IN THE PURSUIT OF SERVICE THE MISSIONARY EFFORTS OF THE CONGREGATIO IMMACULATI CORDIS MARIAE (CICM) IN THE PROVINCE OF NUEVA VIZCAYA 1989-2000

FE YOLANDA DEL ROSARIO
Doctor of Philosophy in Philippine Studies (March 2010)

The study was an attempt towards documenting the missionary efforts of a group of priests known as the Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae (CICM) in the area of Nueva Vizcaya from 1898 until 2000. It was geared towards making known the changes brought about by the Belgian priests into Novo Vizcayano society and the imprint they had in the lives of their converts across the years. It also described the nature of the relationship established between the two and how this in turn affected the course and direction of missionary work.

The study relied on archival work and required thus, the utilization of primary documents in the form of reports, journals, and correspondences maintained by the CICM priests and which are at their repository at 60 Gilmore St., New Manila. It also involved the retrieval of information from canonical books in order to see trends in conversion. Crucial to the study were also government records particularly in those areas where there might have been some collaborative work between the parish and the government. Photos, missalets, prayer books were also important sources of information. To fill in the gaps of historical reconstruction the researcher utilized the methods of oral history in particular extracting eye-witness accounts. These involved retrospective interviews with people who have been involved in the missionary activity and who had been directly affected by missionary work. In the sense, the study yielded valuable information particularly in those areas where the missionaries were strong at and which bear the imprint of their influence, specifically in clergy formation and animation, lay formation, youth development, educational apostolate, and in the advocacy of social action concerns.

The study undertook to present a lay man’s perspective of CICM history in Nueva Vizcaya and an outsider’s view of the same. The subject matter and its approach veer the study away from traditional classical scholarship. By critical use of sources, the research hoped to address the dearth in the literature of local history in Nueva Vizcaya as well as to fill in the gaps in the CICM historiography.