It is incumbent on the Catholic Church to spread the teachings of Jesus
Christ, and this by His own divine command: “Going, therefore, teach
all nations.”
In this last century she has not been unfaithful, any more than in
others. No portion of the vineyard has been neglected; the martyr’s
blood has watered some parts more abundantly, but in all the missionary
has toiled without ceasing, has spent himself. In the Far East Catholic
missions have been carried on in India, China, Thibet, Tonkin. In
every part of Africa, northern, central, and southern, the priests and
nuns of the Catholic Church have preceded the explorer or followed the
trader and the miner with the blessings of religion. In the still pagan
parts of North and South America her missionaries are found all through
the century. They have kept up their vigils in the Holy Land, and in
general have made a notable progress.
The inventions of the age have been beneficial by opening up new lands
and by making transit easy and rapid, thus recalling some of the
conditions which conduced to the original spread of the religion of
Jesus. A multitude of noble souls have devoted all to the enlightenment
of the barbarian and pagan world. And while I disparage no land, and
do not undervalue the good intentions and efforts of those outside our
pale, I cannot pass over in silence the French nation, which has given
more abundantly than any, perhaps more abundantly than all others, of
priests, sisters, and funds for the essential duty of Catholicism.
The work of the Propagation of the Faith and the Seminary of Foreign
Missions at Paris deserve a special souvenir as often as Catholic
missions are mentioned.