Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77
This article investigates the understudied mission of Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke CICM as Apostolic Visitor for the Chinese overseas from 1953 to his retirement in 1970. Although Chinese had settled overseas from as far back as the twelfth century, the Catholic Church never had a significant presenc...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2023/06
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/making-disciples-of-all-nations-bishop-carlo-van-melckebeke-and-his-apostolate-to-overseas-chinese-195377/0CE0FF18295D9E7D711852ACBBDD693D |
| _version_ | 1880822392644698112 |
|---|---|
| author | Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying |
| author_autocomplete | Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying |
| author_browse | Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying |
| author_facet | Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying |
| author_sort | Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying |
| building | Cambridge University Press |
| container_issue | 2 |
| container_issue_str | 2 |
| container_title | Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |
| container_title_str | Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |
| container_volume | 54 |
| container_volume_str | 54 |
| description | This article investigates the understudied mission of Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke CICM as Apostolic Visitor for the Chinese overseas from 1953 to his retirement in 1970. Although Chinese had settled overseas from as far back as the twelfth century, the Catholic Church never had a significant presence among these communities, except in British colonial era Singapore-Malaya. Following the mid-twentieth century forced exodus of Chinese seminarians and Western missionaries from the mainland after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Holy See responded by redirecting missionary efforts through the initiatives of Bishop van Melckebeke and his colleagues to this major ethnic group scattered across the world. This article deals with this unprecedented apostolate to these diasporic communities, in a substantially different manner from previous scholarship on Catholicism in China in terms of notions of institution, and the framing of missionary activities, networks, and resources. Based on archival resources, media reports and interviews, it recounts how the Office of Apostolic Visitor and the Singapore Catholic Central Bureau extended their mission beyond the politics of the Cold War, and organised a variety of ministries to serve the overseas Chinese population residing on five continents. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1017/S0022463423000401 |
| first_indexed | 2026-11-03T07:46:21Z |
| format | Articles |
| genre | Articles |
| genre_facet | Articles |
| id | zotero-XARI25ZB |
| institution | zotero_group |
| issn | 0022-4634, 1474-0680 |
| language | en |
| last_indexed | 2026-11-03T07:46:21Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-11-03T07:46:21Z |
| libraryCatalog | Cambridge University Press |
| physical | 245-270 |
| publishDate | 2023/06 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| record_format | zotero |
| spelling | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 This article investigates the understudied mission of Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke CICM as Apostolic Visitor for the Chinese overseas from 1953 to his retirement in 1970. Although Chinese had settled overseas from as far back as the twelfth century, the Catholic Church never had a significant presence among these communities, except in British colonial era Singapore-Malaya. Following the mid-twentieth century forced exodus of Chinese seminarians and Western missionaries from the mainland after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Holy See responded by redirecting missionary efforts through the initiatives of Bishop van Melckebeke and his colleagues to this major ethnic group scattered across the world. This article deals with this unprecedented apostolate to these diasporic communities, in a substantially different manner from previous scholarship on Catholicism in China in terms of notions of institution, and the framing of missionary activities, networks, and resources. Based on archival resources, media reports and interviews, it recounts how the Office of Apostolic Visitor and the Singapore Catholic Central Bureau extended their mission beyond the politics of the Cold War, and organised a variety of ministries to serve the overseas Chinese population residing on five continents. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Articles Cambridge University Press 2023/06 Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying |
| spellingShingle | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 Wong, Bibiana Yee-ying Cambridge University Press |
| title | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 |
| title_autocomplete | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 |
| title_full | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 |
| title_fullStr | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 |
| title_short | Making disciples of all nations: Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas Chinese 1953–77 |
| title_sort | making disciples of all nations: bishop carlo van melckebeke and his apostolate to overseas chinese 1953–77 |
| topic | Cambridge University Press |
| topic_autocomplete | Cambridge University Press |
| topic_facet | Cambridge University Press |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/making-disciples-of-all-nations-bishop-carlo-van-melckebeke-and-his-apostolate-to-overseas-chinese-195377/0CE0FF18295D9E7D711852ACBBDD693D |