institutional Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of South Africa: UNISA Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivsafrica |
language |
English |
topic |
Medical mission Matabeleland Rhodesia Zimbabwe Zambesi Mission Society of Jesus African education Colonialism Secular modernity History of medicine 282.6891 Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Zimbabwe Jesuits -- Education -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Colonial influence Education -- Zimbabwe -- History -- 19th century |
spellingShingle |
Medical mission Matabeleland Rhodesia Zimbabwe Zambesi Mission Society of Jesus African education Colonialism Secular modernity History of medicine 282.6891 Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Zimbabwe Jesuits -- Education -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Colonial influence Education -- Zimbabwe -- History -- 19th century Bischoff, Richard Karl "Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
topic_facet |
Medical mission Matabeleland Rhodesia Zimbabwe Zambesi Mission Society of Jesus African education Colonialism Secular modernity History of medicine 282.6891 Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe Catholic Church -- Missions -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe Catholic hospitals -- Zimbabwe -- History Catholic hospitals -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Zimbabwe Jesuits -- Education -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Colonial influence Education -- Zimbabwe -- History -- 19th century |
description |
The study addresses from a sociocultural-historical, in particular a missiological and medical perspective the question if Catholic hospitals in Matabeleland, affected by the dramatic down-turn of Zimbabwe’s economy since 2000, did whatever they could to continue offering quality services to their patients. It starts with a portrayal of the emergence of secular modernity in the North-Atlantic World, as regards its view of the world as solely governed by natural laws, and of people as capable of taking destiny into their own hands, unperturbed by spiritual forces. The question is explored how the Christian Occident could end up there, following its development through the Middle Ages, and its expansion by missionary activity, by preaching the Word, but also by military force. Next, the achievements of pre-1900 Western medicine are examined, to identify if/how missionaries in Africa could have benefited. The study describes how professional medicine did not become part of the early Zambesi Mission, not because of its curative shortcomings, but for spiritual reasons, insofar as the Jesuits did not follow the European trend to let worldly well-being take the place of eternal salvation. Vis-à-vis their other-than-modern view of life, suffering, and (self-)sacrifice, the promises of medicine appeared just trivial. Submissiveness to authority, both ecclesiastical and worldly, is identified as the core principle that informed the Jesuits’ educational approach towards Africans in all their efforts at conversions. The missionaries thereby colluded with colonialist thinking, in not attempting to make their pupils grow into self-confident, independent thinkers in their own right. In this educational tradition, grafted onto a pre-modern local culture, the study finds the reason why Zimbabwean medical staff, as managers of their clinics or hospitals, have shown little readiness to proactively prioritise the intrinsic needs of their institutions and push for corrective measures, prepared even to challenge their superiors when encountering aberrations in the health system, locally as well as higher up. The study asks if the Church could have opted for a different educational approach, considering the prevailing socio-economic and cultural framework conditions; finally, which options present-day Zimbabweans have to choose from, regarding their country’s future development. Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology D. Th. (Missiology) |
author2 |
Kritzinger, J. N. J. (Johannes Nicolaas Jacobus), 1950- |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Bischoff, Richard Karl |
author_facet |
Bischoff, Richard Karl |
author_sort |
Bischoff, Richard Karl |
title |
"Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
title_short |
"Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
title_full |
"Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
title_fullStr |
"Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
title_full_unstemmed |
"Shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the Zambesi Mission Jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
title_sort |
"shedding their blood as the seed of faith": the zambesi mission jesuits and ambivalence about modernity |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25994 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25994 |
_version_ |
1766137126624165888 |