The Future of Maryknoll - Robert Ellsberg

Robert Ellsberg, Orbis Publisher

Below are excerpts from a paper Robert Ellsberg wrote in preparation for, initially, the 2014 Maryknoll Society Chapter and today for the 2021 Chapter. Many of you know that Robert is the publisher of Orbis Books. What he writes could also be significant for Affiliates. If you’d like to read the full article, contact Bob Short at: affiliatebshort@gmail.com.

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I would like to suggest that Maryknoll may be called to embody a new identity, in which its primary role is the promotion of mission consciousness in the U.S. church. This includes what has traditionally been termed “mission education” (though that has often meant educating people about what Maryknoll does.) It includes what has traditionally been termed “mission promotion” (though that has often referred to fundraising for Maryknoll). But I am talking about something broader than that. It would mean that the primary (not exclusive) role of the Society would be to promote the basic idea that mission is the reason and purpose of the church.

In other words, Maryknoll exists to promote mission-centric consciousness in a mission-centric church. This focused sense of purpose would become integrated throughout the work of Maryknoll—not relegated to a particular department—to be pursued by all means: media, publications, collaboration with other groups, grassroots animation, educational programs, training and recruitment of short- and long-term missioners. Who better than Maryknoll is equipped to take up this mission in the American Catholic church?  

IV. A NEW PARADIGM FOR A NEW ERA

The missionary history of the church has been marked by various stages, from the apostolic church, to the monastic and mendicant orders, to the era of missionary agencies, congregations, and societies like Maryknoll.

Just as we are far from the great era of missionary expansion, so too we live in an era far removed from the world of the Maryknoll Founders. In this era of a World Church, does it continue to make sense that the primary work of a mission society depends on the recruitment and training of priests for overseas mission?

How do we name the new missionary paradigm and Maryknoll’s place in it? What is the (realistic) future we would like to see?

The answers to these questions will establish criteria for setting priorities and assessing the allocation of resources. In a review of existing projects and apostolates, the question must be asked: are they moving us toward the desired goal? Do they represent the future of Maryknoll? Efforts that meet this criterion should receive full support. Others should be reevaluated.

Obviously, these questions raise a host of practical implications beyond the scope of this paper. What is the relationship of the “Maryknoll movement” to the various entities, with their own canonical and institutional identities? How do we move forward so that these identities support and do not impede the larger mission?

V. A NEW MOMENT

Maryknoll is approaching the end of an era—if not for the idea of mission, then surely an era for Maryknoll. This could be an occasion for mourning. But it could instead be a moment for exciting re-founding. Rather than focus on how we can keep the operation running as long as possible we can address this question: