The CICM Missionaries (Latin: Congregatio
Immaculati Cordis Mariae, or the Congregation
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), is a Roman
Catholic missionary religious congregation
of men established in 1862 by the Belgian
Catholic priest, Theophiel Verbist (1823–1868).Its
origins lie in Scheut, Anderlecht, a suburb
of Brussels, due to which it is widely known
as the Scheut Missionaries.
The congregation is most notable for their
international missionary works in China, Mongolia,
the Philippines and in Congo Free State/Belgian
Congo, modern-day Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
Presently, their international name "CICM
Missionaries" is preferred, although, in the
United States of America, the congregation
is mostly known as Missionhurst.
== History ==
Verbist was a diocesan priest in the Archdiocese
of Mechelen-Brussels in the mid-19th century.
He served as chaplain to the military academy
in Brussels and at the same time as a national
director of the Pontifical Association of
the Holy Childhood.
A compassionate man of God, he led a group
of other Belgian diocesan priests who became
deeply concerned with the abandoned children
in China and with millions of Chinese who
lived at that time in ignorance and poverty.
The congregation is named after a religious
Marian devotion to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary and has sought to expand its missionary
work in various countries abroad.
=== Foundation ===
Verbist's desire to consecrate himself to
the life of a missionary seemed on the point
of fulfillment when the Treaty of Peking of
1861 opened imperial China to his zeal and
that of the little band who desired to accompany
him.
In 1862 he founded the Belgian Mission in
China.
On seeking ecclesiastical permission, however,
they were commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro
Barnabò, Prefect of the Propaganda Fide,
to begin their work by founding a seminary
in Belgium to supply priests for the beginning
mission, and laid the foundations of the Scheutveld
College, 28 April 1863, in the Field of Scheut,
a short distance from Brussels, so the C.I.C.M.
missionaries were also known as Scheutists
or Scheut missionaries.
The congregation was born not knowing exactly
what lay ahead.
In September 1863, the first group of missionaries
set forth for Inner Mongolia.
In the winter of 1865, Verbist and his four
companions arrived in inner Mongolia, which
was entrusted to the fledgling congregation
by Rome, and where they immediately began
organizing small Christian communities.
The founding Fathers never imagined that many
would follow their footsteps notwithstanding
the cost of traveling by sea and in the hinterlands
of China.
Three years later on February 23, 1868, Verbist
died of typhoid fever at the age of 45 in
Lao-Hu-Kou.
=== World War II ===
During World War II, Father Raskin, ordained
in the congregation in 1910, and during the
1920-1930's was a missionary to Inner Mongolia,
was made a chaplain in the Belgium army and
was a personal advisor to King Leopold III.
While he was operating under the codename
Leopold Vindictive 200 for the Dutch resistance
in 1942, he was captured by the Gestapo, tried,
convicted, then sentenced to death and beheaded
on October 18, 1943.
=== Growth ===
His foundation, however, grew into the worldwide
presence it is today.
Originally a Belgian Foundation, CICM has
grown into an international religious missionary
congregation of men from different races,
colors and nationalities who are dedicated
to universal brotherhood.
The Scheutveld priests and brothers have faced
severe perils, e.g. the Boxer rebellion in
China, involving the massacre of Bishop Hamer,
Vicar Apostolic of South-Western Mongolia,
seven missionaries and 3000 Christians; the
even greater decimation of their numbers by
the Congo climate, not to mention the persecution
of the missionaries and their local congregations.
In connection with their missions the Fathers
opened a number of benevolent institutions,
for example the hospital at St-Trudon, Upper
Kassai, for those afflicted with sleeping
sickness.
Today, 900 CICM priests and lay brothers are
present in Asia: in Taiwan, Mongolia, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and
Japan; in the vast continent of Africa: in
Congo, Cameroon, Zambia, Senegal, and Angola;
in the Americas: Haiti, the Dominican Republic,
Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico and the United States;
and in Europe: Belgium, Netherlands, Italy,
France and Germany.
== Picture gallery ==
== Historical table ==
== CICM Schools in Philippines ==
Paco Catholic School, Paco, Manila (Former,
turned over to the Archdiocese of Manila)
Infant Jesus Academy, Silang, Cavite (Former)
Saint Louis College, San Fernando City, La
Union
University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao, Tuguegarao
City, Cagayan Valley
Saint Louis University, Baguio City
Saint Mary's University, Bayombong, Nueva
Vizcaya
Saint Louis College- Cebu, Mandaue City, Cebu
Maryhurst Seminary, Baguio City
Maryhill School of Theology, Quezon City
Maryshore Seminary, Bacolod City
Saint Vincent's School, Bontoc, Mountain Province
College of Immaculate Concepcion,Cabanatuan
city, Nueva Ecija
Santo Rosario School, Pudtol, Apayao
Cainta Catholic College Cainta, Rizal (Former)
Pasig Catholic College, Pasig City (Former)
Saint Louis School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya
(Former, turned over to the Diocese of Bayombong
in 1999)
Saint Joseph's Academy, Las Piñas City, Metro
Manila (Former, turned over to the Diocese
of Parañaque)
Saint Andrew's School, Parañaque City, Metro
Manila (Former, turned over to the Diocese
of Parañaque)
== References ==
== Bibliography ==
Raskin, Albert (1977) 'The archives of the
Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
(C.I.C.M.)', History in Africa, 4, 299–304.
Berg, Leo van den (1994) 'The China world
of the "Scheut fathers"', Bulletin de l 'Institut
Historique de Belge de Rome, 64, 223–263.
Verhelst, Daniël and Pycke, Nestor, eds.
(1995) 'C.I.C.M.
Missionaries Past and Present: History of
the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary (Scheut/Missionhurst)', Verbistiana,
4.
ISBN /EAN: 9789061866763
Vanysacker, Dries & Renson, Raymond (ed.)
(1995) 'The Archives of the Congregation of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM-Scheut)
(1862–1967)' - 2 v., Bibliothèque de l'Institut
Historique Belge de Rome, 36-37.
ISBN /EAN: 9789074461153
