Missionary Institute to close down

BY CHRISTINA FARRELL
1,()Nix)N's Mi,,sioNARY Institute, which for nearly 40 years has trained seminarians for the Church's work overseas, is to close.
Fr Denis Starkey, the registrar of the Institute in Bamet, north-west London, said it was with "sadness but also joy" that the decision had been taken. The last students will complete their studies in June 2007.
The news follows the announcement last year by the Mill Hill Missionaries that they are to leave their site in north London after more than 150 years. The Mill Hill Fathers were among the founding congregations of the institute.
Fr Starkey said that he thanked God "for the wonderful work that has been achieved during 40 years of the enrichment of our students in their mission studies".
He continued: "We know that the Institute has been a tremendous centre of Mission Theology in Britain that has spread through its students throughout the world. We can be joyful that the work of the institute continues and will continue wherever past students are and with those to whom they pass on the 'Good News" for generations to come. We thank God for the 40-year existence of the Missionary Institute."
The trustees decided to close the institute after consultation with the governors. As a registered charity the Institute has to be financially viable and with fewer students this has proved impossible to sustain. It also cannot seek funding from the individual missionary orders, which have a duty to provide resources where the need is greatest.
The decision brings to an end an important chapter in the Church in Britain and especially the link with the area of north-west London which began, in 1967, when the Mill Hill Missionaries and the Missionaries of Africa (the White Fathers) decided to combine their seminary resources to offer one academic programme.
The following year four further missionary orders joined — the Comboni Missionaries (Verona Fathers), the Consolata Fathers, the Society of African Missions and the Society of the Divine Word. In 1967 the Congregation of the Holy Ghost (the Spiritans) joined the Institute.
The aim was always to prepare missionaries for their task overseas, focusing also on the need for collaborative ministry between lay men and women and priests committed to human and spiritual development.
The Institute was regarded by many people as a product of the Second Vatican Council, particularly the decree on the Church's missionary acti vity, Ad Gentes, which called for fuller formation. In 1968 it was granted official approval by the Bish
ops' Conference of England and Wales and the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
Since it opened, more than 2,000 students have followed courses at the Institute , with 663 being ordained to the priesthood. But the number of indigenous students has fallen as the missionary orders look increasingly to their congregations in the East and the developing world. The Institute attempted to breach the shortfall in numbers by offering evening courses in theology; but could not sustain the decline in clerical numbers.
The Missionary Institute is affiliated to the universities of Leuven and Middlesex and attracted diverse and sometimes controversial teaching staff. Previous lecturers included the former priest John Wijngaards, now director of the publishing organisation Housetop, who resigned his ministry in 1998 over the Church and women priests.
Formerly a vicar-general of the Mill Hill IVfissionaries, Fr Wijngaards was openly critical of Rome and the decision to prohibit any discussion on the issue.
Fr Starkey said this week that there was a realisation that the Church had to look to its strengths in the developing world. He said: "We have 53 students here at the moment and they will complete their studies next year," he said. "Many of the teaching staff that we have are part-time and some are members of the Missionary Orders and will be sent where need is greatest."
He said the future of the site at Ridgeway was yet to be decided.