TO SOME, the word missionary conjures up images of white European imperialists attempting to convert heathen peoples and force them to abandon their own traditions and culture for a superior Western civilisation. But at the Missionary Institute London, there is no talk of chalking up converts, and the missionaries are more likely to be from developing countries than Europe.

Run by seven missionary congregations and situated in Mill Hill, North London, the Missionary Institute London provides academic, spiritual and pastoral formation to Roman Catholic missionaries. Its 134 students are drawn from 36 countries. Most are members of religious congregations, both male and female, or training to be priests, but there are also lay students.

From its beginnings, Christianity has been a missionary religion, taking up Jesus’s command to baptise and teach all nations. However, chapters such as the Crusades and the first missions to Latin America, for instance, illustrate how the gospel can be used for political ends. In the 19th century, David Livingstone told an audience in London: “I go back to Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity.”

Father Larry Nemer, president of the Missionary Institute, says that since the Second Vatican Council there has been a radical rethinking of the purpose of mission. “We’re committed to mission as a church. We have the experience of Christianity and we want to share with others the fact that God manifested His love through Jesus. We’re still committed to bringing the gospel to people but we’re no longer bringing it from a power base.”

He adds that when he was at seminary in the 1950s, students had a confidence in what they were doing and felt they had a superior, Christian civilisation to bring to others. “Today missionaries don’t have the same kind of confidence. We don’t think that we have the best civilisation. We go out with more respect for people’s culture and traditions. We see that God has been at work here before we came. We used to think that we were bringing God.”

With this understanding of other faiths, “inter-religious dialogue” has become the buzz phrase in Catholic mission work. “One of the missionary tasks is to aid in reconciliation. For the past five years reconciliation has been one of the major themes in missionary writing. How do you bring this about if there’s been killing or violence, such as in Rwanda?” ponders Father Nemer.

He claims that some Vatican documents have not been helpful in fostering dialogue with other faiths, but the Pope has made it a priority. “Early on in his pontificate he went to a synagogue in Rome to pray. He also prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and in a mosque in Syria. These gestures have been incredible. The Pope has said every prayer is of the Holy Spirit. And he has twice called together leaders of the world religions, in Assisi and Rome. The cardinals were furious with him. When they asked him why he did it he replied, ‘It seemed to be of the Spirit.’ ”

While vocations to the priesthood and religious life have been fast drying up in Europe during the past thirty years, the reverse is true in parts of Africa and Asia. “In the Divine Word Missionaries, for example, we have 6,000 members and more than 1,000 are Indonesian. Most of our men in Africa come from India, the Philippines and Indonesia. And all the White Fathers studying here at the Missionary Institute are from Africa,” Father Nemer says.

The assistant dean of studies, Father Peter Jeffery, a Holy Ghost Father, explains that the Missionary Institute, which is affiliated to Middlesex University and Leuven University in Belgium, has a very different outlook to that of a traditional seminary. “The syllabus includes courses in Islam, African traditional religions, evangelisation in economic structures and interpretation of cultures. People are going out to regimes that might be totally unjust and oppressive.”

Prosper Ndayikengurukiye, 29, from Burundi, is in training with the Society of African Missionaries. He says he wants to become a missionary so that he can bear witness to his faith. “I come from a country where most people are Christians. In countries such as Mali, though, there are few Christians. I spent two years there and I visited villages where people believed in traditional religions, and I talked with them in their homes and attended some of their rituals.”

In some parts of the world, such as Pakistan, Christian missionaries may suffer violence or even death. Raúl Tabaranza, 34, from the Philippines, in training with the Comboni Missionaries, dismisses these dangers. “My parents and friends used to discourage me from the missionary life in case I was killed by rebels or eaten by a crocodile. It doesn’t worry me. I feel it is worth dying for my faith if I have to,” he says.

A fellow Comboni, Raimundon Rocha, 32, from Brazil, agrees. “As missionaries we should be able to adapt to any weather conditions, cultural settings, tropical diseases or hardships. We should be ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel. We trust in God’s grace to help us.”