Patricia Wall1
Concepts of Development – the Role and Recognition of Faith Based
Development Initiatives such as the Missionary Enterprise
“Development today is about relationality - how, what, why.
How we do it is what matters.”(Wall, 2006b p 1)
Introduction
The Irish Missionary Enterprise has been a unique experience in and of itself, and in
the ways that it has influences Irish International Development policy. The last twenty
years have seen incredible change internally and externally for the Missionary
community. In one sense Mission has come full circle with the creation in Dublin in
early 2006 of a new association called Missionaries in Ireland (MII). The paper
describes the on-going challenges that the Irish Missionary sector are facing in
determining their vision of development as they move forward within this period of
rapid change. There is increasingly a need for the missionary sector to articulate their
vision of development so as to position themselves, initiate programmes and respond
to the rapidly changing context of the present day Ireland, the missionary experience
overseas and the future international nature of their work. Development frameworks
and paradigms are shaped by people in a time and place. There is a role for the
missionary sector to also contribute to the development of policy so that the
programmes which follow through from the influential policy frameworks are of
relevance to their work. This paper, drawing on studies conducted and several
consultations with missionaries, highlights some of the ways in which this
engagement may be taken forward so that a more holistic concept of development is
enhanced.
The paper will firstly look at some of the trends that are unfolding, describe some of
the on-going consequences and challenges being experienced and will then look at
why there is a role for the missionary sector in the elaboration of Ireland’s policy on
international development. Finally, the paper will highlight some of the ways in which
this engagement may be taken forward.
Trends
1
Development Training and Learning Programme (Dtalk), Kimmage Development Studies Centre
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This section will touch on some of the trends, both internal and external, that have had
a significant influence on the composition and workings of the Missionary Sector and
the relationship with Development Work. It is important to understand this paper as a
very incomplete picture or representation of the phenomenon known as the
Missionary enterprise. In Seamus Heaney’s poem, The Given Note, he speaks of ‘bits
of a tune’ that ‘rephrases itself in the air’. The phrase ‘bits of a tune’ evokes the
different strands, the different levels and types of information and interests of the
various people and organisations involved in the Missionary Sector. Depending on
your location and role different missionaries are hearing or presenting ‘different bits
of the tune’ or different aspects of the narrative that makes up the missionary story to
date (Wall, 2007, p.1). Also worth noting is that some of the influences are peculiar to
the Irish context and that others have an international dimension.

Evolution of Social Catholic Teaching - Vatican Two & Populorum Progressio
o Populorum Progressio is an encyclical written forty years ago. It is
important as it is the Church’s official recognition that the promotion
of justice and peace is an integral and constitutive dimension of its
mission and secondly the growing awareness of the need to address the
structural causes of poverty and injustice in addition to alleviating its
symptoms (McCabe, 2006, p35). The encyclical was written at a time
of rapid change with the end of the colonial era and the working out of
a new world order within the Cold War Framework. The power of the
Populorum Progression encyclical and its continued relevance is
summarised as three lessons that can be drawn from the text and from
reflecting on the essays in a recent publication to mark the 40 years
since the document was written:
First, good social analysis presents a picture of development
that is intellectually convincing and politically compelling.
Second, good moral foundations lay the groundwork for
interventions that are relevant to public policy decisions.
Third, good social mobilisation moves the discussion out of
the realm of theory into the real world of politics
(International Jesuit Network for Development, 2007, p197).

Increased engagement with Social Justice issues including the Gender and
Ecological dimensions
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o Within this context of awareness of working out of a justice and equity
framework, there is clearly a need for the Church and by extension
missionaries to address Gender and Power Dynamics within the
Church itself and within missionary structures, for how is it possible to
advocate for justice for others if the same issues are not addressed
within your own structures and systems? (Wall, 2006b, p.76). In the
same light, thinking within the Church has led to innovative work on
understanding the relationship of people and environment and
intergenerational
justice
(International
Jesuit
Network
for
Development, p189).

Ageing Profile of Irish Missionaries, decline in vocations in Ireland and
increased secularisation of society
o The combination of these two factors has led to a situation where
almost 40 per cent of missionaries funded by the Irish Missionary
Resource Service are now from the South (Wall, 2007, p 3). It is a sign
that planning for the future of the development initiatives has been
successful in the sense of securing local management and ownership of
the on-going activities. This trend is likely to continue and thus raises
the issue of how the engagement of Ireland with the communities of
the South can be maintained when there is no longer the ‘personal’ link
which has proved so critical in the Irish context.

Growth & character of national Churches in the South
o The Church in the South has seen significant growth in the last 20
years and thus there is a wide network of local structures embedded in
the communities to partner with in development activities. There is
huge variety in the way that the Church has developed in various parts
of the world. There are a couple of issues that the Church is grappling
with in relation to the motivation of individuals joining religious life
and there has been discussion within the Church of how to ‘question
formation structures and missionary strategies’ (Domingues, 2006, p3).
Another key area is how to ensure that the traditional power dynamics
so entrenched in the Church do not become even more oppressive to
women joining religious life in more traditional settings. As Dorr
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comments ‘Ironically, it is not unusual nowadays to find that many
Western missionaries have a more integral view than some local
leaders in the Young Churches’. I have just returned from Latin
America where I was rather shocked to see how many of the fairly
recently appointed bishops have a distinctly old-style outlook, focusing
almost exclusively on ‘churchy’ work in a narrow sense’ (Dorr, 2007, p
1). The transformation of this situation will require a very supportive
environment.

Internationalisation of Congregations
o One of the outcomes of the changing profile of missionaries is that
congregations have moved towards a more international structure and
management arrangement with a diversity of nationalities in the
leadership positions.

Changed ways of working within the Donor Community
o In the last twenty years development cooperation has been shaped by
many factors, some of which have led to more of an emphasis on
management systems and a need to demonstrate results. There is
increased emphasis on the setting of global goals such as the MDGs.
The Donor, and the wider development community, have drawn from
all sorts of models, including from military and business models to
focus on strategy and planning which has tended to over-emphasise the
visible and tangible and under-emphasise the qualitative and
unexpected consequences that can take place in the life of an
individual, community or society due to, or in spite of, a development
intervention. In fairness, there has been recognition given to this
imbalance but rectifying it and giving value to other approaches has
been limited. The other development having an influence and likely to
have an increasingly growing influence is the new Aid Architecture
with a focus on budget support, sector wide approaches and broad
programmatic approaches. It is still not clear how civil society
organisations, including missionary organisations, will be affected by
or can have any influence over these changing modalities.
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
Increased interest in faith based organisations by the donor community
internationally
o The Irish experience in relation to missionaries and faith based
organisations seems to have been quite different to other contexts.
Balchin suggests that ‘In current international development policy,
religion is simultaneously seen as the biggest development obstacle,
the only developmental issue, and the only developmental solution’
(Balchin, 2007, p534). In a thought provoking article, Balchin claims
that the international interest in faith based approaches is misguided
and she asks ‘Whatever happened to the recognition that we are all
subject to multiple identities that construct and are constructed by each
other? She suggests that the faith based approach is not the best
solution to address deprivation and discrimination, with its treatment
of ‘faith as synonymous with organised religion as defined by the
powerful within those religions; its dismissal of people who do not
wish to assert a religious public identity; its hypocritical support of
‘diversity’ across religions while ignoring the possibility of
contestation within religions; and above all its implicit claim that
hungry stomachs can be filled by morality and ideology, rather than by
global trade equality, an end to militarisation, and the realisation by all
people of their human rights’(Balchin, 2007, p537). Balchin has
worked for many years for the organisation Women Living under
Muslim Laws and fears that cultural relativism will result in patriarchy
remaining largely uncontested. While the expose above seems quite
different to the Irish context the latter point regarding patriarchy does
resonate. The international debate and literature on faith based
organisations does reveal that there can be quite different origins and
historical trajectories to the reason for that relatively recent interest.
o A couple of different strands have influenced this interest in faith based
organisations. On the one hand, recognised has having grown out the
Christian tradition, the Jubilee Campaign has highlighted and revealed
to the international development community the ability of the Church
to mobilise on a key development issue such as debt. In the last couple
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of years, and especially since 9/11, the international community has
also struggled to understand how to include non-Christian faith based
organisations within its development programmes. In 2004, DFID
undertook some research in this area and found that this did not ‘have
the structures in place to properly consolidate, develop and add value
to its existing engagement with Faith Based Organisations’ (DFID,
2004, p.v). Partly this is due to the conceptual difficulties represented
by the faith and development interface. Not only DFID but the World
Bank has become involved in this area with the launch in 1998 of the
World Faiths Development Dialogue by the Head of the World Bank,
the Head of the Anglican Church and the Aga Khan, leader of the
Ismaili Muslim Diaspora. A Directorate on Faith was created within
the Bank at the same time but expansion of this was ultimately not
approved by the Board and a reduced profile now exists for the
‘Development Dialogue on Ethics and Values’; it is understood that
there was a fear of the expansion of US Christian fundamentalism as
this period coincided with a change of government in the US. Despite
this the numbers of evangelical Christian partners of USAID has
increased significantly (Clarke, 2007, p83). This contrasts with the
situation in the UK and Ireland which has not experienced a rise in the
Christian right.

A growing realisation within civil society of the importance of spiritual, moral
and cultural dimensions in development processes and decision making.
o The complexity of development means that trends are working at
different levels and directions. While the New Aid Architecture is
unfolding at the same time there has been a growing movement
towards
increasing
emphasis
on
participatory
approaches
to
development has afforded real complementarity with the missionary
approach of local, long term and sustained engagement. Development
is increasingly seen as a multidimensional process and an
institutionally complex undertaking, based on a broader conception of
well-being. This fits very well with the Missionary Sector’s holistic
and human centred approach to the integrity of mind, body and spirit.
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According to Clarke, a new paradigm acknowledges the importance of
multi-stakeholder partnerships, of including the private sector and civil
society in development policy and of multiple tiers of partnerships and
networks from local to global. In this context faith communities and
Faith Based Organisations are important actors, using the idioms of
spiritual belief to provide practical support to the poor and to mobilise
the popular moral energy needed to effect political change’ (Clarke,
2007, p 90).
Consequences and Challenges
Traditionally missionaries were involved in direct service delivery in the two key
areas of Health and Education. Over time as the newly independent countries of
Africa took on more responsibility the ownership and management of many of the
health and education facilities changed hands. However, it is true that there are still
schools and hospitals under religious management with Irish personnel involved. It is
also true to note that Irish missionaries had a significant influence on education and
health systems development in Africa in those countries where the very civil servants
developing programmes had grown up within the educational institutions run by the
missionaries. Many of the gains made were interrupted by the cutbacks imposed by
the structural adjustment programmes of the Bretton Woods institutions.
Missionaries have been influenced by both the internal and external factors outlined in
the section above and their roles and responsibilities have changed significantly over
the last 20 -30 years. Some of the internal influences include the Vatican decision
back in 1936 which allowed women in religious life to practice medicine; the period
after Vatican Two also saw a Church more open to change. In the 1990s we saw the
growth in the numbers of Diocesan Development Offices and Justice Desks. There
has been an increasing emphasis on holistic development, that is, of the mind, body
and spirit. This fits very well with the nature of many of the communities that
development claims to serve. When missionaries go to a new place they tend to live
within the community before deciding exactly what their role will be and they then
tend to stay in a place for a significant amount of time. This is very similar to
approaches recommended within the participatory development framework. It is
ironic that often times non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would also aspire to
participatory approaches to development but tend to focus on short term interventions
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with defined job descriptions. According to Barron, ‘For the success of development,
development practitioners must develop an understanding of cultures and their
underlying spirituality and religious traditions. They must go beyond the dualistic
approach which demands the separation of spirit from matter, culture from economics,
and in the case of the missionaries separating the ‘development work’ of missionaries
from the ‘pastoral work’ of missionaries….Whereas many traditional development
institutions tend to separate materials from spiritual well-being, faith communities
take a much broader view and see the causes and solution to poverty as encompassing
both’ (Barron, 2007, p3). Dorr would go further and say ‘that we should join with the
more radical thinkers who point out that much of what passes for ‘development’ is
unacceptable because it is widening the gap between the rich and the poor…and we
should also join with Fr Sean McDonagh in challenging mainstream views of
development on ecological grounds’ (Dorr, 2007, p 2). I have included these quotes to
highlight that a consequence of the changes that have been occurring is that there
exists an open and reflective process that is going on within the Missionary sector that
could support the wider development community to recapture the values or ‘radical’
essence of what should be driving our engagement at policy and programme levels.
The civil society sector in Ireland and indeed the official government bilateral
programme owe much to their ‘missionary origins’, not alone the geographical
location of many of the Irish Aid priority programme countries as can be seen from a
mapping exercise undertaken some years ago(Wall, 1983). As part of the increased
organisational development a number of structures have been created over the years.
The Irish Missionary Union was established in 1970, incorporating the members of
the former Mission Service Centre, and forty years later the IMU founded the Irish
Missionary Resource Service (IMRS) which has as part of its mandate the
responsibility to liase with Irish Aid on development funding.
During 2006 and 2007, Dtalk, the development training and learning programme for
the Irish international development sector, has engaged in a process of reflection with
representatives of the Catholic Lay and Religious Missionary Sector. Representatives
of the Church Missionary Society were invited but were not in a position to engage in
the process during the period in question but they have been kept informed of the
findings of the reflection process.
8
During the discussions seven key significant categories emerged as viewed in Table 1.
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TABLE 1
7 Key Categories
FINANCIAL – Programmes and Projects
LEADERSHIP
RE-INTEGRATION: A New Identity (Hybridity?)
LEGAL ISSUES/ OBLIGATIONS
CULTURE
THE ‘HOW’ OF DEVELOPMENT/ WHAT/ WHY
STRATEGY/ VISION
During a meeting in July 2007 there was a clear call to articulate the development
philosophy for an on-going mission of Being and Doing. Partners (Training for
Transformation) speak of four interrelated elements in organisational life that need to
be consistently attended to and supported. They summarise these as ‘Seeing, Relating,
Structuring and Doing’ (Wall, 2007, p2).
There has to be a clear sense of vision, values and mission so that people can see
what they are working out of, what they are working towards and what particular
contribution their congregation is making
Networking and relationships, external and internal have to be developed and fostered
Appropriate organisational structure and strategies are needed as a scaffolding for the
work in which the congregation engages
There is a range of projects and activities in which the congregation needs to engage
in order to fulfill its mission
As referenced in earlier sections the challenge of what this means for the Missionary
Sector has been the focus of a very enlightening discussion that was initiated by Mary
Barron in the Irish Missionary Union March – May 2007 quarterly report and has
been responded to in two subsequent reports (IMU website 2007). The articles are
worth looking at from a number of perspectives and one in particular surrounds the
use of language. The language used by Missionaries in describing their work can be
very different to the way in which other development actors would describe how they
are ‘being’ and ‘doing’. DFID speaks of a ‘Faith Literacy’ (DFID, 2004, p.v) and the
need for DFID staff to become literate in this language instead of just expecting the
faith based organisations to learn the development language that they use.
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Suggestions
I have attempted to group some suggestions around four sub-headings, namely
Dialogue on Development, Research & Learning, Support to the South, Advocacy and
Engagement in Ireland.

Dialogue on Development
o A starting point would seem to be to create the space for dialogue to
promote both internal reflection by the Missionary Sector and also a
broader sectoral understanding of what development means including
the interpretation, use and possible transformation of language. As
Barron states ‘This spirit of dialogue will be especially important in
development in the future when addressing contentious areas such as
gender roles, sexual ethics, contrasting visions of development, and
approaches to global warning’(Barron, 2007, p5). There is a crucial
role for the Congregational Leaders in determining the future and thus
there engagement in the dialogue is essential. The growing
international diversity of the leadership teams will provide a platform
and a legitimacy for engaging on many development issues.
o The dialogue could inform policy and practice and include institutional
mechanisms for funding and other resource issues that can
accommodate the various development perspectives.

Research and Learning
The global context has given rise to a renewed interest in faith based organisations.
The Irish context is particularly unique in the synergy that has existed between the
Missionary Sector and the subsequent evolution of the Irish international development
landscape. I believe there is still much research to be conducted to document the past
and the linkages to the present, to explore the dynamics of the relationship today and
to draw on the good practice that can shape future Irish development policy.
According to Healy ‘Mission is a life to be shared and not a task to be done’ (Healy,
2007, p.2). Missionaries have put a lot of emphasis on being with people, of bearing
witness, of learning the language of the communities in which they live. Learning
about these successful practices could help to improve processes within other
organisations. While contextually different, research recommendations to DFID have
included the suggestion that DFID should ‘increase recruitment of non-Christian staff
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and that it considers visiting staff internships, where DFID staff spend time with nonChristian faith based development organisations and where staff of these organisations
spend time with DFID’(DFID,2004, p.vi). There is scope in the Irish context for
government, faith based and other development organisations to consider how to learn
more about other faiths and their development paradigm. Suggested ways are to
facilitate exchange visits to Ireland and to cultivate the development of relationships –
physical travel between the people of the countries and organisations is required.
Another practical suggestion to promote understanding of different faith based
perspectives and which fits well with the recommendation from the Dtalk Missionary
Training Needs Assessment is to develop a database of returning missionaries who
would be available to assist Dtalk (and other programmes) as advisors, facilitators,
trainers or guest speakers for various events.
At present seven of the congregations have gone through significant organisational
assessments supported by the Irish Missionary Resources Service (IMRS). It was
suggested at the July 07 consultation workshop that the IMRS should facilitate the
generic learning from this assessment and the process be shared with the wider
missionary and broader development sector so as to enhance the dialogue between the
Missionary Sector and other partners within the Development Sector in Ireland.

Support to the South
This is a crucial issue for Missionaries. They are very concerned that, with the
changing profile of missionaries whereby there are not as many Irish working in
countries of the South that mechanisms are found to sustain the support to their
partners in the years ahead. There is potential to draw a lot more in this area from
inter-congregational sharing and learning so as to develop platforms for multicongregationally support of initiatives from the South.
At the same time there is a need to examine how to support capacity development in
the South where it is needed. This could be through support to development and
training institutions in the South to ensure that training design, content and quality of
delivery is maintained. This could be through provision of funding, joint training and
learning activities, mentoring and exchange programmes. The latter would ensure that
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Irish institutions could be improved from the theoretical perspective, good practice
and contextual realities that visiting staff from training institutions of the South can
bring to the Irish context. As an initial step a survey of the training institutions and
what is on offer is required.

Advocacy and engagement in Ireland
There is evident good work going on in Ireland and in countries of Africa, Asia and
South America by missionaries. However the challenge appears to be how to link the
micro and macro so that policies developed are appropriate and the missionary sector
strengthen their Voice on justice issues. The work already on-going with the
immigrant communities in Ireland should be strengthened along with public
awareness campaigns on the international dimensions to migration. It would be useful
to have a more public profile given to the collective work that is ongoing by the
missionary sector on Justice and Development issues.
Missionaries have an international dimension to their structures which allows for
micro and macro engagement with a global reach that allow for policy influencing at
many levels, for example, to be at the World Bank Dialogue with Different Faiths, to
work towards reducing Fear of Islam within the present world order.
There is a very definite advocacy role for Irish Based Missionaries and partners in
ensuring support for the development work of congregations overseas given the
decline in direct Irish personnel involvement.
With the levels of modern technology and communication there is an opportunity to
balance the often negative and false images of Africa. The missionary sector has close
community ties in Africa and knows of the incredible struggles and efforts of people
to survive and succeed in difficult circumstances. The challenge is how to share these
stories with the Irish public.
Conclusion
In the Irish context there is an understanding that the contribution of the Missionary
sector to our own interpretation and practice of development has been immense and
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valuable. It would be opportune to delve a bit deeper into why this has been so.
Internationally the Irish engagement with development has been considered highly
successful. What has caused this success and could it be considered as something
momentary? Can we sustain the processes that have made us successful within the
changing development frameworks?
I will conclude with some thoughts by Allan Kaplan ‘Changes are the imperceptible
tendencies to divergence that, when they have reached a certain point, become visible
and bring about transformations….. The moment of metamorphosis remains
enigmatic. If we are to work with social change and development, with transformation
and transition, then it may help to form an approach to that place of silent mystery…
…..Where butterfly wings are grown within the shroud of the caterpillar’s
concealment’(Kaplan, 2002, p 53 and 135).
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References
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the other’, Development in Practice, Vol 17, Numbers 4-5 pp 532 – 538
Barron, M. (2007) ‘Role of Pastoral Care in Development – is it really development?’
Irish Missionary Union Report, March – May, pp1 – 5
Centre for Development Studies, University of Wales Swansea (2004) A leap of Faith
– DFID’s engagement with Faith Based Organisations and the Role of Faith Groups in
Poverty Reduction, DFID, London
Clarke, G. (2007) ‘Agents of transformation? Donors, faith based organisations and
international development’, Third World Quarterly, Vol 28, No. 1 pp 77 – 96
Domingues F. (2006) ‘Poverty and Mission’, Sedos Conference on Mission & Money,
Pontifical Urbanian College, Rome
Dorr, D. (2007), Missionaries and Development – It is only in Europe that
development goes hand in hand with a decline in religion’ Irish Missionary Union
Report, June– August, pp1– 3
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coin’ Irish Missionary Union Report, September – November, pp 1 – 3
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Essays to mark the Fortieth Anniversary of Populorum Progressio, The Columba
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James, R (2004) Creating Space for Grace – God’s Power in Organisational Change,
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Quinn R. (1980), The Missionary Factor in Irish Aid Overseas, Dominican
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Author Information
Since April 2005, Patricia Wall has been Coordinator of the Development Training
and Learning Programme at Kimmage (known as Dtalk), an Irish Aid supported
training programme for those working in the international development and
humanitarian sector. Dtalk is located at the Kimmage Development Studies Centre in
Dublin.
In 1983, at the Geography Department, University College Cork (UCC), Patricia
completed a short thesis on the geographical aspects of Irish missions in Africa 1850 –
1980 for her BA degree and in 1992 she completed an MA from UCC on the
dynamics of rural community water resources within the colonial context in Namibia.
From the mid 80s to 2005, she worked in Southern and West Africa, first as a Teacher
and later as a Development Manager. Patricia’s 20 years of living and working in
Africa has exposed her to different diversities of the continent, especially in her role
as a facilitator of development projects and programmes in different countries.
16