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Allyson Reichert

Dr. Martino

The Developing World

7 November 2018

The Mission and Colonial Influences

The Mission exemplifies the impact of the Jesuit approach to missionary work and the

Christian missionary enterprise in the midst of European colonialism. This film was an excellent

representation of the topics covered in the course thus far. The film accentuates both sides of the

conflict, from the perspective of the Guarani people as well as the Spanish and Portuguese.

In The Mission, I believe that aim of the Christian missionary empire to “make Christians

out of these people”, as said by Father Gabriel, was a smart option for them. People may say that

this was wrong of the Jesuits to go and try to convert a group of people who are already

established with their own culture. The “white man’s burden” to go and teach their beliefs,

indicating that their way is the right way, is typically a harmful approach. In this situation;

however, I believe it was beneficial to the Guarani people. They became a civilized society and

were economically and industrially successful thanks to Father Gabriel. At first, I thought that

the mission would be highly unsuccessful. I believe that the imposing of one’s beliefs onto others

is wrong. So when Father Gabriel first climbed the falls and was initially unwanted, I believed

that his mission would fail. After he played his oboe and received approval from the Guarani

people, my views changed slightly due to the overall improvement of the people.

In the article written by Jeff Guhin, he states, “Interactions with other cultures are nearly

always rooted in historical inequalities that make us much less able to make a difference – and

much more able to add to the problems – than we might like to believe” (Guhin, pg. 2). This
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gave me a whole new perspective of missionary work. By this statement, I think that Guin is

trying to say that by trying to help other cultures, we really just add more problems by assuming

that the culture needs help in the first place. For example, the Jesuits try to help the Guarani,

rather than the other way around. Guhin makes reference to the fact that the Guarani could have

tried to change the Jesuits instead. He also made me think, “Why did the Jesuits think that the

Guarani needed help or saving?” Furthermore, Guhin makes connections that I did not notice

when watching the movie. For instance, the fact that the questions asked are, “What should the

Jesuits do with the Guarani?” and not “What should the Guarani do with the Jesuits?” (Guhin,

pg. 2). This supports the first quote mentioned about missionary work doing more harm than

good. Why is it okay to assume that since a group of people are different, that they need help or

to be converted to something else? It also makes me wonder why people assume that their way is

always right. For instance, why didn’t the Jesuits convert to be more like the Guarani? Guhin

does mention some counterpoints to this in that the Jesuits spoke the language of the Guarani, the

area on top of the falls is always referred to as the land of the Guarani, and while the Jesuits do

not adapt their clothing, they don’t expect the Guarani to change theirs (Guhin, pg. 2).

Additionally, Guhin makes the point that the Guarani are the ones with all of the weapons

(Guhin, pg. 2). They could have taken Father Gabriel and the other Jesuits out if they wanted to

but they did not. Overall, this article made me question my views on missionary work and

allowed me to view it from the point of view of the underdeveloped. I used to think that mission

work was always a good thing, but I have seen that is not always the case. Guhin ends on a note

of inspiration, “We’re never going to clean up this mess. But surely a willingness to have your

life changed by the vulnerable is a place to start” (Guhin, pg. 3). This statement is a huge eye
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opener for those in mission work. Allow the underdeveloped to make the change in the

missionaries, for who is to say that they do not have it already figured out?

Whenever I saw the Guarani people lavishing warm greetings upon the Jesuits, I thought

that it was a sweet moment that displayed their gratitude and appreciation for the Jesuits. For

example, if they did not enjoy the Jesuits or their teachings, then they would not be so happy to

see them again. Their act of returning to the mission displayed a sense of trust and devotion to

the Guarani. In general, I think that the Jesuits had a decent approach to missionizing, to say the

least. Father Gabriel was very respectful towards the Guarani people. He was compassionate and

understanding. He politely imposed his views and religion to the people and he earned their

respect and trust. Missionary work would not be successful if it weren’t for the kind approach.

For instance, if someone went to the Guarani people and demanded that they listen to them and

believe their faith, that will not cause any good. In fact, it will most likely do harm as the

Guarani people would feel the need to defend themselves. In Father Gabriel’s approach, he

simply demonstrated the positive results of following his faith and allowed them to make the

decision to follow him. I think that the most striking influence that Father Gabriel had on the

Guarani people was that he gave them an organized religion. He gave them access to a faith and

would perform mass for them. He gave them church, a way to praise God, and something to

believe in. The rest of the economic and industrial success followed after.

As presented by Clarke in the America article, Matteo Ricci’s missionary efforts during

the 16th century in China give insight to a real life and historically accurate counterpart to Jesuit

missions depicted in the film. For instance, the most relevant and important supplement is that

Ricci adapted to the culture of the Chinese. He did not try to change the Chinese culture or

language, he just simply wanted to share his religion. This is similar to Father Gabriel in The
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Mission in that he also did not try to change the culture of the Guarani. As previously

mentioned, he spoke their language and respected the land as theirs. Father Gabriel did not force

the Guarani to change their clothes or culture, he just wanted them to practice Christianity.

Matteo is considered to have participated in “cross cultural exchange” which is what made his

efforts so effective. He lived in Chinese houses, wore Chinese clothes, ate Chinese food, and

spoke the Chinese language (Clarke, pg. 4). Clarke also spoke of the ineffectiveness of

implementing a European church in China. It simply would not work. Clarke also stated, “They

became Chinese in all things in order to win China for Christ” (Clarke, pg. 4). Colonial

mentalities are not efficient in missionary work, as also seen in the film. It is almost an ancient

conflict of church and state; they do not mingle. Matteo studied the Chinese language before

entering the country, which is also another effective approach to his missionary work. While

Father Gabriel did not learn the language until he arrived, he still adapted to their language rather

than pursing his own onto the Guarani.

“Colonization makes a certain way of thinking, and therefore a certain way of living, no

longer possible. The mission took the Guarani out of the jungle, whether through a slaver’s net or

the warnings of hellfire. And so, they were irretrievably changed, and, most importantly, their

change was graded on a European curve” (Guhin, pg. 2). This statement is a counterargument to

Matteo’s theory. This statement gave me another perspective to the Jesuit missionary style in that

the colonials were grading the effectiveness of the mission on how much they were practicing

the European culture. Moreover, when making the case to the Bishop that the Guarani should be

saved, the best way to convince him was to make the Guarani look more European. For instance,

“These people could be Europeans, he saw, which is to say they could be human” (Guhin, pg. 2).

It was as if the Guarani were not human in their original form before the mission.
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Don Cabeza and Don Hontar, the Spanish and Portuguese viceroys, made a statement

regarding the Guarani as “animals” who lacked any spiritual dimension necessary to receive

salvation and that they should be “subdued by the sword”. These statements shocked me and also

reminded me of many of the hate crimes still going on today. It put European colonialism into a

new perspective for me. I now understand how cruel these native people were treated by the

European powers. It makes me wonder why, after all of these years, we still have not learned that

hate and mistreatment of a different culture is not okay? How many mission trips must people

undergo in order to bring light to the situation and for everyone to realize that we are all equal,

and all created in the likelihood of God, no matter our race, culture, or language.

In conclusion, I believe that the purpose of missionary work did, and still does, have

somewhat of a selfish incentive. For instance, the film The Mission was set on trying to convert

the Guarani people to Christianity as well as making them “more European” in the process.

While the mission did end up benefitting the Guarani people, I still do not think that it is okay to

try to change people or convert them. I believe doing so assumes that something is wrong with

them or their beliefs in the first place. Overall, I think that The Mission was a wonderful

complement to the coursework we have completed and gave a new perspective to the Christian

missionary enterprise, the Jesuit approach to missionary work, and European colonialism and

post colonialism.
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Works Cited

Clarke, Jeremy. “When West Met East: Matteo Ricci's Cross-Cultural Mission to

China.” America Magazine, 9 Dec. 2012,

www.americamagazine.org/issue/736/article/when-west-met-east.

Guhin, Jeff. “What We Can & Cannot Fix.” Commonweal Magazine, 11 May 2017,

www.commonwealmagazine.org/what-we-can-cannot-fix.