/Data/Kaufmann/Mill Hill Missionaries.txt

THE PHILIPPINES

 

Fr Rex Fedelicio MHM

 +63 33 337 5988



mhmvocmin@yahoo.com

 



 

 





Anything Under the Sun



By Atty. Rex S. Salvilla



Mill Hill Missionaries (2)



The Mill Hill Missionaries were based in Brixen, then a part of Austria and now part of Italy, in the Tirol region. The first batch of eight missionaries left Brixen on July 6, 1906 for the port of Genoa, Italy and on January 8, boarded the Isla de Luzon arriving in Manila on February 9.



The answer



On February 13, they boarded a government coast guard vessel offered by Gov. Gen. Henry Ide and arrived in the port of Iloilo on February 16.There they were received by Fr. Pedro Trono, parish priest of Jaro Cathedral sent by Bishop Frededrick L. Rooker.



These first MHM were led by their superior, Rev Fr Jules Felix Verbrugge, who earlier served in Sandakan, North Borneo. They were: Benedict Pundleider, Max Moriz Abler, Walter Caine, James Cleven, Bernard Creemers, John Gfoeler (Foller) and Anthony Franciscus Smale.



After establishing its mother house in Arevalo, the MHM sent the following missionaries to their assigned parishes:



Frs. Max Moriz Abler, Benedict Pundleider and Anthony Franciscus Smale, jointly to Anini-y, Antique in 1906 but because the church and convent there were occupied by the Aglipayans, the three settled at Casay.



A month later, Fr Pundleider was assigned to nearby Dao, Antique which he described as "consisting of about 8,000 Catholics with around 1,000 Aglipayans returning to Catholic Chruch." On December of that year (1906), Smale died leaving Abler alone in Casay.



Fr. Walter Cain to Maasin, Iloilo in 1906 where he established an elementary school.



Fr. James Cleven to Hamtic, Antique in 1906.



Fr. Bernard Creemers to San Miguel, Iloilo in 1906; and



Fr. John Gfoeller (Foller) to Patnongon, Antique in 1907; however for lack of priests, he was also assigned jointly to nearby parishes of Sibalom, San Pedro, San Remigio and Valderama.



Mill Hill Missionaries (3)



The second batch of MHM fathers left Liverpool, England on November 9, 1907 and reached Arevalo, Iloilo on January 3, 1908. this was the biggest batch (nine of them) of these brave Fathers. The succeeding ones arrived in twos or threes, or even individually.



The second batch



This second batch were the following with their assignments:



Fr. Thomas O'Brien to San Pedro, Antique in 1908.



Fr. Alfred Joseph Fink to Arevalo in 1908.



Fr. Everardus van de Kamp to Sebaste, Antique in 1908; later, he was assigned as the first MHM priest both to Pandan, Antique (1909) and to Leon, Iloilo (1910).



Fr. Joseph Daly to Valderama, Antique (1908).



Fr. Alexander Ebus who was sickly and died on April 1908 and hence had no assignment.



Fr. John Oswald Key to Patnongon, Antique succeeding Fr. Foller in 1908; Fr. Key became the first MHM priest of San Jose de Buenavista - capital town of Antique in 1911.



Fr. Phillip Pieck to Hamtik succeeding Fr. Cleven in 1908; Fr. Pieck became the first MHM priest of Lawigan in 1938.



Fr. Adrian Rijk to San Miguel, Iloilo and later transferred to Maasin, Iloilo where he founded the Society of Santa Cecilia composed well trained brass band and church choir members which celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1973, and



Fr. Mathias Hubertus Boonen to Culasi and Tibiao jointly, in 1910.





Mill Hill Missionaries (5)



The language barrier was solved by the MHM priests by learning the Hiligaynon as well as the Kinaray-a dialects. Before being sent to their assignments, the missionaries were required to undergo tutorship under Fr. Alfred Josef Fink in Arevalo.



The language barrier



Fr. Fink was a teacher of classical languages (Latin and Greek) in the Theology College in Bixner. While in Arevalo, he translated Historia Sagrada (Sacred History) into Hiligaynon with the assistance of the Avance?a sisters (Jovita and Ramona) of the Colegio de Santa Ana in Molo. Fr. Fink also helped Fr. Foller to compose the prayer book Katilingban. These two books were best sellers for many years even after the war.



There was Fr. Mathias Hubertus Booner who continued the Cabuhi sang Banwa - a publication of the Diocese of Jaro when its founder and editor Fr. Gabriel Reyes became Bishop of Cebu (later first Filipino Archbishop). This monthly publication is considered as the first community newspaper in the country.



Fr. Henry Peter Saxer translated the Austrian catechism to Hiligaynon, wrote a collection of lives of saints and two booklets - Enthronement of the Sacred Heart and Ang Masunsun nga Pangalawat. He had been parish priest of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, Pandan and Culasi of Antique and of Arevalo.



But the most famous of them all was Fr. John Kaufmann who continued editing Cabuhi sang Banua after Fr. Booner. Also a teacher of classical languages in Bixner, he had been a parish priest of Sibalom, San Pedro and Patnongon, all in Antique and in Igbaras, Iloilo.



For ten years, Fr. Kaufmann wrote his famous 10,000-word Hilgaynon-English Dictionary in San Pedro. He also translated into Hiligaynon the New Testament and wrote Hiligaynon Grammar.







http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LJA7FAK_TZ8











Fr. J. Kaufmann, died 1 Sept 1942







Mill Hill Churches



When the Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM) arrived in West Visayas in 1906, many parish churches were dilapidated or even destroyed. So they either repaired them or built makeshift bamboo chapels (ermitas). Gradually, they built more permanent concrete churches.



In Negros Occidental was in Himamaylan by Fr. James Gregory Jockson (1934).



In Antique were: Casay by Fr. Max Abler (1917) which was the first concrete church built by the MHM and was later enlarged by Fr. Jospeh Daly. Sebaste by Fr. Rudolph Caspar Petrus Greiterman (1939), Valderama by Fr. Cornelius Johannes Koelman (1939), Pandan by Fr. Corelius Leonardus Antonius hulsbosch (1952) Caluya by Fr. Eugene Daberto (1954) Hamtik by Fr. Luis Figal (1958), Egana (in Sibalom) by Fr. William George Maierhofer (1962), Barbaza by Fr. Lawrence English (1975) and Culasi by Fr. Henricus Willabordus Maria Smithius (1977).



The churches of Culasi and Barbaza are both of modern architectural designs.



In Iloilo, the Mill Hill churches were: Santa Teresita by Fr. Lawrence Rogan (1929), Lawigan (in San Joaquin) by Fr. Philip Pierk (1939) Tanza by Fr. Anthony Verheyer (1951) and Igbaras by Fr. Andres Jacobs (1953).





Mill Hill Bishop Cornelius de Wit



During its mission work for a century in the Philippines, the Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM) have produced a bishop in the person of Msgr. Henricus Cornelius De Wit, the first bishop of the Diocese of Antique.



Bishop De Wit was born in Hilversun, Netherlands on July 1922. He was ordained on July 14, 1946 at Roosendal, Netherlands and later sent to the Philippines arriving on May 20, 1947 at Arevalo, Iloilo City at their motherhouse.



Soon, he was sent to Antique as assistant parish priest in Barbaza, then Culasi and Tanza (Iloilo City). His first assignment as parish priest was in San Pedro (San Jose, Antique) in 1954.



In 1947, he was elected delegate of their congregation to the General Chapter in Mill Hill (London). In 1958, he became parish priest of Maasin (Iloilo) and in 1962 was elected Superior of the MHM in the Philippines.



In 1962, he was appointed first bishop of the new Diocese of Antique. As such, he founded the Mensa Domini Institute run by Dominican Sisters which later spread to Aklan and Romblon.



He also founded the Minor Seminary in San Pedro which started operations in 1963. He likewise attended all the sessions of Vatican Council II (1962-65). in consonance with this Council, he caused translations of various liturgical texts to native languages and encouraged community singing. He supported, too, the creation of basic Christian communities.



He also supported establishment of several parochial high schools and established the radio station DYKA.



On the economic side, he initiated formations of cooperatives in his see and brought Dutch farmers and fishermen to Antique to teach modern methods of farming and fishing.



In 1982, he resigned as bishop to accept the position of Superior General (world head) of the Mill Hill Missionaries.



For all these achievements, the Dutch government decorated him with the Knighthood of an officer of the Order of Oranje Nassau. For its part, the province of Antique proclaimed him as one of the "Bugal kang Antique" during the Binirayan 2002.



The good bishop died in 2002 at San Jose, Antique where he was also buried.













Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus



In 1932, four nuns of the Congregacion de las Hijas de Jesus from Spain arrived in the Philippines. They were Sister Porta, Sister Maria Rey, Sr. Brigida Sagardey and Sr. Teresa Garcia.



It established its mother house in Pototan, Iloilo where it founded its first school, Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion.



In 1936, they established a school in Iloilo City named Colegio de Santo Angel temporarily administered by these four nuns while waiting for six other nuns from Spain.



Shortly these six nuns arrived and took over the school administration. They were Sisters Saturnina Herrero, Patria Ortega, Eloisa Alonso, Angeles de Dios, Victoria Ruiz and Concepcion Tolosa.



The school opened with only three classes -- kindergarten, Grades I and II and was supported by Tanza parish priest, Mill Hill Missionary Fr. Lawrence Rogan and Bishop James McCloskey of Jaro.



During the war, the school was closed. It reopened after the war with the addition of a high school department. Its name was changed to Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus.



At present, this college is celebrating its diamond jubilee zealously committed to its noble aim of encouraging harmonious development of the potentialities of the youth to lead them into self-directing persons animated by Christ, capable of assuming responsibilities and collaborating in the building of Christian community.



This it does thru updated facilities, and laboratory equipment, and emphasizing personalized instruction.