The Missionary Letters of Vincent Donovan

1957–1973

John P. Bowen, Bowen

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781608991174
  9781498255080
• eBook ISBN:
  9781621891420
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Vincent Donovan is best known as the author of the influential bestseller, Christianity Rediscovered (1978). This new book contains the monthly letters he wrote home from Tanzania between 1957 and 1973. These letters give us previously unknown stories: how Donovan met Julius Nyerere, first prime minister of Tanzania; how a group of Protestants attempted to kill him; of his early disastrous attempt to hear confession in Swahili; of the relationship between Donovan's work and Vatican II; and much about the mysterious Sonjo tribe, among whom Donovan spent his last years in Tanzania. They also give insights, from the hilarious to the poignant, into Donovan the man in relationship to his family, his missionary colleagues, and the Maasai. Copies of original photographs are also included. Most significantly, the letters show Donovan's evolution over the years from a young missionary who was passionate about acquiring land for church buildings, into a mature visionary convinced that the only job of the missionary is to preach the gospel. A concluding essay looks at the legacy of Donovan, thirty-five years later, with contributions from three Spiritan missionaries who continue to live out his legacy in Tanzania and elsewhere today. Finally, the essay looks at Donovan's continuing influence on contemporary renewal movements in North America and in Britain. Those who have been inspired by Christianity Rediscovered--missiologists, church renewal leaders, and students of Gospel and culture--will find much here to delight and to challenge.

The Letters

1

KWIZU 1

(1957–1959)

Kwizu Mission

Jan. 2, 1957

Very Rev. Francis H. McGlynn, C.S.Sp.

Provincial

Holy Ghost Fathers

1615 Manchester Lane, NW

Washington 11, D.C.

Dear Father McGlynn:

The letter you sent to me was held up in Rome for over a month. It came to me when I was stationed in Kilema.2 I was surprised that, with everyone writing letters about my not going immediately to Africa after the school year in Rome, not anyone told you the reason.

I left Rome in early July to go to Switzerland as arranged with you and the Superior General. I got no further than Northern Italy when I received word that I should return to Rome at once. It seems Father Martin had arranged a plane reservation for me in early July for Africa. I went to the R.A.P.T.I.M.3 agency to pick up my tickets but they informed me that my Visa for Tanganyika had not yet arrived so I could not go. I cancelled that reservation and arranged for the next plane. My Visa still did not come and the process was repeated. All in all two plane reservations and two boat reservations were cancelled before my Visa came, via cable from Africa.

During all that time the British Embassy requested that I do not leave Rome, so I stayed in Rome all during July and August. My Visa finally came on August 30th right after I had cancelled the second boat reservation. I spent all that day on the phone to Genoa, trying to pick up another reservation. I left Rome that night, got to Genoa early in the morning, began haunting the Shipping Office four hours before it opened, got a ticket and got on the boat one hour before the ship sailed away.

It was an exciting voyage. We came to Port Said the very day the Suez Canal Conference opened in Cairo.4 The passengers were very nervous. Nothing happened. The only disquieting thing about the passage was the ominous presence directly behind us and in front of us in the convoy of two Egyptian Destroyers. We were the only British Ship. Colonel Nasser’s soldiers and big guns were in disquieting evidence all along the Canal.

The scalding body of water called the Red Sea, with its 100% humidity, left me a bit sick. We buried one man at sea and two were in periculo mortis [in danger of death (Latin)].5 I always thought 100% humidity meant rain but I found out to my horror it doesn’t.

At the port of Aden in Asia I was stoned and surrounded by a hostile mob. Native policemen had to rescue me and escort me back to the ship.

I finally came to Mombasa and made my way up to Moshi in Kilimanjaro. I was temporarily assigned to Kilema to study Swahili. While there, during the sick-leave absence of Father Brennan, I became the chauffeur of Bishop Byrne6 and temporary secretary.

After a time, I began hearing confessions and just recently I preached my first sermon in Swahili. I received the other day what will probably be my permanent appointment—to KWIZU Mission in the Pare Mountains, a bit removed from Moshi and Kilimanjaro. I am under Father Mike Carr and will work with him and Frs. John Walsh, Mangan, McGavran and O’Sullivan. The work is vastly interesting with Witch Doctors for neighbors and Black Magic for breakfast.

Wishing you all God’s blessing in the coming New Year and assuring you of my prayers, I remain,

Respectfully yours in the Holy Ghost,

Vincent J. Donovan, C.S.Sp.

[Letter from Francis McGlynn, Provincial of C.S.Sp., January 1957.]

Washington, D.C.

22 January 1957

Reverend Vincent Donovan, C.S.Sp.

Kwizu Mission, P.O. Box 15, Same

Tanganyika, East Africa

Dear Vincent:

When I say I was happy to hear from you, it is putting it mildly. I had been concerned about your long silence, but, as you explain in your letter, it was due to the fact that my letter to you was held up in Rome for over a month.

It comes as a relief to know that the delay in your trip to Africa was due to a series of circumstances beyond your control. I had every confidence that you would carry out the instructions from the Superior General which I conveyed to you, but, owing to the main delays in obtaining your visa, it is understandable that several plane and boat reservations had to be cancelled.

But now that is over, and I am happy to know that you have arrived safely at your mission even though you passed some exciting days in the course of your trip through the Suez Canal.

Part of your letter reads like the Epistles of St. Paul, who also had a taste of being stoned and chased out of town [Acts 14:5, 19]. As you know, we have Father Trahan with us now and he was happy to learn that you are so interested in your new work and that you are already able to hear confessions and even to preach in Swahili. So now that the danger of your travels is behind you, you can settle down to what I know will be a fruitful missionary career.

I heard from Father Martin recently, and in my reply I told him that I had heard from you and was gratified to know that you are now well settled in your permanent work.

With cordial greetings from all of us, I am

Sincerely yours in the Holy Spirit,

Francis H. McGlynn, C.S.Sp.

Provincial

[On October 28 1958, Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected Pope, and took the name John XXIII.]

[Letter from Bill Donovan, Vincent’s older brother, January 1959.]

731 Gaywood Drive

Pittsburgh 35, Pa.

Dear _______________,7

A few days ago, I came into possession of a letter Father Vince wrote to a priest in Pittsburgh. The priest is a friend of Father Vince8 and was able to send him a number of High Mass stipends [offerings] from his parish church. The money Father Vince received as a stipend for these Masses came in very handy for his missionary work in Africa. I would like to quote a few lines from the letter,

In the past year and a half I have been working among the Masai tribe and the Arusha tribe, who are distant cousins of the Masai, speak the same language, dress the same, and, like them, are primitive in customs and culture. By the grace of God, I have been able to make some inroads among the Arusha for the first time. And so it was decided that I would devote my whole time to them. So I was transferred outside the town of Arusha, and I live alone in a little house that resembles a Pennsylvania miner’s shack, among the people of the Arusha tribe. It is an overwhelming job and a tremendous challenge which humbles and frightens me. Please remember me in your prayers. I will need all the help I can get. I don’t know how difficult it was for you to get those High Masses for me last year, but I certainly appreciated them. Do you think it would be possible to get me some more this year? They would be a big help. I am completely on my own and must support myself the best way I can. I was even contemplating writing articles for magazines to make some money.9

After reading the letter, I gave some thought to the raising of money for Father Vince, to help support him in Africa. Not being able to do it alone, I am turning to his family and friends. I know you are as fond of him as he is of you and would like to help Father Vince if you could. Perhaps you feel as I did at first, that the small amount of money you could send would be of little help. With that thought in mind I am forming a “Father Vince’s Dollar A Month Club.” A small amount each month from each of us, his family and friends, would give him an amount he could count on each month. You would be helping him and at the same time engaging in a charitable work, which I know Our Lord will not let go unrewarded.

To make it as convenient as possible, I think it best if you send me your dollar by the 18th of each month, if you feel you are able to help out in this charitable undertaking. I will total all the money I have by that date and send a check to Father Vince for that amount. I will take care of all expenses involved and every cent donated will go directly to Father Vince. I will also send a list to Father Vince of his benefactors. If you feel that you would like to join this club and are able to do so, will you make a mental note and mail the dollar (or whatever amount, large or small, that you can donate) to reach me by the 18th of each month?

Believe me, it is not easy to beg, and that is what I am doing for Father Vince because he is unable to do it for himself. I know he will remember you in his prayers in a very special way for helping him in God’s work with the African people.

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Bill Donovan

1. Kwizu mission was in the Pare district, part of what is now the Diocese of Same, one hundred miles south-east of Arusha.

2. Kilema is in the mountains, five or six miles north-east of the town of Moshi.

3. Raptim is a travel organization for religious and humanitarian organizations.

4. President Nasser of Egypt had nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, leading to an international crisis and near-outbreak of war. This conference was an attempt to resolve the crisis.

5. Square brackets here and throughout indicate an editorial insertion.

6. “With Bishop Joseph Byrne being made Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of ...

Table of contents

• The Missionary Letters of Vincent Donovan
• Illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue
• The Letters
• Epilogue
• Bibliography